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Champions Hockey League

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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:
Current sports event 2024–25 Champions Hockey League
FormerlyEuropean Trophy
Champions Hockey League
SportIce hockey
Founded2013
FounderIIHF
First season2014–15
CEOJörgen Lindgren[1]
Claim to fameEICC
No. of teams24
Countries13
ContinentEurope
Most recent
champion(s)		Switzerland Genève-Servette HC (1st title)
(2023–24)
Most titlesSweden Frölunda HC (4 titles)
TV partner(s)
Related
competitions		IIHF Continental Cup
Official websitechampionshockeyleague.com

The Champions Hockey League is a European first-level 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 across Europe.

Background

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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 the IIHF and a group of 26 clubs from six countries, born out of the European Trophy, starting in the 2014–15 season.[5]

Seasons

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A CHL match in O2 Arena (Sparta Praha vs. Färjestad BK)
CHL trophy (2024)

Overview

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# Season Teams Games Avg. att. Champion Runner-up Semi-finalists
1 2014–15 44 161 3,049 Sweden Luleå HF Sweden Frölunda HC Finland Oulun Kärpät, Sweden Skellefteå AIK
2 2015–16 48 157 3,261 Sweden Frölunda HC Finland Oulun Kärpät Switzerland HC Davos, Finland Lukko
3 2016–17 48 157 3,240 Sweden Frölunda HC Czech Republic HC Sparta Praha Switzerland HC Fribourg-Gottéron, Sweden Växjö Lakers
4 2017–18 32 125 3,369 Finland JYP Sweden Växjö Lakers Czech Republic HC Oceláři Třinec, Czech Republic HC Bílí Tygři Liberec
5 2018–19 32 125 3,400 Sweden Frölunda HC Germany EHC Red Bull München Czech Republic HC Plzeň, Austria EC Red Bull Salzburg
6 2019–20 32 125 3,446 Sweden Frölunda HC Czech Republic Mountfield HK Sweden Djurgårdens IF, Sweden Luleå HF
— 2020–21 Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
7 2021–22 32 123 1,988[a] Sweden Rögle BK Finland Tappara Sweden Frölunda HC, Germany EHC Red Bull München
8 2022–23 32 125 2,841 Finland Tappara Sweden Luleå HF Switzerland EV Zug, Sweden Frölunda HC
9 2023–24 24 101 3,475 Switzerland Genève-Servette HC Sweden Skellefteå AIK Finland Lukko, Czech Republic Vítkovice Ridera
10 2024–25 24 101 4,072[b] Switzerland Genève-Servette HC, Czech Republic Sparta Praha

Note:

  • a Some matches had capacity restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • b Attendance so far without the Final, which will be played on 18 February 2025.

2014–15 season

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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Main article: 2020–21 Champions Hockey League

The season was cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic in Europe.[10]

2021–22 season

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Main article: 2021–22 Champions Hockey League

The seventh CHL season had 32 teams competing with qualification being 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 their national champions. One place was awarded to the champion of the 2019–20 Champions Hockey League as well as two wild card spots selected by the board to replace the national champions of Belarus and Slovakia. The season was marked by participation of the first Ukrainian team, HC Donbass.

Swedish team Rögle BK in their debut season beat Finnish team Tappara 2–1 in the final at their home Catena Arena in Ängelholm to win the European Trophy for the first time.

2022–23 season

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Main article: 2022–23 Champions Hockey League

The eighth CHL season had 32 teams competing with qualification being 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 their national champions. One place each was awarded to the champions of the 2021–22 Champions Hockey League and 2021–22 Continental Cup, as well as one wild card spot selected by the board to replace the Ukrainian champion HC Donbass. This season was marked by the participation of the first Hungarian and Slovenian teams, with Fehérvár AV19 and Olimpija Ljubljana joining the competition.

Finnish team Tappara defeated Swedish team Luleå HF 3–2 in the final at Coop Norrbotten Arena in Luleå to win the European Trophy for the first time.

2023–24 season

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Main article: 2023–24 Champions Hockey League

For the ninth CHL season the format was changed. The tournament was reduced to 24 teams, with qualification being on sporting merits only. Apart from the reigning champion, the six founding leagues were represented by three teams each, while five "challenger leagues" were represented by one team each. The group stage was replaced with the regular season in which teams played six games each, with the teams being ranked in overall standings and 16 best-ranked teams advancing to the playoffs. For the first time since the 2015–16 season, the IIHF Continental Cup winners did not get a wild card spot.

Swiss team Genève-Servette HC won their first Champions Hockey League title, defeating Swedish team Skellefteå AIK 3–2 in the final. This made Genève-Servette HC the first Swiss and also the first non-nordic club to win the title. This season also saw the highest attendance of any CHL season to date, finally continuing the upward trend that the competition was on before the COVID-19 pandemic.[11]

Teams and format

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class=notpageimage|
Teams of the 2024–25 Champions Hockey League season

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.

Starting in the 2017–18 season, 32 teams again participated 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 ICEHL) and all berths being earned through on-ice achievement: the "founding clubs" were no longer guaranteed a place in the competition. A maximum of five teams from each country were permitted, with the entries allotted to each country according to a coefficient system (best two leagues got five berths, next two got four, last two got three). The remaining eight places were given to the champions of the Norwegian, Slovak, French, Belarusian, Danish, British and Polish leagues, as well as the champion of the Continental Cup. The teams were then drawn into eight groups of four, with the top two teams in each group advancing to the knockout stage, which was contested as two-legged ties until a one-match final.[9]

The current competition format was introduced for the 2023–24 season. The number of teams was reduced to 24, allocated as follows:[12]

The group stage was replaced with the regular season in which teams played six games each, with the teams being ranked in overall standings. The 16 best-ranked teams advance to the playoff, where they are seeded according to the overall regular season standings. Play-off series are played over two games (home and away) with aggregate scoring. The final is one game played at the home stadium of the team with the overall best record.[12]

Records and statistics

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Winners

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Performance by club
Club Winners Runners-up Win% Years won
Sweden Frölunda HC 4 1 .800 2015–16, 2016–17, 2018–19, 2019–20
Finland Tappara 1 1 .500 2022–23
Sweden Luleå HF 1 1 .500 2014–15
Finland JYP 1 0 1.000 2017–18
Sweden Rögle BK 1 0 1.000 2021–22
Switzerland Genève-Servette HC 1 0 1.000 2023–24
Finland Oulun Kärpät 0 1 .000
Sweden Växjö Lakers 0 1 .000
Germany EHC Red Bull München 0 1 .000
Czech Republic HC Sparta Praha 0 1 .000
Czech Republic Mountfield HK 0 1 .000
Sweden Skellefteå AIK 0 1 .000

By nation

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Performance by nation
Nation Winners Runners-up
 Sweden 6 4
 Finland 2 2
 Switzerland 1 0
 Czech Republic 0 2
 Germany 0 1

Prize money

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In the 2014–15 season, 40 teams competed for a grand total of 1.5 million euros.[6] The amount of prize money gradually increased according to plan and for 2018–19 season it reached 2.34 million euros. Originaly it was expected that in 2022-23 season, prize money would reach 3.46 million euros [13]. The COVID-19 pandemic changed these plans and prize money have yet not surpassed the 3 million € threshold. In the 2024–25 season total 2.45 million euros was distributed between the 24 participating teams in following composition [14]:

1. Participation in Regular Season: 65,000 €

2. Reaching the Round of 16: +15,000 €

3. Reaching the Quarter-Finals: +20,000 €

4. Reaching the Semi-Finals: +20,000 €

5. Losing the Final: +120,000 €

6. Winning the CHL: +240,000 €

The prize money are now not expected to grow until 2027-28 season. According to reactions from club officials, the rentability of CHL will become positive when the club reaches the Semi-finals [15]. This is due to the fact that costs the club pay for each match abroad. Situation varies depending on how difficult the journey to the opponent is (need to use air transport, total distance, etc.). Clubs are entitled to make extra money from the arena tickets, plus they have pre-determined conditions on how they can get their own partners just for the CHL. Czech clubs often take advantage of the opportunity to fly out at least once in the Regular Season, where they also offer tickets to partners and the public. The trip can also be conceived as a business event, or to thank sponsors for their support. This is quite a popular thing to do. This can often pay for the club's air travel costs. In theory, the earnings can be even higher than just prize money [16].

European trophy

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The winner of the Competition receives the European Trophy, named after the tournament European Trophy which was a predecessor to the Champions Hockey League.[17]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "About Us". www.championshockeyleague.com. Champions Hockey League. Retrieved 22 January 2025.
  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. ^ "Viaplay Sports UK". Twitter. 1 November 2022. Retrieved 1 November 2022.
  4. ^ "SRG and Teleclub gain exclusive CHL broadcasting rights in Switzerland". Champions Hockey League. Archived from the original on 18 October 2014.
  5. ^ a b "New era dawns for Europe". International Ice Hockey Federation. Archived from the original on 17 December 2013.
  6. ^ a b "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. ^ a b "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. ^ "2020/21 CHL season cancelled". www.championshockeyleague.com. Retrieved 13 October 2020.
  11. ^ "Genève-Servette win 2024 Final to lift European Trophy in Switzerland!". championshockeyleague.com. 20 February 2024. Retrieved 4 September 2024.
  12. ^ a b "New CHL competition format for 2023/24 revealed". championshockeyleague.com. 4 November 2022. Retrieved 10 August 2023.
  13. ^ "Champions Hockey League bonuses on the rise". www.sport.ceskatelevize.cz. 21 August 2019.
  14. ^ "CHL Media Guide for 2024-25 Season". www.championshockeyleague.com. Retrieved 22 January 2025.
  15. ^ "Die Champions Hockey League ist immer noch keine Goldgrube: «Ab den Halbfinals rentiert's»". www.watson.ch. 19 December 2024.
  16. ^ "The Champions Hockey League solves the future. Shareholders propose changes, the project grows". www.seznamzpravy.cz. 21 January 2025.
  17. ^ 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.
  18. ^ "Champions Hockey League opens in August 2014". Archived from the original on 19 December 2013. Retrieved 23 December 2013.
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