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). In the 2008–09 season, the ECC was replaced by the Champions Hockey League, which was the new official European club championship event. The new tournament was cancelled after only one season. However, another tournament with the same name was introduced in 2014.
Format
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) SeasonWinnerScoreRunner-upGroup Runner-up (Equal with Semifinalist)Venue2005 Avangard Omsk2–1 (OT) Kärpät and St. Petersburg, Russia2006 Dynamo Moscow4–4 (2-1 SO) Kärpät and St. Petersburg, Russia2007 Ak Bars Kazan6–0 HPK and St. Petersburg, Russia2008 Metallurg Magnitogorsk 5–2 Sparta Praha and St. Petersburg, Russia Medals
Participants and results (2005–2008) 2005 results Group A Dukla Trenčín – Avangard Omsk – 1:6 (1:3; 0:1; 0:2) HV71 – Dukla Trenčín – 4:1 (3:0; 0:0; 1:1) Avangard Omsk – HV71 – 9:0 (4:0; 2:0; 3:0)
Group B HC Hamé Zlín – Frankfurt Lions – 4:3 (2:2; 0:1; 2:0) Kärpät – HC Hamé Zlín – 4:1 (1:0; 2:1; 1:0) Frankfurt Lions – Kärpät – 3:6 (1:3; 0:2; 2:1)
Final
Avangard Omsk – Kärpät – 2:1 (OT) (0:1; 0:0; 1:0; 1:0)
2006 results Alexander Ragulin division HC Dynamo Moscow – HC Slovan Bratislava – 3:1 (2:0; 0:0; 1:1) HC Slovan Bratislava – HC Moeller-Pardubice – 0:2 (0:0; 0:2; 0:0) HC Moeller-Pardubice – HC Dynamo Moscow – 1:5 (1:3; 0:0; 0:2)
Ivan Hlinka division Kärpät – HC Davos – 3:1 (1:0; 0:1; 2:0) HC Davos – Frölunda HC – 6:2 (2:0; 2:1; 2:1) Frölunda HC – Kärpät – 0:3 (0:1; 0:1; 0:1)
Final HC Dynamo Moscow – Kärpät – 5:4 (in a shootout) (1:0; 1:2; 2:2; 0:0; 2:1)
2007 results Alexander Ragulin division HPK – MsHK Žilina – 7:0 (2:0; 3:0; 2:0) MsHK Žilina – HC Sparta Praha – 4:2 (0:1; 2:1; 2:0) HC Sparta Praha – HPK – 2:3 (1:1; 1:2; 0:0)
Ivan Hlinka division Ak Bars Kazan – Färjestad BK – 6:4 (2:2; 2:1; 2:1) Färjestad BK – HC Lugano – 0:3 (0:1; 0:1; 0:1) HC Lugano – Ak Bars Kazan – 0:3 (0:1; 0:1; 0:1)
Final HPK – Ak Bars Kazan – 0:6 (0:3, 0:0, 0:3)
2008 results Alexander Ragulin division Metallurg Magnitogorsk – Modo Hockey – 3:0 (2:0; 1:0; 0:0) Modo Hockey – HC Slovan Bratislava – 1:4 (1:0; 0:3; 0:1) HC Slovan Bratislava – Metallurg Magnitogorsk – 1:2 (1:0; 0:0; 0:1; 0:0; 0:1)
Ivan Hlinka division Kärpät – HC Sparta Praha – 3:5 (0:2; 1:2; 2:1) HC Sparta Praha – HC Davos – 6:4 (1:2; 3:1; 2:1) HC Davos – Kärpät – 1:6 (0:1; 1:3; 0:2)
Final HC Sparta Praha – Metallurg Magnitogorsk – 2:5 (1:1; 1:2; 0:2)
Predecessors European Cup (1965–1997)
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)
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)
The European Hockey League was a European ice hockey club competition which ran between the years 1996 and 2000.
Medals 1996-2000
IIHF Continental Cup (1997–present)
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)
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 IIHF Champions Hockey League (2008–2009)
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)
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.New era dawns for Europe
See also Ice Hockey European Championships Champions Hockey League Champions Hockey League (2008–09) IIHF Continental Cup IIHF Super Cup Spengler Cup European Trophy Junior Club World Cup
References
External links IIHF Club Competition History on IIHF.com