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	Host
1994–95	Salavat Yulaev Ufa	4–1	HC Pardubice	Ljubljana,  Slovenia
1995–96	AS Mastini Varese	4–3	Metallurg Magnitogorsk	Trenčín,  Slovakia

Continental Cup winners

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