The 2026–27 EIHL season is the 23rd season of the Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL), the highest level of domestic ice hockey played in the United Kingdom. The league is running three separate competitions which are being played between 12 September 2026 and 18 April 2027. The Belfast Giants are defending the League Championship. The Nottingham Panthers are defending the Challenge Cup cup. The Cardiff Devils are defending the Playoff title.
Starting this season, the Challenge Cup elimination game and semi-finals will not include shootouts, they will instead have a full 20-minute period of 5-on-5 sudden-death overtime followed by continuous periods of 3-on-3 sudden-death overtime until the winning goal is scored (if required). The playoff quarter-finals second leg and semi-finals will also work under this format.
Teams The same ten teams that competed in the 2025–26 EIHL season are competing in the 2026–27 season.
The Manchester Storm changed arena for the season; having played at Planet Ice Altrincham since their formation in 2015, the Storm moved into the AO Arena – where the original Manchester Storm had previously played in the Ice Hockey Superleague between 1995 and 2002.
Three games will also be played at the OVO Hydro in Glasgow on 30 and 31 December, as part of the "Ice Hockey at the Hydro" event. All three Scottish teams will form part of the fixtures along with the Belfast Giants – the last match of which, between the Glasgow Clan and the Dundee Stars, will be held as the Scotia Quaich.
Belfast Giants BelfastThe O2 Belfast8,700Cardiff Devils CardiffVindico Arena3,110Coventry Blaze CoventryPlanet Ice Coventry3,000Dundee Stars DundeeDundee Ice Arena2,700Fife Flyers KirkcaldyFife Ice Arena3,525Glasgow Clan GlasgowBraehead Arena4,000Guildford Flames GuildfordGuildford Spectrum2,200Manchester Storm ManchesterAO Arena21,000Nottingham Panthers NottinghamMotorpoint Arena Nottingham7,500Sheffield Steelers SheffieldUtilita Arena Sheffield9,512
Regular season League standings Each team plays 54 games, playing each of the other nine teams six times: three times on home ice, and three times away from home. Points are awarded for each game: two points for all victories, regardless of whether it was in regulation time or after overtime or game-winning shots, one point 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 finishes with the most points will be crowned league champions. The top eight teams will qualify for the playoffs.
Challenge Cup The Challenge Cup is split into two stages: an initial group stage where the league's ten teams are be divided into two groups based on geographical distance – one group of six teams (Group A) and a group of four teams (Group B). The teams in Group A (the five English teams and the Cardiff Devils) are to play each of the other teams twice for a total of ten games, while the teams in Group B (the three Scottish teams and the Belfast Giants) are to play each of the other teams four times for a total of twelve games.
The top two teams in Group A and the winners of Group B will qualify for the semi-finals. The runners-up in Group B will play the third-placed team in Group A in a semi-final playoff game to be held at the arena of the team with a higher group stage points percentage to determine the final semi-finalist.
Group stage Group A
Group B
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