Knoxville Ice Bears
| Knoxville Ice Bears | |
|---|---|
 2016–17 SPHL season
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| City | Knoxville, Tennessee |
| League | Southern Professional Hockey League |
| Founded | 2002 (In the ACHL) |
| Home arena | Knoxville Civic Auditorium and Coliseum |
| Colors | Black, Purple, Orange |
| General manager | Mike Murray |
| Head coach | Mike Craigen |
| Media |
Knoxville News-Sentinel WBIR-TV WATE-TV WVLT-TV |
| Franchise history | |
| 2002–present | Knoxville Ice Bears |
| Championships | |
| Regular season titles | 4 (2004-05, 2005-06, 2007-08, 2008-09) |
| Playoff championships | 4 (2005-06, 2007-8, 2008-09, 2014-15) |
The Knoxville Ice Bears are a professional ice hockey team. The team competes in the Southern Professional Hockey League. They play their home games at the Knoxville Civic Auditorium and Coliseum in Knoxville, Tennessee. The Ice Bears are coached by Mike Craigen, currently in his 5th season as head coach. The Ice Bears have made the playoffs in all 14 years of their existence. In 2006, the Ice Bears defeated the Florida Seals to take their first President's Cup. The Ice Bears won back to back President's Cup Championships in the 2007-08 and 2008-09 seasons. On April 18, 2015, the Ice Bears defeated the Mississippi RiverKings 4-2 to sweep the 2015 SPHL Finals and win their 4th President's Cup.
The Knoxville Ice Bears were founded in 2002 as a charter member of the Atlantic Coast Hockey League. After finishing as runner-up to the Orlando Seals in the 2002–03 season, the Ice Bears moved to the new South East Hockey League. Again, they finished as a runner-up in the playoffs to the Huntsville Channel Cats for 2003–04. In 2004, The team again changed hockey leagues and joined the new Southern Professional Hockey League. In the SPHL's first season, the Ice Bears won the regular season championship Commissioner's Cup, but lost in the second round of the playoffs (after a first round bye) to the eventual champions, the Columbus Cottonmouths.
In 2005–06, the Ice Bears secured the Commissioner's Cup and the President's Cup by beating the Florida Seals in game four of a best-of-five series. In 2006–07, the team was eliminated in the league semifinals with two straight losses to the Fayetteville FireAntz. In 2007–08, the Ice Bears once again secured the Commissioner's Cup, now renamed the William B. Coffey Trophy. In the 2008 President's Cup playoffs, the Ice Bears won again. Rookie goalie Kirk Irving took home playoff MVP honors. The President Cup title was the Ice Bears' second in three years.
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