Quick note on the Sarah Ayres tweet, it was made in reference to David Ayres allegedly emotionally abusing her, and their eventual separation. That tweet isn't about David Ayres, it's a personal tweet.

It’s really cool that the players just scored a single goal and then invited fans and such to skate with them

I used to live in Peoria, IL, where the Peoria Rivermen, a former AHL team, play in the SPHL. They get a decent turnout, but when you share a huge arena/venue/b-ball court, the hockey games aren’t the ones that bring in the cash. One of my friends recently told me that the owner of the arena is trying to kick them out, but they won’t leave. I’m glad they’re hanging on cuz, as a kid, I fell in love with hockey after watching one of their games.

LeBron said a bad word.

Bobcats is (was) my hometown team. It’s been a shit show from the start. Ellen (the owner) was having continuous relations with players which is a big no no but she doesn’t care about the image this puts out. She wasn’t paying players, staff, or really anyone. We have local pick up at the rink during week nights and there were times when the bobcats equipment manager would be at the rink talking about how he hasn’t gotten paid in the last month. And he wasn’t the first one that had this problem. It just sucks because hockey in the VC is finally getting some publicity but it’s not the attention we want. This area has a real possibility of getting a good hockey following. We had standing room only games for our old NAHL team we had. I’ve been saying for years we need to go back to a junior team in the barn. It’s just really upsetting how this has all turned out. Especially because a bunch of buddies and I called this happening over a year ago. Sad days for VC hockey. Hoping we can bounce back and be better. If I had the money and the resources I would just buy this dumpster fire and turn it around because I would love nothing more than hockey to be popular again in this area.

SPHL! My nephew just started to play down there for Evansville.

Shoutout to ECK covering the sphl and fed

You have no idea how cool SPHL coverage means to me as a Peoria Rivermen fan. The skill level is no where near ECHL but some of the unusual moments are awesome. If you get more of an opportunity, coverage of this leaguewould be awesome, even if it’s just a few videos here and there.

Thank you for using a clip of the Ice Flyers while going over what the SPHL was. It was great seeing recognizable names of the team that really got me into hockey, and I swear they're one of the only reasons I still live in this state.

this is surprising because their captain said the team had a buyer from florida lol

I have a local SPHL team from my hometown. We hate to see this happen but the writing has been on the walls for a long time. Not only is this team in total jeopardy, but last year's cup winner (Peoria Rivermen) is in jeapordy due to their arena not wanting to put up the money for necessary ice maintaince. I worry about the direction the SPHL is going.

Damn idk how I found your channel but I’ve been watching every video you upload since. Great work on every vid!!

So glad to see someone cover this! Big SPHL fan, watching this online live was WILD

I work as an off-ice official in the Quad Cities. This whole situation really stinks. Everyone hates to see a community lose their hockey team and the way this one is being handled is terrible. Dave is pretty spot on with everything he said. Hoping to see something from the league this week.

I think I found your channel randomly and I accidentally became hooked to your content 😂

The SPHL is alive and well in Roanoke! We pack the house every week. Love to see you covering not only the NHL, but other leagues as well. Keep it up man!

Plot of Shoresy season 1

Moved to Alabama from the State of Hockey, and quickly became an avid fan of the Birmingham Bulls. Never thought I’d see the day the SPHL was covered on this channel, but I’m so glad it was! Love videos like these that highlight some of the lesser known leagues and players. Keep up the great work!

SPHL games can be really fun. I lived in Knoxville, TN for almost 20 years and I loved taking my kids to the Knoxville Ice Bears games. The fans really got into it, the arena was always packed and they had entertainment between periods like Weiner dog races on the ice.

I’m from the quad cities!!! Used to be called the mallards with in amazing logo.. sad times

Been to a few SPHL games near where I live, and formerly shared the arena with one of the southernmost NCAA D1 hockey programs (Alabama-Huntsville Chargers, you can thank them for Cam Talbot, Eck) and it is a fun local experience and the closest hockey to me. Also because of my major in college (Sports Management with a Comm minor) I have been looking for jobs in the Huntsville area with them and they pretty much told me that they have a skeleton crew of 7 running the team operations in the offseason.

I remember going to open skate at that arena in the late 80's or early 90's back when the Danville Dashers played there. There was some kind of buzz going around about them folding due to scandal involving embezzlement or a staff member selling off their equipment.

They should sign me

lmao those refs are from columbus, ohio. i know them. long drive for a cancelled game

I remember when my town had the Mississippi Riverkings, had a good run and the games were fun. Wish I still had them around.

@Eck I have a #7 goalie cut jersey from the VC Bobcats training camp/tryouts from August 2021. I drove down to Fishers, Indiana from St. Paul Minnesota to try out for their inaugural season. I’ve got some interesting stories from that camp!!

As a nearly life time fan of the Southern Pro league it’s awesome to see coverage on it. Even though a lot of people downgrade it to beer league, I think they have a bunch of really good players, that never get the light they deserve. The games are always super enjoyable and entertaining to watch. And the rivalries like Huntsville VS Knoxville are always a blast. Shame what happened to VC, they deserved better.

It is weird seeing the Quad City Storm getting so much attention. The Quad City minor league teams were some of my local teams growing up.

Id love to see a video on pro roller hockey. Its a super electric sport and its super big in places like California where ice hockey is super expensive and hard to find. Narch and state wars pro leagues are both great. I play on a 16u roller team and i get to see a lot of these pro teams play in person and it can be the same level as energy as an AHL game. A lot of crazy plays and moves come out of these games and it would be super cool to see you do a video on it. Its definitely an underrated sport

I want to cheer for Vermillion City because it’s named after a Pokémon city and their logo looks like a Pokémon too 😂

Adding to the Ayres situation (so it isn’t so out of left field) that David Ayres was the head coach for the Bobcats very briefly (one of 10 over the last 2 years).

When I would be in Knoxville for work I would watch the Ice Bears. The hockey was good but the super fans reminded me so much of Major League. Trying to get the crowd going and all we wanted to do was enjoy our cheap beer and hot dogs while watching the game.

Cool to see someone talk about the SPHL down here in middle Georgia the Macon Mayhem is the only reason I like hockey and play it.

I’m from the Quad Cities and I typically avoid Storm games because of how difficult the games can be to watch, but I’m glad to see the league getting extra press for making the most of this odd situation. Hopefully the league can get their shit together too.

As a person who went to went to multiple bobcat games it sucks that this is happening. The arena is almost perfect to go to as anywhere you sit is a great place to watch a hockey game. Tickets were cheap as well 10$ for a student. I though did see this happening as I took my roommate to a game where there were only 100 people in the stands

Revolutionizing the game eck 🥳

Must be one of the Canucks' affiliates.

i have a sphl team in my city (hunstville havoc) the games are so fun with a bunch of crowd interactive stuff on the jumbotron on chants. they have a great atmosphere especially in the big havoc arena

shoutout to the season ticket holder being a loyal fan. He deserves better!

I love this level of pro hockey. It's awesome the players stuck around to skate with the fans

This is an SPHL game. My Roanoke rail yard dawgs play for them and it’s so entertaining to watch. Also the vermilion county bobcats are one of the teams you will rack stats against. They got a new coach and it’s pretty sad to see them fold. Also I might have found a jersey btw

I've been to countless SPHL games in my lifetime. I remember when VC formed and I was happy to see the league grow even if a team underperforms. But seeing their attendance average at 499 while the average attendance for others is in the thousands (my team for example is a little over 5,000 a night) I had a gut feeling the team was sinking. It was a matter of time and it looks like that time came. Especially when they deleted their facebook.

I’m from the quad cities the rumor of the bobcats folding was around a few weeks prior to this happening

In Connecticut, we have 2 AHL teams, but our Fed team gets more consistent crowds than Hartford or Bridgeport. It's just that small team pride and the Hatricks have a sick arena

*Idk why, but the guy in the thumbnail looks like he could be a cartoon character.*

I have been a quad city hockey fan since I was young, basically long story short an unfortunate thing with the bobcats happened and if I’m not mistaken they have folded. It’s unfortunate and my prayers too the fans and players are here for them all!

Love the SPHL. A few guys I play men's league with now are former players and my dad has season tickets to the Knoxville Ice Bears. A great league, old style hard hitting hockey and its a shame to see teams go like this.

About the Bobcats, they have a lot of local hate, they had a team, the Danville Dashers were a staple in the Federal Prospects Hockey League and the town in general. The SPHL wormed their way into the location and made tons of people mad so it was a losing battle before the first pick drop. Check out the FPHL, I worked for the Danbury Hat Ticks.

Was figuring the bus broke down...

The game isn’t on hockey tv anymore I can’t find it

This happened in the last season of the old CHL in 1983-84 season. First, The CHL's final champions, the Tulsa Oilers, were left without a home during their championship 1983-84 season when the team owners went into receivership. The Oilers played only road games for final six weeks of 1983-84 season. Second, the Billings Montana team, the Magic changed owners toward the end of the season, when the owner would not put any more money into the team, causing the players to strike that game.

Love Eck vids

When the entire franchise gets the call on the bus it being demoted back to their day jobs.

Woulda been cool if the surviving team did a half team jersey change and played a lil shinny for the fan(s) for 20 min. Why not enjoy some ice time?

Dylan Larkin wants more money than Steven Stamkos

As somebody who lives in the area anybody with sense saw this coming. Tbh I'm surprised they even managed to last this long.

My friend is actually the Commissioner of the SPHL

Gettin Slap Shot vibes of this league.

You should look into the Lapeer Loggers, an AAHL team that existed from 2010-2011. It was a glorified Fight Club on skates and was a shitshow behind the scenes. The team folded when the players refused to take the ice one night unless the owner showed up with a literal sack of money to pay them what they were owed. Dude never showed up and I’m pretty sure he left town and his to avoid paying.

The team just announced that it’s getting shut down

My old Coach was the Coach of the Bobcats and he ended up leaving after they fired their Hockey ops president. Their owner is an absolute nutcase and the players basically went on strike and cleared out their locker room even before the game started.

Its basically the Noshow

I never seen anyone die in a game till I first heard of Mat Petgrave.

I’m like 40 minutes away from this place.. Never been to a game but I’ve watched quite a bit on the news about them..

Thats a bruh moment if i ever heard one

SPHL is awesome big Ice Flyers fan here

hey that’s my local team penscola ice flyers

Wooo!

David Ayres is the guy who was the Zamboni driver who had to play an NHL game for the leafs vs. Carolina game?

Honestly I'm a little disappointed the SPHL even allowed this to happen. The league is usually more stable than this and does a better job vetting it's owners unlike the Federal Hockey Lea... Excuse me, the Federal Prospects Hockey League as they had to declare bankruptcy and change their name to avoid a lawsuit from an injured player. The SPHL should not even be used in the same sentence as the Fed given how far above it the league is which makes this situation all the more sadder.

Bro in the video thumbnail should be a meme

Best 2 words in sports as per Homer Simpson... de fault! Lol

That record is similar to the high school team I am *trying* to 'coach'.

The Bobcats announced their midseason fold a few days ago. Honestly kinda sad. I hope Danville can find a new reasonable franchise soon.

I like the SPHL, I'm a season ticket holder. The only thing I wish they would change is to add a second referee. I can't find another league/association using one referee anymore. The SPHL is a good league - I hope they grow bigger from this loss.

I’m sad for the serial killer who lost his season tickets, now he’s gonna have many free evenings to roam around…

The big rumor about it was that the owner isn’t paying the players and they all sat. I used to be a mascot in this league and still have a good couple connections on it.

Shoresy "If you can't win don't play" 🤷🏼‍♂️

Very classy move.. tickets also should be refunded. Saw something almost happen like this for the Eastern Football League over the summer.. was sooo hot Marlborough Shamrocks had a full roster.. the opposing team had exactly 11 players to start.. no one else showed except 2 others for second half.. so they had to play every down on offense and defense... game was blowout as you can imagine.. called the game in 4th with maybe 10 min left

What a shame. I hope the players find new teams.

The Bobcats actually were sold and relocated to a retirement community in Florida. Dickie Dunn wrote about it so it must be true.

Can't get you a Bobcats jersey, but I could swing an Ice Bears jersey!

I worked for a junior team in Ontario that folded suddenly one day because the owners had their assets seized and were thrown in jail when they uncovered a massive grow op on their farm lol

kinda reminds me of the first "Slap shot" movie

I really can't imagine being into a hobby so boring that the most interesting thing that happens is when a team doesn't show up. Being from Canada, surrounded by hockey fanatics my whole life and playing it for 23 years. I still don't understand what people get out of watching sports, and not even the interesting ones like actions sports or racing. Traditional sports like hockey, baseball, football, are so uninteresting that the fan base has to be wasted at the games, and just go on Instagram the entire time.

Never heard of the SPHL.. Significanly below the ECHL, is this just like timbits hockey camp or something?

Sound like an episode of Shoresy.

That’s some slap shot shit!

They had a total of 11 coaches over their time in the league. The team had a few good games and beat the #1 team Peoria a couple times. I watch the Ice Bear which is in the SPHL, when they join we were excited because us a new team to play against. Mostly everyone in the league is sad the team folded. No one wants to see it happen. Luckily all of the players were put up on unconditional waivers. Hopefully they get picked up and get to keep playing.

Does all hockey do 1-0 win on forfeit? in baseball you get a run for every inning on a forfeit for points for and against

Update from my last comment, the team officially announced this morning via Twitter that the Bobcats folded. They had 10 players rostered and no coaching or equipment staff. I reached out to them a week ago to ask if they were folding and got an all caps “NOPE”. The next day, they deleted their page.

I had a chance to play in the espy or get a desk job. I chose the desk job.

thats feelsbad for anyone that went to watch

They couldn't put bums in seats

I could literally play in that league LOL

game end like this? what about the start?

THIS IS MY HOME TEAM I LIVE IN THE QUAD CITIES (ps my team is the qc storm)

The Vemillion county Bobcats are terrible. But I could see their folding coming. I live in Huntsville and I am a big Havoc fan. We are supposed to play them Friday night. Still don’t know if we will play them or someone else.

0.167 LOLOLOL

What a weird story loool