2000 Benson & Hedges Cup

The 2000 Benson & Hedges Cup was the 18th and final edition of the Autumn Cup as a British-wide competition. 17 teams participated in the tournament, which was won by the Sheffield Steelers.

Format

The 2000 Benson & Hedges Cup consisted of the teams from the Ice Hockey Superleague, minus the Belfast Giants, and the teams from the British National League (BNL). The ISL teams were split into two groups of four teams (groups A and B) and the BNL teams were split into two groups, one of four teams (group C) and one of five teams (group D). Each team played the other teams in the group once at home and away.

The group winners from the BNL groups entered the knock-out stage in a challenge round with 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.

First round

Challenge round

Quarter finals

Group A

Group A	GP	W	T	L	GF	GA	Pts
Ayr Scottish Eagles	6	4	0	2	23	18	8
Manchester Storm	6	3	2	1	26	24	8
Cardiff Devils	6	1	3	2	23	25	5
Bracknell Bees	6	0	3	3	22	27	3

Group B

Group B	GP	W	T	L	GF	GA	Pts
Sheffield Steelers	6	5	0	1	23	11	10
London Knights	6	3	0	3	13	11	6
Nottingham Panthers	6	3	0	3	11	17	6
Newcastle Jesters	6	1	0	5	13	21	2

Group C

Group C	GP	W	T	L	GF	GA	Pts
Fife Flyers	6	4	1	1	32	17	9
Hull Thunder	6	4	0	2	29	20	8
Peterborough Pirates	6	2	1	3	24	27	5
Paisley Pirates	6	1	0	5	17	38	2

Group D

Group D	GP	W	T	L	GF	GA	Pts
Guildford Flames	8	6	1	1	34	15	13
Basingstoke Bison	8	5	1	2	30	21	11
Coventry Blaze	8	4	2	2	35	26	10
Slough Jets	8	1	2	5	23	44	4
Milton Keynes Kings	8	1	0	7	28	44	2

Playoffs

Challenge round

Winner Group C (Fife) vs 4th place Group B (Newcastle)

• Fife Flyers 1–8 Newcastle Jesters

Winner Group D (Guildford) vs 4th place Group A (Bracknell)

• Guildford Flames 1–9 Bracknell Bees

Finals

Quarter finals

3rd place Group B (Nottingham) vs 2nd place Group A (Manchester)

• Nottingham Panthers 3–2 Manchester Storm
• Manchester Storm 2–4 Nottingham Panthers (Nottingham win 7–4 on aggregate)

Winner challenge game 2 (Bracknell) vs Winner Group B (Sheffield)

• Bracknell Bees 3–4 Sheffield Steelers
• Sheffield Steelers 3–2 Bracknell Bees (Sheffield win 7–5 on aggregate)

3rd place Group A (Cardiff) vs 2nd place Group B (London)

• Cardiff Devils 2–3 London Knights
• London Knights 5–1 Cardiff Devils (London win 8–3 on aggregate)

Winner challenge game 1 (Newcastle) vs Winner Group A (Ayr)

• Newcastle Jesters 3–2 Ayr Scottish Eagles
• Ayr Scottish Eagles 2–2 Newcastle Jesters (Newcastle win 5–4 on aggregate)

Semi finals

Winner semi final 2 (Sheffield) vs Winner semi final 1 (Nottingham)

• Sheffield Steelers 2–1 Nottingham Panthers
• Nottingham Panthers 4–5 Sheffield Steelers (Sheffield win 7–5 on aggregate)

Winner semi final 4 (Newcastle) vs Winner semi final 3 (London)

• Newcastle Jesters 3–2 London Knights
• London Knights 1–2 Newcastle Jesters (Newcastle win 5–3 on aggregate)

Final

The final took place at Sheffield Arena between Sheffield Steelers and Newcastle Jesters.

• Sheffield Steelers 4–0 Newcastle Jesters

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