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Coventry Blaze
The Coventry Blaze are a British professional ice hockey team based in Coventry, England. They currently compete in the Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL) and play their home games at Planet Ice Coventry. The club was founded in 1965 as the original Solihull Barons and renamed the Solihull Blaze in 1996, before relocating to Coventry at the turn of the millennium. The Blaze have won four Elite Ice Hockey League Championships since the formation of the league in 2003.
The Solihull Barons evolved into Solihull Blaze before the start of the 1996–97 season, finishing second in the southern division of the British National League during the league's inaugural season. For the following season the team joined the newly formed "national division" of the English National Ice Hockey League for its inaugural season; during which members of the higher division played a dual set of fixtures; one set amongst themselves and another amongst all of the teams within the ENIHL. This season was one of the most successful on record as Blaze were victorious in both competitions and their respective play-offs. Nine goals in each leg of the play off final against Chelmsford Chieftains gave Blaze their third trophy of the season.
The Blaze left the ENIHL along with the rest of the national division during the course of the 1998–99 season, with the division becoming the English Premier League. In November 1998, they were losing finalists in the English Cup, but the side were once again crowned league champions in March with a victory in Chelmsford on 20 March. Play-off success followed in April with a 5–3 two-legged victory over season-long rivals, Milton Keynes Kings.
For the following season Blaze returned to the BNL; and made a semi-final appearance in the 1999–2000 BNL play-offs, losing to eventual winners Fife Flyers, having finished in seventh position in their first year back at British National League level. In May 2000, the club announced that they would be heading to a new 3,600-seater stadium, the Coventry Skydome, for the 2000–01 BNL campaign; renaming themselves "Coventry Blaze" in the process. This was done for the purpose of attracting a larger fan base to the team.
With eight new players on board the Blaze started their inaugural season at the Skydome with a decent run in the Benson & Hedges Cup and, after losing in their opening BNL game, proceeded to set an impressive pace in the league competition throughout October and November. The loss of key players, Craig Chapman (returned to US) and Steve Chartrand (injury) at the turn of the year were possible contributions to a dip in form which resulted in an eventual fourth-place finish. In the playoffs Blaze were unable to repeat the previous years semi-final appearance. However, the most important factor of the year was the growth in fan base from a few hundred at the start of the year to over 2000 by the end of the play-offs.
Season 2001–02 saw few changes in the line up (Canadian Ian Burt replacing Henrik Sjodin in goal, Andrew McNiven joining in place of AJ Kelham and Steve Carpenter returning to Blaze colours being the main changes.) The Season started with a run of good results in the Findus Challenge Cup which saw Blaze qualify for the Semi-Finals. This run included the first return visit to Hobs Moat Road in Solihull to take on the reformed Barons (both games saw Blaze victorious). An injury to Andrew McNiven saw ex-Steeler/Panther/Giant Steve Roberts join up with the Blaze. An impressive October/November saw the Blaze matching new-boys Dundee Stars all the way. The Finals weekend of the Challenge Cup saw Blaze comeback from 3–0 down in the semi-final to beat Basingstoke Bison and go on to meet Fife in the final, which the Flyers went on to win. Returning to the league, and the Blaze continued in fine form throughout splitting results with the Stars. Stars greater consistency, and their ability not to drop points against mid-table teams left them top of the league with the Blaze runners-up again. The play-offs saw the Blaze top their qualification group and then beat Guildford Flames over the two legged semi-final. The Final saw them take on the Stars and lose out by the narrowest of margins, 8–7, over the two legs, and for the third time in the season Blaze were runners-up.
Season 2002–03 saw another evolution not revolution in the playing staff with Jody Lehman replacing Burt in goal, Joel Poirier replacing the departed Roberts, and GB forward Ashley Tait joining the team. Blaze entered the Ice Hockey Superleague (ISL) Challenge Cup at the start of the season, and ran a couple of ISL teams close. The Findus Challenge Cup saw Blaze into the Finals where they met the Newcastle Vipers, but the result was a 0–3 loss. A run of form following the defeat saw the Blaze wrap up the league title with a victory in Dundee. This was followed up with an unbeaten play-offs run, the Final being contested against Cardiff Devils, and a narrow victory in Cardiff was followed by a first ever capacity crowd (2750) at the Skydome for a triumphant night that saw Blaze lift their second trophy of the year. Shortly after the final, Blaze announced their move into the newly formed Elite Ice Hockey League, and commenced preparations for their first ever season in the top flight of British ice hockey.
Season 2003–04 saw another major change in the club's progress as they took part in their first season as a top-flight club in the newly formed Elite League. Coach Paul Thompson stayed true to the team which had won the double in the BNL the year before, replacing only three players; defencemen Steve O'Brien and Steve Gallace coming from the ECHL to replace Andreas Moborg and Ron Shudra and college-graduate Graham Schlender replacing folk-hero Kurt Irvine. The first game of the league saw another first for the club as they flew to their game in Belfast and beat the previous year's Superleague playoff champions. A 6–1 win over Sheffield in October and an 11–0 victory over Manchester Phoenix in December were highlights as the team stayed close the leaders at the top of the table up until Christmas.
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Coventry Blaze
The Coventry Blaze are a British professional ice hockey team based in Coventry, England. They currently compete in the Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL) and play their home games at Planet Ice Coventry. The club was founded in 1965 as the original Solihull Barons and renamed the Solihull Blaze in 1996, before relocating to Coventry at the turn of the millennium. The Blaze have won four Elite Ice Hockey League Championships since the formation of the league in 2003.
The Solihull Barons evolved into Solihull Blaze before the start of the 1996–97 season, finishing second in the southern division of the British National League during the league's inaugural season. For the following season the team joined the newly formed "national division" of the English National Ice Hockey League for its inaugural season; during which members of the higher division played a dual set of fixtures; one set amongst themselves and another amongst all of the teams within the ENIHL. This season was one of the most successful on record as Blaze were victorious in both competitions and their respective play-offs. Nine goals in each leg of the play off final against Chelmsford Chieftains gave Blaze their third trophy of the season.
The Blaze left the ENIHL along with the rest of the national division during the course of the 1998–99 season, with the division becoming the English Premier League. In November 1998, they were losing finalists in the English Cup, but the side were once again crowned league champions in March with a victory in Chelmsford on 20 March. Play-off success followed in April with a 5–3 two-legged victory over season-long rivals, Milton Keynes Kings.
For the following season Blaze returned to the BNL; and made a semi-final appearance in the 1999–2000 BNL play-offs, losing to eventual winners Fife Flyers, having finished in seventh position in their first year back at British National League level. In May 2000, the club announced that they would be heading to a new 3,600-seater stadium, the Coventry Skydome, for the 2000–01 BNL campaign; renaming themselves "Coventry Blaze" in the process. This was done for the purpose of attracting a larger fan base to the team.
With eight new players on board the Blaze started their inaugural season at the Skydome with a decent run in the Benson & Hedges Cup and, after losing in their opening BNL game, proceeded to set an impressive pace in the league competition throughout October and November. The loss of key players, Craig Chapman (returned to US) and Steve Chartrand (injury) at the turn of the year were possible contributions to a dip in form which resulted in an eventual fourth-place finish. In the playoffs Blaze were unable to repeat the previous years semi-final appearance. However, the most important factor of the year was the growth in fan base from a few hundred at the start of the year to over 2000 by the end of the play-offs.
Season 2001–02 saw few changes in the line up (Canadian Ian Burt replacing Henrik Sjodin in goal, Andrew McNiven joining in place of AJ Kelham and Steve Carpenter returning to Blaze colours being the main changes.) The Season started with a run of good results in the Findus Challenge Cup which saw Blaze qualify for the Semi-Finals. This run included the first return visit to Hobs Moat Road in Solihull to take on the reformed Barons (both games saw Blaze victorious). An injury to Andrew McNiven saw ex-Steeler/Panther/Giant Steve Roberts join up with the Blaze. An impressive October/November saw the Blaze matching new-boys Dundee Stars all the way. The Finals weekend of the Challenge Cup saw Blaze comeback from 3–0 down in the semi-final to beat Basingstoke Bison and go on to meet Fife in the final, which the Flyers went on to win. Returning to the league, and the Blaze continued in fine form throughout splitting results with the Stars. Stars greater consistency, and their ability not to drop points against mid-table teams left them top of the league with the Blaze runners-up again. The play-offs saw the Blaze top their qualification group and then beat Guildford Flames over the two legged semi-final. The Final saw them take on the Stars and lose out by the narrowest of margins, 8–7, over the two legs, and for the third time in the season Blaze were runners-up.
Season 2002–03 saw another evolution not revolution in the playing staff with Jody Lehman replacing Burt in goal, Joel Poirier replacing the departed Roberts, and GB forward Ashley Tait joining the team. Blaze entered the Ice Hockey Superleague (ISL) Challenge Cup at the start of the season, and ran a couple of ISL teams close. The Findus Challenge Cup saw Blaze into the Finals where they met the Newcastle Vipers, but the result was a 0–3 loss. A run of form following the defeat saw the Blaze wrap up the league title with a victory in Dundee. This was followed up with an unbeaten play-offs run, the Final being contested against Cardiff Devils, and a narrow victory in Cardiff was followed by a first ever capacity crowd (2750) at the Skydome for a triumphant night that saw Blaze lift their second trophy of the year. Shortly after the final, Blaze announced their move into the newly formed Elite Ice Hockey League, and commenced preparations for their first ever season in the top flight of British ice hockey.
Season 2003–04 saw another major change in the club's progress as they took part in their first season as a top-flight club in the newly formed Elite League. Coach Paul Thompson stayed true to the team which had won the double in the BNL the year before, replacing only three players; defencemen Steve O'Brien and Steve Gallace coming from the ECHL to replace Andreas Moborg and Ron Shudra and college-graduate Graham Schlender replacing folk-hero Kurt Irvine. The first game of the league saw another first for the club as they flew to their game in Belfast and beat the previous year's Superleague playoff champions. A 6–1 win over Sheffield in October and an 11–0 victory over Manchester Phoenix in December were highlights as the team stayed close the leaders at the top of the table up until Christmas.