When the team in Neumarkt was informed in the spring of 2005 that the Frankfurt Lions might want to come to South Tyrol to play a friendly game against HC Neumarkt, the club's closest employees wrinkled their noses with a grin and were by no means aware of the implications this initiative would have for the near future. The initial proposal of a friendly get-together, put forward by the Krombacher brewery as joint sponsor of the Frankfurt Lions and HC Neumarkt, was transformed within a few weeks into a much more demanding training camp in terms of organization. The highlight of the then six-day training camp was the friendly match between the Hessian "Lions" and the South Tyrolean "Wild Geese", which the 2004 German champions won 6-1. Ice hockey on August 11th: this was not usual for South Tyrol and yet over 1300 enthusiastic and curious ice hockey fans did not let the summer heat stop them from storming into the Meranarena and admiring players such as Pat Lebeau, Jason Young, Dwayne Norris and Ian Gordon up close. The South Tyrolean team at the time, which consisted mainly of players from HC Neumarkt but was also strengthened by some of the best South Tyrolean players and led by coach Adolf Insam, put up a more than valiant fight.

It was well known that in South Tyrol, as in many other places, novelty and curiosity always go down well. However, it was also known that it would not be easy to repeat an event without a real boost, which is why those responsible at HC Neumarkt and the Frankfurt Lions discussed possible solutions before the end of the training camp. A four-team tournament was considered and the aim was to organize it in the following winter months. In the spring of 2006, the team worked hard to organize an international ice hockey tournament. In addition to the Frankfurt Lions, who had found a real paradise for their summer training camp, the Augsburg Panthers and HC Servette Geneva were also invited to the event. The fourth team to compete was once again a South Tyrolean selection team under the name of the organizer, HC Neumarkt Krombacher. While the semi-final matches between Frankfurt-Neumarkt (5-1) and Geneva-Augsburg (5-4) confirmed the initial predictions, the final match between the Lions and Geneva was an open exchange of blows. In the end, the DEL team prevailed 6-3 to win the first Dolomites Cup. In the following years, the tournament took place in Merano, Vipiteno, Selva, Brunico and even one game in Kitzbühel.

Even back then, the Neumarkt organizing committee always kept its eye on the goal of bringing the Dolomites Cup to the South Tyrolean lowlands sooner or later, where the new, covered home of the Neumarkt "Wild Geese" was to be built in 2010. In 2011, the time had finally come. The Dolomitencup came home to Neumarkt in the new Würtharena. The tournament became increasingly popular with spectators, media and players and can be considered a fixture in Italy's sporting event calendar. A number of teams from the DEL, the National League A, the Czech Extraliga, the Norwegian elite league GET Ligaen and the EBEL have now taken part in the tournament. The Dolomitencup is one of the most important tournaments in the Alpine region in August. The many spectators and journalists from the participating countries are proof of this.