STORM BLITZ ISSUE #4 Welcome to Issue #4 of STORM BLITZ, the new News By E-mail service provided by Inter The Storm. SUNDAY 22 DECEMBER 1996 edition. If you have any comments on Storm Blitz, please feel free to e-mail inter.the.storm@poboxes.com any time. In this issue : * Storm go down in Cardiff * Ayr & Nottingham draw * Wins for Newcastle & Sheffield * Exciting 5-5 draw with Ayr Scottish Eagles * Steelers go down in Nottingham & Bison beat Bees * Ice hockey on BBC1 * They think it's all over for GB...it is now * Medway need some defence * London Redskins * Nottingham Panthers v Manitoba University * To skate or not to skate... * Skate with the Storm pricing details * No more news on the Lawless or Ogdens items...yet! * Not Ayr again! * Who's next at the Nynex? * Forthcoming Storm fixtures * Next on TV & Radio * Get back issues of Storm Blitz * How to unsubscribe to Storm Blitz ------------------------- > STORM GO DOWN IN CARDIFF Storm lost 5-1 in Cardiff on Sunday night. No further details available yet. > AYR & NOTTINGHAM DRAW On Sunday night, Ayr and Newcastle drew 3-3 in a stormy game in Scotland. Nottingham Panthers came back from nothing as it was 3-0 to Ayr after 2 periods. Two Panthers goals in the last 4 minutes completed the comeback and overtime was goalless. Ayr's Scott Young, given a 2+2 at the Nynex on Saturday, was thrown out of the game along with Nottingham's Greg Hadden in the second period. > WINS FOR NEWCASTLE & SHEFFIELD Newcastle beat Basingstoke Bison 5-4, while Sheffield Steelers got back to winning ways with a 7-2 beating of Bracknell Bees, ensuring that Bees stay below Manchester Storm at the bottom of the table. > EXCITING 5-5 DRAW WITH AYR SCOTTISH EAGLES This was yet another up and down game for Storm. I almost didn't go to the game as I had been ill with a bad cold all weekend. The first period was quite tight but Ayr broke the deadlock with the first goal and lead 1-0 at the end of the first period. I then missed the next four goals as I was still queueing up for food. I got back to my seat with 5 minutes remaining of the second period! I missed two Storm goals and two more Ayr goals and the score was 3-2 as I sat down. About 30 seconds later it was 4-2 and I feared the worst as Ayr looked like running away with it. The period ended 4-2 and Storm had to come out fighting in the third. Needless to say, I didn't leave my seat in the period break and saw Storm score three goals in two minutes in the third period to lead 5-4. It looked like being a victory for Storm until with 30 seconds left, Ayr pulled their netminder and the ploy worked as they scrambled an equaliser. So it was 5-5 and overtime. Why teams bother defending in overtime I don't know. You get 1 point if they score or no-one does. You get 2 for scoring first. With 1 minute to go, there is no need for a netminder as all he does is delay the end of the game! It might look better to have drawn after overtime rather than have lost, but you don't get points for looking better! I'd rather we had 20 shots on goal and lost to an unlucky deflection than to sit back and run out the overtime. Storm weren't quite that bad, but they didn't really look like they were going for it. The overtime inevitably remained goalless and each team received their 1 point. > STEELERS GO DOWN IN NOTTINGHAM & BISON BEAT BEES Sheffield Steelers lost out to Nottingham Panthers in Lower Parliament Street by surprisingly large scoreline of 6-2. The scores were tied at 2-2 at one point, but Panthers went wild late on and wrapped up the excellent victory to open up the Superleague title race once again. In the other ISL game on Saturday, Basingstoke Bison completed yet another victory over their local rivals Bracknell Bees by 4-3. This result meant that Storm remained off the bottom of the league for at least another day! > ICE HOCKEY ON BBC1 BBC1 showed highlights of GB v Switzerland on Grandstand on Saturday 21st at 4.30 for ten minutes. The coverage wasn't too bad, but they didn't show any of the excitement of the last few minutes and it seemed like GB had gone out with a wimper rather than the great fight that they put in at the end. > THEY THINK IT'S ALL OVER FOR GB...IT IS NOW! The worst result possible for GB came out of Denmark on Saturday as Switzerland beat Denmark 8-1. This means that Switzerland win the Group A Olympic Qualifying group and so eliminate Great Britain. Final Olympic Qualifying Group A table: Pl W D L GD Points Switzerland 8 6 2 0 +28 14 Great Britain 8 5 3 0 +16 13 Denmark 8 3 1 4 -5 7 Slovenia 8 3 0 5 +8 6 Holland 8 0 0 8 -47 0 > MEDWAY NEED SOME DEFENCE Telford Tigers hit back from their 9-1 defeat by Storm last Monday by crushing hapless Medway Bears 23-2. Medway seem to yet another Premier League team in trouble following the likes of Telford and Peterborough who seem to be recovering from their off the ice problems. > LONDON REDSKINS Streatham Redskins had planned to be in the Superleague this season, but the team didn't get the go-ahead to join. Now under the new name of London Redskins, they plan to join the Premier League with a view to join the Superleague by 2000. A new company has been formed called Centre Ice Ltd and they hope to play in Streatham Ice Rink at first, but then move for the Superleague to a 35 million pound leisure complex which will include a 5000 seat arena. > NOTTINGHAM PANTHERS v MANITOBA UNIVERSITY Still no news on this match that was played on Tuesday 17 December. > TO SKATE OR NOT TO SKATE... One question that was put to the Stormforce committee and Dave Biggar at the Stormforce Fans Forum on Sunday 17 August was the possibility of fans skating on the Nynex ice after the Storm games had finished like they do in rinks that allow it. The point was raised that in Newcastle Arena, they were testing the idea and the possibility should be considered for Nynex Arena. At the time the response from Dave Biggar was that it was something to consider. However, after pushing the matter in the form of a letter, the following reply was received written on behalf of David Davies, General Manager - the letter was actually signed by K.Spencer (if I can decipher the handwriting properly) and this is probably the secretary of Mr Davies (I have copied it word for word - so don't blame me for the inaccuracies in it - grammatical and otherwise!) : Thank you for your letter dated 6th December 1996 regarding public skating sessions after the games. I have today spoken to my colleague in Newcastle, Mr Colin Revel, who confirms that the idea had been tried out last season when Whitley Bay Warriors were there. The idea received luke-warm reception and as a result was then shelved. However, under the new guise of Newcastle Cobras, Newcastle United Sports Club have asked for a week commencement, with the intention of building a greater affinity amongst their followers. At present there is no intention for this practice for this to be replicated here in Manchester, however we thank you for bringing this to our attention, and should demand increase, we would consider this as a one-off feature of our affinity programme with our supporters. Yours sincerely etc... > SKATE WITH THE STORM PRICING DETAILS The Skate with team night at Altrincham Ice Rink on Sunday 29 December will be priced as follows...For those wishing to skate it will be £2.00 (price includes skate hire - no reduction for juniors or for those with their own skates). For those not wishing to skate, the price will be 70p (no reduction for juniors). The doors open at 5.00pm and all Stormforce members are invited - you may join on the night if you are not already a member. The event starts at 5.30 and runs until 8.00pm. You may continue to skate after 8.00 EVEN IF YOU DO NOT HAVE YOUR OWN SKATES (change to the original rules!). There will be games on the ice, "fab" party music and Junior & Adult "shots on goal" competitions. All the Storm players will be there and they will be skating around with everyone. The best painted face will win a prize. There will also be spor prizes and the cafe/bar will be open. DON'T FORGET YOUR STORMFORCE MEMBERSHIP CARD - or you'll have to join again to get in!! > NO MORE NEWS ON THE LAWLESS & OGDEN ITEMS...YET! I didn't get to speak about the Lawless issue on Saturday as the Stormforce bloke was not there as he was ill, so that'll have to wait until the Cardiff game on Friday night. I've found out which North Manchester Express it was that contained the Odgens article and it was from 2 weeks ago, but I still haven't seen it, so I can't comment further on that yet either. A proper update on this after the Cardiff game on 27 December. > NOT AYR AGAIN! Only 5 days into the new year and what do we get? Ayr Scottish Eagles at home AGAIN!!! This will be our 7th meeting of the season! Thankfully, the last at the Nynex with one more visit to Scotland just 10 days later on Wednesday 15 January. > WHO'S NEXT AT THE NYNEX? Manchester Storm v Cardiff Devils - Friday 27 December 1996 - Superleague. Cardiff are top of the league, despite being in a the middle of a bad run - which included beating Sheffield Steelers 4-3, so it isn't all that bad! They beat Storm 5-2 in the B&H Cup last time they play at the Nynex and Storm won at Cardiff earlier in the season. I can't really see a victory in this Friday night game, though as Cardiff will be near top of the league at the end of the season and Storm won't! The prediction for this game is...Manchester Storm 4 - 6 Cardiff Devils. Manchester Storm v Ayr Scottish Eagles - Sunday 5 January 1997 - Superleague. AGAIN! Yes the Scottish will be back in Manchester as Ayr play Storm for the seventh time this season - the fourth at home! Overall the teams are fairly even with Storm having lost to Ayr home and away as well as having won home and away. Kummu will most probably be back but I can predict only a re-run of the the most recent game, except with Storm not conceding a last minute equaliser this time. The prediction for this game is...Manchester Storm 5 - 4 Ayr Scottish Eagles. > FORTHCOMING STORM FIXTURES FRI 27 DEC - Manchester Storm v Cardiff Devils, Superleague, 7.30 face off. SAT 28 DEC - Bracknell Bees v Manchester Storm, Superleague, 6.00 face off. SAT 04 JAN - Nottingham Panthers v Manchester Storm, Superleague, 7.00 face off. SUN 05 JAN - Manchester Storm v Ayr Scottish Eagles, Superleague, 6.00 face off. > NEXT ON TV & RADIO THU 26 DEC - BBC RADIO SHEFFIELD - Live reports on Sheffield Steelers v Cardiff Devils - 2.00 - 6.00pm SAT 28 DEC - SKY SPORTS - Sheffield Steelers v Nottingham Panthers - 6.00 - 9.00pm > GET BACK ISSUES OF STORM BLITZ Issues 1 - 3 are still available. If you didn't get them, or want them again, send an e-mail to inter.the.storm@poboxes.com and let me know which you want and I'll forward them on to you. > HOW TO UNSUBSCRIBE TO STORM BLITZ Easy! Send an e-mail to inter.the.storm@poboxes.com telling me that you don't want Storm Blitz any more. Also use this address if you wish to change e-mail addresses or if you have any comments. *** END OF STORM BLITZ ISSUE #4 *** INTER THE STORM can be accessed at: http://www.geocities.com/Colosseum/3859/storm.html