Copenhagen Vikings win European Cup, end 24-year title drought

Copenhagen Vikings turned a dominant group stage into a European title, beating IVA Rhein Main Patriots in the Gold Medal Game in Biel/Bienne to end a 24-year wait for another crown. The result gave Copenhagen the championship after it finished first in its group, while IVA had to claw through a far rougher route to reach the final.

The 2026 IISHF Men European Cup ran June 18-21 at IHC Biel-Bienne in Switzerland, on a 40 x 20 wooden floor at Chemin du Tennis 1, 2504 Bienne. The host was IHC Bienne, with Cédric Paratte attached to the event, and the four-day format left no room for teams to drift. Once the knockout rounds began, the bracket sorted the field quickly and Copenhagen stayed on the clean side of that divide.

That path is the real blueprint behind the title. Copenhagen controlled its group and bought itself a direct line into the championship picture. IVA Rhein Main Patriots, by contrast, finished fourth in its group and had to survive the quarterfinals just to reach the final. That mattered: the defending champions were forced to spend energy in elimination hockey, while Copenhagen arrived at the medal game having already established control of the tournament. The final closed the loop on a year-to-year reversal as well. IVA had won the 2025 Men European Cup with a 4-2 victory over SHC Givisiez, and Copenhagen had finished fourth that same year.

The final standings show how deep the field was behind the top two. SHC Rossemaison took third, Crash Eagles Kaarst fourth, Gentofte Stars fifth, ESC Eagles Essen West sixth, IH Sayluca Cadempino Lugano seventh, ICH Biel Bienn eighth, Dark Vipers Salzburg ninth and London Majors tenth. The All Star Team reflected that mix of contenders and survivors, with Copenhagen’s Matthias Asperup joined by Marcel Müller of IVA Rhein Main Patriots, Lennart Otten and Thimo-Fabian Dietrich of Crash Eagles Kaarst, Arnaud Neukomm and goalkeeper Thomas Huber of SHC Rossemaison. Copenhagen did not just win a weekend trophy in Biel/Bienne. It reclaimed the European Cup from the team that had held it, and did it by taking the shortest, cleanest route through a bracket that punished everyone else.