2018–19 Champions Hockey League
Tournament details
Dates30 August 2018 – 5 February 2019
Teams32
Final positions
Champions Sweden Frölunda HC[1] (3rd title)
Runner-up Germany Red Bull München
Tournament statistics
Games played125
Goals scored738 (5.9 per game)
Attendance425,050 (3,400 per game)
Scoring leader(s)United States Ryan Lasch[2] (22 points)
MVPCanada Trevor Parkes[3]

The 2018–19 Champions Hockey League was the fifth season of the Champions Hockey League, a European ice hockey tournament. The tournament was competed by 32 teams, and qualification was on sporting merits only. The six founding leagues were represented by between three and five teams (based on a four-year league ranking), while seven "challenge leagues" were represented by one team each. One place was awarded to the Continental Cup champion. Unlike in the first three editions, founding teams did not automatically qualify.[4] The group stages began on 30 August 2018, and ended on 17 October 2018.[5] The season had an average attendance of 3,401 per game, one percent increase from the previous season.[6]

Swedish team Frölunda HC won their third Champions Hockey League title, defeating Red Bull München, the first German team to reach the final, 3–1 at the Scandinavium in Gothenburg.[1]

Team allocation

A total of 32 teams from different European first-tier leagues participated in the 2018–19 Champions Hockey League. Besides the Continental Cup champions, 24 teams from the six founding leagues, as well as the national champions from Slovakia, Norway, Denmark, France, Belarus, the United Kingdom and Poland qualified.

The qualification for these places was set out in the rules as follows:[7]

  1. National league champion (play-off winners)
  2. Regular season winners
  3. Regular season runner-up
  4. Losing play-off finalist
  5. Higher regular season ranked losing semi-finalist
  6. Lower regular season ranked losing semi-finalist
  7. Third placed team in regular season
  8. Fourth placed team in regular season
  9. Fifth placed team in regular season.

Teams

Team City/Area League Qualification Participation Previous best
Finland JYP Jyväskylä SM-liiga 2018 CHL winner 5th Champion
Sweden Växjö Lakers Växjö Swedish Hockey League play-off champion 5th final
Sweden Djurgårdens IF Stockholm Swedish Hockey League regular season runner-up 4th round of 16
Sweden Skellefteå AIK Skellefteå Swedish Hockey League play-off finalist 4th semi-finals
Sweden Malmö Redhawks Malmö Swedish Hockey League play-off semi-finalist 2nd round of 16
Sweden Frölunda HC Gothenburg Swedish Hockey League regular season third place 5th Champion
Finland Kärpät Oulu Liiga play-off champion 4th final
Finland TPS Turku Liiga regular season runner-up 5th quarter-finals
Finland Tappara Tampere Liiga play-off finalist 5th round of 16
Finland HIFK Helsinki Liiga play-off semi-finalist 5th quarter-finals
Czech Republic Kometa Brno Brno Czech Extraliga play-off champion 2nd quarter-finals
Czech Republic HC Plzeň Plzeň Czech Extraliga regular season winner 2nd round of 32
Czech Republic Mountfield HK Hradec Králové Czech Extraliga regular season runner-up 2nd group stage
Czech Republic Oceláři Třinec Třinec Czech Extraliga play-off finalist 4th semi-finals
Switzerland ZSC Lions Zürich National League play-off champion 5th quarter-finals
Switzerland SC Bern Bern National League regular season winner 5th quarter-finals
Switzerland EV Zug Zug National League regular season runner-up 5th round of 16
Switzerland HC Lugano Lugano National League play-off finalist 2nd round of 16
Germany Red Bull München Munich Deutsche Eishockey Liga play-off champion 4th round of 16
Germany Eisbären Berlin Berlin Deutsche Eishockey Liga regular season runner-up 4th round of 16
Germany Nürnberg Ice Tigers Nuremberg Deutsche Eishockey Liga play-off semi-finalist 1st
Italy HC Bolzano Bolzano Austrian Hockey League play-off champion 2nd group stage
Austria Vienna Capitals Vienna Austrian Hockey League regular season first round winner 5th round of 16
Austria Red Bull Salzburg Salzburg Austrian Hockey League regular season pick round runner-up 5th round of 16
Belarus Yunost Minsk Minsk Belarusian Extraleague Continental Cup winner 2nd round of 32
Belarus Neman Grodno Grodno Belarusian Extraleague play-off champion 3rd group stage
Slovakia HC '05 Banská Bystrica Banská Bystrica Tipsport Liga play-off champion 2nd group stage
Norway Storhamar Ishockey Hamar GET-ligaen play-off champion 2nd round of 16
United Kingdom Cardiff Devils Cardiff Elite Ice Hockey League regular season champion 2nd group stage
Denmark Aalborg Pirates Aalborg Metal Ligaen play-off champion 1st
France Dragons de Rouen Rouen Ligue Magnus play-off champion 2nd group stage
Poland GKS Tychy Tychy Polska Hokej Liga play-off champion 1st

Group stage

Teams in the 2018–19 Champions Hockey League
Black: Group A; Purple: Group B; Blue: Group C; Red: Group D; Orange: Group E; Green: Group F; White: Group G; Yellow: Group H.

For the group stage, the teams were drawn into 8 groups of 4 teams. Each team played home and away against every other team for a total of 6 games. The best 2 teams qualified to the round of 16.[8]

Pots

As the reigning CHL champions, JYP were the top seeded team. In the top pot were also the reigning champions of the six founding leagues and the regular season winner of SHL. The 16 remaining teams from founding leagues were placed to pots 2 and 3. The fourth pot included playoff champions of seven challenge leagues and Yunost Minsk, the champion of 2017–18 IIHF Continental Cup.[9]

Pot 1 Pot 2 Pot 3 Pot 4

Finland JYP
Sweden Växjö Lakers
Finland Kärpät
Czech Republic Kometa Brno
Switzerland ZSC Lions
Germany Red Bull München
Italy HC Bolzano
Sweden Djurgårdens IF

Finland TPS
Czech Republic HC Plzeň
Switzerland SC Bern
Germany Eisbären Berlin
Austria Vienna Capitals
Sweden Skellefteå AIK
Finland Tappara
Czech Republic Mountfield HK

Switzerland EV Zug
Germany Nürnberg Ice Tigers
Austria Red Bull Salzburg
Sweden Malmö Redhawks
Finland HIFK
Czech Republic Oceláři Třinec
Switzerland HC Lugano
Sweden Frölunda HC

Slovakia HC '05 Banská Bystrica
Belarus Neman Grodno
Norway Storhamar Ishockey
United Kingdom Cardiff Devils
Denmark Aalborg Pirates
France Dragons de Rouen
Poland GKS Tychy
Belarus Yunost Minsk

Group stage tie-breaking criteria

If two teams were tied in points after the group stage was finished, the teams precedence was decided by head-to-head games. If teams were tied after that, then the team which was ranked higher prior to the tournament took precedence. When comparing head-to-head results, the following criteria were applied:[8]

  1. more points in games against the other tied team
  2. better goal difference in games against the other tied team
  3. more goals scored against the other tied team
  4. more goals scored in a single game against the other tied team
  5. overtime wins against the other tied team
  6. more goals scored in the two game winning shot competitions
  7. higher position in the 2017–18 CHL club ranking

Group A

Pos Team Pld W OTW OTL L GF GA GD Pts Qualification FHC ZSC VIC ABP
1 Sweden Frölunda HC 6 4 0 1 1 22 11 +11 13[lower-alpha 1] Advance to Playoffs — 4–2 1–4 6–0
2 Switzerland ZSC Lions 6 3 2 0 1 26 18 +8 13[lower-alpha 1] 3–2 (SO) — 7–4 6–5 (OT)
3 Austria Vienna Capitals 6 2 0 1 3 19 22 −3 7 1–4 2–6 — 2–3 (OT)
4 Denmark Aalborg Pirates 6 0 1 1 4 11 27 −16 3 1–5 1–2 1–6 —
Source: championshockeyleague.net
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
Notes:
  1. 1 2 Head-to-head points: Frölunda HC 4, ZSC Lions 2.

Group B

Pos Team Pld W OTW OTL L GF GA GD Pts Qualification MAL RBM TPS YUN
1 Sweden Malmö Redhawks 6 4 0 0 2 24 16 +8 12[lower-alpha 1] Advance to Playoffs — 6–1 8–4 4–1
2 Germany Red Bull München 6 4 0 0 2 19 17 +2 12[lower-alpha 1] 3–2 — 5–1 4–3
3 Finland TPS 6 2 0 0 4 15 21 −6 6[lower-alpha 2] 1–2 5–3 — 3–1
4 Belarus Yunost Minsk 6 2 0 0 4 13 17 −4 6[lower-alpha 2] 6–2 0–3 2–1 —
Source: championshockeyleague.net
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
Notes:
  1. 1 2 Head-to-head goal difference: Malmö Redhawks +4, Red Bull München –4.
  2. 1 2 Head-to-head goal difference: TPS +1, Yunost Minsk –1.

Group C

Pos Team Pld W OTW OTL L GF GA GD Pts Qualification SKE HCB HIFK GKS
1 Sweden Skellefteå AIK 6 4 0 2 0 27 13 +14 14 Advance to Playoffs — 2–1 3–4 (OT) 6–2
2 Italy HC Bolzano 6 2 2 0 2 20 16 +4 10 4–3 (SO) — 4–1 6–4
3 Finland HIFK 6 2 1 1 2 14 18 −4 9 1–5 1–2 (SO) — 2–1
4 Poland GKS Tychy 6 1 0 0 5 16 30 −14 3 1–8 5–3 3–5 —

Group D

Pos Team Pld W OTW OTL L GF GA GD Pts Qualification EVZ KOM BER NEM
1 Switzerland EV Zug 6 5 0 1 0 22 12 +10 16 Advance to Playoffs — 2–1 6–1 2–3 (OT)
2 Czech Republic Kometa Brno 6 3 0 0 3 18 16 +2 9 2–3 — 4–3 6–2
3 Germany Eisbären Berlin 6 2 0 0 4 17 21 −4 6 3–5 2–3 — 4–1
4 Belarus Neman Grodno 6 1 1 0 4 14 22 −8 5 2–4 4–2 2–4 —

Group E

Pos Team Pld W OTW OTL L GF GA GD Pts Qualification TAP STO DIF TRI
1 Finland Tappara 6 4 1 1 0 29 12 +17 15 Advance to Playoffs — 6–1 5–1 3–2 (OT)
2 Norway Storhamar 6 2 1 1 2 17 20 −3 9 3–2 (SO) — 2–3 (OT) 6–2
3 Sweden Djurgårdens IF 6 2 1 0 3 21 19 +2 8 3–5 5–2 — 3–4
4 Czech Republic Oceláři Třinec 6 1 0 1 4 13 29 −16 4 2–8 2–3 1–6 —

Group F

Pos Team Pld W OTW OTL L GF GA GD Pts Qualification KAR DRA NIT MHK
1 Finland Kärpät 6 4 1 0 1 27 14 +13 14 Advance to Playoffs — 4–0 9–3 3–2
2 France Dragons de Rouen 6 3 0 0 3 15 15 0 9 2–4 — 4–2 2–0
3 Germany Nürnberg Ice Tigers 6 2 1 0 3 17 25 −8 8 4–3 2–5 — 4–3 (OT)
4 Czech Republic Mountfield HK 6 1 0 2 3 12 17 −5 5 3–4 (SO) 3–2 1–2 —

Group G

Pos Team Pld W OTW OTL L GF GA GD Pts Qualification RBS SCB VLH CAR
1 Austria Red Bull Salzburg 6 4 0 1 1 18 15 +3 13[lower-alpha 1] Advance to Playoffs — 2–1 4–3 4–2
2 Switzerland SC Bern 6 3 2 0 1 15 11 +4 13[lower-alpha 1] 2–1 (SO) — 4–3 3–2
3 Sweden Växjö Lakers 6 2 1 0 3 21 18 +3 8 5–2 1–2 — 3–1
4 United Kingdom Cardiff Devils 6 0 0 2 4 14 24 −10 2 2–5 2–3 (OT) 5–6 (OT) —
Source: championshockeyleague.net
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
Notes:
  1. 1 2 Head-to-head points: Red Bull Salzburg 4, SC Bern 2.

Group H

Pos Team Pld W OTW OTL L GF GA GD Pts Qualification HCP LUG JYP BAB
1 Czech Republic HC Plzeň 6 5 1 0 0 25 14 +11 17 Advance to Playoffs — 3–2 4–2 6–4
2 Switzerland HC Lugano 6 3 0 0 3 13 12 +1 9 2–3 — 2–0 4–1
3 Finland JYP 6 2 0 0 4 16 14 +2 6 2–6 0–1 — 6–0
4 Slovakia HC '05 Banská Bystrica 6 1 0 1 4 13 27 −14 4 2–3 (OT) 5–2 1–6 —

Playoffs

Qualified teams

Group Winners (seed) Runners-up
A Sweden Frölunda HC (6) Switzerland ZSC Lions
B Sweden Malmö Redhawks (8) Germany Red Bull München
C Sweden Skellefteå AIK (4) Italy HC Bolzano
D Switzerland EV Zug (2) Czech Republic Kometa Brno
E Finland Tappara (3) Norway Storhamar
F Finland Kärpät (5) France Dragons de Rouen
G Austria Red Bull Salzburg (7) Switzerland SC Bern
H Czech Republic HC Plzeň (1) Switzerland HC Lugano

Format

In each round except the final, the teams played two games and the aggregate score decided the team which advanced. As a rule, the first leg was hosted by the team who had the inferior record in the tournament to that point and the second leg was played on the home ice of the other team. If aggregate score was tied, a sudden death overtime followed. If the overtime is scoreless, the team who wins the game winning shot competition advanced.[8]

The final was played on the home ice of the team who had the better record in the tournament on 5 February 2019.

Bracket

The eight group winners and the eight second-placed teams advanced to the Round of 16. The teams were divided into two seeding groups and group winners were randomly drawn against runners-up. Teams who had faced each other in the group stage could not be drawn against each other in the round of 16.[8] The draw took place in Helsinki, Finland on 19 October 2018.[10]

Round of 16 Quarter-finals Semi-finals Final
                  
1 Germany Red Bull München 2 2 4
16 Switzerland EV Zug 3 0 3
Germany Red Bull München (OT) 2 5 7
Sweden Malmö Redhawks 1 5 6
8 Switzerland SC Bern 1 0 1
9 Sweden Malmö Redhawks 4 1 5
Germany Red Bull München 0 3 3
Austria Red Bull Salzburg 0 1 1
5 Switzerland ZSC Lions 4 2 6
12 Finland Kärpät 4 3 7
Finland Kärpät 2 1 3
Austria Red Bull Salzburg 3 1 4
4 France Dragons de Rouen 3 1 4
13 Austria Red Bull Salzburg 3 5 8
Germany Red Bull München 1
Sweden Frölunda HC 3
6 Czech Republic Kometa Brno 5 5 10
11 Finland Tappara 1 5 6
Czech Republic Kometa Brno 1 1 2
Sweden Frölunda HC 4 6 10
3 Switzerland HC Lugano 1 4 5
14 Sweden Frölunda HC 1 5 6
Sweden Frölunda HC 6 3 9
Czech Republic HC Plzeň 3 1 4
7 Norway Storhamar 4 2 6
10 Sweden Skellefteå AIK 4 3 7
Sweden Skellefteå AIK 3 1 4
Czech Republic HC Plzeň (SO) 3 2 5
2 Italy HC Bolzano 1 2 3
15 Czech Republic HC Plzeň 6 6 12

Note:

  1. The teams listed on top of each tie were runners up in the group stage and play the first leg at home. The bottom team were group winners and play the second leg at home. The Malmö Redhawks, however, ended up playing their first leg at home due to their arena being reserved on 20 November.
  2. The order of the legs (which team starts at home) in the future rounds may be changed as the team with the best record should have the second game at home.

Final

5 February 2019
19:00 (UTC+1)		Frölunda HC Sweden3–1
(1–0, 2–0, 0–1)		Germany Red Bull MünchenScandinavium, Gothenburg
Attendance: 12,044
Game reference
Johan GustafssonGoaliesDanny aus den BirkenReferees:
Finland Mikko Kaukokari
Austria Mark Lemelin
Linesmen:
Finland Hannu Sormunen
Switzerland Balazs Kovacs
Fagemo (Genoway, Friberg) (PP) – 10:321–0
Lasch (Lundqvist, Hjalmarsson) (PP) – 24:162–0
Westerholm (Hjalmarsson, Lundqvist) (PP) – 34:273–0
3–151:29 – Ehliz (Seidenberg, Voakes) (PP, EA)
14 minPenalties24 min
31Shots36

Statistics

Scoring leaders

The following players led the league in points.[11]

Player Team GP G A PTS PIM +/– GWG PPG SHG SOG S%
United States Ryan Lasch Sweden Frölunda HC 13 5 17 22 6 +4 2 3 0 26 19.23%
Canada Chay Genoway Sweden Frölunda HC 13 6 10 16 35 +1 0 4 0 36 16.67%
Canada John Mitchell Germany Red Bull München 11 2 12 14 24 +6 0 1 0 26 7.69%
Sweden Nicklas Lasu Finland Kärpät 9 8 5 13 2 +4 1 4 2 25 32.00%
Czech Republic Milan Gulaš Czech Republic HC Plzeň 10 8 5 13 8 +11 2 2 0 38 21.05%
Canada Trevor Parkes Germany Red Bull München 9 9 3 12 18 +5 3 2 1 29 31.03%
Finland Jarkko Malinen Finland Tappara 7 2 10 12 2 +4 0 0 0 11 18.18%
Sweden Oscar Möller Sweden Skellefteå AIK 10 7 4 11 0 +6 1 2 0 48 14.58%
Czech Republic David Stach Czech Republic HC Plzeň 10 3 8 11 0 –2 1 2 0 18 16.67%
Austria Peter Schneider Austria Vienna Capitals 6 7 3 10 29 0 1 4 0 27 25.93%

Leading goaltenders

The following goaltenders led the league in save percentage, provided that they have played at least 40% of their team's minutes.[12]

Player Team GP W L SV GA SV% GAA SO MIN
Sweden Cristopher Nihlstorp Sweden Malmö Redhawks 4 2 2 108 7 93.91% 1.75 0 240
United States Steve Michalek Austria Red Bull Salzburg 10 4 3 264 19 93.29% 1.90 0 600
Slovenia Matija Pintarič France Dragons de Rouen 8 3 4 290 21 93.25% 2.65 1 475
Sweden Johan Mattsson Sweden Frölunda HC 6 3 2 122 9 93.13% 1.69 0 319
Switzerland Leonardo Genoni Switzerland SC Bern 8 5 3 203 15 93.12% 1.86 1 483

References

  1. 1 2 Hampson, Oliver (5 February 2019). ""Tre kronor" for Frölunda after beating Munich in final". Champions Hockey League. Champions Hockey League (CHL) AG. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
  2. ↑ Fisher, Luke (5 February 2019). "Lasch finishes season as LGT Top Scorer". Champions Hockey League. Champions Hockey League (CHL) AG. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
  3. ↑ O'Brien, Derek (5 February 2019). "Parkes wins Betsson MVP Trophy". Champions Hockey League. Champions Hockey League (CHL) AG. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
  4. ↑ "New CHL format for 2017–18! 32 teams & on-ice qualification only". championshockeyleague.net. 14 June 2016. Archived from the original on 30 November 2016. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  5. ↑ Fisher, Luke (25 May 2018). "Schedule for 2018/19 released". www.championshockeyleague.com. Retrieved 23 August 2018.
  6. ↑ "Champions Hockey League 2018/19 attendance stats". hockey.sigmagfx.com. 5 February 2019. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
  7. ↑ "Number of teams for founding leagues in 2017-18 confirmed". championshockeyleague.net. 13 February 2017. Archived from the original on 14 February 2017. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  8. 1 2 3 4 "CHL sport regulations 2018/19" (PDF). championshockeyleague.net. Champions Hockey League.
  9. ↑ "Seedings for 2018/19 draw revealed". championshockeyleague.net. Champions Hockey League. 4 May 2018.
  10. ↑ "Playoff draw on Friday 19 October". championshockeyleague.com. 12 October 2018. Retrieved 17 October 2018.
  11. ↑ "Statistics 2018/19: Players". Champions Hockey League. Champions Hockey League (CHL) AG. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
  12. ↑ "Statistics 2018/19: Goalkeepers". Champions Hockey League. Champions Hockey League (CHL) AG. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.