For the third time in 12 years, the Continental Cup has been won by Yunost Minsk of Belarus. This time, they did it on their home ice at Chizhovka Arena, sweeping Ritten Sport of Italy, the Sheffield Steelers of Great Britain and Nomad Astana of Kazakhstan in the final tournament.

As a result, they are the first team to qualify for the 2018/19 Champions Hockey League season.

After winning their first two games by close scores of 2-1 and 5-4, it came down to the last game of the tournament between the hosts and Nomad to decide the winners. Before an electric home crowd of more than 7000, Yunost built up leads of 2-0 and 4-1 after the first two periods, then cruised to a 5-2 victory.

Yunost are seven-time champions of the Belarusian Extraliga. After winning their domestic title in 2015/16, they participated in the Champions Hockey League the following season and performed well – finishing second in a group that included the Växjö Lakers of Sweden and BK Mladá Boleslav in the Czech Republic. They then won the opening leg of the Round of 32 on home ice, defeating the Frölunda Indians 3-2 before falling to the eventual champs in the return game in Gothenburg.

In addition to Yunost, the eventual champions of this season's Belarusian Extraliga will also be invited to participate in the next CHL season. In three seasons, Belarusian clubs have provided stiff competition against clubs from some of Europe's top leagues in the CHL.