ORLANDO, Fla. – March may mean madness in college basketball but the NCAA has nothing on the Southern Professional Hockey League. The hits are harder, tempers are shorter and every point counts as the regular season winds into its final ten games over the next four week. With six of the league’s seven teams making the playoffs, every game takes on greater importance. Let’s take a look at where everybody stands. Of the three expansion teams that joined the league at the start of the season, the Mississippi Surge (27-11-8, 62 points) are by far the biggest and best surprise. Coach Steffon Walby has put together a team that has been remarkably consistent. The Surge are near the top of the league in home wins (18) and are the sole SPHL squad to hold a winning record on the road (9-6-8). That combined with solid special teams has pushed them into first place as March begins. Seven of their final ten games are against their I-10 neighbors (Pensacola and Louisiana) so the road to the top seed in the playoffs will be won or lost there. Mississippi’s offense, especially on the power play begins with Matt Zultek. A newcomer to the SPHL but a seasoned hockey veteran, Zultek already has his name in the record book for most power play goals in a season (29 and counting) and is second in total goals with 43. Former SPHL Rookie of the Year Michael Richard is proving that he is no fluke, leading the team in points (64 to Zultek’s 63). Lest anyone think the Surge are just offense waiting to happen, goalies Bill Zaniboni and Ryan Senft are both in the top five in the league. Zaniboni has the second most wins (17) and is second in goals against average at 2.78. Right on the heels of the Surge are the Fayetteville FireAntz (29-17-1, 59 points). Once again, a Tommy Stewart coached team is getting hot at the right time. They have a league-best 19 wins at the Crown Coliseum and have the most road wins (10) so far. With five of their final nine games at home, first place is certainly not out of the question. The road games won’t be easy either with three trips to Knoxville between now and March 27th. It’s hard to talk about the Fayetteville team on the ice without starting with forward Rob Sich. The first player in SPHL history to score 50 goals in a season, Sich is in search of his first scoring title, holding an eight point lead over Knoxville’s Kevin Swider. Sich’s linemate Chris Leveille is third in the league in scoring at 69 points, 53 of which are assists. Goalie Guy St. Vincent, the net minder that Stewart rode all the way to within one win of the championship a year ago, leads the league in wins (21) and minutes played (1927:35) and will be the go-to guy once again. After a fast start, the Huntsville Havoc (24-14-8, 56 points) have slipped back into third place. The slide has reminded fans of the collapse a year ago but unlike last season’s fall, coach Randy Murphy has been able to avoid a serious cave-in. The Havoc’s record at the Von Braun Center is 16-3-4, the fewest home losses to date. Away from home, Huntsville’s 8-11-4 mark is third best. Although the rest of the Havoc schedule is evenly split between home and road contests, three meetings with Knoxville and two with Columbus will set the tone. With top scorer Travis Kauffeldt on the shelf due to injury for more than a month, the Havoc needed other players to step up and they did. Justin Rohr (19-26-45) and Mike MacDonald (19-22-41) did just that as did enforcer Dennis Sicard who leads the team with 20 goals. Goalie Mark Sibbald (14-3-2) leads the league with a stingy 2.29 goals against average. His play has earned him a couple of call-ups during the season to higher leagues. The Havoc struggled when Sibbald was gone but now that he is back, they hope to ride him to the franchise’s first President’s Cup title. The two-time defending champion Knoxville Ice Bears (25-20-2, 52 points) are currently in the fourth spot in the standings, a position the team is not used to. At home, they have a very good 17-6-0 record but on the road they are just 8-14-2. With nine games left on the schedule (five of which are at home), the Ice Bears still can move up in the standings and get home ice in the first round. Much of where Knoxville finishes will be decided by three games they have left against Huntsville, two of which are in Knoxville. As it has been every year since the Ice Bears joined the SPHL, Kevin Swider is the bell weather. His 34 goals give him six consecutive seasons at or over the 30-goal mark and he is just eight points behind Fayetteville’s Sich in the scoring race. His linemate Tim Vitek (15-36-51) adds more scoring punch to Knoxville’s top line. Taylor Hustead (20-26-46) and Frank Furdero (17-28-45) will also have to kick it up a notch if the Ice Bears are going to move up. Goalie Andrew Gallant (14-8-1, 2.89 goals against) is just back from being out of the lineup with an injury and should help bolster the defense. The Pensacola Ice Flyers (21-18-8, 50 points) are sitting in fifth but within striking distance of Knoxville and Huntsville and possibly Fayetteville. Coach Todd Gordon’s troops have a solid 14-8-2 mark at home at the Pensacola Civic Center but a so-so 7-10-6 record on the road. Nine games are left on the Ice Flyers schedule with four set for the friendly confines of the PCC. Six of the nine are against their I-10 rivals from Mississippi and Louisiana so expect some all out war along the interstate in the next few weeks. Part of the reason Pensacola has done well id the veteran leadership that Gordon brought in. Lorne Misita (25-29-54) and Chris Rebernik (24-27-51) have helped the coach keep things on an even keel throughout this inaugural SPHL season. Rob Campbell (16-19-35) has also contributed in a timely fashion. Ryan Scott (12-14-5, 3.16 goals against) has played the bulk of the minutes in net but backup Jamie Gilbert has gone 5-1-3 with a 3.35 goals against average since coming over in a trade from Louisiana. Currently the sixth and final playoff spot is in the possession of the Columbus Cottonmouths (19-20-6, 44 points). Coach Jerome Bechard’s guys have battled to find consistency all season. They are 14-5-3 at home but a dismal 5-15-3 away from the Columbus Civic Center. Last weekend, they were encouraged by a come-from-behind victory in Knoxville. The Cottonmouths have eleven games remaining with six at home including a pair with Knoxville, two with Huntsville and one with Pensacola. They will need to get red hot in order to climb the ladder. Second year player Sam Bowles (20-24-44), who spent some time in the CHL at the beginning of the season, has been the hottest scorer of late. Rookie Levi Lind (14-27-41) has been a solid contributor from the get go, as has his fellow rookie Jesse Cole (20-17-37). Veteran Tim Green (15-25-40) has shown some flashes of the brilliance that made him a household name around the SPHL during his five plus seasons in Columbus. The goaltending tandem of Ian Vigier (13-10-5, 2.82 goals against) and Chad Rycroft (6-9-1, 3.99) have both played well at times, waiting for the sputtering offense to win games for them. Last but not least, the Louisiana IceGators (17-27-2, 36) are sitting in the cellar in seventh place. Their overall play of late has been getting better but the team had dug itself a big hole early that it is still trying to get out of. The IceGators are the lone SPHL team under .500 at home (11-12-1) and are 6-15-1 on the road. Louisiana leads the league in two categories that sum up their season: penalty minutes against (1507) and goals allowed (189). They need to win all of their remaining ten games and hope that Columbus falls completely flat in order to steal the final playoff spot. It will be a tough task with only four games at the Blackham Coliseum and three games apiece against Columbus and Mississippi and two versus Pensacola and Huntsville left to play. Mike Omicioli (12-25-37) and Daryl Moore (13-20-33) have been two of the offensive stars for the IceGators. Josh Bonar (17-15-32) is the only other Louisiana player over 30 points. Goalie AJ Bucchino (11-17-2, 3.95 goals against) has been the number one net minder all season but may be best remembered this season for a fight with Knoxville goalie Andrew Gallant that left Bucchino with a broken nose. The team has made more news off the ice, going through four head coaches before settling on Dave MacIsaac and more recently having Jason Hamilton suspended eight games for his actions in the third period of a game last week. MacIsaac (one game) and Paul McBrien (two games) also received suspensions from incidents in the same game. So buckle yourselves in SPHL fans because if the past is any indicator, the ride to the playoffs is about to get exciting and a bit bumpy. Contact the author at don.money@prohockeynews.com
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