2023-24 SPHL Season Thread

[JMCx4]

S/T to @JDogindy for started next season's convo ...

Not even the dearth (and death) that was the Boob-Cats slowed the league down.

But... Let's get down to brass tactics; Macon is still in rough shape. Attendance is bad, the team has struggled on the ice the past few seasons and they're bleeding money. Do they hold on for one more season?

The abject failure of Vermilion County will likely scare off the league from sudden expansion, although they still would like that scalene triangle of Quad City, Peoria, and Evansville to have someone else to travel with, and markets that could work either are oversaturated, don't have viable venues, or are Bloomington, Illinois. Meanwhile, the rest of the south is being fought over in a rather stupid turf war with the FPHL with that league claiming Baton Rouge and a transient town in eastern Virginia as it's own for their next silly season.

So... Who knows what happens next.

Click to read more...

 

[MMC]

 

[CrazyEddie20]

Did they prepare an alternate schedule for when Macon pulls a Danville this year?

 

[JMCx4]

Did they prepare an alternate schedule for when Macon pulls a Danville this year?

They oughta be gettin' good at this by now.

 

[CrazyEddie20]

They oughta be gettin' good at this by now.

It's the SPHL. They aren't good at hockey, and they aren't good at most things that go with running a professional hockey league.

But - BUT - they're still better than the Fed!

 

[MMC]

 

[MMC]

 

[MMC]

Looks like they’ve been sold

Did they prepare an alternate schedule for when Macon pulls a Danville this year?

 

[CrazyEddie20]

Looks like they’ve been sold

Apparently, they still couldn't afford paragraphs in the press release.

The clown show continues.

 

[JMCx4]

Apparently, they still couldn't afford paragraphs in the press release. ...

It has paragraphs. It simply lacks breaks. Those weren't in the budget.

 

[FrHockeyFan]

The league "realised" its name doesn't fit its footprint anymore and will now be known solely by its acronym.

 

[CrazyEddie20]

The league "realised" its name doesn't fit its footprint anymore and will now known solely by its acronym.

So now it even more plausibly means "Sorta Professional Hockey League!"

 

[JMCx4]

The league "realised" its name doesn't fit its footprint anymore and will now be known solely by its acronym.

To be regionally accurate, they "realiZed" their oversight in this matter. They don't plan to stop using Zeds until they expand to Canada. That's their 30th Anniversary plan.

 

[FrHockeyFan]

To be regionally accurate, they "realiZed" their oversight in this matter. They don't plan to stop using Zeds until they expand to Canada. That's their 30th Anniversary plan.

Pardon my French. It does leak through every now and again

 

[JMCx4]

From: The Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs > News

BREMNER’S CONTRACT EXTENDED THROUGH 2025-2026
AUGUST 4, 2023

The Rail Yard Dawgs announced August 8, 2023 that head coach Dan Bremner’s contract has been extended through the 2025-2026 season.

Bremner assumed the head coach role with the team in December of 2017. Not only has the team secured a playoff spot each season under Bremner’s leadership, Bremner has also coached the Dawgs to two back to back championship appearances, first in 2021-2022 and then again in 2022-2023. The team won their first ever SPHL President’s Cup in 2022-2023. ...


Read more at: BREMNER’S CONTRACT EXTENDED THROUGH 2025-2026 | RYD

 

[JMCx4]

This is a pleasant surprise ...

Rivermen to play exhibition game in Clarksville, Tennessee
AUGUST 29, 2023 - 09:55 AM
JASON RUFF

Clarksville, Tenn. (August 25, 2023) – Professional hockey is coming to Clarksville as the Peoria Rivermen and the Huntsville Havoc faceoff in Southern Professional Hockey League preseason game at F&M Bank Arena in Clarksville, Tenn., on Friday, Oct. 13 at 7:15 p.m. CT. ...

“We’re excited to showcase the Huntsville Havoc organization and the SPHL in Clarksville,” Huntsville Havoc Executive General Manager Glenn Detullo said. “Having the opportunity to play Peoria will be a great way to showcase the SPHL. We’re looking forward to seeing F&M Bank Arena and putting on a show for the fans!” ...

Read more at: Rivermen to Play Exhibition Game in Clarksville, TN

 

[battra]

GLENN DETULLEO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[JMCx4]

GLENN DETULLEO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The man, the myth, the legend of the UHL's Missouri River Otters! He's improved his lot in life a little bit since then.

 

[Tie Probert]

To be regionally accurate, they "realiZed" their oversight in this matter. They don't plan to stop using Zeds until they expand to Canada. That's their 30th Anniversary plan.

And similar to how everyone still calls the ECHL "the coast" 20 years after the name change, the SPHL will continue to be called the Southern Pro Hockey League for the next 20+ years if they make it.

 

[CrazyEddie20]

And similar to how everyone still calls the ECHL "the coast" 20 years after the name change, the SPHL will continue to be called the Southern Pro Hockey League for the next 20+ years if they make it.

The one I always liked was "Shitty Pond Hockey League."

 

[Tie Probert]

The one I always liked was "Shitty Pond Hockey League."

LOL. I once worked with a guy who told me he played a few games in net for the Knoxville IceBears. I looked for him on hockeydb and he wasn't there. I have wondered ever since, why would someone lie about playing in the SPHL instead of making it a cool lie.

 

[JMCx4]

LOL. I once worked with a guy who told me he played a few games in net for the Knoxville IceBears. I looked for him on hockeydb and he wasn't there. I have wondered ever since, why would someone lie about playing in the SPHL instead of making it a cool lie.

Many hockey players are pathological liars. That's what makes them such natural HFBoards posters.

 

[CrazyEddie20]

LOL. I once worked with a guy who told me he played a few games in net for the Knoxville IceBears. I looked for him on hockeydb and he wasn't there. I have wondered ever since, why would someone lie about playing in the SPHL instead of making it a cool lie.

It's like they don't know those sites exist.

It's somewhere between tragically funny and pathetic. Having worked in both sports and journalism, I know where to look. People make these claims to have played somewhere, and I look them up. I once had an off-ice official tell me he was a middle infielder in the Baltimore Orioles organization. He wasn't. Several people have made claims about playing pro hockey. They didn't. The fiancee of a law school classmate told me he played on the PGA Tour. She believed him. I didn't, and I looked him up, and he had made a couple of starts... on the Hooters Tour.

 

[JMCx4]

... The fiancee of a law school classmate told me he played on the PGA Tour. She believed him. I didn't, and I looked him up, and he had made a couple of starts... on the Hooters Tour.

On the bright side, he got coupons for free wings when he made the cut.

 

[Atlantian]

The one I always liked was "Shitty Pond Hockey League."

I was always partial to the Somewhat Pro Hockey League