European Trophy welcomes 10 new teams

17 May 2011 | Henrik Lundqvist

The tournament that started in 2006 as a pre-season tournament with four Finnish and four Swedish teams continues to expand and now includes 24 teams from six countries.

European Trophy is continuing to grow and now includes 24 teams. The teams will be divided into four divisions. The group stage is played from August 11 - September 4 and the playoffs are played in Salzburg in December.

The new teams are HC Bílí Tygři Liberec, HC Plzeň 1929, HC Kometa Brno, HC Eaton Pardubice, HC Slavia Praha and HC Mountfield České Budějovice from Czech Republic, HC Slovan Bratislava from Slovakia, EV Vienna Capitals from Austria, KalPa from Finland and Luleå Hockey from Sweden.

The organization of the European Trophy has the goals and ambitions to build a tournament with a high sporting quality that is interesting for players, fans and sponsors.

"We want to develop together in all areas", says the Tournament Director Bo Lennartsson on the press conference. The tournament has ambitions to compete with NHL and KHL.

No teams from Switzerland is competing in 2011 but they are expected to return for the 2012 European Trophy.

Schedules here!