After a major overhaul to the Euro Hockey Challenge in the 2014-15 season, this year’s EHC will retain the current format, in the lead-up to the 2016 World Championships in Russia.

Similar to last year, the last two legs will feature two series each as part of the Euro Hockey Tour, between Russia, Finland, Sweden and Czechia. All 12 teams from last year’s EHC will join, with the only non-European participant in the World Championships being Hungary (along with non-Euro squads Canada, Kazakhstan and the United States).

Last year’s tournament featured two title changes, with the incumbent champions (and last year’s EHC winners) from Czechia winning five straight title games (with pairs of wins against Norway and Slovakia) before losing to Sweden, who won three straight to carry the title into the 2015 Worlds in Prague.

Final dates and locations will be released soon, and will be updated here as soon as they become available.

Schedules for the Euro Hockey Challenge (with Euro Hockey Tour games noted in parentheses) are as follows:

First Leg, 6-10 April
🇫🇷 France @ Belarus 🇧🇾
🇩🇪 Germany @ Czechia 🇨🇿
🇱🇻 Latvia @ Denmark 🇩🇰
🇸🇰 Slovakia @ Finland 🇫🇮
🇳🇴 Norway @ Russia 🇷🇺
🇨🇭 Switzerland @ Sweden 🇸🇪

Second Leg, 13-17 April
🇱🇻 Latvia @ Belarus 🇧🇾
🇩🇰 Denmark @ France 🇫🇷
🇸🇪 Sweden @ Germany 🇩🇪
🇫🇮 Finland @ Norway 🇳🇴
🇷🇺 Russia @ Slovakia 🇸🇰
🇨🇿 Czechia @ Switzerland 🇨🇭

Third Leg, 20-24 April
🇳🇴 Norway @ Denmark 🇩🇰
🇨🇿 Czechia @ Finland 🇫🇮 (EHT)
🇸🇰 Slovakia @ France 🇫🇷
🇩🇪 Germany @ Latvia 🇱🇻
🇷🇺 Russia @ Sweden 🇸🇪 (EHT)
🇧🇾 Belarus @ Switzerland 🇨🇭

Fourth Leg, 27 April – 01 May
🇸🇪 Sweden @ Czechia 🇨🇿 (EHT)
🇧🇾 Belarus @ Germany 🇩🇪
🇨🇭 Switzerland @ Latvia 🇱🇻
🇫🇷 France @ Norway 🇳🇴
🇫🇮 Finland @ Russia 🇷🇺 (EHT)
🇩🇰 Denmark @ Slovakia 🇸🇰

If Canada does not play again until the Worlds in May, this means the title will not be up for contention at this year’s Challenge. However, this tune-up will benefit these squads heading into Saint Petersburg and Moscow, and with a new Canadian lineup taking the ice for the first time, perhaps can wrench away the title early on!

Photo Credit: CSLH  – IIHF – HHOF – IOC