Ice Bears begin looking for new head coach

From prohockeynews.com:

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – After just one season as head coach, Marc Rodgers is leaving the Knoxville Ice Bears.

A team press release stated the search for a new head coach will begin immediately. Until a new bench leader is found, Ice Bears President and General Manager Mike Murray will assume all hockey operations duties.

“(Marc) Rodgers has been a valued member of the Ice Bears in varying capacities 

Former Knoxville head coach Marc Rodgers (photo courtesy of Knoxville Ice Bears)

for the past four seasons.  His contributions have been appreciated during his tenure,” Murray said. “We want to thank him for his service to the Ice Bears organization over the years. ”

According to Nick Gates at the Knoxville News Sentinel, the coaching change came during a meeting on Monday with the team’s owners and Murray.

Rodgers was an assistant under Scott Hillman when the Ice Bears won back-to-back SPHL championships in 2008 and 2009. Rodgers was named the head coach when Hillman left the Ice Bears to coach the expansion Missouri Mavericks of the Central Hockey League.

With Rodgers at the helm, the Ice Bears finished fourth last season with a 30-23-3 record. The season brought many memorable moments, most notably the goalie fight in January that knocked net minder Andrew Gallant out of action for a month and the bench-clearing brawl against the Fayetteville FireAntz during the last game of the regular season.

In the post season, Knoxville was able to escape Fayetteville in the first round but lost to eventual SPHL champion Huntsville in the semifinals. 

The Ice Bears are heading into an important time of the off-season when player recruitment becomes the focus. Gates reported on Sunday that captain Kevin Swider, considered by many to be the best player in the history of the league with six scoring titles and two MVP trophies, has officially retired. Additionally, veteran forward Tim Vitek has hung up his skates. With two of the franchise's most prolific scorers not returning, finding replacements and rebuilding the roster has taken on new meaning.
Stay with Pro Hockey News for more on this developing story.
Contact the author at kristina.shands@prohockeynews.com  

SPHL concludes annual Board of Governors meeting

CHARLOTTE, NC (June 18, 2010) – The annual meeting of the Southern Professional Hockey League Board of Governors concluded Wednesday in Las Vegas, NV with several topics being discussed, including finalization of the 2011 playoff format. 

2011 Playoff Format:

The top six (6) finishers in the league standings will make the playoffs:

ROUND 1

Series A - #1 Seed will play #6 Seed in a best-of-five series with the #1 Seed hosting Games 1, 3 and 5 (if necessary)

Series B - #2 Seed will play #5 Seed in a best-of-three series with the #2 Seed hosting Games 1 and 3 (if necessary)

Series C - #3 Seed will play #4 Seed in a best-of-three series with the #3 Seed hosting Games 1 and 3 (if necessary).

ROUND 2

Winner of Series A gets a bye to Championship Round

Winner of Series B plays winner of Series C in a best-of-three series with the highest-seeded team hosting Games 1 and 3 (if necessary)

PRESIDENT’S CUP FINALS

The highest remaining seed will host Games 1, 3 and 5 (if necessary) in the best-of-five Championship.

“By far, the playoff format was the most discussed topic of the meeting,” stated President Jim Combs.  “The Board evaluated several different scenarios in trying to come up with a format that gave equal weight to competition and economics.  Ultimately, the Board voted to retain the playoff format that was used last season and while not perfect, we feel it offers the best overall balance for the teams involved.”

Team Rosters

Teams will still have an 18-man roster during the season, but will only be allowed to dress 17 players for games, one fewer than last season.

League Standings

For the 2010-2011 regular season, teams will no longer receive a point for an overtime or shootout loss.  The winning team will still receive two points in the standings.

“We feel that eliminating the point for an overtime or shootout loss will increase the quality and intensity of play throughout the league,” explained Combs.  “In researching what effect the loss of the additional point would have had on past standings, we found that the point differential between teams actually decreased, making the overall standings much closer.

2009-2010                                       2009-2010

Standings (actual)                    Standings (without OTL)

Team                  Points               Team                Points

xMississippi          76                  Mississippi          68 

xHuntsville            71                  Huntsville            62

xFayetteville          65                  Fayetteville          62

xKnoxville             63                  Knoxville             60

xPensacola            58                  Pensacola            50

xColumbus           51                  Louisiana             46 

Louisiana              48                  Columbus            44

x-made playoffs

“In the past, teams that have been tied late in the game would change their style of play in order to finish the third period still tied, knowing they were getting a point by doing so,” added Combs.  “Now that it’s either two points or none, the emphasis is back on playing to win instead of playing not to lose.”

Election of Officers

By unanimous vote of the Board, the following individuals were elected to serve as officers for the 2010-2011 season:

Chairman:            Tim Kerr, Pensacola

Vice Chairman:     Mike Murray, Knoxville

Treasurer:            Keith Jeffries, Huntsville

Secretary:             Doug Price, League Office

Roster Deadlines

The SPHL trade deadline will be Monday, February 28, 2011 while the last day for SPHL teams to add a player who has played outside of North America during the 2010-2011 season will be Tuesday, February 1, 2011.

Past and Current Ice Bears Play in Summer Tournament this weekend

From the Knoxville Ice Bears newsletter:

Summer has melted the ice at the Knoxville Civic Coliseum, but many of your local Ice Bears will be playing in an annual summer tournament this weekend, June 4-6, at Cool Sports (Icearium) in West Knoxville.

Games start Friday night at 8:40 pm when seven-time SPHL scoring champion Kevin Swider and Team Knoxville take on Nashville's Southern Ice, lead by former NHL defenseman Jim McKenzie.

The marquee match-up will be played on Saturday at 6:30 pm when Knoxville Cherokee's all-time leading scorer and current GM Mike Murray will face off against the SPHL's all-time leading scorer Kevin Swider.

Admission is free for all games.

Players include:
Team Knoxville: KJ Voorhees, Kevin Swider, Mike Bulawka, Josh Akright

Team Dirty Dogs: Mike Murray, Tim Sinasac, Rich Zalewski, Travis Hansen, Chris Brannen

Team Huntsville: Bill McCreary and Keith Rowe of the Huntsville Havoc (you don’t have to cheer them if you don’t want, we wont make you)

Southern Ice: Jim McKenzie (Former Nashville Predator)

Friday, June 4

Time, Level, Home Team, Away Team, Game #

8:40pm, A, Knoxville, Southern Ice, #4

9:50pm, A, Dirty Dogs, Huntsville, #5

Saturday, June 5

10:20am, A, Southern Ice, Dirty Dogs, #9

11:30am, A, Huntsville, Knoxville, #10

6:30pm, A, Knoxville, Dirty Dogs, #16

7:40pm, A, Huntsville, Southern Ice, #17

Sunday, June 6

12:00pm, A, CHAMPIONSHIP GAME, #23

Hope everyone is having a phenomenal summer and look forward to seeing many of you there!