Hockey Leagues Want To Revive European Cup Competition, Anticipate Start For '14-15

The German Hockey League (DEL) and five other European hockey leagues "are planning the reintroduction of a European Cup competition starting with the '14-15 season," according to the SID. DEL CEO Gernot Tripcke said, "We want to revive the European Cup. We hope we can announce its return at the end of the year." The plans "call for a competition consisting of about 40 teams from Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, Finland, Austria and the Czech Republic." Tripcke said that "teams from top economic areas will be automatically qualified." In addition, the "competitively best teams will also qualify." The DEL "will compete with a maximum of six teams, consisting of four automatically seeded clubs plus a champion and regular-season champion." The new competition "is supposed to replace the European Trophy, which is currently played in the form of an invitational preseason tournament" (SID, 9/10).