Columbus Cottonmouths
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Columbus Cottonmouths | |
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| Founded | 1996 |
| Arena | Columbus Civic Center |
| Based in | Columbus, Georgia |
| Team Colors | black, blue, and gold |
| League | Southern Professional Hockey League |
| Local Media | Columbus Ledger-Enquirer |
| Coach | Jerome Bechard |
| General Manager | Jerome Bechard |
| Owner | Wanda Amos |
The Columbus Cottonmouths are a professional ice hockey team based in Columbus, Georgia. They play their home games at Columbus Civic Center.
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[edit] CHL
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.
[edit] ECHL
From 2001-2004 the Columbus Cottonmouths played in the ECHL. In the three seasons that Columbus spent in the ECHL, they failed to make the playoffs. Their best season in the ECHL was their last, in 2003-04, where they finished just two points out of a playoff spot and tied 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.
[edit] SPHL
Since 2004 the Columbus Cottonmouths have been in the SPHL. They won the inaugural SPHL championship in April 2005 by defeating the Macon Trax two games to none, capping 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 the Huntsville Havoc.
[edit] Championships
| Year | League | Trophy |
|---|---|---|
| 2004-2005 | SPHL | President's Cup |
| 1997-1998 | CHL | William “Bill” Levins Memorial Cup |
[edit] External links
| Southern Professional Hockey League | |
| 2006-07 teams: Columbus Cottonmouths | Fayetteville FireAntz | Florida Seals | Huntsville Havoc | Jacksonville Barracudas | Knoxville Ice Bears | Pee Dee Cyclones | Richmond Renegades | |
| Trophies and Awards: President's Cup | Commissioner's Cup | |
| Related Articles: NHL | AHL | ECHL | UHL | CHL | World Cup | |
