The 2005–06 Southern Professional Hockey League season was the second season of the Southern Professional Hockey League

Southern Professional Hockey League

The Southern Professional Hockey League is a low-level professional ice hockey league based in Charlotte, North Carolina, with teams located in the southeastern United States.- History :...

. The regular season began October 21, 2005, and ended April 12, 2006, after a 56-game regular season and a six-team playoff. The Knoxville Ice Bears

Knoxville Ice Bears

The Knoxville Ice Bears are a professional ice hockey team. The team competes in the Southern Professional Hockey League. They play their home games at James White Civic Coliseum in Knoxville, Tennessee. In 2006 the Ice Bears defeated the Florida Seals to take the SPHL championship and the...

 won their first SPHL championship.

Preseason

The Asheville Aces

Asheville Aces

The Asheville Aces were a Southern Professional Hockey League team in Asheville, North Carolina. The team, which suffered limited success and low attendance, lasted only one year before disbanding.-Franchise History:...

, Macon Trax

Macon Trax

The Macon Trax were a minor-league professional ice hockey team based in Macon, Georgia. They played in the low minor leagues Atlantic Coast Hockey League , World Hockey Association 2 and Southern Professional Hockey League , playing their home games at the Macon Coliseum...

, and Winston-Salem Polar Twins

Winston-Salem Polar Twins

The Winston-Salem Polar Twins is a name held by two professional hockey franchises in Winston-Salem, NC. The first Polar Twins franchise operated in the 1970s before folding. They were followed by the Carolina Thunderbirds...

 all folded following the 2004–05 season. Replacing them were the Florida Seals

Florida Seals

The Florida Seals was a minor league ice hockey franchise, a member of the Southern Professional Hockey League . Originally based in Orlando, Florida, they later moved to Kissimmee, Florida, a suburb thirty miles south of Orlando in Osceola County...

 and Pee Dee Cyclones.

A new playoff structure was announced, with the top seed and sixth seed playing each other in a best-of-5-game series, with the winner advancing to the championship. The second and fifth, and third and fourth seeds each play a best-of-3-game series, with the winners meeting in another 3-game series to determine the second finalist.

Final standings

Team
Knoxville Ice Bears Knoxville Ice Bears The Knoxville Ice Bears are a professional ice hockey team. The team competes in the Southern Professional Hockey League. They play their home games at James White Civic Coliseum in Knoxville, Tennessee. In 2006 the Ice Bears defeated the Florida Seals to take the SPHL championship and the... ‡	56	36	14	6	262	192	78
Columbus Cottonmouths Columbus Cottonmouths The Columbus Cottonmouths are a professional ice hockey team based in Columbus, Georgia. The team is nicknamed the Snakes, and play their home games at the Columbus Civic Center.-Central Hockey League : 1996-2001:...	56	34	16	6	247	182	74
Florida Seals Florida Seals The Florida Seals was a minor league ice hockey franchise, a member of the Southern Professional Hockey League . Originally based in Orlando, Florida, they later moved to Kissimmee, Florida, a suburb thirty miles south of Orlando in Osceola County...	56	32	17	7	211	174	71
Fayetteville FireAntz Fayetteville FireAntz The Fayetteville FireAntz are a professional minor league ice hockey team based in Fayetteville, North Carolina, U.S. They currently play in the Southern Professional Hockey League . They play their home games in the Cumberland County Crown Coliseum....	56	31	19	6	224	175	68
Huntsville Havoc Huntsville Havoc The Huntsville Havoc are a professional ice hockey team in the Southern Professional Hockey League . They play their home games at the Von Braun Center in downtown Huntsville, Alabama.-History:...	56	32	21	3	203	186	67
Pee Dee Cyclones	56	16	33	7	201	307	39
Jacksonville Barracudas Jacksonville Barracudas The Jacksonville Barracudas were a professional minor league ice hockey team based in Jacksonville, Florida. They were established in 2002, and played in the Atlantic Coast Hockey League , the World Hockey Association 2 , and the Southern Professional Hockey League , before folding in 2008.They won...	56	15	39	2	183	315	32

^‡ William B. Coffey Trophy winners

Advanced to playoffs

Attendance

Team	Total	Games	Average
Fayetteville	103,179	28	3,684
Knoxville	96,428	28	3,443
Columbus	90,518	28	3,232
Huntsville	87,871	28	3,183
Florida	57,538	28	2,054
Jacksonville	57,028	28	2,036
Pee Dee	40,626	28	1,450

President's Cup playoffs

(1) Knoxville Ice Bears vs. (6) Pee Dee Cyclones

The Knoxville Ice Bears and the Macon trax play at best of 5 round that will take the place of the first two playoff rounds. The other four teams will play a best of 3 game Quarter Final and Simi Final round.

Game-by-Game		Score		Knoxville goals	Pee Dee goals	Winning goalie
1	March 24	at Pee Dee 5, Knoxville 4	OT 3:50	Jason Bermingham 2, K.J. Voorhees, Robbie Rangus	Justin Siebold, Brett Roat 2, Geoff Rollins, Edan Welch	Kelly Shields
2	March 25	at Pee Dee 1, Knoxville 7		Kevin Swider 2, Robbie Rangus, Jason Bermingham, Curtis Menzul, Rob Miller, K.J. Voorhees	Steve Birch	James Ronayne
3	March 31	at Knoxville 3, Pee Dee 1		K.C. Caudill, Jason Bermingham, Kevin Swider	Joel Petkoff	James Ronayne
4	March 31	at Knoxville 6, Pee Dee 3		Jason Bermingham 5, Nathan Daly	Geoff Rollins, Justin Siebold 2	James Ronayne
Knoxville win series 3–1				Bermingham 9, Swider 3, Voorhees 2, Rangus 2	Siebold 3, Roat 2, Rollins 2

(2) Columbus Cottonmouths vs. (5) Huntsville Havoc

Game-by-Game		Score		Columbus goals	Huntsville goals	Winning goalie
1	March 23	at Columbus 1, Huntsville 4		Tim Green	Don Patrick, Mark Cole, Doug Merrell, Jesse Baraniuk	Matt Carmichael
2	March 25	at Huntsville 3, Columbus 4	2OT 7:32	Lorne Misita, Tom McMonagle, Mat Ponto,Ryan Haggarty	Jeff Dams, Chris Peach, Don Patrick	Chad Rycroft
3	March 28	at Columbus 2, Huntsville 3		Craig Stahl, Tom McMonagle	Ryan Brown, James Patterson, Mike O'Sullivan	Matt Carmichael
Huntsville win series 2–1				McMonagle 2	Patrick 2

(3) Florida Seals vs. (4) Fayetteville FireAntz

Game-by-Game		Score		Florida goals	Fayetteville goals	Winning goalie
1	March 24	at Florida 2, Fayetteville 1		John Gurskis, Robert Sich	Kory Baker	Terry Denike
2	March 25	at Fayetteville 8, Florida 1		Justin Keller	Rob Meanchoff, George Nistas 4, Nick Kormanyos, Dean Jackson, Scott Corbett	Chad Collins
3	March 28	at Florida 1, Fayetteville 0		Robert Sich		Terry Denike
Florida win series 2–1				Sich 2

(3) Florida Seals vs. (5) Huntsville Havoc

Game-by-Game		Score		Florida goals	Huntsville goals	Winning goalie
1	March 31	at Florida 4, Huntsville 2		Steve Zoryk, Robert Sich 2, Nick Cammarata	Chris Peach, Jeff Dams	Terry Denike
2	April 2	at Huntsville 3, Florida 5		Craig Miller, Nick Cammarata, Justin Keller, John Gurskis 2	Luke Phillips, Jeff Dams, Jason DeGuehery	Terry Denike
Columbus win series 2–0				Sich 2, Cammarata 2, Gurskis 2	Dams 2

Finals

Awards

The All-SPHL teams were announced March 21, 2006, followed by the MVP on March 22, Defenseman of the Year on March 23, Coach of the Year on March 24, Rookie of the Year on March 27, and Goalie of the Year on Match 28.

President's Cup President's Cup (SPHL) The President's Cup is the trophy awarded annually to the playoff champions of the Southern Professional Hockey League.-Winners:... :	Knoxville Ice Bears Knoxville Ice Bears The Knoxville Ice Bears are a professional ice hockey team. The team competes in the Southern Professional Hockey League. They play their home games at James White Civic Coliseum in Knoxville, Tennessee. In 2006 the Ice Bears defeated the Florida Seals to take the SPHL championship and the...
Commissioner's Cup:	Knoxville Ice Bears Knoxville Ice Bears The Knoxville Ice Bears are a professional ice hockey team. The team competes in the Southern Professional Hockey League. They play their home games at James White Civic Coliseum in Knoxville, Tennessee. In 2006 the Ice Bears defeated the Florida Seals to take the SPHL championship and the...
League MVP:	Matt Carmichael Matt Carmichael (ice hockey) Matt Carmichael is a Canadian former professional ice hockey minor league Goalie that played in a number of leagues and teams other his career. Matt was named second team All-SPHL in the 2006–07 season when he went 26–19–3 with a 3.40 goals against average and a 90.3 save percentage... (Huntsville)
Rookie of the Year:	Rob Sich (Florida)
Defenseman of the Year:	Mike Clarke Mike Clarke (ice hockey b. 1979) Mike Clarke is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player.Clarke attended Elmira College where he played four seasons of NCAA III college hockey before turning professional to play in the inaugural 2003–04 season of the Elite Ice Hockey League with the Edinburgh Capitals.-Awards and... (Fayetteville)
Goalie of the Year:	Terry Denike (Florida)
Coach of the Year:	Jerome Bechard Jerome Bechard Jerome Bechard is a retired professional ice hockey left wing and the long-time current head coach of the Columbus Cottonmouths in SPHL... (Columbus)

All-Star selections

1st Team All-Stars

F Tim Green (Columbus)   F Tylor Keller (Columbus)   F Kevin Swider (Knoxville)   D Ryan Aikia (Columbus)   D Mike Clarke Mike Clarke (ice hockey b. 1979) Mike Clarke is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player.Clarke attended Elmira College where he played four seasons of NCAA III college hockey before turning professional to play in the inaugural 2003–04 season of the Elite Ice Hockey League with the Edinburgh Capitals.-Awards and...  (Fayetteville)   G Matt Carmichael Matt Carmichael (ice hockey) Matt Carmichael is a Canadian former professional ice hockey minor league Goalie that played in a number of leagues and teams other his career. Matt was named second team All-SPHL in the 2006–07 season when he went 26–19–3 with a 3.40 goals against average and a 90.3 save percentage...  (Huntsville)

2nd Team All-Stars
F Jason Bermingham (Knoxville)   F Dean Jackson (Fayetteville)   F Edan Welch Edan Welch Edan Welch was a minor-league professional ice hockey player.He went to college at St. Thomas University where he played collegiate ice hockey.-Hockey career:...  (Pee Dee)   D Mat Ponto (Columbus)   D Doug Searle (Knoxville)   G Terry Denike (Florida)