The 2023–24 Champions Hockey League was the ninth season of the Champions Hockey League, a European ice hockey tournament. The tournament was competed by 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 "challenge leagues" were represented by one team each.
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. The title holders Tappara finished 18th in the regular season and did not qualify for the playoffs.
Czech left forward Dominik Lakatoš from Czech team Vítkovice Ridera became the top scorer with 12 points.
Format changes Starting from the 2023–24 season the format was changed. The number of teams was reduced from 32 to 24 teams. 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.
In the regular season draw, teams were allocated into four pots featuring six teams each. The seeding depends on the teams’ achievements in their national leagues and the respective league’s standing in the CHL league ranking. Each team was drawn against two teams from each of the other three pots.
In the playoffs, teams formed pairs based on the overall regular season standings.
For the first time since the 2015–16 season, the IIHF Continental Cup winners did not get a wild card spot.
Team allocation A total of 24 teams from different European first-tier leagues were scheduled to participate in the league. Besides the title holders Tappara, 18 teams from the six founding leagues, as well as the national champions from Denmark, France, Norway, Slovakia and the United Kingdom participated.
The qualification criteria for national leagues was based on the following rules: CHL champions National league champions (play-off winners) Regular season winners Regular season runners-up Regular season third-placed team
Note: the national league champions of the United Kingdom are distinct from the national champions, who are determined in play-offs following the regular season. In 2023, Belfast Giants won both competitions.
Teams Team City/Area League Qualification Participation Previous best Tappara Tampere Liiga 2023 CHL winners 9th Champion Växjö Lakers Växjö Swedish Hockey League Play-off winners 7th Final Skellefteå AIK Skellefteå Swedish Hockey League Regular season runners-up 8th Semi-finals Färjestad BK Karlstad Swedish Hockey League Regular season third 6th Round of 16 Genève-Servette HC Geneva National League Play-off winners 3rd Round of 16 EHC Biel-Bienne Biel/Bienne National League Regular season runners-up 2nd Quarter-finals Rapperswil National League Regular season third 2nd Group stage Red Bull München Munich Deutsche Eishockey Liga Play-off winners 8th Final ERC Ingolstadt Ingolstadt Deutsche Eishockey Liga Regular season runners-up 4th Round of 32 Adler Mannheim Mannheim Deutsche Eishockey Liga Regular season third 7th Round of 16 Ilves Tampere Liiga Regular season runners-up 2nd Group stage Lukko Rauma Liiga Regular season third 5th Semi-finals Pelicans Lahti Liiga Regular season fourth 2nd Group stage Red Bull Salzburg Salzburg ICE Hockey League Play-off winners 8th Semi-finals HC Bolzano Bolzano ICE Hockey League Regular season winners 4th Round of 16 HC Innsbruck Innsbruck ICE Hockey League Regular season third 1st First appearance Oceláři Třinec Třinec Czech Extraliga Play-off winners 8th Semi-finals Dynamo Pardubice Pardubice Czech Extraliga Regular season winners 4th Group stage Vítkovice Ridera Ostrava Czech Extraliga Regular season runners-up 4th Quarter-finals Dragons de Rouen Rouen Ligue Magnus Play-off winners 4th Quarter-finals Stavanger Oilers Stavanger Fjordkraftligaen Play-off winners 6th Round of 32 Aalborg Pirates Aalborg Metal Ligaen Play-off winners 3rd Group stage Belfast Giants Belfast Elite Ice Hockey League Regular season winners 3rd Group stage HC Košice Košice Slovak Extraliga Play-off winners 4th Round of 32
Round and draw dates The schedule of the competition was as follows. PhaseRoundDraw dateFirst legSecond legGroup stageMatchday 124 May 202331 August–1 September 2023Matchday 22–3 September 2023Matchday 37–8 September 2023Matchday 49–10 September 2023Matchday 510–11 October 2023Matchday 617–18 October 2023PlayoffRound of 16No drawQuarter-finals5–6 December 202312 December 2023Semi-finals9–10 January 202416–17 January 2024Final20 February 2024
Regular season
In the regular season the 24 teams were combined into one table. Each team played home and away against six different opponents once. The best sixteen teams qualified to the round of 16.
The draw of the regular season took place on 24 May 2023 in Tampere, Finland.
Pots The participating teams were seeded into Pots A to D according to their achievements in their national leagues and their respective league’s standing in the CHL league ranking. The reigning CHL champions Tappara were the top seeded team and therefore given a place in pot A. The top pot also contained the reigning champions of four of the top five founding leagues according to the league rankings (Sweden, Switzerland, Germany and ICE Hockey League), as well as 2022–23 Liiga regular season runners-up.
Pot APot BPot CPot D
Grid Teams were allocated their opponents based on a pattern in connection to the positions in the regular season grid. They played the teams on the left-hand side at home and the ones on the right-hand side away excluding teams from the same row. Teams from the last column played teams from the first column away, and teams from the first column played teams from the last column at home.
A1 TapparaA2 Red Bull MünchenA3 Växjö LakersA4 IlvesA5 Red Bull SalzburgA6 Genève-Servette HCB1 LukkoB2 EHC Biel-BienneB3 Oceláři TřinecB4 ERC IngolstadtB5 HC BolzanoB6 Skellefteå AIKC1 HC InnsbruckC2C3 Färjestad BKC4 PelicansC5 Dynamo PardubiceC6 Adler MannheimD1 HC KošiceD2 Aalborg PiratesD3 Vítkovice RideraD4 Stavanger OilersD5 Dragons de RouenD6 Belfast Giants
League table
Regular season tie-breaking criteria Teams were ranked according to points (3 points for a win in regulation time, 2 points for a win in overtime, 1 point for a loss in overtime, 0 points for a loss in regulation time). If two or more teams were tied on points, the following tiebreaking criteria was applied, in the order given, to determine the rankings (see 8.4.4. Tie breaking formula group stage standings): Greater number of wins in regulation time (3 point wins); Greater number of wins in total (regulation time wins + overtime and shootout wins); Better goal difference; More goals scored; More away goals scored; The higher position in the CHL Draw pot allocation.
Results
Playoffs
Format In the playoffs, pairings were formed based on the positions of the teams in the regular season as follows: the team finished 1st in the regular season face the team finished 16th, the team finished 2nd face the team finished 15th, and so on. There were no play-off draw or any reseedings for the quarter-finals and semi-finals. In each round except the final, the teams play two games and the aggregate score decides which team advances. The first leg was hosted by the team with the lower seed with the second leg being played on the home ice of the other team. If aggregate score was tied, a sudden death overtime follows. If the overtime was scoreless, the team who wins the shoot out competition advances.
The final was played on the home ice of the team with the higher accumulative ranking across the entire campaign, including play-off games.
Bracket
Round of 16 The first legs were played on 14 and 15 November with return legs played on 21 and 22 November 2023.
(1) Adler Mannheim vs. (16) SC Rapperswil-Jona Lakers
(2) Växjö Lakers vs. (15) ERC Ingolstadt
(3) Lukko vs. (14) HC Innsbruck
(4) Färjestad BK vs. (13) EHC Biel-Bienne
(5) Skellefteå AIK vs. (12) Oceláři Třinec
(6) Ilves vs. (11) Dynamo Pardubice
(7) Genève-Servette HC vs. (10) Red Bull München
(9) Vítkovice Ridera vs. (8) Pelicans
Quarter-finals First legs were played on 5 and 6 December with return legs played on 12 December 2023.
(2) Växjö Lakers vs. (7) Genève-Servette HC
(3) Lukko vs. (11) Dynamo Pardubice
(4) Färjestad BK vs. (5) Skellefteå AIK
(9) Vítkovice Ridera vs. (16) SC Rapperswil-Jona Lakers
Semi-finals First legs will be played on 9 January with return legs played on 16 January 2024.
(3) Lukko vs. (7) SC Genève-Servette HC
(5) Skellefteå AIK vs. (9) Vítkovice Ridera
Final
Statistics Scoring leaders The following players led the league in points.
Player Team Vítkovice Ridera 11 7 5 12 8 –3 2 4 0 34 20.59% Genève-Servette HC 13 3 9 12 4 +7 0 0 0 47 6.38% Genève-Servette HC 13 2 10 12 2 +8 0 0 0 24 8.33% Oceláři Třinec 7 5 6 11 0 –1 1 1 0 22 22.73% Skellefteå AIK 13 6 5 11 2 +10 1 1 1 31 19.35% Genève-Servette HC 13 4 7 11 12 +3 0 1 0 30 13.33% Red Bull München 7 1 9 10 0 +8 0 0 0 11 9.09% HC Innsbruck 8 6 4 10 6 +5 1 2 0 26 23.08% Växjö Lakers 9 5 5 10 2 -1 2 1 0 12 41.67% Lukko 10 6 4 10 0 +4 1 0 0 14 42.86%
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 Vítkovice Ridera 6 4 1 178 6 96.74% 0.99 1 364 Lahti Pelicans 3 2 0 83 4 95.40% 1.36 1 177 Belfast Giants 6 3 3 160 12 93.02% 2.01 2 358 Adler Mannheim 4 3 1 87 7 92.55% 1.75 1 240 Lukko 8 6 0 184 15 92.46% 1.88 0 480
Awards
Team of the Regular Season The Team of the Regular Season was announced on 2 November 2023. Position Player Team Goaltender Tyler Beskorowany Belfast Giants Defenceman Sami Vatanen Genève-Servette HC Defenceman Les Lancaster Ilves Forward Libor Hudáček Oceláři Třinec Forward Aatu Jämsen Pelicans Forward Pär Lindholm Skellefteå AIK
MVP The winner of the LGT MVP Award was announced on 20 February 2024. Player Team Sami Vatanen Genève-Servette HC
Team of the Season The Team of the Season was announced on 11 March 2024. Position Player Team Goaltender Jussi Olkinuora Pelicans / Genève-Servette HC Defenceman Sami Vatanen Genève-Servette HC Defenceman Tarmo Reunanen Lukko Forward Dominik Lakatoš Vítkovice Ridera Forward Linus Lindström Skellefteå AIK Forward Braeden Shaw HC Innsbruck
References