The 2017–18 EIHL season was the 15th season of the Elite Ice Hockey League. The regular season commenced on 9 September 2017 and ended on 25 March 2018. The reigning league champions were the Cardiff Devils, who won the championship for the first time in 2016–17. The Devils retained their regular season title, with a 3–2 victory away at the Belfast Giants on 16 March 2018. The Devils also won the playoff title, beating the Sheffield Steelers – who had defeated the Devils 12 months prior in a 6–5 double overtime game – 3–1 in the final, winning a first playoff title since 1998–99.
Teams The league expanded from ten teams to twelve teams for the 2017–18 season, with the introduction of two former English Premier Ice Hockey League teams; the Guildford Flames and the Milton Keynes Lightning.
Starting from the 2017–18 season, the league featured three conferences of four teams compared to the previous season's two conferences of five teams. The Gardiner Conference became an all-Scottish division, with the Braehead Clan, the Dundee Stars, the Edinburgh Capitals and the Fife Flyers. The Manchester Storm, who were part of the Gardiner Conference in 2016–17, moved to a new Southern conference: the Patton Conference. Also part of the division were the Coventry Blaze (moving from the Erhardt Conference), the Guildford Flames and the Milton Keynes Lightning. The final conference was the Erhardt Conference, consisting of the four "Arena" teams: the Belfast Giants, the Cardiff Devils, the Nottingham Panthers and the Sheffield Steelers.
Belfast Giants Belfast Erhardt SSE Arena Belfast 7,200 Braehead Clan Glasgow Gardiner Braehead Arena 4,000 Cardiff Devils Cardiff Erhardt Ice Arena Wales 3,095 Coventry Blaze Coventry Patton SkyDome Arena 3,000 Dundee Stars Dundee Gardiner Dundee Ice Arena 2,400 Edinburgh Capitals Edinburgh Gardiner Murrayfield Ice Rink 3,700 Fife Flyers Kirkcaldy Gardiner Fife Ice Arena 3,525 Guildford Flames Guildford Patton Guildford Spectrum 2,001 Manchester Storm Altrincham Patton Altrincham Ice Dome 2,000 Milton Keynes Lightning Milton Keynes Patton Planet Ice Milton Keynes 2,800 Nottingham Panthers Nottingham Erhardt National Ice Centre 7,500 Sheffield Steelers Sheffield Erhardt Motorpoint Arena 9,000
Standings
Overall All games counted towards the overall Elite League standings. Each team played 56 matches; 24 matches against their three Conference rivals, and 32 against the eight teams from the other Conferences. The Cardiff Devils became regular season champions for the second successive season, with a 3–2 win over the Belfast Giants on 16 March 2018 at SSE Arena Belfast.
Erhardt Conference Only intra-conference games counted towards the Erhardt Conference standings. Each team played the other three teams in the Conference eight times, for a total of 24 matches. The Cardiff Devils won the Conference for the third season in a row, with a 3–2 win over the Belfast Giants on 16 March 2018 at SSE Arena Belfast.
Gardiner Conference Only intra-conference games counted towards the Gardiner Conference standings. Each team played the other three teams in the Conference eight times, for a total of 24 matches. The Fife Flyers won the Conference for the first time, with a 7–6 overtime win over the Dundee Stars on 18 February 2018 at the Dundee Ice Arena.
Patton Conference Only intra-conference games counted towards the Patton Conference standings. Each team played the other three teams in the Conference eight times, for a total of 24 matches. The Manchester Storm won the inaugural Conference, after the Coventry Blaze defeated the Storm's closest challengers, the Guildford Flames, 3–1 on 18 March 2018 at the Guildford Spectrum.
Playoffs
Bracket
Quarter-finals
(1) Cardiff Devils vs. (8) Coventry Blaze
(2) Manchester Storm vs. (7) Fife Flyers
(3) Sheffield Steelers vs. (6) Guildford Flames
(4) Nottingham Panthers vs. (5) Belfast Giants
Semi-finals
Third-place match
Grand Final
Regular season statistics
Scoring leaders The following players led the league in points at the conclusion of the regular season.
Player Team Manchester Storm 56 32 51 83 10 Guildford Flames 55 22 59 81 34 Manchester Storm 56 24 51 75 14 Belfast Giants 53 27 46 73 154 Cardiff Devils 55 27 46 73 26 Belfast Giants 54 32 40 72 152 Manchester Storm 55 24 46 70 107 Manchester Storm 56 34 32 66 73 Guildford Flames 54 27 39 66 36 Coventry Blaze 48 34 31 65 145
Leading goaltenders The following goaltenders led the league in goals against average, while playing at least 1200 minutes, at the conclusion of the regular season.
Player Team Sheffield Steelers 53 3097:39 31 19 3 122 9 .918 2.36 Cardiff Devils 51 2937:01 38 10 3 119 6 .912 2.43 Nottingham Panthers 27 1445:25 19 8 0 62 2 .924 2.57 Fife Flyers 42 2369:49 28 10 2 106 2 .913 2.68 Guildford Flames 43 2589:09 25 13 5 119 3 .904 2.76
Playoff statistics
Scoring leaders The following players led the league in points at the conclusion of the playoffs.
Player Team Sheffield Steelers 4 4 2 6 0 Cardiff Devils 4 4 2 6 0 Nottingham Panthers 4 3 3 6 0 Nottingham Panthers 4 3 3 6 4 Sheffield Steelers 4 2 3 5 0 Manchester Storm 2 1 4 5 2 Cardiff Devils 4 1 4 5 0 Cardiff Devils 4 1 4 5 0 Sheffield Steelers 4 1 4 5 2 Nottingham Panthers 4 3 1 4 2 Cardiff Devils 4 3 1 4 2 Fife Flyers 4 3 1 4 2
Leading goaltenders The following goaltenders led the league in goals against average, while playing at least 60 minutes, at the conclusion of the playoffs.
Player Team Cardiff Devils 4 240:00 4 0 0 6 1 .939 1.50 Manchester Storm 2 120:47 1 0 1 6 0 .895 2.98 Fife Flyers 3 180:47 1 2 0 9 0 .899 2.99 Sheffield Steelers 4 243:25 2 2 0 13 0 .909 3.20 Coventry Blaze 2 117:20 0 2 0 7 0 .891 3.58
References
External links