The Euro Hockey Tour (EHT) is an annual ice hockey tournament open to only the national men's teams of the Czech Republic, Finland, Switzerland and Sweden. Most of the teams use the competition as a preparation for the upcoming World Championships or Olympics, allowing less experienced players to collect valuable ice time in their national colours.
Current season, competition or edition: 2023–24 Euro Hockey Tour | |
 The EHT logo | |
| Sport | Ice hockey |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1996 |
| Most recent champion(s) |  Sweden (7th title) |
| Most titles |  Finland  Russia (9 titles each) |
History
editTournaments
edit- Current
- Karjala Tournament in Finland
- Swiss Ice Hockey Games in Switzerland (replaced the Channel One Cup)
- Beijer Hockey Games in Sweden
- Czech Hockey Games in the Czech Republic
- Former
- Channel One Cup in Russia (discontinued following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine)
Playing format
editEach team plays three games in each of the tournaments, giving a total of twelve games per team. After the four tournaments have finished, the teams are seeded according to their respective combined point total from all four tournaments.
In each tournament, five games are played in the host city, and one game in another participating country. For example, in the 2007 edition of Karjala Tournament, the game between Sweden and Russia was played in Jönköping, Sweden, rather than in Finland, who host the Karjala Cup. Every country is assigned one home game and one away game in those games.
Each team is given three points for a regulation-time win, two points for an overtime or shootout win, one point for a loss in overtime or shootout, and zero points for a loss in regulation time. In the four tournaments, if two or more teams end with the same number of points, they are seeded based on head-to-head results in games against the tied teams. In the EHT standings however, two or more teams tied in points are seeded based on the better goal difference.
Prize money
editThe prize money for the winner of each tournament is €50,000 while the second seed gets €30,000, the third seed gets €25,000, and the fourth seed gets €15,000. The EHT season winner receives another €75,000, the team finishing second gets €30,000, and the team finishing third gets €15,000.[1]
Finals in previous years
editMedal games were not played until the 2003–04 season. Before that, place order was determined by the tournament standings. The seasons 2003–04, 2004–05 and 2006–07 used a format where the first- and second-placed teams played a home-and-home two-game series for the EHT gold and silver medals, while the third- and fourth-placed teams played two games for the bronze. In 2005–06, the championship was determined by a single game played at the home of the first-place team. Since 2007–08, no EHT finals have been played.
Participating teams
editFour European teams compete in EHT. The Czech Republic, Finland, and Sweden have participated since the tournament was started in 1996. Switzerland replaced Russia in 2022 after the Russian team was suspended from participation in international tournaments due to the military invasion of Ukraine.[2]
Results
editMen
edit- ^ Only points from Karjala Cup, Izvestija Cup and Swedish Hockey Games counted in the final standings due to that the Russian team did not participate in the Pragobanka Cup.
- ^ Czech tournament not played due to 2004 World Cup of Hockey.
- ^ Czech Hockey Games not played due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Women
editMedals
editMen (1996-2023)
edit| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Finland (FIN) | 9 | 9 | 8 | 26 |
| 2 | Russia (RUS) | 9 | 6 | 5 | 20 |
| 3 | Sweden (SWE) | 7 | 7 | 5 | 19 |
| 4 |  Czech Republic (CZE) | 3 | 6 | 10 | 19 |
| Totals (4 entries) | 28 | 28 | 28 | 84 | |
Women (2019-2023)
edit| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Finland (FIN) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 2 | Sweden (SWE) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 3 | Czech Republic (CZE) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 4 | Russia (RUS) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals (4 entries) | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | |
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Euro Hockey Tour prize money 2012–13" (PDF). Swedish Ice Hockey Association. Retrieved 8 June 2013.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "The Swiss national team will replace Russia on the Euro Hockey Tour in two years". Sport.cz. 16 March 2022.
- "Euro Hockey Tour". European Hockey.Net. Retrieved 1 May 2006.
- "Euro Hockey Tour history". Swedish Ice Hockey Association. Archived from the original on 8 December 2005. Retrieved 1 May 2006.
- "Euro Hockey Tour Czech republic". Pro-Hockey CZ. Retrieved 16 July 2006.
- David Schlegel. "History of Euro Hockey Tour and its tournaments". PRO-HOCKEY Cz, s.r.o. & eSports.cz, s.r.o. Retrieved 3 September 2006.
- "Nytt Euro Hockey Touravtal" (in Swedish). hockeyligan.se. Archived from the original on 19 July 2011. Retrieved 20 December 2006.