STORM BLITZ ISSUE #33 Friday 21 March 1997 There are currently 148 Storm Blitz subscribers of which 127 are Manchester Storm supporters. This issue is sponsored by W.H. Davies Private Investigations. 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 : * Superleague Play-off semi-finals * Latest player rumours * Storm's game in Altrincham * Great Britain Pool B squad announced * GB U-16s in Holland * Great Britain U-19s * Storm Blitz over the summer * Next on TV & Radio * Get back issues of Storm Blitz * How to unsubscribe to Storm Blitz --------------------------------------------------- > SUPERLEAGUE PLAY-OFF SEMI-FINALS The semi-finals of the Superleague Play-offs take place at the Nynex Arena on Saturday 22 March. The first faces off at 1.30pm and Superleague Champions Cardiff Devils face Sheffield Steelers. At 6.40pm the second semi-final faces off and is a replay of the Benson & Hedges Cup Final as Ayr Scottish Eagles take on Nottingham Panthers. The announcer for both games will be Jon Hammond. If you can't get to the games (tickets are still available from the box office) you can follow the games on the TV (Sky Sports) and on the radio (see the details below). Granada TV will show highlights on Saturday 29 March. > LATEST PLAYER RUMOURS It is rumoured that Brad Rubachuk is set to leave the Storm over the summer. Eric Raymond is also rumoured to be moving back to Canada. Brad Turner, David Latta, Hilton Ruggles and Stephen Cooper seem set to stay while there is no news yet on others. These reports are still unconfirmed. > STORM'S GAME IN ALTRINCHAM Manchester Storm finished off their season with a game against Altrincham Aces at Altrincham Ice Rink in the Trafford borough of Graeter Manchester. I don't have details of the game as I wasn't there - if you were there and could provide any details for Storm Blitz and Inter The Storm, I would be very grateful! All I know is that it was quite a high scoring game. > GREAT BRITAIN POOL B SQUAD ANNOUNCED The squad has been announced for Great Britain's forthcoming Pool B games in Poland between 12th and 21st of April. The squad contains 13 forwards, 7 defenders and 3 netminders. Eighteen players come from 5 of the Superleague clubs, plus there is Doug Marsden from the NPL and Paul Thompson from the Premier League. The other three players, Morrison, Garden and Durdle, play outside Great Britain. The full squad is as follows : (netminders) Bill Morrison, Stephen Foster and Stevie Lyle; (forwards) Steve Moria, Ian Cooper, Doug McEwen, Kevin Conway, Richard Little, Patrick Scott, Neil Morgan, Graham Garden, Paul Adey, Nicky Chinn, David Longstaff, Tim Cranston and Merv Priest; (defenders) Rick Stracham, Mike Bishop, Shannon Hope, Darren Durdle, Paul Dixon, Paul Thompson and Doug Marsden. Disappointingly, Manchester Storm are not one of the Superleague teams with a Great Britain representative. A good performance by the GB side could see a rise back to Pool A where they will join the elite ice hockey countries. > GB U-16s in HOLLAND Great Britain's Under-16 side is playing in Holland in the Chris Verwijst U-16 Tournament. They played against Hungary and won 4-1 and also beat Belgium 12-2 on Friday. > GREAT BRITAIN U-19s Great Britain's U-19 team playing in the European Junior Championship Pool C. Their final game saw an excellent 4-3 victory over Latvia. GB therefore won all their games and so won the Gold medal. This also means that GB Juniors have moved up to Pool B. > STORM BLITZ OVER THE SUMMER Storm Blitz will continue over the summer with all the latest news and transfers involving Manchester Storm and any other major news involving other teams. Inter The Storm will continue to be updated and will undergo a major uplift in a few weeks time. Brand new already is regular NHL updates. The NHL page will be updated every other day with news, results, transfers and tables from all the NHL leagues. Soon to be available will be the ability to register for an automated e-mail service that mails you when a page you have selected is updated (ie. if you are particularly interested in the photos page, you can register to automatically receive news when this page is updated). Other new stuff will be the pages that I've been promising for a bit including a guide to all Manchester Storm Internet pages, a look at other sports teams in Manchester and a review of Storm's first ever season last year. There will be an improved front page and other stuff that I haven't thought of yet. > NEXT ON TV & RADIO SAT 22 MAR - BBC RADIO 5 LIVE 693/909AM - Sport On Five - Bob Ballard reports on Cardiff Devils v Sheffield Steelers along with other sports including rugby league and football (face off 1.30) - 1.00-6.00pm SAT 22 MAR - SKY SPORTS - Ice Hockey LIVE - Live coverage of Cardiff Devils v Sheffield Steelers (face off 1.30) - 1.30-4.30pm SAT 22 MAR - BBC RADIO SHEFFIELD 104.1FM - Ice Hockey LIVE - Full commentary on Cardiff Devils v Sheffield Steelers (face off 1.30) - 1.00-6.00pm SAT 22 MAR - BBC RADIO 5 LIVE 693/909AM - Bob Ballard reports on Ayr Scottish Eagles v Nottingham Panthers in sports bulltins from 6.30pm (face off 6.40) SAT 22 MAR - GRANADA TV - Battles On Ice - Coverage of Storm v Ayr Scottish Eagles (16/3) - 3.45-4.45pm SAT 22 MAR - SKY SPORTS - Ice Hockey LIVE - Live coverage of Ayr Scottish Eagles v Nottingham Panthers (face off 6.40) - 6.30-9.30pm WED 26 MAR - BBC RADIO SHEFFIELD 104.1FM - Ice Line - Phone-in about Sheffield Steelers with some Steelers players in the studio - 7.00-8.00pm > DOWNLOAD BACK ISSUES OF STORM BLITZ All previous issues of Storm Blitz are still available. If you didn't get them, or want them again, you can now download them from the Internet in a .zip file. The URL of these will be confirmed soon. If you don't have web access, I can e-mail you the .zip files. > 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 #33 *** INTER THE STORM can be accessed at: http://www.geocities.com/Colosseum/3859/storm.html ------------------------------ This issue of Storm Blitz is sponsored by: W.H. DAVIES PRIVATE INVESTIGATIONS LTD A member of the Association of British Investigators. Based in North Manchester, WH Davies is ideally placed to serve the North West area for private investigations. Summons serving is one of many areas dealt with. For more information, send us an e-mail : wh.davies@poboxes.com ------------------------------ To sponsor Storm Blitz, e-mail simon.sm@zetnet.co.uk