Columbus Cottonmouths
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. Image File history File links Columbus_Cottonmouths_Primary. ... 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ... Columbus Civic Center is a 10,000-seat multi-purpose arena in Columbus, Georgia. ... Columbus is a city in Muscogee County, Georgia, United States. ... The Southern Professional Hockey League (SPHL) is a professional ice hockey league with teams located in the southeastern United States. ... The Columbus Ledger-Enquirer is a Knight Ridder newspaper in Columbus, Georgia. ... Ice hockey, known simply as hockey in areas where it is more common than field hockey, is a team sport played on ice. ... Columbus is a city in Muscogee County, Georgia, United States. ... Columbus Civic Center is a 10,000-seat multi-purpose arena in Columbus, Georgia. ...

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. CHL can refer to: Canadian Hockey League Central Hockey League of the United States Continental Hockey League Concealed Handgun License (some US states) This page concerning a three letter acronym is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... CHL can refer to: Canadian Hockey League Central Hockey League of the United States Continental Hockey League Concealed Handgun License (some US states) This page concerning a three letter acronym is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... CHL can refer to: Canadian Hockey League Central Hockey League of the United States Continental Hockey League Concealed Handgun License (some US states) This page concerning a three letter acronym is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... The Wichita Thunder are a minor league hockey team based in Wichita, Kansas. ...

ECHL

From 2001-2004 the Columbus Cottonmouths played in the ECHL, bringing with them their long time 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. Mid-way 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 tough guy 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. 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. The ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League) is a professional ice hockey league based in Princeton, New Jersey, with teams scattered across the United States and Canada, generally regarded as a tier below the American Hockey League. ... The Gulf Coast Swords are an expansion team of the ECHL set to begin play for the 2006-2007 season. ...

SPHL

Since 2004 the Columbus Cottonmouths have been in the SPHL. Led by first year Coach, and Columbus hockey legend Jerome "Boom-Boom" Bechard, they won the inaugural SPHL championship in April 2005 by first winning a one game playoff against the Fayetteville Fire Antz 4-2. They would move on to sweep the regular season Champion Knoxville IceBears to advance to the Finals. In grand fashion, they would sweep their rival Macon Trax two games to none, capping it with a 3-2 overtime win when the puck deflected off forward Tylor Keller. The "Snakes", as they're called by their loyal fans, capped 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. Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ...

Year-by-year record

Central Hockey League

East Coast Hockey League

Southern Professional Hockey League

Championships

Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... For other leagues with the same name, see Central Hockey League (disambiguation). ... For other leagues with the same name, see Central Hockey League (disambiguation). ...

External links

• Team Website
• The Southern Professional Hockey League website