2021–22 Champions Hockey League

The 2021–22 Champions Hockey League is the seventh season of the Champions Hockey League, a European ice hockey tournament. The tournament is competed by 32 teams, with qualification being on sporting merits only. The six founding leagues are represented by between three and five teams (based on a four-year league ranking), while seven "challenge leagues" are to be represented by one team each.

2021–22 Champions Hockey League
Tournament details
Dates26 August 2021 – 1 March 2022
Teams32
← 2020–21 (cancelled)

Team allocation

A total of 32 teams from different European first-tier leagues will participate in the 2021–22 Champions Hockey League. Besides the Continental Cup champions, 24 teams from the six founding leagues, as well as the national champions from Norway, Denmark, France, Belarus, Great Britain, Poland and Ukraine can qualify. The qualification for these places is set out in the rules as follows:[1]

  1. CHL champions
  2. National league champions (play-off winners)
  3. Regular season winners
  4. Regular season runners-up
  5. Regular season third-placed team
  6. Regular season fourth-placed team
  7. Regular season fifth-placed team

For the ICE Hockey League teams are picked in this order:[1]

  1. League champions
  2. Regular season winners
  3. Pick Round winners
  4. Pick Round runners-up
  5. Losing playoff finalists

For the Deutsche Eishockey Liga teams are picked in this order:[2]

  1. League champions
  2. North / South group winners with higher PPG
  3. North / South group winners with lower PPG
  4. North / South group runners-up with higher PPG
  5. North / South group runners-up with lower PPG

Teams
Team City/Area League Qualification Participation Previous Best
Frölunda HC Gothenburg Swedish Hockey League 2020 CHL winners 7th Champion
Växjö Lakers Växjö Swedish Hockey League Play-off champion 6th Final
Rögle BK Ängelholm Swedish Hockey League Regular season runners-up 1st First appearance
Leksands IF Leksand Swedish Hockey League Regular season third 1st First appearance
Skellefteå AIK Skellefteå Swedish Hockey League Regular season fourth 6th Semi-finals
EV Zug Zug National League Play-off champion 7th Quarter-finals
HC Lugano Lugano National League Regular season runners-up 3rd Round of 16
HC Fribourg-Gottéron Fribourg National League Regular season third 3rd Semi-finals
Lausanne HC Lausanne National League Regular season fourth 2nd Quarter-finals
ZSC Lions Zürich National League Regular season fifth 6th Quarter-finals
Eisbären Berlin Berlin Deutsche Eishockey Liga Play-off champion 5th Round of 16
Adler Mannheim Mannheim Deutsche Eishockey Liga South group winners 6th Round of 16
EHC Red Bull München Munich Deutsche Eishockey Liga South group runners-up 6th Final
Fischtown Pinguins Bremerhaven Deutsche Eishockey Liga North group runners-up 1st First appearance
Lukko Rauma SM-liiga Play-off champion 4th Semi-finals
HIFK Helsinki SM-liiga Regular season runners-up 5th Quarter-finals
TPS Turku SM-liiga Regular season third 6th Quarter-finals
Tappara Tampere SM-liiga Regular season fourth 7th Round of 16
Oceláři Třinec Třinec Czech Extraliga Play-off champion 6th Semi-finals
HC Sparta Praha Prague Czech Extraliga Regular season winners 4th Final
BK Mladá Boleslav Mladá Boleslav Czech Extraliga Regular season third 2nd Group stage
EC KAC Klagenfurt ICE Hockey League Play-off champion 4th Group stage
HC Bolzano Bolzano ICE Hockey League Regular season winners 3rd Round of 16
Red Bull Salzburg Salzburg ICE Hockey League Higher ranked semi-finalists 6th Semi-finals
Cardiff Devils Cardiff Elite Ice Hockey League 2019–20 regular season winners 4th Group stage
Dragons de Rouen Rouen Ligue Magnus Regular season winners 3rd Round of 16
Frisk Asker Ishockey Asker Eliteserien Regular season winners 2nd Group stage
JKH GKS Jastrzębie Jastrzębie-Zdrój Polska Hokej Liga Play-off champion 1st First appearance
Rungsted Ishockey Rungsted Metal Ligaen Play-off champion 2nd Group stage
SønderjyskE Ishockey Vojens Metal Ligaen 2019–20 Continental Cup winner 3rd Group stage
HC Donbass Donetsk[note 1] Ukrainian Hockey League Wild card[4] 1st First appearance
Slovan Bratislava[note 2] Bratislava Tipos extraliga Wild card[6] 1st First appearance

Round and draw dates

The schedule of the competition is as follows.[7]

Phase Round Draw date First leg Second leg
Group stage Matchday 1 Groups A-F 19 May 2021[7] 26–27 August 2021
Groups G-H 9–10 September 2021
Matchday 2 Groups A-F 28–29 August 2021
Groups G-H 11–12 September 2021
Matchday 3 2–3 September 2021
Matchday 4 4–5 September 2021
Matchday 5 5–6 October 2021
Matchday 6 12–13 October 2021
Playoff Round of 16 15 October 2021[8] 16–17 November 2021 23–24 November 2021
Quarter-finals 7–8 December 2021 14 December 2021
Semi-finals 4–5 January 2022 11–12 January 2022
Final 1 March 2022

Group stage

For the group stage, the teams will be drawn into 8 groups of 4 teams. Each team will play home and away against every other team for a total of 6 games. The best 2 teams qualify to the round of 16.

The draw of the group stage took place on 19 May 2021.[9]

Pots

Due to a scheduling conflict caused by the 2022 Winter Olympics final qualification tournament being held on 26–29 August 2021, eight teams from countries participating in the Olympic qualification (Austria, Denmark, France, Italy, Norway, Poland, Ukraine) will be allocated into the pot 5 and drawn into two separate groups of four which will not play their games on the specified dates. There will be no league protection for the teams from these two groups. The other 24 teams (from five remaining founding leagues as well as teams from Belarus and Great Britain as top two challenger leagues and 2019–20 IIHF Continental Cup winners SønderjyskE Ishockey) will be allocated into four pots and drawn by the standard procedure into six groups of four.[7][10]

Pot 1 Pot 2 Pot 3 Pot 4 Pot 5

Frölunda HC
Växjö Lakers
EV Zug
Eisbären Berlin
Lukko
Oceláři Třinec
 
 

Rögle BK
HC Lugano
Adler Mannheim
HIFK
HC Sparta Praha
Leksands IF
 
 

HC Fribourg-Gottéron
EHC Red Bull München
TPS
BK Mladá Boleslav
Skellefteå AIK
Lausanne HC
 
 

Fischtown Pinguins
Tappara
ZSC Lions
HC Yunost Minsk[note 2]
Cardiff Devils
SønderjyskE Ishockey
 
 

EC KAC
HC Bolzano
Red Bull Salzburg
Dragons de Rouen
Frisk Asker Ishockey
JKH GKS Jastrzębie
Rungsted Ishockey
HC Donbass

Group A
Pos Team Pld W OTW OTL L GF GA GD Pts Qualification SPA VAX BRE TPS
1 HC Sparta Praha 6 3 2 0 1 17 10 +7 13 Advance to Playoffs — 2–1 (OT) 5–2 3–2
2 Växjö Lakers 6 3 0 1 2 14 10 +4 10 2–1 — 5–0 4–2
3 Fischtown Pinguins 6 3 0 0 3 10 15 −5 9 1–2 2–1 — 3–0
4 TPS 6 1 0 1 4 10 16 −6 4 2–3 (SO) 3–1 1–2 —
Source: Champions Hockey League

Group B
Pos Team Pld W OTW OTL L GF GA GD Pts Qualification FRO ZSC HIFK MLA
1 Frölunda HC 6 4 1 0 1 19 13 +6 14 Advance to Playoffs — 4–3 (OT) 4–1 4–3
2 ZSC Lions 6 4 0 1 1 16 12 +4 13 4–2 — 0–3 7–3
3 HIFK 6 2 1 0 3 10 9 +1 8 2–3 0–2 — 2–1
4 BK Mladá Boleslav 6 0 0 1 5 9 20 −11 1 1–4 0–1 1–2 (OT) —
Source: Champions Hockey League

Group C
Pos Team Pld W OTW OTL L GF GA GD Pts Qualification LUK MAN LAU CAR
1 Lukko 6 4 0 2 0 22 11 +11 14 Advance to Playoffs — 5–1 2–3 (OT) 5–2
2 Adler Mannheim 6 3 1 0 2 21 13 +8 11 2–1 (SO) — 1–3 7–2
3 Lausanne HC 6 2 1 0 3 11 15 −4 8 0–3 2–5 — 2–0
4 Cardiff Devils 6 1 0 0 5 11 26 −15 3 3–6 0–5 4–1 —
Source: Champions Hockey League

Group D
Pos Team Pld W OTW OTL L GF GA GD Pts Qualification ROG MUN ZUG SON
1 Rögle BK 6 4 1 0 1 23 14 +9 14 Advance to Playoffs — 4–3 5–3 8–3
2 EHC Red Bull München 6 4 0 0 2 25 13 +12 12 2–1 — 3–4 6–2
3 EV Zug 6 3 0 1 2 28 19 +9 10 1–2 (OT) 1–6 — 9–3
4 SønderjyskE Ishockey 6 0 0 0 6 11 41 −30 0 2–3 1–5 0–10 —
Source: Champions Hockey League

Group E
Pos Team Pld W OTW OTL L GF GA GD Pts Qualification TAP SKE BER LUG
1 Tappara 6 3 2 0 1 25 18 +7 13 Advance to Playoffs — 4–2 5–4 (OT) 3–2 (OT)
2 Skellefteå AIK 6 3 0 0 3 22 21 +1 9 6–1 — 5–3 3–5
3 Eisbären Berlin 6 2 0 1 3 21 26 −5 7[lower-alpha 1] 1–6 3–5 — 6–3
4 HC Lugano 6 2 0 1 3 20 23 −3 7[lower-alpha 1] 3–6 5–1 2–4 —
Source: Champions Hockey League
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
Notes:
  1. Head-to-head points: Eisbären Berlin 6, HC Lugano 0.

Group F
Pos Team Pld W OTW OTL L GF GA GD Pts Qualification FRG LEK TRI SLO
1 HC Fribourg-Gottéron 6 6 0 0 0 25 9 +16 18 Advance to Playoffs — 3–0 6–2 5–2
2 Leksands IF 6 4 0 0 2 17 16 +1 12 2–5 — 3–2 5–3
3 Oceláři Třinec 6 2 0 0 4 15 17 −2 6 3–4 1–3 — 3–0
4 HC Slovan Bratislava 6 0 0 0 6 8 23 −15 0 0–2 2–4 1–4 —
Source: Champions Hockey League

Group G
Pos Team Pld W OTW OTL L GF GA GD Pts Qualification KAC ROU DON RUN
1 EC KAC 6 3 2 0 1 19 9 +10 13 Advance to Playoffs — 2–1 (OT) 1–2 3–2 (OT)
2 Dragons de Rouen 6 3 0 1 2 15 14 +1 10 0–4 — 4–3 5–1
3 HC Donbass 6 2 0 2 2 15 17 −2 8 3–4 2–1 — 2–3 (SO)
4 Rungsted Ishockey 6 0 2 1 3 13 22 −9 5 1–5 2–4 4–3 (OT) —
Source: Champions Hockey League

Group H
Pos Team Pld W OTW OTL L GF GA GD Pts Qualification SAL BOL JAS FRI
1 Red Bull Salzburg 6 4 1 0 1 23 13 +10 14 Advance to Playoffs — 3–5 6–1 1–0
2 HC Bolzano 6 3 1 2 0 20 13 +7 13 3–4 (OT) — 3–1 1–2 (SO)
3 JKH GKS Jastrzębie 6 2 0 1 3 17 21 −4 7 2–3 2–3 (SO) — 4–3
4 Frisk Asker Ishockey 6 0 1 0 5 11 24 −13 2 2–6 1–5 3–7 —
Source: Champions Hockey League

Group stage tie-breaking criteria

Teams are ranked according to points (3 points for a win in regulation time, 2 poins 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 are tied on points, the following tiebreaking criteria are applied, in the order given, to determine the rankings (see 8.4.4. Tie breaking formula group stage standings):[11][12]

  1. Points in head-to-head matches among the tied teams;
  2. Goal difference in head-to-head matches among the tied teams;
  3. Goals scored in head-to-head matches among the tied teams;
  4. The higher number of goals in one of the matches among the tied teams;
  5. The most goals in the two game winning shot series;
  6. If more than two teams are tied, head-to-head criteria 1, 2 and 3 are reapplied exclusively to this subset of teams;
  7. If more than two teams are tied, and after applying head-to-head criteria 1, 2 and 3, a subset of teams are still tied, goal difference and goals scored then the results between each of the three teams and the closest best-ranked team outside the subset will be applied; best-ranked team outside the sub-group will be applied;
  8. The higher position in the 2019–20 Champions Hockey League club ranking;
  9. Goal difference in all group matches;
  10. Goals scored in all group matches;
  11. Regulation time wins in all group matches;
  12. Overtime wins in all group matches;
  13. Overtime losses in all group matches.

Playoffs

Qualified teams

The knockout phase involves the 16 teams which qualify as winners and runners-up of each of the eight groups in the group stage.

Group Winners
(seeded in round of 16 draw)		 Runners-up
(unseeded in round of 16 draw)
A HC Sparta Praha Växjö Lakers
B Frölunda HC ZSC Lions
C Lukko Adler Mannheim
D Rögle BK EHC Red Bull München
E Tappara Skellefteå AIK
F HC Fribourg-Gottéron Leksands IF
G EC KAC Dragons de Rouen
H Red Bull Salzburg HC Bolzano

Format

In each round except the final, the teams will play two games and the aggregate score will decide which team advances. As a rule, the first leg will be hosted by the team who has the inferior record in the tournament with the second leg being played on the home ice of the other team. If aggregate score is tied, a sudden death overtime will follow. 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 who has the better record in the tournament.

Bracket

The eight group winners and the eight second-placed teams advanced to the round of 16. The teams were divided into two seeding groups and group winners were randomly drawn against runners-up. Teams who had faced each other in the group stage could not be drawn against each other in the round of 16.

Round of 16 Quarter-finals Semi-finals Final
                  
HC Fribourg-Gottéron 2 2 4
EHC Red Bull München 4 3 7
EHC Red Bull München (OT) 2 2 3
Lukko 2 1 3
HC Bolzano 1 – 1
Lukko 3 – 3
EHC Red Bull München
Tappara
Växjö Lakers 2 2 4
Tappara 2 4 6
Tappara 3 4 7
Dragons de Rouen 3 0 3
Dragons de Rouen 3 1 4
Red Bull Salzburg 0 3 3
 
ZSC Lions 3 1 4
Rögle BK 4 3 7
Rögle BK 5 1 6
HC Sparta Praha 2 3 5
Skellefteå AIK 1 2 3
HC Sparta Praha 3 1 4
Rögle BK
Frölunda HC
Adler Mannheim 1 1 2
Frölunda HC 10 4 14
Frölunda HC 5 3 8
Leksands IF 2 3 5
EC KAC 4 1 5
Leksands IF 0 8 8

Round of 16

The draw for the entire playoff was held on 15 October 2021 in Zürich.[8][13] The first legs were played on 16 and 17 November with return legs played on 23 and 24 November 2021.

Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
HC Fribourg-Gottéron 4–7[A] EHC Red Bull München 2–4 2–3
HC Bolzano 1–3 Lukko 1–3 Cancelled[note 3]
Växjö Lakers 4–6 Tappara 2–2 2–4
Dragons de Rouen 4–3 Red Bull Salzburg 3–0 1–3
ZSC Lions 4–7 Rögle BK 3–4 1–3
Skellefteå AIK 3–4 HC Sparta Praha 1–3 2–1
Adler Mannheim 2–14 Frölunda HC 1–10 1–4
EC KAC 5–8[A] Leksands IF 4–0 1–8
  • ^
    Order of legs reversed after original draw.

    • Quarter-finals

    First legs were played on 7 December, return legs were played on 14 December 2021.

    Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
    Lukko 3–4 (OT) EHC Red Bull München 2–2 1–2
    Tappara 7–3 Dragons de Rouen 3–3 4–0
    HC Sparta Praha 5–6 Rögle BK 2–5 3–1
    Leksands IF 5–8 Frölunda HC 2–5 3–3

    Semi-finals

    First legs will be played on 4 January, return legs will be played on 11 January 2022.

    Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
    EHC Red Bull München 1 Tappara 4 Jan 11 Jan
    Rögle BK 2 Frölunda HC 4 Jan 11 Jan

    Final

    The final will be played on 1 March 2022.

    1 March 2022Winner SF 1 or Winner SF 2vWinner SF 1 or Winner SF 2

    Statistics

    Scoring leaders

    The following players are leading the league in points.[16]

    Player Team GP G A PTS PIM +/– GWG PPG SHG SOG S%
    Ryan Lasch Frölunda HC 10 3 13 16 0 +5 0 2 0 19 15.79%
    Frederik Tiffels Red Bull München 10 8 6 14 0 +9 2 0 0 30 26.67%
    Trevor Parkes Red Bull München 10 6 7 13 12 +10 1 3 0 22 27.27%
    Ludvig Larsson Rögle BK 10 4 8 12 6 0 0 3 0 16 25.00%
    Ben Street Red Bull München 10 3 9 12 2 +10 1 2 0 17 17.65%
    Lucas Ekeståhl Jonsson Rögle BK 10 2 10 12 0 –1 0 1 0 17 11.76%
    Adam Tambellini Rögle BK 8 5 6 11 0 +5 2 3 0 20 25.00%
    Scott Pooley Lukko 9 2 9 11 0 +6 1 1 0 38 5.26%
    Patrik Carlsson Frölunda HC 10 7 4 11 2 +2 2 2 2 19 36.84%
    Kristian Kuusela Lukko 10 0 11 11 0 +5 0 0 0 16 0.00%

    Leading goaltenders

    The following goaltenders are leading the league in save percentage, provided that they have played at least 40% of their team's minutes.[17]

    Player Team GP W L SV GA SV% GAA SO MIN
    Connor Hughes HC Fribourg-Gottéron 5 4 0 126 4 96,92% 0,94 2 255
    Lassi Lehtinen Lukko 5 3 2 111 6 94,87% 1,18 1 305
    Alexander Salák HC Sparta Praha 6 4 1 159 9 94,64% 1,58 0 357
    Matija Pintarič Rouen Dragons 10 4 5 388 22 94,63% 2,21 1 597
    Kevin Boyle HC Bolzano 4 3 1 145 9 94,16% 2,25 0 240

    Notes
    1. HC Donbass will play their home matches at Palace of Sports, Kyiv, instead of their regular arena Altair Arena, Druzhkivka.[3]
    2. HC Slovan Bratislava replaced Yunost Minsk due to the political situation in Belarus.[5]
    3. The round of 16 return game between Lukko and HC Bolzano has been cancelled as a number of players of Lukko were unavailable due to the COVID-19 protocol and it was decided to take into consideration only the result of the first game.[14][15]

    References
    1. "Qualification criteria updated for 2019/20". championshockeyleague.com. 19 September 2018. Retrieved 24 January 2019.
    2. "DEL mit vier Startplätzen in der Champions League" (in German). eishockey-magazin.de. 16 January 2021. Retrieved 8 April 2021.
    3. "Донбасс сыграет в хоккейной Лиге чемпионов в сезоне 2021/22". sportarena.com. 3 May 2021. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
    4. "HC Donbass Donetsk join the CHL!". championshockeyleague.com. 3 May 2021. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
    5. "Announcement of CHL Board decision". championshockeyleague.com. 8 June 2021. Retrieved 10 June 2021.
    6. "Slovan Bratislava join 2021/22 line-up!". championshockeyleague.com. 10 June 2021. Retrieved 10 June 2021.
    7. "Group stage draw date is set!". championshockeyleague.com. Retrieved 30 April 2021.
    8. "CHL playoff draw – Friday 15 October, 12:00 CEST". championshockeyleague.com. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
    9. "Race for 2021/22: Line-up complete!". championshockeyleague.net. Champions Hockey League. 8 May 2021.
    10. "Seeding for group stage draw". championshockeyleague.net. Champions Hockey League. 12 May 2021.
    11. "CHL Sport Regulations 2021–22" (PDF). championshockeyleague.com. Champions Hockey League. 2021. Retrieved 9 September 2021.
    12. "Tie-breaking rules for group stage games". championshockeyleague.com. Champions Hockey League. Retrieved 14 October 2021.
    13. "Line-up for playoff draw complete!". championshockeyleague.com. Retrieved 14 October 2021.
    14. "COVID-19 protocol announcement: Lukko Rauma – HC Bolzano cancelled". championshockeyleague.com. 23 November 2021. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
    15. "COVID-19 commitee decision: Lukko Rauma – HC Bolzano". championshockeyleague.com. 24 November 2021. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
    16. "Statistics 2021/22: Players". Champions Hockey League. Champions Hockey League (CHL) AG. Retrieved 21 October 2021.
    17. "Statistics 2021/22: Goalkeepers". Champions Hockey League. Champions Hockey League (CHL) AG. Retrieved 21 October 2021.
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