It's always the most 'wonderful time of the year', and as we hit the middle of March its Playoff time across almost all of Europe's top leagues!
- Most leagues now into Quarter-Final stage
- Cardiff Devils could win League Championship tonight
- Belarus, France, Norway & Poland at Semi-Finals
Founding Leagues
The Austrian EBEL is now well into the Quarter-Final stage of its season. Vienna Capitals and Red Bull Salzburg, who have both already secured places in the CHL, both have 3-0 series leads and could clinch the Semi-Finals tonight. In the other ties KAC Klagenfurt lead Bolzano, while Medvesčak Zagreb are a game up on Black Wings Linz.
In the Czech Extraliga, HC Pilsen and Mountfield HK are already qualified for the CHL through the league. Fighting for the two additional places are Bílí Tygři Liberec, Oceláři Třinec, HC Olomouc, Kometa Brno, Vitkovice Ridera Ostrava and Dynamo Pardubice. With action already under way Kometa, Třinec, Mountfield, and Olomouc have early series leads.
In the DEL we know that Red Bull Munich and Eisbären Berlin and both back in the Champions Hockey League next season. Bremerhaven, ERC Ingolstadt, Adler Mannheim, Grizzlys Wolfsburg, Nurnberg Ice Tigers, and Kolner Haie are all in the running for the one other place offered to German teams.
The Swiss League Playoffs are also in full swings in the Quarter-Final stage. While Bern have a 3-0 lead on Geneva, the EV Zug-ZSC (1-2) Lions, EHC Biel-HC Davos (2-1) and Lugano - Fribourg-Gottéron (2-1) series are all much closer.
In Finland and Sweden, the Liiga and SHL are both still in the 'Play-In' stages of their respective post-seasons. The SHL has already seen its defending champions, HV71, crash out to Linköping, while one-time CHL Champions Luleå and Brynäs contest the other series before the 'Playoffs Proper' begin. Likewise in Finland, where Kärpät Oulu and TPS Turku are waiting to find out their Quarter-Final Opponents from the 'Play-In' round. JYP Jyväskyla, IFK Helsinki, Tappara Tampere, and KalPa Kuopio are all already in the post-season.
Find out who's already qualified - here.
Challenger Leagues
Here's where things are actually starting to get a bit more exciting! In Great Britain the Elite League winners qualify for the CHL, rather than Playoff Champions. Cardiff Devils can secure back-to-back titles tonight if they can win in Belfast. Should they lose ot the Giants they'll have another chance at home on Sunday, but could also win the title should Manchester Storm failed to win in between.
Belarus are in the Semi-Final stage of their Playoffs, with Neman Grodno and Yunost Minsk both up early in their series; while in France Grenoble & Bordeaux, and Rouen and Amiens, are locked in 2-2 ties in their Semi-Finals.
Aalborg have already booked their Semi-Final place over in Denmark, while Esbjerg Energy, Herning Blue Fox, and Rungsted all have 2-1 series leads in the Quarter-Finals. Remember only the Playoff Champions qualify for the CHL.
The Norwegian Semi-Finals have just started, but we know there we'll see a new team next year after Stavanger Oilers were knocked out in the Quarter-Finals. Storhamar Hamar won the regular season, and would mark a second CHL appearance if they were to go on and take the Championship.
We are getting very close to the Polish finals, with Tychy 3-1 up on MMKS Podhale. In the other series, Katowice lead Comarch Cracovia 2-1 - Cracovia have been in the CHL in both of the previous two seasons. Finally it's Quarter-Final time in Slovakia too. Previous CHL sides Nitra, Košice, and Banská Bystrica have all made it into the post-season, although the latter two play each other in this round already.