Champions Hockey League

Champions Hockey League

Current season, competition or edition: 2024–25 Champions Hockey League
Formerly	European Trophy Champions Hockey League
Sport	Ice hockey
Founded	2013
Founder	IIHF
First season	2014–15
CEO	Martin Baumann[1]
Claim to fame	EICC
No. of teams	24
Countries	13
Continent	Europe
Most recent champion(s)	Genève-Servette HC (1st title) (2023–24)
Most titles	Frölunda HC (4 titles)
TV partner(s)	Austria: Laola1.tv (online livestream) Brazil: ESPN[2] Canada: TSN Central America: TD Centro Czech Republic: Sport1 Europe: Eurosport Finland: MTV France: Fanseat Germany: Sport1 (TV), Laola1.tv and DAZN (online livestream) Great Britain: Viaplay[3] Hungary: Sport1 Lithuania: Sport1 Mexico: Televisa Deportes Network Romania: TVR 1 Serbia: Arena Sport Slovakia: Sport1 South America: DirecTV Sweden: SVT Switzerland: SRG SSR and Teleclub[4] Turkey: Sportstv USA: NHL Network
Related competitions	IIHF Continental Cup
Official website	championshockeyleague.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.

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]

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

Note:

• ^a Some matches had capacity restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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.

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.

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]

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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 side to win the title.^[11]

Salzburg

Klagenfurt

Fehérvár

Pardubice

Třinec

Prague

SønderjyskE

Tampere

Tampere teams
Tappara
Ilves

Pelicans

Rouen

Berlin

Bremerhaven

Straubing

Storhamar

Oświęcim

Färjestad

Skellefteå

Växjö

Genève

Zurich

Fribourg

Lausanne

Sheffield

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Teams of the 2024–25 Champions Hockey League season

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 EBEL) 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]

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.

A new competition format was introduced for the 2023–24 season. 24 competing teams are allocated as follows:^[12]

• The previous CHL season's champions
• 3 teams representing the Swedish Hockey League
• 3 teams representing the Finnish Liiga
• 3 teams representing the Swiss National League
• 3 teams representing the Czech Extraliga
• 3 teams representing the Deutsche Eishockey Liga
• 3 teams representing the Austrian ICE Hockey League
• 5 wild card teams from various European leagues (maximum of 1 wild card per league)

Rank	League	Points 2016–17 (25%)	Points 2017–18 (50%)	Points 2018–19 (75%)	Points 2019–20 (100%)	Total points	Berths for 2022–23
1	SHLF	95 (24)	100 (50)	100 (75)	100	249	5
2	NLF	100 (25)	80 (40)	95 (71)	90	226	5
3	DELF	75 (19)	85 (43)	80 (60)	95	217	4
4	SM-liigaF	90 (23)	90 (45)	85 (64)	80	212	4
5	ELHF	85 (21)	95 (48)	75 (56)	85	210	3
6	ICEHLF	65 (16)	75 (38)	90 (68)	70	192	3
7	BHL	80 (20)	70 (35)	60 (45)	75	175	1
8	EIHL	60 (15)	65 (33)	40 (30)	70	148	1
9	Ligue Magnus	45 (11)	50 (25)	70 (53)	55	144	1
10	Tipos Extraliga	70 (18)	60 (30)	55 (41)	55	144	1
11	Eliteserien	50 (13)	55 (28)	70 (53)	40	134	1
12	PHL	40 (10)	50 (25)	50 (38)	60	133	1
13	Metal Ligaen	60 (15)	50 (25)	50 (38)	55	133	1

^F founding leagues

Note: It was decided that the 2021–22 season would not be accounted for.^[13]

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.

Performance by club

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

Performance by nation

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

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

The winner of the Competition receives the European Trophy, named after the tournament European Trophy which was a predecessor to the Champions Hockey League.^[14]

• European Trophy, a similar tournament played from 2006 to 2013. European Trophy is the precursor to Champions Hockey League. The names of all four recent European Trophy winners are engraved in the Trophy.^[15]
• IIHF Continental Cup
• IIHF European Women's Champions Cup

• Official website