2003–04 EIHL Season
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The 2003–04 Elite Ice Hockey League season was the inaugural season of the Elite League. The season ran from 12 September 2003 until 4 April 2004. During the 2002–03 season, the financial collapse of the Manchester Storm and the Scottish Eagles, the resignation of the
Bracknell Bees The Berkshire Bees 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, un ...
and the uncertainty surrounding the
London Knights The London Knights are a junior ice hockey team from London, Ontario, Canada, playing in the Ontario Hockey League, one of the leagues of the Canadian Hockey League. The Knights started out in 1965 as the London Nationals but changed to their ...
and their
London Arena The London Arena (also known as London Docklands Arena) was an indoor arena and exhibition centre in Millwall, on the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England which was inaugurated in 1989 as part of the redevelopment of the London Docklands and ...
home left the
Ice Hockey Superleague The British Ice Hockey Superleague (BISL, also known as the Sekonda Ice Hockey Superleague from 1998 to 1999 for sponsorship reasons) was a professional ice hockey league in the United Kingdom between 1996 and 2003. Devised in 1995, it replaced ...
with little option but to fold. The three remaining Superleague clubs, the
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, Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL). T ...
,
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. RHPS are the Panthers' major sponsor for 2024–25. The Nottingham Panthers have won four league ...
and
Sheffield Steelers The Sheffield Steelers are a professional ice hockey team located in Sheffield, England. They were formed in 1991 and play their home games at the Utilita Arena. They are currently a member of the Elite Ice Hockey League. The club's main (tit ...
were joined by three British National League clubs, the
Basingstoke Bison The Basingstoke Bison are an English Ice Hockey club from Basingstoke. They currently compete in the National Ice Hockey League , NIHL National League and have previously been members of the Ice Hockey Superleague and its successor the Elite I ...
,
Cardiff Devils The Cardiff Devils () are a Welsh professional ice hockey team who play in the UK-based Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL). The team plays at Ice Arena Wales in Cardiff Bay, currently known as ''Vindico Arena'' for sponsorship reasons. Cardiff' ...
and
Coventry Blaze The Coventry Blaze are a British professional ice hockey team based in Coventry, England. They currently compete in the Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL) and play their home games at SkyDome Arena. The club was founded in 1965 as the original '' ...
and two new clubs, the
London Racers The London Racers was a British ice hockey club based in London, England formerly members of the Elite Ice Hockey League. Although founded in 2003, it claimed to be a successor of the Harringay Racers club established in 1936. Due to a lack of ...
and
Manchester Phoenix Manchester Phoenix were 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 M ...
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 A governing body is a group of people that has the authority to exercise governance over an organization or political entity. The most formal is a government, a body whose sole responsibility and authority is to make binding decisions in a taken ...
,
Ice Hockey UK Ice Hockey UK (IHUK) is the national governing body of ice hockey in the United Kingdom. Affiliated to the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), IHUK is the internationally recognised umbrella body in the United Kingdom. IHUK was created ...
who initially refused to affiliate itself with the new league, instead desiring that the remaining Superleague clubs integrate themselves into the British National League. This led to a bitter summer of uncertainty which only the intervention of the
International Ice Hockey Federation The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF; ; ) is a worldwide governing body for ice hockey. It is based in Zurich, Switzerland, and has 84 member countries. The IIHF maintains the IIHF World Ranking based on international ice hockey to ...
ended. The IIHF ruled that the Elite League be granted a single season's affiliation with IHUK while discussions between IHUK, the EIHL and the BNL took place on the future of the sport in the United Kingdom. The season began on 12 September 2003 with a game between the newly formed London Racers and the previous season's league champions, Sheffield Steelers. London began the season at
Alexandra Palace Alexandra Palace is an entertainment and sports venue in North London, situated between Wood Green and Muswell Hill in the London Borough of Haringey. A listed building, Grade II listed building, it is built on the site of Tottenham Wood and th ...
but within a few weeks had relocated to the
Lee Valley Ice Centre The Lee Valley Ice Centre is located in Leyton in the Lower Lea Valley, London. The original venue opened in 1984, and a major redevelopment and expansion was completed in 2023. The centre now has two Olympic size (60 m × 30 m) ice ...
. The Racers went much of the season without winning, before finally claiming a 3–0 victory over Cardiff as the season drew to its close.


Challenge Cup

During the early part of the season, the results from league games also counted towards a separate
Challenge Cup The Rugby Football League Challenge Cup, commonly known just as the Challenge Cup is a Single-elimination tournament, knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, it is the world's old ...
table. After each team had played each other once at home and once away, the top four teams in the table qualified for the semi-finals.


Semi-finals

1st (Belfast) vs 4th (Nottingham) *Belfast Giants 2–4 Nottingham Panthers *Nottingham Panthers 7–3 Belfast Giants (Nottingham win 11–5 on aggregate) 2nd (Sheffield) vs 3rd (Cardiff) *Cardiff Devils 1–3 Sheffield Steelers *Sheffield Steelers 1–1 Cardiff Devils (Sheffield win 4–2 on aggregate)


Final

The final brought Nottingham and Sheffield head-to-head in a major final for the seventh time. The Steelers had won each of the last six finals in a run stretching back to 1995 and were clear favourites to win a seventh straight final against their bitter rivals after convincingly winning the Elite League title. After a tight 1–1 draw at 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 ...
, the two clubs met in the second leg at
Sheffield Arena Sheffield Arena, known for sponsorship purposes as Utilita Arena Sheffield, is a multi-purpose arena located in Sheffield, England. It is situated near Meadowhall Centre, Meadowhall and lies between Sheffield city centre and Rotherham town centr ...
on 17 March. The Panthers stormed into an early 2–0 lead before the Steelers fought back to tie the game at 2–2. Regulation time ended level and so the game went into
overtime Overtime is the amount of time someone works beyond normal working hours. The term is also used for the pay received for this time. Normal hours may be determined in several ways: *by custom (what is considered healthy or reasonable by society) ...
. After 53 seconds, Kim Ahlroos won the game for Nottingham, ending an eight-year wait for the club to defeat their rivals in a showpiece event. First Leg *Nottingham Panthers 1–1 Sheffield Steelers Second Leg *Sheffield Steelers 2–3 Nottingham Panthers (after
overtime Overtime is the amount of time someone works beyond normal working hours. The term is also used for the pay received for this time. Normal hours may be determined in several ways: *by custom (what is considered healthy or reasonable by society) ...
, Nottingham win 4–3 on aggregate)


Elite League Table

Each team played four home games and four away games against each of their opponents. Sheffield and Nottingham fought it out for the inaugural Elite League title before the Steelers pulled away to become comfortable champions, thanks to twenty consecutive wins, including 7–3, 5–0, 3–0 and 7–4 victories over the Panthers. Nottingham finished runner-up while Coventry were the most successful former BNL side, finishing third. Belfast began the season strongly before a poor run of results in the second half of the season saw them slip to fourth place. Struggling London were always destined to finish last, doing so by thirty-eight points, while Basingstoke also missed out on a place in the playoffs.


Elite League Play Offs

The top six teams qualified for the
playoffs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...
. Group A consisted of Sheffield, Belfast and Manchester while Group B consisted of Nottingham, Coventry and Cardiff. The Phoenix chose to stage one of its home games, against the Steelers at the 1,500 capacity
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. It is one of only two facilities in the UK that has two Olympic sized ice pads with seating for 1, ...
rather than play the substantial costs involved in hiring the
MEN Arena Manchester Arena (currently known as 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. Pr ...
.


Group A


Group B


Semi-finals

The finals weekend took place over the weekend of 3–4 April at 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
Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...
. Winner A vs Runner-Up B *Sheffield Steelers 2–0 Cardiff Devils Winner B vs Runner-Up A *Nottingham Panthers 6–1 Manchester Phoenix


Final

Winner A vs Winner B *Sheffield Steelers 2–1 Nottingham Panthers The final saw the two main protagonists of the season come head-to-head in a repeat of the title race and Challenge Cup final. The Steelers avenged their overtime loss in the Cup a few weeks earlier by beating the Panthers 2–1 before a capacity crowd at the NIC. Sheffield marched into a 2–0 lead before Nottingham pulled a goal back on a 5 on 3 powerplay. The Panthers never seriously threatened Sheffield's goal and in the end the Steelers were comfortable winners.


Awards

* Coach of the Year Trophy
Mike Blaisdell Michael Walter Blaisdell (born January 18, 1960) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey right winger who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) between 1980 and 1989 and later in the British Hockey League (BHL) from 1990 to 2001. He w ...
,
Sheffield Steelers The Sheffield Steelers are a professional ice hockey team located in Sheffield, England. They were formed in 1991 and play their home games at the Utilita Arena. They are currently a member of the Elite Ice Hockey League. The club's main (tit ...
* Player of the Year Trophy
Jason Ruff Jason C. Ruff (born 27 January 1970) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. Career Ruff was the third pick, 96th overall selection of the St. Louis Blues in the 1990 NHL Entry Draft. The following year, he was part of the WHL ...
,
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, Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL). T ...
*
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 Ti ...
– Leigh Jamieson, Belfast Giants * Best British Forward – Ashley Tait,
Coventry Blaze The Coventry Blaze are a British professional ice hockey team based in Coventry, England. They currently compete in the Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL) and play their home games at SkyDome Arena. The club was founded in 1965 as the original '' ...
* Vic Batchelder Memorial Award – Leigh Jamieson, Belfast Giants


All Star teams


Scoring leaders

The scoring leaders are taken from all league games. *Most
points A point is a small dot or the sharp tip of something. Point or points may refer to: Mathematics * Point (geometry), an entity that has a location in space or on a plane, but has no extent; more generally, an element of some abstract topologica ...
: 88
Mark Dutiaume Mark Dutiaume (born January 31, 1977), is a Canadian former professional ice hockey winger, who played in the minor leagues and in Europe. Playing career Dutiaume was selected by the Tri-City Americans in the 1992 WHL Bantam Draft, however, he ...
,
Sheffield Steelers The Sheffield Steelers are a professional ice hockey team located in Sheffield, England. They were formed in 1991 and play their home games at the Utilita Arena. They are currently a member of the Elite Ice Hockey League. The club's main (tit ...
*Most goals: 39
John Craighead John Craighead (born November 23, 1971) is an American former professional ice hockey right winger and enforcer. He played for the Toronto Maple Leafs during 1996–97 season, and for various minor league teams in North America and Europe from ...
,
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. RHPS are the Panthers' major sponsor for 2024–25. The Nottingham Panthers have won four league ...
*Most assists: 54 Mark Dutiaume, Sheffield Steelers *Most PIMs: 352 Paxton Schulte,
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, Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL). T ...


References


Ice Hockey Journalists UK
{{DEFAULTSORT:2003-04 EIHL season Elite Ice Hockey League seasons 1
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 ...