The 2006–07 Elite Ice Hockey League season commenced on September 9, 2006 and concluded on April 8, 2007. It was the
Elite League's fourth season of competition.
There was a reduction of one in the number of foreign trained players ('imports') a club was allowed to have signed at one time, with a limit of ten per team. The number of players requiring a
work permit (non-
British and
European Union citizens) was increased from five to nine.
Clubs also had a greater number of
North American players to choose from. Previously, EIHL teams were only able to sign players who had played in the
NHL,
AHL and
ECHL, something which essentially limited EIHL clubs to a small pool of ECHL players and inflated wage demands. These new rules allowed clubs to sign players from the
CHL and the
UHL.
The
Hull Stingrays were elected to join the Elite League from the second tier
English Premier League. This brought the number of actively participating members in British ice hockey's top flight to ten, the highest number since 1995–96.
The
Cardiff Devils moved to a new ice rink in
Cardiff Bay. After playing on the road for the first three months of the season, the Devils played their first game at the
Cardiff Bay Ice Rink on December 6, 2006 with a 7–4 victory over Manchester. Despite their difficulties, the Devils won the
Knockout Cup with a 3–0 victory over
Coventry Blaze in the final at the
SkyDome.
The Coventry Blaze won their second
league title in three seasons, confirming the championship with a 5–1 victory over the
Edinburgh Capitals on March 21, 2007 with two games to spare. The Blaze also won a second
Challenge Cup with a 9-4 aggregate victory over the
Sheffield Steelers in the final.
The
Nottingham Panthers clinched their first
Play-off Championship since 1989 with a
penalty shots win over the Cardiff Devils. The Panthers won each round of the playoffs on penalty shots, defeating their arch rivals Sheffield in the quarterfinals and the
Belfast Giants in the semifinals before claiming the trophy on April 8, 2007.
Challenge Cup
The preliminary round saw Coventry, Hull, Manchester and Sheffield advance to the semifinals. Coventry were drawn to face Manchester and Hull drawn against Sheffield.