Teams from the Past: AYR SCOTTISH EAGLES

The AYR SCOTTISH EAGLES

It is hard to believe that it was only 10 years ago when the Ayr Scottish Eagles ice hockey team last took flight on the Ice, and played their final game at the Braehead Arena back in 2002 and Last in Ayr at the old Centrum Arena in Prestwick, South Ayrshire.

The Scottish Eagles were introduced to the newly created ISL (Ice hockey Super League) back in the summer of 1996 where it featured the best teams around at that time and mostly arena sides too. It was hoped and tried that ISL could challenge the popular leagues in Europe and muscle in on the Hockey nations, like the DEL in Germany, the Elitserien in Sweden and the SM-Liiga in Finland.

Ayr was a founder member of the new league which boasted well established clubs already in British Ice hockey circles, with the likes of the Nottingham Panthers, Basingstoke Bison, Cardiff Devils, Bracknell Bees, the Newcastle Cobras formerly Warriors, before they began their constant name changing over the next couple of seasons. Also had the current League and Playoff champions of the old Premier League division the Sheffield Steelers along with Ayr, they were also joined by up starting team in the Manchester Storm.

Ayr played out of the old Centrum Arena which was run by the Barr Leisure Ltd, of which was a subsidiary of the Barr Holdings Ltd. So from the 1^st September 1996, Ice Hockey was played out of Ayr for the first time in 4 years, since the demise of the Ayr Raiders at the old Ayr ice Rink.

The South Ayrshire side would also be sponsored by the Barr Construction Company who which would carry on their sponsoring of the team, till the day the club sadly folded.

The inaugural season of the brand new Superleague, saw the newly formed Scottish Eagles finish an impressive 3^rd place in the table under the experienced head coach of Jim Lynch.

It featured also an ugly incident during their opening season, with Ryan Kummu being suspended for 6 games for fighting Manchester Storm Forward Hilton Ruggles in the Manchester penalty box.  As the pair had clashed prior to the incident and both players had been sat in the box serving 4 minutes for their actions. Kummu wasn`t finished with Ruggles yet and so his actions cost him a chance to play in the B+H Cup Final against the Nottingham Panthers, which they would go onto lose 5-3 because of it.

The season also saw the Scottish Eagles play out an incredible Playoff Semi-final encounter at the Nynex Arena (now Manchester Arena) against their bogey team the Nottingham Panthers. It saw the game head into 6 overtime periods, before finally losing out to a shorthanded effort by future Eagles player Jeff Hoad. It had took  115 minutes and 49 seconds and the Sixth Overtime period for the Panthers to advance to the Playoff finals, this would become something of an immerging pattern to Ayr at Playoff weekend`s.

In the 1997-98 season, the Ayr Scottish Eagles tried to put the disappointment of the agonising playoffs semi final heartbreak out of their minds. But at the same time spur them on for the upcoming season and try to launch an attack on all silverware available to them, as Lynch had strengthen up his team as they looked more solid too than in their first season in existence.

Jim Lynch brought in netminder Rob Dopson, of who had played 4 games for the NHL side the Pittsburgh Penguins and both he and Colum Cavilla would share netminding duties in the Eagles nets.

Jeff Hoad the player that broke Eagles hearts with his strike against them in the playoff semi was signed up in defense, along with Shawn Byram as the Canadian forward more than made his presence felt on the ice.

Dino Bauba from Lithuania signed for the Scottish side from the Kingston Hawks with Dennis Purdie and centre Karry Biette flying in for the Eagles too.

Ayr shown they meant business, when they took the first silverware of the season on offer. When they beat the Cardiff Devils 2-1 to lift the B&H Cup at the Sheffield Arena and also seen they avenge their 5-3 lost to the Nottingham Panthers in the final the previous season.

They then added trophy number 2 to their honours list, as they beat the Bracknell Bees at the Telewest Arena in Newcastle edging their opponents 3-2 to claim the Challenge Cup.

Better things were to come for the men from South Ayrshire, as they added the Super league championship title to their ever growing trophy cabinet up at the Centrum Arena, With the Scottish Eagles beating off a strong challenge by the Manchester Storm to win by Three clear points which saw them lift the league title.

As April came around it meant was playoff time again and a chance for the Eagles to win the GRAND SLAM and erase last year`s playoffs from memory.

The only thing stopping them from a Grand Slam was the Cardiff Devils in the playoff final at the MEN Arena in Manchester. But Ayr was no mood to allow Cardiff to stop them on their quest of the Grand Slam, as ironically it was an Overtime goal by Shawn Byram that saw the Ayr Scottish Eagles complete a Historic Grand Slam for the Scottish club.

The win made up for last year, after losing out to an Overtime winner in the semi finals last season and this year an overtime winner saw their fan celebrate instead.

The Eagles also picked up two awards too, as Jim Lynch was named Coach of the Year, while Player of the Year went to Rob Dopson for his fantastic goal tending over the season which saw him help his side to sweep the board. 

So the Eagles had officially Landed and stamped their authority on British ice hockey for the 97-98 season.

In 98-99 season, the once high flying Eagles had now had their wings clipped, as the league champions finished a disappointing 5^th place in the league table, which saw them also unable to retain their B+H Cup. As once again they were beaten by their bogey team in finals the Nottingham Panthers, as they went down 2-1 at the Sheffield Arena.

They failed also to make the cut for the Express Challenge Cup now Named Challenge Cup, as the Sheffield Steelers pipped them by a solitary point in the group stages to see them lose out on defending their trophy.

It was the same story too in the playoffs, with the Eagles coming up short in qualifying for the Playoffs weekend and seen them miss out for the first time in their short history, as they missed out by 2 points in their playoff group.

It wasn`t all bad news for the men from Ayrshire as they did have a couple of highlights in their European Hockey League adventures.

Especially as the Scottish Eagles beat Czech Republic champions Chemopetrol Litvinov 4-3 and also beat the Russian side AK Bars Kazan both at home and away, with score lines of 4-2 and 3-1 in their group. They did however succumb to the Eagles from the German DEL league, in the form of Alder Mannheim losing 6-3 & 6-5.

Ayr finished for the second season in 5^th place during the 1999-2000 season, The Scottish Eagles had signed up a fellow country man and top British points scorer in the Sekonda Superleague, in the form of one Tony Hand from the Sheffield Steelers.

Also brought in to the squad this particular season, was Canadian trio of Yves Heroux, Eric Murano and Cam Bristow.

Not forgetting also the added muscle they brought in as they signed Enforcer Rob Trumbley, who by his standards had a pretty quiet season in the Penalty Minutes column. As the forwards had posted only 72 penalty minutes in his single season at the Centrum Arena.

Yves Heroux and Eric Murano put up impressive numbers in their first season up in Scotland, With Heroux posting 18 Goals and 25 Assists while his fellow Canadian team mate in Murano had numbers of 18 goals and 15 Assists to his name, as the Eagles also secured a playoff berth with Ayr finishing behind the Sheffield Steelers in their respective Playoff group. The 2^nd placed finish in the group, saw them take on the London Knights of who had destroyed the Eagles previously in the B+H Cup Semi Final inflicting a 7-1 thrashing to Ayr in the process.

Ayr Lost out to London once again, with yet another overtime winner proving the difference and denying the Scottish side a place in the Playoff final for the seconds straight season, as they went fell at the hands of the Knights 2-1.

In the 2000 - 01 season, Ayr finished in their now all too familiar finishing position of 5^th place once again. The league had expanded even more now and this season saw the inclusion of Northern Ireland getting a franchise with the Belfast Giants being welcomed into the Superleague family.

Ayr  had suffered a mixture of fortunes in their Cup runs ,as in the Challenge Cup the Scottish Eagles manage to get revenge on the London Knights. With the Scottish club beating the Docklands Arena club 8-7 on aggregate after they had tied the first leg of the Semi final 5-5 up in Ayr, with them then winning in the English Capital 3-2. The resulting final saw the Eagles take on the Sheffield Steelers, but losing out as they lost 4-2 in the Challenge cup final.

In the B+H Cup they were knocked out at the Quarter-Final stage of the competition, by the Newcastle Jesters. With as the Jesters winning 5-4 overall in the two legs.

Ayr then made it through to the Playoff weekend once again, as they came through their group to finish 2^nd with the Bracknell Bees topping the group.

In the Semi Final thought, they came up against the London Knights and the Knights won 4-1 to condemn the Eagles to yet more Semi final misery in the playoffs finals.

Ayr found themselves playing in an imploding Superleague in the 2001-02 season, As the Cardiff Devils and Newcastle Jesters had dropped out of the league due to money problems and the league was in a complete mess around this time.

However for Ayr it wasn`t all that bad of a season for them to be honest, As the Eagles finally snapped the streak of finishing in 5^th position, with the Scottish Eagles soaring to  ther best finish since 1997 with 2^nd place. Ayr also qualified for the Challenge Cup final, where they overcame the Nottingham Panthers 7-4 on Aggregate in the Semi finals to set up a meeting with the Belfast Giants.

In that corresponding final, the Eagles flown to victory, as they crushed the Giants. Shutting them out them 5-0 to lift some silver wear for the first time since their Grand Slam season back in 1997.

 Ayr`s semi finals curse came back yet again, as this time the Manchester Storm was the side to stop the Eagles reaching the final. The Storm beat the Scottish Eagles in the semis by the score of 2-1 and the following season for both clubs would be disastrous.

The 2002-03 season turned out to be the final season of existence for the Eagles. As the side headed away from Ayr to the new confines of the Braehead Arena in Renfrewshire, just outside of Glasgow.

The owner of the Eagles Bill Barr announced to the media the relocation of the side moving from Ayr to Glasgow. Due to the move the “Ayr” part of the clubs name was dropped and the “Scottish Eagles” name was just used.

The reason for the move was seen as, Braehead had a larger seating capacity and had a bigger catchment area, in which to increase the fan base of the Scottish club.

So on November 14^th 2002, after only Six games played out of the Braehead Arena, the Scottish Eagles hockey side was no more and folded. This saw an end to having a Scottish team play in the top flight of British Ice Hockey, as the league soon collapsed after with only 5 clubs finishing the season off after Manchester folded as well.

It brought down the curtain on the Ayr Scottish Eagles as a club after a 6 year stint, and although short lived it was certainly a roller coaster ride for those fans of the Green & Orange Clan from South Ayrshire, and one side that will certainly not be forgotten either in Hockey circles too.

There was a few downs but a lot of ups to for the Eagles fans to remember, As over their short successful period in the top flight they had big crowds and played in what was the hay day of British Ice Hockey, the likes of which, we will never see again on these shores.