IIHF Continental Cup

IIHF Continental Cup
Most recent season or competition:; 2023–24 IIHF Continental Cup
Formerly	IIHF European Cup
Sport	Ice hockey
Founded	1997
Founder	IIHF
Most recent; champion(s)	Nomad Astana ; (1st title)
Most titles	Yunost Minsk (3)
Qualification	Champions Hockey League
Official website	iihf.com

The Continental Cup is a second-level ice hockey tournament for European clubs (behind Champions Hockey League), begun in 1997 after the discontinuing of the 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. Hans Dobida served as chairman of the Continental Cup until 2018.^[1]

Format

IIHF Federation Cup

The Federation Cup was an official European ice hockey club competition created in 1995. It was the second European competition for club teams, intended for those teams who could not qualify for the European Cup, especially for those from Eastern European countries. It was the direct predecessor of the IIHF Continental Cup, which was played two seasons later.

In the first year of competition, 13 Eastern European teams from twelve countries participated in the tournament. In a KO-system with three qualifying groups, which qualifies the four participants in the finals. The following year was played in the same mode. Due to the increased number of participants (some Western European clubs had registered for the competition), an additional qualifying round was introduced.

IIIHF Continental Cup

The competition began in 1997–98 with 42 clubs from 26 countries, which expanded to 48 teams for the next two years. The tournament was played in seeded rounds of qualifying groups. There were three rounds of qualifying groups, with winners of qualifying groups progressing to the next round. The three winners of the third round groups entered the semifinals, along with the host club. The first round was held in September, the second in October, the third in November and the finals in December.

In the 2000–01 season, with the European Hockey League on hiatus, the Continental Cup became the de facto European club championship. The format remained the same, with 36 teams from 27 countries.

With the beginning of the IIHF European Champions Cup from 2004 to 2005, participants included national champions of countries not in the Super Six (the top six European nations according to the IIHF World Ranking), as well as teams from Super Six leagues, which included HC Dynamo Moscow and HKm Zvolen.

Winners

Federation Cup winners

#	Season	Winner	Score	Runner-up	Third	Host
1	1994–95	Salavat Yulaev Ufa	4–1	HC Pardubice	Slovenia	Ljubljana, Slovenia
2	1995–96	AS Mastini Varese	4–3	Metallurg Magnitogorsk	Russia	Trenčín, Slovakia

Continental Cup winners

#	Season	Winner	Runner-up	Third	Host
1	1997–98	TJ VSŽ Košice	Eisbären Berlin	Ilves	Tampere
2	1998–99	HC Ambrì-Piotta	HC Košice	Avangard Omsk	Košice
3	1999–2000	HC Ambrì-Piotta	Eisbären Berlin	Ak Bars Kazan	Berlin
4	2000–01	ZSC Lions	London Knights	Slovan Bratislava	Zürich
5	2001–02	ZSC Lions	Milano Vipers	HKm Zvolen	Zürich
6	2002–03	Jokerit	Lokomotiv Yaroslavl	HC Lugano	Lugano & Milan
7	2003–04	Slovan Bratislava	HK Gomel	HC Lugano	Gomel
8	2004–05	HKm Zvolen	Dynamo Moscow	Alba Volán Székesfehérvár	Székesfehérvár
9	2005–06	Lada Togliatti	HK Riga 2000	ZSC Lions	Székesfehérvár
10	2006–07	Yunost Minsk	Avangard Omsk	Ilves	Székesfehérvár
11	2007–08	Ak Bars Kazan	HK Riga 2000	Kazzinc-Torpedo	Riga
12	2008–09	MHC Martin	Dragons de Rouen	HC Bolzano	Rouen
13	2009–10	Red Bull Salzburg	Yunost Minsk	Sheffield Steelers	Grenoble
14	2010–11	Yunost Minsk	Red Bull Salzburg	SønderjyskE Ishockey	Minsk
15	2011–12	Dragons de Rouen^[2]	Yunost Minsk	HC Donbass	Rouen
16	2012–13	HC Donbass	Metallurg Zhlobin	Dragons de Rouen	Donetsk
17	2013–14	Stavanger Oilers	HC Donbass	HC Asiago	Rouen
18	2014–15	Neman Grodno	Fischtown Pinguins	Ducs d'Angers	Bremerhaven
19	2015–16	Dragons de Rouen	Herning Blue Fox	GKS Tychy	Rouen
20	2016–17	Nottingham Panthers	Beibarys Atyrau	Odense Bulldogs	Ritten
21	2017–18	Yunost Minsk	Nomad Astana	Sheffield Steelers	Minsk
22	2018–19	Arlan Kokshetau	Belfast Giants	GKS Katowice	Belfast
23	2019–20	SønderjyskE Ishockey	Nottingham Panthers	Neman Grodno	Vojens
-	2020–21	Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic^[3]
24	2021–22	Cracovia	Saryarka Karagandy	Aalborg Pirates	Aalborg
25	2022–23	HK Nitra	Ducs d'Angers	Cardiff Devils	Angers
26	2023–24	Nomad Astana	Herning Blue Fox	Cardiff Devils	Cardiff

Medals (1997-2024)


Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Slovakia	5	1	2	8
2	Belarus	4	4	1	9
3	Switzerland	4	0	3	7
4	Russia	2	3	2	7
5	Kazakhstan	2	3	1	6
6	France	2	2	2	6
7	Great Britain	1	3	4	8
8	Denmark	1	2	3	6
9	Ukraine	1	1	1	3
10	Austria	1	1	0	2
11	Finland	1	0	2	3
11	Poland	1	0	2	3
13	Norway	1	0	0	1
14	Germany	0	3	0	3
15	Latvia	0	2	0	2
16	Italy	0	1	2	3
17	Hungary	0	0	1	1
Totals (17 entries)		26	26	26	78

Note: Great Britain's medal total includes three teams from England, one from Northern Ireland, and one from Wales.

References

^ Merk, Martin (19 May 2018). "Congress approves Statutes changes" (Press release). Copenhagen, Denmark: International Ice Hockey Federation. Archived from the original on 10 July 2019. Retrieved 27 February 2019.
^ Merk, Martin (15 January 2012). "Le Miracle de Rouen" (Press release). Rouen, France: International Ice Hockey Federation. Archived from the original on 26 February 2018. Retrieved 16 January 2012.
^ "IIHF cancels Continental Cup". IIHF. 25 August 2020. Retrieved 26 August 2020.