Mississippi Surge

Mississippi Surge
City Biloxi, Mississippi
League Southern Professional Hockey League
Operated 2009–2014
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
2016– Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs
Championships
Playoff championships 1 (2010–11)

The Mississippi Surge was a professional hockey team in the Southern Professional Hockey League that began play in the 2009–10 season and folded on May 2, 2014. Playing for five seasons, the Surge was based in Biloxi and home games were played at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum, also known as "The Power Plant".[1]

History

The Mississippi Surge began play 2009 following the suspension of operations of the Mississippi Sea Wolves of the ECHL. The folding 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.[2] The team was to be coached by longtime Sea Wolves player and coach Steffon Walby.

The Surge had great success in its first season. 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 playoffs 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, sweeping 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 faced adversity with numerous injuries and call-ups of key players, but again managed to finish the season in first place with an over-all record of 37-19. The Mississippi Surge were again crowned the Regular Season Champions and received the 2010–11 William B. Coffey Trophy for the second year in a row. The Surge played the Knoxville Ice Bears in the first round of the 2010–11 SPHL Playoffs and advanced to the President's Cup Finals after winning the series 3-2. In the SPHL Finals, the Surge were matched up against the second 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 the Pensacola Ice Flyers owner, Tim Kerr, bought the team from Coast Hockey LLC. Under new ownership, the Surge hired rookie head coach Jeff Bes. They went 29-24-3 in his first season.

During the off-season, Kerr informed fans that the team would need to reach 1000 season ticket holders by the start of this season, to stay viable on the coast. He later had a meeting and told fans the number had been revised to 800 season ticket holders. Fans collaborated to achieve 816 season ticket holders. There was a counter visible to fans on mssurge.com. The Surge have since removed the counter and it is not known how many season tickets have been sold.

On May 2, 2014 the Mississippi Surge announced that they had officially suspended operations indefinitely and have since relocated to Roanoke to become the Rail Yard Dawgs.

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 5th 56 29 24 3 61 0.545 166 162 976 Jeff Bes Lost in Quarterfinals
2012–13 6th 56 25 23 8 58 0.518 152 156 1228 Jeff Bes Lost in Quarterfinals

*2010–11 season: no points were given for OTL

Championships and awards

Since its debut in the 2009–10 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
2010–11 SPHL Commissioner's Cup
2010–11 SPHL President's Cup

'11 President's Cup Champions roster

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

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

References

  1. ↑ "SOUTHERN PROFESSIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE COMES TO THE COAST". TheSPHL.com. May 7, 2009. Retrieved May 11, 2009.
  2. ↑ "Coast Hockey announces new team name". The Sun Herald. June 17, 2009. Retrieved June 17, 2009.
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