# 2016–17 EIHL season

The 2016–17 Elite Ice Hockey League season was the 14th season of the Elite Ice Hockey League. The regular season begun in early September and ended in March. Regular season champion Cardiff Devils were defeated in the playoff final by their Erhardt Conference rivals Sheffield Steelers 6–5 in double-overtime.
From the 2016–17 season, the number of non British-trained players rose from 13 to 14, while the number of work-permit players remained at 11, according to a rule change first introduced in 2014.

## Teams

| Team | City/Town | Arena | Capacity |
| Belfast Giants | Belfast | SSE Arena Belfast | 7,200 |
| Cardiff Devils | Cardiff | Ice Arena Wales | 3,088 |
| Coventry Blaze | Coventry | SkyDome Arena | 3,000 |
| Nottingham Panthers | Nottingham | National Ice Centre | 7,500 |
| Sheffield Steelers | Sheffield | Motorpoint Arena | 8,500 |
| Team | City/Town | Arena | Capacity |
| Braehead Clan | Glasgow | Braehead Arena | 4,000 |
| Dundee Stars | Dundee | Dundee Ice Arena | 2,400 |
| Edinburgh Capitals | Edinburgh | Murrayfield Ice Rink | 3,700 |
| Fife Flyers | Kirkcaldy | Fife Ice Arena | 3,525 |
| Manchester Storm | Altrincham | Altrincham Ice Dome | 2,000 |

## Standings
### Overall

All games counted towards the overall Elite League standings. Each team played 52 matches; 32 matches against their four Conference rivals, and 20 against the five teams from the other Conference. The Cardiff Devils became regular season champions for the first time in twenty years, with a 6–2 win over the Sheffield Steelers on 18 March 2017 at Ice Arena Wales.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | OTL | RW | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Cardiff Devils (Q) | 52 | 39 | 10 | 3 | 32 | 200 | 136 | +64 | 81 | Regular season champions Qualification to playoffs |
| 2 | Belfast Giants (Q) | 52 | 35 | 13 | 4 | 30 | 195 | 145 | +50 | 74 | Qualification to playoffs |
| 3 | Sheffield Steelers (Q) | 52 | 35 | 14 | 3 | 31 | 196 | 136 | +60 | 73 | Qualification to playoffs |
| 4 | Nottingham Panthers (Q) | 52 | 26 | 20 | 6 | 22 | 169 | 175 | −6 | 58 | Qualification to playoffs |
| 5 | Braehead Clan (Q) | 52 | 27 | 22 | 3 | 24 | 191 | 176 | +15 | 57 | Qualification to playoffs |
| 6 | Fife Flyers (Q) | 52 | 25 | 24 | 3 | 20 | 174 | 186 | −12 | 53 | Qualification to playoffs |
| 7 | Dundee Stars (Q) | 52 | 20 | 26 | 6 | 16 | 162 | 183 | −21 | 46 | Qualification to playoffs |
| 8 | Manchester Storm (Q) | 52 | 18 | 26 | 8 | 17 | 141 | 168 | −27 | 44 | Qualification to playoffs |
| 9 | Coventry Blaze | 52 | 19 | 28 | 5 | 13 | 147 | 198 | −51 | 43 | |
| 10 | Edinburgh Capitals | 52 | 16 | 33 | 3 | 11 | 154 | 226 | −72 | 35 | |

### Erhardt Conference

Only intra-conference games counted towards the Erhardt Conference standings. Each team played the other four teams in the Conference eight times, for a total of 32 matches. The Cardiff Devils won the Conference for the second successive season, with a 4–3 win over the Belfast Giants on 25 March 2017 at Ice Arena Wales.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | OTL | RW | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Cardiff Devils | 32 | 21 | 8 | 3 | 18 | 119 | 96 | +23 | 45 | Conference champions |
| 2 | Belfast Giants | 32 | 20 | 10 | 2 | 16 | 104 | 88 | +16 | 42 | |
| 3 | Sheffield Steelers | 32 | 18 | 12 | 2 | 17 | 121 | 88 | +33 | 38 | |
| 4 | Nottingham Panthers | 32 | 13 | 15 | 4 | 11 | 104 | 119 | −15 | 30 | |
| 5 | Coventry Blaze | 32 | 8 | 21 | 3 | 4 | 84 | 141 | −57 | 19 | |

### Gardiner Conference

Only intra-conference games counted towards the Gardiner Conference standings. Each team played the other four teams in the Conference eight times, for a total of 32 matches. The Braehead Clan won the Conference for the third successive season, with a 4–1 win over the Dundee Stars on 25 February 2017 at the Braehead Arena.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | OTL | RW | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Braehead Clan | 32 | 23 | 8 | 1 | 22 | 136 | 97 | +39 | 47 | Conference champions |
| 2 | Dundee Stars | 32 | 17 | 12 | 3 | 14 | 117 | 106 | +11 | 37 | |
| 3 | Fife Flyers | 32 | 14 | 15 | 3 | 13 | 117 | 121 | −4 | 31 | |
| 4 | Manchester Storm | 32 | 13 | 16 | 3 | 12 | 93 | 101 | −8 | 29 | |
| 5 | Edinburgh Capitals | 32 | 13 | 18 | 1 | 8 | 101 | 139 | −38 | 27 | |

## Playoffs
### Bracket

| Quarter-finals (1–2 April) | Quarter-finals (1–2 April) | Quarter-finals (1–2 April) | Quarter-finals (1–2 April) | Quarter-finals (1–2 April) | | | Semi-finals (8 April) | Semi-finals (8 April) | Semi-finals (8 April) | Grand Final (9 April) | Grand Final (9 April) | Grand Final (9 April) |
| E1 | Cardiff Devils | 3 | 3 | 6 | | | | | | | | |
| RS8 | Manchester Storm | 2 | 1 | 3 | | | | | | | | |
| RS8 | Manchester Storm | 2 | 1 | 3 | | | E1 | Cardiff Devils | 4 | | | |
| | | | | | | | RS7 | Dundee Stars | 2 | | | |
| G1 | Braehead Clan | 1 | 0 | 1 | | | RS7 | Dundee Stars | 2 | | | |
| RS7 | Dundee Stars | 3 | 3 | 6 | | | | | | | | |
| RS7 | Dundee Stars | 3 | 3 | 6 | | | | | | E1 | Cardiff Devils | 5 |
| (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | E1 | Cardiff Devils | 5 |
| (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | RS3 | Sheffield Steelers | 6 |
| RS3 | Sheffield Steelers | 2 | 5 | 7 | | | | | | | | | RS3 | Sheffield Steelers | 6 |
| RS4 | Nottingham Panthers | 5 | 1 | 6 | | | | | |
| RS4 | Nottingham Panthers | 5 | 1 | 6 | | | RS3 | Sheffield Steelers | 2 | Third place game (9 April) | Third place game (9 April) | Third place game (9 April) |
| | | | | | | | RS2 | Belfast Giants | 0 |
| RS2 | Belfast Giants | 4 | 4 | 8 | | | RS2 | Belfast Giants | 0 | RS7 | Dundee Stars | 8 |
| RS6 | Fife Flyers | 2 | 1 | 3 | | | | | | RS2 | Belfast Giants | 15 |

### Quarter-finals
#### (E1) Cardiff Devils vs. (RS8) Manchester Storm

* Cardiff Devils win 6–3 on aggregate.

#### (G1) Braehead Clan vs. (RS7) Dundee Stars

* Dundee Stars win 6–1 on aggregate.

#### (RS3) Sheffield Steelers vs. (RS4) Nottingham Panthers

* Sheffield Steelers win 7–6 on aggregate.

#### (RS2) Belfast Giants vs. (RS6) Fife Flyers

* Belfast Giants win 8–3 on aggregate.

### Grand Final
## Challenge Cup

The Challenge Cup was won by the Cardiff Devils, who came from behind to beat the Sheffield Steelers 3-2.
The win meant Cardiff had won the Challenge Cup twice in the previous three years, with their other victory coming in 2014-15, also against the Steelers.

## Statistics
### Scoring leaders

The following players led the league in points at the conclusion of the regular season.
| Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| Matt Beca | Braehead Clan | 52 | 27 | 48 | 75 | 28 |
| Scott Pitt | Braehead Clan | 52 | 32 | 42 | 74 | 26 |
| Vinny Scarsella | Dundee Stars | 52 | 18 | 54 | 72 | 4 |
| Alex Leavitt | Braehead Clan | 52 | 24 | 45 | 69 | 57 |
| Mathieu Roy | Sheffield Steelers | 52 | 28 | 29 | 57 | 28 |
| Blair Riley | Belfast Giants | 52 | 28 | 28 | 56 | 77 |
| Chris Higgins | Belfast Giants | 49 | 20 | 35 | 55 | 107 |
| Mathew Sisca | Fife Flyers | 50 | 17 | 38 | 55 | 44 |
| Ryan Dingle | Fife Flyers | 41 | 31 | 23 | 54 | 32 |
| Kevin Bruijsten | Dundee Stars | 47 | 23 | 31 | 54 | 10 |

### Leading goaltenders

The following goaltenders led the league in goals against average, playing at least 2100 minutes, at the conclusion of the regular season.
| Player | Team | GP | TOI | W | L | GA | SO | SV% | GAA |
| Ben Bowns | Cardiff Devils | 46 | 2616:43 | 33 | 7 | 103 | 3 | .912 | 2.36 |
| Ervīns Muštukovs | Sheffield Steelers | 51 | 3053:14 | 34 | 14 | 130 | 1 | .913 | 2.55 |
| Stephen Murphy | Belfast Giants | 39 | 2284:16 | 25 | 10 | 97 | 3 | .905 | 2.55 |
| Mike Clemente | Manchester Storm | 52 | 3108:38 | 18 | 26 | 150 | 3 | .910 | 2.90 |
| Miika Wiikman | Nottingham Panthers | 41 | 2294:47 | 23 | 12 | 115 | 2 | .901 | 3.01 |