1997–98_ISL_season

1997–98 ISL season

1997–98 ISL season

Sports season


The 1997–98 Ice Hockey Superleague season was the second season of the Ice Hockey Superleague (ISL).

Quick Facts League, Sport ...

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

More information Group A, GP ...

Group B

More information Group B, GP ...

Quarter-finals

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

  • Bracknell Bees 2–2 Manchester Storm
  • Manchester Storm 5–4 Bracknell Bees (Manchester win 7–6 on aggregate)

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

  • Ayr Scottish Eagles 4–2 Nottingham Panthers
  • Nottingham Panthers 3–4 Ayr Scottish Eagles (Ayr win 8–6 on aggregate)

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

  • Newcastle Cobras 1–1 Basingstoke Bison
  • Basingstoke Bison 1–5 Newcastle Cobras (Newcastle win 6–2 on aggregate)

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

  • Sheffield Steelers 2–3 Cardiff Devils
  • Cardiff Devils 5–2 Sheffield Steelers (Cardiff win 8–4 on aggregate)

Semi-finals

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

  • Manchester Storm 4–4 Ayr Scottish Eagles
  • Ayr Scottish Eagles 4–2 Manchester Storm (Ayr win 8–6 on aggregate)

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

  • Cardiff Devils 6–2 Newcastle Cobras
  • Newcastle Cobras 3–2 Cardiff Devils (Cardiff win 8–5 on aggregate)

Final

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

  • Ayr Scottish Eagles 2–1 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 once at home and once 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

More information Express Cup, GP ...

Semi-finals

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

  • Nottingham Panthers 4–4 Ayr Scottish Eagles
  • Ayr Scottish Eagles 12–4 Nottingham Panthers (Ayr win 16–8 on aggregate)

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

  • Bracknell Bees 3–1 Sheffield Steelers
  • Sheffield Steelers 4–4 Bracknell Bees (Bracknell win 7–4 on aggregate)

Final

Winner A vs Winner B

  • Ayr Scottish Eagles 3–2 Bracknell Bees

League

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

More information Superleague, GP ...

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

More information Group A, GP ...

Group B

More information Group B, GP ...

Semi-finals

Winner B vs Runner-Up A

  • Cardiff Devils 5-4 Sheffield Steelers
  • Sheffield Steelers 2–6 Cardiff Devils (Cardiff win series 2–0)

Winner A vs Runner-Up B

  • Ayr Scottish Eagles 5–3 Manchester Storm
  • Manchester Storm 2-7 Ayr Scottish Eagles (Ayr win series 2–0)

Third place playoff

Loser A vs Loser B

  • Sheffield Steelers 5–2 Manchester Storm

Final

Winner A vs Winner B

  • Cardiff Devils 2-3 Ayr Scottish Eagles (after overtime)

Awards

All Star teams

More information First team, Position ...

Scoring leaders

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


Footnotes

  1. "97-98.htm". Archived from the original on 2007-10-01. Retrieved 2007-12-06.

References


Share this article:

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article 1997–98_ISL_season, and is written by contributors. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.