1997–98 ISL season

The 199798 Ice Hockey Superleague season was the second season of the Ice Hockey Superleague (ISL).

There were no changes in the teams taking part during the season – Ayr Scottish Eagles, Basingstoke Bison, Bracknell Bees, Cardiff Devils, Manchester Storm, Newcastle Cobras, Nottingham Panthers and Sheffield Steelers.

The league season was reduced to twenty-eight rounds in the hope of organising a European tournament. However, this failed to materialise so the league arranged a new cup competition to meet the shortfall in fixtures.[1] With the sponsorship of the Daily Express newspaper the Express Cup was launched.

Ayr Scottish Eagles won a Grand Slam of all available trophies.

Benson & Hedges Cup

The Benson & Hedges Cup consisted of the teams from the ISL and the top teams from the British National League. In the 1997–98 season, twelve teams in total were split into two regional groups playing each team in their group once at home and once away. The top four teams of each group then progressed to the quarter finals where the teams were paired off and the winning team on aggregate (after playing home and away) progressed to the semi finals. Again the winning team on aggregate progressed to the one-off final game held at Sheffield Arena.

Group A

Group A GP W T L GF GA Pts
Manchester Storm 10 7 2 1 65 21 16
Newcastle Cobras 10 6 2 2 59 24 14
Ayr Scottish Eagles 10 6 2 2 56 26 14
Sheffield Steelers 10 5 2 3 65 35 12
Telford Tigers 10 1 0 9 23 84 2
Paisley Pirates 10 1 0 9 21 99 2

Group B

Group B GP W T L GF GA Pts
Cardiff Devils 10 8 1 1 58 19 17
Nottingham Panthers 10 8 1 1 54 16 17
Basingstoke Bison 10 5 1 4 40 32 11
Bracknell Bees 10 4 2 4 44 26 10
Slough Jets 10 1 2 7 29 70 4
Peterborough Pirates 10 0 1 9 18 80 1

Quarter finals

Quarter final A: Winner A (Manchester) vs 4th place B (Bracknell)

Quarter final B: 3rd place A (Ayr) vs 2nd place B (Nottingham)

Quarter final C: 2nd place A (Newcastle) vs 3rd place B (Basingstoke)

Quarter final D: 4th place A (Sheffield) vs Winner B (Cardiff)

Semi finals

Winner QF A (Manchester) vs Winner QF B (Ayr)

Winner QF C (Newcastle) vs Winner QF D (Cardiff)

Final

The final took place at Sheffield Arena between Ayr Scottish Eagles and Cardiff Devils.

Express Cup

All eight teams in the league competed in the new competition for the Express Cup. The first round was a round-robin league with each team playing their opponents twice at home and twice away. The top four teams progressed to the semi finals. The semi finals were home and away games with the winner on aggregate progressing to the one off final game.

First round

Express Cup GP W T OTL L GF GA Pts
Ayr Scottish Eagles 14 12 0 1 1 64 34 25
Sheffield Steelers 14 9 0 0 5 61 55 18
Bracknell Bees 14 7 2 1 4 58 55 17
Nottingham Panthers 14 8 0 0 6 60 54 16
Manchester Storm 14 5 3 2 4 54 44 15
Cardiff Devils 14 6 1 0 7 41 49 13
Basingstoke Bison 14 4 0 0 10 43 69 8
Newcastle Cobras 14 1 2 1 10 35 56 5

Semi finals

1st place (Ayr) vs 4th place (Sheffield)

2nd place (Sheffield) vs 3rd place (Bracknell)

Final

Winner A vs Winner B

League

Each team played two home games and two away games against each of their opponents. All eight teams were entered into the playoffs.

Superleague GP W T OTL L GF GA Pts
Ayr Scottish Eagles 28 20 1 2 5 117 69 43
Manchester Storm 28 18 3 1 6 123 80 40
Cardiff Devils 28 15 2 2 9 99 79 34
Nottingham Panthers 28 14 3 0 11 95 99 31
Bracknell Bees 28 14 1 1 12 95 115 30
Sheffield Steelers 28 11 2 3 12 103 101 27
Basingstoke Bison 28 5 4 6 13 80 116 20
Newcastle Cobras 28 6 2 1 19 66 119 15

Playoffs

All eight teams in the league took part in the playoffs. Group A consisted of Ayr, Newcastle, Nottingham and Sheffield while Group B consisted of Basingstoke, Bracknell, Cardiff and Manchester. The top two teams from each playoff group qualified for the semi finals, which was a home and away series with the winners on games progressing to the final and the losers progressing to the third place playoff.

Group A

Group A GP W T OTL L GF GA Pts
Ayr Scottish Eagles 6 4 1 0 1 19 12 9
Sheffield Steelers 6 2 2 1 1 16 14 7
Nottingham Panthers 6 2 1 2 1 16 19 7
Newcastle Cobras 6 2 0 0 4 15 21 4

Group B

Group B GP W T OTL L GF GA Pts
Cardiff Devils 6 5 1 0 0 31 10 11
Manchester Storm 6 3 1 0 2 21 20 7
Bracknell Bees 6 3 0 0 3 22 30 6
Basingstoke Bison 6 0 0 1 5 17 31 1

Semi Finals

Winner B vs Runner-Up A

Winner A vs Runner-Up B

Third place playoff

Loser A vs Loser B

Final

Winner A vs Winner B

Awards

All Star teams

First Team Position Second Team
Rob Dopson, Ayr Scottish Eagles G Mark Bernard, Bracknell Bees
Scott Young, Ayr Scottish Eagles D Kip Noble, Cardiff Devils
Kris Miller, Manchester Storm D Shayne McCosh, Bracknell Bees
Ed Courtenay, Sheffield Steelers F Tony Hand, Sheffield Steelers
Mark Montanari, Ayr Scottish Eagles F Steve Thornton, Cardiff Devils
Craig Woodcroft, Manchester Storm F Sam Groleau, Ayr Scottish Eagles

Scoring leaders

The scoring leaders are taken from all league and Express Cup games.

Footnotes

  1. 97-98.htm

References

Preceded by
1996–97 ISL season
ISL seasons Succeeded by
1998–99 ISL season
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