The Champions Hockey League’s quarter-finals concluded with the return games of the two-game total-goal series on Tuesday, reducing the remaining field of teams from eight to four. The three Swedish teams that took aggregate-score leads in their first games – Lulea Hockey, Brynas Gavle and Frolunda Gothenburg – have all advanced. The fourth quarter-final between EV Zug from Switzerland and Lukko Rauma from Finland is the only one that saw the team trailing after the first game come back to win.

The four semi-finalists, therefore, include three teams from Sweden and one from Switzerland – scroll down to see the match-ups.
 

And then there were four... 🏆#ChampionsGoBeyond pic.twitter.com/jS7lVXYXmA

— Champions Hockey League (@championshockey) December 16, 2025

(9) Lulea Hockey SWE def (1) Ilves Tampere FIN 6-2 (3-2, 3-0)

Two points from Mathias Brome helped Lulea to a narrow 3-2 win in the first game at home. The return game in Tampere remained scoreless through 40 minutes before Lulea added three goals – two assisted by defenceman Frederic Allard – in the third. Matteus Ward made 29 saves for the shutout.

Despite winning its first eight CHL games of the season in regulation time, Ilves is now done after this defeat. Lulea, which won the CHL in 2014/15, is headed to the semi-finals for the third time.

(10) Brynas Gavle SWE def (2) KalPa Kuopio FIN 8-3 (5-1, 3-2)

Andreas Okany scored just 25 seconds into the first game for KalPa, but then it was all Brynas, who scored five straight goals. In a balanced attack, Axel Jonsson-Fjallby was the only player with two points. Starting the return game in Kuopio with a comfortable lead, Brynas won again, 3-2, with Mattias Norlinder scoring twice.

Like Ilves, KalPa was unbeaten in its first eight CHL games of the season but has fallen to a Swedish powerhouse in the quarters. This is Brynas’ first trip to the CHL final four but it did get this far in the IIHF European Cup three times in the ‘70s and made the final twice.

(3) Frolunda Gothenburg SWE def (6) ERC Ingolstadt GER 5-3 (3-1, 2-2)

Ingolstadt struck first on home ice in the first game, but Frolunda stormed back to win by two goals. Ingolstadt then led the return game 2-1 but still trailed by one on aggregate score, leading to Max Lindholm’s late empty-net goal.

Ingolstadt was seeking to become the first German team other than Red Bull Munich to reach the CHL semis. Frolunda, on the other hand, is by far the most successful team in CHL history with four titles, five finals and seven previous semi-final appearances.

(13) EV Zug SUI def (5) Lukko Rauma FIN 4-3 (1-3, 3-0)

Each team won on home ice. Ponthus Westerholm scored twice and Antti Raanta made 28 saves in Lukko’s first-game win; then Gregory Hofmann scored twice and Leonardo Genoni had a 30-save shutout in Zug’s return-game win. Including Lukko’s 1-0 win in their regular-season meeting, these two teams tied 4-4 over 180 minutes of hockey.
 

🚨 GOAL 🚨

Second period of dreams just keeps on giving as @official_EVZ go into the lead of their series! 🚀#ChampionsGoBeyond pic.twitter.com/AGciHQ3xgs

— Champions Hockey League (@championshockey) December 16, 2025

Lukko had previously been to the CHL semis twice, and this will now be Zug’s second trip to the final four. It’s now up to Zug to keep the European Trophy in Switzerland, following wins by Geneve-Servette and the ZSC Lions the past two years.

Semi-final matchups

• (9) Lulea Hockey SWE vs (10) Brynas Gavle SWE

• (3) Frolunda Gothenburg SWE vs (13) EV Zug SUI

Lulea and Brynas is a rematch of last year’s SHL finals, which Lulea won in six games. Frolunda and Zug have never met in the CHL, which somewhat surprising since this is the ninth time each team has made the competition.

Like the round of 16 and quarter-finals, the semi-finals will be played in two legs, with one game on each team’s home ice – the higher-seeded team gets the second game at home, subject to arena availability. The first games are scheduled for 13-14 January and the return games for 20-21 January – the CHL will announce the schedule soon.

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.

For the full schedule and more information about the competition, visit the Champions Hockey League website.