The draw of the Champions Hockey League was held at the Ondrej Nepela Arena in Bratislava one day before the 2019 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship continues with the quarter-finals.
photo: Martin Merk
While the teams quarter-final teams at the 2019 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship prepare for the final round and some changed venues, the off day was used for the draw of the upcoming Champions Hockey League season.
32 teams from 13 different countries in Europe will battle it out for the crown in European club hockey.
“It’s a great product and it’s getting better every year,” said Peter Zahner, Chairman of the Champions Hockey League. “The best players in Europe want to play the best players and the best coaches want to coach against the best coaches. Teams that didn’t make it this year are very disappointed not to be here.”
The CHL will be held for the sixth season since being reintroduced in 2014. In parallel the IIHF Continental Cup will be organized for teams from additional nations.
“We have 10 new teams in the upcoming season. They will enjoy themselves,” said Martin Baumann, the CEO of the Champions Hockey League. “It will be a great experience to travel and meet other organizations. It’s the best that could happen for them. We already travelled to some of these teams and they are very committed.”
The draw was presented by former Canadian women’s national team player Tessa Bonhomme, who is working in broadcast at the 2019 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship, with former Slovak biathlon Olympic champion Anastasiya Kuzmina, Lahti Pelicans head coach Ville Nieminen, Zahner and Baumann drawing the teams from four pots into the groups eight groups.
The teams were put into four different pots according to their performance back home in the last season and the level of the league, and the number of clubs per country was assigned according to the clubs’ performances in the Champions Hockey League in the last seasons. Switzerland joined Sweden for the first time to have the five best teams of the country qualified. The Finnish and Czech leagues have four representatives, the other founding leagues from Germany and Austria three.
From the “challenger leagues” there are the champions from Belarus, Norway, Slovakia, France, Denmark, Great Britain and Poland. The Belfast Giants are qualified through the IIHF Continental Cup, where the groups will be determined in late June.
Like in the past few years teams from the Russian-based Kontinental Hockey League do not participate in the Champions Hockey League.
The season will start on 29 August 2019 with the top-two teams from each group advancing to the playoff stage.
Frolunda Gothenburg is the defending champion of the CHL and even though they were drawn as last team, they will certainly not take it as bad omen but hope they will again remain among the last two teams when the final will be held on 4 February 2020. Until then it will be a long way with many exciting games between the 32 top European club teams.
For more information on the Champions Hockey League visit www.championshockeyleague.com
32 teams from 13 different countries in Europe will battle it out for the crown in European club hockey.
“It’s a great product and it’s getting better every year,” said Peter Zahner, Chairman of the Champions Hockey League. “The best players in Europe want to play the best players and the best coaches want to coach against the best coaches. Teams that didn’t make it this year are very disappointed not to be here.”
The CHL will be held for the sixth season since being reintroduced in 2014. In parallel the IIHF Continental Cup will be organized for teams from additional nations.
“We have 10 new teams in the upcoming season. They will enjoy themselves,” said Martin Baumann, the CEO of the Champions Hockey League. “It will be a great experience to travel and meet other organizations. It’s the best that could happen for them. We already travelled to some of these teams and they are very committed.”
The draw was presented by former Canadian women’s national team player Tessa Bonhomme, who is working in broadcast at the 2019 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship, with former Slovak biathlon Olympic champion Anastasiya Kuzmina, Lahti Pelicans head coach Ville Nieminen, Zahner and Baumann drawing the teams from four pots into the groups eight groups.
The teams were put into four different pots according to their performance back home in the last season and the level of the league, and the number of clubs per country was assigned according to the clubs’ performances in the Champions Hockey League in the last seasons. Switzerland joined Sweden for the first time to have the five best teams of the country qualified. The Finnish and Czech leagues have four representatives, the other founding leagues from Germany and Austria three.
From the “challenger leagues” there are the champions from Belarus, Norway, Slovakia, France, Denmark, Great Britain and Poland. The Belfast Giants are qualified through the IIHF Continental Cup, where the groups will be determined in late June.
Like in the past few years teams from the Russian-based Kontinental Hockey League do not participate in the Champions Hockey League.
The season will start on 29 August 2019 with the top-two teams from each group advancing to the playoff stage.
Frolunda Gothenburg is the defending champion of the CHL and even though they were drawn as last team, they will certainly not take it as bad omen but hope they will again remain among the last two teams when the final will be held on 4 February 2020. Until then it will be a long way with many exciting games between the 32 top European club teams.
For more information on the Champions Hockey League visit www.championshockeyleague.com
Champions Hockey League 2019/2020
| Group A | Group B |
| KAC Klagenfurt (AUT) | HPK Hameenlinna (FIN) |
| Tappara Tampere (FIN) | EV Zug (SUI) |
| EHC Biel (SUI) | HC Plzen (CZE) |
| Frisk Asker (NOR) | Rungsted (DEN) |
| Group C | Group D |
| Lulea Hockey (SWE) | Ocelari Trinec (CZE) |
| Bili Tygri Liberec (CZE) | Lausanne HC (SUI) |
| Augsburger Panther (GER) | Lahti Pelicans (FIN) |
| Belfast Giants (GBR) | Yunost Minsk (BLR) |
| Group E | Group F |
| SC Bern (SUI) | Adler Mannheim (GER) |
| Karpat Oulu (FIN) | Djurgarden Stockholm (SWE) |
| Skelleftea AIK (SWE) | Vienna Capitals (AUT) |
| Grenoble Bruleures de Loups (FRA) | GKS Tychy (POL) |
| Group G | Group H |
| Farjestad Karlstad (SWE) | Frolunda Gothenburg (SWE) |
| Red Bull Munich (GER) | Graz 99ers (AUT) |
| HC Ambri-Piotta (SUI) | Mountfield Hradec Kralove (CZE) |
| HC 05 Banska Bystrica (SVK) | Cardiff Devils (GBR) |