STORM BLITZ ISSUE #77 Wednesday 26 November 1997 If you have any comments on Storm Blitz, please feel free to e-mail stormblitz@intothestorm.co.uk any time. There are currently 221 subscribers to Storm Blitz ------------------------------------------------ INTO THE STORM IS SPONSORED BY SOUTHERN GRAPHICS http://www.southern.northwich.com ------------------------------------------------ In this issue : * Maltais banned for 2 games * Ayr defeat Steelers in Express Cup * Panthers defeat sorry Storm * Storm shutout Newcastle 6-0 * Cardiff and Nottingham beaten * Saturday's Superleague games * Basingstoke shock Devils in Express Cup * Wednesday's Express Cup games * Sparta Prague win in Bolzano * Into The Storm featured in local paper * Lawless back to coach Telford * Ayr v Storm date changed * Into The Storm updates * The latest from Storm Audio * Article in The Times * Latest Superleague table * Latest EHL Division F table * Latest Express Challenge Cup table * Forthcoming Storm games * Directions to away games * TV and Radio News * Download back issues of Storm Blitz * How to unsubscribe to Storm Blitz --------------------------------------------------- > MALTAIS BANNED FOR 2 GAMES Following his ejection from the Storm v Nottingham Panthers game on Tuesday night, Dominic Maltais has received a 2 game ban and a 500 pounds fine. The punishment was given after Maltais was thrown out of the game for kicking an opponent and Storm are said to not be appealing against the decision. > AYR DEFEAT STEELERS IN EXPRESS CUP With the scores level at 4-4 after two periods, Ayr Scottish Eagles scored three unanswered goals in the third period to beat Sheffield Steelers 7-4 in The Express Challenge Cup on Wednesay night at the Centrum Arena. Ayr now lead the Express Cup table by 5 points. > PANTHERS DEFEAT SORRY STORM In front of a small Tuesday night crowd of 4684, Storm were defeated in their first home meeting of the season by Nottingham Panthers. Panthers led 1-0 at the end of the first period from a Laxdal goal after 9 minutes. Stefan Ketola equalised after 24 minutes but Nottingham's ex-Storm player Jeff Sebastian put them infront again on the half hour. Dominic Maltais scored the second equaliser for Storm with three minutes remaining of the second period. Stefan Ketola put Storm ahead 3-2 on 43.55 but Dallman immediately levelled for Nottingham just 11 seconds later. Three minutes later came the sickener as Brent Bobyck saw fit to put Nottingham back in front again 4-3 and three more minutes later it was all over as Hadden made it 5-3 on 50 minutes. Storm couldn't come back in the final 10 minutes and Nottingham moved back into second place in the Superleague table. > STORM SHUTOUT NEWCASTLE 6-0 For the second Sunday on the trot, the face-off was delayed for 30 minutes - this time with some problem with the ice. Rick Brebant was icing in his new number 93 and over 11,000 fans witnessed Rick Judson opening the scoring after 12 minutes. The score remained 1-0 to Storm until 27 minutes when Judson scored again to double Storm's lead. Rick Brebant scored his first goal for Storm on 35 minutes against the team that he was coaching just a few weeks ago. This was followed by a lengthy stoppage following a number of players fighting. The resulting penalties saw Brad Rubachuk (Storm) receive 5+game co, Dominic Maltais (Storm) 2 co, Trumbley (Cobras) 2 co, Lambert (Cobras) 2, McCaig (Cobras) 2+2+5+game and La Scala 5+game co. It wasn't long after that with Storm on a 5 on 3 powerplay that the fourth goal was scored by Kris Miller. It was 5-0 after 48 minutes with Stefan Ketola scoring. Ketola wrapped up the scoring on 56 minutes with the sixth goal that saw Storm cement their position at the top of the Superleague three points ahead of second placed Sheffield Steelers. Stefan Ketola won the Man Of The Match for Storm and Norton won it for Newcastle. > CARDIFF AND NOTTINGHAM BEATEN In other games on Sunday night in the Superleague, Sheffield Steelers thrashed champions Cardiff Devils 8-0. Ken Priestlay, Scott Allison and Ed Courtney gave Steelers a commanding 3-0 first period lead. Scott Allison scored again after 24 minutes to bring the score to 4-0. The third period saw further goals from Rob Wilson, Ed Courtney, Tim Cranston and Ken Priestlay and with this 8-0 win, Sheffield Steelers moved second in the Superleague table. Meanwhile in Bracknell, Johnstone opened the scoring in the Superleague clash with Nottingham Panthers after 11 minutes. Knox equalised for Nottingham on 38 minutes but the third period saw two more Bracknell goals from Bucsis and Crawford (empty-net) and the Bees sealed a 3-1 win. > SATURDAY'S SUPERLEAGUE GAMES Basingstoke Bison shocked Sheffield Steelers in a high scoring game with a 10-7 win. With Sheffield's recent improved form, they had been expected to defeat the struggling Bison but it wasn't to be. Cardiff Devils travelled to Ayr and inflicted another defeat on the Scottish team after they were defeated on Tuesday at Sheffield. Cardiff won the game 7-4. Newcastle Cobras have had their good run come to an abrupt end after their visit to Lower Parliament Street to play Nottingham Panthers. The Panthers beat Newcastle 8-3 to move back into second place in the Superleague. > BASINGSTOKE SHOCK DEVILS IN EXPRESS CUP 20 Nov - On Thursday night in the Express Cup, Basingstoke Bison travelled to Cardiff and shocked the Devils to win 6-3. Basingstoke moved off the bottom of the table to go above Sheffield and Cardiff into 4th place. > WEDNESDAY'S EXPRESS CUP GAMES 19 Nov - Sheffield Steelers defeated Bracknell Bees 4-3 after overtime in the Express Cup on Wednesday night. Steelers took the lead near the end of the first period. Rob Stewart levelled the scores on 28 minutes and then Ferraccioli put Bees into the lead. Cory Beaulieu, back from his suspension, equalised on 35 minutes. Tim Cranston put Steelers ahead again 3-2 before Whistle levelled the scores with three minutes remaining of the third period. The game went into overtime and with 65.17 on the clock Tim Cranston scored the winning goal. Scott Campbell got a 10 minute misconduct penalty at the end of the game. McCosh got Man Of The Match for Bracknell while Ken Priestlay won the award for Steelers. Meanwhile in the other game at Lower Parliament Street, Ayr Scottish Eagles defeated Nottingham Panthers 6-5 to go three points clear in the Express Challenge Cup table. > SPARTA PRAGUE WIN IN ITALY 18 Nov - In Tuesday's other EHL Division F game, Sparta Prague travelled to Bolzano and defeated the Italian side 3-1. The result has no significance to the final placings as Storm have already finished second in the table. Storm must surely beat Bolzano in the next game to be certain of qualifying for the next round as one of the best second place teams. A draw or overtime defeat could also be enough depending on results from other groups. > INTO THE STORM FEATURED IN LOCAL PAPER Local newspaper The Middleton & North Manchester Guardian featured INTO THE STORM in last week's edition dated Thursday 20 November. The article is on page 14 (the Blackley Guardian page). Most of the article is quoted text from me, but there are one or two wild inaccuracies thrown in!! The photo is of me sat in my mum's house by a computer with a screenshot of Into The Storm on the screen and me holding the Storm programme in one hand (I objected but couldn't find anything else Stormy to hold!) and pretending to click with the mouse with the other hand. It is also an extremely horrendous photo I now realise! Amazingly it is the lead story on the page - obviously not much happened this week! Next to me is a story (obviously planted on purpose) waffling on about some headmaster moaning about how he lives in Lancashire not Greater Manchester (my pet hate subject!) The caption under the photo says: A stormer...that's Simon, pictured here working on the Storm web site. There are many quotes that I'm sure I never said! It says my job is an Internet programmer - that's wrong! It also says: "...used to pen the fan's perspective page in the Storm programme." I never said that!!! Apparantly the pages include a picture gallery featuring stats and figures of all the Storm players and a sound effects page full of slapshots and bone-jarring crunches. Hmmmmm....I've not heard these sound clips! They managed to get the address wrong (I said make sure it is in lowercase but they split it onto two lines even though there was loads of room so it has got an extra hyphen in. It was good to see this in the paper!! > LAWLESS BACK TO COACH TELFORD Former Storm coach John Lawless is moving back from Canada to coach British League side Telford Tigers. It was expected that Lawless would remain in Canada to concentrate on his business interests and only return to the UK for a "big" job. There were rumours that he would return and coach Newcastle Cobras or Leeds Lasers when they are formed. The current Telford coach will remain at the club as assistant coach. > AYR v STORM FIXTURE CHANGED Due to Ayr's involvement in the Benson & Hedges Cup Final on Saturday 6 December, their game with Storm the following day has been moved back a day and will now take place on Monday 8 December with a 7.30 face-off. > INTO THE STORM UPDATES Ice Hockey Links - added link to unofficial Chelmsford Chieftans site and the official Newcastle Cobras Supporters Club site. Guestbook - added link to Chelmsford Chieftans Guestbook. The Into The Storm Guestbook is still under construction - it is giving a "Document Contains No Data" error when you try to post to it and I'm still working on it! Manchester Storm Message Forum - Added link to Bracknell Bees Forum. Manchester Storm Discography - Added more songs to the list. Web Site Statistics - fixed incorrect link for the week so far's statistics. Storm Action Photos - Added two photos of Storm coming off the ice at the Steelers v Storm game (15/11) - thanks Dave Morris of the Steelers Official Web site! Also, amended description of photo after Dave Morrison was recognised by an in-the-know visitor! Storm Players - Amended Rick Brebant's number and corrected a couple of mistakes. MISCONDUCT! - new logos added to the MISCONDUCT! index page. All the tables, results, fixtures, latest news etc have been updated as normal. > THE LATEST FROM STORM AUDIO The latest uploads to STORM AUDIO require Real Player 5.0 Beta, which can be downloaded free from the link on the STORM AUDIO Web site. Uploaded on 24 November was a review of the Storm v Newcastle Cobras match with a preview of Tuesday's game against Nottingham Panthers. The most recent upload (26 November) features Kurt Kleinendorst, Mike Blaisdell and Kevin Hoffman with reaction to the defeat by Nottingham Panthers. STORM AUDIO is produced in association with BBC GMR and can be found at http://members.aol.com/stormaudio > ARTICLE IN THE TIMES I've been asked to print a copy of an article that appeared in THE TIMES newspaper following out 7-0 defeat of Sparta Prague a couple of weeks ago. So here it is: United are not the only team in Manchester with recent success in European competition. Alan Lee reports... The Nynex Arena is a prime asset for Manchester Storm as the club attempts to establish ice hockey in Britain as a popular spectator sport. Taking roots in the Storm ------------------------- Manchester now has a second European sporting experience. The expectations are a little lower than in the dream factory at Old Trafford, but the achievements bear comparison. Ice hockey, for too long a sport dismissed as dormant or dying, the haunt of anoraks, fight freaks and transatlantic misfits, suddenly has a British success story. On Tuesday evening, in the cavernous Nynex Arena, sandwiched incongruously between those venerable city institutions, Victoria station and Boddingtons Brewery, something extraordinary happened. Manchester Storm, playing their fourth game of the season in group F of the European League, defeated Sparta Prague 7-0. There is a smug absence of surprise when the Reds of United win by this margin ­ they did it as recently as last Saturday, against Barnsley ­ but the Storm's win was the equivalent of United demolishing Juventus, because in ice hockey, for decades past, Britain's finest have not even dared to pit themselves against their slick superiors on the Continent. Last season, Manchester lost all six of their European games, but this was more education than embarrassment. They lost their first two this year, too, although only in overtime, and having now completed a double over Prague, victory in their final home match on December 2, against the vulnerable Italians from Bolzano, will see them emulate their football neighbours and proceed to the quarter-finals. As they also head the domestic Superleague and tomorrow contest the semi-finals of the Benson and Hedges Cup, the season is already a triumph for the urbane, articulate Minnesotan, Kurt Kleinendorst, the head coach and general manager. "I set some modest goals for this season and we have achieved them already," Kleinendorst, 37, admitted. "I will have to raise the sights." Kleinendorst arrived in the spring, dismissed all but seven of the playing staff and imposed his own men and methods. "We are not the biggest payers and I firmly believe we have to keep a grip on salaries," he said. "I am also not big on fighting." In the Storm's private quarters, the vast locker-room has been redesigned. The players have their names next to their pegs, there is a music centre, a giant television screen and a fully-equipped exercise room. Kleinendorst is aping the best of his American experiences and, in the arena that the fans call the Storm-shelter, he is already a colossus. Ice hockey has been stirring and stretching here for a while. It has happened before, for in Britain this is a game of false dawns and burned fingers. Conversion to the cause is slow. Maybe this time it will be different: hockey is logging on to the futures market, giving a young audience something more than just a game to watch ­ and nobody does it better than Manchester. The Nynex is an immeasurable asset, far ahead of the usual squeezed and squalid indoor arenas in Britain. It is a civilised place, clean and spacious. Manchester's first hockey night, two years ago, filled more than 10,000 seats and, last season, the doors were shut on a capacity crowd of 17,245. It was only half-full on Tuesday, but with the upper deck of seats curtained off, you would not have known it. The crowd wore the ubiquitous uniform of replica shirts and here was another echo of United ­ £40 at the merchandise stalls for a league shirt, but £60 for the European version. The audience, of all ages but with a majority of teenagers of both sexes, not only knew their hockey but knew the dance routines to the musical snatches that filled every stoppage in play. Off the ice, as much as on it, the evening was a performance. Prague were immediately intimidated. Already on the ice, they were left to shuffle their skates in pitch darkness as the largest video scoreboard in the world showed what looked like a Halloween monster movie to a crashing soundtrack that introduced the Storm side. The show had style; little wonder, perhaps, that midway through the first period, Prague were 3-0 down. Manchester played accomplished hockey, as much a credit to their country as a surprise. Four goals came from Craig Woodcroft, probably the most formidable scoring talent in Britain. Woodcroft is not British ­ indeed, Manchester have only one home-grown player, Stephen Cooper, on their books ­ but Kleinendorst responds rationally to the fear that the game is thus flattering itself on false grounds. "The influx of Americans is only a negative if there is no central plan," he said. "It creates enthusiasm in the young and it is with them that the future lies. To make the best of this, you need new rinks, more ice time, a clear strategy." The Storm, like the football club that shares their city, their ambitions and even some of their support, have become a flagship for their sport. Through their deeds, the latest coming of ice hockey may just be the real thing. > LATEST SUPERLEAGUE TABLE Pl W D OL NL +/- Points Manchester Storm 13 7 2 1 3 +19 17 Nottingham Panthers 12 7 2 0 3 +11 16 Sheffield Steelers 12 6 1 1 4 +14 14 Ayr Scottish Eagles 10 6 0 1 3 +7 13 Cardiff Devils 9 4 2 0 3 -2 10 Bracknell Bees 10 4 1 1 4 -11 10 Basingstoke Bison 10 3 2 1 4 -7 9 Newcastle Cobras 12 2 0 0 10 -31 4 Win=2; Draw=1; Overtime Loss=1; Normal Loss=0 > LATEST EHL DIVISION F TABLE Pl W OW OL L +/- Points Moscow Dynamo 5 4 1 0 0 +23 13 Manchester Storm 5 2 0 2 1 +0 8 Sparta Prague 5 2 0 0 3 -7 5 Bolzano 5 0 1 0 4 -16 2 Win=3; Overtime Win=2; Overtime Loss=1; Loss=0 > LATEST EXPRESS CHALLENGE CUP TABLE Pl W D OL NL +/- Points Ayr Scottish Eagles 4 4 0 0 0 +9 8 Bracknell Bees 3 1 0 1 1 +0 3 Nottingham Panthers 3 1 0 0 2 +6 2 Basingstoke Bison 2 1 0 0 1 +0 2 Cardiff Devils 3 1 0 0 2 -5 2 Sheffield Steelers 3 1 0 0 2 -10 2 Manchester Storm 0 0 0 0 0 +0 0 Newcastle Cobras 0 0 0 0 0 +0 0 Win=2; Draw=1; Overtime Loss=1; Normal Loss=0 > FORTHCOMING STORM GAMES DATE OPPONENTS F/O VENUE COMPETITION Sun 30 Nov Nottingham Panthers 6.00 Home The Express CC Tue 2 Dec Bolzano 7.30 Home EHL Division F Mon 8 Dec Ayr Scottish Eagles 7.30 Away Superleague Wed 10 Dec Bracknell Bees 7.30 Away The Express CC Sat 13 Dec Nottingham Panthers 6.00 Away Superleague Sun 14 Dec Newcastle Cobras 6.00 Away Superleague > GETTING TO STORM AWAY GAMES The following information is taken from THE STORM SHELTER (http://www.omen1.demon.co.uk/storm.html) Ayr Scottish Eagles v Manchester Storm Monday 8 December 1997 face off 7.30 Address Centrum Arena, Prestwick Toll, Prestwick, Ayr Telephone 0129 267 1600 Capacity 2733 Directions M6 North joining the A74 briefly before turning off towards Dumfries on the A75. After Dumfries bypass you join A76 heading for Kilmarnock. You will eventually see signs for Ayr (A70). Take a right at the first roundabout on the outskirts of Ayr. This is the A77. At next roundabout take the 2nd turn off (Heathfield ). Travel around 1.5 miles going through a small roundabout that has views of an out of town shopping complex on the right. Carry on until the 2nd set of traffic lights where you take a right turn on to Prestwick Road. Travel for around quarter of a mile. Centrum on your right, just past the Safeway Supermarket. > TV AND RADIO NEWS THU 27 NOV PICCADILLY KEY 103FM - Storm news, game preview and interviews - 2030 - 2035 FRI 28 NOV BBC RADIO LANCASHIRE 95.5/103.9FM - Lancashire Sport - Preview of Lancashire Hawks forthcoming games along with other sports previews and reviews - 1800 - 1900 FRI 28 NOV BBC RADIO SHEFFIELD 104.1FM - Friday Night Sport - Preview of the weekend's games including interviews along with other sport - 1900 - 2000 FRI 28 NOV BBC GMR 95.1/104.6FM - GMR SPORT - Interviews, previews and news from Manchester Storm along with other sport - 1900 - 2200 SAT 29 NOV GALAXY 102FM - Galaxy Sports - Interview with Kurt Kleinendorst and music - 1715 - 1730 SAT 29 NOV BBC RADIO 5 LIVE - NIGHT EXTRA - Review of Saturday night's games including results as well as all the other sports results - 2330 - 0000 SUN 30 NOV BBC GMR 95.1/104.6FM - Reports on Manchester Storm v Nottingham Panthers within normal programming - 1800 - 2100 SUN 30 NOV BBC RADIO 5 LIVE - NIGHT EXTRA - Review of Sunday night's games including results as well as all the other sports results - 2325 - 2335 MON 1 DEC BBC GMR 95.1/104.6FM - Drivetime - Interview with Kurt Kleinendorst and Storm players following the weekend's games - 1755 - 1800 TUE 2 DEC BBC GMR 95.1/104.6FM - GMR SPORT - Manchester Storm v Bolzano - amount of coverage not yet confirmed - 1900 - 2200 WED 3 DEC BBC RADIO SHEFFIELD 104.1FM - The Ice Line - Ice Hockey phone-in hosted by Gareth Hampshire - 1800 - 1900 > DOWNLOAD BACK ISSUES OF STORM BLITZ All previous issues of Storm Blitz are still available. You can download all of the back issues from the Storm Blitz page on Into The Storm. If you do not have Web access, then if you e-mail me, I'll forward the issues that you require on to you. > HOW TO UNSUBSCRIBE TO STORM BLITZ Easy! Visit the Storm Blitz page on Into The Storm and post the "unsubscribe" form. Alternatively you can send an e-mail to stormblitz@intothestorm.co.uk 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 #77 *** E-mail STORM BLITZ at: stormblitz@intothestorm.co.uk INTO THE STORM can be accessed at: http://www.intothestorm.co.uk