Europe's new club competition

IIHF President René Fasel and IIHF General Secretary Horst Lichtner announced the launch of the IIHF Champions Hockey League that will involve the national champion teams playing for European club hockey supremacy annually. The inaugural 2008-2009-campaign will coincide with the 100 Year Anniversary season of the IIHF.

On April 20, 2007, the IIHF announced the intention to launch a new European club competition after an initial meeting with the national associations and leagues. On May 8, during the 2007 IIHF World Championship in Moscow, René Fasel informed that an agency was conducting a feasibility study among potential sponsors and broadcasters regarding a Champions Hockey League.

The agency Ovation AG and its CEO, Craig Thompson, submitted a report of the feasibility to the IIHF and the top European leagues.

"The feasibility study was completed in June and it came to a very positive conclusion that there is a substantial potential for top-class European club hockey competition and that there is interest from fans, sponsors as well from broadcasters," said René Fasel. "The vision we presented in April is a concrete goal for the 2008-2009-season."

At the European Champions Cup in St. Petersburg in January 2008, a 7-year contract was signed between the IIHF and the Champions Hockey League investors who then retained Ovation to manage the project.

The Champions Hockey League is planned over 60 games and five stages with 30 teams from 24 nations. However, the inaugural season 2008-2009 will be played with 12 teams and without the full qualification programme, yet.

• The 12-team Champions Hockey League group stage will feature the national champions (playoff winners) from the Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Russia, Slovakia, Sweden and Switzerland. Additionally, the Czech Republic, Finland, Russia and Sweden will be represented by a second team - the winner of the regular season (or the second of the regular season, if the regular season winner is also playoff winner).
• There will be two exceptions from the above formula in the inaugural 2008-2009 CHL season: Finland will be represented by the two finalists in the 2008 Finnish SM-Liiga playoffs. Russia’s Metallurg Magnitogorsk is directly qualified to the 2008-2009 CHL as the reigning European club champion (winner of the 2008 European Champions Cup). The second Russian club will either be the national champion or the regular season winner. Both countries’ leagues will comply with the principle representation rules starting in 2009-2010.
• The 12th participant will be determined by second teams of Germany, Slovakia and Switzerland, who play a 3-game qualification in early autumn 2008.
• The 12 teams will be seeded into four groups of three clubs. The teams will play a double round-robin (home & away) for a total of four games per team. The four group winners will advance to the semi-final. Competition dates for the CHL Group Stage: October 8, 22, 29, November 12, 19, December 3, 2008.
• The semi-final (determined by draw) will be played home & away (two games). Competition dates for the semi-finals: December 10, 2008 & January 7, 2009.
• The semi-final winners on aggregate will advance to the final, which also will be played in two games, home & away. Competition dates for the final: January 21 & 28, 2009.
  

“The fans, broadcasters, clubs, and players all want the national champion to play for the European crown,” said Craig Thompson. All games will be played on Wednesdays. No games in the leagues of the participating teams will be played on CHL days.

"The competition will not only contribute to the sportive development of club hockey in Europe, but it will also be financially very rewarding for the clubs," said René Fasel. A total prize sum of 10 million Euros per season will be distributed. "This is by far the largest purse ever involved in a European club competition," added Fasel. The prize money will be distributed as follows:

• 300,000 Euro per team (appearance fee)
• 50,000 Euro for each win in the group stage
• 200,000 Euro for semi-final appearance
• 1,000,000 Euro to the CHL winner
• 500,000 Euro for the other finalist
• 300,000 Euro to each participating league
• 100,000 Euro to each participating national association

Also included in the IIHF Champions Hockey League contract will be terms of participation in the Victoria Cup, an annual game or series of games played between one or more European teams - determined by the CHL (for the 2008-2009 season by the ECC respectively) - and one or more NHL-challengers.