Power Rankings Update; January 2026

The month of January in the EIHL saw some familiar trends, another UK team to lift the IIHF Continental Cup, Giants overtake said champions who went into the competition on top of the standings and some form being set for the big run in.

There have been 50 games across January in the EIHL with 10 needing more than regulation. From those games, there was an amassed 323 goals scored, averaging at just over 6.4 each game.

From those scores, the winning average across the league was at 4.52, meaning getting to 4 goals could put in a very strong probability to win. Score 5 and it is your game to lose.

The game average has remained, as well as the winning average too, however with a few more games played, there was in fact a staggering amount of increased goals lighting up lamps behind nets.

It took until Saturday 10th of January for all EIHL teams to at least win once and lose once. Pretty good going, no matter how it felt or for which team.

8 days later, there was a very odd variable, Glasgow Clan, Sheffield Steelers and Dundee Stars all had 5 games so far in January at that point, the most amongst all teams.

6 days later, Clan and Stars hit 6 defeats, joined by Guildford Flames.

In terms of which team was the hottest, that would have been shared between Blaze and Giants with 8 wins a piece. This was the month which essentially saw the March of the Blaze, for a run that stretched from their last regulation defeat vs Devils around Boxing Day 2025, until even February of 2026 and they are still stomping away.

Giants have had a tricky, then consistent season, but have launched off in 2026, timely, again, but had suffered regulation defeats in the process.

Flyers, typically, has the least amount of victories, with Clan also tying them joint second last in terms of defeats (7), with Stars having the worst run of results, with 8.

It was Blaze again, with the best losing %, having lost just twice overall. What a turn around for them, meaning a league leading 80% for wins.

Month by Win %

Without a doubt the best month went to Blaze, who went up by 29% on average to their historical record, whereas even Giants, despite being one of the stronger teams across the month, dropped by 4%.

As the Steelers struggled to find form until the end of the month, it was no surprise to see them tank by 27% to 40% for January, the worst drop overall, compared to historical average (via EIHL).

January Rankings

There was one ‘odd week’ when Panthers had 0* points due to being in Continental Cup action, this in one way became a benefit as there was at least no negative score for them. Panthers, along with Devils and Flyers all laced up 9 times each in the EIHL during the last month, less than the other teams who played 10 or more times.

Despite the win%’s, amount of losses and games played, it still made for some interesting results. The way a team wins or loses largely determines a stronger or weaker outcome for the scorers, which is where Blaze would naturally drop.

A lot of OT games or one goal games compared to blow outs, highlights a team with no quit over a team that is able to sustain dominance across 60 minutes.

Steelers didn’t seem to shrug off their mid season wobble enough across the month itself, dropping down to 8th overall, with Panthers also scrambling for points, getting caught up in extra hockey here and there.

Flames had their strongest month so far, just 5 rankings points from Blaze, with Storm being another difficult team to predict, turning over stronger teams like Steelers early on, before again getting caught up in a win one, lose one, trend.

Devils’ inconsistency became a habit that drew the ire of their fanbase, with Flames being their achilles heel, which benefitted the latter in the standings, however, Devils actually improved their overall win% for the month and going third best at 67%.

So, how did January form and win-type’s affect each teams’ overall position? (To week 20/21)

If you would compare the current form table to the current league table, there would be very similar positions, meaning that the reliability for the power rankings definitely holds.

There is only 37 points between the top three, so with. max of 24 points available, it really does take a strong week or a very bad run of games to make a difference.

Between 8th and 5th respectively, that is the very difference and their currents trends would likely see that flip. Despite the month Blaze have had, they are still 8th, yet they have had the most noticeable increase in progression since November proper.

From increasing by 16% to December, they have more than doubled that with their incredible form to 40% until the current overall standings.

Clan meanwhile, had a far stronger base, before their drop off until mid-January, which tied in with their league position and change of coach. They dipped by the same as Blaze gained, before improving on what was left.

Their overall drop was the complete opposite to the swing in gains made by Blaze, which leaves a difference of a good week-average score of 12.

Flames meanwhile took a while to get going, really improving to their best overall, then slightly improving that again in January. However, if they could manage bigger wins against their opponents, their own scores will rise dramatically.

The biggest slump in form actually comes from the Steelers, going from leading the pack in November, dropping by 20 overall after each update. However, currently in early February, they have seemed to turn a page and started to hit the previous high end levels again, so time will tell.

How does the current form look to predict the final standings?

Thanks to their recent form, there have been complete changes between Clan and Blaze, with Giants firmly on pace to win the 2026 EIHL for another back to back championship berth. The overall projected standings (as of 10th February 2026), also reflect the current table, with the individual pace as the projected points per team.

No changes to the bottom two at all, as they average the same per game played, with recent results benefitting Steelers and Giants, respectively.

There is a lot more hockey to play, however, so those could change once again by the end of this month.