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2008–09 Champions Hockey League
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The 2008–09 Champions Hockey League will be the inaugural season of the Champions Hockey League, an IIHF organized ice hockey league for the best club teams in Europe. The first edition, starting October 8, 2008, will be played with 12 teams from seven countries (two teams each from Russia, Czech Republic, Sweden and Finland, one team each from Switzerland, Germany and Slovakia and a 12th team from one of these three countries, determined in a qualification tournament). [1] Every participating team is guaranteed an appearance fee of 300,000 euro and the winner will receive 1,000,000 euro. Prize money will also be awarded for winning group stage matches (50,000 euro), for the semi-final appearance (200,000 euro) and for the other finalist (500,000 euro). In total, 10 million euros per season will be distributed, the largest prize sum ever in a European hockey club competition. [2]
Participating teams
The 2008–09 edition of the Champions Hockey League will be played with twelve teams from Europe's top seven hockey leagues. Ten teams are qualified directly for the group stage due to their performances in the domestic leagues. The field is completed with the winner of last season's Champions Cup and one team from the qualifying tournament. The table below lists these teams together with the reasons for qualifying.[3]
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Metallurg Magnitogorsk |
Magnitogorsk, Russia |
2008 IIHF European Champions Cup winner |
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Salavat Yulaev Ufa |
Ufa, Russia |
Russian Super League champion |
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Kärpät Oulu |
Oulu, Finland |
Finnish SM-liiga champion |
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Espoo Blues |
Espoo, Finland |
Finnish SM-liiga playoff finalist |
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HC Slavia Praha |
Prague, Czech Republic |
Czech Extraliga champion |
|
HC České Budějovice |
České Budějovice, Czech Republic |
Czech Extraliga regular-season winner |
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HV71 |
Jönköping, Sweden |
Swedish Elitserien champion |
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Linköpings HC |
Linköping, Sweden |
Swedish Elitserien regular-season runner-up |
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HC Slovan Bratislava |
Bratislava, Slovakia |
Slovak Extraliga champion |
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ZSC Lions |
Zurich, Switzerland |
Swiss National League A champion |
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Eisbären Berlin |
Berlin, Germany |
Deutsche Eishockey-Liga champion |
 |
|
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Qualifying tournament winner |
Note: Because the Swedish regular-season winner (HV71) also won the play-offs, Linköpings HC as the runner-up of the regular-season will participate.
Qualifying tournament
These three teams will play a tournament on 12–14 September in Nuremberg, Germany. The winner will be qualified for the main stage of the Champions Hockey League.
Note: Because the Slovak regular-season winner (Slovan Bratislava) also won the play-offs, HC Košice as the runner-up of the regular-season can participate in the qualifying tournament.
Group stage
The draw for the group stage took place on Friday, 25 April 2008 in Zurich, Switzerland.[4] The twelve teams were drawn into groups of three. Each group will play a double round-robin and the best team will advance to the semi-finals.
Group A
Group B
| Team |
GP |
W |
OTW |
OTL |
L |
GF |
GA |
PTS |
| HV71 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Espoo Blues |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Qualifier |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Group C
Group D
Semi-finals
The semi-finals will be played as two-legged matches. Home ice advantage of the second game goes to the teams with the better records in the group stage.
First Semi-final
Second Semi-final
Finals
The final will also be played as a two-legged match. Home ice advantage of the second game goes to the team with the better record in the group stage. The winner qualifies for the 2009 Victoria Cup.
References
- ^ "Three teams to compete for 12th CHL spot". Retrieved on 2008-02-05.
- ^ "Europe's new Club Competition". Retrieved on 2008-01-19.
- ^ "Playoffs in Europe's Top-7 Leagues". Retrieved on 2008-04-23.
- ^ "Champions Hockey League groups drawn". Retrieved on 2008-04-25.
External links
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