With the UEFA (Union of European Football Associations) Euro 2024 tournament happening this year in the soccer world, it’s a tournament with lots of intensity and passion for winning the Euro Cup and being deemed the best nation in Europe. The IIHF (International Ice Hockey Federation) had a tournament like that from 1910 to 1932. Unlike the UEFA Euro Cup in soccer, which has occurred every four years since 1960, the IIHF’s version was an annual tournament that had some halts in operations in between during the First and Second World Wars.
After 1932, the European Championship was given to the best European team in the World Championship. Some of Europe’s best hockey talent would only have the World Championship, World Junior Championship, World Cup of Hockey, and Olympics to show who the best teams in Europe were. Out of all of those tournaments, the World Championship is the closest to “European” because it is predominately hosted in Europe but is mainly considered a “World” tournament, with Canada and the USA making several appearances in it as well as other non-European nations like Australia, Japan, and South Korea.
It would be great to have a European Tournament on both the Men’s and Women’s sides of the IIHF, as it would be more refined to only European teams in the group stage; here is how it should be laid out if the IIHF could bring it back.
Group Structure
For the groups, it would be the same as the World Championship, with two groups, A and B, of eight teams. With Canada and the USA not in the tournament and Russia/Belarus banned from competing in IIHF tournaments until 2025, three spots would be open for more European competition. The hosting team would be voted on by the IIHF members, and the top result of that voting phase would determine who hosts the European tournament.
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For competitive reasons, we’ll say theoretically that the groups will be balanced based on rank to make it more interesting. The group’s point system will work the same as the World Championship, with three points to the winning team after regulation time, one point for both teams if tied after regulation time, an extra point to the winning team in overtime or a penalty shot shootout, and zero points for the losing team after regulation time.
If the tournament were to start today, the groups would go as follows:
Group A
- Czechia
- Switzerland
- Slovakia
- Latvia
- Norway
- France
- Great Britain
- Italy
Group B
- Sweden
- Germany
- Finland
- Austria
- Denmark
- Slovenia
- Hungary
- Poland
Qualifying Process to Make the Tournament
The qualifying concept is pretty straightforward with the current IIHF structure. Since this European tournament will include the world’s best pro players, we’ll use the qualifying process that is used in the World Championship. Like the Worlds, the European tournament would have divisions from one to four, with two groups labeled A and B. The Top Division is the highest division, like the World Championship format. Relegation tournaments would also be held to determine who moves up in ranking, is promoted, and demoted.
Promotion and relegation would happen as such; the eight-place teams in between Group A and Group B would be relegated to Division I Group A. Meanwhile, the champion of Division I Group A gets promoted to the Top Division to play in the European tournament. This differs significantly from the UEFA’s soccer structure, where nations qualify for tournaments in the group point system, and tiebreakers are decided by playoff knockout during the qualifying period.
The IIHF’s system would give other European countries, usually overshadowed by big teams like Canada and the USA in world tournaments, a chance to gain experience against Europe’s best to prepare for the World Championship set. This European tournament could also be helpful as a blueprint for the World Junior levels, as UEFA does the same thing in soccer for their amateur levels.
Although it seems like there is no competition without Canada and the USA in a hockey tournament, it can bring a lot of attention to the game in Europe, as it has grown tremendously over the years. This would only make it more intriguing to new fans who want to learn about hockey in Europe. In 2024, for example, Poland returned to the Top Division of the IIHF World Championship after 22 years of failing to make it; this could be a hockey nation that grows over the years because of achievements like that.
Knockout Round
The knockout round format is straightforward. It would require the top four ranked teams to advance at the end of the group stage. The round would be categorized according to each team’s position within its group. For example, 1A (the top team in Group A) faces 4B (the fourth-place team in Group B). It is the same as the World Championship’s knockout format, considering the number of teams qualifying for each group.
As for the rules, everything would run the same as the group games except for tie-breaking situations. In the Relegation Playoff, Quater Final, Placement Playoff, Quarter Final, Semi-Final, and bronze medal game, there would be 10 minutes of three-on-three sudden-death overtime until someone scores the winning goal. If no one scores, it would advance to a penalty shot shootout to determine the winner.
The gold medal game would be slightly different. There would be three-on-three 20-minute sudden-death overtime instead of 10 minutes until the game-winner is scored.
With only European teams, this would be great and give reigning European champions in the World Championship a chance to prove themselves throughout Europe. As Czechia is the current champion of the World Championship, the European Championship would make them a dynasty in international hockey like we’ve seen in soccer, with nations like Spain winning two Euro Cups (2008, 2012) and a World Cup (2010) in sequence.
Final Thoughts
This may seem like a minor change from the World Championship, but it would be great, considering it is every four years. Hockey has a lot of tournaments, from the Olympics to the World Cup of Hockey and even the Four Nations Faceoff beginning in 2025. This would have to be snuck into a month when there is some availability for players to play, such as August or July, when players are off from NHL duties entirely until the following season.
It would mainly keep hockey viewership up for fans in Europe and worldwide. Once again, the tournament would be held every four years, so fatigue wouldn’t be something to worry about afterwards, and players would have enough time to rest before returning to their respective teams for the regular season.
