The 2001–02 Ice Hockey Superleague season was the sixth 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). Although the league started the season as the Sekonda Ice Hockey Superleague, Sekonda withdrew their sponsorship of the league in December 2001 and the league reverted to being known simply as the Ice Hockey Superleague.

Benson & Hedges Benson & Hedges is a British brand of cigarettes owned by American conglomerate Altria. Cigarettes under the ''Benson & Hedges'' name are manufactured worldwide by different companies such as Rothmans, Benson & Hedges, Philip Morris USA, British ...

also withdrew their sponsorship of the

Autumn Cup The Autumn Cup was an ice hockey competition in the United Kingdom between 1946 and 2000. The competition was originally divided into English and Scottish competitions, known as the English Autumn Cup and the Scottish Autumn Cup between 1946 and 195 ...

and the competition ceased to take place.

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 beatin ...

were stripped of their franchise after the club went into

voluntary liquidation Liquidation is the process in accounting by which a company is brought to an end in Canada, United Kingdom, United States, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Italy, and many other countries. The assets and property of the company are redistr ...

. Following the

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

franchise being taken over by the Eye Group, the

Newcastle Jesters 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 Seaso ...

players were not paid and the club was eventually stripped of their franchise in October 2001 without having played a game. There was trouble in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

when the Cooke, Jenkinson and Smith consortium who bailed out the Steelers at the end of the previous season were denied the franchise in favour of the league's preferred bidder, Norton Lea. After the

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 199 ...

refused to award ice time to Norton Lea, preferring to deal with the Cooke, Jenkinson and Smith consortium, the Cooke, Jenkinson and Smith consortium applied for the Sheffield Steelers to play in the second tier British National League. However, this application was refused and the club eventually continued in the ISL under the ownership of Norton Lea. As a replacement for the fixtures lost from the Newcastle Jesters games, the ISL arranged a new

Ryder Cup The Ryder Cup is a biennial men's golf competition between teams from Europe and the United States. The competition is contested every two years with the venue alternating between courses in the United States and Europe. The Ryder Cup is named af ...

style tournament between the ISL teams and teams from the

Deutsche Eishockey Liga The Deutsche Eishockey Liga (for sponsorship reasons called "PENNY Deutsche Eishockey Liga") (; English: ''German Ice Hockey League'') or DEL, is a German professional ice hockey league and the highest division in German ice hockey. Founded in ...

(DEL) to be called the Ahearne Trophy to be played in February 2002. The

Belfast Giants The Belfast Giants (known officially as the Stena Line Belfast Giants due to sponsorship) are a professional ice hockey team based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. They compete in the UK's Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL) and are the current cham ...

claimed the league championship in only their second season of operations. The playoffs championship was won by the

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. ...

while the Challenge Cup was won by the Ayr Scottish Eagles. After awarding three points for a win, two points for an

overtime Overtime is the amount of time someone works beyond normal working hours. The term is also used for the pay received for this time. Normal hours may be determined in several ways: *by custom (what is considered healthy or reasonable by society) ...

win and one point for an overtime loss the previous season, the league discontinued overtime and reverted to awarding two points for a win and one point for a draw.

Challenge Cup

All seven teams in the league competed in the

Challenge Cup The Challenge Cup is a knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, with the exception of 1915–1919 and 1939–1940, due to World War I and World War II respectively. It involves a ...

. 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 (Belfast) vs 4th place (Bracknell) *

5–1

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 ...

*Bracknell Bees 5–4 Belfast Giants (Belfast win 9–6 on aggregate) 3rd place (Ayr) vs 2nd place (Nottingham) * Ayr Scottish Eagles 3–0

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 fou ...

*Nottingham Panthers 4–4 Ayr Scottish Eagles (Ayr win 7–4 on aggregate)

Final

Winner semi final 1 vs Winner semi final 2 *

0–5 Ayr Scottish Eagles

Ahearne Trophy

League

Each team played four home games and four away games against each of their opponents. All seven teams in the league 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 eit ...

Playoffs

All seven teams in the league took part in the

. After an initial round where each team played all the other teams once the top four teams qualified for the finals weekend.

Round one

Semi-finals

1st place vs 4th place * Ayr Scottish Eagles 1-2 Manchester Storm 2nd place vs 3rd place *

3–2

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 ...

Final

Winner semi final 1 vs Winner semi final 2 *Manchester Storm 3–4 Sheffield Steelers (after

and

penalty shootout The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

)

Scoring leaders

The scoring leaders are taken from all league games. *Most points: 59 Kevin Riehl (

) *Most goals: 24 Chris Lipsett (

) *Most assists: 37 Kevin Riehl (Belfast Giants) *Most PIMs: 222 Barry Nieckar (

)

Awards

* Coach of the Year Trophy – Dave Whistle,

* Player of the Year Trophy – Kevin Riehl, Belfast Giants * Ice Hockey Annual Trophy – Jonathan Weaver, Ayr Scottish Eagles

Challenge Cup

First round

Semi-finals

Final

Ahearne Trophy

League

Playoffs

Round one

Semi-finals

Final

Scoring leaders

Awards

All Star teams

References

Footnotes