Red Bulls Salute

The Red Bulls Salute (until 2006 Red Bulls Face-Off ) is an international ice hockey tournament for club teams , which has been organized by EC Red Bull Salzburg from 2005 and held in the Salzburg ice arena . From 2010 to 2013 it served as the final tournament of the European Trophy . After a four-year break, it was held in Garmisch-Partenkirchen for the first time in 2017 .

history

The invitation tournament was first held under the name Red Bulls Face-Off in 2005 at the beginning of September. The aim is to offer fans high-quality, international ice hockey before the start of the season. In addition to the Salzburg hosts, ERC Ingolstadt from the DEL , Södertälje SK from the Swedish Elitserien and HC České Budějovice from the Czech extra league, three first division teams from the best leagues in Europe took part. The ERC Ingolstadt emerged as the first-time tournament winner from these four teams, which competed against each other in a total of four games in the knockout system .

In order to further establish the tournament in the Austrian and European ice hockey calendar, a total of six teams took part in the tournament in September 2006. These were, in addition to EC Red Bull Salzburg, the defending champion ERC Ingolstadt, the ZSC Lions from the Swiss National League A , HC Sparta Prague from the Czech Extra League , Jokerit Helsinki from the Finnish SM-liiga and Skellefteå AIK from the Swedish Elitserien, which means a wide range of participants could be presented. In contrast to the previous year, the tournament was played over three days and nine games took place. On the first two days, the six teams played the places in a kind of qualification. On the last day of the tournament, the best and second best teams from the previous days faced each other in the final. Likewise, the third placed on the fourth and the fifth on the sixth. In the final, the ZSC Lions prevailed against Ingolstadt and replaced them as tournament winners.

For the year 2007, the organizer moved the tournament from the beginning to the end of September and again limited the number of participants to four teams that competed against each other in a knockout system, as the Los Angeles Kings, a well-known team from the North American National Hockey League, welcomed them to Salzburg for the first time could. These were in preparation for the season opener of the NHL season against the reigning Stanley Cup winner Anaheim Ducks in London , UK . As more clubs took Färjestad BK in the Swedish Elitserien and HC Davos of the Swiss National League A in the tournament. In the final, the favorite from Los Angeles prevailed against Färjestad.

In 2008, the tournament first took place in late August. Six teams took part, divided into two groups of three teams each. In addition to the hosts from Salzburg, the ZSC Lions and HC Sparta Prague, the Kölner Haie , HC Slovan Bratislava and SKA Saint Petersburg, a Russian team, went on the ice for the first time. After the six preliminary rounds, the group winners were the ZSC Lions and HC Sparta Prague. The Prague team finally decided the final just in their favor. In the game for third place, Saint Petersburg prevailed against Bratislava, while Cologne finished the tournament in fifth place after defeating the hosts.

European Trophy logo

In 2009, the EC Red Bull Salzburg hosted the tournament for the fifth time from August 27th to 30th. With the HK ZSKA Moscow from Russia, the Espoo Blues from Finland and the Adler Mannheim from Germany, three clubs were guests in Mozart's city for the first time. The ZSC Lions from Switzerland, winners of the Champions Hockey League , took part for the third time. With HC Sparta Prague from the Czech Republic, the defending champion also received an invitation. The six teams first played a preliminary round in two groups of three teams. The two first placed, hosts Salzburg and defending champions Prague, then determined the tournament winner on the final day. With a 3-2 win in the penalty shootout , Salzburg secured the title in the specially organized tournament for the first time in five years.

For 2010 the tournament was finally upgraded and abandoned its status as a purely invitation-only tournament. With its inclusion in the newly created European Trophy (formerly Nordic Trophy ), the tournament represents the final round of the eight best teams in the competition. As part of this innovation, the tournament was held for the first time in 2010 at two venues. In addition to the Salzburg Volksgarten, the Zell am See ice rink was also played. In 2011 the tournament was held as the final of the European Trophy. The tournament took place from December 16 to 18 at the venues in Salzburg and Vienna.

In 2013 the tournament was held for the last time and gave way to the newly founded Champions Hockey League . In 2017, however, the tournament was reactivated and held in Garmisch-Partenkirchen with a total of four participants.