The first official news of the (potential) 2020-21 hockey season came down Friday afternoon, with the release of the Southern Professional Hockey League protected lists. Each team was permitted to protect any combination of 13 players that were on last season’s roster.

Please keep in mind that a player being on this list DOES NOT guarantee that they will play for that team next season, just that the team retains the player’s rights heading into next season, preventing them from signing with another SPHL team. Those rights can be traded, and if a player plays in a different league, his rights remain with the SPHL team that protected him.

Fayetteville

Brian Bowen, F

Taylor McCloy, F

Blake Wojtala, G

Shane Bednard, F

Stathis Soumelidis, F.

Alec Marsh, F

Derian Hamilton, D

Drake Glover, F

Josh Victor, D

Malcolm Hayes, D

Christian Lloyd, D

Tim Kielich, F

Luke Stork, F

Breakdown: 8 F, 4 D, 1 G

Evansville

Austin Plevy             F

Derek Sutliffe           F

Seth Swenson           F

Matthew Barnaby      F

Noah Corson             F

Demico Hannoun       F

Hayden Hulton          F

Zane Jones               F

Connor Sanvido         F

Brett Radford            F

Braden Hellems       D

Tanner Butler          D

Brian Billett             G

Breakdown: 9 F, 3 D, 1 G

Pensacola

Jake Kupsky  Goalie

Tyler Andrews  D

Brennan Blaszczak F

Matt Ustaski  F

Garrett Minal  F

Connor Powell F

Brett D’Andrea F

Eddie Matsushima F

Michael Ederer F

Jesse Kessler D

Chase Perry G

Meirs Moore D

Tommaso Bucci F

Breakdown: 8 F, 3 D, 2 G

Roanoke

Jeff Jones F

CJ Stubbs F

Brant Sherwood F

Lincoln Griffin F

Matt O’Dea F

Kyle Wagner F

Brady Heppner F

Derek Brown F

Joe Molinaro F

Travis Armstrong D

Nate O’Brien D

Tyler Currie D

Jake Theut G

Breakdown: 9 F, 3 D, 1 G

Huntsville

Rob Darrar F

Baxter Kanter F

Sy Nutkevitch F

Tyler Piacentini F

John Schiavo F

Kyle Sharkey F

Stephan Beauvais D

Alec Brandrup D

Pat Condon D

Phil Johansson D

Nolan Kaiser D

Peter Sikalis D

Max Milosek G

Breakdown: 8 F, 4 D, 1 G

Quad City

Taylor Pryce F

Gregg Burmaster F

Connor Fries F

Cole Golka F

Stephen Gaul F

Peter Di Salvo G

Ricky Kramer D

Ryan Devine D

Joe Sova D

Shane Bennett F

Mathias Ahman D

Joe Widmar F

Junior Harris D

Breakdown: 7 F, 5 D, 1 G

Macon

Stephen Pierog F

Dylan Denomme F

Caleb Cameron F

Jimmy Soper F

Colton Wolter F

Eric Ylitalo F

Beau McCue F

Oscar Arfelt D

Zach Urban D

Cooper Jones D

Alex D’Oliveira D

Nick Minerva D

Michael Stilladis G

Breakdown: 7 F, 5 D, 1 G

Peoria

Robin Hoglund F

Regan Nagy F

Konner Haas F

Nick Neville D

Alec Baer F

Brandon Rumble D

Cody Dion F

Jake Hamilton D

Jordan Ernst F

Jordan Carvalho F

Brandon McMartin D

Zach Nieminen F

Ben Oskroba D

Breakdown: 8 F, 5 D, 0 G

Knoxville

Joseph Murdaca G

David Brancik D

Stefan Brucato F

Scott Cuthrell F

Anthony McVeigh F

Bryce Nielsen F

Josh Pietrantonio F

Gehrett Sargis D

Dwyer Tschantz F

Brady Fleurent F

Charlie Granath D

Jacob Benson F

Marly Quince F

Breakdown: 9 F, 3 D, 1 G

Birmingham

Josh Harris F

Jacob Barber F

Jonah Wasylak F

Kasey Kulczycki F

Russell Jordan F

Cole Stallard F

Mike Davis F

Tommy Tsicos F

Troy Taylor D

Matt Fuller D

Tyler Mayea D

Harrison Harper D

Artt Brey G

Breakdown: 8 F, 4 D, 1 G