Nottingham Panthers – Guildford Flames 19-02-2025

The British top division of ice hockey is slowly drawing to a close. In the match between Nottingham Panthers and Guildford Flames, the teams will be putting themselves in position for the playoffs. The Elite Ice Hockey League (EILH) is a league consisting of 10 teams, where all the nations from the United Kingdom are represented. It is the only top division of any sport that can boast this.

Right now the league consists of 5 in England, 3 in Scotland, 1 in Wales and 1 in Northern Ireland. There is no relegation from the league, and the teams are decided by the tournament management. There is a league below this, and it has happened that teams have moved up and down. But then decided by the high lords.

History – A league full of transatlantic players.

For those who don't know this league that well, we'll take a quick look at how it's built. The league as we know it today has been running in more or less the same form since 2003. But it has had its problems along the way. The league, which currently consists of 10 teams, was at one point down to 5 teams when it was struggling the most. Much of the reason for this is of course economics. For a period, the league consisted of mostly only players from across the pond, and economically this was a complete crisis.

Now a cap of 14 players from outside the British Isles has been introduced. Although of course that means that there are still many players from especially the USA and Canada. They have now gained better control by having to use a good number of "own" players. The league has also had its challenges in connection with covid, and it was not implemented for a couple of years. There is competition for 3 titles. Series championship (winner of the regular season), playoff champion (winner of the playoff), and a separate cup. The most winning team in the Cup is the Nottingham Panthers. Otherwise, it is the Sheffield Steelers who are the big team over there. They also won last year. But this league is not known for signing contracts longer than a year at a time, and the teams certainly do not need to look the same from year to year. But let's take a look at the ones we are going to write about in this one.

Nottingham Panthers – Their best season in a long time!

Nottingham Panthers are in 3rd place this season. That's a few places higher than they've been for a while. We'll have to go back to before Covid before we can find a similar position. So they've looked good. They're only 7 points behind first place, with one game less played. So this game is important. They're hanging in there, and are in great form today. They seem solid first and foremost. They only have two teams ahead of them in the table who have scored more than them, and they've also conceded the least of all. That's a good recipe for a good position.

At home they are the second best of all teams, and have 29 points in 18 games, with a solid 72-38 goal difference. The form is also good, and they have won 10 of the last 12. In the last two games they have scored 6 goals against the team that is ahead of today's opponent in the table, and it could have been a goal game. But we have a lot of faith in the home team in this one.

Guildford Flames- Below par!

Guildford Flames, who as recently as the 22/23 season finished in a nice 2nd place, are struggling more this season. They are now in 6th place after 39 games and 41 points. They are not in good shape, and have only 3 wins in the last 12 games, where the last 5 have all ended in defeat. The team is conceding more than they score, which is always a bad sign in hockey. A goal difference of 129-131. That shows that the team can score goals. But back in the field it is far too weak.

Away, the team is one of the weakest. There they are in 8th place, and have only 14 points in 19 games. The goal difference here also tells a story. Atrocious 54-77. That won't get many points. We think this trend will continue soon. It should be mentioned, however, that they surprised away against the league leader a couple of games ago, where they managed 1 point (they lost in the end). But we think that means they take their opponent seriously this time.

Conclusion – It has to go towards a home win?

We think everything is in place for a safe bet on the home team. In fact, it's tempting to take a handicap bet. But we get good odds on a regular series, and go for a safer option. Even though the last time the teams met, Nottingham Panthers won 4-7 away. There should be a class difference between the teams, and when we get that many odds, we try a simple selection bet.

Hockey at 19:30: Nottingham Panthers - Guildford Flames: Nottingham Panthers win (1.67)