Mayhem set to drop puck on hockey's return to Macon

Middle Georgia hockey fans received a taste of the return of the sport to the area after a 10-year hiatus last weekend with the Macon Mayhem's exhibition rout of Columbus.

Now comes the full-course meal.

Professional hockey will make its official return to Macon on Friday night when the Mayhem open their Southern Professional Hockey League season against defending league champion Knoxville at the Macon Coliseum. Friday's game will drop the puck on the Mayhem's opening weekend that also will include hosting Mississippi on Saturday night.

"Our identity is going to be a hard-working team that has the ability to score goals and make plays. I'm a North American-style coach, and I'm a Canadian. I like physical play, guys who finish checks and work hard away from the puck," Mayhem head coach Kevin Kerr said. "I told our guys at the beginning of training camp that we will be the hardest working team in this league; we'll outwork any team we play."

The Mayhem won both of their exhibition games with wins against Columbus and Fayetteville. Now, as Kerr points out, Macon will get its chance to prove its mettle against a franchise that has hoisted the SPHL championship trophy four times.

"We have the defending champions coming in. They're feeling pretty good coming off the championship," Kerr said. "We have a big test; we'll see what we're made of."

The actual makeup of the group taking on the start of the season is still being fine-tuned. Kerr and general manager Mark Richards have shepherded the assembly of a roster that has gone through an intense training camp and two-game exhibition schedule and has been whittled down to the required 19 players in time for Friday's game.

Aligning the players on that roster is the next step for the Mayhem, and the goal is to figure which combinations work the best.

"It's still a little early; we're still trying different things," Kerr said. "We're still trying different line combinations to see who will jell well together. You look at who works well with you, who complements one another, who adds grit to a line, who adds more physicality than what we had (Saturday). To a certain degree, it's a constant juggle for the first couple weeks of the season, hopefully it'll settle down after that."

The Mayhem enter the season with two strong options in between the pipes. Goaltenders Garrett Bartus and David Jacobson each allowed a goal in exhibition game appearances. Bartus will start Friday. He split last year between the SPHL franchise in Pensacola and three teams in the ECHL.

Jacobson has taken strides to establish himself as a capable complement to Bartus, including holding Fayetteville to a goal in last week's exhibition.

In front of the net, the Mayhem's defensive core is led by a pair of veterans in Curtis Megginson and Jarrett Rush, in addition to rookie Michael Wills. Rush actually received minimal ice time during the exhibition schedule in order for the Mayhem to evaluate other talent the coaching staff was not as familiar with. Rush brings experience, having played professional hockey since 2010, and he was with Knoxville last year. Megginson brings the experience of five seasons and 243 games in the SPHL.

"A lot of guys are playing their professional games, trying to get their feet wet, guys are champing at the bit," Rush said. "You can see it in practice, guys are excited and ready to go."

On the scoring lines, Vadim Guskov is among the players who has stood out, along with rookies Joshua Ranalli and Connor Toomey. Guskov had a goal and assist during exhibition play, and Ranalli hopes to follow up a two-goal showing Saturday against Columbus.

"For the most part, we're still feeling things out. We have a pretty good idea with who the guys we have and the guys we want. Play is always going to dictate the decisions that are made, and it's an evolving thing," Kerr said. "Obviously, no coach really likes to make a ton of changes, so we hope the decisions we make will be in our line for a long time."

This story was originally published October 22, 2015 at 10:24 PM with the headline "Mayhem set to drop puck on hockey's return to Macon ."