View source for 2004–05 EIHL season

{{Infobox sports league
|logo           = 
|sport          = Ice hockey
|founded        = 2003
|folded         =
|teams          = 7
|country        = {{GBR}}
|website        = [http://www.eliteleague.co.uk/ eliteleague.co.uk]

}}

[[Image:EliteIceHockeyLeagueLogo.jpg|right|thumb|The League logo]]
The '''2004&ndash;05 Elite Ice Hockey League season''' was the second season of the [[United Kingdom|British]] [[Elite Ice Hockey League]] (EIHL). [[Manchester Phoenix]] did not ice due as they could not agree a deal with the [[Manchester Evening News Arena]].<ref>{{cite web | publisher = BBC | year = 2005 | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/3876007.stm | title = Phoenix pull out of league | accessdate = 2007-12-05  | date=2004-07-08}}</ref>

The second season of the EIHL saw a series of games between the EIHL clubs and the members of the [[British National League (1996–2005)|British National League]] (BNL). In addition to three home games and three away games against their Elite opponents, each club also played one home game and one away game against the BNL clubs in ''crossover'' matchups. Results in these ''crossover'' games would count towards a team's points tally. The NHL lockout also saw a number of [[National Hockey League]] (NHL) players join British clubs. [[Coventry Blaze]] won a Grand Slam of all three titles, winning the [[British Championship|Championship]] with an overtime victory over the [[Nottingham Panthers]].<ref>{{cite web | title = Grand Slam triumph for Coventry | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/ice_hockey/4431333.stm | accessdate = 2007-06-02 | publisher = BBC | date=2005-04-10}}</ref>

The ''crossover'' games with the BNL clubs were seen by many to be the first stage towards the amalgamation of the two organisations into one league. However, early in the season it was revealed that teams including [[Edinburgh Capitals]] and [[Newcastle Vipers]] were seeking to resign from the BNL and join the Elite League.<ref>{{cite web| author = Nigel Duncan | title = Capitals eyeing their place among the elite | url = http://sport.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=1384222004| year = 2004 | accessdate = 2006-07-03 | publisher = The Scotsman |year = 2004 }}</ref> A withdrawal of the these clubs would leave the BNL with only a small number of participating teams. This situation led to the resigning teams temporarily withdrawing their Elite League applications and entering into collective discussions on the entire BNL joining the EIHL instead. The Elite League offered the BNL clubs invitations to join the EIHL structure,<ref>{{cite web| author = Bolton Evening News | title = Leagues look set to merge at last | url = http://archive.thisislancashire.co.uk/2005/2/2/446300.html| year = 2005 | accessdate = 2006-07-03 | publisher = This is Lancashire |year = 2005 }}</ref> which were declined due to unfavourable terms. Subsequently Edinburgh and Newcastle resubmitted individual applications to the Elite League, both of which were accepted. A combination of this and [[Bracknell Bees]] owner John Nike's announcement that he was withdrawing funding from the BNL team prompted the collapse of the BNL at the end of the 2004–05 season.

==Challenge Cup==
During the early part of the season, the results from league games also counted towards a separate [[Challenge Cup (UK Ice Hockey)|Challenge Cup]] table. However, in a change to the [[2003–04 EIHL season|previous season]], there were two groups of teams, Group A with three teams and Group B with four teams. After each team had played each team in their group once at home and once away, the top two teams of each group qualified for the semi finals.

===Group A===
{| class="wikitable" width="60%"
! width="40%" | Group A
! width="5%" | GP
! width="5%" | W
! width="5%" | T
! width="5%" | OTL<sup>1</sup>
! width="5%" | L
! width="7.5%" | GF
! width="7.5%" | GA
! width="7.5%" | Pts
|-bgcolor="#CCFFCC"
| [[Coventry Blaze]] || 4 || 2 || 1 || 1 || 0 || 11 || 10 || 6
|-bgcolor="#CCFFCC"
| [[Sheffield Steelers]] || 4 || 3 || 0 || 0 || 1 || 10 || 8 || 6
|-bgcolor=
| [[Basingstoke Bison]] || 4 || 0 || 1 || 1 || 2 || 10 || 13 || 2
|}
<sup>1</sup> 1 point awarded for an overtime loss.

===Group B===
{| class="wikitable" width="60%"
! width="40%" | Group B
! width="5%" | GP
! width="5%" | W
! width="5%" | T
! width="5%" | OTL<sup>1</sup>
! width="5%" | L
! width="7.5%" | GF
! width="7.5%" | GA
! width="7.5%" | Pts
|-bgcolor="#CCFFCC"
| [[Cardiff Devils]] || 6 || 5 || 0 || 0 || 1 || 17 || 8 || 10
|-bgcolor="#CCFFCC"
| [[Nottingham Panthers]] || 6 || 3 || 1 || 0 || 2 || 19 || 15 || 7
|-bgcolor=
| [[Belfast Giants]] || 6 || 3 || 0 || 0 || 3 || 14 || 15 || 6
|-bgcolor=
| [[London Racers]] || 6 || 0 || 1 || 1 || 4 || 9 || 21 || 2
|}
<sup>1</sup> 1 point awarded for an overtime loss.

===Semi Finals===
'''Winner A (Coventry) vs Runner-up B (Nottingham)'''
*Coventry Blaze 2–1 Nottingham Panthers
*Nottingham Panthers 3–3 Coventry Blaze (Coventry win 5–4 on aggregate)

'''Winner B (Cardiff) vs Runner-up A (Sheffield)'''
*Sheffield Steelers 2–2 Cardiff Devils
*Cardiff Devils 3–1 Sheffield Steelers (Cardiff win 5–3 on aggreagate)

===Final===
'''First Leg'''
*Coventry Blaze 6–1 Cardiff Devils

'''Second Leg'''
*Cardiff Devils 4–5 Coventry Blaze (Coventry win 11–5 on aggregate)

==Elite League Table==
The top six teams qualified for the [[British Championship|playoffs]].

{| class="wikitable"
! width="40%" | Regular season standings
! width="5%" | GP
! width="5%" | W
! width="5%" | T
! width="5%" | OTL
! width="5%" | L
! width="7.5%" | GF
! width="7.5%" | GA
! width="7.5%" | Pts
|- align=center bgcolor="#FFBF00"
|align=left| [[Coventry Blaze]] || 50 || 33 || 6 || 5 || 6 || 181 || 104 || 77
|- align=center bgcolor="#CCFFCC"
|align=left| [[Belfast Giants]] || 50 || 31 || 7 || 2 || 10 || 170 || 104 || 71
|- align=center bgcolor="#CCFFCC"
|align=left| [[Cardiff Devils]] || 50 || 30 || 4 || 1 || 15 || 152 || 121 || 65
|- align=center bgcolor="#CCFFCC"
|align=left| [[Nottingham Panthers]] || 50 || 25 || 5 || 6 || 14 || 136 || 101 || 61
|- align=center bgcolor="#CCFFCC"
|align=left| [[Sheffield Steelers]] || 50 || 25 || 5 || 3 || 17 || 118 || 110 || 58
|- align=center bgcolor="#CCFFCC"
|align=left| [[London Racers]] || 50 || 19 || 9 || 3  || 19 || 116 || 124 || 50
|- align=center
|align=left| [[Basingstoke Bison]] || 50 || 15 || 5 || 2 || 28 || 128 || 178 || 37
|}

==Elte League Play Offs==
The top six teams qualified for the [[British Championship|playoffs]]. Group A consisted of Coventry, Nottingham and London while Group B consisted of Belfast, Cardiff and Sheffield. Each team played the other teams in its group twice at home and twice away. The top two of each group then qualified for the playoff weekend at the [[National Ice Centre]] in [[Nottingham]].

===Group A===
{| class="wikitable"
! width="40%" | Group A
! width="5%" | GP
! width="5%" | W
! width="5%" | T
! width="5%" | OTL
! width="5%" | L
! width="7.5%" | GF
! width="7.5%" | GA
! width="7.5%" | Pts
|-bgcolor="#CCFFCC"
| [[Coventry Blaze]] || 8 || 5 || 2 || 0 || 1 || 29 || 15 || 12
|-bgcolor="#CCFFCC"
| [[Nottingham Panthers]] || 8 || 3 || 2 || 0 || 3 || 21 || 29 || 8
|-
| [[London Racers]] || 8 || 2 || 0 || 0 || 6 || 19 || 25 || 4
|}

===Group B===
{| class="wikitable"
! width="40%" | Group B
! width="5%" | GP
! width="5%" | W
! width="5%" | T
! width="5%" | OTL
! width="5%" | L
! width="7.5%" | GF
! width="7.5%" | GA
! width="7.5%" | Pts
|-bgcolor="#CCFFCC"
| [[Cardiff Devils]] || 8 || 4 || 3 || 0 || 1 || 18 || 12 || 11
|-bgcolor="#CCFFCC"
| [[Sheffield Steelers]] || 8 || 3 || 4 || 0 || 1 || 22 || 15 || 10
|-
| [[Belfast Giants]] || 8 || 0 || 3 || 0 || 5 || 14 || 27 || 3
|}

===Semi Finals===
'''Winner A vs Runner-up B'''
*Coventry Blaze 3–0 Sheffield Steelers

'''Winner B vs Runner-up A'''
*Cardiff Devils 1–3 Nottingham Panthers

===Third place playoff===
'''Loser A vs Loser B'''
*Sheffield Steelers 4–2 Cardiff Devils

===Final===
'''Winner A vs Winner B'''
*Coventry Blaze 2–1 Nottingham Panthers (after overtime)

==Other competitions==

===Crossover Cup===
{| class="wikitable"
! width="40%" | Crossover Cup
! width="5%" | GP
! width="5%" | W
! width="5%" | T
! width="5%" | OTL
! width="5%" | L
! width="7.5%" | GF
! width="7.5%" | GA
! width="7.5%" | Pts
|-
| [[Belfast Giants]] || 14 || 12 || 1 || 1 || 0 || 67 || 27 || 26
|-
| [[Cardiff Devils]] || 14 || 12 || 0 || 0 || 2 || 62 || 31 || 24
|-
| [[Nottingham Panthers]] || 14 || 11 || 0 || 1 || 2 || 55 || 27 || 23
|-
| [[Coventry Blaze]] || 14 || 10 || 0 || 1 || 3 || 57 || 31 || 21
|-
| [[London Racers]] || 14 || 9 || 1 || 0 || 4 || 46 || 33 || 19
|-
| [[Basingstoke Bison]] || 14 || 9 || 0 || 1  || 4 || 59 || 48 || 19
|-
| [[Sheffield Steelers]] || 14 || 8 || 1 || 0 || 5 || 39 || 29 || 17
|-
| [[Bracknell Bees]] || 14 || 7 || 1 || 1 || 5 || 48 || 33 || 16
|-
| [[Guildford Flames]] || 14 || 4 || 1 || 1 || 8 || 33 || 44 || 10
|-
| [[Dundee Stars]] || 14 || 4 || 0 || 0 || 10 || 29 || 56 || 8
|-
| [[Hull Stingrays]] || 14 || 4 || 0 || 0 || 10 || 22 || 52 || 8
|-
| [[Fife Flyers]] || 14 || 3 || 0 || 1 || 10 || 40 || 69 || 7
|-
| [[Newcastle Vipers]] || 14 || 2 || 1 || 1 || 10 || 24 || 56 || 6
|-
| [[Edinburgh Capitals]] || 14 || 0 || 0 || 1 || 13 || 30 || 75 || 1
|}

== References ==
* [http://www.ihjuk.co.uk/ Ice Hockey Journalists UK]
* [http://www.hockeydb.com/index.html The Internet Hockey Database]
* [http://homepage.ntlworld.com/malcolm.preen/hockey.html Malcolm Preen's Ice Hockey Results and Tables]

== Footnotes ==
{{reflist}}

{{s-start}}
{{succession box |
  before = [[2003–04 EIHL season]] |
  after = [[2005–06 EIHL season]] |
  title = [[List of EIHL seasons|EIHL seasons]] |
  years = |
}}
{{s-end}}
{{EIHL seasons}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:2004-05 EIHL season}}
[[Category:2004–05 ice hockey leagues|EIHL]]
[[Category:Elite Ice Hockey League seasons]]

{{Wikipedia}}