STORM BLITZ ISSUE #25 Sunday 23 February 1997 There are currently 129 Storm Blitz subscribers. This issue is sponsored by The Peerless Movie Collection. For more details see foot of message. If you have any comments on Storm Blitz, please feel free to e-mail inter.the.storm@poboxes.com any time. ---- In this issue : * Brilliant 6-2 victory over Steelers * Bison bottom as Ayr run riot * Bees finish 6th after win at Newcastle * Play-off groups * Storm were stung by the mighty Bracknell Bees * Cardiff defeated but celebrate championship * Sheffield and Ayr win * Telford and Kingston brawl * Final Superleague table * Next on TV & Radio * Get back issues of Storm Blitz * How to unsubscribe to Storm Blitz --------------------------------------------------- > BRILLIANT 6-2 VICTORY OVER STEELERS In front of a new record crowd of 17,245 at the Nynex Arena, Storm finally beat Sheffield Steelers convincingly 6-2. The victory meant that Storm finished in 7th place in the Superleague and so will not face Steelers in the play-off group. It looked like it could have been different result as Steelers started off well to take the lead on 03-46 with a Ron Shudra goal. Stephen Cooper scored his second goal in two days on 11-51 to equalise for the Storm. Three minutes later Brad Turner put Storm into the lead at 2-1 before Frank Kovacs equlaised on 16-38. The first period ended 2-2 and the crowd were wary but quite confident of Storm's first ever victory over the Steelers. The second period was only 13 seconds old when Mike Morin put Storm back into the lead and this was the only goal of a tight period. The third period saw Sheffield become more sloppy and Storm really started to turn on the heat. Nick Poole scored a minute into the third to make it 4-2 and on 48-36 Mike Morin scored his second to put Storm within sight of victory. Jeff Lindsay brought the capacity crowd to maximum excitement as he scored the sixth with 10 minutes remaining, and even in the final goalless 10 minutes there were no mexican waves or people going home - just thousands of Storm fans enjoying the action. > BISON BOTTOM AS AYR RUN RIOT Basingstoke's chances of climbing off the bottom of the table were ended as in-form Ayr Scottish Eagles beat Bison 10-2 in Scotland. > BEES FINISH 6TH AFTER WIN AT NEWCASTLE Bracknell finished in 6th place thanks to their victory over Newcastle Cobras in the North East. The Bees won impressively 8-4. > PLAY-OFF GROUPS After Sundays games, the play-off groups have been decided but the exact date of the fixtures have not. In Manchester Storm's group there will also be champions CARDIFF DEVILS, and the two northernmost teams, in-form AYR SCOTTISH EAGLES and out-of-form (despite Saturday!) NEWCASTLE COBRAS. In the other group are Sheffield Steelers, Nottingham Panthers, Basingstoke Bison and Bracknell Bees. > STORM WERE STUNG BY THE MIGHTY BRACKNELL BEES As the delightful southerners kept pointing out, Manchester Storm were "stung by the mighty Bracknell Bees". The music at the Bracknell ice rink is quite inconspicuous - but I did notice them playing the amazingly trendy (I don't think) Nellie The Elephant! There were about (rough guess) 400 Storm fans in attendance at this close and exciting game. The first period started off like it was going to be a Storm walkover, but it turned out that they were flattering to deceive. Storm scored after just 40 seconds and should have gone 2-0 up but for the net being moved. Bracknell equalised against the run of play to liven up the very quiet home fans. Storm re-took the lead to make the interval score 2-1. The second period saw Bracknell equalise at 2-2 before they scored again to take the lead for the first time at 3-2. Storm equalised to make the score at the end of the second period 3-3. For the fourth period I decided to sit behind the net that Storm were attacking and (hopefully) see Storm win the game from this prime position. It didn't turn out quite like that as Bees scored two late goals to bring the crowd to life. (This is all from alcohol-enhanced memory so apologies if it is all garbage, but I can't remember any of the scorers except one was Stephen Cooper. I'm not 100% convinced that I got the order of the goals right either!) > CARDIFF DEFEATED BUT CELEBRATE CHAMPIONSHIP Out-of-form Newcastle Cobras spoilt the Cardiff party as they defeated the Devils 4-3 in Wales. Cardiff were celebrating their Superleague championship success and must have played pretty badly to let Newcastle win. > SHEFFIELD AND AYR WIN Sheffield Steelers beat Basingstoke Bison on Saturday night 4-2 away hoping to finish the season on a high note after losing out to Cardiff Devils the first Superleague championship. Ayr Scottish Eagles moved ahead of Nottingham Panthers in the table as they won 5-3 in Nottingham. > TELFORD AND KINGSTON BRAWL The Northen Premier League clash between Telford and Kingston played in Hull on Saturday night was abandoned after just 13 minutes of the first period after the police were called when officials feared crowd trouble. The game had been littered with fight and a mass brawl broke out on 13 minutes that prompted the officials to call the police. The BIHA will investigate the incident on Thursday. The score when it was abandoned was 2-2. > FINAL SUPERLEAGUE TABLE Pl W D OL NL +/- Points Cardiff Devils 42 30 3 0 9 +79 63 Sheffield Steelers 42 27 4 2 9 +41 60 Ayr Scottish E 42 21 6 0 15 +14 48 Nottingham Panths 42 21 1 2 18 +13 45 Newcastle Cobras 42 17 2 5 18 -14 41 Bracknell Bees 42 15 2 1 24 -33 33 Manchester Storm 42 14 3 1 24 -49 32 Basingstoke Bison 42 11 3 3 25 -50 28 > NEXT ON TV & RADIO MON 24 FEB - BBC GMR 95.1/104.6FM - Drivetime - Interview with Storm representative - 5.55pm MON 24 FEB - HTV WALES - Ice Hockey Superleague - Extensive highlights of the conclusion of Cardiff Devils Superleague championship season - 11.35pm-12.35 WED 26 FEB - BBC RADIO SHEFFIELD 104.1FM - The Ice Line - Sheffield Steelers phone-on - 7.00-8.00pm THU 27 FEB - BBC RADIO LANCASHIRE 95.5/103.9FM - Grass Roots - Feature on Blackburn Hawks - approx 7.45pm FRI 28 FEB - BBC GMR 95.1/104.6FM - Friday Sport - Interview/Feature on Manchester Storm. Main part of the programme will be commentary on Doncaster Rovers v Wigan Athletic in football - 7.00-10.00pm SAT 29 JAN - Granada TV - Battles On Ice - Hour-long programme featuring highlights of Storm v Steelers game (23/2) - 2.50-3.50pm SAT 29 JAN - SKY SPORTS - Ice Hockey LIVE - Live coverage of a play-off game - 6.30-9.30pm SAT 29 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 > 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 #25 *** INTER THE STORM can be accessed at: http://www.geocities.com/Colosseum/3859/storm.html ------------------------------ This issue of Storm Blitz is sponsored by: The Peerless Movie Collection For top movie reviews visit: http://www.peerless.demon.co.uk ------------------------------ To sponsor Storm Blitz, e-mail inter.the.storm@poboxes.com