Springfield Pics

Springfield Pics
City Springfield, Massachusetts
League USPHL
Founded 1993
Home arena Olympia Ice Center
Colors Blue, white
General manager Patrick Tabb
Head coach Patrick Tabb
Website www.springfieldjrpics.com
Franchise history
1993–1995 Springfield Olympics[1]
1995–1997 New England Jr. Whalers
1997–2004 New England Jr. Coyotes
2004–2009 New England Jr. Falcons
2009–present Springfield Pics

The Springfield Pics are an American junior ice hockey organization playing in Springfield, Massachusetts. They field two Tier III teams and a number of Youth teams.

History

The franchise was founded as the Springfield Olympics (or Pics for short) as charter member of the Tier III Junior A Eastern Junior Hockey League (EJHL) in 1993.[1] The team would relocate across the Massachusetts-Connecticut border to Enfield, Connecticut in 1995 and were renamed the New England Jr. Whalers named after the local National Hockey League team in Hartford. After the Hartford Whalers moved to Carolina in 1997, the franchise was renamed the New England Jr. Coyotes and later the Jr. Falcons after the local Springfield Falcons of the American Hockey League. During this time, the organization also fielded a team in the Tier III Empire Junior B Hockey League (EmJHL) (later the Empire Junior Hockey League).

In the 2009 off-season, the Jr. Falcons EJHL and EmJHL teams merged with the Springfield Pics of the Continental Hockey Association (CHA) and the Bay State Bucs Midget team, members of the NEMHL.[2] This led the now merged Pics organization to field teams in the EJHL, EmJHL, and CHA.

USPHL Premier Division

In 2013, many Tier III junior hockey leagues were re-organized in the north eastern United States and the Springfield Pics became founding members of the new United States Premier Hockey League (USPHL). Their former Junior A team (USA Hockey dropped Junior A and B designations in 2011) which had participated in the EJHL joined the USPHL Elite Division for the 2013–14 season. In their first year in the USPHL-Elite League the Pics finished second and then went on to win the playoffs. The playoff win propelled the team to the 2014 USA Hockey Tier III Junior Nationals where they won their pool before losing the semifinal game to the eventual National Champions, the Boston Jr. Bruins.[3] The Elite Division team was promoted to the Premier Division prior to the 2014–15 season.

USHPL USP3 Division

Their former Junior B team from the EmJHL joined the USPHL Empire Division for the 2013–14 season. In 2015, the Empire Division became the USP3 Division.

Former Junior B ESHL team

Their second Junior B team last competed in the Eastern States Hockey League (formerly the CHA). Following the 2013 re-organization, this team was eliminated in favor of Under 18 and Under 16 teams which play in corresponding USPHL leagues.

Season-by-season records

Season GP W L T OTL Pts GF GA Regular Season Finish Playoffs
New England Jr. Falcons
2004–05 50 18 23 7 2 45 160 159 5th of 7, South
10th of 13, EJHL		Won Play-in game, 3–0 vs. Green Mountain Glades
Lost Quarterfinals, 0–1–1 vs. Boston Jr. Bruins[4]
2005–06 45 22 16 5 2 51 175 175 1st of 7, South
T-4th of 14, EJHL		Won Quarterfinals, 2–0 vs. Valley Jr. Warriors
Lost Semifinal game, 1–3 vs. Boston Jr. Bruins[5]
2006–07 45 16 22 4 3 39 145 180 5th of 7, South
11th of 14, EJHL		Did not qualify
2007–08 44 12 24 5 3 32 125 173 7th of 7, South
12th of 14, EJHL		Did not qualify
2008–09 45 16 22 3 4 39 128 149 5th of 7, South
10th of 14, EJHL		Did not qualify
Springfield Pics
2009–10 45 16 23 4 2 38 150 179 5th of 7, South
10th of 14, EJHL		Did not qualify
2010–11 45 25 16 2 2 54 182 156 4th of 7, South
6th of 14, EJHL		Won First Round, 2–0 vs. Rochester Stars
Lost Quarterfinals, 1–2 vs. Boston Jr. Bruins
2011–12 45 20 23 0 2 42 166 175 5th of 7, South
10th of 14, EJHL		Lost First Round, 0–2 vs. Green Mountain Glades
2012–13 45 24 17 — 4 52 137 118 4th of 7, South
8th of 14, EJHL		Lost First Round, 0–2 vs. New Hampshire Jr. Monarchs[6]
2013–14 40 32 6 — 2 66 212 92 2nd of 10, North
2nd of 18, USPHL Elite		Won First Round, 2–0 vs. New Hampshire Jr. Monarchs-Elite
Won Quarterfinals, 2–0 vs. Bay State Breakers-Elite
2–0–1 in Round Robin
(W, 5–0 vs. Hampton Roads Whalers; T, 4–4 vs. Jersey Hitmen; W, 5–0 vs. Florida Eels)
Won Championship game, 3–2 vs. Jersey Hitmen-Elite
Elite Division Champions
2014–15 50 9 37 — 4 22 105 239 11th of 11,
USPHL Premier		Did not qualify
2015–16 44 11 30 — 3 25 123 187 11th of 12,
USPHL Premier		Did not qualify
2016–17 45 19 22 — 4 42 138 174 7th of 10,
USPHL Premier		Won Play-in Game, 4–0 vs. Okanagan Eagles
Won Quarterfinals, 2–0 vs. Jersey Hitmen
Lost Semifinals, 0–2 vs. Islanders Hockey Club

USA Hockey Tier III National Championships

Round robin play in pool with top 4 teams advancing to semifinal.

Year Round Robin Record Standing Semifinal Championship Game
2014[3] L, Northern Cyclones (EHL) 3-4
W, Flint Jr. Generals (NA3HL) 6-0
W, Bellingham Blazers (NPHL) 8-2		 2-0-1 1st of 4
Pool B (White)		L, Boston Jr. Bruins (USPHL-Premier) 6-0—

References

  1. 1 2 "New England Jr. Falcons Statistics and History". HockeyDB. Retrieved August 25, 2015.
  2. ↑ Press release announcing merger http://www.springfieldjrpics.com/juniormerger.html
  3. 1 2 "2014 Tier III Nationals". USA Hockey. Retrieved August 25, 2015.
  4. ↑ http://www.ushr.com/news/20050314/824?label=EJHL-Playoffs,-Updated-Daily
  5. ↑ http://www.ushr.com/news/20060320/1478?label=EJHL+Semifinals+Tonight
  6. ↑ http://www.applecorejunior.com/ARCHIVES2012_2013/EJHL_NEwFlaash2012-2013.htm


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