STORM BLITZ ISSUE #79 Friday 12 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 go out of EHL on goal difference * New signings due soon * Maltais ban extended to six games * Devils win at Newcastle * Cardiff settle EHL dispute * Storm draw at Bracknell in Express Cup * Steelers beat Devils * Storm come back to draw at Ayr * Devils and Cobras win * Scottish Eagles win B&H Cup * Slough beat Tigers in B&H Plate * Leeds all clear * 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 GO OUT OF EHL ON GOAL DIFFERENCE After the games played on Tuesday evening, Manchester Storm have been eliminated from the European Hockey League on goal difference behind Slovan Bratislava and Lada Togliatti. The "second placed" table reads as follows: Pl W OW OL NL GD Pts Slovan Bratislava 4 3 0 0 1 +4 9 Lada Togliatti 4 1 2 0 1 +2 7 -- Manchester Storm 4 2 0 1 1 +1 7 Leksands 4 2 0 0 2 +7 6 Kolner Haie 4 2 0 0 2 +2 6 Jokerit Kelsinki 4 1 1 0 2 +0 5 W=Win=3; OW=Overtime Win=2; OL=Overtime Loss=1; NL=Loss=0 The quarter-finals line up as follows: Lada Togliatti v Torpedo Yaroslavl Slovan Bratislava v Petra Vsetin Moscow Dynamo v Farjestads Hameenlinna v Feldkirch > NEW SIGNINGS DUE SOON Kurt Kleinendorst is reported to be expecting two new signings by the weekend. Matt Johnson is said to be still awaiting a work permit and the second player is Eric Flinton, a defender. I don't have any information on him yet. > MALTAIS BAN EXTENDED TO SIX GAMES Dominic Maltais has had his two game ban extended to six games. The Superleague disciplinary committee reviewed its original decision made immediately following the kicking incident in the Superleague game against Nottingham Panthers. > DEVILS WIN AT NEWCASTLE Cardiff Devils travelled to Newcastle Arena on Thursday night in the Express Challenge Cup and defeated Newcastle Cobras 5-1. > CARDIFF SETTLE EHL DISPUTE The EHL and IIHF have announced that there has been an amicable resolution to the dispute involving Cardiff Devils which has avoided the need for arbitration procedure. Whilst Cardiff remain very disappointed not to be participating in the EHL, they now understand that the EHL is an invitation tournament and no club can automatically participate in the competition through domestic success, although this was initially unclear. The EHL are said to be pleased to consider and evaluate any further application from Cardiff or indeed any other club from Great Britain. > STORM DRAW AT BRACKNELL IN EXPRESS CUP In the Express Cup on Wednesday night, Storm led 2-0 only for Bracknell Bees to come back and draw after overtime. Jeff Tomlinson scored on the powerplay after 6 minutes of the game and Craig Woodcroft soon made it 2-0 before the 10 minute mark. On 17 minutes Gomes pulled a goal back for Bracknell. The next goal was not until 56 minutes when Bucsis levelled the scores. Overtime was goalless and Storm gained another Express Cup point. > STEELERS BEAT DEVILS In the other result on Wednesday night in The Express Challenge Cup, Sheffield Steelers beat Cardiff Devils 6-2. Steelers led 2-0 after 11.46 with both goals coming from Frank Kovacs before Frank Evans scored on the powerplay for Cardiff a minute later. David Longstaff made it 3-1 on 16 minutes but Ken Hodge brought the score back to 3-2 with just 7 seconds remaining of the period. There was bo further scoring until the start of the third period when Dion Del Monte put Steelers 4-2 up. Scott Allison then made it 5-2 on the powerplay on 46 minutes. Rob Wilson scored an empty net goal for Steelers in the final minute to make the final score 6-2. > STORM COME BACK TO DRAW AT AYR Manchester Storm had a great fightback on Monday night at Ayr Scottish Eagles. The game had been moved back from Sunday night at Ayr’s request following the Scottish team’s involvement in the Benson & Hedges Cup Final on the previous Saturday. After a goalless first period, Ayr began to take control in the second. Jamie Steer and Sam Groleau gave the Eagles a 2-0 advantage before Storm finally got their opening goal on 41 minutes. Rick Brebant scored on the powerplay and then Kris Miller sent the travelling Manchester support wild with the equaliser on 49 minutes. The game then went into overtime and despite chances for both sides the scores remained level. > DEVILS AND COBRAS WIN In the Superleague on Sunday night, Cardiff Devils travelled to Nottingham Panthers and won 6-2. The first goal didn't arrive until the 27th minute when Thornton opened the scoring for Cardiff. Hadden equalised 30 seconds later but Yewchuck made it 2-1 to Cardiff on 31 minutes. Jeff Sebastian levelled the game at 2-2 two minutes later and then Kip Noble and Ian Cooper gave Cardiff a 4-2 lead at the end of the second period. Ivan Matulik made the score 5-2 at the start of the third and five minutes later McIntyre sealed the game with Cardiff's sixth goal. In the other game, bottom club Newcastle Cobras travelled to Basingstoke Bison and won 4-2. > SCOTTISH EAGLES WIN B&H CUP Ayr Scottish Eagles won a close Benson & Hedges Cup Final at Sheffield Arena on Saturday evening. Cardiff Devils led for a long period of time after a goal from Doug McEwan in the second period. For a long time it looked as though Ayr were never going to break down Cardiff, but Parco finally equalised in the final period and in dramatic fashion Jeff Hoad scored the winner with only minutes remaining. Cardiff could have levelled afterwards but Ayr held out to win their first ever trophy in only their second season. > SLOUGH BEAT TIGERS IN B&H PLATE John Lawless's Telford Tigers were defeated by SloughJets in the Benson & Hedges Plate Final on Saturday afternoon 4-3 in a close game. In the game played as a prelude to the Cup Final later, Gary Clarke gave Telford the lead in the first period. With one minute remaining of the first, Higdon equalised for Slough. Sloguh then took the lead from Wagstaff in the second period but Claude Dumas scored a goal to level the game at 2-2. Slough then took the lead once again before Claude Dumas scored another equaliser with a great individual effort. With just over a minute remaining, Higdon scored the winner for Slough and the Plate went South. > LEEDS ALL CLEAR It is reported that Caspian, the owners of new team Leeds Lasers have finally been given planning permission to begin work on the new Arena to be built adjacent to Elland Road, the home of Leeds United FC. Leeds Lasers are expected to join the Superleague the season after next. > INTO THE STORM UPDATES Ice Hockey Links - added link to new unofficial Newcastle Cobras Web page. Storm Players - minor amendments to info. Guestbook - added link to unofficial Newcastle Cobras Guestbook. Manchester Storm Message Forum - Accidentally lost first week's messages on December's Forum - sorry! Added link to Bracknell Bees new Forum called The Bee Hive. All the tables, results, fixtures, latest news etc have been updated as normal. > THE LATEST FROM STORM AUDIO The latest upload to STORM AUDIO includes an interview with John Lawless speaking about his new job at Telford Tigers, his old Storm team, Hilton Ruggles, the European Hockey League and Daryl Lipsey also speaks. 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 Manchester Storm 14 7 3 1 3 +19 18 Nottingham Panthers 14 8 2 0 4 +8 18 Sheffield Steelers 13 7 1 1 4 +15 16 Ayr Scottish Eagles 12 6 1 2 3 +6 15 Cardiff Devils 11 6 2 0 3 +4 14 Bracknell Bees 13 5 1 1 6 -14 12 Basingstoke Bison 13 4 2 1 6 -8 11 Newcastle Cobras 14 3 0 1 10 -30 7 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 Cardiff Devils 6 3 0 0 3 -3 6 Nottingham Panthers 4 2 0 0 2 +7 4 Sheffield Steelers 4 2 0 0 2 -6 4 Bracknell Bees 4 1 1 1 1 +0 4 Basingstoke Bison 3 1 0 0 2 -2 2 Manchester Storm 2 0 1 1 0 -1 2 Newcastle Cobras 2 0 0 0 2 -5 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 Forst 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 Sat 13 Dec Nottingham Panthers 6.35 Away Superleague Sun 14 Dec Newcastle Cobras 6.30 Away Superleague Thu 18 Dec Ayr Scottish Eagles 7.30 Home The Express CC Sat 20 Dec Sheffield Steelers 6.00 Away The Express CC Sun 21 Dec Cardiff Devils 6.00 Away Superleague Tue 23 Dec Bracknell Bees 7.30 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) Nottingham Panthers v Manchester Storm Saturday 13 December 1997 face off 6.35 Address The Ice Stadium, Lower Parliament Street, Nottingham. Telephone 0115 948 4526 Capacity 2850 Directions From Junction 25 on the M1 take A52 towards the city centre. Go along Maid Marion Way towards Broad Marsh Shopping Centre. Continue towards Trent Bridge along Canal Street. Turn left at London Road Island (A60 Mansfield). Go up hill to lights. Stay in right hand lane. Follow one way system. Three right turns at lights. Newcastle Cobras v Manchester Storm Sunday 14 December 1997 face off 6.30 Address Newcastle Arena, Arena Way, Newcastle Upon Tyne Telephone 0191 401 8000 Capacity 7000 Directions Take M62 East to A1 (North). Keep with A1, then 1(M). After Washington Services bear left. Take A184 sign for Newcastle Centre. Over Tyne Bridge turn left and follow Arena signs. After turning left off the main road, car park is on the left hand side under railway bridge. > TV AND RADIO NEWS FRI 12 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 12 DEC BBC RADIO SHEFFIELD 104.1FM - Friday Night Sport - Preview of the weekend's games including interviews along with other sport - 1900 - 2000 FRI 12 DEC BBC GMR 95.1/104.6FM - GMR SPORT - Interviews, previews and news from Manchester Storm along with other sport - 1900 - 2200 SAT 13 DEC GALAXY 102FM - Galaxy Sports - Interview with Kurt Kleinendorst and music - 1715 - 1730 SAT 13 DEC SKY SPORTS 2 - Ice Hockey LIVE - Full live coverage of Nottingham Panthers v Manchester Storm in the Superleague - 1830 - 2130 SAT 13 DEC BBC GMR 95.1/104.6FM - Reports from Nottingham Panthers v Manchester Storm within normal programming - 1830 - 2130 SAT 13 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 14 DEC SKY SPORTS 2 - Ice Hockey - Full coverage of Nottingham Panthers v Manchester Storm in the Superleague game shown earlier in the evening - 0330 - 0600 SUN 14 DEC SKY SPORTS 3 - Ice Hockey - Full coverage of Nottingham Panthers v Manchester Storm in the Superleague game shown on Saturday evening - 1300 - 1530 SUN 14 DEC BBC GMR 95.1/104.6FM - Reports from Newcastle Cobras v Manchester Storm within normal programming - 1830 - 2130 SUN 14 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 15 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 WED 17 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 THU 18 DEC BBC GMR 95.1/104.6FM - Reports from Manchester Storm v Ayr Scottish Eagles within normal programming - 1930 - 2200 THU 18 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 #79 *** E-mail STORM BLITZ at: stormblitz@intothestorm.co.uk INTO THE STORM can be accessed at: http://www.intothestorm.co.uk