Eastern Europe’s Most Competitive Hockey Teams

One of the sporting world’s most vastly developing and highly engrossing outings, in terms of sheer popularity, has remained in the region of ice hockey due to its involvement with aspiring athletes from all corners of the globe that have expressed their intrigue in competing at the various professional levels available for all ice hockey enthusiasts.

When labelling the most prestigious and respected hockey teams, many fans of the popular sport will be quick to name some of the many renowned NHL franchises such as the Montreal Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs or Detroit Red Wings among others, yet there is still a considerable amount of ice hockey talent that is present from other nations across the world.

One of the most prominently featured regions for all ice hockey related outings may often reside in Eastern Europe as well as other Northern destinations due to their suitable climate and wider array of present international talent that often scour out a career in the sport.

There are many available sources that are presented for fans to become further attributed to the European hockey scene, as well as other sites that allow fans to catchup with all the latest sports betting odds for their favorite teams and individual players.

For any fans looking to scour out all the top projected teams from various Eastern European based hockey leagues, these are amongst the top five ranked sides from a variety of popular destinations:

• Växjö Lakers – SHL:

The Swedish hockey circuit has produced its fair share of outlasting talents and renowned teams over the years with the likes of the Frolunda Indians, Rogle BK and Lulea HF all being some of the most notable selections.

However, the 2022/23 campaign has once again been solely dominated by the former three-time champions Växjö Lakers who have already booked their spot in the finals of the SHL playoffs, giving them the perfect opportunity to lift their fourth Le Mat trophy in the past eight years.

Led by team captain Erik Josefsson and former professional hockey player Jorgen Jonsson at the helm as head coach, the Lakers are already emerging as one of the European scene’s most patterned clubs in recent years and are certainly one of the respected organizations in the sport today.

• HC Ocelari Trinec – Extraliga:

Alongside soccer, hockey is arguably the most popular sport within the Czech Republic, with the nation’s league now often producing a number of teams that so often mount a significant challenge towards the league’s title and other highly prestigious honors.

Arguably the best and most well-established team during the past few seasons has been the Ocelari Trinec who have once again earned a spot in the Czech league’s finals for the third year in a row after their season winnings in 2020/21 and 2021/22, as well as other notable years of success back in the 2010/11 and 2018/19 seasons.

• Tampereen Tappara – Liiga:

The past decade has ranked amongst the most successful in the impressive history of the Tampereen Tappara organization as the side has won three SM-Liiga Kanada-Malja as well as being crowned as the International Champions of the Hockey League, alongside other impressive showings.

The Finnish club has also earned another trip to the Liiga postseason finals and will be aiming to claim their twelfth championship in team history after previously winning their 11^th championship title last season, with the Scandinavian side now possessing an array of sheer star power that could elevate the team to even greater years of success for the foreseeable future.

• EV Zug – National League:

It has been a rather inconsistent campaign for the Swiss giants, yet there remains a sheer amount of optimism surrounding their contender status as one of the European hockey circuit’s most successful teams over the past few seasons.

Zug has won two NL Championships in both 2021 and 2022, with the side crashing out of this season’s race for the potential three-peat with a 4-1 series defeat to the one seeded Servette, as well as their recent semi-finals loss to the aforementioned eventual winners Tappara in the Champions Hockey League, meaning that this team is still a highly regarded contender as one of the top teams to watch in all of Europe and as a viable threat to challenge for a championship trophy every year.

• AK Bars Kazan – KHL:

While the Russian hockey league championship has yet to be decided, many of the nation’s top hockey fanatics will be quick to claim that the AK Bars will be the quintessential favorites to win the title this year, in what would be their sixth championship success since 2018.

The club has also enjoyed various other prior domestic and international successful years and will be hoping that further championship glory could soon follow after a productive 2022/23 season that may result in the Russian side reclaiming their grip on the KHL title race.