Ice hockey: Panthers find form

NOTTINGHAM PANTHERS will be looking to round off an encouraging month by making further inroads in their quest for Sekonda Superleague success.

Buoyant after their Benson & Hedges Cup triumph over Ayr Scottish Eagles, Panthers stamped their authority on the Grand Slam champions with a crushing 4-0 league win in Nottingham at the weekend.

Another victory, at home to Bracknell Bees, sandwiched between the Ayr results also put Panthers back on track in the Superleague after three defeats in five had seen them fall off the pace. Mike Blaisdell's men head for ailing London Knights before visiting Sheffield Steelers.

Knights have managed just one win in the last 11 matches and will again be without their coach, Jim Fuyarchuk, who completes a two-match suspension. But they have reinforced their injury-hit defence with the signing of Martin Krainz, the 31-year-old former Olympian, who spent the last four seasons with the Austrian club Klagenfurt.

Kingston Hawks hope to raise pounds 250,000 when they become the second British side to float on the stock market. The Hawks launched on the OFEX market yesterday with shares costing 20p and the club needs a minimum pounds 164,000 take-up for the float to be successful.