Lots of great Christmas hockey this December on Viaplay! Join me for live and exclusive Viaplay Elite League action, two CHL Quarter-Finals, and of course the Spengler Cup Semi-Finals, and the Spengler Final New Years Eve! Plus live NHL every night…spend the Holidays with us on Viaplay. Here’s some of the games coming up:

You can follow Murph on twitter all hockey season long @MurphOnice

Viaplay and the Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL) have announced that starting 1 November, the Premier Sports Elite League will be rebranded as the Viaplay Elite League. The change follows Viaplay’s recent acquisition of Premier Sports.

This season, Viaplay will show live EIHL league games as well as the rebranded Viaplay Challenge Cup final and the Viaplay Playoffs weekend.

The first live match on Viaplay following the rebranding is on 9 November from the Utilita Arena Sheffield, as the Sheffield Steelers host Coventry Blaze.

Viaplay launched in the UK on 1 November and offers UK viewers a unique combination of live sports, Viaplay Originals and curated third-party content. All Premier Sports pay-TV and free-TV channels have received Viaplay branding from the same date.

Premier Sports have announced today their opening live Premier Sports Elite League and Challenge Cup fixtures with over 500 Ice Hockey games set to be broadcast across the channels from the Elite League, Challenge Cup, NHL and IIHF. 

The opening fixture will be the fiercely contested Scottish derby as Dundee Stars host Fife Flyers from the Dundee Ice Arena in the Challenge Cup on Thursday 15 September. The following Wednesday, Premier Sports’ cameras will be live from the Planet Ice Altrincham as Manchester Storm welcome Guildford Flames and at the end of September, Coventry Blaze host Cardiff Devils in the Challenge Cup before the NHL season returns at the beginning of October.

This season, there will be new additions to the Premier Sports talent team as former GB internationals Colin Shields and Angela Taylor will be joining the coverage alongside lead presenter and six-time Olympic broadcaster Aaron Murphy and former GB International as a player, and league-winning coach with Belfast 2013/14 Paul Adey.

Colin Shields is the Great Britain all-time leading goalscorer with 42 goals, the Belfast Giants all-time appearance leader with 611 games as well as the being the Giants all-time leading goalscorer with 245 goals. His legacy at Belfast Giants is so big his number 19 jersey is retired. 

Angela Taylor is currently the Team GB Women’s under 18 coach and was Team GB captain during 2011-2013 with 46 caps at international level. Taylor played professionally in Switzerland from 2010-2018 where she spent six seasons with ZSC Lions scoring 113 goals and winning the Swiss championship five times.

Premier Sports are delighted to team up with a new facilities partner QTV to bring fans coverage of the Premier Sports Elite League throughout the season.

New and returning customers to Premier Sports can avail of a new annual offer this year of £80 on Sky and the Premier Player by using the promo code ELITE80. The offer will cover the full Premier Sports Elite League season and the every live game on NHL, totalling over 500 games over the course of the year. Customers who avail of this offer will also get access to all of Premier Sports’ other coverage including LaLiga, Scottish Cup Football, United Rugby Championship, Rugby League Championship and more.

Opening live fixtures on Premier Sports:

15 September – Dundee Stars v Fife Flyers – Challenge Cup

21 September – Manchester Storm v Guildford Flames – Elite League

29 September – Coventry Blaze v Cardiff Devils – Challenge Cup

6 October – Sheffield Steelers v Guildford Flames – Elite League

21 October – Cardiff Devils v Belfast Giants – Elite League

9 November – Sheffield Steelers v Coventry Blaze – Elite League

17 November – Coventry Blaze v Dundee Stars – Elite League

7/8 December – Challenge Cup Quarter Finals

14 December – Challenge Cup Quarter Finals

27 December – Cardiff Devils v Coventry Blaze

Many more live fixtures are to be added for 2023 including all teams, plus live and exclusive Challenge Cup Final coverage, and the entire Playoff Final Weekend.

The commentary box is usually only familiar to those that work in the area on a game day…but here’s a fun look behind the scenes for the 2022 IIHF World Championships! Murph and Paul Adey high above the ice at Nokia Arena.