STORM BLITZ ISSUE #23 Sunday 16 February 1997 Lots to catch up with! There are currently 116 Storm Blitz subscribers : 101 - Manchester Storm; 2 - Sheffield Steelers; 1 - Liverpool Leopards (def), Whitley Warriors, Milton Keynes Kings (def), Kingston Hawks, Basingstoke Bison, Telford Tigers, Simcoe Storm (Canada); 6 - unknown. Thanks to everyone who spotted the obvious error in the last Storm Blitz! I DID mean Jason Wood as the on-loan netminder - not Nathan. If you have any comments on Storm Blitz, please feel free to e-mail inter.the.storm@poboxes.com any time. ---- In this issue : * Stormforce News update * Exciting 6-5 win over Bracknell * Cardiff nearly there & Panthers win * Storm well defeated 5-0 in Nottingham * Devils, Steelers & Bees win * Storm draw 2-2 with Sheffield * Cardiff extend lead and Ayr win * Steelers beat Scottish Eagles * Storm in great victory over Nottingham * Top three all win * Cardiff lose in Nottingham & Bison win * Paisley Pirates win Scottish Cup * Northern Premier League Finals * Missing programmes * Stevenage stadium * Storm fanzines * Aces v Storm fixture arranged * Radio 5 Live * Injury update * Inter The Storm news * Latest Superleague table * Forthcoming Storm fixtures * Next on TV & Radio * Get back issues of Storm Blitz * How to unsubscribe to Storm Blitz --------------------------------------------------- > STORMFORCE NEWS UPDATE Possible discussions with GMR Talk 95.1FM Radio with a view to arranging some sort of coverage of Manchester Storm games in the future will hopefully take place soon with new man-in-charge Colin Phillpots, who may be more sympathetic to ice hockey as a major sport in Manchester. Stormforce intend to arrange a petition to present to the station in time for next season's coverage. A new award has been added to the Player Of The Year Presentation Night awards. The "On The Road Player Of The Year - sponsored by Storm Ice Line" award is the extra award. The Stormforce committee meeting last Tuesday discussed the two above points, but didn't decide more because the Ogden's representative Dave Biggar did not turn up because he forgot. Stormforce members can now get their face painted for just 1.00 on production of their membership card (normal price 1.50). > EXCITING 6-5 WIN OVER BRACKNELL On Sunday night in front of 10,711 at the Nynex Arena, Storm defeated Bracknell Bees 6-5 in an exciting climax. Storm started off well with the Bees pipes hit after 5 minutes. Nick Poole opened the scoring with a goal on 05:32. Chad Penney had a weak shot at the goal after 7 minutes, but Nick Poole scored another goal on 08:24. After nine and a half minutes Hilton Ruggles had a shot that went just wide. On 10 minutes, the puck hit the back of Mark Bernard the Bees netminder and almost went into the net. After 11.15, Bees started their comeback. Mike Ellis scored their first goal. On 12 minutes Nick Poole had a chance saved, as did Martin Smith on 13:37. Ruggles had one saved shortly afterwards as Storm looked to get their 2 goal lead back. Rubachuk almost scored after a pass from Zavisha and shortly afterwards a big fight started. Brad Rubachuk and Junkin (Bees) got 2 minute penalties coincidental for roughing. Third man in Brian Pellerin of Bracknell got a game misconduct penalty. Referee Folka was kept busy with a 2 minute penalty on David Latta for high sticks on 16:40. The second period was all Bees with them taking the period 3-0. Dean Richards equalised after 2 minutes and Romeo made it 3-2 at 26:21. On 27:10 Mark Bernard, the Bees netminder got a 2 minute penalty for slashing. 30 seconds later Bucsis had 3 attempts before scoring while short-handed to make the score 4-2 to Bees. On 32:48, Martin Smith and Bees number 22 had a big fight and both received 2+2 for roughing. On 33:54 Whistle (Bees) got 2 minutes for interference. A minute later Jeff Lindsay got a 2 minute penalty for hooking. The third period was different as Nick Poole got his hat-trick goal at 42:04 to make the score 4-3 to Bees. Ruggles (2) and Calder had shots on goal before Meola almost shouldered the puck into his own net. Brad Turner had a shot on 51:07 as Storm went all out for the equaliser. The came two penalties within a minute with McCosh for Bees getting 2 minutes for cross-checking and Craig Woodcroft getting 2 minutes for interference. On 56:51 Jeff Lindsay was injured inside Storm's net after a challenge. With just 2 minutes remaining Hilton Ruggles scored the equaliser and the crowd prepared for overtime. But 30 seconds later Mike Morin put Storm into the lead 5-4 and it wasn't over yet as Brad Zavisha amazingly made the score 6-4 with 45 seconds remaining. There was still time for a tense last few seconds as Matt Cote made it 6-5 with 12 seconds on the clock. Storm held out for an amazing win. Mark Bernard, the Bees netminder won Man of the Match, while hat-trick hero Nick Poole got the Storm award. That was great....until I got back to my car in the car park behind the Co-Op buildings to find I had one less window than I started out with! > CARDIFF NEARLY THERE & PANTHERS WIN Cardiff Devils will win the Superleague if they win on Thursday night. They defeated the Cobras 7-4 in Newcastle on Sunday night. In the other game, Nottingham Panthers beat Basingstoke Bison away 4-3 after overtime. > STORM WELL DEFEATED 5-0 IN NOTTINGHAM Storm's recent good performances against Nottingham and Sheffield meant nothing as Nottingham Panthers beat Storm 5-0 in Lower Parliament Street. > DEVILS, STEELERS & BEES WIN Cardiff Devils are now just two games away from the first Superleague championship. It isn't over yet, but their 4-3 victory in Ayr surely made them strong favourites. Devils were 2-0 down in the first period before Ivan Matulik and Mick Ware levelled the score at 2-2. Cardiff scored twice more in the second period to gain a 4-2 lead, but Ayr pulled one back early in the third with Ryan Kummu scoring on the powerplay. Devils held on to the annoyance of Sheffield Steelers who saw off Newcastle Cobras 6-3. At the other end of the table, Bracknell Bees finally got their act together in this penultimate league weekend with a 6-2 win over Basingstoke Bison. > STORM DRAW 2-2 WITH STEELERS Thursday 13th - This was one of the most nailbiting games of the season. There seemed to be a lot of new fans there encouraged by Storm's recend good performances and Granada's Saturday afternoon coverage. Chad Penney and Nick Poole scored two vital goals for Storm in the first period with Steelers looking good only in patches. The crowd were totally stunned. The Steelers fans couldn't believe it and Storm fans were amazed as Storm have lost every game they've ever played against Sheffield. Reality returned when Steelers scored in the second period. Only high sticks stopped Storm retaking a 2 goal lead with the goal disallowed. Sheffield eventually equalised from Ken Priestlay, and it could have been the start of the end for Storm. The third period was goalless again as neither side could break the deadlock despite many attempts from both sides. Into overtime and Storm had their chances and Steelers wasted all of theirs. Steelers pulled their netminder with 1 minute of the overtime remaing and the crowd were screaming and shouting with real passion as the shots came towards the empty net. Steelers just held out and Storm got their first ever point against Sheffield. > CARDIFF EXTEND LEAD AND AYR WIN Cardiff Devils extended their lead at the top of the Superleague to three points after Storm had held Steelers. Vezio Sacratini scored a hat-trick as theiy beat Bracknell Bees 8-2. Meanwhile Ayr Scottish Eagles beat Newcastle Cobras 3-2 in the North East. > STEELERS BEAT SCOTTISH EAGLES On Monday night, Sheffield Steelers overcame third placed Ayr Scottish Eagles in the House Of Steel. The scorers for Sheffield were Nicky Chinn, Tim Cranston, Scott Campbell and Rob Wilson before Flynn scored for Ayr with 30 seconds of the game remaining. > STORM IN GREAT VICTORY OVER NOTTINGHAM In front of 11,405 and the Granada TV cameras at the Nynex Arena on Sunday 9th, Storm played well to beat a Nottingham Panthers side that had beaten Cardiff 5-2 the previous evening. The evening didn't get off to the best of starts as Panthers opened the scoring in the 5th minute with a Tait goal. It was 2-0 one minute into the second period from a Hoad goal, but that was the cue for Storm to come to life. Less than 30 seconds later, a much improved Brad Rubachuk made the score 2-1 before on 30 minutes Hilton Ruggles equalised. Four minutes later, Storm took the lead from Brad Zavisha and then on 38 minutes, Hilton Ruggles did it again with a goal to make the score 4-2. There was no further scoring in the game and Storm got a well deserved and much needed victory. > TOP THREE ALL WIN On Sunday, the top three sides in the Superleague all won. Third placed Ayr Scottish Eagles won a tight game against Bracknell Bees 7-6 with Lala scoring the seventh Ayr goal. Second placed Sheffield Steelers went to Newcastle and won 4-2 with goals from Ken Priestlay, Jamie Leach, Jason Lafrenier and Cory Beaulieu. Leaders Cardiff Devils had a resounding 6-2 win at home to Basingstoke Bison with Martyn Yewchuk scoring a hat-trick. > CARDIFF LOSE IN NOTTINGHAM & BISON WIN On Saturday 8th, Cardiff Devils lost 5-2 away in Nottingham to put the destination of the first Superleague championship back in doubt. Bottom club Basingstoke Bison beat Newcastle Cobras also by 5-2 to move into 6th place. > PAISLEY PIRATES WIN SCOTTISH CUP The Scottish Cup Final was won by Paisley Pirates who beat rivals Fife Flyers 8-4 on Saturday 8th. > NORTHERN PREMIER LEAGUE FINALS The Northern Premier League have announced the make-up of their Finals. There will be two rounds of competition with the league being split into two groups. Fife Flyers, Whitley Warriors, Dumfries Border Vikings and Castlereagh Knights will make up one group with the rest in the other. The two group winners will meet for the Norther Premier League Final. The winner will go on to play the (Southern) Premier League winner on the same day as the Superleague Final at the Nynex Arena. The group losers plus possibly Peterborough Pirates will play in a Plate competition. > MISSING PROGRAMMES It's happening again! For the last two games (Nottingham and Sheffield) I have arrived at the game - admittedly not very early - only to find no programmes left. We had this problem earlier in the season, but things improved. The sellers told me at the Sheffield that they could have sold at least another thousand that night. If it happens again then I won't be too impressed and I'll let Ogdens know. That means that I have programmes to EVERY sporting event I've ever been to (that produced one) with just 3 exceptions : St Helens v Warrington (final rugby super league game of the season last season) and those two programmes mentioned above. If anyone has a programme for those games that they don't want, I'll buy them - please send an e-mail to simon.sm@zetnet.co.uk if you can help. > STEVENAGE STADIUM It has been reported that the new stadium planned for Stevenage that would have given them possible Superleague status has had its planning permission refused. > STORM FANZINES The Shower Cap, one of Storm's fanzines sold out of Skate Attack is to be printed by WayneJayne Promotions - the same company that produces Thunder & Lightning fanzine. The Shower Cap is due out next in March and Thunder & Lightning Issue 2 is already out and there will be a review soon. The Thundergirls - authors of T&L have also released a Web page on GeoCities but it doesn't actually work yet. > ACES v STORM FIXTURE ARRANGED GMR Talk have announced that there will be an additional challenge fixture at the end of the season. Altrincham Aces will take on Manchester Storm at Altrincham Ice Rink on Tuesday 4 March with a 7.30 face-off. > RADIO 5 LIVE It has been confirmed that BBC Radio 5 Live will do full live commentary on the Ice Hockey Superleague Final at the Nynex Arena on Saturday 29 March with an 8.00 face off. I assume coverage will start after the National Lottery draw though! > INJURY UPDATE Netminder Eric Raymond returned to the team in the game against Nottingham Panthers but has not iced since returning. This suggests that he may still be injured, or it could be because Finnie is playing well. Raymond now has a new number - the 35 that he was wearing before is now 29. Dale Jago is rumoured to be out for the rest of the season with a groin injury. Bart Vanstaalduinen has returned earlier than expected and was expected to play against Nottingham Panthers (15 Feb). > INTER THE STORM NEWS The pages have now gone through a proper update after a very busy week for me meant that I didn't have time to update anything. Stats are working properly - with an average of over 70 visitors per day to the pages over the last week. > LATEST SUPERLEAGUE TABLE Pl W D OL NL +/- Points Cardiff Devils 40 29 3 0 8 +78 61 Sheffield Steelers 39 25 4 2 8 +42 56 Nottingham Panths 40 20 1 2 17 +9 43 Ayr Scottish E 39 18 6 0 15 -3 42 Newcastle Cobras 39 16 2 5 16 -4 39 Manchester Storm 39 13 3 1 22 -49 30 Bracknell Bees 38 13 2 0 23 -32 28 Basingstoke Bison 40 11 3 3 23 -40 28 Up to and including games on 16 February > FORTHCOMING STORM FIXTURES THU 20 FEB - Cardiff Devils v Manchester Storm, Superleague, 8.00 face off. SAT 22 FEB - Bracknell Bees v Manchester Storm, Superleague, 6.00 face off. SUN 23 FEB - Manchester Storm v Sheffield Steelers, Superleague, 6.00 face off. > NEXT ON TV & RADIO MON 17 FEB - BBC GMR 95.1/104.6FM - Drivetime - Interview with Storm representative - 5.55pm MON 17 FEB - HTV WALES - Ice Hockey Superleague - Extensive highlights of one of the weekend's games involving Cardiff Devils and brief highlights the other Cardiff game - 11.35pm-12.35 WED 19 FEB - BBC RADIO SHEFFIELD 104.1FM - The Ice Line - Sheffield Steelers phone-on - 7.00-8.00pm THU 20 FEB - BBC RADIO LANCASHIRE 95.5/103.9FM - Grass Roots - Feature on Blackburn Hawks - approx 7.45pm FRI 21 FEB - BBC GMR 95.1/104.6FM - Friday Sport - Interview/Feature on Manchester Storm along with other sports - 7.00-10.00pm SAT 22 JAN - Granada TV - Manchester Storm - Hour-long programme featuring highlights of Storm games plus news and competitions - approx 3.00-4.00pm SAT 22 JAN - BBC RADIO 5 LIVE 693/909AM - Night Extra - results and round-up of the night's games along with all the day's other sports results - 11.30pm-12.00 SUN 23 JAN - SKY SPORTS - Ice Hockey LIVE - Live coverage of a Superleague game - not sure which yet - 6.30-9.30pm > GET BACK ISSUES OF STORM BLITZ All previous issues of Storm Blitz 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 #23 *** INTER THE STORM can be accessed at: http://www.geocities.com/Colosseum/3859/storm.html ------------------------------ This space could be yours! If you're interested in having your advert here, send an e-mail to simon.sm@zetnet.co.uk ------------------------------