2017-18 Champions Hockey League

[pled]

With the Slovak league over all the 32 teams for the next CHL are known.

Dates: 24 August 2017 – 6 February 2018

Qualified team:

SHL | Liiga | NLA | Czech Extraliga| DEL | EBEL | EIHL | Others
Frolunda|Tappara|Bern|Brno|Munchen|Vienna|Nottingham*|Gap (France)
Vaxjo|TPS|ZSC|Liberec|Mannheim|Salzburg|Cardiff|Esbjerg (Denmark)
HV71|KalPa|Zug|Trinec|Wolfsburg|KAC||Stavanger (Norway)
Brynas|JYP|Davos|Mountfield||||Grodno (Belarus)
Malmo|HIFK||||||Cracovia (Poland)
|||||||Banska Bystrica (Slovakia)

*Continental Cup winner


Groups:

| Group A | Group B | Group C | Group D| Group E | Group F | Group G | Group H
Pot 1|Tappara|Brno|Vienna|HV71|Vaxjo|Bern|Munchen|Frolunda
Pot 2|Salzburg|KalPa|Zug|Mannheim|Liberec|TPS|Brynas|ZSC
Pot 3|Wolfsburg|Malmo|JYP|Trinec|Davos|Mountfield|HIFK|KAC
Pot 4|Banska Bystrica|Stavanger|Grodno|Esbjerg|Cardiff|Nottingham|Cracovia|Gap

Click to read more...

 

[Eye of Ra]

Why do EIHL have 2 teams?

 

[filip85]

Why do EIHL have 2 teams?

Nottingham qualified as Continental Cup winner.

 

[Fragmuffin]

Any idea on what the Pots and seeding will look like?

 

[pled]

Any idea on what the Pots and seeding will look like?

probably next month

 

[joshyhockey26]

Any idea on what the Pots and seeding will look like?

I'm trying to remember when they did it previous years though I do remember it was streamed online.

 

[Jussi]

I'm trying to remember when they did it previous years though I do remember it was streamed online.

During the Worlds.

 

[albator71]

I love the new format, now only the clubs that deserve it are there, I think it will great hockey.

 

[pled]

I love the new format, now only the clubs that deserve it are there, I think it will great hockey.

only khl missing but I hope they accept the invitation one day

 

[ES]

Any idea on what the Pots and seeding will look like?

Probably something like:

Pot 1: 6 founding league champions, Swedish and Finnish #2
Pot 2: Rest of #2 teams, #3 from Sweden, Finland, Switzerland and Czech Rep
Pot 3: Rest of founding league teams
Pot 4: Challenger league teams

 

[rooster85]

only khl missing but I hope they accept the invitation one day

i don't understand why CHL don't invite clubs from KHL, but not from Russia. I know that these teams aren't champions, but they arguably are the best teams from their respective countries.

In my opinion there should be 40 clubs in CHL. 32 from new format plus:
33. Jegesmedvek (Hun, MOL Liga winner)
34. Medvescak (Cro, KHL, but FWIK their reserve team is Croation champion, so i think that they absolutely deserve to play in CHL)
35. Bolzano (Italian representative from best league with Italian club)
36. Dinamo Riga (Latvian representative from KHL)
37. Slovan Bratislava (from KHL, Slovaks should have 2 teams)
38. HDD Jesenice (Slovenia champions)
39. Dinamo Minsk (Belarus from KHL, Belarus - 2 teams)
40. Ukrainian champion

There would be a minor problem with playoff format (40 teams mean 10 groups), but i think it could be solved...

 

[pled]

i don't understand why CHL don't invite clubs from KHL, but not from Russia. I know that these teams aren't champions, but they arguably are the best teams from their respective countries.

In my opinion there should be 40 clubs in CHL. 32 from new format plus:
33. Jegesmedvek (Hun, MOL Liga winner)
34. Medvescak (Cro, KHL, but FWIK their reserve team is Croation champion, so i think that they absolutely deserve to play in CHL)
35. Bolzano (Italian representative from best league with Italian club)
36. Dinamo Riga (Latvian representative from KHL)
37. Slovan Bratislava (from KHL, Slovaks should have 2 teams)
38. HDD Jesenice (Slovenia champions)
39. Dinamo Minsk (Belarus from KHL, Belarus - 2 teams)
40. Ukrainian champion

There would be a minor problem with playoff format (40 teams mean 10 groups), but i think it could be solved...

they do invite them but the khl refuse the polish and uk playoff winner spot was offered to khl before and the other teams play in the continental cup of which the winner get into CHL like Nottingham did

 

[Fragmuffin]

I don't mind the KHL absence one bit.

They can keep expanding eastwards and leave the teams from established hockey countries playing in their respected national leagues.

The CHL is becoming better each year and this merit based qualification system will push it a further level.

 

[ThaiTanicDK]

Would be awesome if this tournament could kick off and be the hockey equivalent to UEFA champions league.

 

[ES]

i don't understand why CHL don't invite clubs from KHL, but not from Russia. I know that these teams aren't champions, but they arguably are the best teams from their respective countries.

In my opinion there should be 40 clubs in CHL. 32 from new format plus:
33. Jegesmedvek (Hun, MOL Liga winner)
34. Medvescak (Cro, KHL, but FWIK their reserve team is Croation champion, so i think that they absolutely deserve to play in CHL)
35. Bolzano (Italian representative from best league with Italian club)
36. Dinamo Riga (Latvian representative from KHL)
37. Slovan Bratislava (from KHL, Slovaks should have 2 teams)
38. HDD Jesenice (Slovenia champions)
39. Dinamo Minsk (Belarus from KHL, Belarus - 2 teams)
40. Ukrainian champion

There would be a minor problem with playoff format (40 teams mean 10 groups), but i think it could be solved...

If best Russian KHL team would be given a wild card to the first playoff round it could be doable.

10 group winners would advance, 10 runner-ups would play two-legged games for five more spots. Then there would be 16 teams with normal playoff system.

 

[pled]

If best Russian KHL team would be given a wild card to the first playoff round it could be doable.

10 group winners would advance, 10 runner-ups would play two-legged games for five more spots. Then there would be 16 teams with normal playoff system.

they did suggest that to khl but they still refused to play

 

[bordshockeypampen]

Probably something like:

Pot 1: 6 founding league champions, Swedish and Finnish #2
Pot 2: Rest of #2 teams, #3 from Sweden, Finland, Switzerland and Czech Rep
Pot 3: Rest of founding league teams
Pot 4: Challenger league teams

Good guess! They used that seeding, but with the CHL champion Frölunda in front of the founding league champions.

http://www.championshockeyleague.net/news/frolunda-hv71-and-tappara-top-seeds-for-chl-draw/2883

 

[tony d]

This sounds like a fun league. We already see TSN broadcasting soccer champions league games, wonder if they would do the same for hockey.

 

[pled]

just sad that its after the summer and not before

 

[Jussi]

just sad that its after the summer and not before

Kind of impossible to do before the summer.

 

[hansomreiste]

just sad that its after the summer and not before

Well technically, everything is both after and before summer, unless you have inside info about doomsday.

Would be awesome if this tournament could kick off and be the hockey equivalent to UEFA champions league.

Same here but let's face it, this will never be the case. First of all, football and ice hockey have major differences which prevents them from being regarded as similar. Unfortunately, hockey will always remain a niche sport. Maybe "niche" is not the correct term. Let's say, hockey will be interesting only for minority of people. No way to generate enough income to draw big sponsors or lure bigger clubs to give their everything for this competition.

New faces and fresh blood in hockey is always welcomed, so I totally support the idea of CHL but honestly this league won't be significantly better in next 10 years. Due to the pace of the sport, domestic leagues already have too many games. Add play-off frenzy to that. There is simply no room and energy to put into an international organization, which is not even lucrative or prestigious. I don't know about exact attendance figures but I'm pretty sure that fans of most teams don't care about this tournament either. Eisbären Berlin will never draw like 10K people against Frölunda, nor will they ever become a top hockey team in Europe. Swedes, Finns, Swiss etc. already have their own established, respected leagues and won't give %100 for CHL.

I really wish to be proven wrong in future but there is a fine line between optimistic and lunatic. There is absolutely no reason to believe that CHL will become a league worth winning. This is why KHL simply ignores it: there's no point in tiring players for this thing.

 

[Tuoppi]

Could it be possible that soccer teams like Bayern Munich, Galatasaray and Real Madrid establish hockey teams like they have done in basketball. FC Barcelona already has.

 

[Urbanskog]

Could it be possible that soccer teams like Bayern Munich, Galatasaray and Real Madrid establish hockey teams like they have done in basketball. FC Barcelona already has.

How would that be helpful? FCB's hockey branch isn't even particularly good in their national league.

 

[joshyhockey26]

Could it be possible that soccer teams like Bayern Munich, Galatasaray and Real Madrid establish hockey teams like they have done in basketball. FC Barcelona already has.

Pass. The course the CHL is taking is doing just fine. Quality of hockey is great just have to keep promoting it.

 

[hansomreiste]

Could it be possible that soccer teams like Bayern Munich, Galatasaray and Real Madrid establish hockey teams like they have done in basketball. FC Barcelona already has.

It's always possible and it could actually work but if you ask me, I'd rather keep hockey "clean" from those corporates which have ruined basketball and football enough already. I grew up with so much love for football and basketball, which slowly vanished away in recent years and is now almost completely gone. Honestly we don't need few teams that would pump money only to sweep everyone on their way to the championship.

Sure, hockey teams are not run by saints and it also is a business where dirty money can be involved but at least for now we have very competitive leagues and a relatively clean, nice fan base. So, in fact, while I'd be very happy if CHL became successful, I don't care much about it as long as hockey remains what it now is. I mean, if SHL, DEL, Liiga, NLA, KHL etc. keeps their level and producing some good hockey in years to come... It's fine.

I'm really interested to hear why people believe CHL will turn into a major league in future. For this, you need to make it a prestigious and lucrative. With fans pretty much uninterested barring few markets, this is almost impossible. Getting media exposure and TV deals is a pain in the arse for most hockey leagues, simply because most people are not interested in the sport. Incentives to make hockey more known to people can always work but the question is: who and why would pump money and effort into this?