Louisiana IceGators (SPHL)

This article is about the Southern Professional Hockey League team. For their predecessors who played from 1995 until 2005 in the ECHL, see Louisiana IceGators (ECHL).
Louisiana IceGators
City Lafayette, Louisiana
League Southern Professional Hockey League
Founded 2009
Home arena "The Frozen Swamp" Cajundome
Colors Green, Gold, Black, White
                   
Owner(s) Chuck Anselmo Jr. & Chuck Anselmo III
General manager Louis Dumont
Head coach Drew Omicioli
Captain Jake Hauswirth
Media Lafayette Daily Advertiser, KATC, KLFY
Championships
Regular season titles 0

The Louisiana IceGators is a team of the Southern Professional Hockey League who began play in the 2009-10 season. Like the original IceGators which played from 1995 until folding in 2005, they are based out of Lafayette, Louisiana. The IceGators were brought back and owned by local businessman Danny Smith.[1] In August 2010, Smith sold the team to two local businessmen, E.C. "Chuck" Anselmo, Jr. and E.C. "Chuck" Anselmo, III.

History

For their first season as members of the SPHL, home games were played at the Blackham Coliseum rather than the Cajundome, the original home of the ECHL 'Gators'. For the 2010-11 season, however, the team's home ice returned to the Cajundome known as the frozen swamp.[2]

On October 26, 2009, Ron Handy stepped down as head coach after a 0-3-0 start. He was replaced by General Manager Brent Sapergia on an interim basis. Sapergia was banned by the league after being disqualified from two games in a row. In Pensacola, Sapergia threw a water bottle onto the ice, then a water cooler, then a pair of medical kits. Sapergia finished the tirade by emptying Louisiana's supply of hockey sticks into play and giving a farewell gesture to the fans as he left the arena.[3] Former Huntsville Havoc player and coach John Gibson was later named Head Coach, while Handy began to focus on community relations and off ice operations. Gibson would coach 11 games before being replaced by Dave MacIsaac. MacIsaac would finish off the 2009-2010, coaching 38 games, finishing with a record of 18-18-0. During the 2010-2011 season MacIsaac would have 7 wins and 14 loses in 22 games[4] before being let go.

In December 2010 the IceGators would hire former NHL tough guy Kevin "Killer" Kaminiski.

On October 18, 2010 the IceGators affiliated with the New York Islanders of the National Hockey League for the 2010/2011 season.[5]

In the 2010-2011 season, the Icegators brought a familiar face back to the Frozen Swamp. They signed forward Shawn McNeil. Shawn McNeil played for the ECHL Icegators from 1999-2003. As of the 2013-2014 season, Shawn McNeil was leading scorer in the SPHL. He played 56 games in which he achieved 18 goals and 49 assists at the age of 35. On April 3, 2014, Shawn was named Easton Most Valuable Player of the SPHL. "McNeil led all players in points (67) and assists (49) and tied SPHL season-highs with an 18-game point streak and an eight-game assist streak. One of four IceGators to play all 56 games, McNeil was a team-best +18 as he led Louisiana to a second-place finish in the regular season." [6]

In the 2010-2011 season, the Icegator started a goalie by the name of Scott Darling. Scott Darling had finished up his college hockey career with the University of Maine. "Darling played in the SPHL from 2010-2012 with Louisiana (Icegators) and Mississippi (RiverKings), posting a 21-39-1 record, 3.32 goals against average and .899 save percentage." [7] In the 2014-2015 NHL season, Darling got the call from the NHL and became the first SPHL to play in the NHL with Chicago Blackhawks. The Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup with Darling as a back-up to Corey Crawford.[8]

Team record

Southern Professional Hockey League

Season GP W L OTL PTS GF GA PIM Finish
2009-10 56 23 31 2 48 175 223 1650 7th (Out of Playoffs)
2010-11 56 16 40 0 32 170 231 1111 8th (Out of Playoffs)
2011-12 56 24 27 5 53 177 202 943 7th (Out in Quarterfinals)
2012-13 56 34 17 5 73 172 167 1145 2nd (Out in Semifinals)
2013-14 56 35 18 3 73 198 175 1094 2nd (Out in Quarterfinals)
2014-15 56 27 21 8 62 77 184 968 6th (Out in Semifinals)
2015-16 5 1 3 1 3 13 16 88 as of 11/09/15

[9]

Attendance

YearTotalGamesAverageLeague Average
2009–10 54,779 28 1,956 3,041
2010–11 50,971 28 1,820 2,762
2011-12 56,514 28 2,018 2,796
2012-13 64,080 28 2,288 2,804
2013-14 66,438 28 2,372 3,000
2014-15 65,433 28 2,336 3,248
2015-16 5,984 3 1,994 as of 11/09/15

[10]

Team information

2015–2016 roster

# Player Pos Height Weight Date of Birth Hometown Seasons Comments
Defense Man
2 Armstrong, Travis D 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 220 lb (100 kg) April 23, 1990 Smith Falls, ON 1
3 Kuqali, Nicholas D 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 210 lb (95 kg) May 14, 1985 Pittsburgh, PA 1
4 Cornell, Dan D 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 205 lb (93 kg) August 11, 1990 Abington, MA 2
6 Mike Kavanagh D 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 215 lb (98 kg) February 9, 1988 Little Neck, New York 2
26 Bourke, Brad D 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 185 lb (84 kg) April 21, 1989 Onoway, AB 1 10/29/15-Traded to the Fayetteville
33 Pisano, Anthony D 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 260 lb (120 kg) February 13, 1989 New York, NY 1
72 Stretch, Mitch D 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 180 lb (82 kg) March 1, 1990 Saskatoon, SK 3 10/29/15-Added to roster since released by the ECHL Elmira Jackals
Offensive Man
9 Benjamin Rubin LW 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 205 lb (93 kg) January 25, 1989 Montreal, QC 2
10 Devillier, Alex RW 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 175 lb (79 kg) July 3, 1994 Breaux Bridge, LA 2 Added 11/05/15
11 Wudrick, Geordie LW 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 222 lb (101 kg) April 9, 1990 Abbotsford, BC 1
12 Daniels, Johnny C 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) 160 lb (73 kg) May 7, 1993 Andover, MA 1 IR - 10/21/15
15 Ruffolo, Trent C 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) 180 lb (82 kg) January 17, 1992 Coral Springs, FL 1 11/05/15 waived from the roster
17 Hood, Dylan RW 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 200 lb (91 kg) June 1, 1990 Osoyoos, BC 1 11/07/15 3 game tryout
19 Jake Hauswirth C 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 210 lb (95 kg) February 16, 1988 Marquette, MI 2 Captain
20 Hietala, Blake RW 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 185 lb (84 kg) November 9, 1989 Houghton, MI 1
39 Boyer, Jeremy C 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 165 lb (75 kg) September 28, 1990 Saskatoon, SK 4
61 Gavrik, Vladyslav RW 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 230 lb (100 kg) May 21, 1991 Kharkov, Ukraine 1 IR 10/29/15
96 Hudson, Alex C 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 212 lb (96 kg) August 1, 1987 Corona, CA 1 Assistant Captain
Goalies
35 Brent Troydan G 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) 175 lb (79 kg) August 2, 1989 Johnstown, PA 1
1 Alex Vazzano G 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 192 lb (87 kg) October 14, 1990 Trumbull, CT 1
Staff Name
Head Coach Omicioli, Drew
Trainer Lavimoniere, Koryd
Equipment Manager Roper, Dave
Mascot Gaston

[11]

Captains

Coaching history

General Manager

SPHL awards

2013–2014

2012–2013

2011–2012

2010–2011

References

  1. ↑ Foote, Kevin (May 15, 2009). "IceGators to skate again; join the discussion". Lafayette Daily Advertiser. Archived from the original on May 19, 2009. Retrieved May 15, 2009.
  2. ↑ Burgess, Richard (August 17, 2010). "IceGators to chill at the 'Dome'". The Advocate. Retrieved August 17, 2010.
  3. ↑ "IceFlyers Open at Home With Win". Pensacola News Journal.
  4. ↑ hockeydb
  5. ↑ IceGators Announce NHL Affiliation
  6. ↑ "Louisiana’s Shawn McNeil Named Easton Most Valuable Player". SPHL News.
  7. ↑ "Former SPHL goaltender Scott Darling wins NHL debut Share publisher = SPHL News".
  8. ↑ "Hunt for the NHL Stanley Cup infographic". SI.
  9. ↑ Hockey DB|Louisiana IceGators Statistics and History
  10. ↑ Pointstreak Sites | SPHL Southern Professional Hockey League | Fayetteville, League Attendance
  11. ↑ Pointstreak Sites | SPHL Southern Professional Hockey League | Fayetteville, Louisiana Icegators
  12. ↑ Kaminski Relieved of Coaching Duties
  13. ↑ IceGators name Drew Omicioli head coach

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Thursday, January 28, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.