CHL Season Review 2018/19

ANNIVERSARY 2018/19 was special for the Champions Hockey League: The competition was running its operations for the fifth consecutive season. As building a pan-European club competition in ice hockey was a struggle before, this is a great success. Furthermore, fan and club acceptance are growing and contracts are already in place until 2022/23. The future looks bright! Happy anniversary! 5 YEARS OF TOP-NOTCH CLUB ICE HOCKEY IN EUROPE: THE CHL IS HERE TO STAY 10 2014/15 SEASON Final: Luleå Hockey–Frölunda Indians 4-2 Venue: Coop Norbotten Arena Capacity: 6,200 attending (sold out) The Champions Hockey League became the new pan-European club competition featuring 44 clubs from 11 leagues and 12 countries. The season ended with game No. 161 on 9 February 2015 with an all-Swedish Final where home team Luleå Hockey de- feated the Frölunda Indians 4-2, staging a dramatic third-period four-goal comeback after being down 2-0 after two. 2015/16 SEASON Final: Kärpät Oulu – Frölunda Indians 1-2 Venue: Oulun Energia-Areena Capacity: 6,200 attending (sold out) For its second season of play, the CHL increased in size from 44 to 48 teams. A team from Be- larus was welcomed which in- creased the number of partici- pating leagues to 12. Overall, 157 games were played including the Final between Kärpät Oulu and Frölunda Indi- ans on 9 February 2016 where the Swedes made up for their loss in the 2015 Final, winning 2-1 in Oulu. 2016/17 SEASON Final:Frölunda Indians–Sparta Prague 4-3 OT Venue: Frölunaborgs Isstadion Capacity: 6,044 attending (sold out) The league continued with 48 teams and Poland was announced as a newWild Card country. This expanded the number of leagues taking part to 13. The season culminated in the Final in Gothenburg on 7 Febru- ary 2017. Frölunda contested their third straight Final and made history by winning back-to-back CHL titles after a dramatic 4-3 overtime win over Sparta Prague. 2017/18 SEASON Final: Växjö Lakers – JYP Jyväskylä 0-2 Venue: Vida Arena Capacity: 5,750 attending (sold out) The fourth CHL season started with big changes: The league was cut down to 32 teams with all having to earn their places on sporting merits. 125 games were played over the season all the way through to the final showdown in Växjö on 6 February 2018. For the first time in CHL history the trophy left Sweden as JYP Jyväskylä shut out the Lakers in a 2-0 win.