The Bobcats Are Alive

The SPHL rarely seems to make waves in the hockey world, but today's story was something that was discussed on The Hockey Show a few months ago. The image to left is the new logo for the Vermilion County Bobcats, the newest expansion team in the SPHL. Expansion teams come with their own fun, but Vermilion County is special because the team is owned by a woman! Ellen Tully is the primary owner of the Bobcats, so this expansion franchise is not only shaking up the SPHL, but the SPHL boardroom as the league welcomes an owner who doesn't have an Y-chromosome! Let's dig into the birth of the Bobcats as they've been busy since the calendar flipped to June!

Before we get into what the Bobcats have been up to, I want to point out how terrible that logo is. Bobcats have a distinct face, but the image above could be any housecat or any smaller species of cat since the defining features of the bobcat aren't so well-defined in the image. Usually, you see bobcats with the big flares of hair coming off the cheeks as seen to the right, but the Vermilion County Bobcats don't seem to pay that facial hair enough recognition. Also, why is the face so elongated on a small cat? I'm struggling to find any good in this rather poorly-conceived logo.

Regardless, the Vermilion County Bobcats are on their way following their first announcement on June 2 when owner Ellen Tully announced that Brent Hughes had been hired as the team's first head coach! Before you get excited thinking this is the guy that used to be part of the Winnipeg Jets, I'll end that dream by saying that this guy is not him.

This Brent Hughes spent most of his career in the Central Hockey League before jumping across the ocean to the EIHL where he finished his career. He was a player-coach in his final season with the Dundee Stars in 2011-12 before returning home to Toronto in 2012-13 where he coached in the GTHL and was an assistant coach in the OJHL. He became an assistant coach with the CHL's Brampton Beast before they moved into the ECHL in 2015 where he became head coach and the Vice-President of Hockey Operations for the Beast. 2016-17 saw him move to the QMJHL where he was an assistant coach for the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles, and 2020-21 saw him take a head coach position with the Espanola Express of the NOJHL. Clearly, Hughes has been around the coaching block a few times.

"Brent has incredible coaching experience at higher levels," Bobcats owner Ellen Tully made in a statement. "He knows what it means to be part of a family, taking care of one another, having each other's back. He embodies development, loyalty and commitment to the community, the youth and our Bobcats, all those things we look for (in a coach)."

While those traits are great and everything, coaches are paid to win hockey games. Expansion teams rarely are flush with talent and skill, so what is Hughes' plan for the expansion Bobcats?

"Fans are going to go home and say, 'that Vermilion team works hard,'" Hughes said of the team identity he wishes to form in Vermilion County. "We're going to play fast. I like the players that showcase their talents. We're going to be structured defensively, but we'll give some room for creativity as well."

While I like that answer, I wonder exactly how much creativity the boss will see when it comes to his squad since the expansion draft happened on June 9, and there were a lot of players taken whose goal-scoring talents may not quite be where the head coach needs them to be at this point when it comes to "room for creativity". Jason Tackett, the left-winger from Macon, might be Hughes' most-gifted player offensively, but there doesn't appear to be a ton of lamp-lighters joining the squad out of the expansion draft.

The players chosen by the Bobcats in their expansion draft include:

• Anthony Collins - Birmingham Bulls (RW)
• Nathan Bruyere - Evansville Thunderbirds(D)
• Tim Kielich - Fayetteville Marksmen (C)
• Kyle Rhodes - Huntsville Havoc (D)
• Brendan van Riemsdyk - Knoxville Ice Bears (LW)
• Jason Tackett - Macon Mayhem (LW)
• Marcel Godbout - Pensacola Ice Pilots (RW)
• Zach White - Peoria Rivermen (C)
• Thomas Proudlock - Quad City Storm (G)
• Joe Molinaro - Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs (C)

Admittedly, there are players on there who I've never heard of despite them playing in major junior hockey in Canada or at a Canadian university, but this will be the start of what Hughes will begin to mold into the inaugural lineup for the Bobcats in September. There will be additional players signed and more attracted to Danville, Illinois for the team's first season, but I'm not putting my money on Vermilion County as a champion just yet.

What I am championing, though, is an SPHL expansion franchise owned by a woman that now has both a coach and players it can officially call its own. That's something to celebrate in a very male-dominated hockey world, and we might not be that far away from seeing a female owner hoist a championship trophy in men's hockey with the team officially having players who can score goals and stop pucks!

Congratulations to the Vermillion County Bobcats who now have the beginning of a lineup and a guy who can piece together a lineup! There's still room for a pile of other players, but the Bobcats are officially in business with these new players on the roster!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

***Stick-tap to Tormentor for the proof-reading!***