2010–11 EIHL season

2010–11 EIHL season
Current season, competition or edition:
Current sports event 2010–11 EIHL season
Sport Ice hockey
Founded 2003
No. of teams 10
Country  United Kingdom
TV partner(s) Sky Sports
Official website

eliteleague.co.uk

< 2009-10 / 2011-12 >

The 2010–11 Elite Ice Hockey League season started on 25 August 2010, with the annual Charity Shield match between Coventry Blaze and Belfast Giants. The game took place at 7.30 pm on 25 August 2010. The match ended in 4-2 victory for the Giants.

The League proper started on 4 September,. Two new teams joined for the 2010–11 season- the Braehead Clan and the Dundee Stars.

Sky Sports broadcast one live game every Friday, and also showed the Belfast Giants v Nottingham Panthers opening night game live followed by a live game once every month.

The EIHL appointed an official mascot called Rory, who wears a light blue hockey jersey and the number 00.

Champions

League-Sheffield Steelers

Playoffs-Nottingham Panthers

Challenge Cup-Nottingham Panthers

Teams

Team Arena(s)
Belfast Giants Odyssey Arena
Braehead Clan Braehead Arena
Cardiff Devils Cardiff Arena
Coventry Blaze SkyDome Arena
Dundee Stars Dundee Ice Arena
Edinburgh Capitals Murrayfield Ice Rink
Hull Stingrays Hull Arena
Newcastle Vipers Whitley Bay Ice Rink
Nottingham Panthers National Ice Centre
Sheffield Steelers Motorpoint Arena/IceSheffield

Elite League Table

Regular season standings GP W L OTL SL Pts
Sheffield Steelers 54 43 10 0 1 87
Cardiff Devils 54 42 9 2 1 87
Belfast Giants 54 41 9 2 2 86
Nottingham Panthers 54 33 15 1 5 72
Braehead Clan 54 28 23 0 3 59
Coventry Blaze 54 23 27 2 2 50
Hull Stingrays 54 23 28 3 0 49
Dundee Stars 54 19 32 0 3 41
Newcastle Vipers 54 12 40 0 2 26
Edinburgh Capitals 54 6 45 1 2 15

GP=Games Played W=Win, L=Lose, OTW=Over Time Loses, OTL=Shoot Out Loses, Pts=Points,

Elite League Playoffs

The end of season playoffs were held at the National Ice Centre in Nottingham during the weekend of 2 and 3 April 2011.

The weekend began with the biggest rivalry in the game, with the Sheffield Steelers playing the Nottingham Panthers. Sheffield took an early 2-goal advantage, but Panthers fought back, and went on to steal the game 4–3 in overtime, Robert Lachowicz scoring the winning goal. The second semi-final between Cardiff Devils and Belfast Giants saw Cardiff win by 4 goals to 1, seen by many as an upset, as Belfast were fancied to take the crown.

The title was won by the Nottingham Panthers after defeating Cardiff Devils 5–4 in a closely fought final, where again Nottingham came from two goals down.

Quarter-finals Semi-finals Final
         
1 Sheffield Steelers 8 (6,2)
8 Dundee Stars 5 (1,4)
Sheffield Steelers 3
Nottingham Panthers 4 (after OT)
4 Nottingham Panthers 8 (5,3)
5 Braehead Clan 4 (4,0)
Nottingham Panthers 5
Cardiff Devils 4
3 Belfast Giants 4 (2,2)
6 Coventry Blaze 3 (2,1) (after SO)
Cardiff Devils 4
Belfast Giants 1
2 Cardiff Devils 8 (2,6)
7 Hull Stingrays 4 (1,3)

Challenge Cup

Top 2 in each group qualify for Semi-Finals

(Q) means teams has qualified for Semi-Finals

Group A

Position Team GP W L T GF GA GD Pts
1 Belfast Giants (Q) 8 5 1 2 31 20 +11 12
2 Newcastle Vipers (Q) 8 4 2 2 32 29 +3 10
3 Braehead Clan 8 4 3 1 31 24 +7 9
4 Edinburgh Capitals 8 3 4 1 24 27 −3 7
5 Dundee Stars 8 0 6 2 18 36 −18 2

Group B

Position Team GP W L T GF GA GD Pts
1 Nottingham Panthers (Q) 8 3 1 4 23 15 +8 10
2 Cardiff Devils (Q) 8 3 1 4 33 31 +2 10
3 Sheffield Steelers 8 4 3 1 32 29 +3 9
4 Coventry Blaze 8 3 4 1 22 23 −1 7
5 Hull Stingrays 8 1 5 2 19 31 −12 4

Challenge Cup Knockout Stages

Semi Finals Final
      
Belfast Giants 5 (4, 1)
Cardiff Devils 2 (0, 2)
Belfast Giants 3 (1,2)
Nottingham Panthers 4 (3,1 )
Nottingham Panthers 18 (3, 15)
Newcastle Vipers 4 (4, 0)

Aladdin 20–20 Cup

The success of the Aladdin 20–20 Cup during the previous season led the EIHL to schedule a second such contest. The second 20–20 Cup took place in Nottingham on Saturday, 12 March 2011 and included four teams: the Nottingham Panthers, Sheffield Steelers, Coventry Blaze and Braehead Clan.

The Braehead Clan captured their first EIHL trophy, defeating the host Nottingham Panthers by a score of 3–0. Braehead goaltender J.F. Parras kept a clean sheet in the final and Adam Walker, Ryan Campbell and captain Brendan Cook all scored.

Boston Bruins Select Game

On Saturday, 2 October, the Belfast Giants select side, made of Elite League Players played a Boston Bruins select side at the Odyssey Arena in Belfast. Boston won the match 5–1.

1st period 2nd Period 3rd Period Final score
Boston Bruins 0 3 2 5
Belfast Giants 0 1 0 1

Period 1

No scoring

Period 2

Goals

Boston Bruins Belfast Giants
Tyler Seguin (16:30) Jade Galbraith (15:40)
Zdeno Chara (18:20)
Dennis Seidenberg (19:02)

Penalties

Period 3

Goals

Boston Bruins Belfast Giants
Milan Lucic (9:56)
Tyler Seguin (16:32)

Penalties