Elite Ice Hockey League: History, Teams & Winners List

• The Elite Ice Hockey League has been the UK’s top professional league since 2003.

• Each season, three titles are competed for by the EIHL’s teams.

• The Nottingham Panthers and Sheffield Steelers are tied for the most trophies in EIHL history.

If you want to watch the highest calibre ice hockey in the United Kingdom, you turn to one of the ten Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL) teams. 

As the only professional sports league in the country to have representative teams from all four Home Nations, it boasts a unique appeal when teams cross borders to battle on the ice.

Still a relatively young league in what remains a niche sport nationally, the EIHL is growing, with attendance figures on the rise and coverage through mainstream outlets increasing. 

To get you up to speed, here’s a look at the history of the EIHL, its teams, former champions, and some other tidbits that are good to know.

EIHL History

The EIHL was formed to commence the 2003/04 season following the liquidation of the Ice Hockey Superleague in the 2002/03 season. 

At the time, there was a second tier (the British National League or BNL), which the league’s governing body wanted surviving Superleague teams to join. 

Instead, the Nottingham Panthers, Sheffield Steelers, and Belfast Giants started to form their own league, which quickly drew in the Cardiff Devils, Coventry Blaze, and Basingstoke Bison from the BNL.

Despite the bitter dispute as to the legitimacy of the planned league, it was eventually granted affiliation, allowing for the new season to go ahead without issues of finding registered officials or obtaining work permits. 

On 12 September 2003, the EIHL began. The Manchester Phoenix and London Racers were formed during the formation process, accompanying the other six early detractors from the BNL. 

Current EIHL Teams

There are presently ten teams in the EIHL, with the oldest club being the Fife Flyers (est. 1938) and the Manchester Storm being the youngest (est. 2015). This is the current list of EIHL teams, when they joined, and their stadiums:

• 2003: Belfast Giants, (SSE Arena Belfast, Northern Ireland)

• 2003: Cardiff Devils (Vindico Arena, Wales)

• 2003: Coventry Blaze (Coventry SkyDome, England)

• 2003: Nottingham Panthers (Motorpoint Arena Nottingham, England)

• 2003: Sheffield Steelers (Utilita Arena Sheffield, England)

• 2010: Dundee Stars (Dundee Ice Arena, Scotland)

• 2010: Glasgow Clan (Braehead Arena, Scotland)

• 2011: Fife Flyers (Fife Ice Arena, Scotland)

• 2015: Manchester Storm (Altrincham Ice Dome, England)

• 2017: Guildford Flames (Guildford Spectrum, England)

As can be expected, the teams that have been in the EIHL the longest not only boast the greatest trophy hauls, but also tend to lead in the odds of the ice hockey betting to win the playoffs.

Former EIHL Teams

These are the EIHL teams that aren’t a part of the league anymore and the years that they were active:

• Basingstoke Bison (2003-2009)

• London Racers (2003-2005)

• Manchester Phoenix (2003-2004, 2006-2009)

• Edinburgh Capitals (2005-2018)

• Newcastle Vipers (2005-2011)

• Hull Stingrays (2006-2015)

• Milton Keynes Lightning (2017-2019)

List of EIHL Winners

The EIHL works as a regular season followed by the playoffs – which is qualified for via the regular season table – and a cup competition that runs throughout the campaign. 

While some would point to the playoffs crowning the EIHL champions, the league recognises the regular season table-toppers as a different form of champion, too. 

Last season (2023/24), the Sheffield Steelers won all three titles to end any debates as to which British ice hockey team was the best. Joining the reigning treble winners, these are the former winners of the various EIHL trophies:

Overall, the Nottingham Panthers and Sheffield Steelers tie the lead for the most total trophies at 14 each, followed by the Belfast Giants with 13.

In the opening betting markets for the 2024/25 season, it’s inevitable that the reigning treble-winning Steelers will enter as the favourites. 

Still, at the time of writing, they’ve either lost or are yet to secure some top contributors, like Josh Nicholls, Brett Neumann, and Scott Allen.

How Does the EIHL Schedule Work?

The EIHL schedule sees all ten teams enter into the Challenge Cup and the EIHL League. 

The Challenge Cup splits the league geographically to create three groups. In these groups, each team in the England and Wales groups plays eight games. In the Scotland and Northern Ireland group (Group A), it’s six games per team. 

The three best teams from Group A, B, and C go through to the knockout stage, along with the next-best five on win percentage.

The Quarter-Finals and Semi-Finals see the teams play home and away – usually in December, January, and February in the current format – with the Final being a one-game event in March. 

The Challenge Cup runs simultaneously alongside the EIHL League, which begins in late September and ends in late April. 

This phase of the EIHL sees each team play every other team in the league six times, split three on home ice and three away, for a total of 54 games each. 

At the end of the EIHL League, the top eight teams go to the EIHL Playoffs. The Quarter-Finals are decided over two legs, but the Semi-Finals and Final are single-game eliminators.

Including the Challenge Cup group games, EIHL teams play at least 60 games per season or as many as 71 games. If they go to the CHL, their fixtures list will see a bump of at least six games.

It’s a schedule that blends the North American insular league format of regular season and playoffs, but throws in the European angle of a cup competition being in the mix. 

In the NHL, the focus is very much on the Stanley Cup odds to name the champions – even with the presence of the Presidents’ Trophy – but in the EIHL, there are three chances to land valued trophies. 

How Many Overseas Players Can EIHL Teams Have?

While the NHL draws in players from all over the world who have a major impact on ice hockey predictions for the league each season, the EIHL has a cap on how many overseas players can be on each team. 

Still, the cap is still fairly high at 20 import players being allowed. On the one hand, the cap is in place to try to encourage the development of home-grown talents. On the other, it’s high to improve competitiveness.  

Which EIHL Teams Qualify for the European League (CHL)?

The EIHL is classed as one of the Challenger Leagues in European ice hockey, with the continent’s top competition, the Champions Hockey League, giving preference to the far stronger SHL, NL, DEL, ICE, TELH, and Liiga. 

Those leagues in Sweden, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Czechia, and Finland take up 18 of the 24 places and the reigning champions automatically qualify on top. Then, there are five wild card team places that go to the champions of the five Challenger Leagues. 

Luckily, last season, the Steelers won everything – so there isn’t any doubt as to which EIHL team will be competing in the CHL. However, traditionally, the national champion is the EIHL League winner, not the playoffs champion.

*Credit for the photos in this article belongs to Alamy*