Ayr Scottish Eagles


The Ayr Scottish Eagles were a professional Scottish ice hockey club, from Ayr, Scotland. They were formed in 1996 and played their home games at the Centrum Arena. The team competed in the Ice Hockey Superleague and the club's main sponsor was Barr Construction. The club folded during the 2002–03 season after a move to Braehead Arena.

History

The Ayr Scottish Eagles were founded in 1996 and played in the Ice Hockey Superleague. The team quickly rose to become one of the top teams in the United Kingdom, due in part to achieving the in their second season winning all four major UK ice hockey trophies, these were the British Championship, Superleague, the Autumn Cup and Express Cup, the first team ever to do so during the existence of the Ice Hockey Superleague. Also in 1998 they achieved great success, when they twice defeated Ak Bars Kazan in the European Hockey League.

2002–03

In August 2002, it was announced by owner Bill Barr that the team were to permanently relocate to the Braehead Arena in Renfrewshire, outside Glasgow.
Bob Zeller, Belfast Giants' founder was announced as managing director and the team changed their name to Scottish Eagles, dropping Ayr from their name. Bob Zeller remained a shareholder in the Belfast Giants. The reason given for the relocation was due to the Braehead Arena having a larger seating capacity and a larger catchment area, expected to increase the fanbase of the club.
The club folded on 14 November 2002, after just six home games, in what was to become the final season of the Ice Hockey Superleague. They were the second team in the league to fold that season; the first being Manchester Storm.

Post demise

Friends of Eagles Hockey, organised an exhibition match at the Centrum Arena on 4 February 2003 as a fund raising event to raise funds for players and officials who had been left in financial difficulty due to the bankruptcy of Ice hockey Services Ltd, the Eagles operating company. The Eagles side was an all-star team that played against a UK select all-star team. The match officials were referee Moray Hanson and linesmen Alan Craig and Rab Cowan.
NumberPlayer
1Ali Cree
2Alan Campbell
3Angelo Catenaro
4Scott Young
5Alan Schuler
9Tony Hand
10Todd Dutiaume
13Dody Wood
14Jonathan Weaver
16David St. Pierre
20Dan Ratushny
21Karry Biette
22Jan Mikel
27Sam Groleau
30
31Stephen Murphy
43Paddy Ward

NumberPlayer
2Stuart McCaig
4Brent Pope
5Rob Wilson
6David Beatson
8David Smith
9John Downes
10John Haig
11Frank Evans
14Adrain Saul
15Paul Howes
16Steven Kaye
17Mark Morrison
22Ivan Matulik
26Mike Ware
30Stevie Lyle
31David Kennedy
44Paul Ferone
47Kurt Walsh

Friends of Eagles Hockey, campaigned for the return of ice hockey to the Centrum Arena after the Eagles's demise. Ice rink operators Planet Ice showed an interest in running the Centrum as an ice arena; however the arena was demolished in 2009 and the site is now home to a new supermarket.

Braehead Clan

The Braehead Clan ice hockey club are now based at the Braehead Arena and play in the Elite Ice Hockey League. In their first season, there was an effort to recruit former Ayr Scottish Eagles fans to the Clan support. Ayr Scottish Eagles fans who held a season ticket at Braehead in the 2002–03 season that was cut short due to the team folding were offered a season ticket in Braehead's first season.
Although the Scottish Eagles and Braehead Clan were both based at the Braehead Arena, this is where the commonalities between the two ice hockey clubs end. The Scottish Eagles were operated by Ice Hockey Services Ltd which underwent a Voluntary Members Liquidation and was wound up on 23 June 2005. Braehead Clan is operated by Clan Entertainment Ltd that was Incorporated on 3 February 2010.

Home arenas

The original home of the Eagles was the Centrum Arena. It was officially opened on 25 August 1996 and was run by Barr Leisure Limited, a subsidiary of Barr Holdings Ltd. The Eagles played their first home game there on 1 September 1996.
After an announcement by Bill Barr, the Eagles moved to the Braehead Arena for the 2002–03 season, where they played just six home games before folding. The Centrum was still used as a training venue throughout this period.

Rosters


Club record

Season-by-season record

Player records

Franchise scoring leaders

These are the top-ten point-scorers, scoring leaders and assists in franchise history.
Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games Played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; P/G = Points per game
PlayerPosGPGAPtsP/G

Shawn Byram		F200631231860.93
Dino BaubaF18954841380.73
Scott YoungD21049821310.62
Samuel GroleauF12056661221.02
Mark MontanariF12335791140.93
Jamie SteerF15661491100.70
Mark WoolfF12451571080.87
Tony HandF862771981.13
Ed CourtenayF914148890.98
David St. PierreF1181867850.72

PlayerPosG
Shawn ByramF63
Jamie SteerF61
Samuel GroleauF56
Dino BaubaF54
Mark WoolfF51
Scott YoungD49
Ed CourtenayF41
Mark MontanariF35
Matt HoffmanF35
Jonathan WeaverD32

PlayerPosA
Shawn ByramF123
Dino BaubaF84
Scott YoungD82
Mark MontanariF79
Alan SchulerD72
Tony HandF71
David St. PierreF67
Samuel GroleauF66
Mark WoolfF57
Vince BoeD50

Team captains

Many of Ayr's players were NHL draft picks and played in the NHL before signing for the Ayr Eagles.

Edmonton Oilers
Pittsburgh Penguins
  • Philippe DeRouville
  • Rob Dopson
St. Louis Blues
San Jose Sharks
  • Geoff Sarjeant
  • Ed Courtenay
  • Dody Wood
Vancouver Canucks
  • Frank Caprice
Montreal Canadiens
  • Vincent Riendeau
Detroit Red Wings
  • Vincent Riendeau

Boston Bruins
  • Vincent Riendeau
  • Shayne Stevenson
Tampa Bay Lightning
  • Ian Herbers
  • Shayne Stevenson
New York Islanders
  • Ian Herbers
  • Shawn Byram
Philadelphia Flyers
  • Jason Bowen
  • Phil Crowe
Chicago Blackhawks
  • Shawn Byram
Los Angeles Kings
  • Phil Crowe
Ottawa Senators
  • Phil Crowe

International capped players

Several players were also selected to play for their national team in the Ice Hockey World Championships.

Canada
  • Mark Cavallin
  • Joaquin Gage
  • Rob Dopson
  • Evan Marble
  • Dan Rutushny
  • Vince Boe
  • Trevor Burgess
  • Xavier Majic
  • Sean Selmer
  • Rhett Gordon
  • Cam Bristow
  • Yves Heroux
  • Jamie Steer
  • Eric Murano
  • David St Pierre
  • Corey Lyons
  • Darren Colbourne

Belarus
  • Yuri Krivokhiza
Czechoslovakia
Austria
  • Sean Selmer
Italy
West Germany
  • Markus Berwanger

Honours and awards


British Championship

1997–98 Winners
Superleague Winners

1997–98 Winners

2001–02 Runners-up
Benson and Hedges Cup

1996–97 Runners-up

1997–98 Winners

1998–99 Runners-up
Express Cup

1997–98 Winners

2000–01 Runners-up

2001–02 Winners
Coach of the Year Trophy
Player of the Year Trophy
  • Rob Dopson - 1997–98
Sekonda Face to Watch
  • Tony Hand - December 1999–2000
  • Tony Hand - November 2000–01

Ice Hockey Annual Trophy
  • Tony Hand - 1999–2000
  • Tony Hand - 2000–01
  • Jonathan Weaver - 2001–02
All Star First Team
  • Rob Dopson - 1997–98
  • Scott Young - 1997–98
  • Mark Montanari - 1997–98
  • Geoff Sarjeant - 1999–2000
  • Tony Hand - 2000–01
  • Johan Silfwerplatz - 2001–02
All Star Second Team
  • Sam Groleau - 1997–98
  • Joaquin Gage - 2001–02
  • Alan Schuler - 2001–02
  • Ed Courtenay - 2001–02
British Ice Hockey Hall of Fame
  • Jim Lynch - inducted in 2001
Player of the Year Award
  • Vince Boe - 1999–2000

Jerseys