Putting on dominant displays, Energija Elektrenai from Lithuania and Croatia´s KHL Sisak triumphed as undisputed group winners of Round 1 of the 2025 IIHF Continental Cup. They will face sterner tests in Round 2 of the competition from 18 to 20 October 2024.

Sisak reigns supreme in Sofia

KHL Sisak turned up the heat right from the get-go in Sofia´s Winter Sports Palace to breeze through Group A. Scoring 28 times and conceding just three goals, the Croatian champions completed a perfect weekend in the Bulgarian capital.

A dozen members on the Sisak roster skated for gold medal-winning Croatia at the 2024 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship Division II Group A.  In the pivotal clash in the Continental Cup versus Belgium´s Liege Bulldogs, a troika of Croatian national team players led the way with three early unanswered goals. Karlo Marinkovic opened the scoring 91 seconds in, and rapid-fire goals by Dominik Canic and Bruno Idzan stretched Sisak´s lead to 3-0 before the 10-minute mark. Sisak´s commanding 6-1 victory against Liege was as close as anyone got to the Croatians in Sofia.

In their opener, Sisak got off to a comfortable start, scoring nine unanswered goals before the midway mark in an 15-1 rout of Bulgarian hosts Irbis-Skate Sofia. Vlastimil Dostalek led the way with a hat trick in a closing-day 7-1 win over Crvena Zvezda Belgrade from neighbouring Serbia.

Sisak – which only debuted in the Continental Cup in 2022-23 – immediately tasted success by progressing to Round 2. Having now completed their second victorious appearance in this round of the competition, the Croatians will return home in high spirits ahead of their Alps Hockey League debut, where they will battle teams from Austria, Italy and Slovenia.

In Round 2, Group C of the Continental Cup, Sisak will play Italian hosts Rittner Buam, Acroni Jesenice from Slovenia and Ukraine’s Sokil Kyiv (18 to 20 October 2024 in Ritten).

Liege Bulldogs finished second in Sofia. Boet van Gastel converted Liege´s winner on a two-man advantage when the Belgians came from behind to edge Crvena Zvezda 2-1. Icing the youngest team in Group A, Crvena Zvezda ended up third ahead of Irbis-Skate. 

Energija powers to progress in Narva

With Energija´s domestic season already underway, the Lithuanians immediately kicked their game into high gear to top Group B with a perfect record.

Six players on Energija's roster skated for second-place Lithuania at the 2024 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship Division I Group B. Two of them – Dovydas Laimutis and newcomer Eimantas Noreika – tallied a pair of goals apiece in a decisive 6-1 victory versus CH Jaca of Spain. Up-and-coming youngster Matas Cyvas also added a memorable brace for the Lithuanians.

Earlier in the tournament, two goals in the first 43 seconds got Energija´s Continental Cup campaign off to a flying start. Two other national team members, Tadas Kumeliauskas and Aivaras Bendzius, tallied on their first shift in a 5-0 opening-day blanking of Iceland’s Skautafelag Reyjkavikur.

Coach Arunas Aleinikovas’ squad capped off a victorious weekend by downing hosts Narva PSK 6-3 in a nervy closing game, with Bendzius grabbing a hat trick.

The 2025 Continental Cup marks Energija´s 15th overall appearance in the competition. Their Round 1 victory in Narva comes two decades after the club´s only previous advancing to the second round. Looking ahead to Round 2, in Group D they will face CSM Corona Brasov of Romania, Hungary´s Ferencvarosi TC and Latvia’s HK Mogo (18-20 October 2024 in Brasov). 

Spanish champions Jaca finished in second place. In a 5-1 win over Narva – Jaca’s only regulation-time win in this tournament – Spanish national team player Jaime Capillas netted a brace.

Seven years since Narva’s maiden appearance, the host team returned to compete in the Continental Cup. In front of their home crowd, they finished third by grabbing their first victory in the competition. In an 8-4 win over Skautafelag Reyjkavikur, Narva´s fifth goal came from national team veteran Aleksei Sibirtsev, who has rejoined his boyhood club after 15 years in Sweden.

Iceland´s reigning champions returned to the Baltic region for their second consecutive Continental Cup outing. After five straight losses in the competition, the Icelanders finished on a high. In a roller-coaster battle with Jaca on the final day, Hakon Magnusson got the equalizer with three seconds left, and Jonathan Otuoma bagged a memorable 6-5 overtime winner for Group B’s youngest team.