Former Vipers Mark Sibbald & Greg Beller Meet In SPHL Semi-Finals:

Two former Vernon Vipers meet in the SPHL Semi-Finals as Former Vernon Vipers goaltender, Mark Sibbald & the Huntsville Havoc will face former Vernon Vipers forward, Greg Beller & the Columbus Cottonmouths in the second round best-of-three semi-final series in the SPHL Playoffs. Greg Beller with one goal lead to a Cottonmouths 5-0 win in Game 1 last night. The Havoc are coming off a first round series victory over former Vernon Vipers goaltender, Jon Olthuis and the Augusta RiverHawks. While the Cottonmouths are coming off a two game sweep of former Vernon Vipers forward, Rob Short and the Louisiana Ice Gators in the opening round of the SPHL Playoffs.

Mark Sibbald is in his third season with the Havoc, also saw time in the CHL with Bloomington and Dayton before returning to Huntsville. Sibbald played two seasons in Vernon (2003-2005) played in 59 regular season games with the Vipers going (35-16-3) with 4 shutouts.

Mark Sibbald's Player Profile:

http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=76538

Greg Beller is in his first season with Columbus is with his third team this season (Idaho, Augusta and now Columbus) signed with the Columbus Cottonmouths back on November, 12th 2011 Beller was named to this years SPHL All-Rookie team. Beller played one season in Vernon (2007-08) playing in 23 regular season games collecting (10-10-20). Beller left Yale University during the 2007-08 season joining the Vernon Vipers midway through the regular season. Beller was selected by New York Rangers in round 6 #178 overall in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft.

Greg Beller's Player Profile:

http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=87902

This is posted on the Havoc website:

VIGIER SHUTS OUT HAVOC IN GAME ONE

HUNTSVILLE, AL - Ian Vigier made 25 saves as the Columbus Cottonmouths beat the Huntsville Havoc 5-0 in game one of their best-of-three semi-finals series.

Sam Bowles scored the only goal of the first period with 6:01 remaining.

Mitch Wall made it 2-0 with 14:55 left in the second and Greg Beller added a short-handed goal with 3:43 left to extend the lead to 3-0.

Bowles added his second of the game with 12:52 left in the third and Derek Pallardy finished the scoring with 6:09 left.
Mark Sibbald made 26 saves in the loss.

This was in this week's Ledger Enquirer Newspaper:

New-look Havoc could cause trouble for Cottonmouths

By KATHY GIERER — Special to the Ledger-Enquirer

Apr 3, 2012

The Columbus Cottonmouths should be considered favorites entering their Southern Professional Hockey League semifinal series against Huntsville.

But the new-and-improved Havoc have prospered in the underdog role.

Huntsville qualified for the playoffs as the league's bottom seed. The Havoc survived a tumultuous season which included a host of roster changes, its top goalie being exiled and a coaching change.

New coach Glenn Detulleo was the team's leading scorer on March 8 and replaced Randy Murphy as its head coach a day later. Goaltender Mark Sibbald was placed on team suspension in early December and didn't return until mid-February.

When eighth-seeded Huntsville drew regular-season champion Augusta in the first round, few gave them much of a chance of advancing. In Game 1, the Havoc were 12 seconds away from a regulation win against the RiverHawks, before losing 4-3 in overtime. They bounced back to win Game 2 in overtime by the same score, forcing a decisive Game 3.

Huntsville manhandled Augusta 6-2 in the final game to earn its semifinal matchup with the second-seeded Snakes.

Cottonmouths defenseman Kevin Kessler played for the Havoc last season and was a teammate of Detulleo's.

"He's a nice guy," Kessler said. "We only talked briefly this season when our teams played each other. I've watched their games the past couple of nights. As a player he was skilled and very hard-working. He gave 100 percent every shift. I think he's got them playing the same way he did as a player."

Sibbald returned Feb. 17 against Fayetteville and proceeded to post six losses before grabbing his first win, which came against the Mississippi RiverKings. The date was March 8, a significant milestone for the Havoc as it was the night of Detulleo's retirement and the beginning of his transition to coach. Sibbald's record in the regular season was an unimpressive 3-8-1. But he has been solid in the playoffs, going 2-1 with a goals-against average of 2.69 and a save percentage of .905.

"Sibbald has been phenomenal in the playoffs," Cottonmouths coach Jerome Bechard said. "He gave his team a chance to win every night."

Bechard noted two late additions to the Havoc that improved the team. Center Colin Reddin was waived by the Mississippi Surge and claimed by Huntsville on Mar. 6. Forward Alex Morton was acquired via trade from Louisiana on Feb. 27.

Besides the roster changes, the Havoc are relatively unfamiliar to the Snakes for another reason. The two teams haven't squared off since Feb. 21. The Cottonmouths have beaten Huntsville eight consecutive times, six in the regular season and a first-round sweep last season.

Bechard has been poring over game films to see if Detulleo has changed systems and to see what to expect from the remodeled Havoc. He already knows what to expect from the Cottonmouths.

"My guys have been so focused all year," Bechard said. "We're not a perfect team. There are games we should have won. But the whole message, from Day 1, is that we're here to win the championship. To do that, we need to play our style of game and execute."

The Snakes earned home-ice advantage by virtue of their second seed entering the playoffs. With Augusta bounced in the first round, the Cottonmouths are now guaranteed home ice if they reach the finals. Building availability dictated the Columbus-Louisiana series opening on the road and the Snakes will launch the semifinals on the road, as well.

The SPHL's best road team isn't concerned about playing tonight's opener on the road before coming back to the Civic center for Game 2 on Friday and Game 3, if necessary, on Saturday night.

"Once the playoffs start, we're all 0-0," Kessler said. "Everyone's equal. It doesn't matter where we play."