Champions Hockey League
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| Founded | 2008 |
|---|---|
| Abolished | 2009 |
| Region |  Europe |
| Number of teams | 12 (group stage) 29 (total) |
| Current champions |  ZSC Lions (1) |
| Television broadcasters | Europe: various USA: Universal Sports CAN: The Score |
The Champions Hockey League was a short lived ice hockey league which was launched in 2008–09 by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). Its creation coincided with the IIHF's 100th anniversary.[1] The league included the best teams in European ice hockey. The financial reward for progressing to the CHL Group Stage was a portion of the 16.9 million Swiss francs that is distributed evenly between the teams with a 1,000,000 Swiss franc[2] bonus going to the winner; the largest monetary reward ever given in any European ice hockey competition.[1] The Champions Hockey League replaced the IIHF European Champions Cup,[3] the former competition for Europe's top ice hockey teams. The Silver Stone Trophy, which has been awarded to the top club team in European hockey since 1997, was the CHL's championship trophy.[1]
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[edit] Cancellation
The IIHF announced on June 15, 2009 that the Champions Hockey League the 2009–10 season will be canceled, and claim that the league will resume in 2010–11, with the possible contribution of the NHL.[4] The continuation of the league was already called into question in January when the main sponsor, Gazprom, as well as Reebok, pulled out of their commitment to sponsor the league for three seasons.[5] Conflict with the NHL also arose, whereby the European sponsors lead by Gazprom were willing to fund 50-60% of the leauge and control, whereas the NHL offered to fund up to 60%, but wanted full control of the league's operations.
JYP and possibly Blues are considering legal actions against IIHF for the cancellation of the CHL, the latter of the two teams not yet being fully embursed for the prior season. Thomas Rundqvist, the director of Färjestads was also overly skeptical about the IIHF's plan to restart the C.H.L. in 2010-11. "They talk about picking it up next year, but I don't believe it. It is pure Donald Duck behavior in this case. You cannot burn people's trust and then believe that you can just resume it again in a year".
"The clubs have blocked out game dates and C.H.L. participation in their budget-planning consideration", Gernot Tripcke, the general manager of the German DEL said. "We, along with the qualified clubs and our friends in hockey leagues in Europe, are considering legal claims arising from this contract"
In Switzerland, DEL's call for legal action, was echoed by SC Bern's general manager, Marc Lühti. Lühti explained that SC Bern is already deep into the preparations for next season, and that all the planning has been made with a view to SC Bern's participation in the C.H.L.
[edit] Format
The first qualification round will consist of 18 European national club champions who were ranked 7-24 on the IIHF's European club ranking list. These 18 teams will be split into 6 groups of 3 clubs. The 6 winners will advance to the second qualification round where they will face the runners up (the teams that didn't win the championship of their respective league) of the top-6 rated leagues in a two-legged match, meaning they will be decided on aggregate or the total score of two games. The winners of the second qualification round will advance to the next round (called the CHL group stage) where they will be included with the champions of the top-6 rated European leagues. The teams in round one will then be split-up into four groups of three where they will all compete in a double round-robin-type series. The winners from each of the four groups will advance to the semi-final where they will play again on aggregate in one home and one away game. The winners of the semi-finals will play each other in the finals where they will, once again, play on aggregate. The winner of the final will win the 1,000,000 Swiss franc bonus and the CHL competition.
2008 IIHF League Ranking[6]:
 Russia |
Kontinental Hockey League | Two teams guaranteed in the 2008-2009 CHL |
 Finland |
SM-liiga | |
 Czech Republic |
Czech Extraliga | |
 Sweden |
Elitserien | |
 Slovakia |
Slovak Extraliga | One team guaranteed in the 2008-2009 CHL + one possible qualifier |
| Switzerland |
National League A | |
 Germany |
Deutsche Eishockey Liga | |
 Belarus |
Belarusian Hockey League | Teams from these leagues for Qualification Round 1 for 2009-2010 |
 Latvia |
Latvian Hockey League | |
 Denmark |
Oddset Ligaen | |
 Austria |
Austrian Hockey League | |
 Kazakhstan |
Kazakhstani Championship | |
 Norway |
GET-ligaen | |
 France |
Ligue Magnus | |
 Slovenia |
Slovenian Hockey League | |
 Italy |
Serie A | |
 Hungary |
OB I bajnokság | |
 Poland |
Polska Liga Hokejowa | |
 Netherlands |
Eredivisie | |
 Ukraine |
Ukrainian Major League | |
 Great Britain |
Elite Ice Hockey League | |
 Romania |
Liga Naţională de hochei |
[edit] Seasons
[edit] List of Champions Hockey League finals
| Year | Final | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Winner | Score | Runner-up | |
| 2008-09 Details |
ZSC Lions |
2 - 2 / 5 - 0 Aggregate 7 - 2 |
Metallurg Magnitogorsk |
[edit] 2008–09 Season
Because of the limited preparation time, the first edition was played with only 12 teams from the top seven leagues in Europe. The four top leagues (Russia, Czech Republic, Sweden and Finland) are represented with two teams each. The leagues ranked 5-7 (Slovakia, Switzerland and Germany) are represented with one team. A second team from Switzerland (SC Bern), qualified for the main stage by winning a qualifying tournament which was held in September.[7] The final was won by the ZSC Lions from Switzerland, beating Russian team Metallurg Magnitogorsk.
[edit] 2009–10 Season
Before the cancellation the second season of the Champions Hockey League was going to be expanded to two qualification stages with a total of 29 teams from 22 different countries participating. The main phase, however, was still going to be contested by 12 teams, among them the 7 champions of the top leagues which are directly qualified for the groups stage.[8]
[edit] Victoria Cup
Every year, the Champions Hockey League winner and one team from the National Hockey League will play for the IIHF-run Victoria Cup.[3] The criteria by which the NHL/IIHF will select the teams to go to the Victoria Cup has not yet been released.[9] The winner of the Victoria Cup will receive 1,000,000 Swiss francs.
[edit] Broadcasting
The CHL was broadcast across Europe on various national TV networks, as well as on the Internet.
It could also be watched regularly in some extra-European markets. Universal Sports (part of the NBC Universal group) is the league's broadcaster in the United States, while The Score holds Canadian rights. [10]
[edit] References
- ^ a b c "Champions Hockey League launch planned for 08-09". http://www.ihwc.net/english/article/news/index.ihwc?artId=2477. Retrieved on 2007-05-22.
- ^ € 617.087 or $ 904.650 on February 4, 2008.
- ^ a b "IIHF announces NHL-European Victoria Cup". http://live82.ihwc.net/english/article/news/index.ihwc?&artId=2646. Retrieved on 2007-05-22.
- ^ "CHL to re-launch in 2010–11". IIHF. http://www.iihf.com/home-of-hockey/news/news-singleview/article/chl-to-re-launch-in-2010-11.html. Retrieved on 2009-06-15.
- ^ http://www.internationalhockey.net/club_tournaments/hockey_champions_league/3107-chl_iihf_pulls_plug_european_hockey_clubs_consider_legal_action.html
- ^ "Russian league tops first CHL ranking". http://www.iihf.com/home-of-hockey/club-events/news-singleview-club-events/article/russian-league-tops-first-chl-ranking-copy-1.html. Retrieved on 2008-03-07.
- ^ "Europe's new Club Competition". http://www.iihf.com/home-of-hockey/club-events/champions-hockey-league.html. Retrieved on 2008-01-19.
- ^ "CHL league races are on". http://www.iihf.com/home-of-hockey/news/news-singleview/article/chl-league-races-are-on.html. Retrieved on 2008-12-22.
- ^ "Winner of Victoria Cup will receive 1 million Swiss francs". http://www.eurohockey.net/news/story.html?id=20070509191357winnerofvictoriacupwillreceive1millionswissfrancs. Retrieved on 2007-05-23.
- ^ "Official List of Champions Hockey League Broadcasters". http://www.championshockeyleague.com/index.php?id=248&cHash=2294382a91. Retrieved on 2008-12-28.
[edit] External links
- Official website
- IIHF website
- Champions Hockey League newsletter
- CHLTV - official Youtube channel
- Watch All Games & Finals (USA Viewers)
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