| 2016–17 EIHL season | |
| League: | Elite Ice Hockey League |
| Sport: | Ice hockey |
| Duration: | September - March |
| Season: | Regular season |
| Season Champ Name: | League |
| Season Champs: | Cardiff Devils[1] |
| Top Scorer: | Matt Beca (Braehead Clan) 75 points[2] |
| Season2: | Challenge Cup |
| Season Champ2 Name: | Champions |
| Conf1: | Erhardt |
| Conf1 Link: | 2016–17 EIHL season#Erhardt Conference |
| Conf1 Champ: | Cardiff Devils[3] |
| Conf1 Runner-Up: | Belfast Giants |
| Conf2: | Gardiner |
| Conf2 Link: | 2016–17 EIHL season#Gardiner Conference |
| Conf2 Champ: | Braehead Clan[4] |
| Conf2 Runner-Up: | Dundee Stars |
| Playoffs: | Conference |
| Finals: | Playoffs |
| Finals Champ: | Sheffield Steelers[5] |
| Finals Runner-Up: | Cardiff Devils |
| Finals Mvp: | Ben Bowns (Cardiff Devils) |
| Seasonslistnames: | EIHL |
The 2016–17 Elite Ice Hockey League season was the 14th season of the Elite Ice Hockey League. The regular season begun in early September and ended in March. Regular season champion Cardiff Devils were defeated in the playoff final by their Erhardt Conference rivals Sheffield Steelers 6–5 in double-overtime.[5]
From the 2016–17 season, the number of non British-trained players rose from 13 to 14, while the number of work-permit players remained at 11, according to a rule change first introduced in 2014.[6]
Erhardt Conference
All games counted towards the overall Elite League standings. Each team played 52 matches; 32 matches against their four Conference rivals, and 20 against the five teams from the other Conference. The Cardiff Devils became regular season champions for the first time in twenty years, with a 6–2 win over the Sheffield Steelers on 18 March 2017 at Ice Arena Wales.[1]
Only intra-conference games counted towards the Erhardt Conference standings. Each team played the other four teams in the Conference eight times, for a total of 32 matches. The Cardiff Devils won the Conference for the second successive season, with a 4–3 win over the Belfast Giants on 25 March 2017 at Ice Arena Wales.[3]
Only intra-conference games counted towards the Gardiner Conference standings. Each team played the other four teams in the Conference eight times, for a total of 32 matches. The Braehead Clan won the Conference for the third successive season, with a 4–1 win over the Dundee Stars on 25 February 2017 at the Braehead Arena.[4]
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The Challenge Cup was won by the Cardiff Devils, who came from behind to beat the Sheffield Steelers 3-2.[7]
The win meant Cardiff had won the Challenge Cup twice in the previous three years, with their other victory coming in 2014-15, also against the Steelers.
The following players led the league in points at the conclusion of the regular season.[2]
| Player | Team | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Braehead Clan | 52 | 27 | 48 | 75 | 28 | ||
| Braehead Clan | 52 | 32 | 42 | 74 | 26 | ||
| Dundee Stars | 52 | 18 | 54 | 72 | 4 | ||
| Braehead Clan | 52 | 24 | 45 | 69 | 57 | ||
| Sheffield Steelers | 52 | 28 | 29 | 57 | 28 | ||
| Belfast Giants | 52 | 28 | 28 | 56 | 77 | ||
| Belfast Giants | 49 | 20 | 35 | 55 | 107 | ||
| Fife Flyers | 50 | 17 | 38 | 55 | 44 | ||
| Fife Flyers | 41 | 31 | 23 | 54 | 32 | ||
| Dundee Stars | 47 | 23 | 31 | 54 | 10 |
The following goaltenders led the league in goals against average, playing at least 2100 minutes, at the conclusion of the regular season.[8]
| Player | Team | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cardiff Devils | 46 | 2616:43 | 33 | 7 | 103 | 3 | .912 | 2.36 | ||
| Sheffield Steelers | 51 | 3053:14 | 34 | 14 | 130 | 1 | .913 | 2.55 | ||
| Belfast Giants | 39 | 2284:16 | 25 | 10 | 97 | 3 | .905 | 2.55 | ||
| Manchester Storm | 52 | 3108:38 | 18 | 26 | 150 | 3 | .910 | 2.90 | ||
| Nottingham Panthers | 41 | 2294:47 | 23 | 12 | 115 | 2 | .901 | 3.01 |