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 British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

and

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

citizens) was increased from five to nine. Clubs also had a greater number of

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

n players to choose from. Previously, EIHL teams were only able to sign players who had played in the

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

, AHL and

ECHL The ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League) is a mid-level professional ice hockey league based in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, with teams scattered across the United States and Canada. It is a tier below the American Hockey League (AHL). The E ...

, 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 The Nottingham Panthers are a British professional ice hockey club based in Nottingham, England. They are members of the Elite Ice Hockey League. Their main team sponsor is the Nottingham Building Society. The Nottingham Panthers have won four ...

represented the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

in the 2006–07 Continental Cup because the 2005–06 champions

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 cham ...

and runner-up

Newcastle Vipers From 2002–2011 the Newcastle Vipers were an ice hockey club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. The club was a member of the Elite Ice Hockey League, and the British National League. History Predecessors Previously, the city was repre ...

declined to take part in the tournament.

Notable events

*With

planning permission Planning permission or developmental approval refers to the approval needed for construction or expansion (including significant renovation), and sometimes for demolition, in some jurisdictions. It is usually given in the form of a building perm ...

granted for a new rink, the

Manchester Phoenix Manchester Phoenix was a semi professional ice hockey team from Greater Manchester, England. The club was formed in 2003 as a result of the efforts of supporters group ''Friends of Manchester Ice Hockey'' to bring top-level ice hockey back to Ma ...

entered a team into competitions for the first time since 2003–04. While waiting for the

Altrincham Ice Dome Altrincham Ice Dome is an ice rink in Altrincham, Greater Manchester, England. It has 2,140 seats according to the rink website, and up to 300 standing places. The Ice Dome hosts the home matches of the Manchester Storm (2015–), Ma ...

to be completed, the Phoenix played home matches at the

Deeside Leisure Centre Deeside Leisure Centre is a sports centre located in Queensferry, Flintshire. Its facilities include Deeside Ice Rink (an Olympic-sized inline hockey rink), badminton courts, and squash courts. The centre was the venue for the 1974 Wightman Cup ...

and at

IceSheffield iceSheffield is an ice arena in the Lower Don Valley, Sheffield, England. iceSheffield was completed in May 2003 at a cost of £15 million and is a Centre of Excellence for figure skating, ice dance and hockey, and it is one of only two faciliti ...

. After numerous delays the Ice Dome finally opened on February 25, 2007 with a 5–4 defeat to the

Basingstoke Bison The Basingstoke Bison are an English Ice Hockey club from Basingstoke. They currently compete in the NIHL National League and have previously been members of the Ice Hockey Superleague and its successor the Elite Ice Hockey League. History ...

. *The

Hull Stingrays Hull Stingrays were a British ice hockey club from Kingston upon Hull who was a member of the Elite Ice Hockey League from 2003 until 2015. They played their home games at Hull Arena. The Stingrays replaced previous clubs Humberside Seahawks ( ...

were elected to join the Elite League from the second tier

English Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

. This brought the number of actively participating members in British ice hockey's top flight to ten, the highest number since 1995–96. *The

Cardiff Devils The Cardiff Devils are a Welsh ice hockey team who play in the British Elite Ice Hockey League. The team play at Ice Arena Wales in Cardiff Bay. Cardiff are the reigning EIHL play-off champions, winning their third title in a row after beating ...

moved to a new ice rink in

Cardiff Bay Cardiff Bay ( cy, Bae Caerdydd; historically Tiger Bay; colloquially "The Bay") is an area and freshwater lake in Cardiff, Wales. The site of a former tidal bay and estuary, it serves as the river mouth of the River Taff and Ely. The body of w ...

. 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 A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

with a 3–0 victory over

Coventry Blaze Coventry Blaze are an ice hockey team based in Coventry, England. They currently compete in the British Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL) and play their home games at SkyDome Arena. The club was founded in 1965 as the ''Solihull Barons'' and rena ...

in the final at the

SkyDome Rogers Centre (originally SkyDome) is a multi-purpose retractable roof stadium in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated at the base of the CN Tower near the northern shore of Lake Ontario. Opened in 1989 on the former Railway Lands, i ...

. *The Coventry Blaze won their second league title in three seasons, confirming the championship with a 5–1 victory over the

Edinburgh Capitals The Edinburgh Capitals are a Scottish ice hockey club, playing in the Scottish National League (SNL). They are based in the Scottish capital, Edinburgh. The team play at the Murrayfield Ice Rink, close to Murrayfield Rugby stadium. In Apri ...

on March 21, 2007 with two games to spare. The Blaze also won a second

Challenge Cup The Challenge Cup is a knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, with the exception of 1915–1919 and 1939–1940, due to World War I and World War II respectively. It involves am ...

with a 9-4 aggregate victory over the

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. ...

in the final. *The

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

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

Final

Elite League Table

Elite League play-offs

Quarter-finals

Quarter Final 1: (1) Coventry Blaze vs. (8) Newcastle Vipers

Quarter Final 2: (2) Belfast Giants vs. (7) Basingstoke Bison

Quarter Final 3: (3) Cardiff Devils vs. (6) Manchester Phoenix

Quarter Final 4: (4) Sheffield Steelers vs. (5) Nottingham Panthers

Semifinals

Semifinal 1: (1) Coventry Blaze vs. (3) Cardiff Devils

Semifinal 2: (2) Belfast Giants vs. (5) Nottingham Panthers

Grand final

(3) Cardiff Devils vs. (5) Nottingham Panthers

Awards

* Coach of the Year Trophy – Paul Thompson,

* Player of the Year Trophy – Mark Smith,

Ice Hockey Annual Trophy The Ice Hockey Annual Trophy is an ice hockey trophy in the United Kingdom which is awarded to the British player who has scored the most points during the season in league competition only. The award is named after the ''Ice Hockey Annual'', an an ...

–

Tony Hand Anthony Hand MBE (born 15 August 1967) is a Scottish former ice hockey player and coach. He was the first British player to be drafted by an NHL team when he was picked by the Edmonton Oilers in 1986. Nicknamed ''Two point Tony'', he holds sever ...

* British Netminder of the Year – Stephen Murphy,

Alan Weeks Trophy The Alan Weeks Trophy is awarded to the Best British Defenceman in the British Ice Hockey Leagues as voted by Ice Hockey Journalists UK. The award is named after Alan Weeks who was a BBC Commentator for 45 years and Chairman of the Brighton Tiger ...

– Jonathan Weaver,

* Best British Forward – Tony Hand, Manchester Phoenix

All Star teams

References

Ice Hockey Journalists UK
{{DEFAULTSORT:2006-07 EIHL season Elite Ice Hockey League seasons 1

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