PENSACOLA, FLA – The SPHL will not be seeing a triple crown winner anytime soon.
The once mighty Ice Flyers, a team that won the last two consecutive titles and set five records last year including most points in a season, have been evicted from the throne room with a first round loss to the Mississippi RiverKings.
A 3-2 double overtime loss at the Bay Center in game one set the stage for what could have been their season-ender in Southhaven, Mississippi. Unfortunately for the RiverKings, Pensacola responded with its own 3 – 2 OT win and spoiled Mississippi’s chance to see their team advance at home.
The renowned crowd at the Hangar would not however be enough to put the third seeded Ice Flyers over the top in game 3 on April 4th, as they fell in regulation 2-1 to a team that had not won a playoff series since joining the SPHL in 2011. The RiverKings thus joined an unlikely crew of lower seed teams to advance, the first place Peoria Rivermen and second place Columbus Cottonmouths also being knocked out of contention by last place Louisiana and fifth place Knoxville respectively. In this year’s bizarre playoff picture, that leaves fourth seed Mississippi with a semi-final bye to face one or the other of the bottom two teams in the finals.
“Well, that didn’t end according to plan,” Ice Flyers team owner Greg Harris said. “I’d love to win them all. But our time will come again soon.”
Unlike the many playoff games of the past two years, the Ice Flyers didn’t 
post high scores by shredding the defense with precision shots set up by well executed assists. In fact, the offensive flare that made Pensacola so dominant last season had been an ever diminishing factor this year. Starting the season 6 – 0, the Ice Flyers toppled from their first place perch all the way to sixth after trading three key scoring players to Huntsville in December. Their very next game was against the Havoc, when that last place team struggling to get to .300 crushed Pensacola 6 – 1 with most of the points being scored by Mark Anthoine and Drew Akins, the traded former Ice Flyers. Pensacola never seemed to regain that offensive mack that hadonce won games and bedazzled fans at the Hangar.
“Peter Di Salvo won the series for them,” one Pensacola fan tweeted.
Oh, yeah, and then there was THAT guy.
The former Ice Flyer netminder played an extraordinary series for Mississippi, claiming the top goalie spot in the SPHL playoffs at the end of round one with an impressive 108 saves, a 1.70 GAA, and a .947 SV%.
“Being with Pensacola last season gave me extra motivation for the series,” Di Salvo told Pro Hockey News. “We were ready from the start of game one. Going into the playoffs we knew we could beat any team. We knew Pensacola was going to bring everything they had to the table, being the two-time defending champions. There 
was a lot for myself as a goalie to prove, but my team comes first and I wanted to perform at 110 percent for them more than anything else. What won us the series was dedication and hard work. Everyone was committed to their roles and to playing strong defense. No matter what, we never gave up. If there was a bad penalty, a bad bounce, or no call made on the play, we never looked back. We kept moving forward, and in the end we made it through. The most nerve racking thing that happened in the series was facing a penalty shot with 8 seconds left in game 3 from my former teammate Corey Banfield. I had to make the save for my team, especially because I caused the penalty shot by taking off my mask during play when my strap came undone. Once I made the save, I knew we were going to kill off the last 8 seconds to win the series. Now we are one step closer. Two more wins and we are the President’s Cup champions. Nothing is going to get in our way. We have worked too long and hard to let it slip through our hands.”
“Even when we were losing games we were playing well, just missing out on opportunities,” Pensacola wingman Brett Beebe commented in reflecting on the season. “We were circled on every team’s calendar. Everyone wanted to beat us. We got everyone’s best game, and that’s how we wanted it. We loved coming to the rink every day and playing for a first class organization. We really did want to bring another championship to Pensacola. The fans have come to expect a winning tradition and we don’t take that lightly.”
Photos courtesy of Vanessa Johnson and Ice Flyer Nation
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