September saw the 2024 Elite League officially started once again. The United Kingdom’s very own ice hockey league is now in full swing.
The league winners of last year, the Sheffield Steelers, have slipped to third place while the Cardiff Devils, who scored second place last season, are sitting proudly in first.
A surprising new addition has also joined the top of the leaderboard this season as Coventry Blaze moved from sixth place up to second.
Though the season has just started, the Cardiff Devils currently look tough to beat. Six points sit between first and second place, though the Devils have played an extra four games. The Cardiff Devils have played a total of eight games so far this season and sit at a comfortable 14 points.
Coventry Blaze have only played four games so far this season and sit at eight points, in third place with six points are the Sheffield Steelers who have also played four games.
The top players of the league have also changed again this season.
Currently the top point scorer is the Fife Flyers’ Lucas Chiodo. The forward, who wears the number 86, currently sits on 11.
Michael Cichy, who plays forward for the Fife Flyers and is number 78, has scored a total of 6 goals making him the top goal scorer so far.
Ben Bowns, number 33 for the Cardiff Devils has two top marks in the league scoreboard. For his save percentage as goaltender which sits at over 95% of goals saved. Bowns also holds the place for goals against average (GAA) at 1.57. GAA is a statistic that represents how many goals the goal tender allows in 60 minutes.
Running in parallel to the league is the Challenge Cup, which also began in September.
Sitting at the top of Group A Cup scoreboard are the Nottingham Panthers with 13 points in eight games. The Nottingham Panthers withdrew from last year’s Challenge cup on the eighth of November 2023 after the death of one of their team members, Adam Johnson, but are back again this year.
In second place are the Sheffield Steelers with 11 points in six games while below them sit Manchester Storm who have scored seven points in seven games.
In the B group of the Challenge Cup, the Belfast Giants sit in first place, with a total of 12 points in seven games. Glasgow Clan sits in second having secured nine points in the same number of games as the Giants. While the Dundee Stars who have scored seven points in nine games sit in third place.
When it comes to points scored by players in the Cup, the Belfast Giants’ no.29 Jordan Kawaguchi tops the pack on a total of 13.
Number 95, Deven Sideroff who plays forward for Glasgow Clan, has as of this point in the season, scored the most goals, with a total of seven.
Finally, Jackson Whistle, who plays as a goaltender for the Belfast Giants and wears the number one, has achieved top marks on the Cup scoreboard. For both his save percentage of around 95% and for his GAA of 1.22.
As the season has barely started it is highly likely that these results will change. Knocking the Cardiff Devils from their number one spot in the league will be tough but there is always a chance, however, for everything to change, the same goes with the Challenge Cup. The difference between the top two places in the Challenge Cup is far smaller than in the league so it is safe to assume that if the Nottingham Panthers do not try hard to stay in the top spot, they will lose it to another team.
