A 24-strong line-up for the upcoming Champions Hockey League season is eagerly awaiting the CHL Draw which will take place on 24 May at 16:00 CEST at the IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship in Tampere, Finland.

Reigning European Club Champions Tappara Tampere became the first team to qualify for 2023/24 at the end of the last CHL season. A 10-week battle to qualify then followed in the domestic leagues, ending with the crowning of Czech Extraliga champions Oceláři Třinec at the end of April.

New Competition Format for 2023/24

The upcoming Champions Hockey League season will go ahead with a new format featuring 24 participating teams and an adapted structure which allows the CHL to run a balanced, attractive and entertaining competition.

While the Playoffs remain unchanged, the basic structure of a Regular Season (formerly Group Stage) will be in place with two key changes:

• Teams play six different opponents in the Regular Season instead of only three (teams play each other just once)
• Teams are ranked in overall standings from 1 to 24 instead of groups

How will the Regular Season fixtures be drawn?

Teams will be allocated into four pots featuring six teams each – similar to the old format. The seeding is dependent on the teams’ achievements in their national leagues and the respective league’s standing in the CHL League Ranking.

Each team is then drawn against six opponents - watch the video below for the full breakdown!

Qualification Overview:

Finland

• Tappara Tampere (CHL Champions & National Champions)
• Ilves Tampere (Regular Season runners-up)
• Lukko Rauma (Regular Season third-placed)
• Lahti Pelicans (Regular Season fourth-placed)

 
Sweden

• Växjö Lakers (National Champions)
• Skellefteå AIK (Regular Season runners-up)
• Färjestad Karlstad (Regular Season third-placed)

    
Switzerland

• Genève-Servette (National Champions)
• EHC Biel-Bienne (Regular Season runners-up)
• Rapperswil-Jona Lakers (Regular Season third-placed)

     
Germany

• Red Bull Munich (National Champions)
• ERC Ingolstadt (Regular Season runners-up)
• Adler Mannheim (Regular Season third-placed)

     
ICE Hockey League

• Red Bull Salzburg (AUT; National Champions)
• HC Bolzano (ITA; Regular Season winners)
• HC Innsbruck (AUT; Regular Season third-placed)

     
Czech Republic

• Oceláři Třinec (National Champions)
• Dynamo Pardubice (Regular Season winners)
• Vítkovice Ridera (Regular Season runners-up)

 
Challenger Leagues (5 places; National Champions only)

• Aalborg Pirates (DEN)
• Rouen Dragons (FRA)
• Stavanger Oilers (NOR)
• HC Košice (SVK)
• Belfast Giants (UK)

 

CHL Draw - Notes for the Media (PDF, 74 KB)

Club Overview (PDF, 884 KB)