Flames Season Starts with the Challenge Cup

Published on: 11 Sep, 2026
Updated on: 11 Sep, 2026

By Don Starr

The 2026-27 season starts tomorrow, Saturday, September 12 with the first games in the Challenge Cup competition.

Guildford Flames who will be looking to improve last year’s performance when they finished bottom of the group table, visit Cardiff Devils in match facing off at 7pm.

On the following night, Sunday, September 13, the Sheffield Steelers visit The Spectrum for the second game in the competition with a face-off of 6pm.

With a mostly successful pre-season, and the likelihood of a capacity crowd, the Flames are hoping for success in the cup competition.

This is how the Challenge Cup competition works:

There will be two stages: an initial group stage where the league’s ten teams will be divided into two groups based on geographical distance – Group A of six teams and Group B of four.

Flames will be out to get revenge on Saturday. Cardiff Devils defeated them three times during January and February this year. Photo from the match on February 15.

The teams in Group A (Cardiff Devils, Coventry Blaze, Guildford Flames, Manchester Storm, Nottingham Panthers, Sheffield Steelers) are to play each of the other teams twice giving a total of ten games, while the teams in Group B (Belfast Giants, Dundee Stars, Fife Flyers, Glasgow Clan) will play each of the other teams four times for a total of twelve games.

Overtime and shoot outs will be played in the Group Stage if games are tied after 60 minutes. Group Stage games are scheduled to be completed by Sunday, November 8.

The top two teams in Group A and the winners of Group B will qualify for the semi-finals. The runners-up in Group B will play the third-placed team in Group A in a semi-final playoff game to be held at the arena of the team with a higher group stage points percentage to determine the final semi-finalist.

The format for the Challenge Cup final will remain unchanged, with continuous periods of 5-on-5 sudden-death overtime played until a winner is determined.