Switzerland becomes the new member of Europe’s four toughest hockey tournaments.
Switzerland proved to be one of the top countries in Europe in last weekend’s EHT tournament. Kimmo Brandt / AOP
Switzerland will replace Russia in the next two seasons with the Euro Hockey Tour. Switzerland already participated in last week’s EHT tournament in Sweden, where it defeated Finland.
Russia was shut down from competition from the four toughest disc countries in Europe earlier in the spring. The other ECSC countries are Finland, Sweden and the Czech Republic.
– It’s really great to get Switzerland involved. As we have seen again this weekend, Switzerland is a skilled team and there are promising tough matches, the CEO of the Finnish Hockey Association Matti Nurminen said.
Switzerland will host its own tournament for the next two seasons just before Christmas, which has traditionally been the time of the Russian-hosted tournament.
Finland will continue to host its traditional Karelia tournament in November. The ECSC has been played since 1996-1997.
Sweden won the overall tournament this season.