SPHL mid-season update

JOHNS ISLAND, SC — With the calendar changing to January, and coming off a week in which all teams played three straight games on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, the 2008-09 SPHL season is starting to crystallize as the teams compete for the regular season championship and the four post season playoff spots.
More than half-way through the 2008-09 season schedule, the focus may be on which team will finish in fourth although, if Huntsville’s recent woes continue, the opportunity for one or more teams to move up may happen.
The current standings as of January 11, 2009 and a synopsis of each team follows:

Knoxville Ice Bears (46 points):   Knoxville, averaging 3,217 fans per game at home, recently jumped past Huntsville to move into first place. The Ice Bears seem to be solidifying their grip on the position with seven wins in their last ten games. This run included three wins against second place Huntsville, the league leader for much of the season.
The Ice Bears, last year’s playoff winners, have been especially good on the road recording 11 of their 21 wins while playing in other arenas.   Kevin Swider, a native of Livonia, Michigan is in his customary position, leading the SPHL in scoring with 57 points, including 23 goals and 34 assists. He is the SPHL leading scorer in both goals and assists. The SPHL veteran has averaged over 30 goals and almost 100 points per season over his previous four years in the league. Tim Vitek, with 45 points including 13 goals, and Mike Carter, with 39 points including 10 goals, round out the top three scoring leaders for the team.   
Knoxville’s goaltending has been strong as the goaltenders have a combined league leading save percentage of .0919. Kirk Irving and Andrew Gallant, who have split the time in net, rank number one and two in the league and both have almost identical goals against averages of 2.58 and 2.59 respectively.
The goaltending, coupled with a strong defense led by defenseman Kevin Harris with 6 goals and 23 points and a plus-12 plus rating, has enabled the Ice Bears to lead the SPHL in the fewest goals allowed. Opposition teams have scored only 88 goals in the 31 Ice Bears’ games.  
The Ice Bears seem to have hit their stride. They are playing extremely well and have a major shot at first place in the regular season as well as becoming the first SPHL team to repeat as playoff champions.
Huntsville Havoc (39 points):   The Havoc have either led or have been close to the top of the SPHL for most of the season. However, they have struggled over the past ten games winning only twice. They currently have lost six straight games. Prior to this rough patch, they had been one of the best teams in the league and even with the recent losses stand at 18-12-3.
Unless the losses continue, this season should be viewed as a major turn-around under first year coach Eric Soltis. Last year, the Havoc finished in last place and out of the playoffs.    Playing before an average of 3,360 fans, some of the downturn may be explained by the loss of the SPHL’s former leading goal tender, Tim Haun, in late November.   Recalled to Ft. Wayne of the International Hockey League, Haun had helped Huntsville get off to a great start.   At the time of his recall, he was leading the league with a 2.47 goals against average with a .0926 save percentage and had a record of eight wins against two losses. His primary replacement thus far, Ross Cherry, played college hockey at Middlebury College, and is a first year pro. He has posted a 10-6-2 record with a goals against average of 3.34 and a save percentage of .0888.  
Fourth year pro forward Travis Kauffeldt leads the Havoc in scoring with 22 goals and 42 points. Latvian born and CHL veteran Karlis Zirnis also has 42 points including 14 goals. The two Havoc forwards are tied for third place in the overall league scoring race.   Another international product, defenseman Martin Kubliac of the Slovak Republic who has previous playing time in both the CHL and ECHL, has a plus-10 rating and has scored 22 points with 7 goals to lead the defensive corps.
The question for Havoc fans is simple: can the team regain its level of performance when the team won 18 of the first 26 games they played for the balance of the season?
Richmond Renegades (37 points): Richmond has drawn an average of 3,192 fans at their 19 home games. The Renegades, despite having only six road wins, still look to be one of the playoff teams at this point in the season and are closing in on second place in the standings. The Renegades have won six of their last ten games.
T revor Karasiewicz, an SPHL veteran who came to Richmond last season in the middle of the schedule from Huntsville, is the team’s leading scorer with 38 points including 11 goals. Forward Beau McLaughlin, one of the few native Virginians in pro hockey and also an experienced SPHL veteran, has 17 goals and 37 points. McLaughlin leads the team in game winning goals with four so far this season.
Ryan Scott has been the primary goaltender since the season ending injury to Ryan Senft in early December. Scott, with a record of 8-5-1, was recently joined by Ryan Person, a former member of the Jacksonville Barracudas who has appeared in two games since being signed on 12/30/08.
Rookie Defenseman John Halverson has ten goals and 18 assists to lead the defensive corps in scoring. Richmond has allowed a league leading 128 goals and coach Brian Goudie, in his second season as head coach, has been turning over his goaltending cadre looking for a strong second performer ever since Senft was placed on the season ended injured reserve list.   Hopefully for Renegade fans Person will be the answer.
With defenseman Dan Vandermeer recently returning from the injured list and the resigning of tough guy Dennis Sicard, the Renegades look to be a strong playoff contender at this point in the season.
Columbus Cottonmouths (31 points): Averaging 2,686 fans, the Cottonmouths have come alive after a bit of a slow start, winning 10 of their last 15 games. They also have three games in hand on third place Richmond who they trail by six points, one game in hand on Fayetteville who they lead by a point and three games on last place Twin City who they lead by two points. They seem well positioned to gain ground if they can capture points in their games in hand.
Snake’s veteran Tim Green, who d uring his four previous seasons with the Cottonmouths collected 264 points in 198 games played, has 33 points including 15 goals to lead the Snakes in scoring. Rookie Michael George is second in team scoring with 11 goals included in his 27 points. He leads the team with five power play goals.   Another long-time veteran, Lorne Misita, has contributed 26 points including 10 goals.
Goaltender Chad Rycroft has played 18 games for the Snakes, posting a record of 8-9-1 and a 3.18 goals against average. Second year goalie Ian Vigier, who has enjoyed great success during multiple recalls to the ECHL, has posted a 2.88 goals against average and a record of 6-5-2. He ranks third in the SPHL in goals against. While on loan to the Charleston Stingrays of the ECHL Vigier, posted a 5-1 record and won goalie of the week honors during one stint.
Kyle Lundale and Tyler Johnson have the best plus/minus records on the defense while Mat Ponto, who returned to Columbus after playing in Germany last year lead s the defensive corps in goals scored with five.
Fayetteville FireAntz (30 points):   The FireAntz lead the league in attendance averaging 3,476 attendance in their fifteen home games. They are 5-3-2 in their last ten games.   They have also played the fewest games in the league. Thus, like Columbus, they have the opportunity to gain ground with their games in hand.
Forward Rob Sich, who leads all FireAntz scorers, is tied for third in the SPHL scoring race with 42 points including 19 goals. He has been on a tear of late, scoring 11 goals in his last ten games.   Sich also leads the team in penalty minutes with 98 minutes, the highest total among the top 25 scorers in the SPHL. Unfortunately, the FireAntz scoring is concentrated in Sich. He is the only FireAntz player with a double digit goal total.   The next leading scorer is defenseman Lawne Snyder with 22 points including five goals. The team’s total of 97 goals places the FireAntz in fifth place in league scoring however, as stated, they have played the fewest number of games.     
Goaltender Chad Collins has played in 21 of the FireAntz’ 30 games a 3.57 goals against average and a .0890 save percentage. His backup, Kyle Knechtel, has recorded a goals against average of 3.56 and a save percentage of .0876 in 11 games.
If the FireAntz are to remain in playoff contention, Sich must keep scoring and get some help from the other forwards. The ‘Antz must also improve their special teams play especially, on penalty kills. Fayetteville ranks last in the SPHL in their penalty kill percentage, allowing the opposition to score more than twenty percent of the time.
Coach Tommy Stewart hasn’t been happy with his team’s play and has begun to address things via roster changes. Within a 24 hour span recently, he acquired Brett Needham from Richmond and sent forward Justin Keller to Knoxville. Keller, considered to be a favorite of Stewart’s in the past, has not had a typical year and the coach sent him packing, hoping to send a message to the rest of his troops.
Fayetteville fans are hopeful that the team’s record over the past ten games and Stewart’s penchant for second half runs are harbingers of a run at the playoffs.
Twin City Cyclones (29 points): Struggling at the gate with an average attendance of 1,075, the Cyclones are now playing competitive hockey.   A record of five wins and five losses in their last 10 games has given Cyclones’ fans some optimism after a rough start to the season.
The Cyclones lost 17 games, including three OT losses, during the first 26 games of the season.   The slow start led to a change in the front office of the Cyclones in early November. Sean Cowan, who was serving as assistant coach, took over as General Manager of the team allowing Mark Richards, in his fourth year with Twin City, and had been serving as both Coach and General Manager to concentrate solely on the on-ice product.   
Michael Richard, from St. Constant Quebec, leads the team in scoring with 37 points including 13 goals. He has a plus-9 rating which leads the team in the plus minus category. Taylor Hustead, last year’s SPHL Rookie of the Year, rejoined the team nine games into the season and has recorded 24 points including 8 goals in the 24 games he has played. Donald Melnyk, who joined the Cyclones this year after two years with Richmond, is second among Cyclone scorers with 13 goals and 21 assists while Matt Puntureri and Ben Manny lead the team in goals with 14 each.
Goalies Kevin Druce and Terry Dunbar have a combined goals against average of 3.52 with a save percentage of .0887.   The good news for TC fans is that despite the rocky start, the Cyclones are still within striking distance of a playoff spot if they can build on their recent performance.
Contact the author at Phil.Brand@prohockeynews.com