| League: | Elite Ice Hockey League |
| Sport: | Ice hockey |
| Duration: | September – March |
| Season: | Regular season |
| Season Champ Name: | Champions |
| Season Champs: | Sheffield Steelers |
| Season2: | Playoffs |
| Season Champ2 Name: | Champions |
| Season Champs2: | Nottingham Panthers |
| Season3: | Challenge Cup |
| Season Champ3 Name: | Champions |
| Season Champs3: | Nottingham Panthers |
| Prevseason Year: | 2009–10 |
| Nextseason Year: | 2011–12 |
| Seasonslistnames: | EIHL |
The 2010–11 Elite Ice Hockey League season started on 25 August 2010, with the annual Charity Shield match between Coventry Blaze and Belfast Giants. The game took place at 7.30 pm on 25 August 2010. The match ended in 4–2 victory for the Giants.
The League proper started on 4 September,. Two new teams joined for the 2010–11 season- the Braehead Clan and the Dundee Stars.
Sky Sports broadcast one live game every Friday, and also showed the Belfast Giants v Nottingham Panthers opening night game live followed by a live game once every month.
The EIHL appointed an official mascot called Rory, who wears a light blue hockey jersey and the number 00.
| Team | Arena(s) | |
|---|---|---|
| Odyssey Arena | ||
| Braehead Arena | ||
| Cardiff Arena | ||
| SkyDome Arena | ||
| Dundee Ice Arena | ||
| Murrayfield Ice Rink | ||
| Hull Arena | ||
| Whitley Bay Ice Rink | ||
| National Ice Centre | ||
| Motorpoint Arena/IceSheffield |
| Regular season standings | GP | W | L | OTL | SL | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 54 | 43 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 87 | ||
| 54 | 42 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 87 | ||
| 54 | 41 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 86 | ||
| 54 | 33 | 15 | 1 | 5 | 72 | ||
| 54 | 28 | 23 | 0 | 3 | 59 | ||
| 54 | 23 | 27 | 2 | 2 | 50 | ||
| 54 | 23 | 28 | 3 | 0 | 49 | ||
| 54 | 19 | 32 | 0 | 3 | 41 | ||
| 54 | 12 | 40 | 0 | 2 | 26 | ||
| 54 | 6 | 45 | 1 | 2 | 15 |
GP=Games PlayedW=Win,L=Lose,OTW=Over Time Loses,OTL=Shoot Out Loses,Pts=Points,
The end of season playoffs were held at the National Ice Centre in Nottingham during the weekend of 2 and 3 April 2011.
The weekend began with the biggest rivalry in the game, with the Sheffield Steelers playing the Nottingham Panthers. Sheffield took an early 2-goal advantage, but Panthers fought back, and went on to steal the game 4–3 in overtime, Robert Lachowicz scoring the winning goal. The second semi-final between Cardiff Devils and Belfast Giants saw Cardiff win by 4 goals to 1, seen by many as an upset, as Belfast were fancied to take the crown.
The title was won by the Nottingham Panthers after defeating Cardiff Devils 5–4 in a closely fought final, where again Nottingham came from two goals down.
Top 2 in each group qualify for Semi-finals
(Q) means teams has qualified for Semi-finals
| Position | Team | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | GD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Belfast Giants (Q) | 8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 31 | 20 | +11 | 12 | |
| 2 | Newcastle Vipers (Q) | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 32 | 29 | +3 | 10 | |
| 3 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 31 | 24 | +7 | 9 | ||
| 4 | 8 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 24 | 27 | −3 | 7 | ||
| 5 | 8 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 18 | 36 | −18 | 2 |
| Position | Team | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | GD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nottingham Panthers (Q) | 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 23 | 15 | +8 | 10 | |
| 2 | Cardiff Devils (Q) | 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 33 | 31 | +2 | 10 | |
| 3 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 32 | 29 | +3 | 9 | ||
| 4 | 8 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 22 | 23 | −1 | 7 | ||
| 5 | 8 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 19 | 31 | −12 | 4 |
The success of the Aladdin 20–20 Cup during the previous season led the EIHL to schedule a second such contest. The second 20–20 Cup took place in Nottingham on Saturday, 12 March 2011 and included four teams: the Nottingham Panthers, Sheffield Steelers, Coventry Blaze and Braehead Clan.
The Braehead Clan captured their first EIHL trophy, defeating the host Nottingham Panthers by a score of 3–0. Braehead goaltender J.F. Parras kept a clean sheet in the final and Adam Walker, Ryan Campbell and captain Brendan Cook all scored.
On Saturday, 2 October, the Belfast Giants select side, made of Elite League Players played a Boston Bruins select side at the Odyssey Arena in Belfast. Boston won the match 5–1.
| 1st period | 2nd Period | 3rd Period | Final score | ||
| Boston Bruins | 0 | 3 | 2 | 5 | |
| Belfast Giants | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
No scoring
Goals
| Boston Bruins | Belfast Giants | |
|---|---|---|
| Tyler Seguin (16:30) | Jade Galbraith (15:40) | |
| Zdeno Chara (18:20) | ||
| Dennis Seidenberg (19:02) |
Penalties
Goals
| Boston Bruins | Belfast Giants | |
|---|---|---|
| Milan Lucic (9:56) | ||
| Tyler Seguin (16:32) |
Penalties