2008–09 EIHL season

The 2008–09 EIHL season was the sixth season of the Elite Ice Hockey League. It began in September 2008, and ran through to April 2009. The ten clubs in the League competed for 4 different competitions: the Elite League, the Play-Offs, the Challenge Cup, and the Knockout Cup. The winners of the regular season will compete in the 2009–2010 Champions Hockey League. For this season, the Coventry Blaze represented Great Britain in the Continental Cup.
==Charity Shield==
The season began on September 3, 2008 with a "Charity Shield" game between the 2007–08 league champions and Knockout Cup winning Coventry Blaze and the playoff champions Sheffield Steelers at the SkyDome.The Official Site of the Coventry Blaze Ice Hockey Team The Blaze narrowly beat the Steelers 5-4 in sudden death overtime.
 	 	 	 		
September 3	 	 	 		
 	Coventry 	5 – 4 	Sheffield 		Skydome (19.30)
 	 	First period 	 		Ref: Tom Darnell
 	1-0 Lewis (LeClare, Kelman) 01.08 	 	 		Att: 3,500+
 	2-0 Calder (Kelman, Carlson) PP 08.10	 	 		
 	 	Second period	 		
 	3-0Calder (Kelman, Carlson) PP 22.00 	 	 		
 	 	 	3-1 Philips (League) PP 29.20 		
 	 	 	3-2 Gillies (Sarich, Hewitt) 30.18 		
 	 	Third period 	 		
 	 	 	3-3 Philips (Finerty, Dowd) PP 44.38		
 	4-3 Carlson (Deschatelets) SH 52.35 	 	 		
 	 	 	4-4 Basiuk (Tait, Talbot) PP 53.28 		
 	 	Overtime 	 		
 	5-4 Calder (Carlson, Weaver) PP 60.26	 	 		
==Challenge Cup==
For the preliminary round, teams were divided into two groups of five with teams playing each of their opponents once with two homes games and two away games. The home and away games for each club were determined by a random draw.bmibaby Elite Ice Hockey League | News - bmibaby Elite League confirm 2007/08 competitions The top two in each group advanced to the semi finals of the competition.
===Group stage===
====Group A====
 	Team 	GP	W	OTW	L	OTL	GF	GA	Pts
1	Belfast Giants 	4 	4	0 	0	0 	18	8 	8
2	Manchester Phoenix	4 	3	0 	1	0 	19	12	6
3	Newcastle Vipers 	4 	2	0 	2	0 	15	18	4
4	Sheffield Steelers	4 	1	0 	3	0 	14	17	2
5	Edinburgh Capitals	4 	0	0 	4	0 	10	21	0
====Group B====
 	Team 	GP	W	OTW	L	OTL	GF	GA	Pts
1	Basingstoke Bison 	4 	3	0 	1	0 	19	16	6
2	Coventry Blaze 	4 	2	0 	1	1 	17	13	5
3	Nottingham Panthers	4 	1	1 	0	2 	12	11	4
4	Cardiff Devils 	4 	2	0 	2	0 	10	12	4
5	Hull Stingrays 	4 	0	0 	3	1 	11	18	1
====Semi-Finals====
Coventry Blaze 1 - 1 Belfast Giants (1st Leg)
Belfast Giants 4 - 1 Coventry Blaze (2nd Leg)
Belfast Win 5 - 2 on Aggregate
Basingstoke Bison 2 - 5 Manchester Phoenix (1st Leg)
Manchester Phoenix 6 - 1 Basingstoke Bison (2nd Leg)
Manchester Win 11 - 3 on Aggregate
====Final====
Manchester Phoenix 4 - 3 Belfast Giants
Belfast Giants 3 - 1 Manchester Phoenix
Belfast Giants win 6 - 5 on aggregate
==Elite League Table==
Regular season standings	GP	W 	OTW	L 	OTL	GF 	GA 	GD 	Pts
Sheffield Steelers 	54	35	6 	6 	7 	201	115	+86 	89
Coventry Blaze 	54	34	4 	14	2 	228	151	+77 	78
Nottingham Panthers 	54	33	4 	13	4 	226	154	+72 	78
Belfast Giants 	54	29	6 	15	4 	216	170	+46 	74
Cardiff Devils 	54	21	7 	19	7 	174	143	+31 	63
Manchester Phoenix 	54	22	5 	23	4 	198	179	+19 	58
Newcastle Vipers 	54	14	7 	29	4 	147	184	−37 	46
Edinburgh Capitals 	54	18	1 	29	6 	179	243	−64 	44
Hull Stingrays 	54	13	3 	33	5 	154	243	−89 	37
Basingstoke Bison 	54	5 	3 	43	3 	131	272	−141	19
==Elite League Playoffs==
==All-star game==
On February 19th, 2009, the SkyDome in Coventry staged the 2009 EIHL All-Star Game. This game was played out between the North All-Stars and the South All-Stars. Dave Matsos of the Sheffield Steelers was chosen to coach the North, while Paul Thompson of the Coventry Blaze was chosen to coach the South. The rosters for each team consisted of players representing all 10 Elite League clubs.
==Footnotes==
EIHL
Category:Elite Ice Hockey League seasons