Contact: awest@thesphl.com
HUNTERSVILLE, NC (October 26, 2022) – The Southern Professional Hockey League continues its 19th season this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday as we have all 11 teams in action. You can follow all the action this season at www.sphltv.com
Birmingham Bulls (2-0-0)
• Forward Carson Rose leads the SPHL in points (7) after a two-goal, five-assist weekend against Vermillion County
• Winger Michael Gillespie, the reigning Warrior/SPHL Co-Player of The Week notched six points after his four-goal, two-assist performance against the Bobcats over the weekend
• Gillespie also picked up a first-period hat trick on Friday
• Goaltenders Austin Lotz and Hayden Stewart each picked up wins in their first starts of the year helping the Bulls sweep the Bobcats
NEXT UP: Birmingham travels to Huntsville to take on the Havoc on Friday before returning home to face Knoxville on Saturday (Puck drop 7:00 p.m. CT Friday | 7:00 p.m. CT Saturday)
Evansville Thunderbolts (2-1-0)
• Winger Matthew Barron is second amongst rookies in power-play assists (2) and tied for first in power-play points (2)
• Winger Mike Ferraro tallied his first goal of the season on Saturday against the Ice Bears before scoring the only two goals, including the game-winning goal, to beat Vermillion 2-1 in OT on Tuesday
• Goalie Zane Steeves posted a perfect 2-0-0 record against Knoxville and Vermillion County as he stopped 51 of 54 shots against the Ice Bears and Bobcats
NEXT UP: Evansville travels to Peoria to take on the Rivermen on Friday and Saturday and then to Quad City for a Sunday matinee (Puck drop 7:15 p.m. CT FRI/SAT | 2:10 p.m. CT Sunday)
Fayetteville Marksmen (1-1-0)
• Winger Bryan Moore leads the league in penalty minutes (29 PIM) all of which came in the first period of play on opening night
• Center Taylor McCloy has attempted two shots on the season, both of which have resulted in goals
• Goaltender Brent Moran ranks second in the league with a .966 save percentage after stopping 28 of 29 shot attempts in a win over the Rail Yard Dawgs
NEXT UP: Fayetteville travels to Knoxville on Friday to take on the Ice Bears in their only matchup this weekend (Puck drop 7:35 p.m. EST)
Huntsville Havoc (2-0-0)
• Winger Tyler Piacentini is fifth in points with five (2g, 3a), while his teammate center Sy Nutkevitch is seventh with four points (3g, 1a). Nutkevitch also ranks tied for second with three goals through the first two games
• Nutkevitch and Piacentini sit atop the leaderboard in shorthanded points after Sy scored a shorthanded goal off a Piacentini assist against the Ice Flyers on opening night
• Goalie Nick Latinovich ranks first in goals against average after posting the only shutout in the league on Friday night against Macon
NEXT UP: Huntsville will host the Birmingham Bulls on Friday before heading to take on the Pensacola Ice Flyers on Saturday (Puck drop 7:00 p.m. CT FRI | 7:05 p.m. CT SAT)
Knoxville Ice Bears (1-1-0)
• Winger Brett Ouderkirk ranks second amongst rookies in both goals (2) and points (4)
• Rookie defenseman Chris Jones ranks second among active rookies in plus/minus with +3. He is tied with his counterpart Ouderkirk, who is also +3
• Netminder Kristian Stead allowed two goals while stopping 23 of 25 shots faced against Evansville last Friday
NEXT UP: Knoxville will play host to the Fayetteville Marksmen Friday evening before finishing up on the road with the Birmingham Bulls on Saturday night (Puck drop 7:35 p.m. ET FRI | 7:00 p.m. CT SAT)
Macon Mayhem (0-2-0)
• Winger Tommy Munichiello is seventh among rookies with two points (1g, 1a)
• Goaltender Cody Kaprinski ranks fifth with 39 saves
NEXT UP: Macon welcomes the Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs for a two-game series on Friday and Saturday (Puck drop 7:30 p.m. ET FRI | 6:30 p.m. ET SAT)
Pensacola Ice Flyers (1-1-0)
• Winger Garrett Milan ranks fourth in the league with five points (2g, 3a)
• Center Kolten Olynek ranks first among rookies with six points (3g, 3a). His three goals are tied for second in the league overall and are first among rookies.
• Seth Ensor leads all defensive players in points (3) and goals (1)
NEXT UP: Pensacola welcomes the Huntsville Havoc to the Pensacola Bay Center for their lone matchup this weekend (Puck drop 7:05 p.m. CT SAT)
Peoria Rivermen (0-2-0)
• Center Alec Baer ranks third in shots after firing up 13 in two games
• As a team, the Rivermen lead the league in penalty minutes with 64 in two games
NEXT UP: Peoria welcomes the Evansville Thunderbolts to town as the reigning President’s Cup Champions look to get their first win of the 2022-23 season (Puck drop 7:15 p.m. CT FRI | 7:15 p.m. CT SAT)
Quad City Storm (2-0-0)
• Winger Filip Virgili ranks sixth in the league in points (5) after scoring two goals and adding three assists against Peoria last weekend
• Goaltender and reigning Warrior/SPHL Co-Player of The Week Bailey Brkin posted a perfect 2-0-0 record as he turned away 72 of 75 shots, including an impressive 16 of 17 in the third period Saturday as the Storm were outshot 17-2 but held on to defeat the Peoria Rivermen 2-1
NEXT UP: Quad City travels to take on the Vermillion County Bobcats on Friday and Saturday before returning home to face the Evansville Thunderbolts on Sunday afternoon (Puck drop 7:00 p.m. CT FRI | 7:00 p.m. CT SAT | 2:10 p.m. CT SUN)
Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs (1-1-0)
• Winger Travis Broughman sits tied for fifth among rookies in points (2) after posting one goal and one assist to help lead the team to their first win of the season on Friday
• Goaltender Brody Claeys sits among the top ten with a 1-1-0 record, after stopping 32 of 37 Fayetteville shots against him over the weekend
NEXT UP: Roanoke travels to take on the Macon Mayhem on Friday and Saturday (Puck drop 7:30 p.m. ET FRI | 6:30 p.m. ET SAT)
Vermillion County Bobcats (0-2-1)
• Winger TJ Delaney sits 11th among rookies with 2 points (1g, 1a) and is second in shots on goal with 12
• Goalie Sean Kuhn sits seventh among netminders with a 0-0-1 record, posting a 2.94 GAA in two games while turning away 56 of 61 shots. Kuhn also sits second with the 56 saves and is fourth in minutes played with 101:59
NEXT UP: Vermillion will play host to the Quad City Storm on Friday and Saturday (Puck drop 7:00 p.m. CT FRI | 7:00 p.m. CT SAT)
