Of the Champion Hockey League's 11 founding and challenger leagues, six have now crowned their regular season winners with four – HC Kosice, the Herning Blue Fox, the Stavanger Oilers and Ocelari Trinec – qualifying for CHL C- or B-Licenses.
by Luke Fisher
Hockey in Europe really has hit the business end of the season now, with many leagues ending the regular season, and the play-offs on the horizon. That, of course, means that we are beginning to see the make-up of next year’s Champions Hockey League!
Austria
With the EBEL now split into two halves, Red Bull Salzburg go marching on at the top of the Pick Round – now some five points clear with four games to go. This will mean they can choose any one of the other seven playoff teams as their opponents. Linz put up some resistance to the Bulls’ dominance, but now find themselves only three points above Orli Znojmo. The Czech side meet Hungarians Alba Volan Szekesfehervar on Friday, which is a real battle for third place. The Vienna Capials meanwhile sit last, and sacked coach Tom Pokel after Friday’s defeat to Fehervar. In the Qualification Group, HC Bolzano came from two goals down to beat Klagenfurt AC on home ice, while the Graz 99ers’ shutout win over Innsbruck puts them into second. Dornbirn kept their slim chances alive with a win in Slovenia.
Czech Republic
Ocelari Trinec have clinched top spot in the Czech Extraliga with a 4–1 win over Kometa Brno on Sunday, thereby re-qualifying for a CHL B-License. HC Litvinov sit comfortably in second, seven points ahead of Kometa in third, with Sparta Prague a further point behind. Those four are pretty securely in the playoff picture, as are fifth-placed Mountfield Hradec Kralove – some 10 points above the teams below them with three games to play. Then there's a real glut of teams from sixth to 10th separated by two points, including PSG Zlin, who have recovered well from their horrible start.
Denmark
As you may have read this past weekend, Blue Fox Herning have secured a place in next season’s CHL by winning the Metal Ligaen before the regular season finished. The real battle now is for second place, with SonderjyskE Vojens holding a two-point lead over the Frederikshavn White Hawks. That will be decided on Tuesday, when Frederikshavn host the Odense Bulldogs and SonderjyskE host the Herlev Eagles. Finishing second place means qualifying for a C-License if Herning also win the playoff title.
Finland
Finland’s Liiga will carry on well into the middle of March, so all is done as settled there as in several other countries. That said, Karpat Oulu leads the league by 10 points over KalPa Kuopio, who in turn are a win above Tappara Tampere and Lukko Rauma. JYP Jyvaskyla and the Espoo Blues complete the automatic playoff picture, both another point further behind. IFK Helsinki, SaiPa Lappeenrana, Assat Pori and Ilves Tampere occupy positions six through 10, with the latter comfortably ahead of the Lahti Pelicans, chasing 10th place. Meanwhile, IFK Helsinki are just a point behind the automatic qualifiers above them.
France
The Grenoble Bruleurs de Loup took top spot in the regular season, as the French league now moves into its playoffs. How the system works you can read in an extended piece here; but Grenoble, Rouen, Gap, and Angers are all automatically qualified to the quarter-finals. Dijon overcame Charmonix in three games, as did Amiens over Morzine. Briancon and Brest are currently tied at two games each, while Epinal and Strasbourg also find themselves locked in battle after four games in their series.
Germany
Only two matchdays remain in Germany, plus a couple of odd games as a few teams catch up with their games in hand. Both Adler Mannheim and Red Bull Munich have secured direct places to the quarter-finals, with Mannheim all but confirmed as regular season champions. The Hamburg Freezers and ERC Ingolstadt look to have secured their playoff berths, while Dusseldorf and Iserlohn are also almost there. Wolfsburg could still make the automatic quarter-final places, should they win their two games left and other results go their way. Kölner Haie find themselves two points outside of the playoff picture, with Krefeld Pinguine hanging on to the 10th and last spot.
Great Britain
The Braehead Clan won their conference this weekend and sit three points clear in the league as well – although the Sheffield Steelers have a game in hand. Both of those sides, plus now the Cardiff Devils in third, have secured playoff spots, whilst some poor recent form has seen the Nottingham Panthers slip down to fourth, and the Belfast Giants to fifth.
Norway
The Stavanger Oilers secured their place in next year’s CHL on Saturday by winning the Norwegian Ligaen regular season. In truth, they have led the league for the best part of the season and so it was no surprise when the time came. With three games to go, they lead by 11 points. Storhamar, Sarpsborg, Lorenskog, and Frisk Asker complete the top five as the season heads into the final games.
Slovakia
Winning the Slovak Extraliga will see HC Kosice back in the CHL next season, with just one round left the club finds itself an impressive 13 points clear of nearest rivals Nitra. Banska Bystrica complete the top three, with a five point cushion, as the playoffs loom.
Sweden
There are still five rounds to go in Sweden, and although it’s still mathematically possible to catch Skelleftea AIK, it would need a huge drop from the league leaders, and the Vaxjo Lakers winning almost all of their remaining games, to see any change. Vaxjo and Frolunda Gothenburg are separated by just a point in second and third respectively, with Linkoping HC, Orebro HK and HV71 Jonkoping completing the top six. Farjestad Karlstad remain hopeful of overtaking at least HV71 as the season draws to a close.
Switzerland
With one round left in Switzerland, ZSC Lions Zurich have clinched the regular season title over SC Bern – leading by four points with only a maximum of three at stake. Bern still need a win to hold on to second spot, with HC Lugano three points behind them. In turn, should Lugano lose, both EV Zug and HC Davos could beat them to third position. Geneve-Servette, Lausanne, and Biel complete the playoff picture, with Fribourg-Gotteron and the teams below too far below to catch up.