# 2018–19 SPHL season

The 2018–19 SPHL season is the 15th season of the Southern Professional Hockey League (SPHL).

## League business

After eleven seasons, president Jim Combs left the league to pursue other opportunities. He originally joined the league in the 2007–08 season and had been league president since 2010–11. Combs was replaced by Doug Price on January 17, 2019.

### Team changes

* The Quad City Storm from Moline, Illinois, joined the SPHL by acquiring the dormant Louisiana IceGators franchise. The Storm replaced the folded Quad City Mallards of the ECHL in the Quad Cities.
* The Mississippi RiverKings ownership suspended operations while the league seeks to find new ownership.

## Teams

2018-19 Southern Professional Hockey League :
| Team | City | Arena |
| Birmingham Bulls | Pelham, Alabama | Pelham Civic Center |
| Evansville Thunderbolts | Evansville, Indiana | Ford Center |
| Fayetteville Marksmen | Fayetteville, North Carolina | Crown Complex |
| Huntsville Havoc | Huntsville, Alabama | Von Braun Center |
| Knoxville Ice Bears | Knoxville, Tennessee | Knoxville Civic Coliseum |
| Macon Mayhem | Macon, Georgia | Macon Coliseum |
| Pensacola Ice Flyers | Pensacola, Florida | Pensacola Bay Center |
| Peoria Rivermen | Peoria, Illinois | Carver Arena |
| Quad City Storm | Moline, Illinois | TaxSlayer Center |
| Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs | Roanoke, Virginia | Berglund Center |

## Regular season
### Standings

Final standings:
| Team | GP | W | L | OTL | GF | GA | Pts |
| Peoria Rivermen‡ | 56 | 40 | 7 | 9 | 201 | 123 | 89 |
| Birmingham Bulls | 56 | 39 | 15 | 2 | 204 | 147 | 80 |
| Huntsville Havoc | 56 | 36 | 17 | 3 | 209 | 152 | 75 |
| Knoxville Ice Bears | 56 | 29 | 22 | 5 | 169 | 166 | 63 |
| Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs | 56 | 28 | 24 | 4 | 168 | 177 | 60 |
| Macon Mayhem | 56 | 27 | 24 | 5 | 160 | 156 | 59 |
| Pensacola Ice Flyers | 56 | 26 | 24 | 6 | 143 | 150 | 58 |
| Fayetteville Marksmen | 56 | 25 | 23 | 8 | 172 | 201 | 58 |
| Quad City Storm | 56 | 18 | 33 | 5 | 143 | 197 | 41 |
| Evansville Thunderbolts | 56 | 12 | 38 | 6 | 124 | 224 | 30 |
    $^‡$ William B. Coffey Trophy winners
    Advanced to playoffs

### Attendance

| Team | Total | Games | Average |
| Huntsville | 138,106 | 28 | 4,932 |
| Knoxville | 106,906 | 28 | 3,818 |
| Peoria | 102,018 | 28 | 3,643 |
| Pensacola | 100,717 | 28 | 3,597 |
| Roanoke | 97,950 | 28 | 3,498 |
| Quad City | 89,064 | 28 | 3,180 |
| Birmingham | 66,563 | 28 | 2,377 |
| Fayetteville | 62,075 | 28 | 2,216 |
| Evansville | 57,151 | 28 | 2,041 |
| Macon | 56,572 | 28 | 2,020 |
| League | 877,122 | 280 | 3,132 |

## Statistical leaders
### Scoring leaders

The following players are sorted by points, then goals.
GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes
| Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| Ryan Salked | Huntsville Havoc | 55 | 28 | 37 | 65 | 40 |
| Ben Blasko | Peoria Rivermen | 55 | 18 | 47 | 65 | 24 |
| Josh Harris | Birmingham Bulls | 55 | 25 | 38 | 63 | 73 |
| Sy Nutkevitch | Huntsville Havoc | 55 | 12 | 45 | 57 | 33 |
| Kyle Sharkey | Huntsville Havoc | 51 | 17 | 38 | 55 | 32 |
| Jake Trask | Macon Mayhem | 51 | 28 | 26 | 54 | 24 |
| Alec Hagaman | Peoria Rivermen | 54 | 18 | 36 | 54 | 147 |
| John Siemer | Macon Mayhem | 56 | 15 | 39 | 54 | 33 |
| Justin Greenberg | Peoria Rivermen | 49 | 19 | 34 | 53 | 14 |
| Jacob Barber | Birmingham Bulls | 56 | 25 | 24 | 49 | 30 |

### Leading goaltenders

GP = Games played; TOI = Time on ice (in minutes); SA = Shots against; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; GAA = Goals against average; SV% = Save percentage; W = Wins; L = Losses; OTL = Overtime/shootout loss
| Player | Team | GP | TOI | SA | GA | SO | GAA | SV% | W | L | OTL |
| Stephen Klein | Peoria Rivermen | 32 | 1756 | 713 | 56 | 5 | 1.91 | .921 | 21 | 5 | 3 |
| Storm Phaneuf | Peoria Rivermen | 22 | 1272 | 430 | 44 | 1 | 2.07 | .898 | 15 | 2 | 4 |
| Brian Billett | Pensacola Ice Flyers | 38 | 2139 | 1021 | 76 | 5 | 2.13 | .926 | 19 | 11 | 5 |
| Mavric Parks | Birmingham Bulls | 42 | 2472 | 1394 | 94 | 6 | 2.28 | .933 | 30 | 9 | 2 |
| Max Milosek | Huntsville Havoc | 30 | 1783 | 870 | 68 | 1 | 2.29 | .922 | 23 | 6 | 1 |

## President's Cup playoffs

For 2019, the top eight teams at the end of the regular season qualify for the playoffs. The league kept the format implemented in the previous season where the top three seeds choose their opponent from the bottom four qualifiers, calling it the "challenge round". The second round will still have the highest versus lowest remaining seed format.

### Playoff bracket

| Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | | | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Championships | Championships | Championships |
| 1 | Peoria | 0 | | | | | | | | |
| 5 | Roanoke | 2 | | | | | | | | |
| 5 | Roanoke | 2 | | | 2 | Birmingham | 2 | | | |
| | | | | | 5 | Roanoke | 1 | | | |
| 2 | Birmingham | 2 | | | 5 | Roanoke | 1 | | | |
| 8 | Fayetteville | 1 | | | | | | | | |
| 8 | Fayetteville | 1 | | | | | | 2 | Birmingham | 0 |
| (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | 2 | Birmingham | 0 |
| (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | 3 | Huntsville | 2 |
| 3 | Huntsville | 2 | | | | | | | | | 3 | Huntsville | 2 |
| 7 | Pensacola | 1 | | | | | | | | |
| 7 | Pensacola | 1 | | | 3 | Huntsville | 2 | | | |
| | | | | | 4 | Knoxville | 0 | | | |
| 4 | Knoxville | 2 | | | 4 | Knoxville | 0 | | | |
| 6 | Macon | 0 | | | | | | | | |

## Quarterfinals
### (1) Peoria Rivermen vs. (5) Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs

* Roanoke won series 2–0

### (2) Birmingham Bulls vs. (8) Fayetteville Marksmen

* Birmingham won series 2–1

### (3) Huntsville Havoc vs. (7) Pensacola Ice Flyers

* Huntsville won series 2–1

### (4) Knoxville Ice Bears vs. (6) Macon Mayhem

* Knoxville won series 2–0

## Semifinals
### (2) Birmingham Bulls vs. (5) Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs

* Birmingham won series 2–1

### (3) Huntsville Havoc vs. (4) Knoxville Ice Bears

* Macon won series 2–0

## President's Cup Finals
### (2) Birmingham Bulls vs. (3) Huntsville Havoc

* Huntsville won series 2–0

## Playoff scoring leaders

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes
| Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| Geoff Crisfield | Birmingham Bulls | 8 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 15 |
| Rob Darrar | Huntsville Havoc | 7 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 0 |
| Kyle Sharkey | Huntsville Havoc | 7 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 2 |
| Jacob Barber | Birmingham Bulls | 8 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 4 |
| Mac Jensen | Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs | 5 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 0 |
| Shane Topf | Birmingham Bulls | 8 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 6 |
| Cam Bakker | Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs | 5 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 2 |
| Craig Simchuck | Birmingham Bulls | 8 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 8 |
| Trevor Gerling | Huntsville Havoc | 7 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 4 |
| Sy Nutkevitch | Huntsville Havoc | 7 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 4 |

## Playoff leading goaltenders

GP = Games played; TOI = Time on ice (in minutes); SA = Shots against; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; GAA = Goals against average; SV% = Save percentage; W = Wins; L = Losses; OTL = Overtime loss
| Player | Team | GP | TOI | SA | GA | SO | GAA | SV% | W | L | OTL |
| Hayden Stewart | Knoxville Ice Bears | 4 | 258 | 153 | 9 | 0 | 2.09 | .941 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Max Milosek | Huntsville Havoc | 7 | 448 | 283 | 16 | 0 | 2.14 | .943 | 6 | 0 | 1 |
| Jason Pawloski | Fayetteville Marksmen | 3 | 175 | 106 | 7 | 1 | 2.39 | .934 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Mavric Parks | Birmingham Bulls | 8 | 451 | 251 | 22 | 1 | 2.92 | .912 | 4 | 3 | 1 |
| Brian Billett | Pensacola Ice Flyers | 3 | 178 | 107 | 9 | 0 | 2.92 | .916 | 1 | 2 | 0 |

## Awards

| Award | Recipient(s) | Finalists |
| President's Cup | Huntsville Havoc | Birmingham Bulls |
| William B. Coffey Trophy (Best regular-season record) | Peoria Rivermen | |
| Defenseman of the Year | Travis Jeke (Fayetteville) | Nick Neville (Peoria) Garrett Schmitz (Birmingham) |
| Rookie of the Year | Ben Blasko (Peoria) | Brian Bowen (Fayetteville) Max Milosek (Huntsville) Garrett Schmitz (Birmingham) |
| Goaltender of the Year | Mavric Parks (Birmingham) | Brian Billett (Pensacola) |
| Coach of the Year | Jamey Hicks (Birmingham) | |
| Most Valuable Player | Josh Harris (Birmingham) | Mavric Parks (Birmingham) |
| Kevin Swider Leading Scorer Award | Ben Blasko (Peoria) | Josh Harris (Birmingham) |

### All-SPHL selections

| Position | First Team | Second Team | All-Rookie |
| G | Mavric Parks (Birmingham) | Brian Billett (Pensacola) | Stephen Klein (Peoria) |
| D | Travis Jeke (Fayetteville) Garrett Schmitz (Birmingham) | Nick Neville (Peoria) Doug Rose (Knoxville) | Alec Brandrup (Huntsville) tie Doug Rose, (Knoxville) tie Garrett Schmitz, (Birmingham) tie |
| F | Ben Blasko (Peoria) Josh Harris (Birmingham) Ryan Salkeld (Huntsville) | Justin Greenberg (Peoria) tie Alec Hagaman (Peoria) tie John Siemer (Macon) tie Jake Trask (Macon) | Ben Blasko (Peoria) Scott Cuthrell (Knoxville) Rob Darrar (Huntsville) |