Challenge Cup (UK Ice Hockey)
The Challenge Cup, hosted annually by the Elite Ice Hockey League, is a cup competition for ice hockey clubs in the United Kingdom. It is one of three competitions ran each season by the Elite League, the others being the league championship and the playoff championship. Prior to the formation of the Elite League in 2003, the Challenge Cup was organised by the Ice Hockey Superleague.
First awarded during the 1997–98 season, the Challenge Cup has had numerous different formats depending on the number of teams participating and the format of other competitions run during a particular season. The first six finals were single games played at a pre determined venue, since the inaugural season of the Elite League finals have been contested over two legs. The current holders of the trophy are the Nottingham Panthers, who defeated the Belfast Giants 10–4 on aggregate in the 2011–12 final. The Nottingham Panthers are the competition's most successful team, having won the title five times. The Sheffield Steelers come next, having been champions four times. The now-defunct Ayr Scottish Eagles and the Coventry Blaze and have each won the cup twice.
Read more about Challenge Cup (UK Ice Hockey): History, Total Titles Won
Famous quotes containing the words challenge, cup and/or ice:
“Seas of bright juice suffuse heaven.
The earth by the sky staid with, the daily close of their junction,
The heav’d challenge from the east that moment over my head,
The mocking taunt, See then whether you shall be master!”
—Walt Whitman (1819–1892)
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—Jerome K. Jerome (1859–1927)
“Goodness and evil never share the same road, just as ice and charcoal never share the same container.”
—Chinese proverb.