2002–03 ISL season

Ice Hockey Superleague Ice hockey League Champions Sheffield Steelers Playoffs Champions Belfast Giants Challenge Cup Champions Sheffield Steelers 2001–02 2003–04 The 2002–03 Ice Hockey Superleague season was the seventh and final season of the Ice Hockey Superleague (ISL). The Ayr Scottish Eagles, under new management, moved from the Centrum Arena in Ayr to the Braehead Arena just outside Glasgow and shortened their name to simply the Scottish Eagles. Stuart Hughes BBC Sport Online http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/2166619.stm Eagles fly to Glasgow 2002-08-01 2007-12-17 The Ahearne Trophy was played for again this season with the competition taking with teams from the Norwegian Eliteserien. Starting the season with seven teams, the league invited members of the British National League (BNL) to take part in the Challenge Cup. The call was taken up by the Coventry Blaze, meaning eight teams took part in the competition. However, after playing their Challenge Cup games, the Manchester Storm went into liquidation and their record for the Challenge Cup and league games was expunged. Simon Crosse Dark days ahead for league The Daily Telegraph https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?xml=/sport/2002/11/07/soiceh07.xml 6 November 2002 2007-12-17 July 2021 medicmedic Not long after, the Scottish Eagles confirmed they had withdrawn from the league with the intention of re-launching the following season. Sports Round-up The Daily Telegraph https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?xml=/sport/2002/11/15/sosrup15.xml 14 November 2002 2007-12-17 July 2021 medicmedic The Eagles' record was also expunged and their place in the Challenge Cup semi-finals was taken by third place team Belfast Giants. On 30 November 2002, the Bracknell Bees announced that they would be moving from the ISL to the BNL for the following season. Get Bracknell http://www.getbracknell.co.uk/sport/18/18044/bees_quit_superleague https://archive.today/20070614074756/http://www.getbracknell.co.uk/sport/18/18044/bees_quit_superleague dead 2007-06-14 Bees Quit Superleague 2002-12-06 2007-12-17 When the London Arena was sold for development the London Knights had played their final game. Simon Crosse Knights' future in doubt The Daily Telegraph https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?xml=/sport/2003/03/27/soicey27.xml 26 March 2003 2007-12-17 July 2021 medicmedic Leaving the ISL with only three teams, the league folded at the end of the season and the three surviving clubs – Belfast Giants, Nottingham Panthers and Sheffield Steelers – helped form the Elite Ice Hockey League for the following season (see 2003–04 EIHL season). Challenge Cup With eight teams taking part in the Challenge Cup and with a British National League team taking part, the competition was separate to the league and the teams were split into two groups of four teams: Belfast Giants, Manchester Storm, Scottish Eagles and Sheffield Steelers were in Group A and Bracknell Bees, Coventry Blaze, London Knights and Nottingham Panthers were in Group B. The top two teams of each group progressed to the semi-finals. The semi finals and finals were all one-off games. Group A Group A GP W T O L GF GA Pts Sheffield Steelers 6 5 0 0 1 22 12 10 Scottish Eagles1 6 3 0 1 2 18 20 7 Belfast Giants 6 2 1 1 2 13 14 6 Manchester Storm 6 1 1 0 4 13 20 3 1 Belfast Giants go through taking Scottish Eagles place due to retiring from the league and competition. Group B Group B GP W T O L GF GA Pts Nottingham Panthers 6 4 1 1 0 23 13 10 London Knights 6 4 0 0 2 19 12 8 Bracknell Bees 6 2 2 0 2 15 18 6 Coventry Blaze 6 0 1 1 4 13 27 2 Semi-finals 1st place Group A (Sheffield ) vs 2nd place Group B (London) Sheffield Steelers 5–4 London Knights (after overtime and penalty shootout) 1st place Group B (Nottingham) vs 2nd place Group A (Belfast) Nottingham Panthers 3–2 Belfast Giants Final Winner semi final 1 vs Winner semi final 2 Sheffield Steelers 3–2 Nottingham Panthers Ahearne Trophy The Ahearne Trophy was won by the Superleague on 8 February 2003, after Belfast Giants and Sheffield Steelers won over Frisk Tigers and Storhamar Dragons respectively.9 February 2003 Superleague win Ahearne Trophy Stuart Hughes BBC Sport Online 16 February 2018 http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/northern_ireland/2742209.stm Ahearne Trophy GP W T O L GF GA Pts ISL (UK) 10 8 0 0 2 50 27 16 Eliteserien (Norway) 10 2 0 0 8 27 50 4 League Each team played four home games and four away games against each of their opponents. All five teams in the league were entered into the playoffs. Superleague GP W T O L GF GA Pts Sheffield Steelers 32 18 5 1 8 86 57 42 Belfast Giants 32 17 6 1 8 111 78 41 Nottingham Panthers 32 15 4 0 13 92 92 34 London Knights 32 11 8 1 12 87 90 31 Bracknell Bees 32 5 5 2 20 71 130 17 Playoffs All five teams in the league took part in the playoffs. After an initial round where each team played all the other teams twice at home and twice away, the top four teams qualified for the finals weekend. Round one Superleague GP W T O L GF GA Pts Belfast Giants 16 12 1 1 2 65 36 26 London Knights 16 10 2 0 4 55 42 22 Nottingham Panthers 16 10 1 0 5 55 42 21 Sheffield Steelers 16 2 1 3 10 28 52 8 Bracknell Bees 16 3 1 0 12 41 72 7 Semi-finals 1st place vs 4th place Belfast Giants 1-0 Sheffield Steelers (after overtime and penalty shootout) 2nd place vs 3rd place London Knights 4–3 Nottingham Panthers Final Winner semi final 1 vs Winner semi final 2 Belfast Giants 5–3 London Knights Awards Coach of the Year Trophy – Mike Blaisdell, Sheffield Steelers Player of the Year Trophy – Joel Laing, Sheffield Steelers All Star teams First team Position Second Team Joel Laing, Sheffield Steelers G Ryan Bach, Belfast Giants Robby Sandrock, Belfast Giants D Dion Darling, Sheffield Steelers Marc Laniel, Sheffield Steelers D Jim Paek, Nottingham Panthers Lee Jinman, Nottingham Panthers F Greg Hadden, Nottingham Panthers Dan Ceman, Bracknell Bees F Rhett Gordon, Sheffield Steelers Paxton Schulte, Belfast Giants F Kevin Riehl, Belfast Giants Scoring leaders The scoring leaders are taken from all league games. Most points: 36 Lee Jinman (Nottingham Panthers) Most goals: 16 Den Ceman (Bracknell Bees) Most assists: 24 Lee Jinman (Nottingham Panthers) and Robby Sandrock (Belfast Giants) Most PIMs: 150 Barry Nieckar (Nottingham Panthers) References Ice Hockey Journalists UK The Internet Hockey Database Malcolm Preen's Ice Hockey Results and Tables Footnotes Category:Ice Hockey Superleague seasons 1 United