2017–18 EIHL season

2017–18 EIHL season
LeagueElite Ice Hockey League
SportIce hockey
Duration9 September 2017 – 25 March 2018
Number of matches336
Total attendance904,161
Regular season
LeagueCardiff Devils[1]
Season MVPJoey Martin (Cardiff Devils)[2]
Top scorerMike Hammond (Manchester Storm)
(83 points)[3]
Challenge Cup
WinnersBelfast Giants[4]
Conference
Erhardt championsCardiff Devils[1]
Gardiner championsFife Flyers[5]
Patton championsManchester Storm[6]
Playoffs
ChampionsCardiff Devils[7]
  Runners-upSheffield Steelers[7]
Finals MVPJustin Faryna (Cardiff Devils)[8]
EIHL seasons

The 2017–18 EIHL season was the 15th season of the Elite Ice Hockey League. The regular season commenced on 9 September 2017 and ended on 25 March 2018. The reigning league champions were the Cardiff Devils, who won the championship for the first time in 2016–17. The Devils retained their regular season title, with a 3–2 victory away at the Belfast Giants on 16 March 2018.[1] The Devils also won the playoff title, beating the Sheffield Steelers – who had defeated the Devils 12 months prior in a 6–5 double overtime game – 3–1 in the final, winning a first playoff title since 1998–99.[7][9]

Teams

The league expanded from ten teams to twelve teams for the 2017–18 season, with the introduction of two former English Premier Ice Hockey League teams; the Guildford Flames and the Milton Keynes Lightning.[10]

Starting from the 2017–18 season, the league featured three conferences of four teams compared to the previous season's two conferences of five teams. The Gardiner Conference became an all-Scottish division, with the Braehead Clan, the Dundee Stars, the Edinburgh Capitals and the Fife Flyers. The Manchester Storm, who were part of the Gardiner Conference in 2016–17, moved to a new Southern conference: the Patton Conference. Also part of the division were the Coventry Blaze (moving from the Erhardt Conference), the Guildford Flames and the Milton Keynes Lightning. The final conference was the Erhardt Conference, consisting of the four "Arena" teams: the Belfast Giants, the Cardiff Devils, the Nottingham Panthers and the Sheffield Steelers.[11]

Team City/Town Conference Arena Capacity
Belfast Giants Belfast Erhardt SSE Arena Belfast 7,200
Braehead Clan Scotland Glasgow Gardiner Braehead Arena 4,000
Cardiff Devils Wales Cardiff Erhardt Ice Arena Wales 3,088
Coventry Blaze England Coventry Patton SkyDome Arena 3,000
Dundee Stars Scotland Dundee Gardiner Dundee Ice Arena 2,400
Edinburgh Capitals Scotland Edinburgh Gardiner Murrayfield Ice Rink 3,700
Fife Flyers Scotland Kirkcaldy Gardiner Fife Ice Arena 3,525
Guildford Flames England Guildford Patton Guildford Spectrum 2,001
Manchester Storm England Altrincham Patton Altrincham Ice Dome 2,000
Milton Keynes Lightning England Milton Keynes Patton Planet Ice Milton Keynes 2,800
Nottingham Panthers England Nottingham Erhardt National Ice Centre 7,500
Sheffield Steelers England Sheffield Erhardt Motorpoint Arena 9,000

Standings

Overall

All games counted towards the overall Elite League standings. Each team played 56 matches; 24 matches against their three Conference rivals, and 32 against the eight teams from the other Conferences. The Cardiff Devils became regular season champions for the second successive season, with a 3–2 win over the Belfast Giants on 16 March 2018 at SSE Arena Belfast.[1]

Pos Team Pld W L OTL RW GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Cardiff Devils (Q) 56 41 12 3 37 234 149 +85 85 Regular season champions
Qualification to playoffs
2 Manchester Storm (Q) 56 35 16 5 28 216 169 +47 75 Qualification to playoffs
3 Sheffield Steelers (Q) 56 34 19 3 32 217 140 +77 71
4 Nottingham Panthers (Q) 56 33 18 5 25 203 177 +26 71
5 Belfast Giants (Q) 56 34 20 2 30 227 200 +27 70
6 Guildford Flames (Q) 56 30 17 9 27 215 173 +42 69
7 Fife Flyers (Q) 56 33 21 2 27 218 172 +46 68
8 Coventry Blaze (Q) 56 25 26 5 22 189 186 +3 55
9 Braehead Clan 56 24 26 6 24 161 186 −25 54
10 Dundee Stars 56 22 30 4 16 167 233 −66 48
11 Milton Keynes Lightning 56 20 34 2 16 180 229 −49 42
12 Edinburgh Capitals 56 5 50 1 5 118 331 −213 11
Source: EIHL
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Games won in regulation time; 3) Number of games won; 4) Head-to-head results, ranked by criteria 1 to 3; 5) Fewest regulation losses; 6) Away game results, ranked by criteria 1 to 3; 7) Goals scored; 8) Drawing of lots.

Erhardt Conference

Only intra-conference games counted towards the Erhardt Conference standings. Each team played the other three teams in the Conference eight times, for a total of 24 matches. The Cardiff Devils won the Conference for the third season in a row, with a 3–2 win over the Belfast Giants on 16 March 2018 at SSE Arena Belfast.[1]

Pos Team Pld W L OTL RW GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Cardiff Devils 24 15 7 2 13 91 71 +20 32 Conference champions
2 Belfast Giants 24 13 9 2 11 77 83 −6 28
3 Sheffield Steelers 24 10 12 2 10 68 63 +5 22
4 Nottingham Panthers 24 10 14 0 8 78 97 −19 20
Source: EIHL
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Games won in regulation time; 3) Number of games won; 4) Head-to-head results, ranked by criteria 1 to 3; 5) Fewest regulation losses; 6) Away game results, ranked by criteria 1 to 3; 7) Goals scored; 8) Drawing of lots.

Gardiner Conference

Only intra-conference games counted towards the Gardiner Conference standings. Each team played the other three teams in the Conference eight times, for a total of 24 matches. The Fife Flyers won the Conference for the first time, with a 7–6 overtime win over the Dundee Stars on 18 February 2018 at the Dundee Ice Arena.[5]

Pos Team Pld W L OTL RW GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Fife Flyers 24 19 3 2 17 123 57 +66 40 Conference champions
2 Braehead Clan 24 14 8 2 14 85 72 +13 30
3 Dundee Stars 24 13 10 1 9 86 96 −10 27
4 Edinburgh Capitals 24 2 21 1 2 59 128 −69 5
Source: EIHL
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Games won in regulation time; 3) Number of games won; 4) Head-to-head results, ranked by criteria 1 to 3; 5) Fewest regulation losses; 6) Away game results, ranked by criteria 1 to 3; 7) Goals scored; 8) Drawing of lots.

Patton Conference

Only intra-conference games counted towards the Patton Conference standings. Each team played the other three teams in the Conference eight times, for a total of 24 matches. The Manchester Storm won the inaugural Conference, after the Coventry Blaze defeated the Storm's closest challengers, the Guildford Flames, 3–1 on 18 March 2018 at the Guildford Spectrum.[6]

Pos Team Pld W L OTL RW GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Manchester Storm 24 15 8 1 13 91 71 +20 31 Conference champions
2 Guildford Flames 24 13 6 5 12 91 75 +16 31
3 Coventry Blaze 24 12 11 1 11 87 91 −4 25
4 Milton Keynes Lightning 24 8 15 1 4 70 102 −32 17
Source: EIHL
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Games won in regulation time; 3) Number of games won; 4) Head-to-head results, ranked by criteria 1 to 3; 5) Fewest regulation losses; 6) Away game results, ranked by criteria 1 to 3; 7) Goals scored; 8) Drawing of lots.

Playoffs

Bracket

Quarter-finals
(30 March – 1 April) 		Semi-finals
(7 April) 		Grand Final
(8 April)
           
1 Cardiff Devils 4 4 8
8 Coventry Blaze 2 3 5
1 Cardiff Devils 4
7 Fife Flyers 0
2 Manchester Storm 4 1 5
7 Fife Flyers 1 5 6
1 Cardiff Devils 3
(Pairings are reseeded after the first round)
3 Sheffield Steelers 1
3 Sheffield Steelers 5 4 9
6 Guildford Flames 2 5 7
3 Sheffield Steelers 5 Third place game
(8 April)
4 Nottingham Panthers 4
4 Nottingham Panthers 3 5 8 4 Nottingham Panthers 8
5 Belfast Giants 4 3 7 7 Fife Flyers 2

Quarter-finals

(1) Cardiff Devils vs. (8) Coventry Blaze

30 March 2018 Coventry Blaze 2–4 Cardiff Devils SkyDome Arena Recap  
Ben Lake (PPG) – 1:18 First period No scoring
Danick Paquette – 4:43 Second period 2:30 – Joey Haddad
10:56 – Sean Bentivoglio (PPG)
No scoring Third period 3:00 – Joey Martin (PPG)
9:32 – Matt Pope
Kevin Nastiuk (35 shots / 31 saves) Goalie stats Ben Bowns (32 shots / 30 saves)
1 April 2018 Cardiff Devils 4–3 Coventry Blaze Ice Arena Wales Recap  
Justin Faryna – 18:24 First period 0:34 – Ryan Dingle
No scoring Second period 4:18 – Brett Robinson (PPG)
17:42 – Ross Venus
Josh Batch – 2:47
Matt Pope – 3:26
Justin Faryna (2; ENG) – 18:03 		Third period No scoring
Ben Bowns (15 shots / 12 saves) Goalie stats Kevin Nastiuk (22 shots / 19 saves)
Cardiff Devils win 8–5 on aggregate.


(2) Manchester Storm vs. (7) Fife Flyers

31 March 2018 Fife Flyers 1–4 Manchester Storm Fife Ice Arena Recap  
No scoring First period 15:09 – Chris Auger
No scoring Second period 15:22 – Linden Springer (PPG)
19:01 – Andrew McKinney
Dan Correale – 0:35 Third period 7:01 – Matt Beca
Andy Iles (26 shots / 22 saves) Goalie stats Mike Clemente (31 shots / 30 saves)
1 April 2018 Manchester Storm 1–5 OT Fife Flyers Altrincham Ice Dome Recap  
No scoring First period 4:19 – Danick Gauthier
Mike Hammond – 16:47 Second period 1:14 – Carlo Finucci
11:13 – Jim Jorgensen (PPG)
No scoring Third period 6:31 – Liam Heelis (PPG)
No scoring First overtime period 0:47 – Carlo Finucci (2)
Mike Clemente (26 shots / 21 saves) Goalie stats Andy Iles (26 shots / 25 saves)
Fife Flyers win 6–5 on aggregate.


(3) Sheffield Steelers vs. (6) Guildford Flames

31 March 2018 Sheffield Steelers 5–2 Guildford Flames Motorpoint Arena Recap  
No scoring First period 8:38 – Charles Wells
No scoring Second period No scoring
John Armstrong – 2:45
Robert Dowd (PPG) – 11:33
John Armstrong (2) – 13:13
Andreas Valdix – 14:34
Mark Matheson (PPG) – 19:36 		Third period 6:21 – Brett Ferguson (PPG)
Ervīns Muštukovs (30 shots / 28 saves) Goalie stats Chris Carrozzi (32 shots / 27 saves)
1 April 2018 Guildford Flames 5–4 Sheffield Steelers Guildford Spectrum Recap  
Jesse Craige (PPG) – 7:39 First period 1:51 – John Armstrong
3:22 – Mark Matheson
Rhett Rachinski – 1:08 Second period 1:43 – Colton Fretter
13:44 – Eric Neiley
Ben Davies (PPG) – 1:34
Kruise Reddick (PPG) – 3:00
Ben Davies (2) – 19:22 		Third period No scoring
Chris Carrozzi (27 shots / 23 saves) Goalie stats Ervīns Muštukovs (43 shots / 38 saves)
Sheffield Steelers win 9–7 on aggregate.


(4) Nottingham Panthers vs. (5) Belfast Giants

30 March 2018 Belfast Giants 4–3 Nottingham Panthers SSE Arena Belfast Recap  
Darcy Murphy – 9:11
David Rutherford (PPG) – 10:22
Colin Shields (PPG) – 13:16 		First period 19:53 – David Clarke
John Kurtz – 12:34 Second period 0:38 – Mark Derlago
No scoring Third period 8:15 – David Clarke (2)
Jackson Whistle (26 shots / 23 saves) Goalie stats Patrick Galbraith (48 shots / 44 saves)
1 April 2018 Nottingham Panthers 5–3 OT Belfast Giants National Ice Centre Recap  
No scoring First period 3:01 – Jonathan Ferland (PPG)
3:20 – Kevin Raine
Mark Derlago – 3:07
Evan Mosey (SHG) – 14:58 		Second period No scoring
Brett Perlini – 1:29
Yann Sauvé (PPG) – 15:16 		Third period 15:46 – Jim Vandermeer
Dan Spang – 4:34 First overtime period No scoring
Patrick Galbraith (37 shots / 34 saves) Goalie stats Jackson Whistle (29 shots / 24 saves)
Nottingham Panthers win 8–7 on aggregate.


Semi-finals

7 April 2018
13:00		Cardiff Devils4–0
(0–0, 1–0, 3–0)		Fife FlyersNational Ice Centre, Nottingham
Game reference
Ben BownsGoaliesAndy IlesReferees:
Tom Darnell
Stefan Hogarth
Linesmen:
James Kavanagh
Allan Ward
Tyson Strachan – 35:361–0
Matt Pope – 46:422–0
Layne Ulmer – 47:413–0
Justin Faryna – 52:024–0
10 minPenalties8 min
38Shots19
7 April 2018
17:00		Sheffield Steelers5–4 (OT)
(1–2, 1–2, 2–0, 1–0)		Nottingham PanthersNational Ice Centre, Nottingham
Game reference
Ervīns MuštukovsGoaliesPatrick GalbraithReferees:
Dean Smith
Mike Hicks
Linesmen:
Ilia Kisil
Danny Beresford
0–10:47 – Alexander Mokshantsev
0–212:25 – Luke Pither
Mathieu Roy – 15:241–2
Jonathan Phillips – 24:532–2
2–326:50 – Luke Pither (2; PPG)
2–433:45 – Jeff Brown
Ben O'Connor (PPG) – 48:373–4
Levi Nelson – 58:214–4
John Armstrong – 63:475–4
10 minPenalties6 min
42Shots36

Third-place match

8 April 2018
12:00		Nottingham Panthers8–2
(3–1, 3–1, 2–0)		Fife FlyersNational Ice Centre, Nottingham
Game reference
Michael Garnett (26:58)
Sam Gospel (33:02)		GoaliesJordan MarrReferees:
Stefan Hogarth
Dean Smith
Linesmen:
Ilia Kisil
Allan Ward
Jeff Brown – 4:391–0
1–17:01 – Jim Jorgensen
Luke Pither – 15:022–1
Zack Phillips – 16:453–1
3–222:15 – Carlo Finucci
Ollie Betteridge – 26:424–2
Mark Derlago – 31:025–2
Zack Phillips (2) – 32:426–2
Ollie Betteridge (2) – 42:247–2
David Clarke – 57:188–2
0 minPenalties0 min
41Shots27

Grand Final

8 April 2018
16:00		Cardiff Devils3–1
(0–0, 2–0, 1–1)		Sheffield SteelersNational Ice Centre, Nottingham
Game reference
Ben BownsGoaliesErvīns MuštukovsReferees:
Tom Darnell
Mike Hicks
Linesmen:
James Kavanagh
Danny Beresford
Matt Pope (PPG) – 24:531–0
Andrew Hotham – 38:412–0
2–146:55 – Eric Neiley
Jake Morissette (SHG; ENG) – 59:433–1
6 minPenalties6 min
32Shots24

Regular season statistics

Scoring leaders

The following players led the league in points at the conclusion of the regular season.[3]

Player Team GP G A Pts PIM
Mike Hammond Manchester Storm 56 32 51 83 10
John Dunbar Guildford Flames 55 22 59 81 34
Matt Beca Manchester Storm 56 24 51 75 14
Brendan Connolly Belfast Giants 53 27 46 73 154
Joey Martin Cardiff Devils 55 27 46 73 26
Sébastien Sylvestre Belfast Giants 54 32 40 72 152
Dane Byers Manchester Storm 55 24 46 70 107
Luke Moffatt Manchester Storm 56 34 32 66 73
Kruise Reddick Guildford Flames 54 27 39 66 36
Marc-Olivier Vallerand Coventry Blaze 48 34 31 65 145

Leading goaltenders

The following goaltenders led the league in goals against average, while playing at least 1200 minutes, at the conclusion of the regular season.[12]

Player Team GP TOI W L OTL GA SO SV% GAA
Ervīns Muštukovs Sheffield Steelers 53 3097:39 31 19 3 122 9 .918 2.36
Ben Bowns Cardiff Devils 51 2937:01 38 10 3 119 6 .912 2.43
Patrick Galbraith Nottingham Panthers 27 1445:25 19 8 0 62 2 .924 2.57
Andy Iles Fife Flyers 42 2369:49 28 10 2 106 2 .913 2.68
Chris Carrozzi Guildford Flames 43 2589:09 25 13 5 119 3 .904 2.76

Playoff statistics

Scoring leaders

The following players led the league in points at the conclusion of the playoffs.[13]

Player Team GP G A Pts PIM
John Armstrong Sheffield Steelers 4 4 2 6 0
Matt Pope Cardiff Devils 4 4 2 6 0
Luke Pither Nottingham Panthers 4 3 3 6 0
David Clarke Nottingham Panthers 4 3 3 6 4
Mark Matheson Sheffield Steelers 4 2 3 5 0
Mike Hammond Manchester Storm 2 1 4 5 2
Joey Martin Cardiff Devils 4 1 4 5 0
Jake Morissette Cardiff Devils 4 1 4 5 0
Colton Fretter Sheffield Steelers 4 1 4 5 2
Mark Derlago Nottingham Panthers 4 3 1 4 2
Justin Faryna Cardiff Devils 4 3 1 4 2
Carlo Finucci Fife Flyers 4 3 1 4 2

Leading goaltenders

The following goaltenders led the league in goals against average, while playing at least 60 minutes, at the conclusion of the playoffs.[14]

Player Team GP TOI W L OTL GA SO SV% GAA
Ben Bowns Cardiff Devils 4 240:00 4 0 0 6 1 .939 1.50
Mike Clemente Manchester Storm 2 120:47 1 0 1 6 0 .895 2.98
Andy Iles Fife Flyers 3 180:47 1 2 0 9 0 .899 2.99
Ervīns Muštukovs Sheffield Steelers 4 243:25 2 2 0 13 0 .909 3.20
Kevin Nastiuk Coventry Blaze 2 117:20 0 2 0 7 0 .891 3.58

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Marsh, Philip (16 March 2018). "Elite League Ice Hockey: Belfast Giants 2-3 Cardiff Devils". BBC Sport. BBC. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  2. ^ "Devils' Joey Martin leads EIHL awards winners". EliteLeague.co.uk. Elite Ice Hockey League. 9 April 2018. Archived from the original on 10 April 2018. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
  3. ^ a b "Scoring Leaders". EliteLeague.co.uk. Elite Ice Hockey League. Archived from the original on 25 March 2018. Retrieved 26 March 2018.
  4. ^ "Challenge Cup Final: Cardiff Devils 3-6 Belfast Giants". BBC Sport. BBC. 4 March 2018. Retrieved 5 March 2018.
  5. ^ a b "Flyers Seal Gardiner Conference Championship". Fife Flyers. Fife Flyers Ltd. 18 February 2018. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
  6. ^ a b "Sunday night round-up". EliteLeague.co.uk. Elite Ice Hockey League. 18 March 2018. Archived from the original on 20 March 2018. Retrieved 19 March 2018. Manchester Storm edged closer to firming up second place after this shootout win against Nottingham in Altrincham, but the night was made better with the news Storm had won the Patton Conference.
  7. ^ a b c "Elite League Play-off Final: Cardiff Devils 3-1 Sheffield Steelers". BBC Sport. BBC. 8 April 2018. Retrieved 8 April 2018.
  8. ^ "Cardiff Devils vs Sheffield Steelers: 3-1". EliteLeague.co.uk. Pointstreak, Elite Ice Hockey League. 8 April 2018. Retrieved 8 April 2018.
  9. ^ "Cardiff Devils 3 Sheffield Steelers 1". EliteLeague.co.uk. Elite Ice Hockey League. 8 April 2018. Retrieved 8 April 2018. Cardiff Devils made history as they won their first ever play-off title in Elite League history and first since the old Super League era in 1999.
  10. ^ Harrison, Phil (24 February 2017). "And then there were 12 - Why Guildford Flames have made the step up to the Elite League". The Yorkshire Post. Yorkshire Post Newspapers. Retrieved 11 September 2017.
  11. ^ Black, Michael (27 April 2017). "EIHL announce new conference structure". British Ice Hockey. JDG Media. Archived from the original on 12 September 2017. Retrieved 11 September 2017.
  12. ^ "Goalie Leaders". EliteLeague.co.uk. Elite Ice Hockey League. Archived from the original on 25 March 2018. Retrieved 26 March 2018.
  13. ^ "Scoring Leaders". EliteLeague.co.uk. Elite Ice Hockey League. Archived from the original on 8 April 2018. Retrieved 8 April 2018.
  14. ^ "Goalie Leaders". EliteLeague.co.uk. Elite Ice Hockey League. Archived from the original on 8 April 2018. Retrieved 8 April 2018.