SPHL reschedules Cottonmouths’ lost game
The Southern Professional Hockey League (SPHL) has rescheduled the Columbus Cottonmouths at Peoria Rivermen game originally scheduled for Jan. 20, which was postponed following the Cottonmouths’ bus accident, but it involves a different team.
Due to limited arena availability and the difficulty in getting the Cottonmouths back to Peoria, the game will now be played on Saturday, April 8 with the Mississippi RiverKings as the new opponent. Game time is 7:05 p.m.
As part of this move, Columbus will travel to Roanoke to take on the Rail Yard Dawgs on Tuesday, April 4, replacing Macon, while the Mayhem will now take Mississippi’s place at Huntsville on Saturday, April 1.
The Cottonmouths’ team bus crashed near Peoria on Jan. 19, sending everyone on the bus to the hospital. Most of the injuries were minor, but three people suffered serious, though not life-threatening, injuries.
The game scheduled for that night was postponed, and head coach and general manager Jerome Bechard had to scramble together a roster of players from all over the eastern seaboard to play the scheduled game the next day.
When the team returned to play their first home game after the wreck, a still-patched-together roster defeated the Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs 4-2 in an emotional homecoming.
Mike Owen: 706-571-8570, @mikeowenle
This story was originally published February 1, 2017 at 11:19 AM with the headline "SPHL reschedules Cottonmouths’ lost game."