The 1998–99 Ice Hockey Superleague season was the third 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). Having reached a sponsorship deal with Sekonda, the league was now formally known as the Sekonda Ice Hockey Superleague.

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

left the league and joined the British National League. The

London Knights The London Knights are a junior ice hockey team from London, Ontario, Canada, playing in the Ontario Hockey League, one of the leagues of the Canadian Hockey League. The Knights started out in 1965 as the London Nationals but changed to their ...

were formed and joined the ISL playing out of

London Arena The London Arena (also known as London Docklands Arena) was an indoor arena and exhibition centre in Millwall, on the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England which was inaugurated in 1989 as part of the redevelopment of the London Docklands and ...

. The

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area ...

franchise also changed their name from the Newcastle Cobras to the Newcastle Riverkings. Losing the

Daily Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first ...

sponsorship, the Express Cup was renamed the

Challenge Cup The Rugby Football League Challenge Cup, commonly known just as the Challenge Cup is a Single-elimination tournament, knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, it is the world's old ...

. The competition was also integrated into the league fixtures with the first round of games between teams (home and away) counting towards the Challenge Cup table and the league table. The league season was therefore increased to forty-two rounds.

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 Engla ...

consisted of the teams from the ISL and the top teams from the British National League. In the 1998–99 season, sixteen teams in total were split into four groups (two ISL and two BNL) playing each team in their group once at home and once away. All sixteen teams then progressed to a challenge round of a home and away game with the winners on aggregate progressing. The quarter finals and semi finals were also home and away aggregate rounds with the final being a one off 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 Centre, Meadowhall and lies between Sheffield city centre and Rotherham town centr ...

Group A

Group B

Group C

Group D

Finals

Note: The first home team is shown first

Challenge Cup

All eight teams in the league competed in the newly renamed

. 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.

First round

Semi-finals

1st place (Manchester) vs 4th place (Sheffield) *

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

5–0 Manchester Storm *Manchester Storm 1–3 Sheffield Steelers (Sheffield win 8–1 on aggregate) 2nd place (Nottingham) vs 3rd place (Cardiff) *

Cardiff Devils The Cardiff Devils () are a Welsh professional ice hockey team who play in the UK-based Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL). The team plays at Ice Arena Wales in Cardiff Bay, currently known as ''Vindico Arena'' for sponsorship reasons. Cardiff' ...

2–3

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. RHPS are the Panthers' major sponsor for 2024–25. The Nottingham Panthers have won four league ...

*Nottingham Panthers 3–3 Cardiff Devils (after overtime, Nottingham win 6–5 on aggregate)

Final

Winner A vs Winner B *

4–0

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 Bracknell, London, Manchester and Sheffield while Group B consisted of Ayr, Cardiff, Newcastle and Nottingham. 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 B

Semi-finals

Winner A vs Runner-Up B *Manchester Storm 0-5 Cardiff Devils Winner B vs Runner-Up A *Nottingham Panthers 4–3 Bracknell Bees

Final

Winner A vs Winner B *Cardiff Devils 2-1 Nottingham Panthers

Awards

* Coach of the Year Trophy –

Kurt Kleinendorst Kurt Kleinendorst (born December 31, 1960) is an American professional ice hockey coach. Since January 2022, he is head coach of the Iserlohn Roosters from the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL). Kleinendorst played four seasons at Providence College ...

, Manchester Storm * Player of the Year Trophy – Frank Pietrangelo, Manchester Storm *

Ice Hockey Annual Trophy The Ice Hockey Annual Trophy is an ice hockey trophy in the United Kingdom which is awarded to the British player who has scored the most points during the season in league competition only. The award is named after the ''Ice Hockey Annual'', an an ...

–

Tony Hand Anthony Hand MBE (born 15 August 1967) is a Scottish former ice hockey player and coach. He was the first British player to be drafted by an NHL team when he was picked by the Edmonton Oilers in 1986. Nicknamed ''Two point Tony'', he holds seve ...

* British Netminder of the Year – Stevie Lyle,

* Alan Weeks Trophy – Stephen Cooper, Newcastle Riverkings

All Star teams

Scoring leaders

The scoring leaders are taken from all league games. *Most

points A point is a small dot or the sharp tip of something. Point or points may refer to: Mathematics * Point (geometry), an entity that has a location in space or on a plane, but has no extent; more generally, an element of some abstract topologica ...

: 56 Paul Adey (

) *Most goals: 29 Greg Hadden (Nottingham Panthers) *Most assists: 35 Paul Adey (Nottingham Panthers) *Most PIMs: 152 Paxton Schulte (

Bracknell Bees The Berkshire Bees 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 1987, un ...

)

References

Ice Hockey Journalists UK
{{DEFAULTSORT:1998-99 ISL season Ice Hockey Superleague seasons 1 United