The 2012–13 Elite Ice Hockey League season was the tenth season of the

Elite Ice Hockey League 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 ...

. The regular season began on Saturday 8 September 2012 and ended on Sunday 24 March 2013, followed by the Play-Offs which culminated in the end-of-season Play-Off Finals on Saturday 6 and Sunday 7 April 2013. This season saw the introduction of a new two conference format, in which the ten participating teams were split into two conferences of five teams. The Gardiner Conference, named after former

Chicago Blackhawks The Chicago Blackhawks (spelled Black Hawks until 1986, and known colloquially as the Hawks) are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago. The Blackhawks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division i ...

goaltender In ice hockey, the goaltender (commonly referred to as the goalie) is the player responsible for preventing the hockey puck from entering their team's net, thus preventing the opposing team from scoring. The goaltender mostly plays in or near t ...

Charlie Gardiner, comprised the five northernmost mainland teams ( Braehead Clan,

Dundee Stars The Dundee Stars are a professional ice hockey team based in the Scottish city of Dundee. They were formed in 2001 and play their home games at the Dundee Ice Arena, situated off the city's main Kingsway dual carriageway. The current title s ...

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 ...

Fife Flyers Fife Flyers is the oldest professional ice hockey club in the UK, established in 1938. The Flyers play their home games at Fife Ice Arena in Kirkcaldy which has a capacity of just over 3000 (seated and standing). They joined the EIHL in 2011 ...

and Hull Stingrays) and the Erhardt Conference, named after the captain of the

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, ...

1936 Winter Olympics gold medal winning team Carl Erhardt, comprised the four southernmost mainland teams ( Cardiff Devils,

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 ren ...

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 ...

and

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. ...

) and one team from

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

(

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 cha ...

). The most prestigious honour remained the overall League Championship, awarded to the team with the most points gained from all league games (conference and inter-conference games). The season also included the end-of-season Play-Offs and the Challenge Cup.

proved to be the dominant team of the season, clinching the Elite League Championship – their first British League Championship title for 57 years – when they defeated their nearest challengers

5–3 at the

Odyssey Arena The Odyssey Complex, formerly Odyssey Centre, is a sports and entertainment complex located within the Titanic Quarter in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The complex originated in 1992 and came into fruition in June 1998. It opened in December 2 ...

on Friday 15 March 2013. However, the

Giants A giant is a being of human appearance, sometimes of prodigious size and strength, common in folklore. Giant(s) or The Giant(s) may also refer to: Mythology and religion *Giants (Greek mythology) *Jötunn, a Germanic term often translated as 'gi ...

would prevent the

Panthers Panther may refer to: Large cats *Pantherinae, the cat subfamily that contains the genera ''Panthera'' and ''Neofelis'' **''Panthera'', the cat genus that contains tigers, lions, jaguars and leopards. ***Jaguar (''Panthera onca''), found in Sout ...

achieving a regular season double of League and Conference titles by shading a very close Erhardt Conference title race on regulation time wins after both teams finished level on points. The Gardiner Conference proved even more exciting with all five teams never being more than a few wins apart, at one stage towards the end of the season only one point separating first and last place. Braehead Clan eventually ran out Conference Champions in a very successful first season for the new two-conference format. The Challenge Cup was won for the fourth successive season by

, clinching their second honour of the season by defeating

5–3 on aggregate in the two-legged final. The

then overcame a big scare at the hands of

in the Play-Off Quarter-Finals to defeat Cardiff Devils in the semi-finals and then

3–2 in overtime in the Final. This third successive Play-Offs victory also gave them the treble of League Championship, Play-Offs and Challenge Cup, the first time the treble has been won since

's success in 2004–05.

Team information

Regular season

The League Championship was played for over 52 games, each team playing teams in their own conference eight times (four home and four away) and teams in the other conference four times (two home and two away). The Conference Championships were played for over 32 games, each team playing teams in their own conference eight times (four home and four away). Teams were awarded two points for a win (in regulation time, overtime or shoot-out), one point for a tie (in regulation time but loss in overtime or shoot-out) and no points for a loss (in regulation time). Teams level on points were separated by (1) total number of games won in regulation time, (2) total number of all games won, (3) results between teams or (4) fewest losses. The top eight teams in the League Championship qualified for the Play-Offs.

Results

Grid Colours: Blue = league & conference games; Pink = league games. Result Colours: Black = regulation time result; Green = overtime result; Red = shoot-out result.

League Standings

Conference standings

Gardiner Conference Erhardt Conference

Team Records

Play-Offs

The quarter-finals were played over two legs, home and away. The semi-finals and Final were played over a single leg at a neutral venue, the

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 ...

, in the 'Play-Off Finals Weekend'. The Play-Off seeds were (1)

, (2)

, (3) Braehead Clan, (4)

, (5)

, (6) Cardiff Devils, (7)

and (8)

(in order of League Champions, best Conference Champions, second best Conference Champions, final League Championship positions respectively).

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

3rd Place Play-Off

Final

Challenge Cup

The First Round comprised two groups of five teams, each team playing teams in their own group twice (once home and once away), totalling eight games. In the First Round group games, teams were awarded two points for a win (in regulation time, overtime or shoot-out), one point for a tie (in regulation time but loss in overtime or shoot-out) and no points for a loss (in regulation time). Teams level on points were separated by (1) total number of games won in regulation time, (2) total number of all games won, (3) results between teams or (4) fewest losses. The top four teams from each First Round group qualified for the quarter-finals. The quarter-final ties were decided by final group positions (A1-B4, B1-A4, A2-B3, B2-A3). The quarter-finals, semi-finals and Final were all played over two legs, home and away. Due to scheduling constraints, some League Championship games doubled up as Challenge Cup games.

First round

Group A
''(All Group Game results by date)''
Result Colours: Black = regulation time result; Green = overtime result; Red = shoot-out result. Group B
''(All Group Game results by date)''
Result Colours: Black = regulation time result; Green = overtime result; Red = shoot-out result.

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

Player statistics

Regular season

Play-Offs

Season Awards

Individual awards

All-Star Teams

References

United United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two f ...

Team information

Regular season

Results

League Standings

Conference standings

Team Records

Play-Offs

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

Challenge Cup

First round

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

Player statistics

Regular season

Play-Offs

Season Awards

Individual awards

All-Star Teams

References

External links