2018–19 Champions Hockey League

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]

2018–19 Champions Hockey League
Tournament details
Dates30 August 2018 – 5 February 2019
Teams32
Final positions
Champions  Frölunda HC[1] (3rd title)
Runner-up  Red Bull München
Third place  HC Plzeň
Red Bull Salzburg
Tournament statistics
Matches played125
Goals scored738 (5.9 per match)
Attendance425,050 (3,400 per match)
Scoring leader(s) Ryan Lasch (Frölunda HC)[2]
(22 points)
MVP Trevor Parkes (Red Bull München)[3]

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

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]

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 will take precedence. When comparing head-to-head results, the following criteria was 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 2016/17 CHL club ranking
Pot 1 Pot 2 Pot 3 Pot 4

JYP
Växjö Lakers
Kärpät
Kometa Brno
ZSC Lions
Red Bull München
HC Bolzano
Djurgårdens IF

TPS
HC Plzeň
SC Bern
Eisbären Berlin
Vienna Capitals
Skellefteå AIK
Tappara
Mountfield HK

EV Zug
Nürnberg Ice Tigers
Red Bull Salzburg
Malmö Redhawks
HIFK
Oceláři Třinec
HC Lugano
Frölunda HC

HC '05 Banská Bystrica
Neman Grodno
Storhamar Ishockey
Cardiff Devils
Aalborg Pirates
Dragons de Rouen
GKS Tychy
Yunost Minsk

Group A
Pos Team Pld W OTW OTL L GF GA GD Pts Qualification FHC ZSC VIC ABP
1 Frölunda HC 6 4 0 1 1 22 11 +11 13 Advance to Playoffs — 4–2 1–4 6–0
2 ZSC Lions 6 3 2 0 1 26 18 +8 13 3–2 (SO) — 7–4 6–5 (OT)
3 Vienna Capitals 6 2 0 1 3 19 22 −3 7 1–4 2–6 — 2–3 (OT)
4 Aalborg Pirates 6 0 1 1 4 11 27 −16 3 1–5 1–2 1–6 —
Source: championshockeyleague.net

Group B
Pos Team Pld W OTW OTL L GF GA GD Pts Qualification MAL RBM TPS YUN
1 Malmö Redhawks 6 4 0 0 2 24 16 +8 12 Advance to Playoffs — 6–1 8–4 4–1
2 Red Bull München 6 4 0 0 2 19 17 +2 12 3–2 — 5–1 4–3
3 TPS 6 2 0 0 4 15 21 −6 6 1–2 5–3 — 3–1
4 Yunost Minsk 6 2 0 0 4 13 17 −4 6 6–2 0–3 2–1 —
Source: championshockeyleague.net

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

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

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

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

Group G
Pos Team Pld W OTW OTL L GF GA GD Pts Qualification RBS SCB VLH CAR
1 Red Bull Salzburg 6 4 0 1 1 18 15 +3 13 Advance to Playoffs — 2–1 4–3 4–2
2 SC Bern 6 3 2 0 1 15 11 +4 13 2–1 (SO) — 4–3 3–2
3 Växjö Lakers 6 2 1 0 3 21 18 +3 8 5–2 1–2 — 3–1
4 Cardiff Devils 6 0 0 2 4 14 24 −10 2 2–5 2–3 (OT) 5–6 (OT) —
Source: championshockeyleague.net

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

Playoffs

Qualified teams
Group Winners (seed) Runners-up
A Frölunda HC (6) ZSC Lions
B Malmö Redhawks (8) Red Bull München
C Skellefteå AIK (4) HC Bolzano
D EV Zug (2) Kometa Brno
E Tappara (3) Storhamar
F Kärpät (5) Dragons de Rouen
G Red Bull Salzburg (7) SC Bern
H HC Plzeň (1) 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 8 group winners and the 8 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 couldn't 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
                                         
  Red Bull München 2 2 4  
  EV Zug 3 0 3  
    Red Bull München (OT) 2 5 7  
    Malmö Redhawks 1 5 6  
  SC Bern 1 0 1
  Malmö Redhawks 4 1 5  
    Red Bull München 0 3 3  
    Red Bull Salzburg 0 1 1  
  ZSC Lions 4 2 6  
  Kärpät 4 3 7  
    Kärpät 2 1 3
    Red Bull Salzburg 3 1 4  
  Dragons de Rouen 3 1 4
  Red Bull Salzburg 3 5 8  
    Red Bull München 1
    Frölunda HC 3
  Kometa Brno 5 5 10  
  Tappara 1 5 6  
    Kometa Brno 1 1 2
    Frölunda HC 4 6 10  
  HC Lugano 1 4 5
  Frölunda HC 1 5 6  
    Frölunda HC 6 3 9
    HC Plzeň 3 1 4  
  Storhamar 4 2 6  
  Skellefteå AIK 4 3 7  
    Skellefteå AIK 3 1 4
    HC Plzeň (SO) 3 2 5  
  HC Bolzano 1 2 3
  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 3–1
(1–0, 2–0, 0–1)		 Red Bull MünchenScandinavium, Gothenburg
Attendance: 12,044

Statistics

Scoring leaders

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

Player Team GP G A PTS PIM +/– GWG PPG SHG SOG S%
Ryan Lasch Frölunda HC 13 5 17 22 6 +4 2 3 0 26 19.23%
Chay Genoway Frölunda HC 13 6 10 16 35 +1 0 4 0 36 16.67%
John Mitchell Red Bull München 11 2 12 14 24 +6 0 1 0 26 7.69%
Nicklas Lasu Kärpät 9 8 5 13 2 +4 1 4 2 25 32.00%
Milan Gulaš HC Plzeň 10 8 5 13 8 +11 2 2 0 38 21.05%
Trevor Parkes Red Bull München 9 9 3 12 18 +5 3 2 1 29 31.03%
Jarkko Malinen Tappara 7 2 10 12 2 +4 0 0 0 11 18.18%
Oscar Möller Skellefteå AIK 10 7 4 11 0 +6 1 2 0 48 14.58%
David Stach HC Plzeň 10 3 8 11 0 –2 1 2 0 18 16.67%
Peter Schneider 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
Cristopher Nihlstorp Malmö Redhawks 4 2 2 108 7 93.91% 1.75 0 240
Steve Michalek Red Bull Salzburg 10 4 3 264 19 93.29% 1.90 0 600
Matija Pintarič Dragons de Rouen 8 3 4 290 21 93.25% 2.65 1 475
Johan Mattsson Frölunda HC 6 3 2 122 9 93.13% 1.69 0 319
Leonardo Genoni SC Bern 8 5 3 203 15 93.12% 1.86 1 483

References
  1. 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. 2016-06-14. Archived from the original on 2016-11-30. Retrieved 2018-01-20.
  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. 2017-02-13. Archived from the original on 2017-02-14. Retrieved 2018-01-20.
  8. "CHL sport regulations 2018/19" (PDF). championshockeyleague.net. Champions Hockey League.
  9. "Seedings for 2018/19 draw revealed". championshockeyleague.net. Champions Hockey League. 2018-05-04.
  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.
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