European Trophy

European Trophy (previously named Nordic Trophy between 2006 and 2009) was an annually held ice hockey tournament, traditionally composed of teams from the higher-level ice hockey leagues in countries across Europe. With 32 participating teams from seven countries in 2013, the European Trophy was at the time the biggest active ice hockey tournament in Europe.[1] Starting with the 2014–15 season, the European Trophy was replaced by the Champions Hockey League, a more formal competition which also included all of the champions of Europe's major national leagues.[2]

European Trophy
Official European Trophy logo
FormerlyNordic Trophy (2006–2009)
SportIce hockey
Founded2006
Inaugural season2006
Ceased2013 (turned into Champions Hockey League)
DirectorBo Lennartsson
No. of teams32
Country Austria (2 teams)
 Czech Republic (7 teams)
 Finland (7 teams)
 Germany (4 teams)
 Slovakia (1 team)
 Sweden (7 teams)
  Switzerland (4 teams)
Last
champion(s)		 JYP
QualificationInvitation
Related
competitions		European Trophy Junior (defunct)

Sweden and Finland always participated, and they were the only two countries participating when the tournament was named "Nordic Trophy". The tournament began in 2006 under the name "Nordic Trophy" with eight teams, four from Sweden and four from Finland. In 2010, several teams from European countries outside Scandinavia agreed to join the tournament, which changed its name to European Trophy as a result. By the 2013 tournament, eight countries had been represented: Sweden, Finland, Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, Slovakia, Switzerland, and Norway. No team ever won the tournament more than one time.

Teams

In 2006 and 2007, the Nordic Trophy consisted of four Swedish teams, Djurgården, Frölunda, Färjestad and Linköping; as well as four Finnish teams, HIFK, Oulun Kärpät, Tappara and TPS.

In 2007, the tournament expanded from six to eight teams. A Junior edition was also started, but it was discontinued after 2010. In 2008, the senior tournament was expanded with two teams, Swedish team HV71 and Finnish team Jokerit. It got expanded again in 2009, when Malmö Redhawks from Sweden and Lukko from Finland joined the tournament.[3] However, the Swedish and Finnish teams were split that year and instead, there were two tournaments: a Swedish 2009 Nordic Trophy for the Swedish teams; and a Finnish 2009 Nordic Trophy for the Finnish teams.

In 2010, the tournament expanded to European countries beyond Scandinavia. Lukko from Finland left, and was replaced by fellow Nordic team Vålerenga from Norway. Adler Mannheim and Eisbären Berlin from Germany, and Czech team Sparta Praha, completed the Capital Division; while Austrian team Red Bull Salzburg, along with SC Bern and ZSC Lions from Switzerland, completed the Central Division. These new teams prompted the changing of the tournament name to European Trophy.

In the 2011 tournament, there were 24 teams. Sweden and Finland were represented by six teams each. Luleå HF replaced the Swedish team Malmö Redhawks. From Finland, KalPa was for the first time included in the tournament. Seven teams from the Czech Republic participated: Slavia Praha, Sparta Praha, Mountfield České Budějovice, Bílí Tygři Liberec, ČSOB Pojišťovna Pardubice, Plzeň 1929, and Kometa Brno. The German teams Eisbären Berlin and Adler Mannheim remained in the tournament. Besides Red Bull Salzburg, there was now a second team from Austria, the Vienna Capitals. Slovakia was for the first time represented in the European Trophy tournament, with Slovan Bratislava. Norway and Switzerland, however, were no longer represented. The tournament's schedule was also changed; instead of having the playoffs in September right after the regulation round in August–September, the playoffs were now played in December.[4]

The 2012 edition of the tournament is expanded further by eight teams, for a total of 32 teams. Another Swedish team, Brynäs IF joins the tournament this year; Switzerland returns with four teams; another two German teams participate; and another team from Finland joins the tournament. The regulation round is played in July–November, while the playoffs were played in December.[5] Slavia Praha, however, announced on 31 May 2012 that they would be pulling out of the European Trophy.[6] On 18 June it was announced that Piráti Chomutov had taken over Slavia Praha's spot in the South Division.[7]

On 14 February 2013, the 2013 tournament was officially announced. It featured exactly the same 32 teams from last year, marking the first time in Nordic/European Trophy history that the teams remained the same from last year. The 32 teams were also divided into exactly the same divisions, and the regulation round schedule (before the playoffs) was similar to last year, the only difference being that the home–away team assignings for each game were switched. Due to the 2014 Winter Olympics, the regulation round ended in September 2013 instead of a spread-out schedule ending in November.[8]

Map
2013 European Trophy teams (Divisions: : North, : West, : South, : East)

List
Division Team City Home arena* Capacity Joined NT/ET
North Oulun Kärpät Oulu Oulun Energia Areena 6,614 2006
Eisbären Berlin Berlin O2 World 14,200 2010
Red Bull Salzburg Salzburg Eisarena Salzburg 3,600 2010
Luleå HF Luleå Coop Norrbotten Arena 6,200 2011
Kometa Brno Brno Kajot Arena 7,200 2011
Mountfield České Budějovice České Budějovice Budvar Arena 6,421 2011
HC Plzeň Plzeň ČEZ Aréna 8,420 2011
Hamburg Freezers Hamburg O2 World 12,947 2012
South Linköpings HC Linköping Cloetta Center 8,500 2006
HV71 Jönköping Kinnarps Arena 7,038 2008
Sparta Praha Prague Tipsport Arena 13,150 2010
Piráti Chomutov Chomutov Multifunkční aréna Chomutov 5,250 2012
KalPa Kuopio Kuopion Jäähalli 5,225 2011
Slovan Bratislava Bratislava Slovnaft Arena 10,000 2011
UPC Vienna Capitals Vienna Albert Schultz Eishalle 7,000 2011
JYP Jyväskylä Synergia-areena 4,628 2012
East TPS Turku HK Arena 11,820 2006
Tappara Tampere Hakametsä Areena 7,800 2006
Djurgårdens IF Stockholm Hovet 8,094 2006
SC Bern Bern PostFinance-Arena 17,131 2010**
Bílí Tygři Liberec Liberec Tipsport Arena 7,500 2011
ČSOB Pojišťovna Pardubice Pardubice ČEZ Aréna 10,194 2011
Brynäs IF Gävle Läkerol Arena 8,585 2012
HC Fribourg-Gottéron Fribourg BCF Arena 6,900 2012
West Färjestad BK Karlstad Löfbergs Arena 8,647 2006
Frölunda Indians Gothenburg Scandinavium 12,044 2006
HIFK Helsinki Helsinki Ice Hall 8,200 2006
Jokerit Helsinki Hartwall Areena 13,349 2008
ZSC Lions Zürich Hallenstadion 10,700 2010**
Adler Mannheim Mannheim SAP Arena 10,600 2010
ERC Ingolstadt Ingolstadt Saturn Arena 4,815 2012
EV Zug Zug Bossard Arena 7,015 2012
  • Note (*): the stated home arenas don't have to be used in the European Trophy tournament.
  • Note (**): SC Bern and ZSC Lions did not participate in 2011.

Tournament structure

The European Trophy tournament was divided into regular round games between late July and November, where teams played each other in a predefined schedule, and a playoff weekend in December which was an elimination tournament where two teams played against each other to win in order to advance to the next round. The final remaining team was crowned the Red Bulls Salute Champion.[9] If a game was tied after regulation time (60 minutes), an overtime lasting for 5 minutes was played. During overtime, both teams substituted only 4 players on the ice at once (except for 3 when either of the teams had a penalized player). If no team scored during the overtime period, a shootout was played, starting with three penalty shots for both teams. If the shootout remained tied after the first three rounds, sudden death rounds were played until a winning team had been determined.

Regular round games

In the regular round, the 32 teams were divided into four divisions and each team played once against each other team in the same division. Additionally, each team was assigned a "local rival" in the same division, against which they played a second game. Thus, each team played a total of 8 regular round games. Points were awarded for each game, with three points awarded for a win in regulation time, two points for winning in overtime or a shootout, one point for losing in overtime or a shootout, and zero points for a loss in regulation time. The two highest-ranked teams in each division qualified for the playoffs.

Playoffs

The European Trophy playoffs, known as the Red Bulls Salute, were the last part of the tournament. It was a single-elimination tournament, where two teams played against each other in order to advance to the next round. In the 2013 tournament, the Red Bull Salute took place in Berlin. There were no classification/placement games, meaning there were only Quarterfinals, Semifinals as well as the Final game. The Red Bulls Salute previously took place in Salzburg and Vienna in 2010 and 2011, and in Vienna and Bratislava in 2012. Before the 2013 tournament, the playoff hosts were always guaranteed a playoff spot (i.e. automatically qualified for the playoffs) and took the playoff spots of the worst 2nd-ranked teams of all divisions in the tournament.[10]

Prize money

After the regulation round, the four division winners received €25 000 each, the four second-placed teams €20 000, and the third, fourth and fifth team of each division received €15 000, €10 000, and €5 000, respectively. Additionally, in the final of the Red Bulls Salute, the winning team received €50 000, while the losing finalist got €10 000. In total, €360 000 were given out during the entire 2013 European Trophy tournament.[11]

Winners
Nordic Trophy
YearRegular round winnersPlayoff winners
(Nordic Trophy Champions)
2006 Färjestad BK Färjestad BK
2007 Oulun Kärpät Oulun Kärpät
2008 Linköpings HC Linköpings HC
2009 HV71 (Swedish tournament) Djurgårdens IF (Swedish tournament)
Lukko (Finnish tournament) Tappara (Finnish tournament)
European Trophy
YearRegular round winnersPlayoff winners
(European Trophy Champions)
2010 HV71 Eisbären Berlin
2011 Plzeň 1929 Red Bull Salzburg
2012 Luleå HF Luleå HF
2013 Färjestad BK JYP

Note that due to the divisioning system in the European Trophy tournaments, the regular-round winning team was determined by the best record of all teams.

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References
  1. "Luleå debuterar i European Trophy". Sportal (in Swedish). 12 August 2011. Archived from the original on 30 March 2012. Retrieved 6 September 2011.
  2. "Champions Hockey League opens in August 2014". European Trophy. 9 December 2013. Archived from the original on 19 December 2013. Retrieved 18 December 2013.
  3. "Nordic Trophy 2009 becomes a Swedish affair". Nordic Trophy. NordicTrophy.com. 16 June 2009. Retrieved 16 June 2009.
  4. "Så blir European Trophy 2011" (in Swedish). Hockeysverige. 17 May 2011. Archived from the original on 24 March 2012. Retrieved 17 May 2011.
  5. "Red Bulls Salute moves to Vienna and Bratislava". europeantrophy.com. 12 March 2012. Archived from the original on 31 March 2012. Retrieved 17 March 2012.
  6. "Slavia Prague pulls out of European Trophy". Europeantrophy.com. 31 May 2012. Archived from the original on 13 June 2012. Retrieved 4 June 2012.
  7. "Pirati Chomutov take part in European Trophy 2012". Europeantrophy.com. 18 June 2012. Archived from the original on 22 September 2012. Retrieved 18 June 2012.
  8. "European Trophy 2013: 32 clubs to compete for the title". Europeantrophy.com. 14 February 2013. Archived from the original on 23 August 2013. Retrieved 16 February 2013.
  9. "European Trophy 2012 starts August 17th". Europeantrophy.com. 12 April 2012. Archived from the original on 22 September 2012. Retrieved 12 April 2012.
  10. "Berlin to host Red Bulls Salute 2013 – European Trophy Finals debut in Germany". Europeantrophy.com. 17 May 2013. Archived from the original on 23 August 2013. Retrieved 9 June 2013.
  11. Csongrádi, Per (17 August 2012). "30 teams in action as this years trophy kick off". europeantrophy.com. Archived from the original on 22 September 2012. Retrieved 17 August 2012.

See also
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