2020–21 Champions Hockey League
The 2020–21 Champions Hockey League will be the seventh season of the Champions Hockey League, a European ice hockey tournament. The tournament will be competed by 32 teams, and qualification is on sporting merits only. The six founding leagues are represented by between three and five teams (based on a three-year league ranking), while seven "challenge leagues" are represented by one team each. An additional spot was awared to the 2019–20 IIHF Continental Cup winner. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the group stage is skipped and the season will start with a 32-team play-off in October.[1]
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 6 October 2020 – 9 February 2021 |
| Teams | 32 |
← 2019–20 2021–22 → | |
Team allocation
A total of 32 teams from different European first-tier leagues will participate in the 2020–21 Champions Hockey League. Besides the Continental Cup champions, 24 teams from the six founding leagues, as well as the national champions from Slovakia, Norway, Denmark, France, Belarus, Great Britain and Poland can qualify.
The qualification for these places is set out in the rules as follows:[2]
- CHL champions
- National league champions (play-off winners)
- Regular season winners
- Regular season runners-up
- Regular season third-placed team
- Regular season fourth-placed team
- Regular season fifth-placed team
For the Austrian Hockey League teams are however picked in this order:[2]
- League champions
- Regular season winners
- Pick Round winners
- Pick Round runners-up
- Losing playoff finalists
Note: Great Britain is the lone exception as the EIHL, in line with their traditions, determine their national champion following the regular season (not in the playoffs).[3]
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe, many leagues were forced to cancel their seasons early. Places usually reserved for the playoff champions of those leagues were given to the next best team from the regular season, or in the Austrian Hockey League's case, the next best team from the regular season pick round.[4] In the case of the Elite Ice Hockey League, the team leading the regular season at the time of its cancellation were given its Champions Hockey League place.[5] HC '05 Banská Bystrica qualified for the CHL as Slovak Tipsport liga's regular season champion but had to withdraw due to issues related to the arena. They were replaced by HC Neman Grodno.[6]
Teams
Play-offs
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the group stage is skipped and the season will start with a 32-team play-off in October.[1]
References
- "CHL plans to start the season on 6 October". championshockeyleague.com. 2020-04-28.}
- "Qualification criteria updated for 2019/20". championshockeyleague.com. 19 September 2018. Retrieved 2019-01-24.
- "The CHL Format". championshockeyleague.com. Retrieved 24 January 2019.
- "WHO'S QUALIFIED FOR 2020/21?". championshockeyleague.com. 9 March 2020. Retrieved 10 March 2020.
- "No League Champions in 2019/20 - Devils to enter CHL". Elite Ice Hockey League. Pendulum Management. 26 March 2020. Retrieved 28 March 2020.
- "CHL plans to start the season on 6 October". championshockeyleague.com. 28 April 2020. Retrieved 28 April 2020.
- https://metalligaen.dk/nyheder/metal-liga-saesonen-2019-20-afsluttes-ojeblikkeligt/