2023–24 Champions Hockey League
The 2023–24 Champions Hockey League will be the ninth season of the Champions Hockey League, a European ice hockey tournament. The tournament will be competed by 24 teams, with qualification being on sporting merits only. Apart from the reigning champion, the six founding leagues will be represented by three teams each, while five "challenge leagues" will be represented by one team each.
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | September 2023 – February 2024[1] |
| Teams | 24 |
Format changes
Starting from the 2023–24 season the format will be changed. The number of teams will be reduced from 32 to 24 teams. The group stage will be replaced with the regular season in which teams will play six games each, with the teams being ranked in overall standings and 16 best-ranked teams advancing to the playoffs.
In the regular season draw, teams will be allocated into four pots featuring six teams each. The seeding will depend on the teams’ achievements in their national leagues and the respective league’s standing in the CHL league ranking. Each team will be drawn against two teams from each of the other three pots.
In the playoffs, teams will form pairs based on the overall regular season standings.[2]
For the first time since the 2015–16 season, the IIHF Continental Cup winners did not get a wild card spot.[3]
Team allocation
A total of 24 teams from different European first-tier leagues will participate in the league. Besides the title holders Tappara 18 teams from the six founding leagues, as well as the national champions from Denmark, France, Norway, Slovakia and the United Kingdom[4] will participate. The qualification criteria for national leagues is based on the following rules:[2]
- CHL champions
- National league champions (play-off winners)
- Regular season winners
- Regular season runners-up
- Regular season third-placed team
Note: the national league champions of the United Kingdom are distinct from the national champions, who are determined in play-offs following the regular season. In 2023, Belfast Giants won both competitions.[5]
Teams
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Regular season
In the regular season the 24 teams will be combined into one table. Each team will play home and away against six different opponents once. The best sixteen teams will qualify to the round of 16.
The draw of the regular season will take place on 24 May 2023 in Tampere, Finland.[6]
Pots
The participating teams were seeded into Pots A to D according to their achievements in their national leagues and their respective league’s standing in the CHL league ranking. The reigning CHL champions Tappara are the top seeded team and therefore given a place in pot A. The top pot also contains the reigning champions of four of the top five founding leagues according to the league rankings (Sweden, Switzerland, Germany and ICE Hockey League), as well as 2022–23 Liiga regular season runners-up.[7]
References
- "Playing dates 2022/23". championshockeyleague.com. 6 April 2022. Retrieved 6 April 2022.
- "New CHL competition format for 2023/24 revealed". championshockeyleague.com. 4 November 2022. Retrieved 4 November 2022.
- "CHL will not award Wild Card to IIHF Continental Cup Winners". championshockeyleague.com. 16 January 2023. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
- "Places for Challenger Leagues in 2023/24 confirmed". championshockeyleague.com. 14 March 2023. Retrieved 14 March 2023.
- "The CHL Format". championshockeyleague.com. Retrieved 24 January 2019.
- "2023/24 CHL Draw 24 May, 16:00 CEST". championshockeyleague.com. 16 May 2023. Retrieved 16 May 2023.
- "2023/24 CHL Draw Seeding". championshockeyleague.com. 17 May 2023. Retrieved 17 May 2023.