The dream of an ice hockey team in Nottingham has been in the offing since 1939 with the creation of the Ice Stadium in the city centre. Originally planned to begin play in 1939 after the opening of the Nottingham Ice Stadium, World War II prevented this from happening until 1946. The Nottingham Panthers in their original form were founded way back in 1939. The team, made up of Canadian imports, were due to take part in the 1939-40 English National League season. However, after the War, a second attempt to create a team proved more fruitful.
In 1946 the new club appointed Olympic gold medalist and former Wembley Lions player Alex 'Sandy' Archer as their coach and he recruited a team largely from his home city of Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Ice Stadium reopened on 31 August 1946 and plans were immediately made to bring a professional team to the venue.
The Panthers made their competitive debut on 22 November 1946 when they defeated the Wembley Monarchs 3-2 at the Ice Stadium. The following day they played their first away game, losing 11-3 to the Harringay Greyhounds. The club's first season was a difficult one.
The Panthers struggled during their early years and only once during their first four seasons did they finish in the upper half of the league table. Archer brought in five new players for the club's second season. Archer left the club during the close season and was replaced by another of Great Britain's Olympic winning team, Archie Stinchcombe.
Despite a lack of success in their formative years the team had a number of players who would become local heroes including forwards Les Strongman and Chick Zamick. The late 1940s’ and 1950s’ had been something of a golden era for hockey in Great Britain.
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Even back in 1946, it was clear though that the #PanthersNation was the greatest group of fans in the UK. Fortunately, that did not stop the fans falling in love with the team.
The club's first major title came in the 1950-51 season. After finishing fourth in the Autumn Cup the Panthers won 18 of their 30 league games and clinched the league championship. The team also ended the campaign having scored the most goals and conceded the least. The 1950-51 also saw the Panthers undertake a tour of Sweden. The club toured Sweden for a second time during December 1951.
The following season Nottingham lost Chick Zamick to injury and fell to the bottom of the rankings. After a second-place finish in the Autumn Cup, the Panthers' season took a bad turn in February 1952 when Zamick broke his left arm.
In the close season of 1954 the English League and the Scottish League were merged to form a British League. The Panthers finished second to the Harringay Racers in the eleven team competition. After one season all the Scottish teams, with the exception of the Paisley Pirates, withdrew from the British League and left it with only five members.
The 1953-54 season began poorly for the Panthers. The team won only nine of their thirty games in the Autumn Cup and finished bottom of the table. The Panthers fared no better in the four-team London Cup, finishing bottom of the table with only three wins. Stinchcombe strengthened the team for the beginning of the league campaign in early February and the Panthers soon emerged as one of the contenders for the championship.
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The close season of 1955 also saw the departure of Stinchcombe who was replaced as coach by Zamick. The 1955-56 season proved to be one of the club's most successful. In the league, Nottingham were triumphant in a tight league race that saw only eight points separate first and last place. The 1955-56 title win proved to be the original Panthers' last.
Over the next four years Nottingham alternated between bottom and second place in the league standings. After finishing runner-up in 1959-60, the Panthers took part in the first British Championship final in thirty years where they faced the Brighton Tigers. Nottingham were defeated 3-2 in the first leg but won the second in regulation time by the same scoreline forcing overtime. The Tigers clinched the tie 6-5 after six minutes and 32 seconds of the extra session.
During the close season of 1960 the British National League collapsed and the Nottingham Panthers were disbanded. The Panthers joined the new British National League in 1954 and following the league's collapse in 1960 the club were left with little option but to fold. The club remained dormant for the next twenty years.
The Nottingham Panthers were revived largely thanks to the efforts of Gary Keward. In 1980 the Ice Stadium directors, led by Charles Walker, agreed to a request by Keward to give ice hockey another chance. The Sheffield Lancers, a team Keward helped to run, were relocated to Nottingham taking the name of the team that had occupied the same building 20 years earlier.
During their first three seasons the Panthers played in regional leagues, first in the English League South and then in Section B of the British Hockey League. In 1983 the British Hockey League reconstituted itself into the first truly national ice hockey league for 23 years, with Nottingham becoming one of nine founder members of the league's Premier Division.
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The Panthers were one of the best supported teams in the league with games regularly selling out but success on the ice eluded them as the team struggled against more established opponents such as the Durham Wasps and the Murrayfield Racers. It was not until the appointment of Alex Dampier as coach in 1985 that the team's fortunes began to change.
In his first season Dampier led Nottingham to the playoffs for the first time since reforming. In 1986 Nottingham secured their first trophy since reforming and their first overall in thirty years when they defeated the Fife Flyers 5-4 in overtime to win the Norwich Union Trophy at the NEC in Birmingham in front of a crowd of 5,600.
In 1988-89 the Panthers enjoyed one of their most successful seasons. They finished third in the league and were not only able to register their first win in the playoffs but also advance to the finals at Wembley for the first time. Nottingham met Whitley Warriors in the semi-final, winning the match 8-6. In the final the following day the Panthers defeated the Ayr Bruins 6-3, clinching their first Championship title.
Another Autumn Cup followed in 1991 but Dampier left the club during the 1992-93 season to join the newly formed Sheffield Steelers. He was replaced by Kevin Murphy who coached the team for the remainder of the campaign.
Blaisdell assembled a strong team for the 1994-95 season and led the Panthers to the Benson & Hedges Cup with a 7-2 victory over the Cardiff Devils in the final. In 1996 the Panthers became a founder member of the new Ice Hockey Superleague.
The new league abolished the wage cap and restrictions on the number of non-British trained players a club was allowed. Many of Nottingham's British players, who had risen through the ranks of the club's youth development system, were dropped in favour of North American imports. Of Nottingham's locally trained contingent only Randall Weber, Ashley Tait and Simon Hunt were retained.
The Panthers began the season by qualifying for the Benson & Hedges Cup final for a third straight year following a 6-3 aggregate victory over archrival Sheffield at the semi-final stage. In the final they defeated the Ayr Scottish Eagles 5-3, taking the lead 29 seconds into the game and never relinquishing it. The Panthers finished fourth in the league and qualified for the last four in the playoffs after finishing top of their group with five wins and one overtime loss from six games.
Their semi final against the Ayr Scottish Eagles became the longest game in British ice hockey history. The scores were level at 5-5 after regulation time and each of the following five periods of ten-minute overtime ended goalless.
In 1997 the Panthers franchise was sold after directors revealed the club was in considerable debt. A buyer was found in London based businessman Neil Black and his sports management company.
The 1998-99 season saw the Panthers sign one of their strongest ever line-ups. After finishing third in their Benson & Hedges Cup group, the Panthers eliminated the Slough Jets and Newcastle Riverkings before defeating the Manchester Storm in the semi-final despite being depleted by injuries and facing a full strength Storm side.
The final saw the Panthers taking on the Ayr Scottish Eagles in a repeat of the 1996 final. Here Nottingham came from behind to defeat the Eagles 2-1 with Finn Pekka Virta scoring both goals. In the league the Panthers finished in third place, twelve points behind champions Manchester. Nottingham also qualified for the finals of the Challenge Cup and the playoffs but the team were defeated by the Sheffield Steelers and Cardiff Devils respectively.
The 1999-00 season was the club's final year at the Ice Stadium before moving to the National Ice Centre. The budget for players was limited by the club chairman so that the Panthers would be able to break even the following season. Players were asked to take a wage cut, leading to the departure of Trevor Robins, Mike Bishop, Mark Kolesar, Eric Dubios and record goalscorer Paul Adey.
This frustrated Mike Blaisdell who left the club in November to become head coach of the Sheffield Steelers. He was replaced by former coach Alex Dampier. Lacking the spending power of many of their rivals, Nottingham finished sixth in the eight team league. The club fared better in the Challenge Cup where it made the final for the second successive year but the team was defeated 2-1 at London Arena by Mike Blaisdell's Steelers.
On 22 March 2000 the Panthers hosted Newcastle in their final game at the Ice Stadium. The Panthers moved to the new National Ice Centre in September 2000 but endured a terrible first season in their new home. They were knocked out at the semi-final stage of the Benson & Hedges Cup by the Steelers and suffered a dire first half to the regular season. By Christmas the team faced the prospect of not qualifying for the playoffs for the first time since 1985.
Form improved during the second half of the season with the team winning five of their first seven home games during 2001, including a 6-4 victory over the Sheffield Steelers marred by a violent bench clearing brawl. The Panthers still lay in ninth and last place going into their final game of the regular season, three points behind their opponents Newcastle Jesters. Nottingham required a regulation time win to claim the eighth and final playoff berth, something they had not done away from their home ice all season.
In 2003 the Superleague collapsed after financial problems; it was left with only five members and faced the prospect of having only three. After uncertainty over which league the Panthers would be taking part in and even uncertainty over the future of the club itself, Nottingham became a founding member of the new Elite Ice Hockey League.
Changes to the rules regarding the number of non-British trained players a club was allowed to sign saw the Panthers make substantial changes to their squad. After finishing second in the league, their highest finish in twelve years, Panthers qualified for the Challenge Cup final. Their opponent in the two-legged final was archrival Sheffield Steelers, a team that Nottingham had failed to beat in each of the six finals the two club's had contested. The first leg ended in a 1-1 tie in Nottingham. In the second leg at Sheffield Arena the Panthers raced to an early 3-1 aggregate lead. However, Sheffield pulled a goal back late in the second period and equalised with ten minutes remaining, forcing overtime.
The 2004-05 season saw the club take part in the Continental Cup. The Panthers were placed into a group with host team Gothiques d'Amiens, Italian side Milano Vipers and Slovenian side Olimpija Ljubljana. Mike Blaisdell briefly returned to the club as coach for the 2005-06 season, before being succeeded by Mike Ellis.
Ellis made numerous changes to the playing staff and led the Panthers to a fifth place league finish. In the playoffs Nottingham eliminated the Sheffield Steelers and Belfast Giants before defeating the Cardiff Devils to clinch their first playoff title in 18 years. All three ties were decided on penalty shots with goaltender Rastislav Rovnianek saving all seven shots he faced during the course of the competition.
Coach Mike Ellis departed the club following the 2007-08 season, to be replaced by Corey Neilson. After a third-place finish in the 2008-09 season, the Panthers mounted a title challenge during 2009-10, remaining in contention for the championship until the final stages of the season. They eventually finished third for a third successive season. The Panthers also won the Challenge Cup for the second time in three seasons, defeating the Cardiff Devils 8-7 on aggregate in the final.
The 2010-11 season started strongly, but the Panthers suffered a poor mid season run which scuppered their chances of winning the regular season title and led to players being fined a proportion of their wages. The team were able to rebound from this, first securing a 4-3 aggregate victory over the Belfast Giants to successfully defend the Challenge Cup, then securing their third playoff championship with a 5-4 win over the Cardiff Devils.
The Panthers repeated the double in the 2011-12 season first winning a third straight Challenge Cup with a 10-4 aggregate victory over Belfast. In the playoffs, the Panthers defeated Braehead and Hull in the playoffs before winning 2-0 against Cardiff in the final.
The 2012 off-season began with the release of captain Danny Meyers and his replacement by fellow Great Britain international Jonathan Weaver. Other new additions included forwards David Ling, Patrick Galivan and Bruce Graham, while Jason Beckett and Eric Werner were brought in as new defencemen. The season began with the Panthers losing 2 of their first 4 home games.
This prompted Neilson to re-sign defenceman Guillaume Lepine as well as Anthony Stewart, then of the Carolina Hurricanes, on a short-term deal due to the NHL lockout. Form began to improve and, following a shootout win in Cardiff on 8 December, Panthers went top of the league standings. They remained there for the rest of the season, clinching their first regular season title in 57 years on 15 March 2013.
Patrick Galivan scored the championship-sealing goal late in the third period before Matt Francis added an empty-netter in a 5-3 victory over the Belfast Giants. Five days later the Panthers defeated Sheffield 4-1 in the first leg of the Challenge Cup final. This proved decisive, and a 2-1 defeat in the second leg was not enough to deny the Panthers a fourth consecutive Challenge Cup title.
Nottingham went on to face Belfast in the playoff final. The Panthers opened a 2-0 lead before the Giants rallied to tie the game and force overtime. By contrast, the 2013-14 season was plagued by injuries, suspensions and a high ...
The Nottingham Panthers are a British professional ice hockey club based in Nottingham, England. The Nottingham Panthers have won four league titles (two English National League titles, one British National League title and one Elite Ice Hockey League title), five Championships, six Autumn Cups and eight Challenge Cups during their history. The Panthers were the first British team to win European club honours with one Continental Cup.
They are the only team to have played in every season where a British league championship has been contested and are the only founding member of the Premier Division in 1983 to have continually participated in the top flight league.
The Nottingham Panthers have one of the largest fanbases in British ice hockey, averaging over 5,000 spectators per game during the 2014-15 season. Their supporters have shared a number of rivalries with other teams during their history. Most recently, the Panthers have had a fierce rivalry with the Sheffield Steelers.
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