| Challenge Cup | |
 | |
| Established | 1997 |
| Current holder | Belfast Giants |
| Most successful club | Sheffield Steelers (4 times) |
The Challenge Cup, awarded annually by the Elite Ice Hockey League, is a cup competition for ice hockey clubs in the United Kingdom. It is one of the four competitions ran each season by the Elite League, the others being the league championship, playoff championship and Knockout Cup. Prior to the formation of the Elite League in 2003, the Challenge Cup was organised by the Ice Hockey Superleague.
First awarded during the 1997–98 season, the Challenge Cup has had numerous different formats depending on the number of teams participating and the format of other competitions run during a particular season. The first six finals were single games played at a pre determined venue. Since the inaugural season of the Elite League finals have been contested over two games. The current holders of the trophy are the Belfast Giants who defeated the Manchester Phoenix 6–5 on aggregate in the 2008–09 final. The Steelers are the competition's most successful team, winning the title four times. The now-defunct Ayr Scottish Eagles, the Coventry Blaze and the Nottingham Panthers have each won the cup twice.
Finals[]
1997-03: Superleague[]
| Season | Winner | Score | Runner up | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997–98 | Ayr Scottish Eagles | 3–2 | Bracknell Bees | Telewest Arena |
| 1998–99 | Sheffield Steelers | 4–0 | Nottingham Panthers | Sheffield Arena |
| 1999–00 | Sheffield Steelers | 2–1 | Nottingham Panthers | London Arena |
| 2000–01 | Sheffield Steelers | 4–2 | Ayr Scottish Eagles | Odyssey Arena |
| 2001–02 | Ayr Scottish Eagles | 5–0 | Belfast Giants | Odyssey Arena |
| 2002–03 | Sheffield Steelers | 3–2 | Nottingham Panthers | MEN Arena |
2003–present: Elite League[]
| Season | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003–04 | Nottingham Panthers | 1–1 | Sheffield Steelers | National Ice Centre |
| Sheffield Steelers | 2–3AOT | Nottingham Panthers | Sheffield Arena | |
| Nottingham won 4–3 on aggregate after overtime | ||||
| 2004–05 | Coventry Blaze | 6–1 | Cardiff Devils | SkyDome Arena |
| Cardiff Devils | 4–5 | Coventry Blaze | Wales National Ice Rink | |
| Coventry won 11–5 on aggregate | ||||
| 2005–06 | Coventry Blaze | 3–0 | Cardiff Devils | SkyDome Arena |
| Cardiff Devils | 4–1AOT | Coventry Blaze | Wales National Ice Rink | |
| Aggregate: 4–4 Cardiff won 1–0 in penalty shootout | ||||
| 2006–07 | Coventry Blaze | 4–3 | Sheffield Steelers | SkyDome Arena |
| Sheffield Steelers | 1–5 | Coventry Blaze | Sheffield Arena | |
| Coventry won 9–4 on aggregate | ||||
| 2007–08 | Sheffield Steelers | 3–6 | Nottingham Panthers | Sheffield Arena |
| Nottingham Panthers | 3–4 | Sheffield Steelers | National Ice Centre | |
| Nottingham won 9–7 on aggregate | ||||
| 2008–09 | Manchester Phoenix | 4–3 | Belfast Giants | Silver Blades Ice Dome |
| Belfast Giants | 3–1 | Manchester Phoenix | Dundonald Ice Bowl | |
| Belfast won 6–5 on aggregate | ||||
Total titles won[]
| Club | Winners | Runners-up | Semi finalist | Winning years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sheffield Steelers | 1998–99, 1999–00, 2000–01, 2002–03 | |||
| Nottingham Panthers | 2003–04, 2007–08 | |||
| Ayr Scottish Eagles | 1997–98, 2001–02 | |||
| Coventry Blaze | 2004–05, 2006–07 | |||
| Cardiff Devils | 2005–06 | |||
| Belfast Giants | 2008-09 | |||
| Bracknell Bees | ||||
| London Knights | ||||
| Newcastle Vipers | ||||
| Hull Stingrays | ||||
| Manchester Phoenix |
| This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at Challenge Cup. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Ice Hockey Wiki, the text of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License 3.0 (Unported) (CC-BY-SA). |