Fayetteville Marksmen

Fayetteville Marksmen
City:	Fayetteville, North Carolina, United States
League:	Cape Fear FireAntz Atlantic Coast Hockey League (2002-03) South East Hockey League (2003-04) Fayetteville FireAntz Southern Professional Hockey League (2004-Present)
Founded:	2002
Home Arena:	Cumberland County Crown Coliseum
Colors:	black, orange, gold, and cream
Owner(s):	Jeffrey M. Luongo and Chuck Norris
General Manager:	Kevin MacNaught
Head Coach:	Jeff Bes
Media:	Fayetteville Observer
Franchise history
2002 - 2003:	Cape Fear Fireantz (ACHL
2003-04:	Cape Fear Fireantz (SEHL
2004 - 2017:	Fayetteville FireAntz
2017 - Present:	Fayetteville Marksmen
Championships
SPHL President's Cup:	2006-07

The Fayetteville Marksmen are a professional minor league ice hockey team based in Fayetteville, North Carolina, U.S. They currently play in the Southern Professional Hockey League (SPHL). They play their home games in the Cumberland County Crown Coliseum.

The team, originally known as the Cape Fear Fireantz, began play in the Atlantic Coast Hockey League in the 2002–2003 season. After the league's collapse they joined the South East Hockey League for the 2003–2004 season, and joined what would become the SPHL in 2005. Since their inception they won the 2007 SPHL championship and have made a number of playoff appearances. The team would be known as the Fayetteville FireAntz from 2004 to 2017 when they were renamed the Marksmen

previous logo as FireAntz

History

ACHL and SEHL years

The team, then known as the Cape Fear Fireantz, joined the fledgling Atlantic Coast Hockey League for the 2002–2003 season. Their first coach was Shawn Ulrich. After the season David Waronker announced he was withdrawing his four teams from the unstable league to form the World Hockey Association 2. The Fireantz and other remaining ACHL teams formed the South East Hockey League. They played the SEHL for the 2003–2004 season, with Scott Rex serving as coach.

SPHL

In 2004 teams from the SEHL and WHA2 joined together to form the league now known as the Southern Professional Hockey League. The Fireantz joined the new league, changing their name to "Fayetteville FireAntz", abandoning the reference to the nearby Cape Fear River. Derek Booth took over as head coach in 2004. After two seasons behind the bench, coach Derek Booth left in 2006 to coach the Bloomington Prairie Thunder of the United Hockey League.

In the 2006–2007 season, under the guidance of head coach John Marks, the FireAntz advanced to the finals of the league's post-season playoffs for the first time in team history. The first two games of the best-of-five final series were won by Fayetteville on the FireAntz' home ice, before the series returned to Jacksonville, Florida, where the Jacksonville Barracudas won Game 3 of the series by a 3-2 score. On April 18, 2007 the FireAntz won the fourth game of the series by a score of 5-3 to win the SPHL President's Cup. It was the first championship for the FireAntz, and Fayetteville's first professional sports championship in 51 years. John Marks resigned after the team's championship run to take the head coach position with the Pensacola Ice Pilots of the ECHL. Shortly after Marks' resignation the FireAntz announced that former Florida Seals coach, Tommy Stewart, had been hired to coach the team for the 2007–2008 season.

Tommy Stewart was let go after the 2010–2011 season and was soon replaced by Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees' assistant coach, Sean Gillam. Gillam would only last partway through the season; on Feb 17, 2012, the FireAntz replaced him with Todd Bidner.

Fayetteville Marksmen

On February 13, 2017, Jeffrey M. Longo was hired as the general manager. Later in the 2016–17 season, Longo and local entrepreneur Chuck Norris purchased the FireAntz from the seven-person ownership group, Cape Fear Pro Hockey. At the end of the season, the new owners changed the name of the FireAntz to the Fayetteville Marksmen. The change reflects the city of Fayetteville's relationship with the local United States Army post, Fort Bragg, as well as the native Carolina red fox.

Regular season

Season	GP	W	L	OL	Pts	GF	GA	Finish	Playoffs
Cape Fear Fire Antz
2002–03	60	21	37	2	44	-	-	5th of 6 ACHL	Did not qualify
2003–04	56	25	31	-	50	213	221	3rd of 4 SEHL	L, SF 0-2 (Ice Bears)
Fayetteville Fire Antz
2004–05	56	32	24	-	64	226	158	4th of 8, SPHL	L, QF 2-4 (Columbus Cottonmouths)
2005–06	56	31	19	6	68	224	175	4th of 7, SPHL	L, QF 1-2 (Florida Seals)
2006-07	56	32	18	6	70	246	205	T-2nd of 8, SPHL	W, QF 2-0 (Havoc) W, SF 2-0 (Ice Bears) W, F 3-1 (Jacksonville Barracudas) President's Cup Champions
2007–08	52	25	19	8	58	186	198	3rd of 7, SPHL	W, QF 2-0 (Renegades) L, SF 1-2 (Barracudas)
2008-09	60	30	25	5	65	212	224	3rd of 6, SPHL	W, SF 3-2 (Cottonmouths) L, F 2- (Ice Bears)
2009–10	56	31	22	3	65	231	213	3rd of 7, SPHL	L, First Round 1-2 (Ice Bears)
2010–11	56	22	34	-	44	170	184	7th of 8, SPHL	Did not qualify
2011–12	56	19	32	5	43	180	240	9th of 9, SPHL	Did not qualify
2012–13	56	35	18	3	73	195	154	T-1st of 9, SPHL	L, QF 0-2 (Huntsville Havoc)
2013–14	56	21	30	5	47	144	173	9th of 10, SPHL	Did not qualify
2014–15	56	21	27	8	50	143	193	7th of 8, SPHL	Did not qualify
2015–16	56	30	21	5	65	167	145	4th of 9, SPHL	W, QF 2-1 (Ice Bears) L, SF 0-2 (Rivermen)
2016-17	56	36	17	3	75	174	130	T-2nd of 10, SPHL	L, QF 0-2 (Ice Flyers)
Fayetteville Marksmen
2017-18	56	12	38	6	30	144	252	10th of 10, SPHL	Did not qualify
2018-19	56	25	23	8	58	172	201	T-7th of 10, SPHL	L, QF 1-2 (Bulls)
2019-20	46	31	6	9	71	163	120	T-1st of 10, SPHL	Season cancelled prior to end of season
2020-21	Opted of of play due to COVID-19 pandemic
2021-22	56	40	14	2	82	197	140	4th	Lost Quarterfinals
2022-23	56	26	22	8	60	155	166	7th	Lost Quarterfinals
2023-24	56	31	19	6	68	191	165	4th	Lost Quarterfinals

Championships

Year	League	Trophy
2006–2007	SPHL	President's Cup
2012–2013	SPHL	Coffey Trophy

Honors

2004–2005	SPHL	Derek Booth	Coach of the Year
2004–2005	SPHL	Chad Collins	Rookie of the Year
2005–2006	SPHL	Mike Clarke	Defenseman of the Year
2006–2007	SPHL	Tim Velemirovich	Rookie of the Year
2006–2007	SPHL	Rob Sich	SPHL MVP
2006–2007	SPHL	John Marks	Coach of the Year
2006–2007	SPHL	Chad Collins	SPHL Playoff MVP
2012–2013	SPHL	Josh McQuade	SPHL MVP
2012–2013	SPHL	Andrew Smale	Defenseman of the Year
2012–2013	SPHL	Mark Desantis	Coach of the Year
2016-2017	SPHL	Sean Bonar	SPHL MVP and Goaltender of the Year

References

• Scott, Jon C. (2006). Hockey Night in Dixie: Minor Pro Hockey in the American South. Heritage House Publishing Company Ltd., 103–133. ISBN 1-894974-21-2. 

External links

• Fayetteville FireAntz
• The Southern Professional Hockey League
• PointStreak