The 1999–2000 Ice Hockey Superleague season was the fourth season of the Sekonda Ice Hockey Superleague. There were no changes in the teams from the 1998–99 season. However the league introduced a wage cap of £500,000 for this season.
Benson & Hedges Cup
The 1999 Benson & Hedges Cup consisted of the teams from the ISL and the teams from the British National League. The BNL teams were split into three groups of four teams and the ISL teams were split into two groups of four teams. Each team played the other teams in the group once at home and away. The group winners from the BNL groups and the best runner-up entered the knock-out stage in a preliminary challenge round qualifier with the winners progressing to the challenge round to meet the fourth placed teams from the ISL group stage. The winners of the challenge rounds entered the quarter finals with the top three teams from each ISL group. All games after the group stages were home and away aggregate scores except for the challenge round and the final itself which were one-off games. The final was held at Sheffield Arena.
All eight teams in the league competed in the Challenge Cup. The first round was the first home and away meeting of each team in the league with the points counting towards both the Challenge Cup table and the league table. The top four teams progressed to the semi finals. The semi finals were home and away games with the winner on aggregate progressing to the one off final game. In a repeat of the previous season's Challenge Cup final, Sheffield Steelers took on the Nottingham Panthers and won the competition.
First round
Semi finals
2nd place vs 3rd place
Sheffield Steelers 1–2 Bracknell Bees
Bracknell Bees 4–8 Sheffield Steelers
'''1st place vs 4th place
London Knights 1–4 Nottingham Panthers
Nottingham Panthers 3–3 London Knights
Final
Winner A vs Winner B
Sheffield Steelers 2–1 Nottingham Panthers
League
Each team played three home games and three away games against each of their opponents. All eight teams were entered into the playoffs.
Superleague
GP
W
T
OTL
L
GF
GA
Pts
Bracknell Bees
42
24
3
5
10
181
138
56
Sheffield Steelers
42
24
2
2
14
188
155
52
Manchester Storm
42
23
2
3
14
155
138
51
London Knights
42
23
3
1
15
135
125
50
Ayr Scottish Eagles
42
17
5
4
16
144
147
43
Nottingham Panthers
42
18
3
1
20
140
165
40
Cardiff Devils
42
17
4
2
19
138
149
40
Newcastle Riverkings
42
11
0
2
29
113
177
24
Playoffs
All eight teams in the league took part in the playoffs. Group A consisted of Bracknell, London, Newcastle and Nottingham while Group B consisted of Ayr, Cardiff, Manchester and Sheffield. The top two teams from each playoff group qualified for the finals weekend. The third place playoff was dropped for this season.
Group A
Group B
Semi Finals
Winner B vs Runner-Up A
Sheffield Steelers 1-3 Newcastle Riverkings
Winner A vs Runner-Up B
London Knights 2–1 Ayr Scottish Eagles
Final
Winner B vs Winner A
London Knights 7-3 Newcastle Riverkings
Awards
Coach of the Year Trophy – Dave Whistle, Bracknell Bees
Player of the Year Trophy – Ed Courtenay, Sheffield Steelers
Ice Hockey Annual Trophy – Tony Hand, Ayr Scottish Eagles
British Netminder of the Year – Stevie Lyle, Cardiff Devils
