Contact: awest@thesphl.com
HUNTERSVILLE, NC (April 21, 2023) – The Southern Professional Hockey League continues the second round of the 2023 SPHL Presidents Cup Playoffs tonight with two games. You can follow all the action this postseason at www.sphltv.com
Huntsville @ Birmingham (8:00 p.m. EST, 7:00 p.m. CST)
Huntsville Havoc (34-19-3 | 3rd Seed)
• Sy Nutkevitch finished tied for first in the league with 45 assists.
• Nutkevitch was named to the All-SPHL 2nd team after his 63-point season (18g, 45a)
• Dominick Procopio was also named to the All-SPHL 2nd team defense after finishing second in the league with a +29 rating.
• Swept Knoxville in the first round.
• Huntsville was 4-4-0 against Birmingham in the regular season.
Birmingham Bulls (37-16-4 | 2nd Seed)
• Michael Gillespie finished tied for second in the league with 27 goals.
• Gillespie was named to the All-SPHL 1st team after recording 60 points (27g, 33a)
• Mike Davis finished tied for sixth in the league with 23 goals.
• Goalie Austin Lotz finished tied for the league lead with 24 wins and his 2.73 gaa was seventh-best in the league.
• Hayden Stewart became the first goalie in SPHL history to score a goal when he netted an empty-net goal in the waning seconds against Evansville on March 18, 2023.
• Birmingham was a league-best 28-2-1 this season when scoring first.
• Defeated Fayetteville two games to one in the first round.
• Birmingham was 4-4-0 against Huntsville in the regular season.
Roanoke @ Peoria (8:15 p.m. EST, 7:15 p.m. CST)
Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs (32-19-5 | 4th Seed)
• Stephen Alvo leads the Dawgs with five points, all assists in the playoffs.
• Gehrett Sargis scored three times in the Dawgs’ opening-round sweep of Evansville.
• Billy Vizzo and Mac Jansen led the Dawgs with 19 goals.
• Nick Ford (16g, 38a) led the Dawgs with 54 points.
• Ford’s 38 assists led the Dawgs in the regular season.
• Goalie Austyn Roudebush posted a league-best 24 wins and was third with a 2.52 goals-against average.
• Swept Evansville in round one, two games to zero.
• Roanoke was 1-1-0 against Peoria in the regular season. 1-0-0 against the Rivermen after their 3-2 victory in game one.
Peoria Rivermen (39-14-4 | 1st Seed)
• Alec Hagaman was named to the All-SPHL 2nd team after leading the Rivermen in goals (24), assists (37), and points (61)
• Zach Wilkie and Nick Neville were also All-SPHL 1st team selections on defense with Wilkie leading the league with a +42 rating. Neville was second among all defensemen with 41 points (5g, 36a) and his 36 assists were the most by a blue-liner this season.
• Tyler Barrow was tied for 10th among rookies with 30 points (11g, 19a)
• Eric Levine led the league with five shutouts.
• Won the William B. Coffey Trophy as regular season champions for the fifth time in team history and their first since the 2019 season.
• This is a rematch of last year’s Presidents Cup Championship which saw Peoria come out on top, defeating the Dawgs 3-1 in the best-of-five championship series.
• Defeated Pensacola in round one, two games to zero.
• Peoria was 1-1-0 against Roanoke in the regular season. 0-1-0 against the Dawgs after a game-one loss 3-2.
