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 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. 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

League

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

Playoffs

	Quarter-finals					Semi-finals					Final
	1	Sheffield Steelers	12
	8	Edinburgh Capitals	7
						1	Sheffield Steelers	5
						5	Cardiff Devils	2
	4	Belfast Giants	5
	5	Cardiff Devils	6
											1	Sheffield Steelers	2
											3	Nottingham Panthers	0
	2	Coventry Blaze	6
	7	Newcastle Vipers	4
						2	Coventry Blaze	2
						3	Nottingham Panthers	6
	3	Nottingham Panthers	9
	6	Manchester Phoenix	5

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.