The full schedule for the 2017-18 Euro Hockey Tour has been announced, the highlights being the moving of the Sweden Hockey Games to April (due to this year’s Olympics in February), and the addition of teams from Canada, Switzerland and Korea, all preparing for the Games in PyeongChang.

The tour kicks off as usual in November, with Helsinki once again hosting the Karjala Tournament. The change this year, however, is Canada and Switzerland joining the tournament, marking the first appearance for both nations in the tournament, and the first expansion of the tournament past four teams since 1995. France (1995) and the United States (1992) are the only other nations besides the core four to participate, with both aforementioned countries finishing third in their respective tournaments.

The Channel One Cup in Moscow will also feature two new squads, Canada and Olympic hosts Korea, looking to gain momentum heading into the February Games. Canada returns to the tournament for the fifth time, making their first appearance since their Cup victory in 1987, while Korea becomes just the sixth nation (and first outside of the main four and Canada) to join the tournament.

Besides being moved to April, the Sweden Hockey Games will remain unchanged, with the tournament format returning to the “core four” of Czechia, Russia, Finland and Sweden, who will reconvene just a week after the Carlson Hockey Games, which have not moved from previous years. Both of these tournaments will also count towards the four nations’ standings in the 2017-18 Euro Hockey Championship, all leading up to the 2018 World Championships in Denmark.

The schedule for the 2017-18 Euro Hockey Tour is as follows:

This year’s Tour features Sweden starting the tour with the International Hockey Lineal Championship, ensuring the title will carry through at least to the Channel One Cup, and the holder by the new year will likely be the incumbent leading into the Olympics. Who will march into PyeongChang with the IHLC, and can they carry it through past Olympic Gold to the April legs of the tour?

Photo Credit: Jatkoaika – IIHF – HHOF – IOC