The Augusta RiverHawks were a professional minor league ice hockey team based in Augusta, Georgia . They played in the Southern Professional Hockey League (SPHL) from 2010 to 2013. They played their home games at the James Brown Arena .
22-695: The Augusta RiverHawks were established as a new franchise in the Southern Professional Hockey League in 2010 by Bob and Diane Kerzner, who had formerly owned a different franchise, the Pee Dee/Twin City Cyclones . The RiverHawks replaced the Augusta Lynx , who had played in the city for ten years in the ECHL before folding in 2008. The name "RiverHawks" was announced for the new club on March 13, 2010, as
44-516: A sports team in the US state of Georgia is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Southern Professional Hockey League The SPHL (formerly the Southern Professional Hockey League ) is a professional ice hockey independent minor league based in Huntersville, North Carolina , with teams located primarily in the southeastern United States as well as Illinois and Indiana in
66-705: A year and a half. In 2023, the league rebranded to the orphaned initialism "SPHL" to reflect the fact that the league's footprint had expanded beyond the southern United States. Notes As per minor leagues, there are some rule differences between the SPHL and the NHL (and even the ECHL and the AHL, the two official developmental leagues regulated by the Professional Hockey Players' Association ). Awarded to
88-552: The 2013–14 SPHL season , forcing Kerzner to temporarily suspend team operations. Kerzner stated that he would retain his franchise rights during the RiverHawks' hiatus, hoping to return to play in the 2014–15 season. After considering relocating to either Greensboro, North Carolina , or Tallahassee, Florida , Kerzner, the SPHL, and the Macon-Bibb County Board of Commissioners announced on June 25, 2014, that
110-911: The Bloomington Blaze , and the Peoria Rivermen , who were replacing an American Hockey League team of the same name in their market. In 2015, the Augusta franchise returned and relocated to Macon, Georgia as the Macon Mayhem . In November 2014, Shannon Szabados became the first female goaltender to win an SPHL game, when the Columbus Cottonmouths defeated the Fayetteville FireAntz 5–4 in overtime. In that same game Erin Blair and Katie Guay became
132-635: The Pensacola Ice Flyers owner, Tim Kerr , bought the team from Coast Hockey LLC. Under new ownership, the Surge hired rookie head coach Jeff Bes . They went 29–24–3 in his first season. During the off-season, Kerr informed fans that the team would need to reach 1,000 season ticket holders by the start of this season, to stay viable on the coast. He later had a meeting and told fans the number had been revised to 800 season ticket holders. Fans collaborated to achieve 816 season ticket holders. There
154-648: The midwestern United States . Following the 2023–24 season , the Peoria Rivermen are the reigning President's Cup champions. As of 2024 , the Knoxville Ice Bears are the most successful team in SPHL history, having won five William B. Coffey Trophies as the regular season champions and four President's Cup playoff championships. The Peoria Rivermen have also won five William B. Coffey Trophies, while Pensacola has also won four President's Cups. The SPHL's history traces back to three other short-lived leagues. The Atlantic Coast Hockey League started play in
176-819: The 2002–03 season. After its only season, the ACHL dissolved with member teams forming the nucleus for two rival leagues, the South East Hockey League and the World Hockey Association 2 . After one season, the SEHL and WHA2 disbanded, with their surviving teams rejoining with two expansion teams to form the SPHL, commencing with the 2004–05 season. In 2009, the SPHL saw a large expansion with three new franchises, in Biloxi, Mississippi , Lafayette, Louisiana and Pensacola, Florida . In 2010,
198-572: The 2010–11 William B. Coffey Trophy for the second year in a row. They played the Knoxville Ice Bears in the first round of the 2010–11 SPHL Playoffs and advanced to the President's Cup Finals after winning the series 3–2. In the SPHL Finals, the Surge were matched up against the second seed Augusta Riverhawks and swept the series 3–0 claiming their first President's Cup. The Surge moved into their third year of operation under new ownership as
220-642: The 2018–19 season. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic , the 2019–20 season was curtailed and no champion was named. The following season, the league announced it would only play with five of the ten member teams due to pandemic-related capacity restrictions barring fans from attending games. During the season, the league approved of the Vermilion County Bobcats as a 2021–22 expansion team based in Danville, Illinois . The Bobcats folded after only
242-487: The James Brown Arena malfunctioned, causing the ice surface to melt. This forced the RiverHawks to play their remaining home games at their practice facility, where attendance was limited to season ticket holders and sponsors. Team owner Bob Kerzner, the city of Augusta, and arena operator Global Spectrum could not reach an agreement on repairing or replacing the arena's ice system in time for the club to commit to
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#1732793811205264-645: The RiverHawks would relocate to Macon, Georgia , and resume play as the Macon Mayhem . The Mayhem signed a five-year lease with the city of Macon and played their home games in the Macon Coliseum starting in the 2015–16 season. The SPHL previously had a franchise in Macon called the Macon Trax during its inaugural 2004–05 season . This American ice hockey team-related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article about
286-624: The Surge was based in Biloxi and home games were played at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum , also known as "The Power Plant". The Mississippi Surge began play 2009 following the suspension of operations of the Mississippi Sea Wolves of the ECHL . The folding of the Sea Wolves left South Mississippi without a hockey team or a professional sports team. A new team was announced to begin play in 2009 and
308-638: The first female officials to referee an SPHL game. At the end of the 2015–16 season, the Louisiana IceGators announced a one-year leave of absence for renovations to their arena but never returned. The IceGators' franchise was sold and reactivated as the Quad City Storm in 2018. Then in 2016, the dormant Mississippi Surge franchise was relocated to Southwest Virginia to become the Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs . One of
330-644: The inaugural SPHL teams, the Columbus Cottonmouths , suspended operations in 2017 after failing to find a buyer while an expansion team called the Birmingham Bulls were accepted into the league as the tenth team. Following the 2017–18 season, the Mississippi RiverKings suspended operations while the league searched for new owners. With the acceptance of the Quad City Storm , the league was able to remain at ten teams for
352-722: The league added an expansion team in Augusta, Georgia , another former long time ECHL market. For the 2011–12 season, the league added two-time Central Hockey League champions, the Mississippi RiverKings . For the 2013–14 season, the league lost the Augusta RiverHawks but also expanded northward with two franchises in Illinois : the Bloomington Thunder , a team also moving from the CHL, where they were known as
374-479: The league playoff champion. Originally known as the Commissioner's Cup, the regular season championship trophy was renamed in honor of league co-founder Bill Coffey during the 2007–08 season. Mississippi Surge The Mississippi Surge were a professional hockey team in the Southern Professional Hockey League that began play in the 2009–10 season and folded on May 2, 2014. Playing for five seasons,
396-575: The regular season champions. The Surge advanced to the playoffs and faced the Columbus Cottonmouths in a series that they won 3–1. In the championship round the Surge were defeated by the Huntsville Havoc , sweeping the Surge 3–0. In addition to winning the William B. Coffey Trophy , the Surge also won many of the league's player awards. Steffon Walby was chosen as Coach of the Year, Steve Weidlich
418-404: The team held a name-the-team contest on their temporary webpage. On June 17, the Surge unveiled their name, logo, and colors. The team was to be coached by longtime Sea Wolves player and coach Steffon Walby . The Surge had great success in its first season. After finishing first in the league at 34–14–8 at the end of the regular season, the Surge were presented the William B. Coffey Trophy as
440-477: The winning result of a fan vote. The RiverHawks opened their inaugural season on the road on October 21, 2010, losing to the Fayetteville FireAntz . They had their home opener the following evening, against 2009–10 SPHL champions the Huntsville Havoc , ultimately losing 5–3, however they went on to place second in league by the season's close. In late February 2013, the ice refrigeration system at
462-478: Was a counter visible to fans on the team's official website. The Surge have since removed the counter and it is not known how many season tickets have been sold. On May 2, 2014, the Surge announced that they had officially suspended operations indefinitely and have since relocated to Roanoke to become the Rail Yard Dawgs . *2010–11 season: no points were given for OTL Since the team's debut in
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#1732793811205484-549: Was chosen as Defenseman of the Year and was named team captain the following season, and Bill Zaniboni was chosen as the Goalie of the Year. In the team's second year of operation, the Surge faced adversity with numerous injuries and call-ups of key players, but again managed to finish the season in first place with an overall record of 37–19. The Surge were again crowned the Regular Season Champions and received
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