2016–17 FHL season

The 2016–17 Federal Hockey League season is the seventh season of the Federal Hockey League. The regular season ran from October 28, 2016 to April 2, 2017, with an unbalanced 56-game schedule between the seven teams. The Danville Dashers won their first Commissioner's Cup.

2016–17 FHL season
LeagueFederal Hockey League
SportIce hockey
Finals championsDanville Dashers
  Runners-upBerlin River Drivers

League changes

The Watertown Wolves completed renovations to their ice rink and signed a new one-year lease agreement with the city of Watertown in order to return after one season off.[1]

In May 2016, the league expanded to St. Clair Shores, Michigan (Metro Detroit), with the new St. Clair Shores Fighting Saints, playing out of the St. Clair Shores Civic Arena.[2][3]

On July 13, 2016, the "Dayton Pro Hockey" team, formerly known as the Dayton Demolition before removing references to the Demolition name in March 2016, announced it would go dormant for the 2016–17 season. Owner Joe Pace, Sr. claimed that Hara Arena could not sign leases to tenants and he did not believe he could put together a team without a proper lead up time and secured arena. He also stated he would look to keep the team in Dayton in 2017 even if Hara Arena is still not available.[4] Hara Arena would end up closing permanently in August 2016.

In June 2016, Brewster Bulldogs owner, Bruce Bennett mentioned to The News-Times that he would solely focus on his Danbury Titans team and would no longer be involved with the Bulldogs.[5] Without finding new ownership, Bennett decided to suspend Bulldogs operations on July 14, 2016.[6]

On September 14, the city of Cornwall, Ontario, approved a team called the Cornwall Nationals to begin play for the 2016–17 season out of the Ed Lumley Arena.[7] On September 16, the FHL approved of the addition to the league for the upcoming season.[8] The new team replaced the recently folded Cornwall River Kings and led by Mitch Gagne and Rodney Rivette. Midway through their first season, Rivette bought out Gagne's share of the team and Gagne left his position of general manager on 18 December.[9] On December 21, the Nationals announced that it had secured another local investor, Will Beauvais, to help support the team, while Nationals forward, Basem Awwad, also took over general manager duties at that time.[10]

Standings

Final standings[11]

TeamGPWLOTWOTLGFGAPtsPct
Danville Dashers5636944229121129.768
Berlin River Drivers5628213423619594.560
Danbury Titans5626227120618293.554
Watertown Wolves5627232419218689.530
Port Huron Prowlers5623213922421384.500
Cornwall Nationals5716344320226559.345
St. Clair Shores Fighting Saints5511403114226040.242
  Advance to playoffs

Playoffs
Semifinals
(Best of 3) 		Final
(Best of 5)
      
1 Danville 2
4 Watertown 1
1 Danville 3
2 Berlin 2
2 Berlin River 2
3 Danbury 0

References
  1. "Wolves, city ink new contract for Watertown arena". Watertown Daily Times. May 17, 2016. Archived from the original on May 31, 2016.
  2. "Pro Hockey coming to St. Clair Shores' Civic Arena". scsfightingsaints.com. St. Clair Shores Fighting Saints. May 10, 2016. Retrieved May 18, 2016.
  3. Brudenell, Mike (May 18, 2016). "New St. Clair Shores hockey team named ... Fighting Saints". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved May 18, 2016.
  4. "Dayton Pro Hockey goes Dormant for 2016-17 season, planning return for 2017-18". FHL. July 13, 2016.
  5. "Danbury Titans renew lease with Danbury Ice Arena". The News-Times. June 21, 2016.
  6. "Brewster Bulldogs Pro Hockey Suspends 2016-17 Season". OurSports Central. July 14, 2016.
  7. "Cornwall city hall inks deal with FHL Nationals". Standard-Freeholder. September 14, 2016. Archived from the original on September 17, 2016. Retrieved September 21, 2016.
  8. "FHL Formally Approves Expansion to Cornwall, Ontario for 2016-17". OurSports Central. September 16, 2016.
  9. "Cornwall Nationals: Gagne's gone". Standard-Freeholder. 18 December 2016. Archived from the original on 24 February 2018. Retrieved 21 December 2016.
  10. "NATIONALS HAVE NEW INVESTOR". FHL. December 21, 2016. Archived from the original on December 22, 2016. Retrieved December 21, 2016.
  11. "League Standings". FHL. Retrieved September 21, 2016.
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