Southern Professional Hockey League

The Southern Professional Hockey League (SPHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in Huntersville, North Carolina, with teams located in the southeastern United States and Illinois in the midwestern United States.

The Knoxville Ice Bears are the most recent President's Cup Champions, having won their 4th title on April 18, 2015.

History

The SPHL's history traces back to three other short-lived leagues. The Atlantic Coast Hockey League started play in 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, the league added an expansion team in Augusta, Georgia, another former long time ECHL market. For the 2011–12 season, the league added 2-time Central Hockey League champions, the Mississippi RiverKings. For the 2013–14 season, the league expanded northward with two franchises in Illinois: the Bloomington Thunder, a new team moving from the CHL, where they were known as the Bloomington Blaze, and the Peoria Rivermen, who are replacing an American Hockey League team of the same name in their market.