The Champions Hockey League – Europe’s club championship that is played concurrently with domestic national leagues – concluded its regular season last month, with the top 16 teams advancing to the playoffs. The next two weeks will see that number reduced to eight, as the teams have all been seeded and paired up, and will play two-game, home-and-away series, with the winners on aggregate scores advancing.
The first legs will be played this Tuesday and Wednesday at the home of the lower-ranked team, and the return legs next Tuesday and Wednesday. No overtime will be played after the first games, even if they are tied. If any series is tied on total goals after 120 minutes of hockey, a 10-minute, 3-on-3, sudden-death overtime period will be played, followed by a shootout, if necessary.
The round of 16 matchups are:
(1) Ilves Tampere FIN vs (16) Pinguins Bremerhaven GER
Cross-town rival Tappara won the CHL in 2022-23 and now is Ilves’ turn to shine. The only team to finish the regular season with a perfect record faces a Bremerhaven side that just snuck into the playoffs on a tiebreaker.
Key players: Ilves – Matic Torok, Simon Johansson, Dominik Pavlat; Bremerhaven: Jan Urbas, Akito Hirose, Kristers Gudlevskis.
(2) KalPa Kuopio FIN vs (15) ZSC Lions Zurich SUI
Despite not losing a game and having the CHL’s second-best record during the regular season, KalPa might enter this tie as the underdog against the reigning European Trophy holders from Zurich.
Key players: KalPa – Teemu Hartikainen, Konsta Kapanen, Stefanos Lekkas; Zurich – Denis Malgin, Sven Andrighetto, Vinzenz Rohrer, Simon Hrubec.
(3) Frolunda Gothenberg SWE vs (14) Grenoble FRA
Winner of four CHL titles in five years from 2016 to 2020, Frolunda is heavily favoured against a French team that has already taken down teams from Switzerland and Germany.
Key players: Frolunda – Erik Thorell, Ivar Stenberg, Christian Folin, Lars Johansson; Grenoble – Francois Beauchemin, Christophe Boivin, Matija Pintaric.
(4) Sparta Prague CZE vs (13) EV Zug SUI
A highly-anticipated matchup between two proud clubs, the team from the Czech capital faces a team that with some high-profile Czech and Slovak stars.
Key players: Sparta – Michael Spacek, Jakub Krejcik, Mark Pysyk, Josef Korenar; Zug – Dominik Kubalik, Tomas Tatar, Jan Kovar, Leonardo Genoni.
(5) Lukko Rauma FIN vs (12) Storhamar Hamar NOR
Rauma hometown hero Antti Raanta was a CHL MVP candidate last year with Geneve-Servette. This year he’ll try to lead his team past a Norwegian squad looking to go to the quarterfinals for the first time.
Key players: Lukko – Mikael Ruohomaa, Eric Gelinas, Antti Raanta; Storhamar – Andreas Martinsen, Stefan Espeland, Markus Stensrud.
(6) ERC Ingolstadt GER vs (11) Red Bull Salzburg AUT
A high-scoring Ingolstadt squad faces the four-time reigning ICEHL champions that are looking for a return trip to the CHL quarters.
Key players: Ingolstadt – Riley Barber, Kenny Agostino, Devin Williams; Salzburg – Michael Raffl, Thomas Raffl, Atte Tolvanen.
(7) SC Bern SUI vs (10) Brynas Gavle SWE
Perhaps no matchup has more combined star power than this – a Bern squad stocked with Swedes and Brynas, whose roster is loaded with past and future NHLers. One point separated these teams in the regular season.
Key palyers: Bern – Waltteri Merela, Emil Bemstrom. Hardy Aktell, Adam Reideborn; Brynas – Jakob Silfverberg, Nicklas Backstrom, Lucas Pettersson, Johannes Kinnvall, Damian Clara.
(8) Kometa Brno CZE vs (9) Lulea Hockey SWE
Not much to choose between these teams that finished the regular season with identical records. Both have been European club champions before – Lulea in 2014-15 and the Brno club three straight years in the late 1960s.
Key players: Kometa – Jakub Flek, Libor Zabransky, Ales Stezka; Lulea – Filip Eriksson, Frederic Allard, Matteus Ward.
Check the CHL website for the complete round of 16 schedule.
The quarter-finals will be played in December and the semis in January using the same format as the round of 16. The one-game final is scheduled for Tuesday, 3 March, after the Olympic break.
Starting this season, CHL games are streamed on IIHF.tv. You can find more information about the availability of IIHF.tv streams here.