The EHL Men’s Cup is set to make its debut next Easter as part of the Euro Hockey League festival of events in 2021.
The competition has been put in place this season following the postponement of the 2020 EHL FINAL8 last April and its subsequent cancelation in October. The EHL Men’s Cup will run in addition to the men’s FINAL12 and women’s FINAL8 whose entrants were confirmed on Tuesday.
It offers the chance for the regular total of 20 men’s clubs to compete in the EHL for a trophy while also earning crucial ranking points for their nation which can bring extra places in the Euro Hockey League for the following season.
The line-up is packed with high quality clubs; Germany’s Rot-Weiss Köln are the 2017 EHL Men’s champions and were silver medalists in 2019.
They will face stiff opposition from the rising force of HC ’s-Hertogenbosch whose men are in Europe for the first time since 2002. Previously, they won the European Club Champions Cup in 1999 and the Cup Winners Cup in 2001.
Belgium’s Dragons are EHL royalty with an EHL silver medal in 2013 to go with bronze in 2012, 2014 and 2017. Spain’s Club de Campo make their first EHL appearance since 2015 and will be hoping to summon the spirit of 2011 when they reached the EHL GRAND FINAL.
Hampstead & Westminster represent England following a hugely impressive European debut in October 2019, beating HGC before just losing out 2-1 to Mannheimer HC.
Russia’s Dinamo Elektrostal contest their seventh EHL campaign while HC Minsk are in the EHL for a third successive season as Belarussian champions.
Austria’s SV Arminen are in the EHL for a fourth year in-a-row and they will be hoping to rekindle the fire that brought them to the KO16 back in 2015 when they topped a group also featuring Atlètic Terrassa.
The draw for the EHL Men’s Cup is currently due to take place early in 2021.
EHL Men’s Cup: Rot-Weiss Köln (Germany), HC ’s-Hertogenbosch (Netherlands), KHC Dragons (Belgium), Club de Campo (Spain), Hampstead & Westminster (England), Dinamo Elektrostal (Russia), HC Minsk (Belarus), SV Arminen (Austria)