FIXTURE LIST WITH LINKS TO MEMORABLE GAME SHEETS

Panthers retained Terry Kurtenbach from the previous year, bringing in an offensive defenceman, Darren Durdle and new centre, Bruce Thompson. Alex had decided to go with two import defencemen with one import forward. This put a lot of pressure on the lone import forward. Thompson failed to put up the necessary numbers and was eventually released in favour of Paul Adey, who had been playing in France.

The combination of stay at home Kurtenbach, rushing Durdle & sniper Adey proved to have the magic ingredient. Indeed Darren "Doc" Durdle was a revelation, scoring points with the regularity only previously bettered by Perlini (86/87) & Melancon (87/88), both of whom were forwards.
"Panthers continue to ride the crest of a wave, threatening to carry all before them. Even the bookmakers had cottoned on to the in form Midlanders'. At one stage they were 200-1 to win the Premier League, but after the Panthers mauled leaders Durham 12-5 in the North East, those odds were cut to 10-1. Although realistically the club had left it late in the day to snatch the title, there were many who considered them a good bet for the Heineken Championships at Wembley. Away form was particularly impressive, only two defeats in the last 12 matches. Included in that sequence was their first ever win at Durham". (IHNR). 
On the weekend of April 23/24 Panthers beat Whitley in the Championship semi-final and Ayr Bruins in the final.