The 2012 European Trophy was the third European Trophy, a European ice hockey tournament held annually. It is also the seventh tournament since its predecessor, the Nordic Trophy, was launched in 2006. The regulation round started on 31 July 2012 with the South Division game between Piráti Chomutov–Slovan Bratislava, and will end on 28 November 2012. The playoffs will be played between 13 and 16 December 2012 in Vienna and in Bratislava. The preliminary schedule for the regulation round was released on 12 April 2012.

The 2011 European Trophy was the second European Trophy, a European ice hockey tournament held annually. It was also the sixth tournament since its predecessor, the Nordic Trophy, was launched in 2006. The regulation round began on 11 August 2011 and ended on 6 September 2011. The playoffs, which took place in Austria, were played 16–18 December 2011 in the Eisarena Salzburg in Salzburg, and the Albert Schultz Eishalle in Vienna, at the same time as the 2011 Channel One Cup. The playoff hosts, Red Bull Salzburg, won the playoffs and captured their first championship title in the European Trophy tournament, having lost in the quarterfinals last year.