The Belfast Giants will be one of the two hosts of the IIHF Continental Cup this week.
photo: Belfast Giants
We are already halfway through the 2018/2019 IIHF Continental Cup with three tournaments played. Recently Latvian champion Kurbads Riga and Italian champion Ritten Sport advanced to the third round of the last eight teams that will be played this week.
The finalists will be determined in France’s third-largest city of Lyon and in Belfast, the capital of Northern Ireland.
The top-two teams of each group will advance to the final tournament. The teams in the third round will not only play for a chance to move on to the Continental Cup Final, which will be played 11-13 January 2019 at the venue of one of the finalists, but the winner of the final tournament can also be invited to play in the Champions Hockey League the following season pending formal approval by the CHL board. The last five Continental Cup winners did so including most recent champion Yunost Minsk from Belarus.
Group D from 16 to 18 November includes Kazakh champion Arlan Kokshetau, HK Gomel from Belarus, French host Lyon Lions and Latvian champion Kurbads Riga.
Arlan Kokshetau is a first-time champion and will have its international premiere in Lyon while Gomel was the national champion of Belarus in 2003. Kurbads Riga qualified through the second round and won the last two Latvian championships. For the Lyon Lions it will also be a premiere. All games are streamed live through the Fanseat platform where a 14-day free trial is possible. The official website will also provide a live ticker during the tournament.
Click here to access the Group D website.
Group E will already start today and will be played 15 to 17 November. The Belfast Giants representing the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland will host the event. GKS Katowice from Poland will return to the international stage first time since the European Cup games in October 1970. Also for Croatian champion Medvescak Zagreb, which also plays in the Austrian-based cross-border league EBEL since leaving the KHL in 2017, it will be a return after last time playing in the Continental Cup in 2005. Italian champion Ritten Sport qualified through the second round and hopes to make it the finals as well. Games from this group will be streamed live as well and a live ticker and game data will be provided on the official website.
Click here to access the Group E website.
The finalists will be determined in France’s third-largest city of Lyon and in Belfast, the capital of Northern Ireland.
The top-two teams of each group will advance to the final tournament. The teams in the third round will not only play for a chance to move on to the Continental Cup Final, which will be played 11-13 January 2019 at the venue of one of the finalists, but the winner of the final tournament can also be invited to play in the Champions Hockey League the following season pending formal approval by the CHL board. The last five Continental Cup winners did so including most recent champion Yunost Minsk from Belarus.
Group D from 16 to 18 November includes Kazakh champion Arlan Kokshetau, HK Gomel from Belarus, French host Lyon Lions and Latvian champion Kurbads Riga.
Arlan Kokshetau is a first-time champion and will have its international premiere in Lyon while Gomel was the national champion of Belarus in 2003. Kurbads Riga qualified through the second round and won the last two Latvian championships. For the Lyon Lions it will also be a premiere. All games are streamed live through the Fanseat platform where a 14-day free trial is possible. The official website will also provide a live ticker during the tournament.
Click here to access the Group D website.
Group E will already start today and will be played 15 to 17 November. The Belfast Giants representing the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland will host the event. GKS Katowice from Poland will return to the international stage first time since the European Cup games in October 1970. Also for Croatian champion Medvescak Zagreb, which also plays in the Austrian-based cross-border league EBEL since leaving the KHL in 2017, it will be a return after last time playing in the Continental Cup in 2005. Italian champion Ritten Sport qualified through the second round and hopes to make it the finals as well. Games from this group will be streamed live as well and a live ticker and game data will be provided on the official website.
Click here to access the Group E website.