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The Columbus Cottonmouths are a professional ice hockey team based in Columbus, Georgia. They play their home games at Columbus Civic Center.
In 1996 the Columbus Cottonmouths started playing in the CHL, joining the Huntsville Channel Cats, Macon Whoopee, and Nashville Nighthawks as expansion entries that were originally slated to be in the Southern Hockey League before the league's demise in the summer of 1996. Along with the Memphis RiverKings, an established CHL franchise, Columbus and the three expansion SHL teams formed the new Eastern Division of the CHL in the 1996-97 season. The Cottonmouths would stay in the CHL until 2001, when the league merged with the WPHL and geographic rivalries in Huntsville and Macon were lost, leading the Cottonmouths to seek and obtain entry into the East Coast Hockey League. In 1997-1998 they won the CHL championship, defeating the Wichita Thunder four games to none. The Cottonmouths were in the CHL playoffs each of their five seasons in the league, making it to the league finals in 2000 before losing to Indianapolis and in 2001 before falling to the Oklahoma City Blazers.
From 2001-2004 the Columbus Cottonmouths played in the ECHL, bringing with them their long time Captain Jerome "Boom-Boom" Bechard and Head Coach Bruce Garber. In the three seasons that Columbus spent in the ECHL, they failed to make the playoffs. Mid-way through their second season in the ECHL, Garber, the only coach in team history, resigned. General Manager Phil Roberto took over for the remainder of the season. Their best season in the ECHL was their last. Prior to the 2003-04 season the team announced the signing of their new Coach, former NHL tough guy Brian Curran. They finished with a 37-27-8 record, tied with the Greensboro Generals for the best record by a non-playoff team that season. In April 2004, the Cottonmouths management announced their intentions to move their ECHL franchise to the Bradenton-Sarasota area in Florida. The team, which was later named the Gulf Coast Swords, would never come to fruition as financial setbacks delayed the construction of their to-be home arena. Finally, after foreclosure on the arena property and numerous delays, the ECHL revoked the Swords franchise in the league in the summer of 2006.
Since 2004 the Columbus Cottonmouths have been in the SPHL. Led by first year Coach, and Columbus hockey legend Jerome "Boom-Boom" Bechard, they won the inaugural SPHL championship in April 2005 by first winning a one game playoff against the Fayetteville Fire Antz 4-2. They would move on to sweep the regular season Champion Knoxville IceBears to advance to the Finals. In grand fashion, they would sweep their rival Macon Trax two games to none, capping it with a 3-2 overtime win when the puck deflected off forward Tylor Keller clid into the net igniting a long over due celebration. The "Snakes", as they're called by their loyal fans, capped a postseason in which they finished a perfect 5-0. In 2006, the Cottonmouths finished with the second-best regular season record in the league but were ousted in the first round of the playoffs two games to one by their rival Huntsville Havoc.
[edit] Year-by-year record
[edit] Central Hockey League
| Year |
GP |
W |
L |
RT |
PTS |
Finish |
Playoffs |
| 1996-97 |
66 |
32 |
28 |
6 |
70 |
4th, East |
Lost in Quarter Finals |
| 1997-98 |
70 |
51 |
13 |
6 |
108 |
1st, East |
Won Levins Cup |
| 1998-99 |
70 |
42 |
21 |
7 |
91 |
2nd, East |
Lost in Division Finals |
| 1999-00 |
70 |
39 |
20 |
11 |
89 |
2nd, East |
Lost Miron Cup Finals |
| 2000-01 |
70 |
41 |
21 |
8 |
90 |
2nd, East |
Lost Miron Cup Finals |
[edit] East Coast Hockey League
| Year |
GP |
W |
L |
RT |
PTS |
Finish |
Playoffs |
| 2001-02 |
72 |
24 |
37 |
11 |
59 |
8th, Southeast |
Out of playoffs |
| 2002-03 |
72 |
25 |
39 |
8 |
58 |
7th, Southeast |
Out of playoffs |
| 2003-04 |
72 |
41 |
21 |
8 |
82 |
5th, Central |
Out of playoffs |
[edit] Southern Professional Hockey League
| Year |
GP |
W |
L |
RT |
PTS |
Finish |
Playoffs |
| 2004-05 |
56 |
30 |
26 |
- |
60 |
5th |
Won President's Cup |
| 2005-06 |
56 |
34 |
16 |
6 |
74 |
2nd |
Lost in round 1 |
| 2006-07 |
56 |
36 |
18 |
2 |
74 |
1st |
TBD |
[edit] Championships
[edit] External links
