The 2007–08 Elite Ice Hockey League season began September 5, 2007 and ran until April 6, 2008. It was the fifth season of Elite League competition.
The defending league champions were the Coventry Blaze, who were also the holders of the Challenge Cup. The Nottingham Panthers looked to defend the Play Off Championship they won for the first time in eighteen years in 2007.
Movements between Elite League teams
Player From To Date Pavel Gomenyuk Hull Stingrays Newcastle Vipers April 19 Sergiy Rublivsky Hull Stingrays Newcastle Vipers April 24 Mark Richardson Cardiff Devils Nottingham Panthers May 1 Ashley Tait Coventry Blaze Sheffield Steelers May 9 Jonathan Weaver Newcastle Vipers Coventry Blaze May 9 Doug Shepard Basingstoke Bison Sheffield Steelers May 10 Slava Koulikov Hull Stingrays Basingstoke Bison May 14 Phil Hill Sheffield Steelers Cardiff Devils May 17 Russ Cowley Cardiff Devils Coventry Blaze May 29 Derek Campbell Manchester Phoenix Newcastle Vipers May 31 Paul Moran Sheffield Steelers Belfast Giants May 31 Johan Molin Manchester Phoenix Nottingham Panthers June 4 Marc Levers Belfast Giants Nottingham Panthers June 6 Matus Petricko Nottingham Panthers Cardiff Devils June 6 Curtis Huppe Belfast Giants Coventry Blaze June 12 Jeff Hutchins Belfast Giants Newcastle Vipers July 3 Jeremy Cornish Newcastle Vipers Sheffield Steelers July 16
Charity Shield
The season began on September 5, 2007 with a "Charity Shield" style game between the 2006–07 league champions and Challenge Cup winning Coventry Blaze and the playoff champions Nottingham Panthers at the National Ice Centre. The Panthers defeated the Blaze 7-6 to win the inaugural event.
September 5Nottingham7 – 6CoventryNational Ice Centre (19.30) First period Ref: Michael Hicks 0-1 Cloutier (Weaver, Ndur) 00.52 Att: 3,500+ 0-2 Huppe (Cloutier, Cowley) 05.44 1-2 McAslan (Pelletier, Drouin) SH 13.19 1-3 Martin (Moore) PP 13.57 2-3 Drouin (McAslan, Neilson) SH 15.42 3-3 Drouin (Meyers, Richardson) 18.45 Second period 4-3 Pelletier (Myers) 25.15 4-4 Stewart (Martin, Moore) 4-on-4 32.12 4-5 Cowley (Stewart, Moore) 35.15 5-5 Stancok (Richardson) PP 36.25 Third period 5-6 Carlson (Weaver) SH 40.38 6-6 Neilson (Drouin) PP 41.18 7-6 Drouin (Neilson, McAslan) PP 48.56
Challenge Cup
For the preliminary round, teams were divided into two groups of five with teams playing each of their opponents once with two homes games and two away games. The home and away games for each club were determined by a random draw. The top two in each group advanced to the semi-finals of the competition.
Group stage
Group A
Team P W L T GF GA Pts 1 Nottingham Panthers 4 3 0 1 12 7 7 2 Cardiff Devils 4 2 1 1 13 9 5 3 Coventry Blaze 4 1 1 2 9 6 4 4 Basingstoke Bison 4 1 2 1 14 18 3 5 Belfast Giants 4 0 3 1 9 17 1
Group B
Team P W L T GF GA Pts 1 Sheffield Steelers 4 3 1 0 15 9 6 2 Newcastle Vipers 4 3 1 0 12 7 6 3 Manchester Phoenix 4 2 2 0 15 11 4 4 Edinburgh Capitals 4 2 2 0 7 10 4 5 Hull Stingrays 4 0 4 0 6 18 0
Semi-finals
Winner A (Nottingham) vs Runner-up B (Newcastle)
DateHomeAwayResultVenue1 November 20 Nottingham Panthers 5 Newcastle Vipers 4 Final National Ice Centre2 November 30 Newcastle Vipers 1 Nottingham Panthers 5 Final Metro Radio ArenaNottingham won 10–5 on aggregate
Winner B (Sheffield) vs Runner-up A (Cardiff)
DateHomeAwayResultVenue1 November 28 Cardiff Devils 4 Sheffield Steelers 4 Final Cardiff Bay Ice Rink2 December 5 Sheffield Steelers 2 Cardiff Devils 0 Final IceSheffieldSheffield won 6–4 on aggregate
Final DateHomeAwayResultVenue1 January 23 Sheffield Steelers 3 Nottingham Panthers 6 Final Sheffield Arena2 February 20 Nottingham Panthers 3 Sheffield Steelers 4 Final National Ice CentreNottingham won 9–7 on aggregate
League Regular season standings GP W L OTL GF GA Pts Coventry Blaze 54 41 11 2 217 157 85 Sheffield Steelers 54 38 14 2 190 128 78 Nottingham Panthers 54 33 18 3 172 133 69 Belfast Giants 54 33 19 2 184 150 68 Newcastle Vipers 54 28 22 4 159 174 60 Cardiff Devils 54 26 25 3 164 174 55 Manchester Phoenix 54 23 28 3 162 179 49 Edinburgh Capitals 54 19 32 3 155 208 41 Basingstoke Bison 54 16 33 5 172 222 37 Hull Stingrays 54 13 34 7 119 197 33
Playoffs
Footnotes