The 2022–23 EIHL season was the 19th season of the Elite Ice Hockey League. The regular season commenced on 10 September 2022, and finished on 2 April 2023; the playoffs were then contested over 7 to 16 April 2023.
The Belfast Giants became the first team since the Nottingham Panthers in 2012–13, and third overall, to win a Grand Slam of titles – winning the league, playoff and Challenge Cup titles. Either side of their 9–3 Challenge Cup final victory over the Fife Flyers, the Giants won 25 of their last 30 league games to overhaul long-time league leaders, the Guildford Flames, to win the regular season title for a record sixth time – taking the title with a 6–1 home victory over the Flames. After seeing off the Glasgow Clan and the Panthers in the first two playoff rounds, the Giants met the Cardiff Devils for the third consecutive final, with the Devils having won the previous two meetings. Having fallen behind to Mark Richardson's first-period goal, the Giants then scored four goals without reply to take their first playoff title since 2009–10 to complete the Grand Slam.
Teams The same ten teams that competed in 2021–22 competed in the 2022–23 season.
Belfast Giants Belfast SSE Arena Belfast 8,700 Cardiff Devils Cardiff Ice Arena Wales 3,100 Coventry Blaze Coventry Coventry Skydome 3,000 Dundee Stars Dundee Dundee Ice Arena 2,400 Fife Flyers Kirkcaldy Fife Ice Arena 3,525 Glasgow Clan Glasgow Braehead Arena 4,000 Guildford Flames Guildford Guildford Spectrum 2,001 Manchester Storm Altrincham Altrincham Ice Dome 2,351 Nottingham Panthers Nottingham Motorpoint Arena Nottingham 7,500 Sheffield Steelers Sheffield Utilita Arena Sheffield 9,300
Regular season League standings Each team played 54 games, playing each of the other nine teams six times: three times on home ice, and three times away from home. Points were awarded for each game, where two points were awarded for all victories, regardless of whether it was in regulation time or after overtime or game-winning shots. One point was awarded for losing in overtime or game-winning shots, and zero points for losing in regulation time. At the end of the regular season, the team that finished with the most points was crowned the league champion, and qualified for the 2023–24 Champions Hockey League. The top eight teams qualified for the playoffs.
The Belfast Giants won a record third consecutive Elite Ice Hockey League regular season title (and sixth overall), with a 6–1 home victory over their closest rivals, the Guildford Flames on 1 April 2023.
Results
Statistics Scoring leaders
The following players led the league in points, at the conclusion of the regular season. If two or more skaters are tied (i.e. same number of points, goals and played games), all of the tied skaters are shown.
Player Team Belfast Giants 51 40 50 90 +53 56 Guildford Flames 53 31 49 80 +25 16 Belfast Giants 53 15 55 70 +53 8 Guildford Flames 53 22 45 67 +32 90 Cardiff Devils 53 16 50 66 +33 14 Cardiff Devils 52 38 27 65 +34 38 Guildford Flames 54 28 34 62 +19 6 Dundee Stars 49 24 36 60 −10 39 Cardiff Devils 54 9 48 57 +47 87 Cardiff Devils 53 22 34 56 +23 27
Leading goaltenders The following goaltenders led the league in goals against average, provided that they have played at least 40% of their team's minutes, at the conclusion of the regular season.
Player Team(s) Cardiff Devils 25 1368:01 16 6 50 3 92.80% 2.19 Sheffield Steelers 53 3176:49 36 17 117 7 92.01% 2.21 Belfast Giants 26 1424:07 17 7 53 3 91.76% 2.23 Guildford Flames 22 1322:52 19 3 59 3 90.48% 2.68 Coventry Blaze 47 2824:15 28 18 128 6 90.72% 2.72
Playoffs Bracket In the two-legged quarter-finals, the highest-ranked team met the lowest-ranked team, the second-highest-ranked team met the second-lowest-ranked team and so forth. The winners of each tie was determined by aggregate scoring over the two games. In the semi-finals, the highest remaining seed was matched against the lowest remaining seed, with the other two teams facing off. The winners of the semi-finals progressed to the Final, with the losers playing in the third-place match.
Quarter-finals The quarter-final schedule was announced after the conclusion of the final-day regular season matches.
(1) Belfast Giants vs. (8) Glasgow Clan
(2) Guildford Flames vs. (7) Nottingham Panthers
(3) Sheffield Steelers vs. (6) Manchester Storm
(4) Cardiff Devils vs. (5) Coventry Blaze
Semi-finals The schedule for the Playoff Finals weekend was announced after the conclusion of the quarter-final matches.
Third-place match
Final
Statistics Scoring leaders
The following players led the league in points, at the conclusion of the playoffs. If two or more skaters are tied (i.e. same number of points, goals and played games), all of the tied skaters are shown.
Player Team Belfast Giants 4 4 2 6 +7 2 Sheffield Steelers 4 3 2 5 0 0 Nottingham Panthers 4 3 2 5 +3 0 Belfast Giants 4 2 3 5 +7 6 Sheffield Steelers 4 2 3 5 –1 2 Belfast Giants 4 1 4 5 +9 0 Nottingham Panthers 4 1 4 5 +3 0 Cardiff Devils 4 0 5 5 +2 2 Guildford Flames 2 3 1 4 +1 0 Sheffield Steelers 4 3 1 4 0 2
Leading goaltenders The following goaltenders led the league in goals against average, provided that they have played at least 40% of their team's minutes, at the conclusion of the playoffs.
Player Team(s) Coventry Blaze 1 55:51 1 0 0 1 100.00% 0.00 Cardiff Devils 4 239:31 2 2 8 0 94.41% 2.00 Sheffield Steelers 3 182:07 1 1 7 0 91.76% 2.31 Belfast Giants 4 240:00 3 1 10 0 90.83% 2.50 Guildford Flames 1 60:00 1 0 3 0 86.96% 3.00
References
External links