IIHF: Euro Hockey Tour will be replaced by 2014

Sweden's Richard Gynge, right, challenges Czech Republic's Petr Caslava, left, during their Euro Hockey Tour ice hockey match in Liberec, Czech Republic.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

HELSINKI, Finland — The head of Finland’s ice hockey association says the four-nation Euro Hockey Tour will be replaced by a new series of championships across Europe during the 2014-15 season.

Kalervo Kummola, who is also a council member of the International Ice Hockey Federation, told Finnish tabloid Iltalehti on Tuesday that 16 to 24 countries will participate in the series with national teams playing each other during the season.

Kummola said negotiations on a new European series were expected to be completed in April.

On Monday, IIHF chairman Rene Fasel told Swedish SVT television that the federation wants more European nations to play each other and to increase interest in a regional championship.

Finland, Sweden, Russia and the Czech Republic have played the four-nation Euro Hockey Tour since 1996.

When submitting content, please abide by our submission guidelines, and avoid posting profanity, personal attacks or harassment. Should you violate our submissions guidelines, we reserve the right to remove your comments and block your account. Sportsnet reserves the right to close a story’s comment section at any time.