Tue 30 Sep - FANTASTIC PERFORMANCE AGAINST MOSCOW SEES 3-2 OT DEFEAT. This was a game that it will be difficult to forget. Storm's performance far outweighed any expectations and showed that maybe, just maybe the Superleague is a stronger force in European ice hockey than we all thought. Moscow Dynamo, who had shut-out Sparta Prague 4-0 in the last EHL game, must have come to Manchester expecting an easy ride. Grant Sjerven in the net kept out everything for the first two periods as the game remained goalless. Moscow finally broke the deadlock after 46 minutes with a goal and just for a moment it looked like Storm might fold under all the pressure. Mikael Wiklander prompted the first set of wild celebrations with an equaliser three minutes later. After 51 minutes Moscow scored again and surely Storm couldn't come back again... tell that to Hilton Ruggles and Brad Turner! On 57 minutes Ruggles magestically set up the equaliser for Turner and the 4500 crowd went wild - even the row of Steelers fan in front of me were cheering and screaming STORM! The game went into sudden death overtime and Moscow scored the game winner after just 3 minutes. This didn't stop the celebrations of another European Hockey League point against one of the strongest teams outside North America.
Also on Tuesday, in the other Division F game, Sparta Prague defeated Bolzano 4-1 to go into second place in the division table. In the B&H Cup Group A, Sheffield Steelers travelled to Telford Tigers for the outstanding game and won 7-3. In Group B, Cardiff Devils travelled to Slough Jets and won 13-2 and Nottingham Panthers beat Bracknell Bees 4-2 to ensure that Storm play Bracknell in the B&H Cup quarter final tie.
Sun 28 Sep - STORM COME BACK TO DRAW 3-3 WITH COBRAS. Storm came back from 3-0 down at the end of the second period to draw 3-3 with Newcastle Cobras and so won the B&H Cup Group A. Almost 8800 fans saw Newcastle open the scoring after 73 seconds with Pegg putting the North East team in front. The score remained the same throughout the first period and indeed through until the 37.48 when Smith made it 2-0 and just 23 seconds later it was 3-0 with a goal from Brebant. Storm seemed to have had many more chances that the 16 shots that the scoreboard said in this period. Foster in the Cobras goal kept everything out that Storm could throw at him. The third period finally saw Storm get some reward. The 41st minute saw Brad Turner pull a goal back for Storm and then Mike Morin made it 3-2 in the 47th minute and there was suddenly realisation that it maybe wasn't going to be the first home defeat of the season. With 5 minutes remaining Dale Jago levelled the game and Storm finished the B&H group games at the top. Brad Turner won Man Of The Match. Storm will play Basingstoke or Bracknell in the quarter-finals depending on Tuesday's results.
Also on Sunday, in Group A, Ayr Scottish Eagles beat Telford Tigers 7-1. Groleau scored a hat-trick for the Eagles. Sheffield Steelers had a resounding win at Paisley Pirates by 16-2. The Steelers goals were scored by Allison (4), Kovacs (3), Hand (2), Priestlay (2), Van der Horst (2), Longstaffe, Del Monte and Shudra. In Group B, Cardiff Devils beat Nottingham Panthers 3-2. Hodge, Noble and Evans scored for the Devils with Leach and Dallman scoring for Nottingham. Bracknell Bees beat Peterborough Pirates 6-2 with Bees goals from Burke (2), Bucsis (2), Pellerin and Junkin.
Sat 27 Sep - In Group A, Sheffield Steelers and Ayr Scottish Eagles drew 3-3. Steelers were behind three times in the game with their goals coming from Dion Del Monte, Frank Kovacs and David Longstaff. The Eagles goals came from Scott Young, Jeff Hoad and Shawn Byram. In the other game, Telford Tigers beat Paisley Pirates 8-4. In Group B, Basingstoke Bison beat Bracknell Bees 6-2. Conway scored a hat-trick for Bison with Brown, Gatto and Shewan scoring the others. Bucsis and Gomes scored for Bracknell. In the other game, Nottingham Panthers defeated Slough Jets 9-1. The Panthers goals were scored by Hadden (2), Dallman, Adey, Knox, Laxdal, Leach, Neinhuis and Bobyk.
Wed 24 Sep - STORM WIN IN NEWCASTLE FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER. Storm's first game in Newcastle this year yielded their first ever win at the Newcastle Arena. Hilton Ruggles opened the scoring after just 90 seconds. Vani equalised with 10 minutes gone and Stefan Ketola restored Storm's lead after two minutes later. Dominic Maltais made it 3-1 just before the end of the first period with a powerplay goal. Kevin Hoffman scored a short-handed goal after 22-11 to make it 4-1 to Storm. Thirty seconds later Johnson pulled one back, but after another thirty seconds Dale Jago made it 5-2 to Storm. Two minutes before the end of the second period, Stewart scored for Newcastle and the final period was goalless meaning that Storm won for the first time ever in Newcastle.
Also on Wednesday, in Group B, Nottingham Panthers inflicted the first domestic defeat of the season on Cardiff Devils with the Panthers winning 2-1. Kraig Nienhuis scored for Nottingham after just 24 seconds and the score remained the same until Marty Dallman made it 2-0 after 46 minutes. Cardiff scored their goal with Doug McEwen scoring with 8 minutes remaining. Basingstoke Bison travelled to Slough Jets and won 6-3. Peterborough Pirates hosted Bracknell Bees and lost 14-1.
Having given up waiting for Karen Hannah (Programme Editor - all programming, GMR) to phone me back I decided to phone up and try and speak to her again. Finally, I got to speak to her. In summary, I explained that I was interested in knowing about GMR's current and future plans for coverage of Manchester Storm home and away. Karen was very nice about it saying that it was on her instruction that GMR were covering Manchester Storm this season and that the coverage would continue throughout the season. GMR's Sunday sports programme will now end at 6.00 from this coming Sunday leaving no coverage like there has been over the last few weeks. I asked why, and she said that the commitment to rugby and cricket had finished now their seasons were over and they had to revert to other programming to fill their commitment to that as it had lacked over the summer with extensive Sunday sports coverage. Occasional Sunday extentions were not out of the question for big games later in the season (ie. until 8.30 or the end of the game). She said that any time sport went past 8.00 she got loads of letters from Country and Western Music fans complaining that their show was shorter because of it. I pointed out that the Late Night North sports bulletin at 10.30 does not have the ice hockey results in it. She said that she would see if that could be resolved and the result from Storm games could be included. The problem is that the results have to be sent to London where they are broadcasted from. The breakfast show sports bulletins on GMR are broadcast from Blackburn and so they have similar problems with that. It was pointed out to me that Andy Costigan DOES do 30-second phone inserts in the Saturday night programmes when Storm are away, something that I wasn't aware of. I told her about Radio Sheffield's ice hockey coverage and how they could benefit from speaking to them about how they do it - she said that she actually had! When I asked about particular game coverage she said that she'd get Andy Buckley, the Sports Editor, to contact me as he made particular decisions about coverage. So, not expecting him to phone back I went off to do something else. Then at 3.00 he phoned back - and I spoke to him for almost an hour, which was pretty nice of him considering that he had to be at Old Trafford soon afterwards to do Manchester United commentary. Now he DID have a lot to say! He said that live sport is what GMR do best and that he wants the station to become a 7-day a week sports station for live sport - in other words 7-10 sport EVERY day with weekends also getting the afternoon coverage. He said he keeps writing reports to management about it and would appreciate anyone who agrees to write in to the station letting them know. Talking about Manchester Storm in particular, he commented that GMR have regained the rights from Kiss 102 (soon to become Galaxy 102!) for Manchester Giants coverage and so are prepared to cover them and Storm more extensively depending on the footy coverage happening at the same time and (until it goes 7-days if it ever does!) assuming that Storm are playing on Mon, Tues, Wed, Fri, Sat/Sun afternoon when sport is currently scheduled. He also mentioned the poor facilities at the other rinks and arenas and I said that good communications was supposed to be a requirement of Superleague clubs, but it obviously isn't. The facilities must surely improve (I suggested) when Superleague gets sponsorship money from their impending deal and they become tougher with the teams involved. To make the point (this surprised me!), he said that on 12th October, GMR wanted to extend the Sunday show to include Basingstoke v Storm commentary but when he asked Thames Valley Radio (i've forgotten the name now) they told him that the facilities were so poor that GMR would need to install their own ISDN equipment at a cost of about 400 pounds - money they don't have to waste. I said that Radio Sheffield managed to do coverage from the poorer rinks last season like Basingstoke etc and he said that maybe he should talk to them about how they manage it. He did insist that BIG games WILL get coverage and commentary later in the season (I particularly asked about B&H semis and final). He seemed very positive about the future of Storm coverage. I also happened to ask about the game next Tuesday : Storm v Dynamo Moscow and asked if GMR would be doing good coverage of that game. He thought for a second and then said that it was only Bolton Wanderers at home to Leyton Orient and that wasn't exactly a crowd puller so YES, there would be extensive coverage. He then asked me if I'd be interested in doing some coverage from the game for GMR on that night so I said I would. So that sounds pretty positive. They really DO want feedback though - more a case of "I would listen to extensive coverage" and "mention the score more when doing football commentary" - all this will encourage them to cover Storm. Note, we are away at Nottingham Panthers on a Tuesday night in the Superleague soon - the first REAL away commentary match??? Tell them you want it to be!!! Phone 0161 200 2000 and ask to speak to Karen Hannah or Andy Buckey or write in to them at BBC GMR, Broadcasting House, Oxford Road, Manchester.
Tue 23 Sep - In Group A Ayr Scottish Eagles travelled to Paisley Pirates and won 11-2.
Sun 21 Sep - STORM SEE OFF PIRATES 15-0. Storm totally outplayed Paisley Pirates at the Nynex Arena. Jeff Tomlinson opened the scoring after 2.24 followed a minute later by a goal from Dominic Maltais. Two more goals were scored in a minute with Jeff Jablonksi and Brad Rubachuk making it 4-0 in the 11th minute. It was 5-0 just before the break when Hilton Ruggles scored a goal. Storm outshot the Pirates 24-5 in the first period. The second period saw Craig Woodcroft score on 21 minutes and then Dominic Maltais made it 7-0 after 24 minutes. There was a Storm no-goal after 26-17 but Dominic Maltais soon put that right with the 8th goal after 28 minutes. Mike Morin scored the first of his hat-trick goals on 30 minutes to make it 9-0 and Stefan Ketola scored the 10th after 31 minutes. Mike Morin scored again on 36 minutes. Storm outshot Pirates 26-7 in the second period. Craig Woodcroft scored after 50 minutes to make it 12-0 to Storm. Mike Morin scored again after 55 minutes and Hilton Ruggles got his second with two minutes remaining. The 15th goal for Storm was scored with just over a minute remaining to round off a solid Storm performance. Paisley were outshot 16-9 in the third period. Dominic Maltais got the Man Of The Match for Storm.
Also on Sunday in Group A, Ayr Scottish Eagles beat Sheffield Steelers 4-2 at the Centrum Arena. Colbourne scored a hat-trick and Groleau scored the other Ayr goal. The Steelers goals were scored by Ken Priestlay and in the final few seconds Tony Hand made it 4-2. Newcastle Cobras comfortably beat Telford Tigers 13-1 with hat-tricks from Vani and Duberman. Claude Dumas scored for Telford, but they were 10-0 down by then. In Group B, Nottingham Panthers travelled to Bracknell and beat the Bees 3-1. All the goals came in the first period. Dalman (2) and Laxdal scored the Panthers goals. Cardiff Devils beat Slough Jets 9-2 with two goals each from McEwan, Sacratini and Matulik. Peterborough Pirates played host to Basingstoke Bison and were beaten 6-2. There were six different Bison scorers with both Peterborough goals coming in the third period.
Sat 20 Sep - GREAT WIN FOR STORM AT SHEFFIELD. Manchester Storm had a great win over Sheffield Steelers - their first in Sheffield - by 9-4 with an excellent all-round performance. Storm opened the scoring on the powerplay after just 2 minutes with a goal from Craig Woodcroft. Nicky Chinn equalised for Sheffield Steelers in the 5th minute with a powerplay goal and the next goal was not until the 17th minute on another powerplay when Kris Miller put Storm back into the lead. Jeff Jablonski increased the Storm lead to 3-1 just before the end of the first period and Storm were beginning to look comfortable already. Steelers closed the gap to 3-2 with a goal from Dion Del Monte before the two goal lead was restored by Kris Miller seconds later. Just before the half-hour, Ken Priestlay closed the gap again on the powerplay to 4-3 and Steelers started to look a little bit confident of coming back. That confidence lasted for just 40 seconds though as Jeff Tomlinson made it 5-3 and then Nicky Chinn made it 5-4 in the 32nd minute. This was the first of two points of order. As I saw it from the away Storm fans seats, Nicky Chinn after scoring the 4th goal skated over the away block put his face up against the plexi glass and mouthed obscenities to the children who responded with obscenities of their own and so upset the whole of the Storm fans in that part of the building. After Stephen Cooper scored on 35 minutes to make it 6-4 to Storm, Kris Miller and Rob Wilson were ejected from the game for fighting directly in front of the Storm net. The third period was all Storm. 6-4 became 7-4 two minutes into the third period with Jeff Tomlinson scoring. It was 8-4 after 49 minutes when Dominic Maltais scored and the final goal of the night was scored on the powerplay from Craig Woodcroft to make the final score 9-4 and Storm had outclassed the Steelers in no uncertain terms.
Also on Saturday, in Group A, Paisley Pirates lost at home to Newcastle Cobras 11-3. The Cobras goals were scored by A. Johnson (2), Duberman (2), LaScala (2), Vani (2), Stewart (2), Weaver, Mitchell and S. Johnson. The Paisley goals were scored by Smith (2) and Marsden. Ayr Scottish Eagles travelled to Telford Tigers and won 12-2. The Ayr goals were scored by Purdie (3), Koffman (3), Boe (2), Young, Colbourne, Hoad and Montanari. Telford's goals came from Dumas and Dutiaume. In Group B, Cardiff Devils beat Basingstoke Bison away by 4-2. Nottingham Panthers defeated Peterborough Pirates 11-1 with the Panthers goals being scored by Laxdal (3), Morgan(2), Hadden, Adey, Dallman, Hunt, Twaite and Neinhuis. The Peterborough goal was scored by Krayer. Bracknell Bees travelled to Slough Jets and won 7-0. The goals came from Gomes, Brant, Bucsis, Burke, Johnstone, Junkin and Stewart.
Thu 18 Sep - In Group B, Basingstoke Bison and Nottingham Panthers drew 2-2. The game saw the first points dropped by Nottingham in the B&H Cup group games this season.
Wed 17 Sep - In Group A, Newcastle Cobras travelled to Telford Tigers and won 6-0. The Cobras goals were scored by Brebant(2), Smith, La Scala, Rautiainen and Vani. In Group B, Cardiff Devils drew 2-2 at home to Bracknell Bees. The Cardiff goals were scored by McEwen and Hodge and the Bracknell goals by Burke and Gomes. Peterborough Pirates and Slough Jets drew 5-5.
Tue 16 Sep - STORM LOSE BUT GET FIRST EHL POINT. Storm's first European League game of the season resulted in their first ever point despite a 6-5 defeat after overtime. Brad Rubachuk was ejected from the game in the first period. Bolzano opened the scoring after 11 minutes of the first period before Brad Rubachuk equalised with a goal after 18 minutes just before getting a game misconduct penalty. Storm took the lead a minute into the second from Troy Numeier and then Mike Morin made the score 3-1 to Storm a minute later. Bolzano got the two goals back on 23 minutes and 24 minutes. Storm then scored the fourth goal on 32 minutes from Kris Miller and then Bolzano equalised with 2 minutes of the second period remaining. Both sides scored in the third period with Storm's goal coming from Dominic Maltais and it was 5-5 at the end of regulation time. Bolzano won the game after 7 minutes of sudden-death overtime the winning goal and Storm went down 6-5 but gained a point for an overtime defeat.
Also on Tuesday, the other game in Storm's EHL group saw a good win for Moscow Dynamo with the Russian team coming out 4-0 winners.
Sun 14 Sep - STORM REVENGE WITH 5-2 WIN AGAINST AYR. Stefan Ketola opened the scoring for Storm after 8-43 and Kris Miller made it 2-0 after 15 minutes. Storm outshot Ayr 13-11 in the first period. Hoad pulled one back for Ayr 4 minutes into the second period and Mike Morin put Storm back on the scoresheet with a goal after 27 minutes to make it 3-1. This period saw Ayr outscore Storm 15-14. The third period saw Shawn Byram close the gap scoring against his old team after 3 minutes of the third period. Then came a goal for storm that was ruled out after 45 minutes. Hilton Ruggles and Ryan Kummu decided that it was time to liven things up as the had a bit of a fight after 50 minutes and both got a 2 minute roughing penalty. Dave Morrison scored Storm's fourth goal after 52 minutes and Brad Rubachuk got the 5th and final goal with 2 minutes remaining. Storm outshot the Eagles 18-15 in the third period and the crowd was 7640.
Also on Sunday, Sheffield Steelers played host to Telford Tigers and were 6-0 up at the end of the first period. The Steelers finally ran out 12-5 winners with hat-tricks from Ken Priestlay, Wayne Allison and two from Nicky Chinn. Basingstoke Bison played Slough Jets and Slough had the early advantage with a 3-1 lead before Bison ran out 7-4 winners. Stefan scored twice for Slough while Conway got a three for Basingstoke. Cardiff Devils beat Peterborough Pirates 8-0. There were two Cardiff goals in the first minute and there were two goals each from Evans and McCarthy.
Sat 13 Sep - STORM WIN 5-1 AT TELFORD. Storm went to Telford and came away with a 5-1 victory. Dave Morrison opened the scoring with just 30 seconds gone and that was the only goal of the first period. Craig Woodcroft scored on the powerplay after 29 minutes in the only score of the second period. Kris Miller made it 3-0 after 44 minutes before Jeff Jablonski scored the fourth a minute later. It was 5-0 in the 54th minute when Hilton Ruggles scored and Telford finished off the scoring with a powerplay goal from Claude Dumas with 3 minutes remaining of the game to make the final score 5-1 to Storm.
Also on Saturday, Ayr Scottish Eagles faced Newcastle Cobras and drew 4-4. It was 2-1 to Newcastle after the first period and 3-3 after the second. Sheffield Steelers saw off Paisley Pirates 12-1 at the Sheffield Arena. Cardiff Devils travelled to Bracknell Bees and won 3-2. Nottingham Panthers beat Basingstoke Bison 5-2. Slough Jets played host to Peterborough Pirates on Saturday night and won 7-2.
Wed 10 Sep - STORM CRASH AT AYR. Storm went down to their first defeat of the season - and it could be a worrying sign, as they managed to throw away a 3-1 lead when looking quite comfortable to crash 5-3 at the Centrum Arena. Storm went into the lead from a Mike Morin goal after 8 minutes before Karry Biette equalised two minutes before the break. Storm took the lead again from Brad Rubachuk at the start of the second period and he scored again with a short-handed goal on 30 minutes and Storm had a 3-1 lead. By the end of the second Ayr had scored twice to level the scores at 3-3. Dennis Purdie then scored twice late on in the third period and Storm were sent home with their first defeat of the season.
Also on Wednesday in Group A, Newcastle Cobras beat Sheffield Steelers 5-3. Brebant opened the scoring on the powerplay for Newcastle after 3 minutes and then went 2-0 up also on the powerplay with a goal from Vani. David Longstaff pulled a goal back just before the end of the period also on the powerplay and the score remained 2-1 to Cobras going into the second. 10 minutes into the second period, it was 3-1 thanks to a goal from A. Johnson. The third period saw Newcastle go 4-1 up with a goal from Mitchell on 42 minutes before Ken Priestlay made it 4-2 five minutes later on the powerplay. Hopes of a Steelers comeback were dashed on 55 minutes when Brebant made it 5-2. Frank Kovacs pulled a goal back for Steelers with 2 minutes remaining and the final score remained 5-3. In Group B, Bracknell Bees beat Basingstoke Bison 5-2 in Group B. Goals from Pellerin and Johnstone gave Bees a 2-0 lead after 7 minutes and it remained that way until the second period when Ferraccioli and Junkin doubled the score for Bracknell by the 23rd minute. Brown pulled two goals back after 33 and 34 minutes so Bracknell led 4-2 before Whistle wrapped the game up with a goal on 42 minutes. Cardiff Devils defeated Peterborough Pirates in Peterborough 11-3. The Pirates led at the end of the first period from a goal from Russell after 14 minutes. The second period was all Cardiff as the Superleague champions scored six goals unanswered. The second period goals were scored by McCarthy, Cooper, MeEwan (2), Moria and Stone. The third period saw Peterborough pull a goal back to 6-2 from Randall. Yewchuk, Thornton and Sacratini increased the Devils' lead to 9-2 before King scored Peterborough's third goal on the powerplay. Noble and Moria wrapped up the game for Cardiff with two more goals in the last 5 minutes of the game to make the final score 11-3 to Cardiff. Nottingham Panthers travelled to Slough Jets and won by 9-2. Slough took the lead in the first period with a goal from Gary Stefan before Greg Hadden levelled at 1-1 shortly afterwards. With three minutes remaining in the first period, Panthers took the lead with a goal from Neil Morgan. In the second period, Dallman and hadden scored to give Nottingham a 4-1 lead before two more goals were scored right at the end of the second period. Morgan scored with 17 seconds remaining and then Paul Adey scored a short-handed goal in the last second of the period. Dallman scored again in the third period on the powerplay to make the score 7-1 to Nottingham. Paul Adey then scored for the Panthers' 8th goal with six minutes remaining and a minute later it was 9-1 with a goal from Hunt. Slough finished the game off with a goal from Jason Reilly and made the final score 9-2 to Nottingham.
The SKY TV schedule has been released and Storm are featured once in the early schedule on Tuesday 11 November when Sheffield Steelers are the visitors to the Nynex Arena for a Superleague game. There will also be coverage of some B&H quarter-final and semi-final games.
Sun 7 Sep - STORM SOUNDLY BEAT TELFORD. In front of 5605 fans at the Nynex Arena, Storm defeated British League Telford Tigers 11-0. The first goal came after 6-39 when Jeff Tomlinson put Storm 1-0 up. Kevin Hoffman made it 2-0 and after 13 minutes Craig Woodcroft increased the lead to 3-0. A minute later, Mike Morin and ex-Storm player James Manson had a bit of a fight and both received a 2+2 co-incidental penalty for their troules. Shortly afterwards Storm had a goal ruled out and so the period ended 3-0 with Storm having outshot Telford 19-8. The second period began with a goal from Dave Morrison to make it 4-0 and on 31 minutes Dominic Maltais made the score 5-0. There was another goal ruled out but Storm went into the second period break 6-0 up thanks to a Brad Rubachuk goal with 12 seconds remaining of the period. Storm outshot the Tigers 22-6 in the second period. Stefan Ketola made the score 7-0 on 42-40 and a minute later it was 8-0 with a Mike Morin goal. Two minutes later Mikael Wiklander scored the ninth Storm goal and the crowd were begging for the tenth. Craig Woodcroft and Telford's Watkins both received co-incidental 5+game roughing penalties for another big fight. The tenth Storm goal finally came with 4 minutes remaining from Dale Jago and Dominic Maltais finished it off with a goal to make the final score 11-0. Storm outshot Telford 23-4 in this period and the Man of the Match was Gavin Armstrong (Telford) and Kevin Hoffman (Storm).
Also on Sunday in Group A, Sheffield Steelers had a resounding 4-1 win over Newcastle Cobras at Sheffield Arena with Tim Cranston having put them into the lead. Cobras equalised from Rautiainen before Tommy Plommer scored twice to give Steelers a 3-1 lead. Dion Del Monte scored his first goal for Steelers with 7 minutes remaining to wrap up the defeat of Newcastle 4-1. Ayr Scottish Eagles easily beat Paisley Pirates in the battle of the Scots 7-1. In Group B, Bracknell Bees had Chris Brant to thank for their 3-3 draw with Slough Jets at the Beehive. Slough looked like causing an upset leading 3-2 before Brant scored to save the Bees blushes. Cardiff Devils defeated Basingstoke Bison 4-2 after a goalless first period. Thornton, Sacratini, McCarthy and Moria put Cardiff in control at 4-0 but Basingstoke had a late surge with Conway scoring two goals. Peterborough Pirates looked like causing an upset for a time against Superleague side Nottingham Panthers. Ellis put the Pirates into a 1-0 lead, but seven goals from Panthers made sure there was no upset.
Having spoken to the producer for GMR Sport, she assured me that the coverage of Storm was here to stay - for now. She said that ice hockey was now getting the coverage it deserved with some commentary on home games and reports from away games, where sports programming allows. Ice hockey will always after football and rugby league in the airtime battle, but where last season you would have to listen to Radio Sheffield to get ice hockey news and commentary, it seems that at last similar coverage can be found in Manchester. I stressed the (what seemed to me) obvious point that the most appreciated coverage is from Storm's away games as those that really care about the team will be at the home games and so will not be listening to it on GMR. The bottom line seemed to be that they were getting the reaction from listeners before deciding what to do later in the season and indeed next season. I'm not sure that they realise that the season in terms of true excitement has not yet started and won't do until the Superleague starts, but they really do want to hear from the Storm fans either to tell them how wonderful they are for covering Storm much more extensively this season or to tell them how much you want to hear Storm's away games live on GMR. They will decide themselves going on evidence from feedback. So, if you want it then TELL THEM! Either phone Andy Buckley - the top man - and tell him for yourself on 0161 200 2000 (ask for him by name, he doesn't mind listeners calling him) or if you'd rather write then that will be just as effective - write to ANDY BUCKLEY, GMR SPORT, BBC GMR TALK, BROADCASTING HOUSE, OXFORD ROAD, MANCHESTER. If you don't then they'll stop coverage as they don't want to spend money on sport that they think no-one's interested in.
Kiss 102 will soon be starting a regular Manchester Storm ice hockey slot on their Saturday sports programme with Paul Anthony at 5.15pm. The feature will probably include news, results and interviews.
Fri 5 Sep - STORM BEAT PAISLEY 7-1 IN SCOTLAND. Storm travelled to Paisley in their B&H game re-arranged from Saturday 6th. It took Storm over 20 minutes to get into the game and were 1-0 down after the first period. The second period saw goals from Kris Miller (2) and Mike Morin and so Storm led 3-1 after two periods. The third period saw Storm come into their own and Dominic Maltais made it 4-1 before two goals in a minute from Stefan Ketola and Craig Woodcroft made the score 6-1. With nine minutes remaining Dave Morrison wrapped things up with Storm's seventh goal. Kris Miller was the Man of the Match.
Also on Friday, Newcastle Cobras beat Ayr Scottish Eagles 3-1 in Group A. After a goalless first period, Colbourne gave Ayr a 1-0 lead at the end of the second period. The third period saw Newcastle come back with three goals to win the game 3-1. In Group B, Basingstoke Bison beat Peterborough Pirates 5-1.
Wed 3 Sep - STORM OVERRUN INTERLAKEN 16-1. In front of a comparibly small crowd, Storm faced the Swiss Liga 1 side Unterseen Interlaken. The Liga 1 is the division below the National Leagues of which there is a National League A and National League B. The Interlaken team had finished second in Liga 1 and so qualified for the promotion play-offs to National League B but were unsuccessful and so were not promoted. Storm totally overran Interlaken after opening the scoring with 2-51 gone of the first period. Craig Woodcroft scored the first of his five goals and then Kris Miller made it 2-0 on the 5 minute mark. Thirty seconds later Stefan Ketola made it 3-0 and Woodcroft scored his second a minute after that to bring the score to 4-0 after just six and a half minutes. Rick Judson made it 5-0 on 12-40 and Stefan Ketola scored his second on 14-10. Storm out-shot Interlaken 27-5 in that first period. The second period got underway with a Dave Morrison goal after just 12 seconds and then Craig Woodcroft made it 8-0 just 90 seconds later. Brad Rubachuk made it 9-0 anothet 90 seconds later before Interlaken scored their goal on 24 minutes. Dale Jago made it 10-1 two minutes later followed by the eleventh by Dave Morrison. Craig Woodcroft scored his fourth and fifth goals on 28 and 34 minutes followed by a goal from Tomlinson on 35 minutes to bring the score to 14-1. Wiklander made the score 15-1 four minutes before the end of the second period. Storm outshor Interlaken 33-5 in the second period. The third period was much quieter with just the one goal from Stefan Ketola scored with five minutes of the game remaining to make the final score 16-1. Storm had 14 shots to 7 in that period. Stephen Cooper was Man Of The Match.
Tue 2 Sep - Interlaken visited Ayr Scottish Eagles and were soundly beaten 9-0. It was 2-0 after the first period, 6-0 after the second and the final three goals were scored in the third period.
Nick Poole now plays for Lahti Pelicans of the Finnish 1st Division. The Pelicans finished 2nd in the league last season and qualified for the promotion play-offs, although they lost to Haukat in the first round by 3-2 in the best of five game series.
The game between Paisley Pirates and Storm has been re-arranged for FRIDAY 5 SEPTEMBER because all ice hockey games in the UK have been re-arranged to avoid a clash with the funeral of Princess Diana. Most sport in the Manchester area has been switched to either Friday night or Sunday afternoon.
Kurt Kleinendorst has announced that David Smith is opting to play for Fife Flyers. Kurt says that he will get the ice time he wants at Fife and Storm would call upon him if, for example, there was an injury crisis.
The Daily Express reports that the Sports Minister has reconsidered the ban on tobacco sponsorship. The ban on advertising will still stand, but as a ban on sponsorship would be harmful to the sports concerned. The sponsorship of events such as the B&H final can continue for another five years and the situation will then be reviewed.
Former Storm player James Manson has signed for Telford Tigers and will face his old team Storm when the sides meet at the Nynex Arena on Sunday 7 September.
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