Champions Hockey League

The Champions Hockey League is a European ice hockey tournament. Launched in the 2014–15 season by 26 clubs, 6 leagues and the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), the tournament features top teams from the first-tier leagues of countries across Europe.

This article is about the current tournament that was launched in 2014. For its 2008–09 predecessor, see Champions Hockey League (2008–09).

Champions Hockey League
Current season, competition or edition:
2020–21 Champions Hockey League
FormerlyEuropean Trophy
Champions Hockey League
SportIce hockey
Founded2013
FounderIIHF
Inaugural season2014–15
CEOMartin Baumann[1]
Claim to fameEICC
No. of teams32
Countries13
Most recent
champion(s)		 Frölunda HC (4th title)
Most titles Frölunda HC (4)
QualificationTop teams in first-tier leagues
TV partner(s)
TV partners
Austria: LAOLA1.tv (online livestream)
Brazil: ESPN[2]
Canada: TSN
Central America: TD Centro
Czech Republic: Sport1
Europe: Eurosport
Finland: MTV
France: L'Equipe Canal+
Germany: Sport1 (TV), LAOLA1.tv and DAZN (online livestream)
Great Britain: Premier Sports and FreeSports[3]
Hungary: Sport1
Mexico: Televisa Deportes Network
Romania: TVR1 HD
Slovakia: Sport1
South America: DirecTV
Sweden: SVT
Switzerland: SRG SSR and Teleclub[4]
Turkey: Sportstv
USA: NHL Network and Univision Deportes Network
Official websiteChampionsHockeyLeague.com

Background

The IIHF launched a tournament with the same name in 2008 to coincide with the IIHF's 100th anniversary. The tournament's only season was played between 8 October 2008 and 28 January 2009, and was won by the ZSC Lions who got to play in the 2009 Victoria Cup game as a result. The IIHF planned to launch another season but was ultimately forced to cancel the tournament due to problems finding sponsors during the concurrent global economic crisis and failure to agree on a tournament format. On 9 December 2013, a new tournament with the same name was launched by a group of 26 clubs from six countries, born out of the European Trophy, starting in the 2014–15 season.[5]

Seasons

Overview
Season Teams Games Avg. att. Champion Runner-up Semi-finalists
2014–15 44 161 3,049 Luleå HF Frölunda HC Oulun Kärpät, Skellefteå AIK
2015–16 48 157 3,261 Frölunda HC Oulun Kärpät HC Davos, Lukko
2016–17 48 157 3,240 Frölunda HC HC Sparta Praha Fribourg-Gottéron, Växjö Lakers
2017–18 32 125 3,369 JYP Växjö Lakers Oceláři Třinec, Bílí Tygři Liberec
2018–19 32 125 3,400 Frölunda HC EHC Red Bull München HC Plzeň, EC Red Bull Salzburg
2019–20 32 125 3,446 Frölunda HC Mountfield HK Djurgårdens IF, Luleå HF

2014–15 season
Main article: 2014–15 Champions Hockey League

The 2014–15 season was played between August 2014 and February 2015. 44 clubs from 12 European countries participated in the season, divided into 11 groups of four teams each. Each team played a double round-robin in their group, for a total of 6 games per team. The 11 group winners as well as the top five group runners-up qualified for the playoffs. The playoffs were as a single-elimination tournament, with all rounds leading to the final played in two-game, home-and-away, total-goal series. The final was a single game. In total, 161 games were played, including the group and playoff stages.[5][6] The season was won by Luleå HF which defeated Frölunda HC in the final.

2015–16 season
Main article: 2015–16 Champions Hockey League

For the 2015–16 season, the tournament was expanded to 48 teams, divided into 16 groups with three teams in each group. The two first teams in each group advanced to the playoff round of 32.[7] The 48 teams consisted of the 26 founding A-licence clubs, 12 B-licensed clubs from the founding leagues, and 10 C-licensed "Wild card" teams from other leagues. In total, 157 games were played. Frölunda HC won their first Champions League title by beating Oulun Kärpät in the final.

2016–17 season
Main article: 2016–17 Champions Hockey League

The 2016–17 season was once more played with 48 teams, using the same format as in the previous season. The season started on 16 August 2016 and ended with the final game on 7 February 2017 with Frölunda defeating Sparta Prague, 4–3 in overtime.[8]

2017–18 season
Main article: 2017–18 Champions Hockey League

Starting with the fourth CHL season, the championship was reduced to 32 teams, and qualification was on sporting merits only. The six founding leagues were represented by between three and five teams (based on a three-year league ranking), while eight teams from the "challenge leagues" were represented by one team each. No founding team was qualified automatically.[9]

Finnish side JYP Jyväskylä won the title defeating Swedish team Växjö Lakers 2–0.

2018–19 season
Main article: 2018–19 Champions Hockey League

The fifth CHL season was competed by 32 teams, and qualification was on sporting merits only. The six founding leagues were represented by between three and five teams (based on a four-year league ranking), while seven "challenge leagues" were represented by one team each. One place was awarded to the Continental Cup champion. Unlike in the first three editions, founding teams did not automatically qualify. The group stages began on 30 August 2018, and ended on 17 October 2018. The season had an average attendance of 3,401 per game, one percent increase from the previous season.

Swedish team Frölunda HC won their third Champions Hockey League title, defeating Red Bull München, the first German team to reach the final, 3–1 at the Scandinavium in Gothenburg.

2019–20 season
Main article: 2019–20 Champions Hockey League

The sixth CHL season had 32 teams competing, and qualification was again on sporting merits only. The six founding leagues were represented by between three and five teams (based on a three-year league ranking), while seven "challenge leagues" were represented by one team each. One place was awarded to the champion of the 2018–19 Champions Hockey League as well as a wild card spot selected by the board.

Swedish team Frölunda HC successfully defended their Champions Hockey League title, defeating Czech team Mountfield HK 3–1 in the final to win the European Trophy for a fourth time. For the first time in the history of the league, the final was held in the Czech Republic as Mountfield HK earned the right to host the game at ČPP Arena.

2020–21 season
Main article: 2020–21 Champions Hockey League

Teams

Since the 2017–18 season, 32 teams again participate in the group stage, with 24 of the entries coming from the six founding leagues (Swedish Hockey League, Finnish Liiga, Swiss National League A, Czech Extraliga, German DEL and Austrian/international EBEL) and all berths being earned through on-ice achievement: the "founding clubs" are no longer guaranteed a place in the competition. A maximum of five teams from each country are permitted, with the entries allotted to each country according to a coefficient system (best two leagues get five berths, next two get four, last two get three). The remaining eight places are given to the champions of the Norwegian, Slovakian, French, Belarusian, Danish, British and Polish leagues, as well as the champion of the Continental Cup. The teams are then be drawn into eight groups of four, with the top two teams in each group advancing to the knockout stage, which is contested as two-legged ties until a one-match final.[9]

In the first three years of the competition, the 26 founding teams had guaranteed spots in the group stage ("A license"). Additional teams from the founding league, that qualified based on sporting merits ("B license") and the champions from other European leagues ("C license") completed the field.

League ranking
RankLeaguePoints 2014–15 (25%)Points 2015–16 (50%)Points 2016–17 (75%)Points 2017–18 (100%)Total pointsBerths for 2018–19
1 SHLF100 (25)100 (50)95 (71)1002465
2 LiigaF95 (24)95 (48)90 (68)852255TH
3 ELHF80 (20)85 (43)85 (64)952224
4 NLAF85 (21)80 (40)100 (75)802164
5 DELF65 (16)75 (38)75 (56)902003
6 EBELF90 (23)65 (43)65 (49)751803
7 Tipsport Liga75(19)70 (35)70 (53)601671
8 BXL—65 (33)80 (60)701632CC
9 GET-ligaen70 (18)90 (45)50 (38)551561
10 EIHL55 (14)45 (23)60 (45)651471
11 Metal Ligaen60 (15)65 (33)60 (45)501431
12 Ligue Magnus50 (13)65 (33)45 (34)501301
13 Polska Hokej Liga——40 (30)50801

F founding leagues
TH as JYP Jyväskylä qualified as titleholder, four best teams from Liiga, beside JYP Jyväskylä, will qualify as maximum number of teams from one league is five
CC Yunost Minsk of BXL qualified as 2017–18 IIHF Continental Cup champion so BXL will have two berths (other being the regular season champion)

League ranking points calculation

Each match is counted for league ranking points. Points collected by all teams from a specific league are summed up and then divided by number of teams from that league. The final result represents the league's coefficient for that year. Coefficients are then sorted from highest to lowest: the best league gets 100 points with each following getting five points less than previous one (95, 90, 85...).

Points are awarded as follows:

  • win in regulation time – 3 points (group stage, playoffs)
  • win in overtime – 2 points (group stage only; no overtime in playoffs)
  • tie in regulation time – 1 point (playoffs only)
  • loss in overtime – 1 point (group stage only)
  • loss in regulation time – 0 points (group stage, playoffs)

Additionally, each team is awarded 1 point for reaching each of next rounds.

The last four seasons are taken into account for berth allocation for the 2018–19 season. League points are made of 25% of points won in first season, 50% of points won in second season, 75% of points won in third season and 100% of points won in last, fourth season.

For the 2018–19 season, each of the four previous seasons was taken into account and starting with 2019–20 season each will be based on points from last five seasons.

Prize money

In the 2014–15 season, 40 teams competed for a grand total of 1.5 million euros.[6]

European Trophy

The winner of the Competition receives the "European Trophy".[10]

Records and statistics

Winners
Performance by club
Club Winners Runners-up Semi-finalists Years won
Frölunda HC 4 1 0 2015–16, 2016–17, 2018–19, 2019–20
Luleå HF 1 0 1 2014–15
JYP 1 0 0 2017–18
Oulun Kärpät 0 1 1
Växjö Lakers 0 1 1
HC Sparta Praha 0 1 0
EHC Red Bull München 0 1 0
Mountfield HK 0 1 0
Skellefteå AIK 0 0 1
HC Davos 0 0 1
Lukko 0 0 1
Fribourg-Gottéron 0 0 1
Bílí Tygři Liberec 0 0 1
Oceláři Třinec 0 0 1
HC Plzeň 0 0 1
EC Red Bull Salzburg 0 0 1
Djurgårdens IF 0 0 1

By nation
Performance by nation
Nation Winners Runners-up Out in SF Out in QF Out in R16
 Sweden 5 2 4 7 7
 Finland 1 1 2 6 11
 Czech Republic 0 2 3 3 6
 Germany 0 1 0 1 6
  Switzerland 0 0 2 7 9
 Austria 0 0 1 0 3
 Norway 0 0 0 0 2
 Belarus 0 0 0 0 1
 France 0 0 0 0 1
 Italy 0 0 0 0 1
 United Kingdom 0 0 0 0 1
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See also
  • European Trophy, a similar tournament played annually from 2006, disbanded after 2013. European Trophy is the precursor to Champions Hockey League. The names of all four recent European Trophy winners are engraved in the Trophy.[11]

References
  1. "Staff". Champions Hockey League. Archived from the original on 1 July 2014.
  2. "Semi-final referees and TV listings: Brazil among countries to watch CHL!". Champions Hockey League. Archived from the original on 13 February 2015.
  3. "FreeSports Ice Hockey". Twitter. 29 August 2017. Archived from the original on 9 May 2018. Retrieved 30 August 2017.
  4. "SRG and Teleclub gain exclusive CHL broadcasting rights in Switzerland". Champions Hockey League. Archived from the original on 18 October 2014.
  5. "New era dawns for Europe". International Ice Hockey Federation. Archived from the original on 17 December 2013.
  6. "Ready for takeoff". International Ice Hockey Federation. 27 February 2014. Archived from the original on 7 September 2014.
  7. "CHL to play with 48 teams in 2015–16". Champions Hockey League. 4 December 2014. Archived from the original on 9 December 2014. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
  8. Gustav Orbring (7 February 2017). "Frölunda försvarade CHL-titeln" (in Swedish). SVT Sport. Archived from the original on 8 February 2017. Retrieved 7 February 2017.
  9. "New CHL format for 2017–18! 32 teams & on-ice qualification only". championshockeyleague.net. 14 June 2016. Archived from the original on 30 November 2016.
  10. O'Brien, Derek (28 January 2015). "Make way, the European Trophy is here!". Champions Hockey League. Archived from the original on 7 February 2018. Retrieved 24 April 2017.
  11. "Champions Hockey League opens in August 2014". Archived from the original on 19 December 2013. Retrieved 23 December 2013.
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