Since its inception in 2004, nearly 650 Southern Professional Hockey League players have been called up during the season to the ECHL, CHL or other ‘AA’ level (or higher) league, combining for over 11,000 games played. Last season, 73 different players earned the opportunity to advance to the ECHL where they played a combined 1,095 games for 25 of the ECHL’s 27 teams.
|
Team
|
Players Loaned
|
Games Played
|
Total Callups
|
|
Birmingham
|
6
|
102
|
8
|
|
Evansville
|
13
|
129
|
16
|
|
Fayetteville
|
5
|
25
|
7
|
|
Huntsville
|
3
|
36
|
3
|
|
Knoxville
|
8
|
53
|
10
|
|
Macon
|
7
|
165
|
11
|
|
Pensacola
|
9
|
133
|
14
|
|
Peoria
|
12
|
159
|
16
|
|
Quad City
|
5
|
117
|
7
|
|
Roanoke
|
9
|
176
|
14
|
Now entering its 16th season of play, the SPHL has firmly established itself as one of the top professional hockey leagues in North America.
Scott Darling became the first SPHL player to reach the NHL, winning the 2015 Stanley Cup as a member of the Chicago Blackhawks (Photo credit Jonathan Daniel / Getty Images)
Darling played in the SPHL from 2010-2012 with Louisiana and Mississippi (RiverKings), posting a 21-39-1 record, 3.32 goals against average and .899 save percentage (Photo credit John Coffin)
Former Columbus Cottonmouth Alex Gallant, now with the Vegas Golden Knights, spent last season with the AHL’s Chicago Wolves. Gallant recorded 251 penalty minutes in 43 games with Columbus in 2013-14 (Photo courtesy Ross Dettman/Chicago Wolves)
After playing 11 games with Peoria in 2014, the AHL’s Albany Devils signed Alexandre Carrier to a contract and assigned him to ECHL Orlando. Carrier played 16 games for the Solar Bears before being called up to Albany, becoming the first player to play in both the SPHL and AHL in the same season (Photo credit Cindy Schultz/Times Union)
