Best of the EIHL 2019/20

Today the EIHL 2019/20 season was properly signed-off as the EIHL agreed that Cardiff were to take the Champions Hockey League place for 2020/21.

In other news, yesterday it was announced that player statistics would stand as they were at the point when the remainder of the season was cancelled.



So… who won which category?



Players



Most Goals

Luke Ferrara (Coventry Blaze) 33



4^th overall in points, Ferrara led the league with 33 goals, 3 more than leading points-scorer Sam Herr of Nottingham. In his 7^th EIHL season, this was Ferrara’s highest goal total, beating his previous mark by 15. An Alternate Captain of the Coventry Blaze, Ferrara had 10 goals in his team’s previous 11 games and it’s an incredible feat for the British national to lead the league in goals.



Most Assists

Janne Laakkonen (Coventry Blaze) 40



Another successful player from Coventry this season, Laakkonen amassed 23 of his 40 assists in his team’s 17-game point streak which began on January 5^th. The 37 year-old was 6^th in the league in PPG.





Most Points

Sam Herr (Nottingham Panthers) 59



Herr, tied for the top PPG with Vallerand of the Sheffield Steelers, had 59 points in 46 GP. Herr had a 5-point weekend in Nottingham’s last 2 EIHL games this season with 2 goals and 2 assists in a win against Cardiff and an assist the following day against the Coventry Blaze.



Goaltenders (more than 10 GP)



Top Save %

C.J. Motte (Coventry Blaze) .927

C.J. Motte was instrumental in Coventry’s 17-game point streak and had four wins in his last 5 games played. His GAA of 2.52 left him 3^rd overall for that statistic.



Lowest GAA

Shane Owen (Belfast Giants) 2.39

In 43GP, Shane Owen’s GAA of 2.39 helped the Giants to 24 wins. Owen made over 1000 saves and ranked 4^th in save % with a .917.





Notes

Belfast made their long-awaited CHL debut and won their first ever contest 5-4 against Liberec. 3 Giants players finished in the top 10 for most PIMs this season, Pelech (1^st-  123), Ward (4^th- 90) and Bobby Farnham (7^th- 79).

Cardiff moved into first place with a 7-3 win over Sheffield in their last league game. Despite not being able to claim the title, Cardiff will play in the CHL next season. Defenceman Gleason Fournier and forward Joey Haddad ranked inside the top 10 for league points.

Coventry had an excellent season, finishing unofficially third, on a 17-game point streak and as the most in-form team. In the top 8 point-scorers, Coventry had 4 players.

Despite Dundee finishing the season as one of the teams with the lowest points, they had 4 players in the top 20 for points this season: Dufour (46), Beauregard (46), Marquardt (44) and Dow (41).

Fife had a rather disappointing season and the string of losses from around Christmas up to the start of February made it difficult for them. However, they did finish within 4 points of 9^th place.

Glasgow’s Linden Springer was only the second player to break the 100 PIMs barrier this season, finishing with 101.

Although not reaching as many points as previous campaigns, Guildford still had a good season and Dunbar and Reddick finished in the top 10 for assists with 34 and 30, respectively.

Manchester Storm’s netminder Matt Ginn’s .921 save % left him second overall in that statistic and he tied for 4^th lowest GAA of 2.84 with Cardiff’s Ben Bowns.

Nottingham boasted the league’s top points-scorer in Sam Herr and netminder Kevin Carr ranked 3^rd in save % and 2^nd for GAA.

Sheffield were the only team who got a trophy this season, beating the Cardiff Devils at Viola Arena to claim the Challenge Cup. Connolly, Vallerand and DeLuca ensured 3 Sheffield players would rank in the top 10 for points.