There was a rather involved discussion on SPHL social media recently that the league should remove its two Illinois teams; the Peoria Rivermen and the Quad City Storm, along with the Evansville Icemen.
The suggestion was that the SPHL has overextended into the North and caused travel problems for many of its far Southern members, and that league interest and attendance is down because of the size of the real estate now involved. Costs could be cut and focus could be put on fostering more hockey interest in the deep south by providing space for Southern teams to enter (or in some cases, re-enter) the league.
The mock plan would involve Peoria and the newly re-vamped QC program being moved into the USHL and using those arenas for Tier 1 junior hockey which is based out of Chicago.
We thought this was interesting fodder for a political discussion much milder than the ones everyone is having on Facebook these days, so we reached out to some people long associated with the SPHL for commentary.
“I’ve been in the league for 6 years now and it is far from what it was 6 years ago,” said Peter DiSalvo; goalie for the Quad City Storm. “The skill level is much better, the players are faster, and it’s not considered a ‘goon’ league anymore. If there were SPHL teams all over America and Canada it would be amazing. Look at the ECHL, not all of the teams are from the East Coast anymore. And correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m pretty sure the league is literally just called ECHL not the East Coast Hockey League anymore. You’re not going to be able to keep certain teams in the South these days because it’s not a big hockey market. The only way teams will be able to stay or come back into the league is with better management, marketing, sponsors, better players, better coaches, and cooperation from the city government. So to whoever thinks that the northern teams need to exit the league clearly doesn’t know how hockey works on and off the ice. If it weren’t for QC, I probably wouldn’t have a job in the league right now.”
“I think the SPHL is making itself known as a a stable and higher end league more now then ever before,” said Harry Mahesh, veteran SPHL center. “The thing about expanding is it’s usually a sign that the league is doing well. The ECHL originally was on the east coast, and now has become coast to coast and expanded into Canada. Travel costs are expensive but you could grow the league to the point you could have 2 divisions and tweak the schedule to play teams closer geographically. Finally one of the tricky parts would be deciding where the cut off line is exactly between north and south. And what cities are to “northern” to be in the league. As long as the market is doing well it’s hard to take away a product from fans. Cities down south who lost teams know to well how that feels.”
“As a fan from the North, it’s fun to travel to places like Pensacola, Birmingham, Roanoke,” said Susie Cranford, Peoria Rivermen season ticket holder and Booster Club member. “It’s great to go south in the winter and get some warm temperatures and sun! The SPHL has come a long way since the northern teams have joined. It’s no longer considered a goon league and constantly moves players up to the ECHL and AHL. By concentrating only on southern market teams, you greatly limit your team profitability. You have your hotspots with teams getting awesome attendance, but several teams that struggle to put butts in the seats no matter what they do. Even in Peoria’s somewhat short time in the league, we have seen many teams fold due to lack of attendance/profitability. By expanding into the north, you get historically decent attendance numbers to boost the SPHL brand. In the future I would love to see the SPHL (or possibly a league name change) expand further north and grab some old IHL/ECHL markets.”
“If the league is looking to expand it’s not going to be in markets that have already failed,” said Jeremie Allen, Pro Hockey News photojournalist. “Take Macon for example. They lost a team (the Macon Trax), and after 10 years of not having any hockey they got the Mayhem and they still have trouble drawing fans. If you over-saturate the South with teams, the league isn’t going to be able to expand and will continue to lose teams like it did in the early years of the league when teams were coming and going on almost a yearly basis. I think the focus should be on wherever the league can successfully expand, and get to a point where they could split the league into two divisions. That would also allow the league to look at the possibility of scheduling an all-star game. With arena availability at a premium during the season that’s probably nothing but a pipe dream, but it would be nice to see.”
Pro Hockey News’ ECHL editor and former SPHL editor Don Money provided some history from his own in-depth experience with the league.
“Quite honestly, the SPHL started off well with a decently defined footprint in the South,” said Money. “Fayetteville (followed by Richmond) as the boundary in the North, Huntsville in the West and the dive to Orlando/Kissimmee in the South.
Somewhere along the way the “cornerstone” owners in Fayetteville and Huntsville decided that Kissimmee was too much of a financial burden to them so out went the Seals (although they didn’t need the shove – Seals ownership after David Waronker killed the franchise). Soon after so did Jacksonville. The failure of Jax was brought on by SMG forcing the team to move to a practice rink for their final year. There was little effort from the league to save it.
Reviving the old ECHL I-10 rivalries with Mississippi, Louisiana and Pensacola was smart except for ownership stability. Sadly only Pensacola is left. My personal opinion is that the jump to Peoria and Bloomington (because they ended up having shared ownership) was a big stretch born out of greed. When Bloomington folded it left Peoria out in the cold without a travel partner. That is why they jumped all over Quad City after the ECHL Mallards folded up the tent.
Other than Pensacola and Peoria, the former ECHL turned SPHL cities fell flat. Some of that can be attributed to drop down in level (much like the struggles of Manchester dropping from AHL to ECHL currently)… Otherwise, it was greed that killed the golden calf.”
The idea everyone we interviewed shares is that geography alone plays an insignificant role in the success or failure of the SPHL. Most everyone agrees the league could be on the way to an ECHL level expansion, splitting North to South into conferences. That is, provided that mismanagement and deals behind close doors don’t poison the formula for success from here on out.
“I like the northern teams,” said Cody Weimer, Administrator for the SPHL fan site and ardent Havoc follower. “I wish there more so Peoria and the QC weren’t always playing each other. But I don’t see either of them leaving the SPHL.”
“Quad City is by far the best place I’ve played in the SPHL,” Peter DiSalvo also added after coming off a win Thursday night against Knoxville. “The fans have been amazing, our management and marketing team has done an amazing job, our coach makes hockey fun, and the guys in the locker room are like my family. Everyone has done their part in the QC Storm family and people are out watching our games every game. Not too bad for a Northern team in the SPHL, eh?”
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