Nottingham Panthers The Nottingham Panthers are a British professional ice hockey club based in Nottingham , England . They are members of the Elite Ice Hockey League . The team is officially known as the GMB Nottingham Panthers due to a sponsorship agreement with the GMB union . The Panthers have won three league championships ( two English National League titles and one British National League title ) , two Championships , six Autumn Cup s and two Challenge Cup s during their history . They are the only team to have played in every season where a British league championship has been contested and are the only founding member of the Premier Division in 1983 who continue to participate in the top flight league . The Panthers have 16 members enshrined in the British Ice Hockey Hall of Fame and have had 34 players represent Great Britain at the World Championships and in Olympic qualifying . The club was founded in 1946 after earlier attempts to establish a team were postponed due to World War II . During their first eight seasons the Panthers played in the English National League . They joined the newly - formed British National League in 1954 , which they competed in until its disbandment in 1960 . With no league to play in the club also ceased operations . In 1980 , players and officials from the Sheffield Lancers relocated to Nottingham and reformed the Panthers . Both the original and modern Nottingham Panthers played their home games at the Ice Stadium until 2000 when the team moved into the National Ice Centre . The Panthers have one of the largest fanbases in British ice hockey . Their supporters have shared a number of rivalries with other teams during their history . Currently the Panthers have a fierce rivalry with the Sheffield Steelers . The two sides have played over 150 games , including ten major finals , since 1992 . Honours and awards . < br clear = " all " > Records and statistics . Randall Weber holds the record for Nottingham Panthers appearances , having played for the club 845 times between 1985 and 2002 . Centre Chick Zamick comes second , having appeared 624 times between 1947 and 1958 . Canadian forward Paul Adey is the club ' s all time leader in goals , assists and points . He scored 828 goals and 781 assists for a total of 1609 points in 609 appearance between 1988 and 1999 . Zamick is in second place having scored 774 goals and 638 assists for 1412 points . He is the only other player to have amassed more than 1000 points for the Panthers . Adey also holds the record for the most goals scored by a Panthers player in a single season with 120 during the 1994 – 95 season . During the same season Rick Brebant set club records for the most assists and most points in a single season with 156 and 241 respectively . British forward Simon Hunt holds the club record for the most penalty minutes , serving 1226 minutes in 524 appearances between 1988 and 1999 . During 2000 – 01 Barry Nieckar earned 352 penalty minutes , the highest number for a player in a single season . The club ' s record win came on 31 October 1981 when the Panthers defeated the Southampton Vikings 31 – 2 at the Ice Stadium . A few weeks earlier , on 4 October , the Panthers had recorded their record away victory with a 23 – 1 win over the same opposition . The team ' s heaviest defeat came on 20 March 1988 with a 23 – 1 away defeat at the Whitley Warriors . Nottingham ' s largest home defeat was a 14 – 2 loss to the Dundee Rockets on 25 February 1984 . The Nottingham Panthers have held continuous membership of British ice hockey ' s highest division since the foundation of the Premier League in 1983 and are the only team to have this distinction . The club are the oldest member of the Elite League having been founded forty years before and having played twenty seasons more than the Cardiff Devils , the next oldest team . Current roster . " As of 22 July 2009 , 2009 – 10 EIHL season "