The Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL) – sometimes referred to as the British Elite League or the Viaplay Elite League – is the highest ice hockey league in the United Kingdom.
The league consists of 10 teams, with representation from all 4 nations of the United Kingdom - the only league in any sport to do so. As with all ice hockey leagues and competitions, the EIHL is a ferocious and fast-paced sport where goals, fouls, and fights are all to be expected! The level below the Elite League is the National Ice Hockey League. A system of promotion and relegation is not operated by the Elite League; teams enter the league based on a decision by the board of directors, so the number of teams and the teams involved remains stable each season.
📜 EIHL History
There has been professional ice hockey played in the United Kingdom since the 1930s and its popularity grew when the Great Britain team claimed Olympic gold in 1936. A UK club system has been in place for several decades, but the EIHL is reasonably new. Formed in 2003 after the Ice Hockey Superleague ceased operations, the EIHL became the professional league with teams across all 4 nations of the UK: England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Ice hockey is now the third-largest winter spectator sport in the country and is the highest-attended indoor professional sport.
💯 EIHL Format & Scoring
Each of the 10 teams plays around 54 games in a regular season and should play each opponent in the league the same number of times. Regulation time in a hockey game is 3 periods of 20 minutes with breaks in between. If the game is tied at the end of regulation time, it will go to overtime. Overtime consists of 5 minutes of 3-on-3 (3 players each) hockey and ends if a goal is scored. There are 2 points awarded for a win in regulation time, 0 for a loss in regulation time, and 1 for an overtime or penalty shootout defeat. The team that has the most points at the end of the regular season is declared champion.
The playoffs are contested by the teams with the best regular season records and the winner of the playoffs is crowned the champion of the British Championship. The number of teams competing in the playoffs has varied over the years, however, it is often the top 8 teams of the regular season who qualify with their league position determining their seeding. They go into the quarterfinals which are 2-legged ties. Both the semifinals and the final take place over a single weekend in April at the National Ice Centre in Nottingham.
The other trophy contested is the Challenge Cup which has taken a number of different formats, ranging from a table formed from the results of designated league fixtures to groups of 4 teams playing on a round-robin basis at the beginning of the season. The semifinals and final are 2-legged games, the winner being the team with the highest aggregate score at the end of the second game.
