The 1996–97 Ice Hockey Superleague season was the inaugural season of the

Ice Hockey Superleague The British Ice Hockey Superleague (BISL, also known as the Sekonda Ice Hockey Superleague from 1998 to 1999 for sponsorship reasons) was a professional ice hockey league in the United Kingdom between 1996 and 2003. Devised in 1995, it replaced ...

(ISL). The league was formed by the owners of the

Ayr Scottish Eagles The Ayr Scottish Eagles were a professional Scottish ice hockey club, from Ayr, Scotland. They were formed in 1996 and played their home games at the Centrum Arena (Prestwick), Centrum Arena. The team competed in the Ice Hockey Superleague and t ...

Basingstoke Bison The Basingstoke Bison are an English Ice Hockey club from Basingstoke. They currently compete in the NIHL National League and have previously been members of the Ice Hockey Superleague and its successor the Elite Ice Hockey League. History ...

Bracknell Bees The Bees Ice Hockey Club are an ice hockey team from Slough, Berkshire, UK. They compete in the National Ice Hockey League (NIHL) National League, the second tier of English Ice Hockey. History Early years The Bracknell Bees were formed in ...

Cardiff Devils The Cardiff Devils are a Welsh ice hockey team who play in the British Elite Ice Hockey League. The team play at Ice Arena Wales in Cardiff Bay. Cardiff are the reigning EIHL play-off champions, winning their third title in a row after beating ...

, Manchester Storm,

Newcastle Cobras The Newcastle Jesters were an ice hockey franchise based in Newcastle Upon Tyne, England. The team were members of the Ice Hockey Superleague and played their home games at the Telewest Arena (now the Metro Radio Arena). History Single Season ...

Nottingham Panthers The Nottingham Panthers are a British professional ice hockey club based in Nottingham, England. They are members of the Elite Ice Hockey League. Their main team sponsor is the Nottingham Building Society. The Nottingham Panthers have won four ...

and

Sheffield Steelers The Sheffield Steelers are a professional ice hockey team located in Sheffield, England. They were formed in 1991 (see 1991 in sport) and play their home games at the Utilita Arena. They are currently a member of the Elite Ice Hockey League. ...

. Ayr was the only new team with the rest of the teams having left the

British Hockey League The British Hockey League was the top-flight ice hockey league in the United Kingdom from 1980 until 1996 (with a short break between 1981 and 1982), when it was replaced by the Ice Hockey Superleague and the British National League. The league r ...

Benson & Hedges Cup

The

Benson & Hedges Cup The Benson & Hedges Cup was a one-day cricket competition for first-class counties in England and Wales that was held from 1972 to 2002, one of cricket's longest sponsorship deals. It was the third major one-day competition established in Englan ...

consists of the teams from the ISL and the top teams from the

. Sixteen teams in total were split into four regional groups playing each team in their group at home and away. The top two teams of each group then progressed to the

quarter final A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

s where the teams were paired off and the winning team on aggregate (after playing home and away) progressed to the

semi final A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

s. Again the winning team on aggregate progressed to the one-off final game held at

Sheffield Arena Sheffield Arena, known for sponsorship purposes as Utilita Arena Sheffield, is a multi-purpose arena located in Sheffield, England. It is situated near Meadowhall and lies between Sheffield city centre and Rotherham town centre. Opened in 1991 ...

Group A

Group B

Group C

Group D

Quarter-finals

Ayr Scottish Eagles vs Manchester Storm *Manchester Storm 2-4 Ayr Scottish Eagles *Ayr Scottish Eagles 3-2 Manchester Storm (Ayr win 7-4 on aggregate) Basingstoke Bison vs Bracknell Bees *Basingstoke Bison 5-3 Bracknell Bees *Bracknell Bees 5-6 Basingstoke Bison (Basingstoke win 11-8 on aggregate) Cardiff Devils vs Nottingham Panthers *Nottingham Panthers 0-1 Cardiff Devils *Cardiff Devils 3-4 Nottingham Panthers (after penalty shots, Nottingham win 5-4 on aggregate) Sheffield Steelers vs Newcastle Cobras *Newcastle Cobras 0-2 Sheffield Steelers *Sheffield Steelers 6-3 Newcastle Cobras (Sheffield win 8-3 on aggregate)

Semi-finals

Nottingham Panthers vs Sheffield Steelers *Sheffield Steelers 2-3 Nottingham Panthers *Nottingham Panthers 3-1 Sheffield Steelers (Nottingham win 6-3 on aggregate) Basingstoke Bison vs Ayr Scottish Eagles *Ayr Scottish Eagles 0-2 Basingstoke Bison *Basingstoke Bison 4-9 Ayr Scottish Eagles (Ayr win 9-6 on aggregate)

Final

The final took place at

between

and

. *Ayr Scottish Eagles 3–5 Nottingham Panthers

League

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

playoffs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

Playoffs

All eight teams in the league took part in the

. Group A consisted of Ayr, Cardiff, Manchester and Newcastle while Group B consisted of Basingstoke, Bracknell, Nottingham and Sheffield. The top two teams from each playoff group qualified for the playoff weekend at

NYNEX Arena Manchester Arena, currently referred to as the AO Arena for sponsorship reasons, is an indoor arena in Manchester, England, immediately north of the city centre and partly above Manchester Victoria station in air rights space. The arena has the ...

Group A

Group B

Semi-finals

The finals weekend took place at

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

. Winner A vs Runner-Up B *Cardiff Devils 2-5 Sheffield Steelers Winner B vs Runner-Up A *Nottingham Panthers 6-5 Ayr Scottish Eagles (after overtime)

Final

Winner A vs Winner B *Sheffield Steelers 3-1 Nottingham Panthers

Awards

* Coach of the Year Trophy –

Jim Lynch James Robert Lynch (August 28, 1945 – July 21, 2022) was an American football linebacker. Lynch played college football for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, where he was named an All-American and won the Maxwell Award in 1966. Lynch is a memb ...

* Player of the Year Trophy – Stevie Lyle,

Alan Weeks Trophy The Alan Weeks Trophy is awarded to the Best British Defenceman in the British Ice Hockey Leagues as voted by Ice Hockey Journalists UK. The award is named after Alan Weeks who was a BBC Commentator for 45 years and Chairman of the Brighton Tiger ...

– Jason Stone, Cardiff Devils

All Star team

Scoring leaders

*Most

points Point or points may refer to: Places * Point, Lewis, a peninsula in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland * Point, Texas, a city in Rains County, Texas, United States * Point, the NE tip and a ferry terminal of Lismore, Inner Hebrides, Scotland * Point ...

: 60 Dale Junkin (

) *Most

goals A goal is an objective that a person or a system plans or intends to achieve. Goal may also refer to: Sport * Goal (sports), a method of scoring in many sports, or the physical structure or area where scoring occurs ** Goals, the goal frame in ...

: 28

Paul Adey Paul Adey (born August 28, 1963) is a former ice hockey player and coach. Adey enjoyed a notable playing career in British ice hockey, playing 11 seasons for the Nottingham Panthers between 1988 and 1999 and 29 games for the Sheffield Steelers du ...

(

) *Most assists: 37 Vezio Sacratini (

) *Most PIMs: 149 Frank Kovacs (

)

References

Ice Hockey Journalists UK
{{DEFAULTSORT:1996-97 ISL season Ice Hockey Superleague seasons 1

United United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two fi ...