ORLANDO, Fla. — Time was that once the final horn of the final game of the playoffs sounded, hockey was done until the leaves began to change colors in the fall. Not anymore.
For the teams of the SPHL, this is the time of year to begin making plans for next season. There have been plenty of announcements in the last two months so let’s get caught up with the goings on.
Columbus Cottonmouths: Head Coach/General Manager Jerome Bechard is one of the busiest men in the SPHL. In between running the Columbus front office and chairing the league’s summer meetings, he managed to make two very important signings.
The first announcement came on June 5 when goalie Chad Rycroft rejoined the Cottonmouths following a brief one season retirement. Rycroft, 29, played for Columbus from 2004-2007 and was one of the league’s top net minders. He backstopped the team to the league’s inaugural championship in 2005, posting a 5-0 playoff record and a sparkling 1.71 goals against average. Two seasons later, his 3.11 goals against average and .912 save percentage earned him Goaltender of the Year honors.
Columbus’ second signing came on June 19 when the team announced that captain Craig Stahl had resigned. Long the heart and soul of the Cottonmouths’ franchise, Stahl has tallied 113 points in 197 games since Columbus joined the SPHL from the CHL. Stahl has been captain since 2004.
Fayetteville FireAntz: Fayetteville came within one win of going back to the SPHL championship series and rewarded coach Tommy Stewart with a new one-year contract that also holds a mutual option for a second season.
Stewart’s first signing for the 2008-2009 season was forward Marc Norrington. Norrington, who will be in his third season with the Antz, had a career year, netting personal highs in goals (21), assists (21) and points (42) as well as leading the team with a plus-12 rating.
Fayetteville’s second off-season signing was an important one. Goaltender Chad Collins, a big reason why the FireAntz won the 2007 President’s Cup, agreed to come back for his fifth season. He is the franchise’s winningest net minder, having accrued 76 regular season victories to go with several league awards.
Stewart also began to address his defense by inking both Lawne Snyder and Corey Hessler. Snyder, who joined the team midway through last season, had 19 points in 21 games with Fayetteville. Hessler, the FireAntz’ player/assistant, put up 42 points and steadied the blue line corps.
On a side note, the FireAntz family also grew by one when Stewart and his wife Gail welcomed son Cole Matthew Stewart into the world on June 23. Cole is the second son and third child for the Stewart family.
Huntsville Havoc: The Havoc made their first announcement an important one when the team hired Eric Soltys, who had been an assistant with the New Mexico Scorpions, to be its new head coach.
Soltys’ first move was to hire a good assistant coach. He found one in Paul Snell, who had been the assistant coach at Salem State College. The very same day, he announced the signing of forward Travis Kauffeldt. In two seasons with the Havoc, Kauffeldt has scored 34 goals and 65 assists in 94 games.
The Havoc then added some hometown flavor by getting commitments from two former University of Alabama-Huntsville players, Keith Rowe and Jeff Winchester. Rowe, a forward, played for UAH from 2001-2005 before joining the Amarillo Gorillas in the CHL where he spent three seasons and last year was the captain of the Gorillas’ squad. Winchester, a defenseman, has over 100 games of experience combined in the ECHL and the CHL over the past two seasons. Last year he played against Soltys as a member of the Arizona Sundogs in the CHL.
Knoxville Ice Bears: The defending SPHL champions had only one signing to announce but it was maybe the biggest of all. Kevin Swider, the acknowledged heartbeat of the Ice Bears and one of the biggest stars in the league, will be back for a seventh season this fall. In 266 games with Knoxville, he has tallied 183 goals and 299 assists which have helped him to be the SPHL’s leading scorer in each of the circuit’s first four seasons.
Twin City Cyclones: Just because the Cyclones had no player signing announcements doesn’t mean that Head Coach/General Manager Mark Richards and his staff haven’t been working.
The staff has been diligently renewing sponsorships and adding new ones to the fold. One staffing addition was made when Richards hired Chad Ray as Head Equipment Manager. Ray spent last season as the video coach and equipment assistant with the Mississippi Sea Wolves in the ECHL.
Contact the author at don.money@prohockeynews.com
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