2006–07 EIHL season

The 2006–07 Elite Ice Hockey League season commenced on September 9, 2006 and concluded on April 8, 2007. It was the Elite League's fourth season of competition.

2006–07 EIHL season
LeagueElite Ice Hockey League
SportIce hockey
DurationSeptember - March
Regular season
ChampionsCoventry Blaze
Playoffs
ChampionsNottingham Panthers
Challenge Cup
ChampionsCoventry Blaze
EIHL seasons

There was a reduction of one in the number of foreign trained players ('imports') a club was allowed to have signed at one time, with a limit of ten per team. The number of players requiring a work permit (non-British and European Union citizens) was increased from five to nine.

Clubs also had a greater number of North American players to choose from. Previously, EIHL teams were only able to sign players who had played in the NHL, AHL and ECHL, something which essentially limited EIHL clubs to a small pool of ECHL players and inflated wage demands. These new rules allowed clubs to sign players from the CHL and the UHL.

The Nottingham Panthers represented the United Kingdom in the 2006–07 Continental Cup because the 2005–06 champions Belfast Giants and runner-up Newcastle Vipers declined to take part in the tournament.

Notable events

edit

Challenge Cup

edit

The preliminary round saw Coventry, Hull, Manchester and Sheffield advance to the semifinals. Coventry were drawn to face Manchester and Hull drawn against Sheffield.

Semifinals

edit
DateHomeAwayResultVenue
1December 16Coventry Blaze 4Manchester Phoenix 1FinalSkyDome Arena
2December 17Manchester Phoenix 2Coventry Blaze 2FinalDeeside Leisure Centre
Coventry win 6-3 on aggregate
DateHomeAwayResultVenue
1January 10Sheffield Steelers 5Hull Stingrays 3FinalHallam FM Arena
2January 24Hull Stingrays 0Sheffield Steelers 1FinalHull Arena
Sheffield win 6-3 on aggregate

Final

edit
DateHomeAwayResultVenue
1February 14Coventry Blaze 4Sheffield Steelers 3FinalSkyDome Arena
2March 27Sheffield Steelers 1Coventry Blaze 5FinalHallam FM Arena
Coventry win 9-4 on aggregate

Elite League Table

edit
Regular season standingsGPWOTWLOTLGFGAPts
Coventry Blaze5431515318812975
Belfast Giants5427717319215371
Cardiff Devils54221017517515269
Sheffield Steelers5426416816315468
Nottingham Panthers5425417818414966
Manchester Phoenix5421522618518458
Basingstoke Bison5421225616118552
Newcastle Vipers5422229115116949
Hull Stingrays5415333311417439
Edinburgh Capitals5414433316022439

Elite League play-offs

edit
Quarter-finalsSemi-finalsFinal
         
1Coventry Blaze5
8Newcastle Vipers4
1Coventry Blaze2
3Cardiff Devils3
3Cardiff Devils4
6Manchester Phoenix3
3Cardiff Devils1
5Nottingham Panthers2
2Belfast Giants8
7Basingstoke Bison4
2Belfast Giants1
5Nottingham Panthers2
4Sheffield Steelers5
5Nottingham Panthers6

Quarter-finals

edit

Quarter Final 1: (1) Coventry Blaze vs. (8) Newcastle Vipers

edit
DateHomeAwayResultVenue
1March 31Newcastle Vipers 1Coventry Blaze 0FinalMetro Radio Arena
2April 1Coventry Blaze 5Newcastle Vipers 3Final (OT)SkyDome Arena
Coventry win 5-4 on aggregate after overtime

Quarter Final 2: (2) Belfast Giants vs. (7) Basingstoke Bison

edit
DateHomeAwayResultVenue
1March 31Belfast Giants 3Basingstoke Bison 1FinalOdyssey Arena
2April 1Basingstoke Bison 3Belfast Giants 5FinalPlanet Ice Silverdome
Belfast win 8-4 on aggregate

Quarter Final 3: (3) Cardiff Devils vs. (6) Manchester Phoenix

edit
DateHomeAwayResultVenue
1March 31Cardiff Devils 3Manchester Phoenix 1FinalCardiff Bay Ice Rink
2April 1Manchester Phoenix 2Cardiff Devils 1FinalAltrincham Ice Dome
Cardiff win 4-3 on aggregate

Quarter Final 4: (4) Sheffield Steelers vs. (5) Nottingham Panthers

edit
DateHomeAwayResultVenue
1March 31Nottingham Panthers 4Sheffield Steelers 2FinalNational Ice Centre
2April 1Sheffield Steelers 3Nottingham Panthers 2Final (PS)Hallam FM Arena
Nottingham win 6-5 on aggregate after penalty shots

Semifinals

edit

Semifinal 1: (1) Coventry Blaze vs. (3) Cardiff Devils

edit
DateHomeAwayResultVenue
1April 7Coventry Blaze 2Cardiff Devils 3FinalNational Ice Centre
Cardiff win 3-2

Semifinal 2: (2) Belfast Giants vs. (5) Nottingham Panthers

edit
DateHomeAwayResultVenue
1April 7Belfast Giants 1Nottingham Panthers 2Final (PS)National Ice Centre
Nottingham win 2-1 after penalty shots

Grand final

edit

(3) Cardiff Devils vs. (5) Nottingham Panthers

edit
DateHomeAwayResultVenue
1April 8Cardiff Devils 1Nottingham Panthers 2Final (PS)National Ice Centre
Nottingham win 2-1 after penalty shots

Awards

edit

All Star teams

edit
First TeamPositionSecond Team
Trevor Koenig, Coventry BlazeGRatislav Rovnianek, Nottingham Panthers
Neal Martin, Coventry BlazeDTyson Teplitsky, Cardiff Devils
Jan Krajíček, Nottingham PanthersDJonathan Weaver, Newcastle Vipers
Mark Smith, Cardiff DevilsFDan Carlson, Coventry Blaze
Adam Calder, Coventry BlazeFJohan Molin, Manchester Phoenix
Dan Tessier, Sheffield SteelersFSean McAslan, Nottingham Panthers

References

edit
Preceded by EIHL seasons Succeeded by