2017–18 SPHL season  The 2017–18 SPHL season was the 14th season of the Southern Professional Hockey League (SPHL). Final standings. For 2018, the top eight teams at the end of the regular season qualified for the playoffs. The league implemented a new format so that the top three seeds chose their opponent from the bottom four qualifiers, calling it the "challenge round". The second round still had the highest versus lowest remaining seed format.