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The title of the first Ice Hockey Annual was ICE HOCKEY 1976-77 with a sub-title of
THE ICE HOCKEY NEWSLETTER ANNUAL.


The cover photograph was reproduced courtesy of the Scottish Daily Record and featured the AYR BRUINS wearing Boston's famous uniform. They had just won the 1975-76 Icy Smith Cup which was the National Knockout Championship and as such the senior trophy at that time. In fact, it was the first time since 1960 that Britain had a national ice hockey champion. The goaltender for Ayr on the left of the picture was Jim Graves, the young Canadian was named NIHA Netminder of the year.  

The Annual had just 52 pages but was packed with information about the teams playing under the auspices
of the Northern and Southern Ice Hockey Associations.

The 1976-77 edition is sold out, so we have included here some extracts from that Annual, league and cup standings and the full text of Stewart Roberts' editorial.

The Ice Hockey Newsletter Annual
Compiled & Edited by STEWART ROBERTS
Research by MARTIN C HARRIS

Introduction to 'Ice Hockey 1976-77
     This is the first ice hockey annual to appear since Bernard Stocks' Herald Annual of 1972-73.

     In the 52 pages of this magazine, all the happenings in ice hockey during 1975-76 are described in both words and statistics, plus a few a few glimpses of what the game has in store for us in the coming season.  Naturally, most of 'Ice Hockey 1976-77' is concerned with British hockey but as the sport enjoys such great popularity in Europe and North America I have devoted some space to this aspect of the game.  I have not forgotten British hockey's illustrious past, either, and readers will find detailed records, many of them unpublished for years, within these covers.

     All the statistics in this annual have been carefully checked but if any reader spots an error, I should be grateful if he or she would draw my attention to it, so that it may be corrected in future editions.  I should also be pleased to hear from any reader who has any criticisms, or suggestions for items to be included in the next issue.

     'Ice Hockey 1976-77' could not have been produced without the information provided by the following persons and organisations to whom I should like to express my grateful thanks: Frank Dempster, NIHA PRO; Aarne Honkavaara of International Sports Consultants; Alan Lee, Bernard Stocks, the Polish and Danish Ice Hockey Federations, all the Newsletter Rink Corresponents and, of course, my colleague, Martin Harris, who has dug untiringly into hockey's archives.  And last, but not least, my thanks to Terry Dunne of Barmouth Printers and Bernard Smith for their help on the production side.

STEWART ROBERTS

HONOURS - ROLL CALL 1975-76

ICY SMITH CUP (National KO Championship) - AYR BRUINS
Runners-up - Streatham Redskins

NORTHERN LEAGUE - MURRAYFIELD RACERS
Runners-up - Fife Flyers

SOUTHERN 'A' LEAGUE - STREATHAM REDSKINS
Runners-up - Altrincham Aces

SOUTHERN 'B' LEAGUE - LIVERPOOL TRAPPERS
Runners-up - Sobell Saints

SPRING CUP - FIFE FLYERS

SECOND LEAGUE  - KIRKCALDY KESTRELS

COCA-COLA TROPHY - MURRAYFIELD RAIDERS
Runners-up - Billingham Bombers

KO CUP (Second League) - MURRAYFIELD RACERS

PEE-WEE LEAGUE - DURHAM MOSQUITOES

World & European Champions - CZECHOSLOVAKIA

Olympic Champions - USSR

Stanley Cup (NHL) - MONTREAL CANADIENS

Avco Trophy (WHA) - WINNIPEG JETS

NIHA Clubs

Ayr, Billingham,
Dundee,
Fife,
Murrayfield,
Paisley,
Whitley Bay.

SIHA Clubs

Altrincham, Blackpool,
Cambridge University,
Deeside, Grimsby,
Islington, Phoenix,
Sheffield, Solihull
Southampton, Streatham.

 

ICY SMITH CUP RESULTS

1st Round

2nd Round

3rd Round

Semi-Finals

Final (2 legs)

Winners

Ayr 7

Ayr 5

Ayr 8

Ayr  5 9

Ayr

Whitley 4

Durham 6

Durham 4

Murrayfield 5

Fife 17

Fife 10

Fife 1

Paisley 4

Glasgow

Glasgow 3

Bye

Streatham

Streatham 13

Streatham 15

Streatham 12

Streatham  5 3

Bye

Blackpool 20

Blackpool 4

Grimsby 2

Liverpool 9

Liverpool 3

Liverpool 5

Deeside 1

Altrincham 13

Altrincham 0

Sheffield 0

Bristol

Bristol 4

Bristol 7

Bristol 4

* Solihull

Sobell 2

Sobell 2

Avon 1

** Sobell 2
*Solihull forfeited game (no ice) ** Sobell go on to next round with best losing goals average among SIHA games.

LEAGUE TABLES

Northern League

GP

W

L

D

GF

GA

Pts

Derek Reilly of Murrayfield was the top scorer
with 53 points (39+14) from 13 games.

Jim Graves of Ayr was the top goalie
 with an 88.26 save percentage.

Flyers beat Racers 4-1 at Murrayfield in the lowest
scoring game. The two drawn games both
finished 8-8 and the biggest win came with Flyers
21-2 home win over the Dynamos.

* played all games away for four points
Murrayfield Racers

14

11

3

0

89

54

22
Fife Flyers

14

10

3

1

118

57

21
Whitley Warriors

14

10

3

1

111

58

21
Ayr Bruins

14

8

6

0

67

61

16
Durham Wasps

14

7

6

1

84

80

15
Glasgow Dynamos

14

4

9

1

68

113

9
Paisley Mohawks

14

4

10

0

43

120

8
Dundee Rockets *

14

0

14

0

23

60

0

Southern A League

GP

W

L

D

GF

GA

Pts

Richard Bacon of Streatham was the top scorer
with 43 points (27+16) from 8 games.

Roger Thompson of Liverpool was the top goalie
 with a 93.46 save percentage.

Altrincham were involved in the two lowest scoring
games. They lost 1-2 at home to Blackpool and
won 2-1 on the road at Liverpool.
 Liverpool and Altrincham had two drawn games
both finished 3-3 and the biggest win came
when Streatham visited Deeside and won 34-0.

Play-Offs
Streatham beat Altrincham 11-0
on aggregate (9-0, 2-0).
Midland Section
Altrincham Aces

16

11

2

3

98

48

25
Liverpool Leopards

16

10

3

3

111

49

23
Blackpool Seagulls

16

11

5

0

160

53

22
Grimsby Buffalos

16

2

12

2

64

142

6
Sheffield Lancers

16

2

14

0

47

188

4
Southern Section
Streatham

8

8

0

0

104

11

16
Bristol Redwings

8

6

2

0

62

19

12
Avon Arrows

8

3

5

0

36

43

6
Solihull Barons

8

3

5

0

33

40

6
Deeside Dragons

8

0

8

0

10

132

0

Southern B League

GP

W

L

D

GF

GA

Pts

Rod Lewis of Liverpool was the top scorer
with 23 points (14+9) from 5 games.

Pete Stead of Liverpool was the top goalie
 with a 91.56 save percentage.

The lowest scoring game saw Avon beat Deeside
2-1. There was only one drawn game - between
Sheffield and Trafford but it was played for four
points, it finished 2-2. The biggest wins came
when Blackpool played Sheffield - Blackpool won
by the same score (22-2) both home and away.

Play-Off
Liverpool beat Sobell 8-4 at Deeside.
Midland Section
Liverpool Trappers

6

6

0

0

34

17

12
Blackpool Beavers

6

4

2

0

79

16

8
Trafford Tigers

6

0

4

2

13

45

2
Sheffield Knights

6

0

4

2

10

58

2

Southern Section

Sobell Saints

6

5

1

0

48

13

10
Avon Darts

6

4

2

0

21

17

8
Streatham Bruins

6

3

3

0

29

30

6
Deeside Flames

6

0

6

0

11

49

0

Quote from a legend :
GORDIE HOWE, 48 year old wonder man of hockey, now with Houston Aeros (WHA), is the first player in North American pro sports history to play with his two sons.  Gordie, who 'retired' from Detroit Red Wings in 1971 and has several times threatened to do so again, now says: "I'm going to play next season but my sons are going to retire!"

Autumn Cup

GP

W

L

D

GF

GA

Pts

Terry Matthews of Durham was the top scorer
with 53 points (33+20) from 11 games.

Jim Graves of Ayr was the top goalie
 with a 91.8 save percentage.

Flyers beat Wasps 13-4 at Kirkcaldy and
Wasps beat Flyers 7-4 at Durham giving Fife the cup
based on the 17-11 combined score of the results
between the two sides.
Fife Flyers

12

9

2

1

114

60

19
Durham Wasps

12

9

2

1

106

60

19
Murrayfield Racers

12

8

3

1

88

58

17
Whitley Warriors

12

6

6

0

86

79

12
Ayr Bruins

12

4

6

2

70

57

10
Glasgow Dynamos

12

2

8

2

60

121

6
Paisley Mohawks

12

0

11

1

36

125

1


If you want to advertise in The Ice Hockey Annual or on this Web Site, contact Stewart Roberts,
and please be sure to include your e-mail address in your message so that I can reply.

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