The Elite League Years: 2006-07

Welcome to the fourth edition in our series of looking back at previous Elite League seasons. This time we transport ourselves back into the 2006-07 season, season number four for the EIHL.

The previous season had seen the domestic honours be shared around three different clubs, but who would come out as top dogs this time out? The league itself had a change, and a positive one too as the number of member clubs expanded from eight to ten. Joining the league were the Hull Stingrays who made the jump from the English Premier League which itself was the newer second tier hockey level after the implosion of the BNL a couple of seasons ago, and after a two year absence: the Manchester Phoenix. This gave the teams a 54 game regular season with each team playing the others three times both home and away.

Could Belfast retain their title? Well they came close with a second placed finish but the eventual winners proved to be the Coventry Blaze. It was Coventry's second title in just three seasons and they were quickly becoming one of the league's powerhouses despite only joining the top level four years previous. It was bitter sweet for the Giants who looked nailed on to win back-to-back titles but the Blaze hauled them in and eventually took the title by four points. Cardiff and Sheffield had better seasons, being not as far off the pace whilst the newcomers suffered differing fortunes. Manchester finished a more than creditable sixth but Hull finished ninth, level on points with Edinburgh, but one more regulation win would see the East Yorkshire side avoid the wooden spoon.

In the Challenge Cup, the semi-finals saw the established names of Coventry and Sheffield take on the newbies of Manchester and Hull. The results went with the form book as both the Blaze and the Steelers won 6-3 on aggregate. The first leg of the final was played in the Sky Dome on Valentine's Day, and it ended up with the Blaze holding a slender 4-3 advantage. We had to wait six weeks before the second leg could be played, and with such a small deficit to overcome then you might have backed Sheffield to do it. However, the Blaze scorched to a 5-1 triumph in the House of Steel to wrap up their second trophy of the season.

Was it to be a second Grand Slam for the Blaze? Well, no as they were beaten in the semi-final stage by a much improved Cardiff side. Cardiff took that one 3-2 and would face the Panthers in the Final. Panthers had taken out both the Steelers and the Giants in their route to the Final, but could they finish the job off? They made the perfect start with GB internationalist David Clarke giving them the lead in the first minute, a lead that they managed to hold onto until the early stages of the third and final period. Devils defenceman Tyson Teplitsky with a bullet of a shot to tie the game up. Both teams had chances after that to win it but it ended up going to penalties and only one attempt proved successful thanks to Panthers' Trevor Gallant whilst at the other end netminder Rasti Rovnianek denied the Devils shooters. It was a first trophy for new head coach Mike Ellis.

Into Europe, and the Continental Cup. Both Belfast and Newcastle decided no dice when it came to playing in the tournament so the flag bearers ended up being the Panthers as the next ranked team in the previous league season standings. Alas, it proved to be a less than successful tournament for them. They failed to win a single game or point in their group which was based in the French city of Rouen. The hosts beat them 6-2 in the opener but results improved a little bit in their two remaining games as they conceded one less goal each time. A 5-2 loss in game two to EC Red Bull Salzburg, then in their final match a 4-2 loss to Danes SønderjyskE. 

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The Elite League Years: 2005-06

Welcome again to the latest look back at previous seasons in the Elite League. We're up to season number three in this edition, it's time to cast our eyes back to the 2005-06 season.

After the Grand Slam the previous year, all eyes were on the Coventry Blaze to see if they could repeat the feat or would they be a one trick pony as the saying goes. The League itself had expanded from the previous campaign with Newcastle Vipers and Edinburgh Capitals starting their first seasons in the EIHL after the collapse of the BNL which took the number of teams to nine. However, only eight would finish the seasons as the London Racers folded mid-season after rink problems throughout. London's playing record was expunged which meant each team played a total of 42 league games. It proved to be the last season we would see a team from the Capital in the top flight of British hockey.

Back to the league itself, and it was a first ever EIHL title to head over to Northern Ireland. Belfast had decided before a puck was dropped to not compete in the Challenge Cup, as they couldn't guarantee ice time and it proved to be a gamble that paid off as they were never headed and took the Monteith Bowl for the first time in this new structure (they had won the old Superleague in 2001-02); an impressive feat for a club that was only six years old. Newcomers Newcastle pushed them hard but their hopes ended in early March with an unexpected loss away to fellow newcomers Edinburgh. Both Cardiff and Sheffield had poor seasons, finishing 5th and 6th respectively.

In the Challenge Cup, the eight teams that did take part were divided into two groups of four with the four most southern teams making up Group A and consequently the four northern based ones made up Group B. From these groups, Cardiff and Coventry prevailed from Group A and Nottingham and Newcastle from Group B. Both semi-finals proved to be close with Cardiff seeing off the Vipers 3-2 on aggregate, and the Blaze edging past the Panthers in a goal-laden encounter: 8-7 over two legs. So we had a repeat of the previous season's Challenge Cup Final and most thought it was going to stay in Coventry as the Blaze racked up a 3-0 advantage in the first leg played at the Sky Dome, all the goals coming in the first 13 minutes. But the Devils roared back in the second leg, inspired by Canadian winger Nathan Rempel, whom they acquired after London's collapse. The winger scored twice and assisted on another to erase the deficit before halfway. Jeff Hutchins edged the Blaze back in front but Rempel completed an incredible hat-trick with just 20 seconds left to force overtime. Overtime couldn't separate the teams so penalties were needed, Rejean Stringer was the only player to score and it meant the comeback was complete.

So two trophies down, and two different clubs as winner. Could either make it a double season or would there be a different one again for the Play-Offs. Both Cardiff and Belfast made the final four but that's where it ended for both as they were defeated by Sheffield and Newcastle respectively. I personally missed this as I was recovering from a major knee operation, and it would have been heartbreak if I had been there anyway as the Vipers stung the Steelers with a come from behind win; former Steeler David Longstaff scoring the game winning goal. A nice ending to a dèbut season for the North-East club.

Meanwhile there was also European action as the Blaze represented the EIHL in the Continental Cup trophy. Paul Thompson's side entered at the second round stage, but that was as good as it was for them as they exited at the same stage: beaten 2-0 in a winner takes all game with hosting club Grenoble. 

This was also the season when we saw the last ever hockey played in the old Wales National Ice Rink before the Devils relocated to the "Big Blue Tent" and we had the privilege of seeing NHL superstar Theo Fleury grace these shores as a member of the Belfast Giants. 

Who would come out on top in 2006-07, join us next week to find out. 

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The Elite League Years: 2004-05

Welcome to our look back at the previous Elite League seasons as we chronicle the previous years ahead of the 2018-19 season. This time we look back at 2004-05.

The Elite League, despite the disputes, was back for a second season in 2004. Sheffield Steelers had won the first one thanks to an amazing winning run that saw them finish as champions by a convincing margin at the end. Could they make it back to back titles?

There was one noticeable absentee from that inaugural season, the Manchester Phoenix had failed to agree terms with their landlords for ice time at the, as it was then known, Manchester Evening News (MEN) Arena so the Elite League started with just seven member clubs. To fill a few gaps in the fixture list, there was a Crossover Cup which saw the EIHL sides take part in games against teams in the lesser BNL. This didn't count towards the Grand Slam though. With the NHL in lockout, a number of EIHL clubs bolstered their rosters with NHL players: remarkably Belfast, Cardiff and Sheffield didn't feel the need to do so for their own reasons.

Alas Steelers couldn't repeat their exploits of 2003-04, and they had a bad season by their standards finishing 5th out of 7 in the overall rankings. Only London and Basingstoke finished below them. The league trophy was fought out between Belfast and Coventry, with Blaze taking the eventual title by six points from the Northern Irish side. Blaze's successful campaign was inspired by their own dynamic duo; Adam Calder and Dan Carlson plus stellar goaltending from netminder Jody Lehman. Calder and Carlson led the league in points and goals scoring, whilst at the other end of the ice Lehman let in less than two goals a game on average to back stop the Blaze to glory.

The Challenge Cup saw the top two from each qualifying group make the semi-finals. These final four saw the finalists of last season's Challenge Cup be joined by Cardiff again and the impressive Blaze. Coventry edged past the Panthers 5-4 on aggregate in their semi-final; a 2-1 first leg win in the Sky Dome proving decisive as the teams shared a 3-3 tie in the NIC. In the other semi-final, it was a repeat of the semi-final of last season but this time it was the Devils who proved victorious. After a 2-2 draw in Sheffield, Devils won the second 3-1 in Cardiff to book their place in the two-legged Final. Alas that was good as it got for them as Coventry crushed them 6-1 in the first leg at the Sky Dome. Just for good measure, they won the second leg too - winning that by the odd goal in nine to record a 11-5 aggregate triumph.

Like the initial season, the top six made the group stages for the end of season play-offs with the top two in each qualifying for finals weekend. Because of the odd number of teams in the league, Basingstoke were the unfortunate ones to miss out completely. In Group A, Coventry and Nottingham prevailed whilst Cardiff and Sheffield qualified from Group B. In the first semi-final, the Blaze shutout the Steelers 3-0 whilst the Panthers made their second successive play-off final after seeing off the Devils 3-1. Defenceman Neal Martin gave the Blaze the lead but Nick Boynton (one of three NHL players Panthers iced during the lockout) levelled almost immediately. The game ultimately went to overtime, and it was former Panthers winger Ashley Tait who had the last laugh on the team that didn't want him with a winner 115 seconds before the end of the extra period. Grand Slam for the Blaze, the first in Elite League history.

The Panthers represented the league in the Continental Cup, and entered in the second round stage. They were desperately unlucky not to progress, finishing level on points with the Milan Vipers. However, the Vipers progressed to the next stage on goal difference: having a difference of +11 to Paul Adey's Panthers +3. If only they had beaten the Vipers in matchday one... 

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The Elite League Years: 2003-04

Welcome to another series I am going to run in addition to the other ones. This is one of the first series of articles I actually thought prior to launching the blog, and will run until we get to the most recent version.

Remember seeing programmes on TV where they look back on previous years? Well, this is the blog's version of it. In this series, we will be looking back at the previous seasons of the Elite League. Time to rewind then, this first edition takes us back to 2003-04.

2003-04 was a significant year in British Hockey. The Super League had imploded with financial issues surrounding a number of clubs, causing the mass uncertainty. Three clubs remained stable, Belfast, Nottingham and Sheffield. But you can't run a league with just them. So out of the British National League, Coventry, Cardiff and Basingstoke decided to put their names up for playing at a higher level and new clubs were formed in London and Manchester to replace the ones who had bitten the dust. 

These eight clubs formed the first ever Elite League which eventually got the go ahead despite voiciferous objections by IHUK who refused initially to accept it as a recognised league; it took the IIHF's intervention to give the green light or who knows what might have happened. British hockey certainly wasn't in the best place for sure.

Three trophies were on offer. Those being the first ever EIHL title and the Challenge Cup plus the play-offs which were in a different format to what they are now. The honour of that very first EIHL title went Sheffield's way, the Steelers finishing the regular season with 92 points from their 56 games and 16 points clear of their nearest challenger which was the Panthers. Panthers had been in touch but Steelers kicked on with an incredible run after losing 3-2 in Cardiff and win every one of their remaining league games.

The Challenge Cup saw the Panthers take this particular trophy for the first time, and in dramatic circumstances. After the Panthers had comprehensively seen off Belfast in their semi-final thanks to a 7-3 win in the second leg, they met the Steelers who had disposed of Cardiff with a 3-1 away win in South Wales proving decisive. Panthers held the first leg, and there was nothing to separate the sides as it ended 1-1 and all to play for at the House of Steel. It looked a certainty for the Panthers as they took a 2-0 advantage in the opening stages but Steelers fought back to level matters. The game went to overtime, and it was Finn Kim Ahlroos who proved to be the hero with his game winner timed at 60:53.

For the play-offs the new league decided that the top six would undertake a round robin type qualifying tournament with the six sides split into two groups of three. In Group A, it was the Steelers and Manchester who made the final four at the expense of Belfast whilst in Group B Cardiff and the Panthers were successful, Coventry missing out from there. As the first placed side in Group A, the Steelers were paired with the second placed one in Group B which turned out to be Cardiff; goals from Mike Peron and Marc LeFebvre proved to be enough to see off the Devils. Panthers had no problems in their semi-final, seeing off the Manchester Phoenix (as they were then known) 6-1 which set up a repeat of the Challenge Cup Final. The Steelers proved victorious this time though, scooping their second trophy of the season with a 2-1 win; with Gerad Adams and Kirk DeWaele netting those all important goals.

Next week we look back to 2004-05, and what a season it was for a certain team!

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