The 2019–20 Champions Hockey League was the sixth season of the Champions Hockey League, a European ice hockey tournament. 32 teams are competing in the tournament, and qualification was 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. 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. Unlike in the first three editions of the tournament, founding teams did not automatically qualify.
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.
Team allocation A total of 32 teams from 13 different European first-tier leagues are participating in the 2019–20 Champions Hockey League. There were 24 teams from the six founding leagues, as well as the national champions from Slovakia, Norway, Denmark, France, Belarus, the United Kingdom and Poland qualified. Out of the founding leagues Sweden and Switzerland were allocated 5 teams, Finland and Czech Republic 4 with Austria and Germany given 3. Because no league was allowed more than five teams, the winner of the 2018–19 Champions Hockey League won a berth but at the expense of a place for their league.
Due to the fact that Arlan Kokshetau of the Kazakhstan Hockey Championship were ineligible to qualify for the Champions Hockey League despite winning the 2018–19 Continental Cup, it was announced that the board would select a Wild Card team in its place. On 13 February, the Champions Hockey League announced that the Belfast Giants as Continental Cup runners-up had been approved to take part as the Wild Card entry.
The qualification for these places was set out in the rules as follows:
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: League champions Regular season winners Pick Round winners Pick Round runners-up Losing playoff finalists
Note: the United Kingdom is the lone exception as the EIHL, in line with their traditions, determine their national champion following the regular season (not in the playoffs).
Teams Team City/Area League Qualification Participation Previous best Frölunda HC Gothenburg Swedish Hockey League 2019 CHL winner 6th Champion Färjestad BK Karlstad Swedish Hockey League Regular season winner 4th Round of 32 Luleå HF Luleå Swedish Hockey League Regular season runner-up 4th Champion Djurgårdens IF Stockholm Swedish Hockey League Regular season fourth 5th Round of 16 Skellefteå AIK Skellefteå Swedish Hockey League Regular season fifth 5th Semi-finals SC Bern Bern National League Play-off champion 6th Quarter-finals EV Zug Zug National League Regular season runner-up 6th Round of 16 Lausanne HC Lausanne National League Regular season third 1st First appearance EHC Biel Biel/Bienne National League Regular season fourth 1st First appearance HC Ambrì-Piotta Ambrì National League Regular season fifth 1st First appearance HPK Hämeenlinna Liiga Play-off champion 1st First appearance Kärpät Oulu Liiga Regular season winner 5th Final Tappara Tampere Liiga Regular season runner-up 6th Round of 16 Pelicans Lahti Liiga Regular season third 1st First appearance Oceláři Třinec Třinec Czech Extraliga Play-off champion 5th Semi-finals Bílí Tygři Liberec Liberec Czech Extraliga Regular season winner 5th Semi-finals HC Plzeň Plzeň Czech Extraliga Regular season third 3rd Semi-finals Mountfield HK Hradec Králové Czech Extraliga Regular season fourth 3rd Group stage Adler Mannheim Mannheim Deutsche Eishockey Liga Play-off champion 5th Round of 16 Red Bull München Munich Deutsche Eishockey Liga Regular season runner-up 5th Final Augsburger Panther Augsburg Deutsche Eishockey Liga Regular season third 1st First appearance EC KAC Klagenfurt Austrian Hockey League Play-off champion 3rd Group stage Graz 99ers Graz Austrian Hockey League Regular season first round winner 1st First appearance Vienna Capitals Vienna Austrian Hockey League Regular season pick round winner 6th Round of 16 Belfast Giants Belfast Elite Ice Hockey League Continental Cup Wild Card 1st First appearance Yunost Minsk Minsk Belarusian Extraleague Play-off champion 3rd Round of 32 Frisk Asker Asker GET-ligaen Play-off champion 1st First appearance HC '05 Banská Bystrica Banská Bystrica Tipsport Liga Play-off champion 3rd Group stage Brûleurs de Loups Grenoble Ligue Magnus Play-off champion 2nd Group stage Rungsted Ishockey Rungsted Metal Ligaen Play-off champion 1st First appearance Cardiff Devils Cardiff Elite Ice Hockey League Regular season runner-up 3rd Group stage GKS Tychy Tychy Polska Hokej Liga Play-off champion 2nd Group stage
Group stage
For the group stage, the teams were drawn into 8 groups of 4 teams. Each team played home and away against every other team for a total of 6 games. The best 2 teams qualify to the round of 16.
Pots The reigning CHL champions is the top seeded team and therefore given a place in pot 1. In the top pot there were also the reigning champions of the six founding leagues and the regular season winner of SHL. The 16 remaining teams from the founding leagues were placed to pots 2 and 3. The fourth pot include the playoff champions from the seven challenge leagues and the Belfast Giants, the wild card team following the 2018–19 IIHF Continental Cup.
Pot 1Pot 2Pot 3Pot 4 Frölunda HC Färjestad BK SC Bern HPK Oceláři Třinec Adler Mannheim EC KAC Luleå HF EV Zug Kärpät Bílí Tygři Liberec Red Bull München Graz 99ers Djurgårdens IF Lausanne HC Tappara HC Plzeň Augsburger Panther Vienna Capitals Skellefteå AIK EHC Biel Pelicans Mountfield HK HC Ambrì-Piotta Yunost Minsk Frisk Asker HC '05 Banská Bystrica Brûleurs de Loups Rungsted Ishockey Cardiff Devils GKS Tychy Belfast Giants
Group A
Group B
Group C
Group D
Group E
Group F
Group G
Group H
Group stage tie-breaking criteria If two teams were tied in points after the group stage is finished, the teams precedence is decided by head-to-head games. If the teams are still tied after that, then the team that was ranked higher prior to the tournament took precedence. When comparing head-to-head results, the following criteria were applied:
more points in games against the other tied team better goal difference in games against the other tied team more goals scored against the other tied team more goals scored in a single game against the other tied team overtime wins against the other tied team more goals scored in the two game winning shot competitions higher position in the 2016–17 CHL club ranking
Playoffs
Qualified teams
GroupWinners (seed)Runners-upA EHC Biel TapparaB EV Zug HC PlzeňC Luleå HF Augsburger PantherD Lausanne HC Yunost MinskE Skellefteå AIK SC BernF Adler Mannheim Djurgårdens IFG Red Bull München Färjestad BKH Frölunda HC Mountfield HK
Format In each round except the final, the teams played two games and the aggregate score decided which team advanced. As a rule, the first leg was hosted by the team who had the inferior record in the tournament with the second leg being played on the home ice of the other team. If aggregate score is tied, a sudden death overtime followed. If the overtime is scoreless, the team who wins the shoot out competition advances.
The final was played on the home ice of the team who had the better record in the tournament.
Bracket The eight group winners and the eight second-placed teams advanced to the Round of 16. The teams were divided into two seeding groups and group winners were randomly drawn against runners-up. Teams who had faced each other in the group stage could not be drawn against each other in the round of 16. The draw took place in Helsinki, Finland on 18 October 2019.
Note: The teams listed on top of each tie were runners up in the group stage and play the first leg at home. The bottom team were group winners and play the second leg at home. Skellefteå AIK, however, would play their first leg at home in their tie against Djurgårdens IF. The order of the legs (which team starts at home) in the future rounds may be changed as the team with the best record should have the second game at home.
Round of 16 First Leg
Second Leg
Quarter-finals First Leg
Second Leg
Semi-Finals First Leg
Second Leg
Final
Statistics Scoring leaders The following players led the league in points.
Player Team Frölunda HC 13 6 16 22 0 +5 1 2 0 37 16.22% Frölunda HC 12 3 13 16 6 -5 0 3 0 24 12.50% Djurgårdens IF 12 3 12 15 14 +3 1 2 0 23 13.04% Frölunda HC 11 7 6 13 4 +10 1 0 0 41 17.07% Luleå HF 11 6 7 13 8 +9 1 3 0 20 30.00% HC Plzeň 6 8 4 12 2 +4 3 3 0 20 40.00% Frölunda HC 12 7 5 12 8 +6 2 4 0 31 22.58% Luleå HF 12 6 6 12 2 +5 2 1 0 25 24.00% Frölunda HC 12 6 5 11 4 +4 0 6 0 38 15.79% Luleå HF 12 2 9 11 6 +4 1 0 0 23 8.70%
Leading goaltenders The following goaltenders led the league in save percentage, provided that they have played at least 40% of their team's minutes.
Player Team EHC Red Bull München 4 4 0 121 5 96.03% 1.22 1 256 EV Zug 5 3 1 102 5 95.33% 0.98 1 305 HC Ambrì-Piotta 4 3 1 120 6 95.24% 1.51 1 238 EHC Biel-Bienne 4 2 2 153 8 95.03% 1.96 1 245 SC Bern 5 2 3 146 8 94.81% 1.73 0 278
References