2023–24 EIHL season

The 2023–24 EIHL season was the 20th anniversary season of the Elite Ice Hockey League. The regular season commenced on 23 September 2023, and the final match day was on 7 April 2024; the playoff quarter-finals were held over the weekend of 14 April and the Playoff final weekend was held the following weekend.
The Sheffield Steelers won their sixth league title – and first since 2015–16 – having opened up an unassailable 14-point lead over the Cardiff Devils with a 7–3 victory over the Guildford Flames on 24 March 2024. The Steelers had also won the Challenge Cup 11 days earlier, beating the Flames 3–1 in the final. The Steelers ultimately completed their first Grand Slam in the EIHL era, defeating the Belfast Giants 3–1 in the playoff final.
The season was marred by the death of Nottingham Panthers forward Adam Johnson during a Challenge Cup match between the Panthers and the Sheffield Steelers, held on 28 October, at the Sheffield Arena. Johnson had suffered a cut to his neck by the blade of a skate, and received emergency treatment on the ice before being transferred to the Northern General Hospital, but died from his injuries. The EIHL postponed all scheduled matches for the following day, 29 October, and subsequent matches on 31 October and 1 November were also postponed. Teams returned to action on 4 November, with the exception of Sheffield and Nottingham, who returned to the ice a week and two weeks later.
==Regular season==
Pos	Team 	Pld	W 	OTW	OTL	L 	GF 	GA 	GD 	Pts	Qualification
1 	Sheffield Steelers (C)	54 	39	6 	1 	8 	228	113	+115	91 	Regular season champions
Qualification to playoffs
2 	Cardiff Devils 	54 	30	7 	3 	14	210	151	+59 	77 	Qualification to playoffs
3 	Belfast Giants 	54 	28	4 	7 	15	182	147	+35 	71 	Qualification to playoffs
4 	Manchester Storm 	54 	19	8 	7 	20	142	154	−12 	61 	Qualification to playoffs
5 	Guildford Flames 	54 	17	7 	10 	20	160	165	−5 	58 	Qualification to playoffs
6 	Coventry Blaze 	54 	11	12 	6 	25	147	185	−38 	52 	Qualification to playoffs
7 	Dundee Stars 	54 	16	6 	7 	25	169	198	−29 	51 	Qualification to playoffs
8 	Fife Flyers 	54 	14	6 	11 	23	166	202	−36 	51 	Qualification to playoffs
9 	Nottingham Panthers 	54 	15	6 	8 	25	165	195	−30 	50 	
10 	Glasgow Clan 	54 	10	9 	11 	24	175	234	−59 	49 	
==Playoffs==
;Quarterfinals
*Sheffield - Fife 9:4, 4:1
*Cardiff - Dundee 4:2, 3:2
*Belfast - Coventry 2:1, 1:1
*Guildford - Manchester 5:1, 4:0
;Semifinals
*Sheffield - Guildford 5:3
*Belfast - Cardiff 2:1 OT
;3rd place
*Cardiff - Guildford 7:5
;Final
*Sheffield - Belfast 3:1
==Challenge Cup==
;Group A
Pos	Team 	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD 	Pts	Qualification
1 	Belfast Giants	6 	6	0 	0 	0	27	11	+16	12 	Qualification to knockout stage
2 	Fife Flyers 	6 	3	0 	0 	3	19	18	+1 	6 	Qualification to knockout stage
3 	Glasgow Clan 	6 	2	0 	0 	4	15	21	−6 	4 	Qualification to knockout stage
4 	Dundee Stars 	6 	1	0 	0 	5	15	26	−11	2 	
;Group B
Pos	Team 	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD 	Pts	Qualification
1 	Cardiff Devils 	8 	6	0 	0 	2	36	22	+14	12 	Qualification to knockout stage
2 	Guildford Flames	8 	3	1 	0 	4	26	31	−5 	8 	Qualification to knockout stage
3 	Coventry Blaze 	8 	2	0 	1 	5	18	27	−9 	5 	Qualification to knockout stage
;Group C
Following the death of Adam Johnson, the Nottingham Panthers withdrew from the Challenge Cup on 8 November 2023. The game between the Sheffield Steelers and Nottingham, which was being led 2–1 by Sheffield at the time of its abandonment, was not considered in the standings or for potential tie-breaking scenarios between Sheffield and the Belfast Giants.
Pos	Team 	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD 	Pts	Qualification
1 	Sheffield Steelers 	6 	6	0 	0 	0	30	8 	+22	12 	Qualification to knockout stage
2 	Manchester Storm 	6 	1	0 	0 	5	16	28	−12	2 	Qualification to knockout stage
3 	Nottingham Panthers	4 	1	0 	0 	3	9 	19	−10	2 	Withdrew from the competition
;Quarterfinals
*Sheffield - Manchester 5:1, 5:1
*Coventry - Belfast 1:1, 5:4 SO
*Glasgow - Cardiff 3:4, 3:1
*Guildford - Fife 3:1, 3:2
;Semifinals
*Sheffield - Coventry 6:0, 4:1
*Guildford - Glasgow 0:0, 6:3
;Final
*Sheffield - Guildford 3:1
==References==
==External links==
*Season on hockeyarchives.info
Category:Elite Ice Hockey League seasons
Category:2023 in ice hockey
Category:2024 in ice hockey