IIHF European Champions Cup

The IIHF European Champions Cup (ECC) was an annual event organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), which took place during a long weekend in early January. The winner was considered the official club champion of Europe by the IIHF. The Champions Cup was first played in 2005, as a replacement for the defunct European Cup (1965–1997), and the suspended European Hockey League (1996–2000).[1] In the 2008–09 season, the ECC was replaced by the Champions Hockey League, which was the new official European club championship event.[1] The new tournament was cancelled after only one season. However, another tournament with the same name was introduced in 2014.

Format edit

The competition featured the reigning club champions from the top six European hockey nations according to the IIHF World Ranking; these teams were known as the Super Six. Two groups of three played in a round-robin tournament, with the winners of each group facing off in a championship game. The two groups were named after international hockey legends Alexander Ragulin and Ivan Hlinka.

ECC winners (2005–2008) edit

Season Winner Score Runner-up Group Runner-up (Equal with Semifinalist) Venue
2005   Avangard Omsk 2–1 (OT)   Kärpät   Czech Republic and   Sweden St. Petersburg, Russia
2006   Dynamo Moscow 4–4 (2-1 SO)   Kärpät   Switzerland and   Czech Republic St. Petersburg, Russia
2007   Ak Bars Kazan 6–0   HPK   Switzerland and   Slovakia St. Petersburg, Russia
2008   Metallurg Magnitogorsk 5–2   Sparta Praha   Finland and   Slovakia St. Petersburg, Russia

Medals edit

RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1  Russia (RUS)4004
2  Finland (FIN)0314
3  Czech Republic (CZE)0123
4  Slovakia (SVK)0022
  Switzerland (SUI)0022
6  Sweden (SWE)0011
Totals (6 entries)44816

Participants and results (2005–2008) edit

2005 results edit

Group A

Group B

Final

  •   Avangard Omsk  Kärpät – 2:1 (OT) (0:1; 0:0; 1:0; 1:0)

2006 results edit

Alexander Ragulin division

Ivan Hlinka division

Final

  •   HC Dynamo Moscow  Kärpät – 5:4 (in a shootout) (1:0; 1:2; 2:2; 0:0; 2:1)

2007 results edit

Alexander Ragulin division

Ivan Hlinka division

Final

  •   HPK –   Ak Bars Kazan – 0:6 (0:3, 0:0, 0:3)

2008 results edit

Alexander Ragulin division

Ivan Hlinka division

Final

  •   HC Sparta Praha –   Metallurg Magnitogorsk – 2:5 (1:1; 1:2; 0:2)

Predecessors edit

European Cup (1965–1997) edit

The European Cup, also known as the Europa Cup, was a European ice hockey club competition for champions of national leagues which was contested between 1965 and 1997.

Medals 1965-1996 (Including Precursors) edit

RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1  Russia226230
2  Czech Republic413724
3  Finland34916
4  Sweden34714
5  Germany041216
6  Austria0134
7  Italy0011
  Netherlands0011
  Norway0011
Totals (9 entries)323243107

Note: 11 Editions since 1965/66 to 1977/78 have 2 Semifinalists (Exclude 1973–74 IIHF European Cup and 1977–78 IIHF European Cup).

European Hockey League (1996–2000) edit

The European Hockey League was a European ice hockey club competition which ran between the years 1996 and 2000.[1]

Medals 1996-2000 edit

RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1  Russia2305
2  Finland1012
3  Austria1001
4  Czech Republic0112
5  Germany0011
  Sweden0011
Totals (6 entries)44412

IIHF Continental Cup (1997–present) edit

The Continental Cup is an ice hockey tournament for European clubs, begun in 1997 after the discontinuing of the IIHF European Cup. It was intended for teams from countries without representatives in the European Hockey League, with participating teams chosen by the countries' respective ice hockey associations.

IIHF Super Cup (1997–2000) edit

The IIHF Super Cup was an ice hockey event played between the champions of the two main European club tournaments at the time; it began in 1997 and ended in 2000.

Successors edit

IIHF Champions Hockey League (2008–2009) edit

The Champions Hockey League was conducted by 14 teams of which 12 are in the group stage. It replaced the IIHF European Champions Cup in 2008. The league was staged for one year only.

Champions Hockey League (2014–present) edit

On December 9, 2013, the IIHF officially announced that they had launched a new tournament with a similar name as their previous tournament, born out of the European Trophy, starting in the 2014–15 season.[2]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b c "IIHF Club Competition History". International Ice Hockey Federation. Retrieved 2009-12-14.
  2. ^ New era dawns for Europe Archived 2013-12-17 at the Wayback Machine

External links edit