The 2026–27 Champions Hockey League is the 12th season of the Champions Hockey League, a European ice hockey tournament. 24 teams are competing in the tournament, with qualification being on sporting merits only.
Team allocation A total of 24 teams from different European first-tier leagues participate in the league. Besides the title holders, 18 teams from the six founding leagues, as well as the national champions from five yet-to-be-announced "challenge leagues" will participate.
The qualification criteria for national leagues is 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
Teams Team City/Area League Qualification Participation Previous best Gothenburg Swedish Hockey League 2026 CHL winners 10th Champion Skellefteå AIK Skellefteå Swedish Hockey League Play-off winners 10th Final Växjö Lakers Växjö Swedish Hockey League Regular season third-place 9th Final Rögle BK Ängelholm Swedish Hockey League Regular season fourth-place 3rd Champion HC Fribourg-Gottéron Fribourg National League Play-off winners 7th Semi-finals HC Davos Davos National League Regular season winners 5th Semi-finals Genève-Servette HC Geneva National League Regular season third-place 5th Champion Tappara Tampere Liiga Play-off winners 11th Champion KooKoo Kouvola Liiga Regular season runners-up 1st — SaiPa Lappeenranta Liiga Regular season third-place 3rd Quarter-finals Dynamo Pardubice Pardubice Czech Extraliga Play-off winners 6th Quarter-finals HC Plzeň Plzeň Czech Extraliga Regular season runners-up 4th Semi-finals Bílí Tygři Liberec Liberec Czech Extraliga Regular season third-place 6th Semi-finals Eisbären Berlin Berlin Deutsche Eishockey Liga Play-off winners 9th Quarter-finals Kölner Haie Cologne Deutsche Eishockey Liga Regular season winners 2nd Group stage Adler Mannheim Mannheim Deutsche Eishockey Liga Regular season runners-up 8th Round of 16 Graz 99ers Graz ICE Hockey League Play-off winners 2nd Group stage EC KAC Klagenfurt ICE Hockey League Regular season runners-up 7th Round of 16 Red Bull Salzburg Salzburg ICE Hockey League Regular season third-place 11th Semi-finals Storhamar Hamar EliteHockey Ligaen Play-off winners 5th Round of 16 Bordeaux Boxers Bordeaux Ligue Magnus Play-off winners 1st — Herning Blue Fox Herning Metal Ligaen Play-off winners 1st — GKS Tychy Tychy Polska Hokej Liga Play-off winners 4th Group stage HK Nitra Nitra Slovak Extraliga Play-off winners 3rd Round of 32
Round and draw dates The schedule of the competition is as follows. PhaseRoundDraw dateFirst legSecond legGroup stageMatchday 127 May 20263–4 September 2026Matchday 25–6 September 2026Matchday 310–11 September 2026Matchday 412–13 September 2026Matchday 56–7 October 2026Matchday 613–14 October 2026PlayoffRound of 16No drawQuarter-finals1–2 December 202615 December 2026Semi-finals12–13 January 202719–20 January 2027Final23 February 2027
Regular season
In the regular season the 24 teams are combined into one table. Each team will play home and away against six different opponents once. The best sixteen teams will qualify to the round of 16.
The draw of the regular season took place on 21 May 2025 in Zurich, Switzerland.
Pots Pot APot BPot CPot D
Grid
A1 Skellefteå AIKA2 Dynamo PardubiceA3 Fribourg-GottéronA4 Frölunda HCA5 Eisbären BerlinA6 TapparaB1 Växjö LakersB2 Škoda PlzeňB3 KooKooB4 Graz 99ersB5 Kölner HaieB6 HC DavosC1 Rögle BKC2 Adler MannheimC3 SaiPaC4 EC KACC5 Bílí Tygři LiberecC6 Genève-ServetteD1 GKS TychyD2 HK NitraD3 Bordeaux BoxersD4 Herning Blue FoxD5 StorhamarD6 Red Bull Salzburg
League table
Regular season tie-breaking criteria Teams are 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 is 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 will be played on 10 and 11 November with return legs played on 17 and 18 November 2026.
Quarter-finals The first legs will be played on 1 and 2 December with return legs played on 15 December 2026.
Semi-finals The first legs will be played on 12 and 13 January with return legs played on 19 and 20 January 2027.
Final
Statistics Scoring leaders The following players lead the league in points.
Player Team Kölner Haie 5 7 5 12 2 +8 1 2 0 13 53.85% Kölner Haie 5 7 4 11 6 +6 2 3 0 15 46.67% Kölner Haie 4 1 8 9 0 +5 1 0 0 10 10.00% HC Davos 4 4 4 8 2 +6 1 2 0 8 50.00% Skellefteå AIK 4 2 6 8 4 +2 0 2 0 9 22.22% Växjö Lakers 4 2 6 8 2 +1 0 0 0 8 25.00% Eisbären Berlin 4 5 2 7 0 –1 0 4 0 16 31.25% Dynamo Pardubice 5 3 4 7 2 +3 1 1 0 15 20.00% Škoda Plzeň 5 3 4 7 2 +6 1 2 0 10 30.00% Škoda Plzeň 5 3 4 7 2 +10 1 0 0 13 23.08%
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 Rögle BK 3 2 1 61 3 95.31% 1.46 0 123 Rögle BK 3 1 1 56 4 93.33% 1.55 1 155 Växjö Lakers 3 3 0 51 4 92.73% 1.33 1 180 Dynamo Pardubice 3 2 1 59 5 92.19% 1.69 1 178 Genève-Servette 3 2 1 54 5 91.53% 1.68 1 179
Notes
See also
2026–27 IIHF Continental Cup
References
External links CHL official website