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. It was generally considered to be a pre-season tournament, although some games were played mid-season. With 32 participating teams from seven different countries in 2013, the European Trophy was at the time the biggest active ice hockey tournament in Europe. In 2014, the European Trophy will be replaced by the Champions Hockey League, an IIHF-organized tournament.
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 other European countries agreed to join the tournament, which changed name to its current name 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. 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 became European. 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.
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. Slavia Praha, however, announced on 31 May 2012 that they would be pulling out of the European Trophy. On 18 June it was announced that Piráti Chomutov had taken over Slavia Praha's spot in the South Division.
On February 14, 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.
===List===
Division	Team 	City 	Home arena* 	Capacity	Joined NT/ET
North 	Oulun Kärpät 	Oulu 	Oulun Energia Areena 	6,614 	2006
North 	Eisbären Berlin 	Berlin 	O2 World 	14,200 	2010
North 	Red Bull Salzburg 	Salzburg 	Eisarena Salzburg 	3,600 	2010
North 	Luleå HF 	Luleå 	Coop Arena 	6,200 	2011
North 	Kometa Brno 	Brno 	Kajot Arena 	7,200 	2011
North 	Mountfield České Budějovice	České Budějovice	Budvar Arena 	6,421 	2011
North 	HC Plzeň 	Plzeň 	ČEZ Aréna 	8,420 	2011
North 	Hamburg Freezers 	Hamburg 	O2 World 	12,947 	2012
South 	Linköpings HC 	Linköping 	Cloetta Center 	8,500 	2006
South 	HV71 	Jönköping 	Kinnarps Arena 	7,038 	2008
South 	Sparta Praha 	Prague 	Tipsport Arena 	13,150 	2010
South 	Piráti Chomutov 	Chomutov 	Multifunkční aréna Chomutov	5,250 	2012
South 	KalPa 	Kuopio 	Kuopion Jäähalli 	5,225 	2011
South 	Slovan Bratislava 	Bratislava 	Slovnaft Arena 	10,000 	2011
South 	UPC Vienna Capitals 	Vienna 	Albert Schultz Eishalle 	7,000 	2011
South 	JYP 	Jyväskylä 	Synergia-areena 	4,628 	2012
East 	TPS 	Turku 	HK Arena 	11,820 	2006
East 	Tappara 	Tampere 	Hakametsä Areena 	7,800 	2006
East 	Djurgårdens IF 	Stockholm 	Hovet 	8,094 	2006
East 	SC Bern 	Bern 	PostFinance-Arena 	17,131 	2010**
East 	Bílí Tygři Liberec 	Liberec 	Tipsport Arena 	7,500 	2011
East 	ČSOB Pojišťovna Pardubice 	Pardubice 	ČEZ Aréna 	10,194 	2011
East 	Brynäs IF 	Gävle 	Läkerol Arena 	8,585 	2012
East 	HC Fribourg-Gottéron 	Fribourg 	BCF Arena 	6,900 	2012
West 	Färjestad BK 	Karlstad 	Löfbergs Arena 	8,647 	2006
West 	Frölunda Indians 	Gothenburg 	Scandinavium 	12,044 	2006
West 	HIFK 	Helsinki 	Helsinki Ice Hall 	8,200 	2006
West 	Jokerit 	Helsinki 	Hartwall Areena 	13,349 	2008
West 	ZSC Lions 	Zurich 	Hallenstadion 	10,700 	2010**
West 	Adler Mannheim 	Mannheim 	SAP Arena 	10,600 	2010
West 	ERC Ingolstadt 	Ingolstadt 	Saturn Arena 	4,815 	2012
West 	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. 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 play 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.
===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.
== Winners ==
Nordic Trophy 	Nordic Trophy 	Nordic Trophy
Year 	Regular round winners 	Playoff 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)
2009 	Lukko (Finnish tournament)	Tappara (Finnish tournament)
European Trophy	European Trophy 	European Trophy
Year 	Regular round winners 	Playoff 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.
==References==
==External links==
*European Trophy official website
*Nordic Trophy statistics
== See also ==
* Champions Hockey League, a new tournament launched by the IIHF, starting in 2014
* European Trophy Junior
* Champions Hockey League (2008–09), a similar tournament played only in the 2008–09 season
Category:Tournaments