1996–97 Guildford Flames season

Guildford Flames

Season 1996–97

League

Coach

Home Ice Rink

League position

Benson & Hedges Cup

Playoff Record

The 1996–97 season, was the Guildford Flames' fifth year of ice hockey. Despite the fact the Guildford Flames advised with the setting up of the new top league in British Ice Hockey - the Ice Hockey Superleague, they opted to become members of the lower British National League. The unsettled Flames suffered from the loss of both their general manager and managing director and the five-year-old club, under coach Wayne Crawford, struggled through the campaign with a turnover of 41 players.

The Guildford Flames game against the Solihull Blaze on Saturday 8 March 1997 was abandoned at 14.25 when the plexi-glass broke irreparably when Mark Finney of the Flames and Blaze defenceman Steve Carpenter collided in the corner in an off-the-puck incident. Play was stopped and rink staff were called to the scene. Unfortunately, after over an hour of repair work, the engineers and the match referee - Jamie Craiper, concluded that the boards were not in a fit state for the game to be resumed safely, and the match was abandoned. Guildford who were leading 3-0 at the time were rewarded the 3-0 victory. Solihull went bust just two days later with debts in excess of a quarter-of-a-million pounds.

The Guildford Flames had their own hour long radio show on County Sound Radio 1476am, every Saturday throughout the season, running from 12-1pm. It was hosted by Peter Gordon and Ryan Campbell.

Player Statistics

Player

GP

G

A

PTS

PIMS

Derek DeCosty

65

51

45

96

65

Wayne Crawford

68

40

56

96

93

Rylan Ferster

72

43

48

91

74

Ryan Campbell

53

32

43

75

42

Fred Perlini

39

41

24

65

20

Damian Smith

49

24

38

62

56

Mark Finney

69

30

21

51

96

Terry Kurtenbach

69

17

34

51

38

Paul Thompson

68

19

28

47

109

Mike Bettons

47

12

21

33

40

Elliott Andrews

63

13

18

31

47

Mike Mowbray

49

10

19

29

93

Darrin Zinger

64

10

17

27

40

Nick Cross

71

10

15

25

110

Paul McCallion

18

7

13

20

8

Mike Sanderson

16

9

9

18

4

Todd Bidner

13

6

9

15

26

Simo Liuka

19

6

8

14

0

Mark Hazlehurst

38

5

7

12

104

Lee Saunders

16

4

5

9

24

Barry Aisbitt

47

3

6

9

8

Keith Eely

20

1

2

3

24

Rob Lamey

23

1

2

3

0

Dan Sweeney

2

0

3

3

2

Wayne Trunchion

21

2

0

2

4

Drew Chapman

3

1

1

2

4

Chris Ryan

1

0

1

1

0

Tom Joki

3

0

0

0

2

Nick Rothwell

2

0

0

0

2

Daniel Packham

3

0

0

0

0

Rick Lamey

2

0

0

0

0

Paul Davis

1

0

0

0

0

Mark Barrow

1

0

0

0

0

Sam Mager

2

0

0

0

0

Andy Burton

2

0

0

0

0

Tom Alexander

1

0

0

0

0

Joe Johnston

1

0

0

0

0

Netminders

Netminder

Iced

Mins

SOG

GA

SV %

SO

GAA

John Wolfe

29

1630

909

121

86.69

1

4.45

Petri Engman

20

1130

527

71

86.53

1

3.77

Brad Kirkwood

30

1624

890

120

86.53

1

4.43

Schedule And Results

Pre-Season

Date

Opponent

Venue

Result

Attendance

Goalscorers

Saturday 24th August 1996

Telford Tigers

Away

Lost 9-4

-

-

Sunday 25th August 1996

Telford Tigers

Home

Won 8-5

-

-

Benson & Hedges Cup

Date

Opponent

Venue

Result

Attendance

Competition

Goalscorers

Saturday 31st August 1996

Medway Bears

Away

Won 11-2

-

Group D

-

Sunday 1st September 1996

Basingstoke Bison

Home

Lost 13-2

-

Group D

-

Saturday 7th September 1996

Basingstoke Bison

Away

Lost 7-1

-

Group D

-

Sunday 8th September 1996

Bracknell Bees

Away

Lost 4-1

-

Group D

-

Saturday 14th September 1996

Bracknell Bees

Home

Lost 2-1

-

Group D

-

Sunday 15th September 1996

Medway Bears

Home

Won 9-3

-

Group D

-

Regular Season

Date

Opponent

Venue

Result

Attendance

Competition

Goalscorers

Saturday 21 September 1996

Solihull Blaze

Away

Won 5-4

-

British National League

-

Sunday 22 September 1996

Kingston Hawks

Away

Won 7-0

-

British National League

-

Saturday 28 September 1996 ?

Telford Tigers

Away

Lost 5-3

-

British National League

-

Saturday 28 September 1996 ?

Medway Bears

Home

Won 9-4

-

British National League

-

Saturday 5 October 1996

Medway Bears

Away

Won 6-4

-

British National League

-

Sunday 6 October 1996

Slough Jets

Home

Lost 7-3

-

British National League

-

Saturday 12 October 1996

Telford Tigers

Away

Won 7-6 (PSO)

-

British National League

-

Sunday 13 October 1996

Telford Tigers

Home

Lost 5-4 (PSO)

-

British National League

-

Saturday 19 October 1996

Slough Jets

Away

Lost 6-0

-

British National League

-

Sunday 20 October 1996

Telford Tigers

Home

Won 8-3

-

British National League

-

Wednesday 23 October 1996

Peterborough Pirates

Home

Won 10-0

-

British National League

-

Saturday 26 October 1996

Slough Jets

Away

Lost 6-3

-

British National League

-

Sunday 27 October 1996

Medway Bears

Away

Lost 8-3

-

British National League

-

Saturday 2 November 1996

Swindon IceLords

Away

Lost 7-1

-

British National League

-

Sunday 3 November 1996

Kingston Hawks

Home

Lost 7-5

-

British National League

-

Sunday 10 November 1996

Swindon IceLords

Home

Lost 8-2

-

British National League

-

Saturday 16 November 1996

Kingston Hawks

Away

Lost 6-3

-

British National League

-

Wednesday 20 November 1996

Medway Bears

Home

Won 7-3

-

British National League

-

Sunday 24 November 1996

Peterborough Pirates

Away

Won 6-3

-

British National League

-

Saturday 30 November 1996

Swindon IceLords

Away

Lost 4-3

-

British National League

-

Sunday 1 December 1996

Solihull Blaze

Home

Lost 7-5

-

British National League

-

Saturday 7 December 1996

Telford Tigers

Away

Won 6-2

-

British National League

-

Sunday 8 December 1996

Kingston Hawks

Away

Won 3-1

-

British National League

-

Wednesday 11 December 1996

Peterborough Pirates

Home

Won 12-3

-

British National League

-

Saturday 14 December 1996

Slough Jets

Away

Lost 3-2

-

British National League

Terry Kurtenbach, Darrin Zinger

Sunday 15 December 1996

Swindon IceLords

Home

Lost 4-1

-

British National League

Elliot Andrews

Saturday 21 December 1996

Kingston Hawks

Home

Won 7-3

-

British National League

-

Sunday 22 December 1996

Medway Bears

Away

Won 4-2

-

British National League

-

Thursday 26 December 1996

Medway Bears

Home

Won 9-3

-

British National League

Rylan Ferster (4), Paul McCallion, Terry Kurtenbach, Mike Mowbray, Nick Cross, Mark Finney

Sunday 29 December 1996

Slough Jets

Home

Won 7-4

-

British National League

Derek DeCosty (3), Lee Saunders (3), Paul McCallion

Wednesday 1 January 1997

Kingston Hawks

Home

Won 7-3

-

British National League

-

Saturday 4 January 1997

Slough Jets

Away

Won 4-3

-

British National League

-

Sunday 5 January 1997

Telford Tigers

Home

Won 8-5

-

British National League

-

Saturday 11 January 1997

Solihull Blaze

Away

Won 8-7 (OT)

-

British National League

Derek DeCosty (3), Wayne Crawford, Mike Bettens, Nick Cross, Paul Thompson, Mark Finney

Sunday 12 January 1997

Telford Tigers

Home

Won 7-2

-

British National League

Derek DeCosty (2), Wayne Crawford (2), Mike Bettens, Nick Cross, Rylan Ferster

Thursday 16 January 1997

Swindon IceLords

Away

Lost 5-4 (OT)

-

British National League

Mark Finney, Rylan Ferster, Mark Hazlehurst, Derek DeCosty

Saturday 18 January 1997

Kingston Hawks

Home

Lost 4-2

-

British National League

Nick Cross, Damian Smith

Sunday 19 January 1997

Solihull Blaze

Home

Lost 5-2

-

British National League

Terry Kurtenbach, Damian Smith

Saturday 25 January 1997

Swindon IceLords

Away

Lost 5-1

-

British National League

Mike Mowbray

Sunday 26 January 1997

Solihull Blaze

Away

Lost 9-2

-

British National League

Derek DeCosty, Darrin Zinger

Wednesday 29 January 1997

Peterborough Pirates

Home

Won 20-1

-

British National League

-

Saturday 1 February 1997

Medway Bears

Home

Won 12-2

-

British National League

-

Sunday 2 February 1997

Medway Bears

Away

Won 6-4

-

British National League

-

Wednesday 5 February 1997

Slough Jets

Home

Won 5-3

-

British National League

-

Saturday 8 February 1997

Telford Tigers

Away

Won 6-4

-

British National League

-

Sunday 9 February 1997

Swindon IceLords

Home

Won 4-3

-

British National League

-

Thursday 13 February 1997

Solihull Blaze

Home

Won 5-2

-

British National League

Simo Liukka (2), Mark Finney, Fred Perlini, Terry Kurtenbach

Sunday 16 February 1997

Slough Jets

Home

Won 5-0

-

British National League

Mike Mowbray (3), Damian Smith, Derek DeCosty

Tuesday 18 February 1997

Peterborough Pirates

Home

Won 9-2

-

British National League

-

Saturday 22 February 1997

Peterborough Pirates

Away

Won 6-3

-

British National League

Mark Finney (2), Derek DeCosty (2), Mark Hazlehurst, Nick Cross

Sunday 23 February 1997

Swindon IceLords

Home

Lost 4-2

-

British National League

Simo Liukka, Damian Smith

Thursday 27 February 1997

Peterborough Pirates

Away

Won 14-2

-

British National League

-

Saturday 1 March 1997

Kingston Hawks

Away

Won 5-2

-

British National League

-

Sunday 2 March 1997

Solihull Blaze

Away

Lost 8-4

-

British National League

-

Saturday 8 March 1997

Solihull Blaze

Home

Won 3-0 (abandoned)

-

British National League

Ryan Campbell, Fred Perlini, Simo Liukka

Sunday 9 March 1997

Peterborough Pirates

Away

Won 9-2

-

British National League

Wayne Crawford (3), Mark Finney (2), Darrin Zinger, Fred Perlini, Elliot Andrews, Simo Liukka

Postseason

Date

Opponent

Venue

Result

Attendance

Competition

Goalscorers

Wednesday 12 March 1997

Telford Tigers

Home

Won 4-2

-

Group Stage

-

Saturday 15 March 1997

Kingston Hawks

Home

Lost 4-3

-

Group Stage

-

Sunday 16 March 1997

Telford Tigers

Away

Won 8-7 (PSO)

-

Group Stage

-

Wednesday 19 March 1997

Kingston Hawks

Away

Lost 6-4

-

Group Stage

Rylan Ferster (2), Mike Mowbray, Derek DeCosty

N/A

Slough Jets

Away

Lost 6-1

-

Group Stage

-

Thursday 20 March 1997

Swindon IceLords

Away

Lost 4-1

-

Group Stage

Darrin Zinger

Sunday 23 March 1997

Swindon IceLords

Home

Lost 8-7 (PSO)

-

Group Stage

-

Tuesday 25 March 1997

Slough Jets

Home

Won 9-2

-

Group Stage

-

Wednesday 26 March 1997

Kingston Hawks

Away

Won 9-3

-

Third Place Play-Off, First Leg

-

Thursday 27 March 1997

Kingston Hawks

Home

Lost 6-4 (Guildford won 13-9 on agg)

-

Third Place Play-Off, Second Leg

-

Other Guildford Ice Hockey Teams - 1996/1997 Season

Age

Team Name

Played

Won

Loss

Drawn

GF

GA

Points

U-10s

Guildford Firestreaks

22

8

10

4

113

92

20

U-12s

Guildford Fireflies

16

12

3

1

74

29

25

U-14s

Guildford Firestorm

14

12

2

0

153

24

24

U-16s

Guildford Firestars

16

13

1

2

127

50

28

U-19s

Guildford Phoenix

24

13

11

0

134

119

26

Women

Guildford Lightning

14

5

7

2

26

36

12