The Knoxville Ice Bears will face the Pensacola Ice Flyers in the first round of the SPHL playoffs Thursday.
The league adopted a new "challenge round" format for the 2018 season. The top four seeded teams got to select, or challenge, their opponent for the first round.
Pensacola, the No. 3-seeded team in the SPHL, picked Knoxville, the No. 5 seed. The Ice Bears hosted a watch party Sunday evening at the Knoxville Civic Coliseum.
The schedule for the best-of-three series is as follows:
#3 Pensacola Ice Flyers vs. #5 Knoxville Ice Bears
Game 1 - Thursday, April 12 at Pensacola, 7:05 pm
Game 2 - Saturday, April 14 at Knoxville, 7:35 pm
Game 3 - Sunday, April 15 at Pensacola (at Pelham Civic Center, Birmingham), 5:00 pm (if necessary)