Atlantic Coast Hockey League (2002–03)

Atlantic Coast Hockey League

Sport	Ice hockey
Founded	2002
Ceased	2003
No. of teams	6
Last champion(s)	Orlando Seals

The Atlantic Coast Hockey League was a professional minor league ice hockey league based in the United States. The second league to bear the name Atlantic Coast Hockey League, it operated for only one season, 2002–2003, before its franchises split into two new leagues.

History

The 2002 incarnation of the Atlantic Coast Hockey League was the second organization to bear this name, after the original Atlantic Coast Hockey League, the early 1980s predecessor of the East Coast Hockey League. The ACHL would last only one season, and was notable for the early-season move of the St. Petersburg Parrots to Winston-Salem, North Carolina. After a bitter split among the franchises, the league split into two new leagues, the South East Hockey League and World Hockey Association 2. Surviving franchises would later rejoin each other for the 2004–05 season in the Southern Professional Hockey League.

The Orlando Seals won the ACHL's only regular season and playoff championships.

Teams

• Cape Fear Fire Antz (moved to SEHL for 2003–04)
• Jacksonville Barracudas (moved to WHA2 for 2003–04)
• Knoxville Ice Bears (moved to SEHL for 2003–04)
• Macon Trax (moved to WHA2 for 2003–04)
• Orlando Seals (moved to WHA2 for 2003–04)
• St. Pete/Winston-Salem Parrots (relocated from St. Petersburg to Winston-Salem on November 30, 2002; folded after the season)
• Tallahassee Tide (team intended to play the 2002–03 season but never secured a lease)

Two expansion teams were planned for the 2003–04 season, before the league folded:

• Huntsville Channel Cats (played in the SEHL)
• Miami Manatees (played in the WHA2)

League split

After the 2002–03 season, David Waronker, who owned four of the ACHL's teams in whole or in part, announced he would be founding a new league the following year. This was the World Hockey Association 2, which was envisioned as a developmental league to a revived World Hockey Association. Waronker's teams, the Jacksonville Barracudas, the Macon Trax, the Orlando Seals, and the ACHL expansion team, the Miami Manatees, joined this new league; they were joined by the Lakeland Loggerheads and the Alabama Slammers. The Cape Fear Fire Antz and the Knoxville Ice Bears joined the SEHL with the Huntsville Channel Cats (who were also briefly an ACHL expansion team), the Tupelo T-Rex (who never played due to contractual issues with a previous professional league), and eventually the Winston-Salem T-Birds (who began the season known as the Winston-Salem Hockey Club) as the 4th team.

Final standings

Regular season

Team	GP	W	L	OTL	GF	GA	Pts
Orlando Seals	59	43	14	2	235	158	88
Knoxville Ice Bears	59	36	21	2	231	186	74
Macon Trax	59	31	25	3	214	202	65
St. Pete/Winston-Salem Parrots	57	28	23	6	171	174	62
Cape Fear Fire Antz	60	21	37	3	180	243	44
Jacksonville Barracudas	60	18	41	1	180	248	37

Playoffs

	Semifinals									Final
	1	Orlando Seals	3	4	1	x	x
	3	Macon Trax	2	3	0	x	x
										1	Orlando Seals	2	3	8	x	x
										2	Knoxville Ice Bears	1	1	1	x	x
	4	St. Pete/Winston-Salem Parrots	0	1	0	x	x
	2	Knoxville Ice Bears	1	3	3	x	x

Final

All times are local (EST)

March 26, 2003 7:00 pm

Knoxville

1 – 2 (1–1, 0–1, 0–0)

Orlando

TD Waterhouse Centre, Orlando, FL

Game reference
	Fred Beaubein	Goalies	David Goverde
	Gatis Tsplis (Savchenko, Desjarlais) - pp - 5:39	First Period 1 – 0 1 – 1 Second Period 1 – 2	10:36 - Todd Nowicki (Sanderson, White) 6:03 - Louis Goulet (Nowicki, Lipuma)
	4 min	Penalties	8 min
	32	Shots	29

March 28, 2003 7:30 pm

Knoxville

1 – 3 (0–1, 0–1, 1–1)

Orlando

TD Waterhouse Centre, Orlando, FL

Game reference
	Fred Beaubien	Goalies	David Goverde
	Jim Bermingham (Desjarlais, Rodriguez) - 0:52	First Period 0 – 1 Second Period 0 – 2 Third Period 1 – 2 1 – 3	19:30 - Todd Nowicki (Goulet, White) 1:05 - Terry Ryan (Seroski) 19:49 - en - Terry Ryan (Goulet, Stephens)
	4 min	Penalties	2 min
	34	Shots	30

March 29, 2003 7:30 pm

Orlando

8 – 1 (5–0, 2–1, 1–0)

Knoxville

James White Civic Coliseum, Knoxville, TN Attendance: 3,258

Game reference
	David Goverde	Goalies	Fred Beaubien (out 11:42 1st) Jason Tapp (in 11:42 1st)
	Louie Goulet (Stephens) - 2:57 Mark White - 4:28 Brad Federenko (Ryan, Sanderson) - 5:29 Brad Federenko (Seroski) - 11:24 Terry Ryan - 11:42 B.J. Stephens (Johnson) - 4:45 Terry Ryan (White, Federenko) - 9:55 Darcy Johnson (Goulet, Stephens) - 8:28	First Period 1 – 0 2 – 0 3 – 0 4 – 0 5 – 0 Second Period 5 – 1 6 – 1 7 – 1 Third Period 8 – 1	4:10 - Todd MacIsaac (Alepin, Rodriguez)
	2 min	Penalties	2 min
	37	Shots	16

See also

• List of developmental and minor sports leagues
• List of ice hockey leagues

External links

• 2002-03 Atlantic Coast Hockey League at HockeyDB.com