2000–01 ISL season

The 2000–01 Ice Hockey Superleague season was the fifth season of the Sekonda Ice Hockey Superleague (ISL).

2000–01 Ice Hockey Superleague season
LeagueIce Hockey Superleague
SportIce hockey
Benson & Hedges CupSheffield Steelers
League championsSheffield Steelers
Playoffs championsSheffield Steelers
Challenge Cup championsSheffield Steelers

Belfast Giants, a new team formed in Northern Ireland, were granted a franchise, although they did not take part in the Benson & Hedges Cup. The Newcastle franchise was sold to Harry Harkimo, co-owner of Jokerit who play in the Finnish SM-liiga, and their name was changed to the Newcastle Jesters (Jokerit being Finnish for Jester).

This season, the league awarded three points for a win, two points for an overtime win and one point for an overtime loss in all competitions except the Benson & Hedges Cup. Any game still tied after overtime was decided by a penalty shootout.

The Sheffield Steelers won a Grand Slam of all available competitions. However, the win was marred by the club being found guilty by the league for breaking the £450,000 wage cap[1] and going into liquidation at the end of the season.[2]

Benson & Hedges Cup

The 2000 Benson & Hedges Cup consisted of the teams from the ISL, minus the Belfast Giants, and the teams from the British National League (BNL). The ISL teams were split into two groups of four teams (groups A and B) and the BNL teams were split into two groups, one of four teams (group C) and one of five teams (group D). Each team played the other teams in the group once at home and away.

The group winners from the BNL groups entered the knock-out stage in a challenge round with the fourth placed teams from the ISL group stage. The winners of the challenge rounds entered the quarter finals with the top three teams from each ISL group.

All games after the group stages were home and away aggregate scores except for the challenge round and the final itself which were one-off games. The final was held at Sheffield Arena.

First round
Challenge round Quarter finals

Group A
Group A GP W T L GF GA Pts
Ayr Scottish Eagles640223188
Manchester Storm632126248
Cardiff Devils613223255
Bracknell Bees603322273

Group B
Group B GP W T L GF GA Pts
Sheffield Steelers6501231110
London Knights630313116
Nottingham Panthers630311176
Newcastle Jesters610513212

Group C
Group C GP W T L GF GA Pts
Fife Flyers641132179
Hull Thunder640229208
Peterborough Pirates621324275
Paisley Pirates610517382

Group D
Group D GP W T L GF GA Pts
Guildford Flames8611341513
Basingstoke Bison8512302111
Coventry Blaze8422352610
Slough Jets812523444
Milton Keynes Kings810728442

Challenge round

Winner Group C (Fife) vs 4th place Group B (Newcastle)

Winner Group D (Guildford) vs 4th place Group A (Bracknell)

Finals

Quarter finals

3rd place Group B (Nottingham) vs 2nd place Group A (Manchester)

Winner challenge game 2 (Bracknell) vs Winner Group B (Sheffield)

  • Bracknell Bees 3–4 Sheffield Steelers
  • Sheffield Steelers 3–2 Bracknell Bees (Sheffield win 7–5 on aggregate)

3rd place Group A (Cardiff) vs 2nd place Group B (London)

Winner challenge game 1 (Newcastle) vs Winner Group A (Ayr)

Semi finals

Winner semi final 2 (Sheffield) vs Winner semi final 1 (Nottingham)

Winner semi final 4 (Newcastle) vs Winner semi final 3 (London)

Final

The final took place at Sheffield Arena between Sheffield Steelers and Newcastle Jesters.

  • Sheffield Steelers 4–0 Newcastle Jesters

Challenge Cup

All nine teams in the league competed in the Challenge Cup. The first round was the first home and away meeting of each team in the league with the points counting towards both the Challenge Cup table and the league table. 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.

Sheffield Steelers won the competition for the third time in a row.

First round
Challenge Cup GP W OTW OTL L GF GA Pts
Belfast Giants169124584931
London Knights168224523930
Ayr Scottish Eagles168206635128
Sheffield Steelers167315453928
Bracknell Bees166325645026
Manchester Storm166217597123
Newcastle Jesters164255484921
Cardiff Devils165137455120
Nottingham Panthers160331033689

Semi finals

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

3rd place (Ayr) vs 2nd place (London)

Final

Winner semi final 1 vs Winner semi final 2

League

Each team played three home games and three away games against each of their opponents. The top eight teams in the league were entered into the playoffs.

Superleague GP W OTW OTL L GF GA Pts
Sheffield Steelers4830549162115104
Cardiff Devils4824531616713085
Bracknell Bees4819661717316175
London Knights4818761714313074
Ayr Scottish Eagles4821412216115872
Belfast Giants4817691615815972
Manchester Storm4815632414818660
Nottingham Panthers4810872312616753
Newcastle Jesters48123112212615853

Playoffs

The top eight teams in the league took part in the playoffs. Group A consisted of Belfast, London, Nottingham and Sheffield while Group B consisted of Ayr, Bracknell, Cardiff and Manchester. The top two teams from each playoff group qualified for the finals weekend. The third place playoff was dropped for this season.

Group A
Group A GP W OTW OTL L GF GA Pts
London Knights64002171112
Sheffield Steelers64002161812
Belfast Giants6300317179
Nottingham Panthers6100513173

Group B
Group B GP W OTW OTL L GF GA Pts
Bracknell Bees63102201711
Ayr Scottish Eagles6211223199
Cardiff Devils6211223249
Manchester Storm6112220267

Semi Finals

Winner Group A vs 2nd place Group B

Winner Group B vs 2nd place Group A

Final

Winner semi final 1 vs Winner semi final 2

  • London Knights 1-2 Sheffield Steelers

Awards

All Star teams
First TeamPositionSecond Team
Trevor Robins, London Knights G Mike Torchia, Sheffield Steelers
Shayne McCosh, Sheffield Steelers D Neal Martin, London Knights
Jim Paek, Nottingham Panthers D Adam Smith, Sheffield Steelers
David Longstaff, Sheffield Steelers F Greg Bullock, Manchester Storm
P. C. Drouin, Nottingham Panthers F Steve Thornton, Cardiff Devils
Tony Hand, Ayr Scottish Eagles F Kory Karlander, Belfast Giants

Scoring leaders

The scoring leaders are taken from all league games.

References

Footnotes
  1. "Steelers facing title axe". BBC Sports. 2001-05-09. Retrieved 2007-12-14.
  2. "Uncertain future for Steelers". The Independent. 27 April 2001. Retrieved 2007-12-14.
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