As of the season 2014/2015 the new European Club Competition (ECC) will be launched, as the IIHF confirms. 40 teams out of the European leagues will battle for the championship title.The first season of the ECC will see 40 clubs from the leagues in Switzerland, Austria, the Czech Republic, Finland, Germany and Sweden. Included in those 40 team will be the respective national champions and the regular season winners.
The new competition will stretch out from August to February each season and out of the 40 participants, 16 will advance to a playoff knock-out round. If also Russian teams from the Kontinental Hockey League will be aboard is not yet clear - negotiations are still ongoing.
"With the new European Club Competition we will create additional value – sportive, financial and emotional – for the European clubs, leagues and fans", says Gernot Tripcke, representative of the leagues within the ECC board.
The new name of the international league will be presented in early 2014.
Related Articles:Swiss clubs principally in favor of a European Club Competition (19 September 2013)
