From the Jubilee Programme

Season 2000/01 saw Rob Coutts officially take over as Head Coach, with Derek Higdon acting as his assistant. Nick Poole, Justin Bekkering, Greg Randall, Gary Clarke, Dean Campbell, Mark Hazlehurst and Stuart Spells all re-signed. Rob's first new signing was Canadian netminder Craig Lindsay who joined from Peterborough. Two young Canadian forwards in the shape of Marc Long and Mike Breadmore also signed and Rob pulled off a coup by signing the top scoring Claude Dumas. Original Kings Simon Howard and Simon Ferry returned to strengthen the defence. The line up was completed by Danny Farren and Michael Wales who made the full time step up from the Kings U19 team. Rob set out his aims for the team to win at least half of their matches and to make the end of season play-offs.

The season got off to a bad start with a B&H campaign that saw Rob forced to confess after one defeat "we stunk the rink out". Kings lost every match but the last when they beat Slough Jets 9-5.

However things were different when the League matches started as Kings began with a win over Paisley and a convincing victory over Slough as they shut the Jets out. But a run of defeats and a long-term injury to Nick Poole saw Rob bring in Steve Smillie as cover. He instantly became a fans favourite with an impressive start as Kings beat Fife 9-2 and then won away at Paisley. Just five weeks into the season Kings had equalled their number of wins from the previous year. This came after a gritty performance against Basingstoke. Kings took a 2-1 lead with 11 minutes to go setting up a nail-biting finish. But they held on for a crucial win. This saw Kings in a mid table position.

After a humiliating 13-2 loss away at Coventry, Kings bounced back with a convincing 11-1 win over Paisley at Planet Ice. Had it not been for a heroic display by Bill Morrison in the Pirates' net, the score could have been higher as Kings fired in 68 shots. However, the one match that probably haunts Kings players and fans alike came in December, at home against Hull Thunder. Kings led 4-1 at the end of the second and had a 6-3 lead at 47.41. Four unanswered goals saw Thunder win 8-6. Just before Christmas Claude Dumas, Kings top points scorer at that time, was released.

Kings results for the rest of the season were mixed, although they came had several close matches when they just let victory slip away from them in the last minutes. However one of Rob's aims was achieved when Kings reached the play-offs with a week of the regular season to go. They sealed it with victories over Slough and Hull. The Slough victory saw Kings have their only overtime and penalty shoot-out of the season, with Steve Smillie scoring the winner. Kings finished eighth in the league. Steve Smillie top scored with 23+24 points, followed by Gary Clarke with 25+19 points.

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