Current season, competition or edition: 2020-2021 | |
Sport | Ice Hockey |
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No. of teams | 15 |
Country | Belgium |
Most recent champion(s) | Era Renomar HYC |
Official website | https://www.rbihf.be/ |
The Belgian Hockey League, also known as the Belgian Elite League, was the highest level of competition organized by the Royal Belgian Ice Hockey Federation. The league winner was crowned the Belgian Champion. The league had been in existence since 1912. The Brussels Royal IHSC were the most decorated team with 23 titles. In 2015, the league merged with the Dutch Eredivisie to form the BeNe League.
The Belgian Hockey League played first in 1912. The play was interrupted several times in its history. The first game suspension happened 1914-1920 due to World War I . The next break was from 1929 to 1934 due to the world economic crisis. The 3rd and last break was in the 1994/95 season, which was cancelled after the regular season due to issues over playoff participation.
In 2009, there were 5 clubs competing in the Elite league for the Belgian Championship.
During the 2010–2011 season, the two top Belgian teams competed in a joint tournament with the teams of the Dutch Eredivisie called the North Sea Cup. The other three teams dropped out of the Belgian elite league to join the Belgian National League, leaving only Herentals and Turnhout to decide the Belgian Championship. [1] Leuven Chiefs played in the North Sea Cup for the 2011–2012 season, but Turnhout dropped out of the league midway through the season and Leuven dropped out at the end of the season.
In 2012, the North Sea Cup was discontinued and HYC Herentals joined the Dutch Eredivisie. For the 2012–2013 season, the teams of the Belgian National League joined Leuven and Turnhout to form the Belgian Elite League, the winner of which becomes the Belgian national champion.
As of 2012–2013, the teams of the Belgian Elite League, plus HYC Herentals, compete for the Belgian Cup, which is played before and during the Elite League season.
Team | City |
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Antwerp Phantoms | Deurne |
Leuven Chiefs | Leuven |
Bulldogs Liège | Liège |
Olympia Heist op den Berg | Heist-op-den-Berg |
Eeklo Yeti Bears | Eeklo |
Haskey Hasselt | Hasselt |
HYC Herentals 2 | Herentals |
White Caps Turnhout | Turnhout |
Charleroi Red Roosters | Charleroi |
Gullegem Jets | Gullegem |
HYC Herentals | Herentals |
Phantoms Deurne | Deurne |
IHC Louvain | Leuven |
White Caps Turnhout | Turnhout |
Olympia Heist op den Berg | Heist-op-den-Berg |
Liège Bulldogs | |
Eeklo Yeti Bears | |
Charleroi Red Roosters | |
Haskey Hasselt | |
Atomic Moose | |
Olympia I.h.c. Vzw | |
Leuven Ihc | |
Herentals Hyc | |
Eindhoven Vikings | |
Turnhout White Caps | |
Gullegem Jets | |
Antwerp Pahntoms | |
Liederkerke Lions |
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Titles | Team | Year |
---|---|---|
23 | Brussels Royal IHSC 1911–1948 Brussels IHSC 1948–1954 Entente Saint-Sauveur 1954–1966 Brussels IHSC 1966–1970 Brussels IHSC Poseidon | 1912, 1913, 1923, 1938, 1940, 1941, 1942, 1943, 1944, 1945, 1947, 1948, 1951, 1962, 1968, 1970, 1971, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1980, 1982 |
15 | HYC Herentals | 1981, 1984, 1985, 1993, 1994, 1997, 1998, 2002, 2009, 2012, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 |
11 | Olympia Heist op den Berg | 1979, 1983, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1999, 2004 |
10 | Cercle des Patineurs Liégeois | 1949, 1955, 1960, 1961, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1972, 1973, 1974 |
5 | Le Puck d'Anvers | 1924, 1925, 1926, 1927, 1928 |
4 | Antwerp Phantoms | 2000, 2001, 2003, 2015 |
4 | Antwerp Ice Hockey Club | 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959 |
4 | Brabo IHC | 1950, 1952, 1953, 1954 |
4 | Cercle des Patineurs Anversoises | 1929, 1934, 1935, 1936 |
4 | White Caps Turnhout | 2006, 2007, 2008, 2011 |
3 | Cercle des Patineurs de Bruxelles | 1914, 1920, 1921 |
3 | Olympia IHC | 1966, 1967, 1969 |
3 | Chiefs Leuven | 2005, 2010, 2013 |
2 | Cercle des Sports d'Hiver de Bruxelles | 1937, 1939 |
1 | Saint Sauveur IHC | 1922 |
1 | Cercle des Patineurs Unis | 1946 |
1 | Griffoens Geel | 1996 |
1 | Bulldogs Liège | 2014 |
The North Sea Cup was a short-lived hockey league that temporarily succeeded the Dutch Eredivisie from 2010-2012. It was the only professional ice hockey league in the Netherlands and the highest level of competition sanctioned by the Nederlandse IJshockey Bond and sanctioned by the Royal Belgian Ice Hockey Federation during the years that it operated.
HYS The Hague is a professional ice hockey club in The Hague, Netherlands. Founded in 1933, the club's top team plays in the Dutch/Belgian BeNe League and competes annually in the Dutch National Championships and the Dutch Cup tournament.
HYC Herentals is a professional ice hockey team based in Herentals, Belgium. They play in the BeNe League and are known, for sponsorship reasons, as ERA Renomar HYC Herentals.
IHC Leuven is a professional ice hockey team in Leuven, Belgium. Leuven plays in the BeNe League, where it competes as the Leuven Chiefs. The team are the current Belgian national ice hockey champions, having won the league playoffs in 2013. It also competes annually for the Belgian Cup.
The White Caps Turnhout were an ice hockey team in Turnhout, Belgium. The White Caps played in the Belgian Hockey League and North Sea Cup. They played their home games in Kempisch Ijsstadion.
The Belgian Cup is the national ice hockey cup in Belgium. It has been competed for since 1986. It is currently competed for by the teams of the Belgian National League hockey league and by the lone Belgian team of the Dutch Eredivisie, HYC Herentals.
The 1995–96 Belgian Hockey League season was the 76th season of the Belgian Hockey League, the top level of ice hockey in Belgium. Eight teams participated in the league, and Griffoens Geel won the championship.
The 1996–97 Belgian Hockey League season was the 77th season of the Belgian Hockey League, the top level of ice hockey in Belgium. Six teams participated in the league, and HYC Herentals won the championship.
The 1997–98 Belgian Hockey League season was the 78th season of the Belgian Hockey League, the top level of ice hockey in Belgium. Eight teams participated in the league, and HYC Herentals won the championship.
The 1999–2000 Belgian Hockey League season was the 80th season of the Belgian Hockey League, the top level of ice hockey in Belgium. Seven teams participated in the league, and Phantoms Deurne won the championship.
The 2001–02 Belgian Hockey League season was the 82nd season of the Belgian Hockey League, the top level of ice hockey in Belgium. Six teams participated in the league, and HYC Herentals won the championship.
The 2002–03 Belgian Hockey League season was the 83rd season of the Belgian Hockey League, the top level of ice hockey in Belgium. Five teams participated in the league, and Phantoms Deurne won the championship.
The 2010–11 Belgian Hockey League season was the 91st season of the Belgian Hockey League, the top level of ice hockey in Belgium. Two teams, HYC Herentals and the White Caps Turnhout, participated in a seven-game series for the championship. The teams also participated in the multi-national North Sea Cup.
The 2010–11 North Sea Cup was the inaugural season of the North Sea Cup, which succeeded the Dutch Eredivisie as the highest level of ice hockey competition in the Netherlands. Two former Belgian Elite Series teams, HYC Herentals and White Caps Turnhout, participated with the six remaining teams of the Dutch Eredivisie after Amstel Tijgers and Groningen Grizzlies dropped out before the season began and the new Zoetermeer Panthers team dropped out at the beginning of the season.
The 2011–12 North Sea Cup was the second and final season of the North Sea Cup, the highest level of ice hockey in the Netherlands and Belgium, before the league reverted to its traditional name, the Eredivisie, and its traditional format.
The Belgian National League was the second level of ice hockey in Belgium. The league was one rank below the Belgian Hockey League, but for the 2012-2013 season it was merged with two teams of the defunct North Sea Cup to become the "Belgian Elite League", which is now Belgium's top level league.
The Eredivisie was, during its existence, the only professional ice hockey league in the Netherlands and the highest level of competition organized by the Nederlandse IJshockey Bond. Formed in 1945 and playing continuously since 1964, the league mainly featured Dutch teams, although in some seasons certain Belgian teams competed. The league featured a mix of Dutch, European and overseas players. The winner of the Eredivisie was crowned the Dutch National Champion and represented the Netherlands in the IIHF Continental Cup. In 2015, with most of its teams facing financial problems and its top team, Tilburg Trappers, joining the German Oberliga, the Eredivise was suspended with the remaining teams joining the BeNe League.
The 2012–13 Eredivisie season was the 53rd season of the Eredivisie ice hockey league, and the first since the disbanding of the North Sea Cup and the reversion to the league's original name. Six Dutch teams and one Belgian team took part in the season.
The 2011–12 Belgian Hockey League season was the 92nd season of the Belgian Hockey League, the top level of ice hockey in Belgium. Three teams participated in the league, and HYC Herentals won the championship.
The BeNe League is the highest-level professional ice hockey league in Belgium and the Netherlands from 2015. The league was founded in 2015, following a merger between the Belgian Hockey League and the Dutch Eredivisie and thus became the top tier of the sport in both nations. In terms of league structure, the BeNe League is made up of 11 teams, 6 from the Netherlands and a further 5 from Belgium, and they all play in a single group. The league featured a mix of Belgian, Dutch, European and overseas players.