STORM BLITZ ISSUE #78 Friday 5 December 1997 If you have any comments on Storm Blitz, please feel free to e-mail stormblitz@intothestorm.co.uk any time. There are currently 231 subscribers to Storm Blitz ------------------------------------------------ INTO THE STORM IS SPONSORED BY SOUTHERN GRAPHICS http://www.southern.northwich.com ------------------------------------------------ In this issue : * Storm beat Bolzano but have to wait a week * Rick Judson & Brad Turner leave Storm * Matt Johnson on verge of signing for Storm * Maltais facing possible extended ban * Piero Greco & other rumours * Panthers beat Storm again * Steelers close in; Bees & Bison beaten * Panthers win but Ayr defeated after OT * Bison and Cardiff win * Shannon Hope's testimonial * Middleton & North Manchester Guardian * NHL investors involved in Superleague * Into The Storm updates * The latest from Storm Audio * Latest Superleague table * Latest Express Challenge Cup table * Final EHL Division F table * Forthcoming Storm games * Directions to away games * TV and Radio News * Download back issues of Storm Blitz * How to unsubscribe to Storm Blitz --------------------------------------------------- > STORM BEAT BOLZANO BUT HAVE TO WAIT A WEEK In front of 5278 fans at the Nynex Arena on Tuesday night, Storm faced Forst Bolzano in their final European Hockey League group game. Man of the Match Mike Morin opened the scoring with just 3 minutes on the clock. This goal was particularly significant as it was Storm's 200th goal in all competitions this season. Ten minutes later, Jeff Jablonski made it 2-0. Bolzano pulled a goal back a minute later on the powerplay and the first period ended 2-1. Stefan Ketola restored the two goal advantage for Storm with 30 minutes on the clock but Bolzano made it 3-2 two minutes before the end of the second period. Mikael Wiklander scored what turned out to be the winner on 45 minutes, but there was controversy near the end of the game as Jeff Jablonski scored what should have been Storm's fifth goal but the referee ruled that the puck had not crossed the line. So Storm defeated Bolzano 4-2 and following news that Moscow Dynamo had beaten Sparta Prague 3-2 after overtime and penalty shots (the penalty shootout win being equivalent to a goal) the second place in Division F was confirmed. Now Storm must wait until next Tuesday when the final games take place before they will know whether or not they have qualified for the next stage or not. There have been various interpretations of what needs to happen for Storm to progress, and as it just confused me no end trying to work it out, I'll just blame Kurt Stephens if this is wrong. Kurt says that if Kolner Haie of Division C do not lose in overtime to Feldkirch then Storm go through. If Lulea of Division D beat Yaroslav then we go through. If anything else happens then...I'm not sure! > RICK JUDSON & BRAD TURNER QUIT STORM In a shock announcement last Friday afternoon, Rick Judson quit Manchester Storm and returned to America. Kurt Kleinendorst is described as being disappointed. Rick was said to be unsettled in Manchester and returned to his hometown of Toledo and has now resigned for Toledo Storm. Following Storm's game with Bolzano on Tuesday, the expected announcement came that Brad Turner was also set to leave Manchester and return home. Brad was reported to have not fit into Kurt's system and his form was disappointing after playing well under John Lawless last season. > MATT JOHNSON ON VERGE OF SIGNING FOR STORM Storm are on the verge of signing new forward Matt Johnson to replace Rick Judson. Matt is a 25 year old American is said to have agreed terms and is awaiting his work permit. He is from Northwood in Massachusetts and has played for Tallahassee Tiger Sharks (ECHL), Bart Vanstaandiluden's current club. This season, he has been playing for Odessa (WPHL). Kurt Kleinendorst says that Matt is not expected to arrive in time for Monday's game at Ayr Scottish Eagles. There are though conflicting reports of Matt's impending arrival. > MALTAIS FACING POSSIBLE EXTENDED BAN Dominic Maltais is facing the possibility of an extended ban following the infamous kicking incident in the Superleague game with Nottingham Panthers last Tuesday. The Superleague board will come to a decision as to what (if any) further action needs to be taken early next week. Dominic has already been awarded a two-match ban. > PIERO GRECO & OTHER RUMOURS In the latest unsubstantiated rumour, Piero Greco was spotted at the Storm v Bolzano game and also later on at the Arches being introduced to the Storm puck bunnies. On questioning, assistant coach Daryl Lipsey denied that Greco was on his way to Manchester. Also, despite this being apparantly the truth many times last season, Dale Jago will definitely leave at the end of this season (probably!). Jim Hrivnak is set to play the next few games as first choice netminder despite Grant Sjerven appearing to have been given the role of number 1 netminder before the Bolzano game. > PANTHERS BEAT STORM AGAIN In the repeat of Tuesday's fixture against Nottingham Panthers, except this time in the Express Challenge Cup, Storm lost again - this time after overtime. Mikael Wiklander opened the scoring in front of approximately 6500 fans with a powerplay goal after 9 minutes. A minute later Nottingham equalised and after another minute Wiklander scored again on the powerplay. Storm made it 3-1 with 2 minutes of the first period remaining with a goal from Craig Woodcroft. Nottingham Panthers pulled two goals back to level the game within 7 minutes of the second period to be immediately followed by a Jeff Tomlinson goal that put Storm back into the lead again. Kris Miller scored a powerplay goal two minutes later to give Storm a 5-3 lead, but Jamie Leach scored for Nottingham after 35 minutes and Storm led 5-4 at the end of the second period. With seven minutes of the game remaining, Nottingham Panthers levelled the game again with the final regulation-time goal. It took just over 30 seconds of overtime for Nottingham to score the winner and have the pleasure of "doing a Sheffield" by beating Storm twice in a week. Mikael Wiklander won Man of the Match for Storm. > STEELERS CLOSE IN; BEES & BISON BEATEN In the other Express Challenge Cup tie on Sunday, Ayr Scottish Eagles maintained their 100% record with a 5-3 victory at Basingstoke Bison. In the Superleague, Sheffield Steelers moved to within a point of Storm after a 3-2 overtime victory over bottom club Newcastle Cobras at Sheffield Arena. Cardiff Devils beat Bracknell Bees 3-1 to move above them in the Superleague table and they now look threatening with three games in hand on the top 3 clubs. > PANTHERS WIN BUT AYR DEFEATED AFTER OT In the Superleague on Saturday, Nottingham Panthers moved to the top of the table with a 3-2 victory over Basingstoke Bison. In the other game Bracknell Bees defeated Ayr Scottish Eagles 5-4 after overtime. > BISON AND CARDIFF WIN Thu 27 - In the Superleague, Basingstoke Bison moved 5th in the table after a 3-1 victory over local rivals Bracknell Bees. Meanwhile in the Express Cup, Cardiff Devils moved second with a 1-0 victory over Newcastle Cobras. This is the only time in Cardiff's history that they have been involved in a single goal game. > SHANNON HOPE'S TESTIMONIAL Tue 25 - In Shannon Hope's testimonial in Cardiff, the Devils faced a Shannon Hope K9ers team. The K9ers won the game 13-12. Further details to follow soon. > MIDDLETON & NORTH MANCHESTER GUARDIAN The Middleton & North Manchester Guardian newspaper is now carrying Manchester Storm news and reports as supplied by me from this week. My reports will be in the paper "almost every week" with occasional appearances in the Rochdale Observer depending on space available. > NHL INVESTORS INVOLVED IN SUPERLEAGUE It is reported that a number of NHL investors are interested in establishing teams in the Superleague in the coming seasons. Reports say that there may be three rinks built in London with a Superleague team playing out of each. > INTO THE STORM UPDATES Ice Hockey Links - added link to new unofficial Sheffield Steelers Web page. Also added Deeside Dragons rec team page (but this doesn't seem to work yet). Storm Players - added photo of Rick Brebant and some other player information updated. Fixtures - amended Forst Bolzano game face off time. Guestbook - added link to unofficial Sheffield Steelers Guestbook. Ice Hockey In Canada - updates from both Mike Vrooman and Stephanie Wilde added. Web Site Statistics - reset FXWeb stats to 0 on 24 November and it now shows true average hits per day (approx 135). 20 Things Dave Simms Would Never Say - added another thing he wouldn't say. Manchester Storm Message Forum - November Forum archived and December Forum now active. Manchester Storm Discography - some more songs added to the list. Latest News - November's news now archived and December's news now current. All the tables, results, fixtures, latest news etc have been updated as normal. > THE LATEST FROM STORM AUDIO The latest uploads to STORM AUDIO include post match reaction to both Nottingham Panthers matches including interviews with Kurt Kleinendorst, Mike Blaisdell and Kevin Hoffman. Kurt also speaks about the Brad Turner (before the announcement of his release). Rick Judson's last interview as a Storm player can be found here also. Following the Storm v Bolzano game, Kurt Kleinendorst can be heard explaining the u-turn on Storm's netminders, a full unedited version of the announcement of Brad Turner's departure, Mike Morin talks about scoring goals and Daryl Lipsey talks about getting a new player. All this costs you 0p at all times! An edited version of STORM AUDIO appears each Monday evening on BBC GMR 95.1FM at 5.55pm. STORM AUDIO can be found on the Internet at http://members.aol.com/stormaudio 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. > LATEST SUPERLEAGUE TABLE Pl W D OL NL +/- Points Nottingham Panthers 13 8 2 0 3 +12 18 Manchester Storm 13 7 2 1 3 +19 17 Sheffield Steelers 13 7 1 1 4 +15 16 Ayr Scottish Eagles 11 6 0 2 3 +6 14 Cardiff Devils 10 5 2 0 3 +0 12 Bracknell Bees 13 5 1 1 6 -14 12 Basingstoke Bison 12 4 2 1 5 -6 11 Newcastle Cobras 13 2 0 1 10 -32 5 Win=2; Draw=1; Overtime Loss=1; Normal Loss=0 > LATEST EXPRESS CHALLENGE CUP TABLE Pl W D OL NL +/- Points Ayr Scottish Eagles 5 5 0 0 0 +11 10 Nottingham Panthers 4 2 0 0 2 +7 4 Cardiff Devils 4 2 0 0 2 -4 4 Bracknell Bees 3 1 0 1 1 +0 3 Basingstoke Bison 3 1 0 0 2 -2 2 Sheffield Steelers 3 1 0 0 2 -10 2 Manchester Storm 1 0 0 1 0 -1 1 Newcastle Cobras 1 0 0 0 1 -1 0 Win=2; Draw=1; Overtime Loss=1; Normal Loss=0 > FINAL EHL DIVISION F TABLE Pl W OW OL L +/- Points Moscow Dynamo 6 4 2 0 0 +24 16 Manchester Storm 6 3 0 2 1 +2 11 Sparta Prague 6 2 0 1 3 -8 7 Bolzano 6 0 1 0 5 -18 2 Win=3; Overtime Win=2; Overtime Loss=1; Loss=0 > FORTHCOMING STORM GAMES DATE OPPONENTS F/O VENUE COMPETITION 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/index.html) Ayr Scotish 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 FRI 5 DEC 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 5 DEC BBC RADIO SHEFFIELD 104.1FM - Friday Night Sport - Preview of the weekend's games including interviews along with other sport - 1900 - 2000 FRI 5 DEC BBC GMR 95.1/104.6FM - GMR SPORT - Interviews, previews and news from Manchester Storm along with other sport - 1900 - 2200 SAT 6 DEC GALAXY 102FM - Galaxy Sports - Interview with Kurt Kleinendorst and music - 1715 - 1730 SAT 6 DEC SKY SPORTS - Ice Hockey LIVE - Full live coverage of the Benson & Hedges Cup Final between Ayr Scottish Eagles and Cardiff Devils - 1830 - 2130 SAT 6 DEC BBC RADIO 5 LIVE - Ice Hockey LIVE - FULL LIVE COMMENTARY on the Benson & Hedges Cup Final between Ayr Scottish Eagles and Cardiff Devils - 1900 - 2200 SAT 6 DEC 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 7 DEC 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 8 DEC BBC GMR 95.1/104.6FM - Drivetime - Interview with Kurt Kleinendorst and Storm players following the weekend's games - this is an edited version of STORM AUDIO - 1755 - 1800 MON 8 DEC BBC GMR 95.1/104.6FM - Ayr Scottish Eagles v Manchester Storm : coverage level as yet unknown. Minimum should be reports throughout normal programming - 1930 - 2200 WED 10 DEC BBC RADIO SHEFFIELD 104.1FM - The Ice Line - Ice Hockey phone-in hosted by Gareth Hampshire followed by coverage of Sheffield Steelers v Cardiff Devils in the Express Cup : coverage level not confirmed - is expected to be reports on period 1 and then commentary on periods 2 and 3 - 1800 - 2200 WED 10 DEC BBC GMR 95.1/104.6FM - GMR SPORT - Bracknell Bees v Manchester Storm : coverage level not yet confirmed - minimum should be reports throughout the programme - 1900 - 2200 THU 11 DEC PICCADILLY KEY 103FM - Storm news, game preview and interviews - 2030 - 2035 > 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 #78 *** E-mail STORM BLITZ at: stormblitz@intothestorm.co.uk INTO THE STORM can be accessed at: http://www.intothestorm.co.uk