2017-18 Southern Professional Hockey League season

This is the 2017-18 Southern Professional Hockey League season.  This is the league's 13th season.
==Membership Changes==
*In early March 2017, the owner of the Columbus Cottonmouths, who had been trying to sell the team, announced that the team will cease operations after the 2016-17 season if a new owner is not found.  The team was reported to be in the process of being sold, however; it would not be in time to keep the team active for the 2017-18 season as the team announced they were suspending operations for the 2017-18 season. The Columbus Burn were supposed to be a replacement team to take up residence in the Columbus Civic Center. As of August 10, 2017 the SPHL announced it was no longer interested in working on adding the team to the league in a vote to terminate working with the team owner who had apparently mised a payment to the league on an expansion fee and then tried to re-negotiate the fee. 
*On April 26, 2017 the league announced an expansion team to be based out of the Pelham Civic Center in Pelham, Alabama in suburban Birmingham to be called the Birmingham Bulls (SPHL).  The team will begin play for the 2017-18 season.  The team is owned by the former owner of the Birmingham Bulls (ECHL).
*During the spring of 2017 the Fayetteville FireAntz were sold and subsequently renamed the Fayetteville Marksmen
* The Louisiana IceGators who had suspended operations for the 2016-17 season were quietly dissolved during early 2017.
* The franchise rights of the former Louisiana IceGators were awarded to a new team to be based out of the TaxSlayer Center in Moline, Illinois.https://arenadigest.com/2018/05/23/sphl-quad-city-squad-play-taxslayer-center/  The team is replacing the former Quad City Mallards franchise of the ECHL as that team had announced they were ceasing operations in the ECHL at the end of the 2017-18 season.https://arenadigest.com/2018/03/13/quad-city-mallards-withdrawing-echl-membership/
* On May 24, 2018 the Mississippi RiverKings announced they were suspending operations for the 2018-19 season.  The league is seeking new ownership in the hopes of bringing the organization back for 2019-20.https://www.oursportscentral.com/services/releases/mississippi-riverkings-suspend-operations-for-2018-2019-season/n-5337771
==Teams==
Team 	City/Area 	Arena 	Founded	Joined	Head Coach
Birmingham Bulls 	Pelham, Alabama 	Pelham Civic Center 	2017 	2017 	Jamey Hicks
Evansville Thunderbolts	Evansville, Indiana 	Ford Center 	2016 	2016 	Jeff Pyle
Fayetteville Marksmen 	Fayetteville, North Carolina 	Cumberland County Crown Coliseum 	2002 	2004 	Nick Mazzolini
Huntsville Havoc 	Huntsville, Alabama 	Von Braun Center 	2004 	2004 	Glenn Detulleo
Knoxville Ice Bears 	Knoxville, Tennessee 	Knoxville Civic Auditorium and Coliseum	2002 	2004 	Jeff Carr
Macon Mayhem 	Macon, Georgia 	Macon Coliseum 	2010 	2015 	Kevin Kerr
Mississippi RiverKings 	Southaven, Mississippi (Memphis area)	Lander's Center 	1992 	2011 	Derek Landmesser
Pensacola Ice Flyers 	Pensacola, Florida 	Pensacola Bay Center 	2009 	2009 	Rod Aldoff
Peoria Rivermen 	Peoria, Illinois 	Carver Arena 	2013 	2013 	Jean-Guy Trudel
Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs	Roanoke, Virginia 	Berglund Center 	2009* 	2009* 	Sam Ftorek
;Note * - Represents a franchise move.
==Standings==
Team 	GP	W 	L 	OL	GF 	GA 	Pts
Peoria Rivermen 	56	38	13	5 	211	154	81
Macon Mayhem 	56	33	16	7 	214	174	73
Pensacola Ice Flyers 	56	33	16	7 	189	156	73
Huntsville Havoc 	56	30	16	10	203	180	70
Knoxville Ice Bears 	56	30	20	6 	205	182	66
Evansville Thunderbolts	56	27	20	9 	186	191	63
Mississippi RiverKings 	56	29	25	2 	193	181	60
Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs	56	26	26	4 	170	195	56
Birmingham Bulls 	56	22	28	6 	159	199	50
Fayetteville Marksmen 	56	12	38	6 	144	262	30
==Playoffs==
The top eight teams qualify.  All rounds are best-of-three.
===Quarterfinals===
*Peoria Rivermen defeated Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs 2 games to none
*Macon Mayhem defeated Evansville Thunderbolts 2 games to 1
*Knoxville Ice Bears defeated Pensacola Ice Flyers 2 games to none
*Huntsville Havoc defeated Mississippi RiverKings 2 games to 1
===Semifinals===
*Peoria Rivermen defeated Knoxville Ice Bears 2 games to none
*Huntsville Havoc defeated Macon Mayhem 2 games to 1
===Final===
*Huntsville Havoc defeated Peoria Rivermen 2 games to 1
==References==
Category:2017 in hockey
Category:Southern Professional Hockey League seasons