The 2015/16 season enjoyed its fair share of hallmarks, highlights, heartbreaks, and bittersweet moments. Let’s look back at a few:

• Continuing their dominance from the previous season, teams from Northern Europe outplayed the competition as they claimed top place in 11 of the 16 groups

• Both Norwegian teams shined in their Group Stage performances. Storhamar Hamar topped both Sparta Prague and Swiss contender Genève-Servette. While the Stavanger Oilers, skating in their second season, beat out Czech side Oceláři Třinec and Finnish side KalPa Kuopio in their group
• Storhamar defeated Red Bull Salzburg in the Round of 32 to continue their surprise run towards a CHL title. However, the Norwegians would only make it to the Round of 16, as TPS Turku took them down after two tightly contested matches
• Newcomers Neman Grodno posted a shutout in their first-ever CHL match, but failed to advance past the Group Stage following 3 consecutive losses
• Young phenom Auston Matthews made his debut with ZSC Lions Zurich. Matthews managed 1 assist in 2 games as Zurich fell to Sparta in the Round of 32
• Finnish side Kärpät Oulu were nearly ousted in their Round of 16 match-up with Sparta Prague. After breezing through their Round of 32 opponents Düsseldorfer EG, Kärpät’s four-goal performance in the second match was the saving grace that secured their place in the Quarter-Finals
• In what could have been an upset for the ages, the Frölunda Indians were almost eliminated by ERC Ingolstadt from Germany in their Round of 32 battle. Despite Ingolstadt netting 4 goals in the second contest, Frölunda's aggregate score of 6 was enough to propel them on to the Round of 16
• Defending champions Luleå Hockey also had a close-call in their Round of 32 match-up against fellow Swedish club Färjestad Karlstad. After dropping the first game, the Swedes found their skating legs and blanked Karlstad in the second contest to advance further
• Fans of Swiss side HC Davos were thrilled to see their team make it all the way to the Quarter-Finals in the club's CHL debut 

This season’s Quarter-Finals mirrored the 2014/15 campaign with one or two unexpected exceptions:

• In a shocking turn of events, Swiss squad HC Davos made news when they ended Skellefteå’s season. Davos bested the Swedish side to become the first non-Nordic team to enter the Semi-Finals

• In a repeat of last season's Final, Frölunda and Luleå battled it out in the Quarter-Finals. Luleå skated away with the first game, but Frölunda battled back in the second match posting 6 tallies and going on to win the match-up by an aggregate of 8:7. This was their second CHL Final appearance in as many years
• While Swedes battled Swedes, Finns took on Finns as Lukko Rauma went head-to-head against TPS Turku in a nail-biting Quarter-Finals contest. After splitting the first game, the two sides forced a shoot-out. Fast-forward to the sixth round of the shoot-out where Lukko’s Turo Asplund showed off his heroics when he tucked it in for the win
• Despite not notching a single goal in their second game, Kärpät's five-goal performance in game one over Finnish side Espoo Blues was enough to send them to the Semi-Finals

Following the Quarter-Final clashes, the Semi-Finals pitted two returning squads in the Frölunda Indians and Kärpät Oulu against two newcomers, Lukko Rauma and Swiss surprise HC Davos.

Despite Davos’ incredible inaugural run for the title, they were unable to muster any magic against an Indians team that was hungry for a second trip to the Final. Their lone goal of the series came in the second match when Andres Ambühl scored on the powerplay. For their part, Frölunda lit the lamp five times in the first match and once more in the second to seal the deal. Kärpät Oulu, however, had their hands full with Lukko Rauma. Echoing their previous series, Lukko, again, tied their first game making their second match even more critical. Unfortunately, the Finns were unable to conjure the same success, as Kärpät sunk two goals in the final stanza and went on to win 3-2 with a de facto aggregate score of 5:4.

Whatever is to be expected when two elite teams face each other is exactly what happened in the 2015/16 Final. After going undefeated in the Group Stage, and only suffering two losses (and one draw), Kärpät were primed to take home the European trophy. On the Swedish side, Frölunda had proved a formidable force that, despite scares in previous rounds, were determined to make sure they were on the winning side of things this year .

Frölunda started fast and struck first, scoring two goals under two minutes apart in the opening frame of the Final. Ryan Lasch potted his 7th at 16:20 followed by Spencer Abbott's league-leading 8th tally at 17:43 ending the first period in Frölunda's favour.

Kärpät had their chances, including four powerplays, but were only able to convert on one of those opportunities when, with 13 minutes to go in the third period, Juho Keränen made it a one-goal game.

With less than a minute remaining, Kärpät pulled their goalie, setting up for the extra attacker. Their efforts, though, couldn’t match the Indians’ intensity and the result was a 2-1 victory that saw the title return to Sweden once again. One year after Luleå spoiled their hopes of winning the first CHL Final, the Indians were able to capture their first of four Championships and cement themselves as one of Europe’s elite hockey clubs.