There's only one weekend left in the British Elite Ice Hockey League season, but three teams are still in the hunt for the national championship and two Champions Hockey League berths – the Sheffield Steelers, Braehead Clan and Cardiff Devils are nearly in a dead-heat.

by Jon Rowson

In what is perhaps the closest finish in the league’s 11-year history, three teams are still in the hunt to be named EIHL Champions going into the final weekend of the season. A few weeks ago, it looked like the league title would be heading to Scotland, as the Braehead Clan held a three-point lead over the Sheffield Steelers. However, a dip in form at the worst possible time for the Glaswegians has seen the Steelers leapfrog them into first place. An added dimension to the excitement is the battle for the Champions Hockey League places. The teams placed first and second in the EIHL table at the end of the season qualify for the 2015–16 CHL campaign.

Here's a look at the league table with two games to go for most teams (three for Cardiff and a few others).

Despite having fallen behind the Steelers, the still Clan have a very good chance of claiming the EIHL title. Firstly, in the event of tying on points with their rivals, the Clan have more regulation wins; the first tie-breaker in the event of teams finishing level on points. Secondly, on paper they would appear to have the easier schedule when compared to the Steelers and the third-place team, the Cardiff Devils. The Clan do not have to leave Scotland, playing at home against the injury-riddled Hull Stingrays on Saturday before a trip to Fife to face the Flyers on Sunday. However, one may not be so sure of the Clan being certain to grab four points from these two games. 

The Clan have lost three of their last four games, being shut out twice in two games against Sheffield and Nottingham, before a humbling 2–1 loss in Edinburgh last Sunday. Despite having 10 power-play chances, the Clan only found the back of the net once against the league’s worst defence. Furthermore, the Clan have fared worse against the Stingrays than any other team in the Gardiner Conference. Hull defeated Braehead 6–2 in November, and the last two games between the two teams have been decided by a solitary goal. Braehead may benefit from Hull’s recent injury crisis though, as the Stingrays had just eleven fit out-skaters for last weekend’s games against the Devils and the Coventry Blaze.

Benefitting from the Clan’s recent downturn in form, the Steelers have continued to churn out victories, keeping them in the hunt for their fourth EIHL title. The Steelers have won six out of their last eight games, making their championship credentials known by shutting out the Clan in Sheffield on 3 March. Fortunately for the Steelers, starting goaltender Josh Unice missed only three games after picking up an injury in the first leg of the Challenge Cup semi-final against their fierce rivals, the Nottingham Panthers. The American shot-stopper has returned in fine form, picking up three shutouts in his last five EIHL starts. However, Unice struggled at the Cardiff Bay Arena against the Devils on Sunday, conceding six goals on 29 shots as the Steelers slumped to a 6–3 loss. 

This was the third time that the Steelers and Devils met in the space of eight days. The first of these games was the Challenge Cup Final, the first trophy of the season, where the Cardiff Devils held on for a 2–1 victory at the Motorpoint Arena. The two teams squared off against each other in league action on Wednesday, again in Sheffield. The Steelers were ruthless, showing no mercy after chasing goaltender Ben Bowns from the game in the second period. They would score seven goals in the third frame, humiliating Cardiff by an 11–0 scoreline. The Devils had three players handed game misconducts, topping 100 penalty minutes in the process. However, the EIHL is a funny old league, and on the small ice of the Cardiff Bay Arena, the Devils looked the better team, taking the two points by the aforementioned 6–3 score.

The Devils looked to be out of the title hunt at the start of February after losing four straight games, which included a 6–0 loss to the Steelers. However, a 3–0 road victory against Braehead was the first of five straight league wins to make the Devils the form team going into the final stages of the EIHL season. The Welsh side’s only loss in the last month has been the 11–0 drubbing in Sheffield last week, and player-coach Andrew Lord’s team quickly bounced back, picking up four points last weekend. 

On paper, the Steelers and Devils have a tougher schedule than the Clan, and even Wednesday’s game for the Devils against the Capitals is by no means a cakewalk. The Capitals shocked the Clan last Sunday, and have also won two of the three games against the Devils this season. However, both of these wins were on home ice, and the Capitals struggled desperately in their one visit to Cardiff this season, as the Devils thrashed them 10-0. As seen by the wild results over the past two weeks, the games between the Steelers and the Devils could go either way. Overall, the Steelers have won four out of seven league meetings between the two clubs, but most importantly going into Saturday’s clash at the Motorpoint Arena, the Steelers have won all three home games against the Devils.

It could be that the Nottingham Panthers are the spoilers in the title campaigns of both the Steelers and the Devils. The Panthers have flattered to deceive this season, and their historic victory against the DEL’s Hamburg Freezers failed to translate into EIHL success. Sitting four points behind the Devils and with an unfavourable regulation wins total, the Panthers have missed out on qualification to the Champions Hockey League next season, but they have a massive part to play in deciding which two teams will. 

Despite being unable to better their league placement, the Panthers have a whole lot of pride at stake when they host the Sheffield Steelers on Friday. The 7,500 National Ice Centre is already sold-out prior to Friday’s game; a must-win for the Steelers. Form is on their side, as the Steelers have won their last two games in Nottingham (including Challenge Cup), but it truly is too close to call. The Panthers have a day off before making their way to Cardiff to play the Devils on Sunday. The last time the two teams squared off at the Cardiff Bay Arena, the Devils thrashed the Panthers 7–2, meaning the Welsh side will be confident of gaining two points on the final day of the season.

All signs point towards Sunday. A new EIHL champion will be crowned on 22 March and two teams will qualify for the Champions Hockey League. England, Scotland, Wales. Two of these three proud nations will be represented in next year’s CHL and there is a high probability that the EIHL title will go to either Scotland or Wales for the first time in its history. Ice hockey is often seen as a unifying force, and in the United Kingdom, three teams from three different nations are in the hunt for one championship. It doesn’t get much better than that.

Remaining games with title implications: 

Head-to-head records going into the final weekend: