Columbus Cottonmouths
| Columbus Cottonmouths | |
|---|---|
 2016–17 SPHL season
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| City | Columbus, Georgia |
| League | Southern Professional Hockey League |
| Founded | 1996 (In the CHL) |
| Home arena | Columbus Civic Center |
| Colors | Blue, gold, black, white |
| Owner(s) | Wanda Amos |
| General manager | Jerome Bechard |
| Head coach | Jerome Bechard |
| Media | SPHL Live |
| Franchise history | |
| First franchise (CHL) | |
| 1996–2001 | Columbus Cottonmouths |
| Second franchise (ECHL) | |
| 1989–2000 | Hampton Roads Admirals |
| 2001–2004 | Columbus Cottonmouths |
| Never played | Gulf Coast Swords |
| Third franchise (SPHL) | |
| 2004–present | Columbus Cottonmouths |
| Championships | |
| Regular season titles | 2 (1997–98, 2006–07) |
| Division Championships | 3 (1997–98, 1999–00, 2000–01) |
| Playoff championships | 3(1997–98, 2004–05, 2011–12) |
The Columbus Cottonmouths are a professional ice hockey team based in Columbus, Georgia. The team is nicknamed the Snakes, and play their home games at the Columbus Civic Center
In 1996, the Columbus Cottonmouths started play in the Central Hockey League, joining the Macon Whoopee and Nashville Nighthawks as expansion entries that were originally slated to be in the Southern Hockey League before its demise in the summer of 1996. Along with the Memphis RiverKings, an established CHL franchise, and the Huntsville Channel Cats, the SHL champion in 1996 and the lone surviving franchise from that league, Columbus and the other two expansion SHL teams formed the new Eastern Division of the CHL in the 1996–97 season. In 1998, the team won the CHL championship, defeating the Wichita Thunder in a four-game sweep. The Cottonmouths were in the CHL playoffs each of their five seasons in the league, making it to the league finals in 2000 and 2001 before losing to the Indianapolis Ice and the Oklahoma City Blazers, respectively. In the summer of 2001, the CHL merged with the Western Professional Hockey League and geographic rivals in Huntsville and Macon were lost, leading the Cottonmouths to seek and obtain entry into the East Coast Hockey League.
DVA Sports, composed of owners Salvador Diaz-Verson and Shelby Amos, purchased the defunct Hampton Roads Admirals ECHL franchise, relocating it to Columbus under the Cottonmouths name.
From 2001 to 2004, the Columbus Cottonmouths organization played in the ECHL, bringing with them their longtime captain Jerome "Boom-Boom" Bechard and head coach Bruce Garber. In the three seasons that Columbus spent in the ECHL, they failed to make the playoffs. Midway through their second season in the ECHL, Garber, the only coach in team history, resigned. General manager Phil Roberto took over for the remainder of the season. Their best season in the ECHL was their last. Prior to the 2003–04 season the team announced the signing of their new coach, former NHL enforcer Brian Curran. They finished with a 37–27–8 record, tied with the Greensboro Generals for the best record by a non-playoff team that season.
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