The International Ice Hockey Federation has announced the groups for next season’s Continental Cup – a European club hockey tournament open to teams that don’t qualify for the Champions Hockey League. It also does not include teams from any of Europe’s top six national leagues (the Swedish Hockey League, Finland’s Liiga, Switzerland’s National League, Germany’s DEL, the Czech Extraliga and the Austrian-based multi-national ICEHL).

The tournament is held in four rounds, starting with clubs from the lowest-ranked leagues, with the winner of each group advancing to the next round. No teams directly qualify for the final round, which will be played in January, to be hosted by one of the four qualifying teams.

Each group consists of four teams, playing three games each in a round-robin format.

Round 1: September 20 – 22, 2024

Group A: SKHL Crvena Zvezda (Serbia), KHL Sisak (Croatia), Liège Bulldogs (Belgium), SC Irbis Skatem (Bulgaria – host candidate).

Group B: Energija (Lithuania), Narva PSK (Estonia – host candidate), Skautafélag Reykjavíkur (Iceland), CH Jaca (Spain).

Round 2: October 18 – 20, 2024

Group C: Rittner Buam (Italy – host candidate), Acroni Jesenice (Slovenia), Sokil Kyiv (Ukraine), Group A winner.

Group D: HK Mogo (Latvia), Ferencvárosi TC (Hungary), CSM Corona Brașov (Romania – host candidate), Group B winner.

Round 3: November 15 – 17, 2024

Group E: HC Arlan (Kazakhstan), Cardiff Devils (Great Britain), Vlci Žilina (Slovakia – host candidate), Group C winner.

Group F: Aalborg Pirates (Denmark – host candidate), GKS Katowice (Poland), Bruleurs de Loups de Grenoble (France), Group D winner.

Final round: January 16 – 19, 2025

Top two teams each from Group E and Group F.