2017–18 EIHL season

The 2017–18 EIHL season was the 15th season of the Elite Ice Hockey League. The regular season commenced on 9 September 2017 and ended on 25 March 2018. The reigning league champions were the Cardiff Devils, who won the championship for the first time in 2016–17. The Devils retained their regular season title, with a 3–2 victory away at the Belfast Giants on 16 March 2018. The Devils also won the playoff title, beating the Sheffield Steelers – who had defeated the Devils 12 months prior in a 6–5 double overtime game – 3–1 in the final, winning a first playoff title since 1998–99.
==Teams==
The league expanded from ten teams to twelve teams for the 2017–18 season, with the introduction of two former English Premier Ice Hockey League teams; the Guildford Flames and the Milton Keynes Lightning.
Starting from the 2017–18 season, the league featured three conferences of four teams compared to the previous season's two conferences of five teams. The Gardiner Conference became an all-Scottish division, with the Braehead Clan, the Dundee Stars, the Edinburgh Capitals and the Fife Flyers. The Manchester Storm, who were part of the Gardiner Conference in 2016–17, moved to a new Southern conference: the Patton Conference. Also part of the division were the Coventry Blaze (moving from the Erhardt Conference), the Guildford Flames and the Milton Keynes Lightning. The final conference was the Erhardt Conference, consisting of the four "Arena" teams: the Belfast Giants, the Cardiff Devils, the Nottingham Panthers and the Sheffield Steelers.
 	 	 	 	
Belfast Giants 	Belfast 	Erhardt 	SSE Arena Belfast 	7,200
Braehead Clan 	Glasgow 	Gardiner	Braehead Arena 	4,000
Cardiff Devils 	Cardiff 	Erhardt 	Ice Arena Wales 	3,088
Coventry Blaze 	Coventry 	Patton 	SkyDome Arena 	3,000
Dundee Stars 	Dundee 	Gardiner	Dundee Ice Arena 	2,400
Edinburgh Capitals 	Edinburgh 	Gardiner	Murrayfield Ice Rink 	3,700
Fife Flyers 	Kirkcaldy 	Gardiner	Fife Ice Arena 	3,525
Guildford Flames 	Guildford 	Patton 	Guildford Spectrum 	2,001
Manchester Storm 	Altrincham 	Patton 	Altrincham Ice Dome 	2,000
Milton Keynes Lightning	Milton Keynes	Patton 	Planet Ice Milton Keynes	2,800
Nottingham Panthers 	Nottingham 	Erhardt 	National Ice Centre 	7,500
Sheffield Steelers 	Sheffield 	Erhardt 	Motorpoint Arena 	9,000
==Standings==
===Overall===
All games counted towards the overall Elite League standings. Each team played 56 matches; 24 matches against their three Conference rivals, and 32 against the eight teams from the other Conferences. The Cardiff Devils became regular season champions for the second successive season, with a 3–2 win over the Belfast Giants on 16 March 2018 at SSE Arena Belfast.
===Erhardt Conference===
Only intra-conference games counted towards the Erhardt Conference standings. Each team played the other three teams in the Conference eight times, for a total of 24 matches. The Cardiff Devils won the Conference for the third season in a row, with a 3–2 win over the Belfast Giants on 16 March 2018 at SSE Arena Belfast.
===Gardiner Conference===
Only intra-conference games counted towards the Gardiner Conference standings. Each team played the other three teams in the Conference eight times, for a total of 24 matches. The Fife Flyers won the Conference for the first time, with a 7–6 overtime win over the Dundee Stars on 18 February 2018 at the Dundee Ice Arena.
===Patton Conference===
Only intra-conference games counted towards the Patton Conference standings. Each team played the other three teams in the Conference eight times, for a total of 24 matches. The Manchester Storm won the inaugural Conference, after the Coventry Blaze defeated the Storm's closest challengers, the Guildford Flames, 3–1 on 18 March 2018 at the Guildford Spectrum.
==Playoffs==
===Bracket===
===Quarter-finals===
====(1) Cardiff Devils vs. (8) Coventry Blaze====
====(2) Manchester Storm vs. (7) Fife Flyers====
====(3) Sheffield Steelers vs. (6) Guildford Flames====
====(4) Nottingham Panthers vs. (5) Belfast Giants====
===Semi-finals===
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===Third-place match===
===Grand Final===
==Regular season statistics==
===Scoring leaders===
The following players led the league in points at the conclusion of the regular season.
Player	Team 	 	 	 	 	
 	Manchester Storm	56	32	51	83	10
 	Guildford Flames	55	22	59	81	34
 	Manchester Storm	56	24	51	75	14
 	Belfast Giants 	53	27	46	73	154
 	Cardiff Devils 	55	27	46	73	26
 	Belfast Giants 	54	32	40	72	152
 	Manchester Storm	55	24	46	70	107
 	Manchester Storm	56	34	32	66	73
 	Guildford Flames	54	27	39	66	36
 	Coventry Blaze 	48	34	31	65	145
===Leading goaltenders===
The following goaltenders led the league in goals against average, while playing at least 1200 minutes, at the conclusion of the regular season.
Player	Team 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	Sheffield Steelers 	53	3097:39	31	19	3	122	9	.918	2.36
 	Cardiff Devils 	51	2937:01	38	10	3	119	6	.912	2.43
 	Nottingham Panthers	27	1445:25	19	8 	0	62 	2	.924	2.57
 	Fife Flyers 	42	2369:49	28	10	2	106	2	.913	2.68
 	Guildford Flames 	43	2589:09	25	13	5	119	3	.904	2.76
==Playoff statistics==
===Scoring leaders===
The following players led the league in points at the conclusion of the playoffs.
Player	Team 	 	 	 	 	
 	Sheffield Steelers 	4	4	2	6	0
 	Cardiff Devils 	4	4	2	6	0
 	Nottingham Panthers	4	3	3	6	0
 	Nottingham Panthers	4	3	3	6	4
 	Sheffield Steelers 	4	2	3	5	0
 	Manchester Storm 	2	1	4	5	2
 	Cardiff Devils 	4	1	4	5	0
 	Cardiff Devils 	4	1	4	5	0
 	Sheffield Steelers 	4	1	4	5	2
 	Nottingham Panthers	4	3	1	4	2
 	Cardiff Devils 	4	3	1	4	2
 	Fife Flyers 	4	3	1	4	2
===Leading goaltenders===
The following goaltenders led the league in goals against average, while playing at least 60 minutes, at the conclusion of the playoffs.
Player	Team 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	Cardiff Devils 	4	240:00	4	0	0	6 	1	.939	1.50
 	Manchester Storm 	2	120:47	1	0	1	6 	0	.895	2.98
 	Fife Flyers 	3	180:47	1	2	0	9 	0	.899	2.99
 	Sheffield Steelers	4	243:25	2	2	0	13	0	.909	3.20
 	Coventry Blaze 	2	117:20	0	2	0	7 	0	.891	3.58
==References==
==External links==
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Category:Elite Ice Hockey League seasons
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