2017–18 EIHL season

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2017–18 EIHL season
League Elite Ice Hockey League
Sport Ice hockey
Duration 9 September 2017 – 25 March 2018
Number of matches 336
Total attendance 904,161
Regular season
League Cardiff Devils[1]
Season MVP Joey Martin (Cardiff Devils)[2]
Top scorer Mike Hammond (Manchester Storm)
(83 points)[3]
Challenge Cup
Winners Belfast Giants[4]
Conference
Erhardt champions Cardiff Devils[1]
Gardiner champions Fife Flyers[5]
Patton champions Manchester Storm[6]
Playoffs
Champions Cardiff Devils[7]
  Runners-up Sheffield Steelers[7]
Finals MVP Justin Faryna (Cardiff Devils)[8]
EIHL seasons

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.[1] 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.[7][9]

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.[10]

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.[11]

Team City/Town Conference Arena Capacity
Belfast Giants Northern Ireland Belfast Erhardt SSE Arena Belfast 7,200
Braehead Clan Scotland Glasgow Gardiner Braehead Arena 4,000
Cardiff Devils Wales Cardiff Erhardt Ice Arena Wales 3,088
Coventry Blaze England Coventry Patton SkyDome Arena 3,000
Dundee Stars Scotland Dundee Gardiner Dundee Ice Arena 2,400
Edinburgh Capitals Scotland Edinburgh Gardiner Murrayfield Ice Rink 3,700
Fife Flyers Scotland Kirkcaldy Gardiner Fife Ice Arena 3,525
Guildford Flames England Guildford Patton Guildford Spectrum 2,001
Manchester Storm England Altrincham Patton Altrincham Ice Dome 2,000
Milton Keynes Lightning England Milton Keynes Patton Planet Ice Milton Keynes 2,800
Nottingham Panthers England Nottingham Erhardt National Ice Centre 7,500
Sheffield Steelers England 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.[1]

Pos Team Pld W L OTL RW GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Cardiff Devils (Q) 56 41 12 3 37 234 149 +85 85 Regular season champions
Qualification to playoffs
2 Manchester Storm (Q) 56 35 16 5 28 216 169 +47 75 Qualification to playoffs
3 Sheffield Steelers (Q) 56 34 19 3 32 217 140 +77 71
4 Nottingham Panthers (Q) 56 33 18 5 25 203 177 +26 71
5 Belfast Giants (Q) 56 34 20 2 30 227 200 +27 70
6 Guildford Flames (Q) 56 30 17 9 27 215 173 +42 69
7 Fife Flyers (Q) 56 33 21 2 27 218 172 +46 68
8 Coventry Blaze (Q) 56 25 26 5 22 189 186 +3 55
9 Braehead Clan 56 24 26 6 24 161 186 −25 54
10 Dundee Stars 56 22 30 4 16 167 233 −66 48
11 Milton Keynes Lightning 56 20 34 2 16 180 229 −49 42
12 Edinburgh Capitals 56 5 50 1 5 118 331 −213 11
Source: EIHL
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Games won in regulation time; 3) Number of games won; 4) Head-to-head results, ranked by criteria 1 to 3; 5) Fewest regulation losses; 6) Away game results, ranked by criteria 1 to 3; 7) Goals scored; 8) Drawing of lots.

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.[1]

Pos Team Pld W L OTL RW GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Cardiff Devils 24 15 7 2 13 91 71 +20 32 Conference champions
2 Belfast Giants 24 13 9 2 11 77 83 −6 28
3 Sheffield Steelers 24 10 12 2 10 68 63 +5 22
4 Nottingham Panthers 24 10 14 0 8 78 97 −19 20
Source: EIHL
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Games won in regulation time; 3) Number of games won; 4) Head-to-head results, ranked by criteria 1 to 3; 5) Fewest regulation losses; 6) Away game results, ranked by criteria 1 to 3; 7) Goals scored; 8) Drawing of lots.

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.[5]

Pos Team Pld W L OTL RW GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Fife Flyers 24 19 3 2 17 123 57 +66 40 Conference champions
2 Braehead Clan 24 14 8 2 14 85 72 +13 30
3 Dundee Stars 24 13 10 1 9 86 96 −10 27
4 Edinburgh Capitals 24 2 21 1 2 59 128 −69 5
Source: EIHL
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Games won in regulation time; 3) Number of games won; 4) Head-to-head results, ranked by criteria 1 to 3; 5) Fewest regulation losses; 6) Away game results, ranked by criteria 1 to 3; 7) Goals scored; 8) Drawing of lots.

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.[6]

Pos Team Pld W L OTL RW GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Manchester Storm 24 15 8 1 13 91 71 +20 31 Conference champions
2 Guildford Flames 24 13 6 5 12 91 75 +16 31
3 Coventry Blaze 24 12 11 1 11 87 91 −4 25
4 Milton Keynes Lightning 24 8 15 1 4 70 102 −32 17
Source: EIHL
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Games won in regulation time; 3) Number of games won; 4) Head-to-head results, ranked by criteria 1 to 3; 5) Fewest regulation losses; 6) Away game results, ranked by criteria 1 to 3; 7) Goals scored; 8) Drawing of lots.

Playoffs

Bracket

  Quarter-finals
(30 March – 1 April)
Semi-finals
(7 April)
Grand Final
(8 April)
                           
  1  Cardiff Devils  
8  Coventry Blaze  
1  Cardiff Devils 4  
7  Fife Flyers 0  
2  Manchester Storm  
  7  Fife Flyers  
    1  Cardiff Devils 3
  3  Sheffield Steelers 1
  3  Sheffield Steelers  
6  Guildford Flames  
3  Sheffield Steelers 5
4  Nottingham Panthers 4  
4  Nottingham Panthers  
  5  Belfast Giants  

Quarter-finals

(1) Cardiff Devils vs. (8) Coventry Blaze

Cardiff Devils win 8–5 on aggregate.


(2) Manchester Storm vs. (7) Fife Flyers

Fife Flyers win 6–5 on aggregate.


(3) Sheffield Steelers vs. (6) Guildford Flames

Sheffield Steelers win 9–7 on aggregate.


(4) Nottingham Panthers vs. (5) Belfast Giants

Nottingham Panthers win 8–7 on aggregate.


Semi-finals

7 April 2018
13:00
Cardiff Devils 4–0
(0–0, 1–0, 3–0)
Fife Flyers National Ice Centre, Nottingham

7 April 2018
17:00
Sheffield Steelers 5–4 (OT)
(1–2, 1–2, 2–0, 1–0)
Nottingham Panthers National Ice Centre, Nottingham

Third-place match

8 April 2018
12:00
Nottingham Panthers 8–2
(3–1, 3–1, 2–0)
Fife Flyers National Ice Centre, Nottingham

Grand Final

8 April 2018
16:00
Cardiff Devils 3–1
(0–0, 2–0, 1–1)
Sheffield Steelers National Ice Centre, Nottingham

Regular season statistics

Scoring leaders

The following players led the league in points at the conclusion of the regular season.[3]

Player Team GP G A Pts PIM
Mike Hammond Manchester Storm 56 32 51 83 10
John Dunbar Guildford Flames 55 22 59 81 34
Matt Beca Manchester Storm 56 24 51 75 14
Brendan Connolly Belfast Giants 53 27 46 73 154
Joey Martin Cardiff Devils 55 27 46 73 26
Sébastien Sylvestre Belfast Giants 54 32 40 72 152
Dane Byers Manchester Storm 55 24 46 70 107
Luke Moffatt Manchester Storm 56 34 32 66 73
Kruise Reddick Guildford Flames 54 27 39 66 36
Marc-Olivier Vallerand 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.[12]

Player Team GP TOI W L OTL GA SO SV% GAA
Ervīns Muštukovs Sheffield Steelers 53 3097:39 31 19 3 122 9 .918 2.36
Ben Bowns Cardiff Devils 51 2937:01 38 10 3 119 6 .912 2.43
Patrick Galbraith Nottingham Panthers 27 1445:25 19 8 0 62 2 .924 2.57
Andy Iles Fife Flyers 42 2369:49 28 10 2 106 2 .913 2.68
Chris Carrozzi 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.[13]

Player Team GP G A Pts PIM
John Armstrong Sheffield Steelers 4 4 2 6 0
Matt Pope Cardiff Devils 4 4 2 6 0
Luke Pither Nottingham Panthers 4 3 3 6 0
David Clarke Nottingham Panthers 4 3 3 6 4
Mark Matheson Sheffield Steelers 4 2 3 5 0
Mike Hammond Manchester Storm 2 1 4 5 2
Joey Martin Cardiff Devils 4 1 4 5 0
Jake Morissette Cardiff Devils 4 1 4 5 0
Colton Fretter Sheffield Steelers 4 1 4 5 2
Mark Derlago Nottingham Panthers 4 3 1 4 2
Justin Faryna Cardiff Devils 4 3 1 4 2
Carlo Finucci 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.[14]

Player Team GP TOI W L OTL GA SO SV% GAA
Ben Bowns Cardiff Devils 4 240:00 4 0 0 6 1 .939 1.50
Mike Clemente Manchester Storm 2 120:47 1 0 1 6 0 .895 2.98
Andy Iles Fife Flyers 3 180:47 1 2 0 9 0 .899 2.99
Ervīns Muštukovs Sheffield Steelers 4 243:25 2 2 0 13 0 .909 3.20
Kevin Nastiuk Coventry Blaze 2 117:20 0 2 0 7 0 .891 3.58

References

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External links