2008–09 EIHL season
LeagueElite Ice Hockey League
SportIce hockey
DurationSeptember - March
Regular season
ChampionsSheffield Steelers
Playoffs
ChampionsSheffield Steelers
Challenge Cup
ChampionsBelfast Giants

The 200809 EIHL season was the sixth season of the Elite Ice Hockey League. It began in September 2008, and ran through to April 2009. The ten clubs in the League competed for 4 different competitions: the Elite League, the Play-Offs, the Challenge Cup, and the Knockout Cup. The winners of the regular season will compete in the 2009–2010 Champions Hockey League. For this season, the Coventry Blaze represented Great Britain in the Continental Cup.

Charity Shield

The season began on September 3, 2008, with a "Charity Shield" game between the 200708 league champions and Knockout Cup winning Coventry Blaze and the playoff champions Sheffield Steelers at the SkyDome.[1] The Blaze narrowly beat the Steelers 5–4 in sudden death overtime.

September 3
Coventry 5 4 Sheffield Skydome (19.30)
First periodRef: Tom Darnell
1-0 Lewis (LeClare, Kelman) 01.08Att: 3,500+
2-0 Calder (Kelman, Carlson) PP 08.10
Second period
3-0Calder (Kelman, Carlson) PP 22.00
3-1 Philips (League) PP 29.20
3-2 Gillies (Sarich, Hewitt) 30.18
Third period
3-3 Philips (Finerty, Dowd) PP 44.38
4-3 Carlson (Deschatelets) SH 52.35
4-4 Basiuk (Tait, Talbot) PP 53.28
Overtime
5-4 Calder (Carlson, Weaver) PP 60.26

Challenge Cup

For the preliminary round, teams were divided into two groups of five with teams playing each of their opponents once with two homes games and two away games. The home and away games for each club were determined by a random draw.[2] The top two in each group advanced to the semi-finals of the competition.

Group stage

Group A

TeamGPWOTWLOTLGFGAPts
1Belfast Giants440001888
2Manchester Phoenix4301019126
3Newcastle Vipers4202015184
4Sheffield Steelers4103014172
5Edinburgh Capitals4004010210

Group B

TeamGPWOTWLOTLGFGAPts
1Basingstoke Bison4301019166
2Coventry Blaze4201117135
3Nottingham Panthers4110212114
4Cardiff Devils4202010124
5Hull Stingrays4003111181

Semi-finals

Coventry Blaze 1 - 1 Belfast Giants (1st Leg)

Belfast Giants 4 - 1 Coventry Blaze (2nd Leg)

Belfast Win 5 - 2 on Aggregate

Basingstoke Bison 2 - 5 Manchester Phoenix (1st Leg)

Manchester Phoenix 6 - 1 Basingstoke Bison (2nd Leg)

Manchester Win 11 - 3 on Aggregate

Final

Manchester Phoenix 4 - 3 Belfast Giants

Belfast Giants 3 - 1 Manchester Phoenix

Belfast Giants win 6 - 5 on aggregate

Elite League Table

Regular season standings GP W OTW L OTL GF GA GD Pts
Sheffield Steelers5435667201115+8689
Coventry Blaze54344142228151+7778
Nottingham Panthers54334134226154+7278
Belfast Giants54296154216170+4674
Cardiff Devils54217197174143+3163
Manchester Phoenix54225234198179+1958
Newcastle Vipers54147294147184−3746
Edinburgh Capitals54181296179243−6444
Hull Stingrays54133335154243−8937
Basingstoke Bison5453433131272−14119

Elite League Playoffs

Quarter-finals Semi-finals Final
         
1 Sheffield Steelers 12
8 Edinburgh Capitals 7
1 Sheffield Steelers 5
5 Cardiff Devils 2
4 Belfast Giants 5
5 Cardiff Devils 6
1 Sheffield Steelers 2
3 Nottingham Panthers 0
2 Coventry Blaze 6
7 Newcastle Vipers 4
2 Coventry Blaze 2
3 Nottingham Panthers 6
3 Nottingham Panthers 9
6 Manchester Phoenix 5

All-star game

On February 19th, 2009, the SkyDome in Coventry staged the 2009 EIHL All-Star Game. This game was played out between the North All-Stars and the South All-Stars. Dave Matsos of the Sheffield Steelers was chosen to coach the North, while Paul Thompson of the Coventry Blaze was chosen to coach the South. The rosters for each team consisted of players representing all 10 Elite League clubs.

Footnotes

  1. The Official Site of the Coventry Blaze Ice Hockey Team
  2. "bmibaby Elite League confirm 2007/08 competitions". Archived from the original on 2007-09-27. Retrieved 2008-09-22.
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