The Elite Ice Hockey League (also known for sponsorship reasons as the
bmibaby Elite League) is a professional ice hockey league in the
United Kingdom. Formed in 2003 following the demise of the Ice Hockey
Superleague, it is the highest level of ice hockey competition in the
United Kingdom. Unlike its North American counterparts, the Elite
League is not divided into conferences; teams compete in a single
division.

Ice hockey is a minor sport in the United Kingdom and the EIHL, like
its predecessors, faces a constant struggle to stay on the ice. The
league currently consists of ten teams, with representation from all
four Home Nations. In four completed seasons, the league has been won
by three different teams. The 2006-07 league champions are Coventry
Blaze, who claimed their second title, beating the 2005-06 champions
Belfast Giants into second place.


Overview
 Locations of teams for the 2006-07 seasonSeveral competitions fall
under the jurisdiction of the Elite League. In 2005-06, the EIHL ran a
total of four competitions: the league, playoffs, Challenge Cup and
Knockout Cup. The league consists of a single division, each team
playing three home games and three away games against the other teams
in the league. Two points are awarded for a win and one for a draw or
overtime defeat. Overtime consists of five minutes of four-on-four
hockey and ends immediately if a goal is scored. The team that has
most points after all fixtures are completed is declared champion.

After the regular season is complete, the teams with the best regular
season records enter the playoffs, the winner of which receives the
British Championship. The number of teams competing in the playoffs
has varied, the first two seasons saw six teams qualify, while the
demise of the London Racers in November 2005 saw all eight teams
qualify. Though the number of teams has changed, the format for the
playoffs has remained broadly similar. The teams are divided into two
groups, with the members of each group playing on a round-robin basis.
The top two teams in each group qualify for the semi-finals, which are
straight knockout matches. Both the semi-finals and the final take
place over a single weekend in April at the National Ice Centre in
Nottingham.

The Challenge Cup has taken a number of different formats, ranging
from a table formed from the results designated league fixtures to
four team groups played on a round robin basis at the beginning of the
season. The semi finals and final are two-legged games, the winner
being the team with the highest aggregate score at the end of the
second game.

The Knockout Cup was created in 2005 after the London Racers withdrew
from the league. The Cup is a knockout tournament in which teams are
randomly drawn to face one another in two-legged games, with aggregate
scoreline determining the winner of each tie.

The Elite League is governed by a Board of twelve Directors: the
owners of the ten participating teams, plus the owners of the London
Racers and Milton Keynes Lightning, who maintain the right to join the
league without making an application. The day to day operation of the
league is overseen by chairman Eamon Convery and Director of Hockey
Andy French. Disciplinary matters are handled by Director of
Discipline and former referee Simon Kirkham. The level below the Elite
League is the English Premier Ice Hockey League. A system of promotion
and relegation is not operated by the Elite League; teams enter the
league on the basis of a decision by the Board of Directors. In 2006,
the club which finished eighth in the EPIHL during the 2005-06 season
(Hull Stingrays) was elected into the Elite League.


History
British ice hockey's structure underwent major reorganisation in 1996.
The British Hockey League (the highest senior competition since 1982)
was disbanded and replaced by the Ice Hockey Superleague and British
National League. The BNL pursued a British player orientated
structure, while the Superleague increased the wage cap significantly
and abolished limits on the number of overseas players, resulting in
the highest standard of ice hockey seen in the United Kingdom in the
modern era of the professional game. By 2002, both leagues were
suffering problems. The Superleague in particular was in great
difficulty. Record attendance levels achieved shortly after the league
was formed proved unsustainable, and as a result, the cost of
maintaining the Superleague's high standard of ice hockey became
unaffordable. A number of clubs folded amidst financial problems, and
others had to seek new ownership in order to stay afloat.

The loss of the Cardiff Devils and Newcastle Jesters in 2001 reduced
the membership of the Superleague to seven and when the Manchester
Storm and Scottish Eagles collapsed within a week of one another at
the beginning of the 2002-03 season, there were just five remaining
teams. In December 2002 the Bracknell Bees announced their intention
to resign from the league to join the BNL at the end of the season and
uncertainty surrounded the future of the London Knights and their
London Arena home. Owing a large debt to Ice Hockey UK and facing the
prospect of having only three members, the league put itself into
liquidation on 30 April 2003.

The three remaining clubs (the Belfast Giants, Nottingham Panthers and
Sheffield Steelers) began considering the formation of a new league
with a lower wage cap and larger commitment to British players in
order to attract other clubs into joining them. In the weeks that
followed they were joined by the Basingstoke Bison, Cardiff Devils and
Coventry Blaze of the British National League and two new
organisations from London and Manchester. The new league met
considerable opposition from the British National League and the
governing body Ice Hockey UK. IHUK wished the remaining Superleague
clubs to integrate themselves into the BNL and initially refused to
grant the new league affiliation. The Superleague clubs were reluctant
to join the predominantly British trained league after several years
of playing in an import-dominated league where British players were
seldom able to step up to the standard of their North American and
European counterparts. The Elite League instead preferred a twelve
import limit with the rest of the team comprising British trained
players.

The refusal to grant affiliation caused a bitter row to ensue that
showed little sign of being resolved. Despite not having the support
of the governing body, the new league continued their plans
regardless. No affiliation would have meant that the clubs would have
problems attaining work permits for their signings and finding
officials to referee their matches. The row also threatened the future
of the Nottingham Panthers, as the National Ice Centre were reluctant
to allow a team from an unaffiliated league hire their arena. The
issue was resolved in August 2003 when the Panthers and the NIC
announced an icetime agreement. The EIHL finally agreed affiliation in
August 2003, with only weeks to go before the beginning of the new
season.

The new league began on September 12 2003 when the Sheffield Steelers,
who went on to become the inaugural league champions, defeated the
newly formed London Racers 6-1 at Alexandra Palace. The Racers endured
a difficult first season, moving to a different rink only weeks into
the season and having to wait 40 games to record a win, a 3-0 victory
over the Cardiff Devils. The Racers finished the season with ten
points, thirty-eight points behind second bottom Basingstoke. The
other new team, Manchester Phoenix faired slightly better, qualifying
for the playoff finals after finishing sixth in the league, where they
were defeated 6-1 by Nottingham in the semi final. The club played at
the 17,500 capacity MEN Arena which had been home to the Manchester
Storm, but Phoenix crowds averaged 2,250, well below the break-even
mark of 3,000. Late in the season, the Phoenix choose to play a game
at IceSheffield rather than pay the considerable cost of hiring the
arena for a mid week game (which usually had lower attendances). In
the close season they allowed fans to vote on the option of either
suspending playing operations while a new rink was constructed or
playing in exile away from Manchester while a new rink was built.
Supporters opted to suspend playing operations pending the
construction of a new facility.

The second season of the EIHL saw a series of games between the EIHL
clubs and the members of the BNL. In addition to three home games and
three away games against their Elite opponents, each club also played
one home game and one away game against the BNL clubs in crossover
matchups. Results in these crossover games would count towards a
team's points tally. The NHL lockout also saw a number of NHL players
join British clubs. Coventry won a Grand Slam of all three titles,
winning the Championship with an overtime victory over the Nottingham
Panthers.

The crossover games with the BNL clubs were seen by many to be the
first stage towards the amalgamation of the two organisations into one
league. However, early in the season it was revealed that teams
including Edinburgh Capitals and Newcastle Vipers were seeking to
resign from the BNL and join the Elite League. A withdrawal of the
these clubs would leave the British National League with only a small
number of participating teams. This situation led to the resigning
teams temporarily withdrawing their Elite League applications and
entering into collective discussions on the entire BNL joining the
EIHL instead. The Elite League offered the BNL clubs invitations to
join the EIHL structure, which were declined due to unfavourable
terms. Subsequently Edinburgh and Newcastle resubmitted individual
applications to the Elite League, both of which were accepted. A
combination of this and Bracknell Bees owner John Nike's announcement
that he was withdrawing funding from the BNL team prompted the
collapse of the BNL at the end of the 2004-05 season.

With the Edinburgh Capitals and Newcastle Vipers becoming the ninth
and tenth members of the league, the 2005-06 season began with nine
clubs (Manchester had opted to take another season out with no rink
yet constructed). However, in November 2005 the London Racers withdrew
their team from competition and immediately ceased operations. From
their formation the Racers suffered problems finding a rink with
comparable facilities to those of their rivals and maintained only a
very small fanbase. The club had made the Lee Valley Ice Centre their
home after playing only a small number of games at the Alexandra
Palace in their first season. The facilities were very basic, seating
only 900 people with an overall capacity of barely 1000. In November
2005, during a game against Nottingham, Panthers player Blaz Emersic
suffered a serious facial injury after colliding with a protruding
object in the boardings. Further concerns were raised when a game
against the Sheffield Steelers was abandoned after a piece of
plexiglas shattered in an irregular manner, injuring a spectator. When
a similar event took place during practice a few days later, the
Racers management began to question seriously the safety of the rink.
With the Ice Centre unable to ensure the safety of players and
spectators at Elite League games, the Racers were forced to suspend
team operations with immediate effect.

In January 2006, the Manchester Phoenix were granted planning
permission to construct a new rink in Altrincham. A few weeks later
the Cardiff Devils also received planning permission for the
construction of a new rink. The Wales National Ice Rink was earmarked
for demolition and a campaign for the council to provide a new
facility proved successful. With both clubs confirming their intent to
take part the following season, speculation began about the possible
inclusion of a tenth team to replace London. After the season was
over, rumours about the possible admission of either Hull or Dundee
became more and more widespread. On June 22 2006, the Hull Stingrays
were formally elected into the Elite Ice Hockey League as the tenth
active member.

In June 2006 the EIHL announced the adoption of the 'zero tolerance'
interpretation of the rules with regard to holding, hooking and
interference implemented in the National Hockey League during the
2005-06 season. These rules had proved highly successful in the NHL,
increasing the pace of the game and leading to a rise in spectator
numbers.

On August 25 2006, the Elite League announced a sponsorship deal with
the low cost airline bmibaby. The agreement will see the company's
name incorporated into the league's title and the airline's branding
at each of the league's ten arenas. The deal is set to last for seven
seasons.


Clubs
Club Founded City/Town Arena Capacity
Basingstoke Bison 1988 Basingstoke, South East Silverdome Arena 2,000
Belfast Giants 2000 Belfast, Northern Ireland Odyssey Arena 7,100
Cardiff Devils 1986 Cardiff, Wales Cardiff Bay Ice Rink 2,000
Coventry Blaze 2000 Coventry, West Midlands SkyDome Arena 2,800
Edinburgh Capitals 1998 Edinburgh, Scotland Murrayfield Ice Rink
3,800
Hull Stingrays 2003 Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire Hull Ice Arena
2,000
Manchester Phoenix 2003 Manchester, North West Altrincham Ice Dome
2,500
Newcastle Vipers 2002 Newcastle, North East Metro Radio Arena 4,500
Nottingham Panthers 1946 Nottingham, East Midlands National Ice Centre
6,500
Sheffield Steelers 1991 Sheffield, Yorkshire Hallam FM Arena 8,500


Players
Elite League teams rely heavily on players from outside the United
Kingdom (termed imports). The majority of these players are from North
America, and typically played in the North American leagues such as
the ECHL before coming to Britain. For example, of the 21 players to
play for champions Belfast Giants in the 2005-06 season, 10 were
Canadian, 7 were British and 4 were American. It should be noted
however that the number of players from Eastern Europe in the league
is growing. The league restricts the number of import players which
can be on a team's roster at any one time, with a current limit of 10
imports. Player turnover is high, with a large proportion of players
spending a single season at a team before moving on, and multi-year
contracts are uncommon.

As would be expected in a league dominated by North American players,
the style of ice hockey in the Elite League is similar to that played
in North America, and has a more physical style than other,
technically natured European leagues. This was demonstrated during the
2004-05 NHL lockout. Of the NHL players to join Elite League teams,
the majority were players noted for physical strength rather than puck-
handling skills, such as Wade Belak, Brendan Witt and Eric Cairns.


Media coverage
Ice hockey receives little national media coverage in the United
Kingdom. Some national newspapers list results and provide short
summaries of the league's news but more extensive coverage remains
minimal. There was a small surge in interest during the 2004-05 season
when newspapers such as The Times reported on the NHL players playing
the Elite League as a result of the lockout but since the lockout
ended, coverage has returned to its previous levels. There is one
national magazine dedicated to British ice hockey, Powerplay which is
published weekly during the ice hockey season.

Elite League coverage is not shown on any of the major British
television networks; the only ice hockey programming on terrestrial TV
is late night National Hockey League coverage on Five. In the 1980s
and 1990s, Sky Sports and the BBC's Grandstand programme covered the
British Hockey League and Superleague and their important games and
competitions regularly. However, in 2001 the Superleague sold its
broadcasting rights to 'Premium TV Ltd' who planned to set up a new
sports channel, which never materialised. British ice hockey was left
without coverage from any television network. This situation continued
through the final seasons of the Superleague and into the first
seasons of the Elite League. In 2005, Elite League officials concluded
an agreement with the North American Sports Network to provide a
weekly highlights and news programme. These usually provide highlights
from a game recorded the previous weekend and are an hour in length.
To date, no Elite League game has been broadcast live on any
television network.

Coverage in the towns and cities where Elite League clubs are based is
more extensive. Newspapers such as the Belfast Telegraph, Manchester
Evening News, Nottingham Evening Post, Sheffield Star, Coventry
Evening Telegraph and the South Wales Echo have dedicated ice hockey
reporters who cover the local team. Local radio stations such as BBC
Coventry & Warwickshire, BBC Radio Nottingham and BBC Radio Sheffield
all provide live commentary of matches. These are either broadcast
live on the stations themselves or are webcast through the stations'
websites. Radio Sheffield also provides a weekly ice hockey programme
called Iceline while Radio Nottingham has broadcast a similar
programme called Powerplay since the later stages of the 2005-06
season, and has a fifteen minute weekly preview of games on a Saturday
evening during the ice hockey season after the station's coverage of
the local football teams is completed. BBC Coventry & Warwickshire
have also followed suit with Faceoff, a program broadcast on the first
Thursday of the month during the season. Video footage can also be
viewed from the website.