1st Czech Republic Hockey League

The Chance Liga is the second-highest level of professional ice hockey in the Czech Republic, after the Extraliga. It began in 1993 and is run and administered by Czech Ice Hockey Association.

1st Czech Republic Hockey League
Current season, competition or edition:
2019–20 Czech 1.liga season
SportIce hockey
Founded1993
No. of teams16
Country Czech Republic
Most recent
champion(s)		ČEZ Motor České Budějovice
Promotion toCzech Extraliga
Relegation toCzech 2.liga
Related
competitions		Czech Extraliga
Czech 2.liga
Official websitewww.hokej.cz

Until 2015, the league was known as the 1st Czech National Hockey League. It was then known as the WSM Liga until 2018.

Format

In the first phase, every team plays each other four times—twice at home and twice away—which makes for a 52-game regular season.

After the 52-game regular season, the first six teams directly qualify for the quarter-finals, while teams which placed 7 to 10 play a round-robin to determine the final two participants in the quarter-finals.

The First League, unlike other leagues around the world, has two winners. The playoffs end with the semi-finals, with the two winning teams being declared co-champions. The two teams then go on to face the bottom two teams from the Extraliga in a round-robin. The two highest-placed teams at the end of the round robin are promoted to the Extraliga for the following season.

The last placed team at the end of the regular season is directly relegated to the Second League for the following season. They are replaced by the winner of a 3 team round-robin group between the winners of the East, the Central and the West divisions of the Second League.

Three points are awarded for a win in regulation time and two points for an overtime or shootout victory, while the defeated team in overtime or shootout gets one point.

The level of 1.národní hokejová liga is slightly lower than the Czech Extraliga, but there are a lot of players moving between those two leagues every season. Each team in this league is allowed to have five imports. The league has no salary cap, with an average salary of USD 2200 per month, but some of the best players reportedly sign contracts for more than USD 5000 per month, plus most of the teams cover accommodation expenses for their players during the season.

2019–2020 teams
Current teams
Team Location Arena Founded Joined Affiliate Team
HC Benátky nad Jizerou Benátky nad Jizerou Zimní stadion Benátky (cap.: 1 700) 1934 2008 Bílí Tygři Liberec (ELH), HC Sparta Praha (ELH), BK Mladá Boleslav (ELH)
HC AZ Havířov 2010 Havířov K&K PNEU Aréna (cap.: 5 100) 2010 2013 independent
ČEZ Motor České Budějovice České Budějovice Budvar Aréna (cap.: 6 421) 2013 2013 independent
HC Baník Sokolov Sokolov Zimni stadion Sokolov (cap.: 5 000) 1945 2019 independent
VHK Vsetín Vsetín Zimní stadion Na Lapači (cap.: 5 400) 1905 2017 independent
HC Slavia Praha Prague Zimní stadion Eden (cap.: 4 000) 1909 2015 independent
HC Stadion Litoměřice Litoměřice Kalich Arena (cap.: 1 750) 1949 2010 Mountfield HK (ELH)
ZUBR Přerov Přerov Zimní stadion Přerov (cap.: 3 000) 1928 2015 independent
HC Frýdek-Místek Frýdek-Místek Hala Polárka (cap. 2056) 1976 2016 HC Oceláři Třinec (ELH)
HC Slovan Ústečtí Lvi Ústí nad Labem Zimní stadion Ústí nad Labem (cap.: 6 500) 1946 2008 independent
LHK Jestřábi Prostějov Prostějov Zimní hokejový stadion Prostějov (cap.: 5 125) 1913 2014 independent
HC Dukla Jihlava Jihlava Horácký zimní stadion (cap.: 7 500) 1956 2018 independent
SK Horácká Slavia Třebíč Třebíč Zimní stadion města Třebíče (cap.: 5 000) 1928 1997 HC Kometa Brno (ELH)
SK Kadaň Kadaň Zimní stadion Kadaň (cap.: 3 000) 1958 1998 independent
HC RT TORAX Poruba Ostrava-Poruba Zimní stadion Ostrava - Poruba (cap.: 5 000) 1946 2018 independent
Piráti Chomutov Chomutov SD aréna (cap.: 5 250) 1945 2019 independent

Champions
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