# 2021–22 NIHL National League season

The 2021/22 edition of the NIHL National League involved 9 teams from across the United Kingdom.

## Season overview

The NIHL National hosted 4 tournaments across the season:
* National Autumn Cup
* National Cup
* National League
* National Playoffs
| Competition | Champions | Runners-up |
| National Autumn Cup | Swindon Wildcats | Leeds Knights |
| National Cup | Sheffield Steeldogs | Telford Tigers |
| National League | Telford Tigers | |
| National Playoffs | | |

## National Autumn Cup

The National Autumn Cup was hosted between 17 September and 23 November 2021, each team playing each other once in the group stage (either home or away) totalling 8 matches.

### Group stage

The group stage took place between 17 September and 10 October 2021. Teams receive 2 points for a win and 1 point for an overtime loss. In the event that two or more teams were tied on points, goal difference was used to determine the rankings.
Group Stage Table :
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Sheffield Steeldogs | 8 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 41 | 20 | 13 | Advance to the semi-finals |
| 2 | Leeds Knights | 8 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 45 | 25 | 12 | Advance to the semi-finals |
| 3 | Telford Tigers | 8 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 31 | 30 | 10 | Advance to the semi-finals |
| 4 | Swindon Wildcats | 8 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 29 | 28 | 9 | Advance to the semi-finals |
| 5 | Peterborough Phantoms | 8 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 27 | 34 | 8 | |
| 6 | Basingstoke Bison | 8 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 27 | 28 | 7 | |
| 7 | Bees IHC | 8 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 26 | 36 | 6 | |
| 8 | Milton Keynes Lightning | 8 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 23 | 36 | 6 | |
| 9 | Raiders IHC | 8 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 28 | 40 | 5 | |

### Knockouts

The knockouts took place between 11 November and 23 December 2021. Since Sheffield Steeldogs placed 1st in the group stage, they got to select their semi-final opponent and chose Leeds Knights Matches were played over two legs, one home and one away with the aggregate score (shown in bold) the decider of who advances. If it was level after the 120 minutes of play, 5 minutes of overtime was played and if still not tied it went to a shootout.
| Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Final | Final | Final | Final | Final |
| 1 | Sheffield Steeldogs | 1 | 5 | 6 | | | | | |
| 2 | Leeds Knights | 3 | 6 | 9 | | | | | |
| 2 | Leeds Knights | 3 | 6 | 9 | 2 | Leeds Knights | 2 | 4 | 6 |
| | | | | | 4 | Swindon Wildcats | 3 | 5 | 8 |
| 3 | Telford Tigers | 3 | 4 | 7 | 4 | Swindon Wildcats | 3 | 5 | 8 |
| 4 | Swindon Wildcats | 6 | 6 | 12 | | | | | |

### Final rankings

| Pos | Team | |
| 1 | Swindon Wildcats | Champions |
| 2 | Leeds Knights | Runners-up |
| =3 | Sheffield Steeldogs | |
| =3 | Telford Tigers | |
| 5 | Peterborough Phantoms | |
| 6 | Basingstoke Bison | |
| 7 | Bees IHC | |
| 8 | Milton Keynes Lightning | |
| 9 | Raiders IHC | |

### Leaders

Points :
| Pos | Player | Team | Points |
| 1 | Jason Hewitt | Sheffield Steeldogs | 26 |
| 2 | Kerian Brown | Leeds Knights | 24 |
| =3 | Matt Bissonnette | Sheffield Steeldogs | 22 |
| =3 | Brandon Whistle | Leeds Knights | 22 |
| 5 | Aaron Nell | Swindon Wildcats | 19 |
Goals :
| Pos | Player | Team | Goals |
| 1 | Jason Hewitt | Sheffield Steeldogs | 14 |
| 2 | Kerian Brown | Leeds Knights | 13 |
| 3 | Brandon Whistle | Leeds Knights | 11 |
| 4 | Emil Svec | Swindon Wildcats | 10 |
| =5 | Aaron Connolly | Raiders IHC | 9 |
Assists :
| Pos | Player | Team | Points |
| 1 | Matt Bissonnette | Sheffield Steeldogs | 16 |
| 2 | Jason Hewitt | Sheffield Steeldogs | 12 |
| 3 | Thomasz Malasinski | Swindon Wildcats | 12 |
| =4 | Cole Shudra | Leeds Knights | 11 |
| =4 | Kieran Brown | Leeds Knights | 11 |

## National Cup

The National Cup was hosted between 16 October 2021 and 2 January 2022. These matches were the same matches that counted towards the National League, the first time each team player each other home and away.

### Group stage

The group stage took place between 16 October 2021 and 2 January 2022. Teams receive 2 points for a win and 1 point for an overtime loss. In the event that two or more teams were tied on points, goal difference was used to determine the rankings.
Group Stage Table :
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Swindon Wildcats | 16 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 67 | 41 | 27 | Advance to the semi-finals |
| 2 | Telford Tigers | 16 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 70 | 51 | 23 | Advance to the semi-finals |
| 3 | Sheffield Steeldogs | 16 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 54 | 47 | 20 | Advance to the semi-finals |
| 4 | Milton Keynes Lightning | 16 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 61 | 63 | 20 | Advance to the semi-finals |
| 5 | Leeds Knights | 16 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 57 | 67 | 14 |
| 6 | Peterborough Phantoms | 16 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 55 | 57 | 13 |
| 7 | Bees IHC | 16 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 53 | 58 | 13 |
| 8 | Raiders IHC | 16 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 46 | 65 | 11 |
| 9 | Basingstoke Bison | 16 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 58 | 72 | 10 |

### Knockouts

Since Swindon Wildcats placed 1st in the Group Stage, they got to select their semi-final opponent and chose Sheffield Steeldogs Matches were played over two legs, one home and one away with the aggregate score (shown in bold) the decider of who advances. If it was level after the 120 minutes of play, 5 minutes of overtime was played and if still tied it went to a shootout.
| Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Final | Final | Final | Final | Final |
| 1 | Swindon Wildcats | 1 | 3 | 4 | | | | | |
| 3 | Sheffield Steeldogs | 1 | 4 | 5 | | | | | |
| 3 | Sheffield Steeldogs | 1 | 4 | 5 | 2 | Telford Tigers | 3 | 2 | 5 |
| | | | | | 3 | Sheffield Steeldogs | 6 | 2 | 8 |
| 2 | Telford Tigers | 4 | 6 | 10 | 3 | Sheffield Steeldogs | 6 | 2 | 8 |
| 4 | Milton Keynes Lightning | 6 | 2 | 8 | | | | | |

### Final rankings

| Pos | Team | |
| 1 | Sheffield Steeldogs | Champions |
| 2 | Telford Tigers | Runners-up |
| =3 | Swindon Wildcats | |
| =3 | Milton Keynes Lightning | |
| 5 | Leeds Knights | |
| 6 | Peterborough Phantoms | |
| 7 | Bees IHC | |
| 9 | Raiders IHC | |
| 6 | Basingstoke Bison | |

## National League

The National League makes the majority of the games within the season, with each time playing each other a total of 6 times, 3 home and 3 away. The top 8 teams also qualify for the National Playoffs, with the 9th team missing out
Table :
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | Pts | Qualification |
| C | Telford Tigers (Q) | 48 | 29 | 4 | 4 | 11 | 208 | 150 | 70 | National League Playoffs |
| 2 | Swindon Wildcats (Q) | 48 | 23 | 4 | 6 | 15 | 179 | 170 | 60 | National League Playoffs |
| 3 | Sheffield Steeldogs (Q) | 48 | 25 | 2 | 3 | 18 | 164 | 151 | 53 | National League Playoffs |
| 4 | Leeds Knights (Q) | 48 | 23 | 4 | 2 | 19 | 186 | 172 | 56 | National League Playoffs |
| 5 | Milton Keynes Lightning (Q) | 48 | 23 | 2 | 4 | 19 | 197 | 195 | 54 | National League Playoffs |
| 6 | Peterborough Phantoms (Q) | 48 | 22 | 3 | 2 | 21 | 173 | 160 | 52 | National League Playoffs |
| 7 | Basingstoke Bison (Q) | 48 | 17 | 4 | 3 | 24 | 177 | 190 | 45 | National League Playoffs |
| 8 | Bees IHC (Q) | 48 | 14 | 1 | 3 | 30 | 161 | 200 | 33 | National League Playoffs |
| 9 | Raiders IHC | 46 | 12 | 4 | 1 | 31 | 135 | 192 | 30* | |
*Raiders IHC were deducted 3 points for failure to fulfill a fixture on 19 December 2021
(Q) Qualified for the National League Playoffs

## National League playoffs
### Group stage

The 8 teams that make it to the playoffs are split into two groups, Group A and B based on their placing in the National League. Each team plays each other twice, one at home and once away. The top 2 from each group proceed to the Final 4 weekend.
Group A :
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Telford Tigers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Advance to Final 4 |
| 2 | Leeds Knights | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Advance to Final 4 |
| 3 | Milton Keynes Lightning | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Eliminated |
| 4 | Bees IHC | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Eliminated |
Group B :
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | National League 2nd place | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Advance to Final 4 |
| 2 | National League 3rd place | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Advance to Final 4 |
| 3 | National League 6th place | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Eliminated |
| 4 | National League 7th place | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Eliminated |