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EIHL
The Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL), sometimes referred to as the British Elite League or, for sponsorship reasons, the Viaplay Elite League, is an 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. The league operate three competitions for members; the play-offs determine the national champion for the season, following a regular season league competition for which separate champions are also crowned, and which selects and seeds the teams in the play-offs. Finally, a stand-alone cup competition, the Challenge Cup, is also held annually, beginning with the group stages followed by a knock-out format. The league currently consists of one division of ten teams, with representation from all four nations of the United Kingdom – the only league in any sport to do so. In fourteen completed seasons the league championship has been won by five differen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Belfast Giants
The Belfast Giants (known officially as the Stena Line Belfast Giants due to sponsorship) are a professional ice hockey team based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. They compete in the UK's Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL) and are the current champions for the 6th time in their history. They play their home games at the SSE Arena (formerly known as the Odyssey Arena). Since their inception in 2000, the Giants have won thirteen major honours, including six British league championships, two British playoff titles, and four Challenge Cups. History Background The Belfast Giants Ltd. was founded in 1997 by two Canadian businessmen, Bob Zeller and his associate Albert Maasland, after Zeller was in talks with the British Ice Hockey Superleague (BISL) to launch a new franchise in the United Kingdom. The city of Belfast was chosen, with its new £92 million Millennium Commission project, the Odyssey Complex, due to be completed with the addition of a deal brokered between the Odysse ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sheffield Steelers
The Sheffield Steelers are a professional ice hockey team located in Sheffield, England. They were formed in 1991 (see 1991 in sport) and play their home games at the Utilita Arena. They are currently a member of the Elite Ice Hockey League. The club's main (title) sponsor is Sheffield Window Centre. History Ice Hockey existed in amateur form in Sheffield, but the sport began its return to an era of arenas and stadium size crowds with the opening of the Sheffield Arena in 1991 and the creation of the Sheffield Steelers — the ice hockey team that was to occupy the new arena. The Sheffield Arena was built as part of the city's facilities for the staging of the World Student Games, and is a sizeable stadium originally seating 8,500 and located close to the city centre. Ronnie Wood and David Gardener-Brown were at the helm as the Marketing Director at the club and set about promoting ice hockey to a city raised on the footballing success of Sheffield United and Sheffie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Challenge Cup (UK Ice Hockey)
The Challenge Cup, hosted annually by the Elite Ice Hockey League, is a cup competition for ice hockey clubs in the United Kingdom. It is one of three competitions run each season by the Elite League, the others being the league championship and the playoff championship. Prior to the formation of the Elite League in 2003, the Challenge Cup was organised by the Ice Hockey Superleague. First awarded during the 1997–98 season, the Challenge Cup has had numerous different formats depending on the number of teams participating and the format of other competitions run during a particular season. The first six finals were single games played at a pre-determined venue, and during the first eleven seasons of the Elite League finals were contested over two legs. The final returned to a single game in the 2014–15 season. No final was contested in 2020–21, as the season was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic. The current holders of the trophy are the Belfast Giants, who defea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2003–04 EIHL Season
The 2003–04 Elite Ice Hockey League season was the inaugural season of the Elite League. The season ran from September 12, 2003 until April 4, 2004. During the 2002–03 season, the financial collapse of the Manchester Storm and the Scottish Eagles, the resignation of the Bracknell Bees and the uncertainty surrounding the London Knights and their London Arena home left the Ice Hockey Superleague with little option but to fold. The three remaining Superleague clubs, the Belfast Giants, Nottingham Panthers and Sheffield Steelers were joined by three British National League clubs, the Basingstoke Bison, Cardiff Devils and Coventry Blaze and two new clubs, the London Racers and Manchester Phoenix in establishing the Elite Ice Hockey League. The clubs hoped to provide a more financially sustainable league than its predecessor with a greater number of British trained players taking part. The league was met with considerable opposition from the governing body, Ice Hock ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2021–22 EIHL Season
The 2021–22 EIHL season was the 18th season of the Elite Ice Hockey League. The regular season commenced on 25 September 2021, and finished on 17 April 2022, with the playoffs taking place over the following two weekends. The previous campaign in 2020–21 was suspended indefinitely in September 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom; a reduced Elite Series was held in April and May 2021, involving the Sheffield Steelers, the Nottingham Panthers, the Coventry Blaze and the Manchester Storm, to provide competitive ice time for players ahead of the 2021 IIHF World Championship. The Belfast Giants won the regular season title for a record-equalling fifth time with two games to spare, following their 2–1 overtime win at their closest challengers, the Sheffield Steelers, on 10 April 2022. Having also won the Challenge Cup, the Belfast Giants as national league and cup champions had an opportunity to seal a Grand Slam in the playoff final by becoming British nat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
British National League (1996–2005)
The British National League (BNL) was the second tier of the professional ice hockey league in the United Kingdom between 1996 and 2005. Although no formal promotion and relegation existed during its period of existence, it was considered to have been a standard below that of the Ice Hockey Superleague (later replaced by the Elite Ice Hockey League) and above that of the English National Ice Hockey League and the Scottish National League (and later, following its creation, the English Premier Ice Hockey League). Fife Flyers and Guildford Flames were the only two teams to consistently feature in the BNL during every season of the league's history. History The league was founded in 1996 to replace the first division of the British Hockey League following the split between the two divisions of the league; the premier division having been replaced by the Ice Hockey Superleague at the same time. For its first season only the BNL was split into the Northern Premier League and the Prem ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
British Championship (ice Hockey)
:''See British Home Championship for the football competition.'' - The British Championship is the most prestigious ice hockey cup competition in the United Kingdom, and also the longest established ice hockey competition. The competition is effectively the post-season playoffs of the first-tier league in the country to determine the British champions for the season. They are therefore held after the regular season, whereby the positions in the league ladder determine entry and seeding. The first placed team in the league is considered to have won the national league title as a separate title, but the British champion for the season is historically considered to be the winner of the post-season playoffs. In its current format, the eight highest placed teams in the first-tier Elite Ice Hockey League contest quarter finals, the winners going on to semi final A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
National Ice Centre
The National Ice Centre (NIC) is located in Nottingham, England. It is situated just east of the city centre, close to the historic Lace Market area. The NIC was the first twin Olympic-sized (60m x 30m) ice pad facility in the UK, "heralding a new era in the development of ice skating". Incorporating the Nottingham Arena (since January 2016 re-branded as the Motorpoint Arena Nottingham), the NIC is a combined live entertainment and leisure venue. The first ice rink (housed within the Arena) was opened on 1 April 2000 by Olympic Gold Medalist, Jayne Torvill. The second Olympic Rink was opened the following year, on 7 April 2001. History Construction The National Ice Centre was constructed on the site of the former Nottingham Ice Stadium, which opened in 1939 and was showing its age. Plans to replace the stadium were first announced in September 1995. The estimated cost of replacement was £13 million, part of which was to come from National Lottery funds. The plans were unv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bracknell Bees
The Bees Ice Hockey Club are an ice hockey team from Slough, Berkshire, UK. They compete in the National Ice Hockey League (NIHL) National League, the second tier of English Ice Hockey. History Early years The Bracknell Bees were formed in 1987, under the ownership of John Nike OBE. Bees began life in the Heineken League Division Two, under the leadership of former Durham Wasps and Nottingham Panthers forward, Jamie Crapper, where they finished 6th. The following season, Heineken withdrew their sponsorship of the second division, which was renamed the English League Division 1. Bees narrowly missed out on the championship to the Humberside Seahawks, but then won the league the following season, gaining promotion to the Heineken League Division 1. Having finished third, behind Humberside and the Slough Jets, Bees progressed to the top tier of British hockey, the Heineken Premier Division, via the play-offs, alongside the Seahawks. Once at the top, it was a struggle and Bees ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Manchester Storm (1995–2002)
The Manchester Storm were an ice hockey team from Manchester, England. The team formed in 1995, playing their home games at the then newly built NYNEX Arena, but they folded during the 2002–03 season. Early success Storm won the British Hockey League Division One in their first season, watched by an average crowd of 6,342. Success in the end of season promotion/relegation play-offs followed, resulting in Storm being promoted to the Premier Division of the British Hockey League. However, Britain's league structure was changed in 1996, with the formation of the Ice Hockey Superleague, of which the Manchester team were a founder member. This was alongside Ayr Scottish Eagles, Basingstoke Bison, Bracknell Bees, Cardiff Devils, Newcastle Riverkings, Nottingham Panthers and Sheffield Steelers. The highs of the inaugural season weren't matched in season 2 though, and Storm finished a disappointing seventh in the league. This led to the sacking of coach John Lawless. American ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2002–03 ISL Season
The 2002–03 Ice Hockey Superleague season was the seventh and final season of the Ice Hockey Superleague (ISL). The Ayr Scottish Eagles, under new management, moved from the Centrum Arena in Ayr to the Braehead Arena just outside Glasgow and shortened their name to simply the Scottish Eagles. The Ahearne Trophy was played for again this season with the competition taking with teams from the Norwegian Eliteserien. Starting the season with seven teams, the league invited members of the British National League (BNL) to take part in the Challenge Cup. The call was taken up by the Coventry Blaze, meaning eight teams took part in the competition. However, after playing their Challenge Cup games, the Manchester Storm went into liquidation and their record for the Challenge Cup and league games was expunged. Not long after, the Scottish Eagles confirmed they had withdrawn from the league with the intention of re-launching the following season. The Eagles' record was also e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
MEN Arena
Manchester Arena, currently referred to as the AO Arena for sponsorship reasons, is an indoor arena in Manchester, England, immediately north of the Manchester city centre, city centre and partly above Manchester Victoria station in air rights space. The arena has the highest seating capacity of any indoor venue in the United Kingdom, and List of indoor arenas in Europe, the second largest in Europe with a capacity of 21,000. The arena is one of the world's busiest indoor arenas, hosting music and sporting events such as boxing and swimming. Retrieved on 28 March 2008. The arena was a key part of Manchester's bids to host the Olympic Games in 1996 and Manchester bid for the 2000 Summer Olympics, 2000 and was eventually used for the 2002 Commonwealth Games. The arena was temporarily closed following Manchester Arena bombing, a terror attack on 22 May 2017, in which Suicide attack, suicide bomber Salman Abedi killed 22 people, and injured 500 more, at the end of an Ariana Grande c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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