Canada Cup (floorball)
Encyclopedia
The Canada Cup Floorball Championship, more commonly referred to as The Canada Cup, is an international floorball
club open
competition held annually during the Victoria Day
long weekend in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
First held in 2004, the competition is a multi-division open
, with 8 divisions for multiple age-groups and skill levels. The tournament was the first of its kind in North America and is the biggest floorball competition outside of Europe. It attracts over 55 floorball clubs from worldwide, every year.
The 2010
edition of the event was held at York University
from May 21 to 23. The 2011 event will be held from May 20 to 22 at York University.
. The tournament was a success, drawing 6 teams to the University of Toronto
from Canada and the United States. It had only one division, and was won by NYC Floorball, who defeated Boston Puukädet for the first-ever Canada Cup crown.
The 2005 tournament saw the competition double in size to 12 teams. Once again, it was held at the same venue, and saw almost the same result, only this time Montréal United was the runner-up to NYC Floorball, which captured their second Canada Cup Championship. To date, they are the only team to capture two elite division titles.
clubs Hand of Doom and M-Team playing, as well as Swedish
club Oppeby SK. To date, the Hand of Doom club is considered the strongest team ever to play at the Canada Cup, as they regularly play in the 2nd division of the Salibandyliiga
.
As well, the tournament added both an intermediate and youth division to accommodate the record 24 teams that were taking part. In addition to that, the tournament became the first North American competition to have two venues running simultaneously, as matches took place at both Humber College
and the Ultimate Sports Centre.
Another initiative seen at the tournament was its partnership with the Czech Open, which saw it cross-promote the two events and attract more teams. In the end, Hand of Doom, the Philadelphia Stormers, and the Jericho Jets emerged as champions in their respective divisions.
team partake in the tournament (UHC Lenzburg), as well as the emergence of leveled youth divisions, with an Atom/Peewee division and a Bantam/Midget division. Another venue was added for this competition, which also saw matches at Central Etobicoke Collegiate.
The competition also saw its first televised match, which is also the first floorball match shown on Canadian television. The elite division final was watched by South Ontario residents, who could view the match on Rogers TV. To add to all of these achievements, the tournament also housed the first matches between the Canadian and the United States' national floorball teams. The two-game series was won by the Canadians, who handily outscored their opponents by an aggregate score of 22:2.
In the end, the first Canadian team to capture the elite division at the Canada Cup came in the form of Montréal United, who defeated Innebandy Chicago 8:4.
. Another Montréal
based team won the elite division, with Red Phoenix capturing the crown this time.
An attempt was made to implement a midget youth division for the 2008 tournament, but the idea was scrapped due to a lack of interest.
More was seen at the 2009
event, with another record 49 teams registering to play. It marked the first time that the tournament would now be contested during its new dates, those being during the Victoria Day
long weekend, rather than the Easter long weekend.
As well, a high school division was added, and four International Floorball Federation
(IFF) referees officiated at the tournament, helping bring international standard officiating to the Canada Cup for the first time.
The tournament saw California's X-Stream IBK capture the elite crown, with a victory over the Czech Republic
's TJ Sokol Jaroměř.
In addition to this, the tournament saw another first, with Source for Sports being the competition's first headline sponsor.
edition of the event was be held at York University
from May 21 to 23.
This 7th edition featured a record 57 teams. In the end, the Salming Vikings captured the elite division title, and the first youth clubs from abroad captured respective division championships as well, as Sweden
's Skogsäng Cobras captured the high school title and Salem Panthers IF won the bantam division.
The tournament also saw the first clubs win multiple divisions. The Mississauga Red Devils captured both the recreational and atom/peewee crowns, and came close to capturing the bantam division with an impressive second place finish. Although they participated under different names, the two Swedish teams belonged to the same club, capturing both the high school and bantam titles.
Source for Sports also returned as the tournament's headline sponsor, and 4 Finnish
referees from the Salibandyliiga
and the IFF
were also hand to officiate matches.
once again, during the Victoria Day
long weekend from May 20 to 22.
The tournament will see the atom/peewee division split into two, becoming simply the atom and peewee divisions, and raising the total amount of divisions to 8.
All other rules and sanctions are determined using IFF
rules and a tournament jury.
Manitoba has won 2 of the 3 ladies divisions contested so far, and the same story is seen in the recreational division, where Cambridge FC has also done just the same.
A youth division was introduced in 2006, and in 2007, was split into two age groups that would correspond to the categories of Bantam/Midget and Atom/Peewee.
2008 saw the institution of the Bantam division, but an attempt made at creating a Midget division was scraped due to a lack of interest. 2009
saw the first High School division take place, and 2011 will see the Atom/Peewee division split in two, to become the Atom and Peewee divisions.
Floorball
Floorball, a type of floor hockey, is an indoor team sport which was developed in the 1970s in Sweden. Floorball is most popular in areas where the sport has developed the longest, such as the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland. The game is played...
club open
Open (sport)
An Open in sports terminology refers to a sporting event or game tournament that is open to all people, regardless of their age, ability, gender, or other categorization. Opens are usually found in golf, tennis, quizbowl, snooker, darts, volleyball, ultimate, squash and chess....
competition held annually during the Victoria Day
Victoria Day
Victoria Day is a federal Canadian public holiday celebrated on the last Monday before May 25, in honour of Queen Victoria's birthday. The date is also, simultaneously, that on which the current reigning Canadian sovereign's official birthday is recognized...
long weekend in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
First held in 2004, the competition is a multi-division open
Open (sport)
An Open in sports terminology refers to a sporting event or game tournament that is open to all people, regardless of their age, ability, gender, or other categorization. Opens are usually found in golf, tennis, quizbowl, snooker, darts, volleyball, ultimate, squash and chess....
, with 8 divisions for multiple age-groups and skill levels. The tournament was the first of its kind in North America and is the biggest floorball competition outside of Europe. It attracts over 55 floorball clubs from worldwide, every year.
The 2010
2010 Canada Cup (floorball)
The 2010 Canada Cup Floorball Championship was the seventh such championship contested in the tournament's history. The tournament took place from May 21 to May 23, 2010 at York University in Toronto, Ontario, Canada....
edition of the event was held at York University
York University
York University is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's third-largest university, Ontario's second-largest graduate school, and Canada's leading interdisciplinary university....
from May 21 to 23. The 2011 event will be held from May 20 to 22 at York University.
2004/2005 Canada Cup
In 2004, the Canada Cup was founded by Juha Mikkola, son of world champion rally driver Hannu MikkolaHannu Mikkola
Hannu Olavi Mikkola is a retired world champion rally driver. He was a seven time winner of the 1000 Lakes Rally in Finland and won the RAC Rally in Great Britain four times.- Career :...
. The tournament was a success, drawing 6 teams to the University of Toronto
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...
from Canada and the United States. It had only one division, and was won by NYC Floorball, who defeated Boston Puukädet for the first-ever Canada Cup crown.
The 2005 tournament saw the competition double in size to 12 teams. Once again, it was held at the same venue, and saw almost the same result, only this time Montréal United was the runner-up to NYC Floorball, which captured their second Canada Cup Championship. To date, they are the only team to capture two elite division titles.
2006 Canada Cup
More firsts were seen in the 2006 championship, where "European floorball" was seen for the first time. The tournament had its first international teams (outside of North America) compete in the tournament, with FinnishFinland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
clubs Hand of Doom and M-Team playing, as well as Swedish
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
club Oppeby SK. To date, the Hand of Doom club is considered the strongest team ever to play at the Canada Cup, as they regularly play in the 2nd division of the Salibandyliiga
Salibandyliiga
The Salibandyliiga is the top floorball league in the country of Finland. There are men's and women's divisions, and the winner at the end of each season is presented with a national championship. The league was founded in 1986, but has only been referred to as the salibandyliiga since 1994...
.
As well, the tournament added both an intermediate and youth division to accommodate the record 24 teams that were taking part. In addition to that, the tournament became the first North American competition to have two venues running simultaneously, as matches took place at both Humber College
Humber College
Humber College Institute of Technology & Advanced Learning is a polytechnic college in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Humber offers more than 150 programs including: bachelor’s degree, diploma, certificate, post-graduate certificate and apprenticeship programs, across 40 fields of study. Humber serves...
and the Ultimate Sports Centre.
Another initiative seen at the tournament was its partnership with the Czech Open, which saw it cross-promote the two events and attract more teams. In the end, Hand of Doom, the Philadelphia Stormers, and the Jericho Jets emerged as champions in their respective divisions.
2007 Canada Cup
2007 was another year of records, which saw its first SwissSwitzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
team partake in the tournament (UHC Lenzburg), as well as the emergence of leveled youth divisions, with an Atom/Peewee division and a Bantam/Midget division. Another venue was added for this competition, which also saw matches at Central Etobicoke Collegiate.
The competition also saw its first televised match, which is also the first floorball match shown on Canadian television. The elite division final was watched by South Ontario residents, who could view the match on Rogers TV. To add to all of these achievements, the tournament also housed the first matches between the Canadian and the United States' national floorball teams. The two-game series was won by the Canadians, who handily outscored their opponents by an aggregate score of 22:2.
In the end, the first Canadian team to capture the elite division at the Canada Cup came in the form of Montréal United, who defeated Innebandy Chicago 8:4.
2008/2009 Canada Cup
A record 39 clubs registered for the 5th edition of the event, which most notably saw the addition of a ladies division and one central venue with several courts, at York UniversityYork University
York University is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's third-largest university, Ontario's second-largest graduate school, and Canada's leading interdisciplinary university....
. Another Montréal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
based team won the elite division, with Red Phoenix capturing the crown this time.
An attempt was made to implement a midget youth division for the 2008 tournament, but the idea was scrapped due to a lack of interest.
More was seen at the 2009
2009 Canada Cup (floorball)
The 2009 Canada Cup Floorball Championship was the sixth such championship contested in the tournament's history. The tournament took place over 15 to 17 May 2009 at York University in Toronto, Ontario, Canada....
event, with another record 49 teams registering to play. It marked the first time that the tournament would now be contested during its new dates, those being during the Victoria Day
Victoria Day
Victoria Day is a federal Canadian public holiday celebrated on the last Monday before May 25, in honour of Queen Victoria's birthday. The date is also, simultaneously, that on which the current reigning Canadian sovereign's official birthday is recognized...
long weekend, rather than the Easter long weekend.
As well, a high school division was added, and four International Floorball Federation
International Floorball Federation
The International Floorball Federation is the worldwide governing body for the sport of floorball. It was founded in 1986 in Huskvarna, Sweden, by the national floorball associations of Finland, Sweden and Switzerland. As of March 2011, it had 52 member associations, with 3,983 clubs and 277,752...
(IFF) referees officiated at the tournament, helping bring international standard officiating to the Canada Cup for the first time.
The tournament saw California's X-Stream IBK capture the elite crown, with a victory over the Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
's TJ Sokol Jaroměř.
In addition to this, the tournament saw another first, with Source for Sports being the competition's first headline sponsor.
2010 Canada Cup
The 20102010 Canada Cup (floorball)
The 2010 Canada Cup Floorball Championship was the seventh such championship contested in the tournament's history. The tournament took place from May 21 to May 23, 2010 at York University in Toronto, Ontario, Canada....
edition of the event was be held at York University
York University
York University is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's third-largest university, Ontario's second-largest graduate school, and Canada's leading interdisciplinary university....
from May 21 to 23.
This 7th edition featured a record 57 teams. In the end, the Salming Vikings captured the elite division title, and the first youth clubs from abroad captured respective division championships as well, as Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
's Skogsäng Cobras captured the high school title and Salem Panthers IF won the bantam division.
The tournament also saw the first clubs win multiple divisions. The Mississauga Red Devils captured both the recreational and atom/peewee crowns, and came close to capturing the bantam division with an impressive second place finish. Although they participated under different names, the two Swedish teams belonged to the same club, capturing both the high school and bantam titles.
Source for Sports also returned as the tournament's headline sponsor, and 4 Finnish
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
referees from the Salibandyliiga
Salibandyliiga
The Salibandyliiga is the top floorball league in the country of Finland. There are men's and women's divisions, and the winner at the end of each season is presented with a national championship. The league was founded in 1986, but has only been referred to as the salibandyliiga since 1994...
and the IFF
International Floorball Federation
The International Floorball Federation is the worldwide governing body for the sport of floorball. It was founded in 1986 in Huskvarna, Sweden, by the national floorball associations of Finland, Sweden and Switzerland. As of March 2011, it had 52 member associations, with 3,983 clubs and 277,752...
were also hand to officiate matches.
2011 Canada Cup
Although the 2011 tournament has not yet been announced, it is believed to be taking place at York UniversityYork University
York University is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's third-largest university, Ontario's second-largest graduate school, and Canada's leading interdisciplinary university....
once again, during the Victoria Day
Victoria Day
Victoria Day is a federal Canadian public holiday celebrated on the last Monday before May 25, in honour of Queen Victoria's birthday. The date is also, simultaneously, that on which the current reigning Canadian sovereign's official birthday is recognized...
long weekend from May 20 to 22.
The tournament will see the atom/peewee division split into two, becoming simply the atom and peewee divisions, and raising the total amount of divisions to 8.
Format
The Canada Cup follows certain rules and policies to ensure fair gameplay during the tournament. All matches are played on regulation size floorball courts, measuring at least 18 metres in length and 36 in width.Gameplay
All matches, other than the elite division final, are played as two 15 minute periods with a 3 minute intermission in between and no timeouts. The elite division final, due to televised specifications, is played as three 20 minute periods with 10 minute intermissions and one 30 second timeout.All other rules and sanctions are determined using IFF
International Floorball Federation
The International Floorball Federation is the worldwide governing body for the sport of floorball. It was founded in 1986 in Huskvarna, Sweden, by the national floorball associations of Finland, Sweden and Switzerland. As of March 2011, it had 52 member associations, with 3,983 clubs and 277,752...
rules and a tournament jury.
Divisions
In order to provide level gameplay for all, teams play in divisions that promote certain levels of skill.Elite
The elite division, which has been contested from the tournament's inception, sees the best teams from around the world play at a high level of floorball. NYC Floorball is the most successful team in the elite division, being the only team to ever capture two titles.Intermediate
Contested since 2006, the intermediate division provides teams with a very competitive environment for matches without as much intensity as the elite division.Ladies & Recreational
Both introduced in 2008, the ladies and recreational divisions give the opportunity for women to play at a competitive level and to allow teams to participate in a much less intense playing environment.Manitoba has won 2 of the 3 ladies divisions contested so far, and the same story is seen in the recreational division, where Cambridge FC has also done just the same.
Youth
The Canada Cup has also allowed the opportunity for youth teams to participate across 4 divisions: High School, Bantam, and Atom, and Peewee.A youth division was introduced in 2006, and in 2007, was split into two age groups that would correspond to the categories of Bantam/Midget and Atom/Peewee.
2008 saw the institution of the Bantam division, but an attempt made at creating a Midget division was scraped due to a lack of interest. 2009
2009 Canada Cup (floorball)
The 2009 Canada Cup Floorball Championship was the sixth such championship contested in the tournament's history. The tournament took place over 15 to 17 May 2009 at York University in Toronto, Ontario, Canada....
saw the first High School division take place, and 2011 will see the Atom/Peewee division split in two, to become the Atom and Peewee divisions.