Eastern European Hockey League | |
Sport: | Ice hockey |
Founded: | 1995 |
Folded: | 2004 |
Teams: | 9 |
Countries: | Belarus Latvia Lithuania Poland Russia Ukraine |
Champion: | Keramin Minsk |
Most Champs: | Sokil Kyiv, Berkut-Kyiv, Keramin Minsk (2 each) |
Eastern European Hockey League (EEHL) was a regional ice hockey league which existed from 1995 to 2004.
The league was formed in 1995 by Belarus, Latvia, Lithuania and Ukraine, to provide a higher-level competition for teams from those countries. In some years, the league also included teams from Poland and Russia. Besides the main tournament for professional ice hockey teams, the league also had junior championships in several age groups.
In 2004, it was dissolved. Instead, two teams from Latvia (Metalurgs Liepāja and Rīga 2000) and one team from Ukraine (Sokil Kyiv) joined the Belarusian Extraliga. There was temporarily a period where the Belarusian Extraliga was closed to foreign teams, but that has since changed as Metalurgs Liepāja, Dinamo/Juniors Rīga, and Sokil Kyiv became members of the league.