Coventry Blaze
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| Coventry Blaze | |
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| League | Elite Ice Hockey League |
| Founded | 2000 |
| ENIHL Affiliate | Coventry Blaze (ENL) |
| History | Solihull Blaze 1996-2000 Coventry Blaze 2000-Present |
| Arena | SkyDome Arena |
| Capacity | 3,000 |
| City | Coventry United Kingdom |
| Team Colours | Blue and White |
| Head coach | Paul Thompson |
| Owners | Coventry Blaze Ltd |
| Team Captain | Sylvain Cloutier |
| League Championships | 2004–05, 2006-07, 2007-08 |
| Championships | 2004-05 |
| Challenge Cups | 2004–05, 2006-07 |
| Knockout Cups | 2007–08 |
Coventry Blaze are a British ice hockey team based in Coventry, England. They are the current Elite Ice Hockey League Champions, having won the title for the third time in four years on March 9, 2008.
Originally from the neighbouring town of Solihull, the Blaze rose quickly through the various leagues of British Ice Hockey. In 2000–01, in order to attract a new and larger fanbase, the Blaze made the decision to move to the 3,000 capacity Coventry Skydome.
They went on to become one of the more successful British National League (BNL) teams. In 2002–03, they won the league and playoff double, completing the playoffs unbeaten.
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[edit] Elite League history
[edit] 2003-2004
In the summer of 2003, Coventry joined with two other BNL sides, three former Superleague sides and two new sides in a brand new Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL).
The core of the BNL roster was retained, and joined by such players as, eventual player of the year, Steve O'Brien, Steve Gallace and Graham Schlender. Blaze eventually finished third in the League behind Sheffield Steelers and Nottingham Panthers. They failed to qualify for the end of season playoffs after performing badly.
[edit] 2004–2005
In the summer of 2004, Paul Thompson undertook a re-building of the roster in a bid to improve upon the previous season. Steve Carpenter, Michael Tasker, Shaun Johnson, Hilton Ruggles and Mathias Soderstrom were dropped, and Steve Chartrand, announced his retirement. Gallace and O' Brien also departed. Dan Carlson, Adam Calder, Doug Schueller, Pavol Mihalik, Neal Martin and Andre Payette joined the club, as well as Wade Belak of the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Blaze claimed their first Elite League title on March 5, 2005 following a 5-1 victory over the London Racers. They also won the 2005 Challenge Cup following an 11-5 aggregate victory over Cardiff Devils. On April 10, 2005 the Blaze completed a Grand Slam of all three EIHL trophies with a 2-1 overtime victory over the Nottingham Panthers in the playoff final.
Netminder Jody Lehman was voted to the EIHL All Star Team at the end of the season along with Dan Carlson, Adam Calder, Wade Belak and the overall League MVP, Neal Martin. In addition, Doug Schueller was voted to the British Ice Hockey Writers Association All Star Team and Tait made the British All Star Team.
[edit] 2005–2006
Wade Belak returned to the NHL and Calder and Carlson left for Sweden and Germany respectively. Coupled with the retirement of both Schlender and McNamara, the Blaze embarked upon the defence of their three titles with a radically changed roster.
Evan Cheverie was acquired from Long Beach Ice Dogs of the ECHL and joined by Barrie Moore, formerly of the Buffalo Sabres. Jeff Hutchins joined from Mississippi Sea Wolves.
In October 2005 the club competed in the Continental Cup in Grenoble, eventually losing in their final game against the host team. Blaze began by defeating Herning Blue Fox of Denmark in a shootout and followed up with a win over the Amsterdam Tigers.
Upon their return, Dan Welch was transferred from the Nottingham Panthers, and Calder returned from Sweden, but Blaze lost both the Challenge Cup Final, to the Cardiff Devils, and the final of the British Ice Hockey Cup, to Sheffield Steelers, on penalty shots. They also lost the League title to the Belfast Giants.
[edit] 2006–2007
Thompson started off the season by acquiring Canadian defenceman Reid Simonton from Herning Blue Fox, and re-signing Dan Carlson from EHC Munich to re-unite with Adam Calder. Hutchins departed for Belfast Giants and Cheverie and Welch joined Morzine Avoriaz Penguins in France.
Replacements arrived in the form of Danny Stewart from UHL side Danbury Trashers, and AHL veteran Sylvain Cloutier. Another former NHL player, Rumun Ndur joined Samy Nasreddine and the returning James Pease and Neal Martin in the defence.
The side qualified for the final of the Challenge Cup for the 3rd successive season, conceding far fewer goals than all of their Elite League counterparts.
March 14, 2007 brought a setback, as the side lost in the final of the British Knockout Cup to Cardiff Devils.
On March 27, 2007, Blaze reclaimed the Challenge Cup, defeating the Sheffield Steelers 9-4 on aggregate over two games.
Paul Thompson's team then went on to the quarter finals of the Elite League playoffs. They played 8th place Newcastle Vipers and trailed 1-0 after the 1st leg in Newcastle.
[edit] 2007–2008
Many of the previous squad re-signed, including netminder Trevor Koenig, Barrie Moore, Adam Calder, Rumun Ndur, Michael Tasker, Stephen Fone, Tom Pease and James Archer.
In addition to these, GB captain Jonathan Weaver signed from the Newcastle Vipers, Russ Cowley rejoined the club after a year spent with the Cardiff Devils and forward Curtis Huppe was signed, having been released by the Belfast Giants before the end of the 2006-07 season. The final import slot was taken by fan favourite Mathias Söderström, after a three year absence from the side.
In light of Tait's departure, AHL veteran, Sylvain Cloutier was appointed captain of the side.
On March 9, 2008, Blaze clinched their 3rd Elite Ice Hockey League Championship in 4 seasons, after beating Belfast Giants 4-2 at the Skydome. Curtis Huppe scored the Championship winning goal against his former side.[1]
On March 18, 2008, Blaze won the British Knockout Cup, having lost the previous two finals to Sheffield Steelers and Cardiff Devils. Blaze recovered from a two goal deficit against Basingstoke Bison in the final period of the 2nd Leg to clinch the tie 8–6 on aggregate. Dan Carlson led the scoring netting two goals in a five point game.[2] Blaze finished the season as runners up in the play off competition. Having disposed of Edinburgh Capitals in the Quarter Finals and Newcastle Vipers in the Semi's, Blaze lost 2-0 in the final to the Sheffield Steelers.
[edit] 2008–2009
On Monday 28 April 2008, Blaze made young British defenceman, Ben O' Connor their first new signing of the off season. O'Connor had played for both Basingstoke Bison and Edinburgh Capitals in the previous season. Leigh Jamieson was recruited from the Belfast Giants at the beginning of May, having spent 5 years in Northern Ireland.
On Thursday 15 May 2008, Blaze announced the signing of former Phoenix Coyotes 1st round draft pick, Scott Kelman. Shortly afterwards, Blaze confirmed that fans favourite Dan Carlson had penned a new 2 year deal. Following the departure of Neal Martin and Curtis Huppe, this was a key retention for the club, with Carlson having registered a League leading 81 assists in 2007/08.
[edit] Club roster 08/09
| Goaltenders | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number | Player | Catches | Acquired | Place of Birth | |
| 29 |  |
JF Perras | R | 2008 | Embrun, Ontario, Canada |
| Defencemen | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number | Player | Shoots | Acquired | Place of Birth | ||
| 6 |  |
Leigh Jamieson | R | 2008 | Milton Keynes, England | |
| 14 | |
Jonathan Weaver | L | 2007 | Sunderland, England | |
| 61 | |
Ben O'Connor | L | 2008 | Durham, England | |
| Forwards | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number | Player | Shoots | Position | Acquired | Place of Birth | |
| 9 | |
Scott Kelman | L | C | 2008 | Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada |
| 20 | |
Tommy Watkins | R | RW | 2000 | Durham, England |
| 26 |  |
Dan Carlson | L | C | 2006 | Edina, MN, U.S.A. |
| 39 | |
Danny Stewart | L | LW | 2006 | Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada |
| 83 | |
Sylvain Cloutier - C | L | C | 2006 | Mont-Laurier, Quebec, Canada |
[edit] Honours
-
For more details on this topic, see Coventry Blaze seasons.
- English Division One North Champions 1997–98 (as Solihull)
- English National League Champions 1997–98 (as Solihull)
- English National League Play Off Champions 1997–98 (as Solihull)
- English Premier League Champions 1998–99 (as Solihull)
- English Premier League Play Off Champions 1998–99 (as Solihull)
- British National League Champions 2002-03
- British National League Play Off Champions 2002-03
- Elite Ice Hockey League Challenge Cup Winners 2004–05, 2006-07
- Elite Ice Hockey League Champions 2004–05, 2006-07, 2007-08
- Elite Ice Hockey League Play Off Champions 2004-05
- Elite Ice Hockey League First Team All-Stars
- 2004-05 Jody Lehman, Neal Martin, Doug Schueller, Adam Calder
- 2005-06 Neal Martin, Evan Cheverie
- 2006-07 Trevor Koenig, Neal Martin, Adam Calder
- Elite Ice Hockey League Second Team All-Stars
- 2003-04 Steve O'Brien, Steve Gallace
- 2004-05 Wade Belak, Ashley Tait
- 2006-07 Dan Carlson
[edit] Honoured players
- #12 Steve Chartrand - Jersey retired for services to the club.
- #55 Stephen Cooper - Jersey retired for services to British Ice Hockey.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- The Official Coventry Blaze website
- Unofficial Coventry Blaze Forum
- The Official Coventry Blaze Photo site
- Latest Blaze news from BBC Coventry & Warwickshire
| Preceded by Sheffield Steelers |
Elite League Champions 2004-05 |
Succeeded by Belfast Giants |
| Preceded by Belfast Giants |
Elite League Champions 2006-07, 2007-08 |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
| Preceded by Sheffield Steelers |
Playoff Champions 2004-05 |
Succeeded by Newcastle Vipers |
| Preceded by Nottingham Panthers |
Challenge Cup Winners 2004-05 |
Succeeded by Cardiff Devils |
| Preceded by Cardiff Devils |
Challenge Cup Winners 2006-07 |
Succeeded by Nottingham Panthers |
