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Geneve & Davos advance to Swiss semis, qualify for CHL
Christophe Bays and Geneve-Servette are headed back to the CHL. by Geneve-Servette/Eric Lafargue/CHL via Getty Images

On Thursday night, Swiss clubs Geneve-Servette and HC Davos won their respective quarter-final series and on Saturday night, they were joined in the semi-finals by ZSC Lions Zurich and SC Bern. Because the latter two clubs are both CHL Founding Clubs, Geneve and Davos qualify for B-Licenses for 2015–16. 

CHL News

The four semi-finalists are now known in the Swiss National League A, as ZSC Zurich Lions will face Geneve-Servette and SC Bern will go up against HC Davos. Because Zurich and Bern are both CHL Founding Clubs, Geneve and Davos qualify for the league's two B-Licenses for the 2015–16 Champions Hockey League season.

Geneve and Davos both secured their berths in the final four on Thursday. Geneve defeated HC Lugano 5–2 while Davos eliminated CHL A-License-holder EV Zug with a 4–3 win. Both teams were the lower seeds in their quarter-final series, and advanced after winning on home ice in the sixth games of their respective series. While these victories secured their places in the semi-finals, their CHL fate didn't become known until Saturday.

That's because the Zurich–EHC Biel and Bern–Lausanne HC series both went seven games. Zurich and Bern are both CHL Founding Clubs but Biel and Lausanne are not. Therefore, had Biel and/or Lausanne won on the road on Saturday night, there could have been three or four clubs in the semi-finals that were not already qualified for next season's CHL, which would have meant waiting to see which teams advanced to the league finals before we'd know who would qualify for one or both B-Licenses.

As it was, both of the home teams, and series favourites, won – top-seed Zurich 5–2 over eighth-seeded Biel and second-seeded Bern with a dramatic 2–1 overtime victory over Lausanne.

For Geneve, it means a return ticket to the CHL, where they fared well in 2014–15, finishing tied atop Group C with eventual-finalist Frolunda Gothenburg before bowing out in the eighth-final to SaiPa Lappeenranta in a dramatic shootout. 

Davos are new to the Champions Hockey League but are no strangers to international club hockey, as they host the annual Spengler Cup invitational tournament each December. Coincidentally, Geneve-Servette have won the Spengler Cup the past two years. 

 
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