 The purpose of the Group and its founding members is to promote cooperation, amicable relations and unity of these Leagues and their member Clubs in a middle of the heavy heated competition between the new launched Russian Ice Hockey League KHL and the North-American NHL.Hockey Europe will furthermore concentrate to help the six founding members and possible new members to promote and improve professional ice hockey competitions in all its aspects and safeguard the general interests of its Members and European ice hockey as a whole.An improvement for Hockey Europe is in the exchange of information and promotion the cooperation and relations of its members with the National Hockey League, USA/Canada (NHL), Kontinental Hockey League, Russia (KHL) and other sports institutions or other professional ice hockey leagues and the clubs, as well as with the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) and its National Member Associations.