The 2024–25 Champions Hockey League was the 10th 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 ZSC Lions won their first Champions Hockey League title, defeating Swedish team Färjestad BK 2–1 in the final. This made ZSC Lions the second Swiss side to win the title. The title holders Genève-Servette HC lost to ZSC Lions in the semi-finals with an aggregate score of 9–4.
Swiss right winger Sven Andrighetto from ZSC Lions became the top scorer with 22 points.
Team allocation A total of 24 teams from different European first-tier leagues were scheduled to participate in the league. Besides the title holders Genève-Servette HC, 18 teams from the six founding leagues, as well as the national champions from Denmark, France, Norway, Poland and the United Kingdom.
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 were distinct from the national champions, who were determined in play-offs following the regular season.
Teams Team City/Area League Qualification Participation Previous best Genève-Servette HC Geneva National League 2024 CHL winners 4th Champion Skellefteå AIK Skellefteå Swedish Hockey League Play-off winners 9th Final Färjestad BK Karlstad Swedish Hockey League Regular season winners 7th Quarter-finals Växjö Lakers Växjö Swedish Hockey League Regular season runners-up 8th Final Zürich National League Play-off winners 8th Quarter-finals Fribourg National League Regular season runners-up 6th Semi-finals Lausanne National League Regular season third place 3rd Quarter-finals Eisbären Berlin Berlin Deutsche Eishockey Liga Play-off winners 7th Round of 16 Fischtown Pinguins Bremerhaven Deutsche Eishockey Liga Regular season winners 2nd Group stage Straubing Tigers Straubing Deutsche Eishockey Liga Regular season third 2nd Round of 16 Tappara Tampere Liiga Play-off winners 10th Champion Ilves Tampere Liiga Regular season runners-up 3rd Round of 16 Pelicans Lahti Liiga Regular season third place 3rd Round of 16 Oceláři Třinec Třinec Czech Extraliga Play-off winners 9th Semi-finals Dynamo Pardubice Pardubice Czech Extraliga Regular season winners 5th Quarter-finals Sparta Praha Prague Czech Extraliga Regular season runners-up 6th Final Red Bull Salzburg Salzburg ICE Hockey League Play-off winners 9th Semi-finals EC KAC Klagenfurt ICE Hockey League Regular season winners 5th Round of 16 Fehérvár AV19 Székesfehérvár ICE Hockey League Regular season runners-up 2nd Group stage Sheffield Steelers Sheffield Elite Ice Hockey League Regular season winners 3rd Group stage Dragons de Rouen Rouen Ligue Magnus Play-off winners 5th Quarter-finals Storhamar Hamar EliteHockey Ligaen Play-off winners 3rd Round of 16 SønderjyskE Ishockey Vojens Metal Ligaen Play-off winners 4th Group stage Unia Oświęcim Oświęcim Polska Hokej Liga Play-off winners 1st First appearance
Round and draw dates The schedule of the competition was as follows. PhaseRoundDraw dateFirst legSecond legGroup stageMatchday 122 May 20245–6 September 2024Matchday 27–8 September 2024Matchday 312–13 September 2024Matchday 414–15 September 2024Matchday 58–9 October 2024Matchday 615–16 October 2024PlayoffRound of 16No drawQuarter-finals3–4 December 202417 December 2024Semi-finals14–15 January 202521–22 January 2025Final18 February 2025
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 22 May 2024 in Prague, Czechia. 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 Genève-Servette HC 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, Finland and Czechia). Pot D contained 2023–24 ICE Hockey League regular season runners-up Fehérvár AV19 and champions of five challenger leagues.
Pot APot BPot CPot D
Grid
A1 TapparaA2 Skellefteå AIKA3 Eisbären BerlinA4 ZSC LionsA5 Oceláři TřinecA6 Genève-Servette HCB1 Fischtown PinguinsB2 Dynamo PardubiceB3 Red Bull SalzburgB4 HC Fribourg-GottéronB5 IlvesB6 Färjestad BKC1 PelicansC2 Sparta PrahaC3 Straubing TigersC4 Växjö LakersC5 EC KACC6 Lausanne HCD1 Fehérvár AV19D2 SønderjyskE IshockeyD3 Sheffield SteelersD4 Unia OświęcimD5 StorhamarD6 Dragons de Rouen
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 will be formed based on the positions of the teams in the regular season as follows: the team finished 1st in the regular season faced the team finished 16th, the team finished 2nd faced the team finished 15th, and so on. There will be 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 is 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 is tied, a sudden death overtime follows. If the overtime is scoreless, the team who wins the shoot out competition advances.
The final will be 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 12 and 13 November with return legs played on 19 and 20 November 2024.
(1) Färjestad BK vs. (16) Tappara
(2) ZSC Lions vs. (15) Straubing Tigers
(3) Lausanne HC vs. (14) Genève-Servette HC
(4) Oceláři Třinec vs. (13) Sparta Praha
(5) HC Fribourg-Gottéron vs. (12) Växjö Lakers
(6) Skellefteå AIK vs. (11) Fischtown Pinguins
(7) Eisbären Berlin vs. (10) Sheffield Steelers
(8) Red Bull Salzburg vs. (9) Pelicans
Quarter-finals First legs were played on 3 and 4 December with return legs played on 17 December 2024.
(1) Färjestad BK vs. (8) Red Bull Salzburg
(2) ZSC Lions vs. (7) Eisbären Berlin
(11) Fischtown Pinguins vs. (14) Genève-Servette HC
(12) Växjö Lakers vs. (13) Sparta Praha
Semi-finals First legs were played on 14 and 15 January with return legs played on 21 January 2025.
(1) Färjestad BK vs. (13) Sparta Praha
(2) ZSC Lions vs. (14) Genève-Servette HC
Final
Statistics Scoring leaders The following players lead the league in points.
Player Team ZSC Lions 12 10 12 22 4 +13 1 4 0 42 23.81% ZSC Lions 11 6 12 18 4 +12 2 1 1 37 16.22% Färjestad BK 13 6 12 18 8 +10 1 2 0 33 18.18% Genève-Servette HC / Sparta Praha 12 8 7 15 4 +5 1 5 0 25 32.00% Eisbären Berlin 10 5 10 15 4 0 2 3 0 22 22.73% Fischtown Pinguins 10 3 10 13 2 +5 1 2 0 11 27.27% Färjestad BK 11 2 11 13 4 +4 1 1 0 19 10.53% Fischtown Pinguins 10 7 5 12 4 +5 0 4 0 32 21.88% Red Bull Salzburg 10 5 7 12 6 +1 1 3 0 35 14.29% Oceláři Třinec 6 4 8 12 4 +4 0 1 0 21 19.05%
Leading goaltenders The following goaltenders lead the league in save percentage, provided that they have played at least 40% of their team's minutes.
Player Team Fischtown Pinguins 6 3 2 138 9 93.88% 1.52 3 355 ZSC Lions 10 10 0 236 17 93.28% 1.69 0 605 Färjestad BK 11 8 2 229 18 92.71% 1.63 2 663 Sheffield Steelers 8 4 3 224 18 92.56% 2.47 0 438 Oceláři Třinec 5 1 3 138 12 92.00% 2.40 0 300
Awards Team of the Regular Season The Team of the Regular Season was announced on 30 October 2024. Position Player Team Goaltender Matthew Greenfield Sheffield Steelers Defenceman Dennis Eamon Robertson Red Bull Salzburg Defenceman Jonathan Pudas Skellefteå AIK Forward Michael Špaček Sparta Praha Forward Libor Hudáček Oceláři Třinec Forward Marcus Sörensen
MVP LGT MVP Award nominees were announced on 16-18 January 2025. LGT MVP Award winner was announced on 18 February 2025. Winner
Player Team Sven Andrighetto
Nominees Player Team Sven Andrighetto Maxime Lagacé Färjestad BK Antti Raanta Genève-Servette HC Michael Špaček Sparta Praha Oskar Steen Färjestad BK
Team of the Season The Team of the Season was announced on 7 March 2025. Position Player Team Goaltender Matthew Greenfield Sheffield Steelers Defenceman Ryan Murphy Red Bull Salzburg Defenceman Kai Wissmann Eisbären Berlin Forward Sven Andrighetto Forward Michael Špaček Sparta Praha Forward Oskar Steen Färjestad BK
References