The Panthers wasted an early powerplay chance failing to create anything and found themselves a goal down when Ian McIntyre scored at 16:26 but the Panthers quickly levelled the game when Todd Wetzel scored from Scott Allison. London regained the lead just 19 seconds later when Kim Ahlroos scored, Jason Clarke appeared to have brought Panthers level once again with Referee Dave Cloutman giving the goal at first because he thought the puck had deflected off Clarke's chest, But following claims from London, the linesman said it had come off the stick despite Cloutman being no more than five yards away the goal was washed out.

The second period was an end to end affair but 3 goals in 3 minutes put London on their way to victory, Sean Blanchard scored at 35:06 and netted his second of the game at 36:12 before London's new signing Ed Patterson scored his first as a Knight on the powerplay. Despite the Panthers pulling one back from ex-Knight Marc Hussey at 39:03 there would be no way back for the Panthers and they went into interval trailing 5-2. The Highlight of the second period for the travelling Panthers fans was Barry Nieckar beating Gerad Adams in a fight as Nieckar tried to get the Panthers going.

The Panthers changed netminders for the start of the third period with Pieitla taking over from Sandstrom but it made little difference with London Increasing their lead thanks to Vezio Sacratini at 41:28, Panthers captain John Purves pulled another back for the Panthers at 45:43 but a further goal from Vezio Sacratini ended any hope of a come back and the Knights completed the scoring at 52:31 when ex-Panther Greg Burke scored. The Panther hit penalty trouble for the rest of the match with Thompson earning a ten minute misconduct for sticking up for Jason Elders after Adams had ago at him, there was also calls against Clarke (Slashing), Morgan (Elbowing) with Barry Nieckar picking up a ten minute misconduct at the end of the game for Abuse of Official.

Attendance: 4621
Man of the Match for London Knights: Sean BLANCHARD
Man of the Match for Nottingham Panthers: Lee JINMAN
Referee: D Cloutman

The Panthers opened the scoring at 11:44 through Eric Charron, Cardiff levelled the game at 28:56 when Kurt Walsh scored which received the biggest cheers of the night. The Panthers then scored four unanswered goals with Scott Allison scoring the game winner at 29:54, Jason Clarke scored at 38:25, Lee Jinman turned the puck home at 44:44 before Scott Allison completed the scoring at 45:57.

The Panthers travel to London friday evening (face-off 7pm) before returning to Nottingham on Saturday to face Norwegian side Sparta Sarpsborg in this season's Ahearne Trophy.

The Panthers started the game well forcing Steelers netminder Joel Laing to make a number of saves with Cadotte, Allison and Taubert all going close. Sheffield opened the scoring at 10:56 when Kent Simpson scored from Jason Sessa on the powerplay following a roughing call on Jason Clarke. The Panthers continued to press but found themselves 2-0 down when Jason Sessa received a pass wide on the wing and shot towards goal, the shot seemed to be covered by Pietila but he somehow allowed it to slip over the line.

Petter Sandstrom replaced Pietila in the nets at the started of the second but again it was Laing who was the busier of the two. Greg Hadden (twice) and Thompson should have scored but somehow failed to hit the target. The Panthers powerplay was also poor, failing to create good scoring chances despite having numerous powerplays in the second period.

The Panthers continued to press in the thrid period, out-shooting the Steelers 13-4 but a moment of madness proved costly when Scott Allison gave Dion Darling a face wash following an icing call and the Steelers made the resultant powerplay count as Mark Dutiaume scored unmarked at the far post. The Panthers then lost defencemen Marc Hussey to a ten minute misconduct and then Eric Charron to a dubious 2+10 call for Checking from behind.

While killing the penalty against Charron, the Panthers finally broke Joel Laing's shutout when Briane Thompson scored with a rocket of shot at 54:11 and two minutes later it was a one goal game when Greg Hadden deflected home the Panthers second. The Panthers pulled Sandstrom with little over a minute to go but could not make the extra man count.

Man of the Match for the Panthers was Lee Jinman with Joel Laing picking up the award for the Steelers after making 31 saves.

Steelers Jason Sessa finished the tournament top scorer with 14 pts (6+8) with Panthers Lee Jinman close behind with 11 pts (6+5). The top netminders were Panthers Petter Sandstrom who finished with the best Goals Against Avg of 1.90 from Steelers Joel Laing 1.97. With the places being reversed with Joel Laing finishing with best save percentage of 93.1%, Sandstrom finished with 92.9%.

London opened the scoring at 12:09 when Ian McIntyre intercepted a pass from Scott Allison to fed former Panther A.J. Kelham, who scored top corner. London continued to press creating plenty of shooting chances at they out-shot the Panthers 17 to 6.

The 2nd period saw the Panthers finally level the game at 30:25 on a 5 on 3 powerplay following calls against Mo Mansi (slashing) and Chris Slater (hooking), which allowed in-form Briane Thompson to fire home low into the bottom corner. London regained the lead five minutes later when another ex-Panther Mark Kolesar scored on the powerplay following a roughing call agianst Thompson.

Four minutes into the third period and the Panthers were level for the second time when Jaosn Clarke scored at the second attempt following a kind bounce of the boards which kept the puck in the London zone. Both teams then had chance to win the game on the powerplay but neither could convert.

With Knights defenceman being called for hooking at 59:09, it gave the Panthers the advantage at the start of the overtime period and man of the match Briane Thompson took just 57 seconds to make the advantage count, as he skated in coolly to net top corner and give the Panthers two very needed points.

The Panthers went into the game without John Purves and Dody Wood but did include Todd Wetzel from Solihull, Petter Sandstrom was given the nod in the nets. The Panthers took the gaem to the Giants in the first out-shooting the hosts 13 to 7 but could not find the breakthrough.

The second period saw the Giants out-shoot the Panthers 9 to 7 but the major action centered round Paul Kruse trying to pick a fight with Jason Clarke, only for him to be sent flying into the boards when he went for Clarke at head height only for Clarke to duck. Clarke was given two minutes for Clipping while Kruse received 2+2 for roughing and a 10 minute misconduct.

The action wasn't finished there, three minutes later Greg Hadden cross checked Paxton Schulte following a melee with Schulte receiving 2+10, Hadden 2 minutes and jason Clarke 2+10.

The third period saw the deadlock broken thanks to the broken stick of Paxton Schulte. Schulte broke the butt-end of his stick cross checking Jason Clarke, play continued and Schulte was able to deflect home a Robby Sandrock shot. Despite the protests of the Panthers, referee Nigel Boniface was not interested and allowed the goal to stand. Dave Matsos sealed the game for the Giants with an empty-net goal with 16 seconds left.

Greg Hadden was named man of the match for the thrid game running but the announcement was greeted with a chorus of boos from the home fans.

Captain John Purves gave the Panthers a dream start scoring after just 26 seconds from Jinman and Cadotte, both teams had chances before the Panthers increased their lead at 14:41 with Jason Elders firing home from the slot and it could have been more with Dody Wood hitting the post at 16:50. The Bees were given a powerplay chance following a harsh 2+10 call on Mark Cadotte for Checking from Behind and the Bees made it count with Dan Ceman scoring at 18:44.

The second period continued to be end to end and it looked like the Panthers would cruise home when Jason Clarke scored at 34:11 assisted by Elders & Hadden. But Bracknell had other ideas pulling a goal back four minutes later when Scott Kirton shot appeared to have been stopped by Pietila only for it then to cross the line.

The Panthers started the 3rd period on the powerplay but it was the Bees who scored with Delisle taking advantage of a bad bounce to net short-handed. Bracknell continued to press, keeping the puck in the Panthers zone with Pietila making some great saves, Brad Peddle beat Pietila at 48:55 only to see his shot come back off the post but the breakthrough came with eight minutes left when Ceman tipped home Burgess's shot.

This finally sparked the Panthers into life and they tied the game at 53:58 with Greg Hadden scoring from Elders and Charron and 20 seconds later the Panthers regained the lead when Greg Hadden fired home from halfway catching Joe Watkins by surprise. The Bees continued to press but the Panthers finally killed the game off at 58:27 when Cadotte broke clear to set up Lee Jinman who scored top corner.

Greg Hadden picked up his second man of the match award of the weekend as he repeated the previous nights feat of 4 points (2+2) giving him 8 points for the weekend. Jonathan Delisle was named man of the match for Bracknell.

The Panthers travel to Belfast on Wednesday knowing if they avoid a loss in regulation, they will go clear at the top of the table heading into the weekend which includes a certain Challenge Cup Final against arch-rivals Sheffield at the M.E.N. Arena in Manchester (Face-Off 2:30pm)

The first period was end to end and the Panthers thought they had opened the scoring in the opening two minutes when Barry Nieckar fired home but it was washed out for offside, both teams had a powerplay chance with neither converting. The Giants opened the scoring at 15:05 when Steve Thornton managed to fire the puck under Pietila, following the goal the Giants continued to take the game to the Panthers but the period ended with just the one goal.

The Panthers levelled the game on the powerplay following an interference call agianst Matsos, Clarke did well to keep the puck in the zone, which allowed Hadden to fed Jason Elders who scored at the second attempt. Belfast regained the lead with a well worked move which allowed Matsos to wrist a shot past Pietila, both teams had further powerplay chances but could not take advantage leaving the Giants ahead at the second break.

The Panthers started the 3rd period well with Cadotte and Jinman wasting a 2 on 1 breakaway but were level at 44:18 when Clarke fired home from Hadden's face off win. The Panthers were given another powerplay chance when Kuwabara was called for Hooking and they made it count when Lee Jinman picked up aloose puck to slip it under Giants netminder Ryan Bach.

The goal everyone had been waiting for finally arrived at 49:09 when Clarke managed to turn and pass on his knees to Greg Hadden who wnet in on Bach two on one, electing not to pass to Elders, Hadden fired home into the top corner, making him the ISL all-competitons highest ever goal scorer.

The Panthers had further chances with both Elders and Nieckar going close with Nieckar's shot actually stopping on the goal-line. The Giants pulled one back at 55:28 with defenceman Lee Sorochan jumping into the play to scorefrom Matsos, Giants called a timeout with 74 seconds left and pulled netminder Bach but 23 seconds later Greg Hadden netted his second of the night as he intercepted a pass at the Giants blue-line to fire it into the empty net. Following the goal, Belfast called for a stick measurement against Dody Wood gaining a powerplay chance and despite leaving Bach off for the extra skater they could not find a way through the Panthers defence.

Greg Hadden collected the man of the match awadr for the Panthers with Robby Sandrock picking up the Giants man of the match.

The Panthers scored another 4 goals in the second, they increased their lead to 6-0 thanks to goals from Dody Wood and Mark Cadotte (SH) before Cardiff managed to get one past Sandstrom, Mike Ware the scorer. The Panthers increased their lead within a minute with John Purves netting, Mike Ware scored agian for Cardiff but Jason Clarke scored 16 seconds later to restore the six goal advanatage.

The third period saw just one goal and it went to the Panthers again, this time defenceman Eric Charron netting on the powerplay following a holding call against Cardiff's Jeff Burgoyne for holding. Cardiff's only penalty in the whole game.

The return leg is in Nottingham on Wednesday January 29th 2003, Face-off 7-30pm.

Laxdal, a 36-year old native of Gimli, Manitoba, has spent the last five seasons serving as an assistant coach under the tutelage of Don McKee, head coach of the Odessa Jackalopes.

Laxdal is a part of the 3M National Coaching Certification Program in Canada. That program has produced the likes of NHL coaches Andy Murray and Ken Hitchcock and Jackalopes head coach Don McKee.

Laxdal will make his debut as head coach of the Thunder on Friday, January 17 on the road against the Indianapolis Ice. He will make his home debut on Friday, January 31, also against the Ice.

After studying all the relevant Documentation and Game Video Tape they have increased the minor penalty given at the time to a Match Penalty.

Laing has been Suspended for 1 Game and will miss the Steelers away match against Bracknell Bees on Thursday the 16th of January and has been fined �250.

The Panthers struggled to a 2-1 victory over the Bees at the National Ice Centre on Sunday, despite dominating the game from start to finish and out-shooting the Bees 42 to 21. The Panthers needed a goal with eight minutes remaining to secure the victory, the goal was score by Jason Clarke (despite being announced as a goal by Greg Hadden, who needs just one more to break the the Superleague all-competition leading scorer's record.)

The Panthers started the game brightly out-shooting the Bees 15 to 3 in the first period and despite have four powerplay chances the Panthers could not find away past Brian Greer who was more than making up for his horror show on the Panthers last visit to Bracknell. The first period ended with Dody Wood going after Mark Matier, Wood was thrown out of the game for his actions after receiving 5+Game for fighting. (Wood automatically misses Thursday's visit to Cardiff after receiving five major fighting penalties.)

Bracknell started the second period with a five minute powerplay following the call against Wood and they made it count when Darren Hurley squeezed the puck through the legs of Mika Pietila to give Bees the lead at 23:45. The Bees had further chances to increase the lead with Peddle and Bauba both hitting the post before Bracknell had a goal disallowed after referee Andy Carson had lost sight of the puck. Charron hit a post for the Panthers late in the period.

The Panthers continued to take the game to the Bees in the third and the Panthers finally managed to break Greer's shutout when John Purves used the shaft of his stick to steer the puck home from Jim Paek at 48:57. It took the Panthers just three more minutes to score again with Jason Clarke turning the puck home for his 8th League goal of the season. John Purves was named Man of the Match for the Panthers with Brian Greer picking up the Bees award after making 40 saves.

Greg, who is planning to retire at the end of the season, his 7th with the Panthers, is currently enjoying a productive spell in front of goal. Hadden recently become the All-time ISL League goal scorer and needs just one more goal to become the All-time ISL All-competition goal scorer. Greg Hadden currently has 23 points (10+23) from 30 games with 32 penalty minutes.

Greg beat top scorer Lee Jinman for the award by just 1%, in a month that saw Lee Jinman pick up three man of the match awards.

Barry Nieckar - Nottingham Panthers
Nieckar received a Match Penalty during the Nottingham Panthers v Sheffield Steelers Game played on Saturday the 4th of January for his threatening behaviour towards the Referee.

Nieckar has given the Referee a personal apology and has already served an Automatic 1 Game Suspension in addition he has been fined �250 and given a written Warning as to his future conduct.

Briane Thompson - Nottingham Panthers
Thompson was given a Match Penalty for refusing to stop fighting when instructed to by the Referee during the Nottingham Panthers v Sheffield Steelers Game played on Saturday the 4th of January.

He has already served the Automatic 1 Game Suspension and in addition been fined �250, No further action will be taken.

Supplementary Disciplinary Review
At the request of the Nottingham Club the ISL Disciplinary Committee will conduct an Investigation into an alleged Incident that occurred during the Nottingham Panthers v Sheffield Steelers game played on Saturday 4th of January. They have alleged that the Sheffield Goaltender Joel Laing commited a serious offence against Briane Thompson that went unpunished.

A Decision will be taken once the ISL Disciplinary Committee have studied all the relevant Reports and Match Video.

The Panthers will now face IHK Sparta Sarpsborg (Sparta Bears). The Game takes place on Saturday February 1st at the National Ice Centre.

Panthers 1 Sheffield Steelers 4
After a run of 13 games with just one defeat, the Panthers went into Saturday's game full of confidence knowing a four point weekend would have seen them draw level with the Steelers in top spot but it all came crashing down to earth as the Steelers ran out easy winners.

The Panthers trailed at the end of the first despite out-shooting the Steelers 11 to 7. A bad pass from captain John Purves sent Chris Szysky clear who in turn fed Mark Dutiaume to score in the 11th minute. Sheffield increased their lead to 3-0 by the end of the second with goals from Levins and Norris, who both scored while the teams skated 4 on 4. The Panthers failed to raise their game in the second period being out-shot 18 to 8 and it proved costly.

The Steelers made the game save at 51:27 when Norris scored his second of the game and despite the Panthers breaking Joel Laing's shutout at 51:45 when a soft shot from Jimmy Paek found away through, the Panthers never looked like mounting a comeback. At 58:50 all hell broke loose as Briane Thompson responded to an apparent sucker punch from Timo Willman, belting the Steelers defenceman before being dragged to the ice by referee Kirkham. Clarke and Darling then dropped the gloves, with Darling getting the upper hand and both players were thrown out on 5+Game penalties. Panthers Barry Nieckar also received a Match Penalty for abusing referee Simon Kirkham after the final hooter.

Bracknell Bees 1 Panthers 5
The Panthers started Sunday's game poorly and found themselves a goal behind after 92 seconds when Dave Struch gathered a rebound from Steve O'Rourke's shot and fed Darren Hurley who buried the puck past Mika Pietila. Panthers best chance fell to John Purves in the 13th minute but he hit the post.

The Bees looked like adding to their lead at the start of the second period before the Panthers made them pay with four unanswered goals. The Panthers first came from Eric Charron who netted after great work from Jinman and Cadotte at 24:57. Goal number 2 came at 35:36 from Marc Hussey, who was given time and space to fire past Brian Greer. Dody Wood made it 3 at 38:31 on a fed from Scott Allison and 38 seconds later Greg Hadden scored an opportunist fourth.

The third period was a shoot-out with the Bees out-shooting the Panthers 18 to 11, but it was the Panthers who scored the only goal of the period when netminder Greer went walkabout but fluffed his clearance as Jason Clarke closed him down, the clearance went straight to Hadden, who skated in to score past 3 Bees players trying to protect the net.

Hadden who recently celebrated becoming the All-time league goal scorer against Belfast and needs just one more goal to become the All-time All competition goal scorer, celebrates his testimonial game this Tuesday when the Panthers take on Had's All Stars.

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