Formerly | Nordic Trophy (2006–2009) |
---|---|
Sport | Ice hockey |
Founded | 2006 |
First season | 2006 |
Ceased | 2013 (turned into Champions Hockey League) |
Director | Bo Lennartsson |
No. of teams | 32 |
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 |
Qualification | Invitation |
Related competitions | European Trophy Junior (defunct) |
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]
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.