On the road to the 2016 IIHF Continental Cup Super Final in January, 17 teams will be narrowed down to four in three stages. The first stage begins in October in Belgrade, with Rouen and Asiago hosting semi-finals in November.

Press Release

BUDAPEST – The groups and hosts of the 2016 IIHF Continental Cup are known. 17 club teams from as many countries will battle for the trophy and a spot in the Champions Hockey League.

The same as last year, the winners’ plate will be awarded after six tournaments in four stages. The semi-final tournaments will take place 20–22 November 2015. Italian champion Asiago Hockey will host the group with the Herning Blue Fox (Denmark), Yertis Pavlodar (Kazakhstan) and a group winner from the second round while the top French team Rouen Dragons will host the other semi-final group that includes first-time Belarusian champion Shakhtyor Soligorsk, HK Kremenchuk (Ukraine) and the group winner from the second round.

The top-two teams from each of the semi-final groups will advance to the Super Final that will be played 8–10 January 2016 at the venue of one of the four participants. Same as with the last Continental Cup champion Neman Grodno (Belarus), the winner of the Continental Cup Super Final will get the chance to play in the Champions Hockey League edition of the following season subject to formal approval by the CHL Board.

The groups of the second round, to be played 23–25 October, will be hosted in Miskolc, Hungary and Tychy, Poland. Partizan Belgrade (Serbia) will host the first-round tournament 2–4 October. The groups and hosts were approved on Saturday at the annual Continental Cup meeting with the club that took place in Budapest.

2016 IIHF Continental Cup

First round, 2–4 October 2015:

Group A in Belgrade, Serbia: Partizan Belgrade (SRB), Rishon Devils (ISR), CSKA Sofia (BUL), Zeytinburnu Istanbul (TUR).

Second round, 23–25 October 2015:

Group B in Miskolc, Hungary: Mogo Riga (LAT), Acroni Jesenice (SLO), Miskolci Jegesmedvek (HUN), CH Jaca (ESP).

Group C in Tychy, Poland: Coventry Blaze (GBR), GKS Tychy (POL), Dunarea Galati (ROU), Winner Group A.

Third round, 20–22 November 2015:

Group D in Asiago, Italy: Herning Blue Fox (DEN), Yertis Pavlodar (KAZ), Asiago Hockey (ITA), Winner Group B.

Group E in Rouen, France: Shakhtyor Soligorsk (BLR), Rouen Dragons (FRA), HK Kremenchuk (UKR), Winner Group C.

Super Final, 8–10 January 2016:

The top-two ranked teams of Group D and the top-two ranked teams of Group E advance to the Super Final. Host to be determined.