2006–07 EIHL season

2006–07 EIHL season Elite Ice Hockey League Ice hockey September – March Regular season Champions Coventry Blaze Playoffs Champions Nottingham Panthers Challenge Cup Champions Coventry Blaze 2005–06 2007–08 EIHL 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. 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 With planning permission granted for a new rink, the Manchester Phoenix entered a team into competitions for the first time since 2003–04. While waiting for the Altrincham Ice Dome to be completed, the Phoenix played home matches at the Deeside Leisure Centre and at IceSheffield. After numerous delays the Ice Dome finally opened on February 25, 2007 with a 5–4 defeat to the Basingstoke Bison.https://www.eliteleague.co.uk/game/2808-man-bas Manchester Phoenix 4:5 Basingstoke Bison EIHL 14 February 2026 The Hull Stingrays were elected to join the Elite League from the second tier English Premier League. This brought the number of actively participating members in British ice hockey's top flight to ten, the highest number since 1995–96.http://www.eliteleague.co.uk/news/detail.php?id=4205 https://web.archive.org/web/20070927104143/http://www.eliteleague.co.uk/news/detail.php?id=4205 27 September 2007 bmibaby Elite Ice Hockey League | News – Stingrays addition brings Elite League to Ten www.eliteleague.co.uk 14 February 2026 The Cardiff Devils moved to a new ice rink in Cardiff Bay. After playing on the road for the first three months of the season, the Devils played their first game at the Cardiff Bay Ice Rink on December 6, 2006 with a 7–4 victory over Manchester. Despite their difficulties, the Devils won the Knockout Cup with a 3–0 victory over Coventry Blaze in the final at the SkyDome. The Coventry Blaze won their second league title in three seasons, confirming the championship with a 5–1 victory over the Edinburgh Capitals on March 21, 2007 with two games to spare. The Blaze also won a second Challenge Cup with a 9–4 aggregate victory over the Sheffield Steelers in the final. The Nottingham Panthers clinched their first Play-off Championship since 1989 with a penalty shots win over the Cardiff Devils. The Panthers won each round of the playoffs on penalty shots, defeating their arch rivals Sheffield in the quarterfinals and the Belfast Giants in the semifinals before claiming the trophy on April 8, 2007. Challenge Cup 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 DateHomeAwayResultVenue1 December 16 Coventry Blaze 4 Manchester Phoenix 1 Final SkyDome Arena2 December 17 Manchester Phoenix 2 Coventry Blaze 2 Final Deeside Leisure CentreCoventry win 6–3 on aggregate DateHomeAwayResultVenue1 January 10 Sheffield Steelers 5 Hull Stingrays 3 Final Hallam FM Arena2 January 24 Hull Stingrays 0 Sheffield Steelers 1 Final Hull ArenaSheffield win 6–3 on aggregate Final DateHomeAwayResultVenue1 February 14 Coventry Blaze 4 Sheffield Steelers 3 Final SkyDome Arena2 March 27 Sheffield Steelers 1 Coventry Blaze 5 Final Hallam FM ArenaCoventry win 9–4 on aggregate Elite League Table Regular season standings GP W OTW L OTL GF GA Pts Coventry Blaze 54 31 5 15 3 188 129 75 Belfast Giants 54 27 7 17 3 192 153 71 Cardiff Devils 54 22 10 17 5 175 152 69 Sheffield Steelers 54 26 4 16 8 163 154 68 Nottingham Panthers 54 25 4 17 8 184 149 66 Manchester Phoenix 54 21 5 22 6 185 184 58 Basingstoke Bison 54 21 2 25 6 161 185 52 Newcastle Vipers 54 22 2 29 1 151 169 49 Hull Stingrays 54 15 3 33 3 114 174 39 Edinburgh Capitals 54 14 4 33 3 160 224 39 Elite League play-offs Quarter-finals Semi-finals Final 1 Coventry Blaze 5 8 Newcastle Vipers 4 3 Cardiff Devils 4 6 Manchester Phoenix 3 2 Belfast Giants 8 7 Basingstoke Bison 4 4 Sheffield Steelers 5 5 Nottingham Panthers 6 1 Coventry Blaze 2 3 Cardiff Devils 3 2 Belfast Giants 1 5 Nottingham Panthers 2 3 Cardiff Devils 1 5 Nottingham Panthers 2 Quarter-finals Quarter Final 1: (1) Coventry Blaze vs. (8) Newcastle Vipers DateHomeAwayResultVenue1 March 31 Newcastle Vipers 1 Coventry Blaze 0 Final Metro Radio Arena2 April 1 Coventry Blaze 5 Newcastle Vipers 3 Final (OT) SkyDome ArenaCoventry win 5–4 on aggregate after overtime Quarter Final 2: (2) Belfast Giants vs. (7) Basingstoke Bison DateHomeAwayResultVenue1 March 31 Belfast Giants 3 Basingstoke Bison 1 Final Odyssey Arena2 April 1 Basingstoke Bison 3 Belfast Giants 5 Final Planet Ice SilverdomeBelfast win 8–4 on aggregate Quarter Final 3: (3) Cardiff Devils vs. (6) Manchester Phoenix DateHomeAwayResultVenue1 March 31 Cardiff Devils 3 Manchester Phoenix 1 Final Cardiff Bay Ice Rink2 April 1 Manchester Phoenix 2 Cardiff Devils 1 Final Altrincham Ice DomeCardiff win 4–3 on aggregate Quarter Final 4: (4) Sheffield Steelers vs. (5) Nottingham Panthers DateHomeAwayResultVenue1 March 31 Nottingham Panthers 4 Sheffield Steelers 2 Final National Ice Centre2 April 1 Sheffield Steelers 3 Nottingham Panthers 2 Final (PS) Hallam FM ArenaNottingham win 6–5 on aggregate after penalty shots Semifinals Semifinal 1: (1) Coventry Blaze vs. (3) Cardiff Devils DateHomeAwayResultVenue1 April 7 Coventry Blaze 2 Cardiff Devils 3 Final National Ice CentreCardiff win 3–2 Semifinal 2: (2) Belfast Giants vs. (5) Nottingham Panthers DateHomeAwayResultVenue1 April 7 Belfast Giants 1 Nottingham Panthers 2 Final (PS) National Ice CentreNottingham win 2–1 after penalty shots Grand final (3) Cardiff Devils vs. (5) Nottingham Panthers DateHomeAwayResultVenue1 April 8 Cardiff Devils 1 Nottingham Panthers 2 Final (PS) National Ice CentreNottingham win 2–1 after penalty shots Awards Coach of the Year Trophy – Paul Thompson, Coventry Blaze Player of the Year Trophy – Mark Smith, Cardiff Devils Ice Hockey Annual Trophy – Tony Hand, Manchester Phoenix British Netminder of the Year – Stephen Murphy, Edinburgh Capitals Alan Weeks Trophy – Jonathan Weaver, Newcastle Vipers Best British Forward – Tony Hand, Manchester Phoenix All Star teams First Team Position Second Team Trevor Koenig, Coventry Blaze G Ratislav Rovnianek, Nottingham Panthers Neal Martin, Coventry Blaze D Tyson Teplitsky, Cardiff Devils Jan Krajíček, Nottingham Panthers D Jonathan Weaver, Newcastle Vipers Mark Smith, Cardiff Devils F Dan Carlson, Coventry Blaze Adam Calder, Coventry Blaze F Johan Molin, Manchester Phoenix Dan Tessier, Sheffield Steelers F Sean McAslan, Nottingham Panthers References Ice Hockey Journalists UK Malcolm Preen's Ice Hockey Results and Tables 2005–06 EIHL season 2007–08 EIHL season EIHL seasons Category:Elite Ice Hockey League seasons 1 United