Power Rankings Update; February 2026

For the month of February, this one threw up all kinds of surprises, twists, turns, upticks in form and some utterly daft decisions from the board of owners of the EIHL.

From effectively making the win% guarantee redundant and outwardly favouring bigger, arena sized teams, it was a surprise to see the outcome of the long awaited (1st) semi-final, to set up what would undoubtedly be a crass, underwhelming ‘event’ for the challenge cup final.

Surely a death knell on the current format, even the competition itself.

During league action, there were 42 games, with 3 for the cup, making 45 in total. An action packed month indeed!

Amongst the league specific games, 265 pucks hit the back of the net officially, with the majority scored by the home teams. Home advantage rules the way.

Of those matchups, a whopping and delicious 69% were attributed to wins for the home sides – which undoubtedly backs this up.

9 games went to OT outcomes with 4 needing a further taste of the dramatics going to shootouts.

The most prolific to go to extra hockey was the Manchester Storm, with 7 of the games that needed additional panic to the nervous system out of the 14 (50%), all but one on the road. They picked up just 3 wins from those 7 games needing extras.

To be a Storm fan.

Next to them were Panthers, who won 75% of their games going to extras and Blaze, unsurprisingly, at 50% of theirs.

So, if you wanted a flutter at the bookies for games needing more than regulation, those are your teams, with matchups favouring Panthers strongly.

To further those chances, an interesting look would be at the goals average per game in the league, sitting at 6.3 for the month.

Winning teams typically saw a GFA exceeding 3.5, almost at 4 per game, although there were some high score lines. The losing teams did struggle, with 2.5 being the flat average for GAA – something which stuck with Devils as their form dropped.

They did however keep other teams close, with 2 OT’s split each way, but with most of their games at home in February, they only manage 2 wins.

Stars for example, continued their woeful season but had games to spare, winning just 30%.

February Rankings

As the season churned up more intensity, there was a noticeable drop in form with some teams and a continuation or gradual build from others.

Even amongst the dregs of the league, there were some flashes of good results, which typically went outweighed with catastrophic poor results. A factor that for the most northern teams bar Giants, has had to deal with all season.

The departure of Corey Neilson brought on a very evident rebound effect for Clan, who matched their early season promise, back in November.

The biggest rebound was from Steelers, which saw them rise 7 places to the top, even at the expense of Giants, who have made a juggernaut of a season.

Meanwhile, Devils continued their own slump, going from 2nd, to 1st to 5th, to 8th. Very dramatic and a concrete visualisation of their real trajectory of results.

Despite positional differences, Flames have had a natural month by month increase, even if minimal, suggesting not just stability with form, but incremental improvements. The first 6 to 8 weeks of the season drew them into the mid-table quagmire, but underneath the current, they are swimming strong.

Overall February Rankings

As can be seen by the updated form rankings, there is evidence of parity lining up, but also the volatility of the weekly swings in form per team, has seen some resulting positions looking locked.

With just 23 points between the mid table teams, it really will take just one bang average week or at least one or two teams to to have a really bad outing for there to be some flips in the table.

It is really close to call and with the final stage of the season, anything can happen.

Take Panthers for example, one of the highest scores individually for the season so far, just 2 points shy of the maximum total. That is pretty much the difference and if any hit negative points, it will definitely impact the standings.

With Steelers having a strong month, they have marginally pulled away, but so far in March, it might prove to be different still. Devils had their worst run of the season, but still maintaining third in the power rankings overall.

Final Table Prediction

This is independent of the power rankings, however, with the current point paces, the current standings do seem locked, yet a few final twists are very much possible.

Giants’ lead seem unassailable at this point, meaning a scramble to finish 2nd for pride for their nearest competitors and with all 8 playoff places clinched, the final 8 is the next exciting stage, bar who wins this seasons Challenge Cup.