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Mississippi Surge
MississippiSurge
City: Biloxi, Mississippi
League: Southern Professional Hockey League
Founded: 2009
Home Arena: Mississippi Coast Coliseum
Colors: Blue, Gold, Metallic Silver, White
                   
Owner(s): Surge LLC (Tim Kerr)
General Manager: Tim Kerr
Head Coach: Jeff Bes
Media: The Sun Herald
Franchise history
2009–2014: Mississippi Surge
Championships
Playoff Championships: 1

The Mississippi Surge is a professional team in the Southern Professional Hockey League that began play in the 2009-10 season. Based in Biloxi, home games are played at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum also known as "The Power Plant".

History[]

The Mississippi Surge began play 2009 following the suspension of operations of the Mississippi Sea Wolves of the East Coast Hockey League. The disbandment of the Sea Wolves left South Mississippi without a hockey team or a professional sports team. A new team was announced to begin play in 2009 and the team held a name-the-team contest on their temporary webpage. On June 17, the Surge unveiled their name, logo, and colors. The team was to be coached by long time Sea Wolves player and coach Steffon Walby.

In the franchise's first season in the SPHL the Surge had great success. After finishing first in the league at 34-14-8 at the end of the regular season, the Surge were presented the William B. Coffey Trophy as the regular season champions. The Surge advanced to the play-offs and faced the Columbus Cottonmouths in a series that they won 3-1. In the championship round the Surge were defeated by the Huntsville Havoc, the Huntsville Havoc swept the Surge 3-0. In addition to winning the William B. Coffey Trophy, the Surge also won many of the league’s player awards. Steffon Walby was chosen as Coach of the Year, Steve Weidlich was chosen as Defenseman of the Year and was named team captain the following season, and Bill Zaniboni was chosen as the Goalie of the Year.

In the team's second year of operation, the Surge facing adversity with numerous injuries and call-ups of key players, again managed to finish the season in first place with a over-all record of 37-19. The Mississippi Surge were again crowned the Regular Season Champions and received the 2010-2011 William B. Coffey Trophy for their second year in a row. The Surge played the Knoxville Ice Bears in Round 1 of the 2010-2011 Play-offs and advanced to the SPHL Finals after winning the series 3-2. In the SPHL Finals the Surge were matched up against the 2nd Seed Augusta Riverhawks and swept the series 3-0 claiming their first President's Cup.

The Surge moved into their third year of operation under new ownership as Pensacola Ice Flyers owner, Tim Kerr bought the team from Coast Hockey LLC. They also moved into the season without the guidance of Champion coach Steffon Walby as Kerr and Walby decided to part ways. The Surge will play this season under rookie Head Coach Jeff Bes.

The owner (Tim Kerr) of the franchise announced on May 2, 2014 that the franchise would be suspended indefinitely. A steep decline in revenue was cited as the main reason for the action. Kerr further stated that they are "still seeking opportunities for the following season (2015-16) and if the right one arises, hockey could return to Biloxi."

On October 20, 2015 the ownership of the franchise was transferred from Surge Ice, LLC to Breakaway Sports and Entertainment, LLC. The team will be relocated to Roanoke, Virginia for the 2016-17 Southern Professional Hockey League season.

Season Records[]

Year Position GP W L OTL Pts Pct GF GA PIM Coach Result
2009-10 1st 56 34 14 8 76 0.607 168 139 1344 Steffon Walby Lost in Finals
2010-11 1st 56 37 19 * 74 0.660 207 157 1059 Steffon Walby League Champions
2011-12 --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- Jeff Bes TBD*


  • 2010/2011 Season no points were given for OTL

Championships and awards[]

Since its debut in the 2009–2010 SPHL season, The Mississippi Surge and its players have won three different championship trophies and numerous player awards.

Championships[]

Year League Trophy
2009-2010 SPHL Commissioner's Cup
2010-2011 SPHL Commissioner's Cup
2010-2011 SPHL President's Cup

'11 President's Cup Champions roster[]

Forwards
No. Player Pos. Shoots Height Weight Place of Birth
7 Flag of Canada Michael Richard C 5' 9" 190 lbs. Saint-Constant, Quebec, Canada
9 Flag of Canada Matt Zultek LW L 6' 4" 210 lbs. Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
11 Flag of the United States Chris Chambers F 6' 3" 200 lbs. Crofton, Maryland, USA
13 Flag of Canada Mark Versteeg-Lytwyn LW L 5' 11" 190 lbs. Sharon, Ontario, Canada
14 Flag of the United States Rob Campbell F 5' 10" 175 lbs. Reading, Massachusetts, USA
15 Flag of the United States Rusty Masters C L 6' 0" 185 lbs. Grafton, Ontario, Canada
16 Flag of the United States Adam Bartholomay F R 5' 11" 216 lbs. Agoura Hills, California, USA
23 Flag of the United States Jeff Grant F 6' 0" 165 lbs. Burlington, Massachusetts, USA
26 Flag of the United States Jason Beeman RW R 5' 11" 213 lbs. Los Angeles, California, USA
28 Flag of Canada Ryan McCarthy C 5' 10" 185 lbs. Brampton, Ontario, Canada
Defensemen
# Player Pos. Shoots Height Weight Place of Birth
2 Flag of the United States Shane Wagner D 6' 0" 190 lbs. Stillwater, Minnesota, USA
3 Flag of Canada Jeff Winchester D L 6' 2" 205 lbs. Dalhousie, New Brunswick, Canada
5 Flag of Canada Greg Moore D 5' 10" 200 lbs. Châteauguay, Quebec, Canada
22 Flag of the United States Glenn Cacaro D L 6' 0" 190 lbs. Sioux Falls, South Dakota, USA
25 Flag of the United States Jack Wolgemuth D 6' 3" 185 lbs. Anchorage, Alaska, USA
27 Flag of the United States Nick Klaren D 6' 1" 200 lbs. North St. Paul, Minnesota, USA
42 Flag of Canada Steve Weidlich D L 6' 2" 210 lbs. Edmonton, Alberta, USA
Goaltenders
# Player Pos. Catches Height Weight Place of Birth
31 Flag of Canada Dan Earles G 5' 11" 175 lbs. Penetang, Ontario, Canada
33 Flag of the United States Bill Zaniboni G R 6' 1" 210 lbs. Plymouth, Massachusetts, USA
  • Head Coach: Steffon Walby
  • Player-Assistant: Steve Weidlich

Player Awards[]

2009/2010 SPHL Goal-Tender of the Year: Bill Zaniboni
2009/2010 SPHL Defenseman of the Year: Steve Wiedlich
2009/2010 SPHL Coach of the Year: Steffon Walby


External links[]

This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at Mississippi Surge. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Ice Hockey Wiki, the text of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License 3.0 (Unported) (CC-BY-SA).


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