CHL Season Review 2018/19

The 2018/19 Champions Hockey League featured a good mixture of teams. Some were new, some were returning, but all of them had the same goal: to compete with the continent’s elite and to make it as far as possible in the battle for the European Trophy. T he heat for the 2018/19 Champions Hockey League season was already on when the “race to qualify” climaxed at the end of regu- lar seasons and in the playoffs of national leagues. Clubs, fans and media picked it up in a very enthusiastic way, giving the CHL an additional buzz and reach. From February to April, almost week by week, the question was raised: who’s in? Eventually, 32 teams from 13 leagues and 14 countries qualified. HC Bolzano, the Italian champion in the Austrian EBEL league added an extra country to the CHL map. 19 out of the 32 qualified teams had been competing in the previous season already, while 10 were returning and three were completely new to the competition (Aal- borg Pirates/DEN, GKS Tychy/POL, THOMAS SABO Ice Tigers/GER). 32 TEAMS STRIVING FOR EUROPEAN GLORY The record of participating teams was the following: 15 champions (CHL Champions JYP Jyväskylä, IIHF Continental Cup Winners Yunost Minsk & 13 National Champions) 3 Regular Season Winners 6 Regular Season Runners-up 4 National League Finalists 3 National League Semi-Finalists 1 Regular Season third-placed team All together the participating teams hold a total of 220 national championships between them. Truly a group who deserved to compete in the Champions Hockey League! SWITZERLAND ITALY DENMARK UNITED KINGDOM FRANCE NORWAY AUSTRIA SLOVAKIA SWEDEN FINLAND CZECH REPUBLIC GERMANY POLAND BELARUS MEET THE TEAMS Are you keen to learn more about the CHL teams, their players and their cities? Check out our “Meet the Teams” videos provided by each club – and enjoy the diversity of Europe! 15 THE CLUBS