2008 – 09 Champions Hockey League The 2008 – 09 Champions Hockey League was the inaugural season of the Champions Hockey League , an IIHF organized ice hockey league for the best club teams in Europe . This first edition was played with 12 teams from seven countries ( two teams each from Russia , Czech Republic , Sweden and Finland , one team each from Switzerland , Germany and Slovakia and a 12th team from one of these three countries , determined in a qualification tournament ) . Every participating team was guaranteed an appearance fee of 300 , 000 euros and the winner received 1 , 000 , 000 euros . Prize money was also be awarded for winning group stage matches ( 50 , 000 euros ) , for the semi - final appearance ( 200 , 000 euros ) and for the other finalist ( 500 , 000 euros ) . In total , 10 million euros were distributed , the largest prize sum ever in a European hockey club competition . The ZSC Lions from Switzerland won the competition by beating Russia ' s Metallurg Magnitogorsk in the final . Participating teams . The 2008 – 09 edition of the Champions Hockey League is played with twelve teams from Europe ' s top seven hockey leagues . Ten teams qualified directly for the group stage due to their performances in the domestic leagues . The field was completed with the winner of last season ' s Champions Cup and one team from the qualifying tournament . The tables below lists these teams together with the reasons for qualifying . Qualifying tournament . Three teams played a qualifying tournament on 12 – 14 September in Nuremberg , Germany . A win was awarded 3 points , 0 points for a loss . SC Bern won the tournament and qualified as the second team from Switzerland for the group stage of the Champions Hockey League . Bern ' s Ramzi Abid was the top scorer of the tournament with 3 goals and 1 assist . The matches were attended by an average of 3 , 426 spectators . Group stage . The draw for the group stage took place on Friday , 25 April 2008 in Zurich , Switzerland . The twelve teams were drawn into groups of three . Each group played a double round - robin . If the games were decided after 60 minutes , the winner was awarded 3 points and the loser 0 points . In case of a tie , both teams got 1 point and a penalty shoot - out was staged with the winner being awarded a second point . The best team of each group – the two Russian teams Ufa and Magnitogorsk , Espoo from Finland and the ZSC Lions from Switzerland – advanced to the semi - finals . Group A . Eisbären Berlin played their two home games at the new O2 World in Berlin in front of 13 , 000 and 13 , 500 spectators , respectively , a Champions Hockey League record . Magnitogorsk qualified for the semi - finals on gameday 5 after winning their first three games . Metallurg ' s Jan Marek was the top scorer in group A with 2 goals and 5 assists . Group B . Espoo won all 4 of their games and qualified for the semi - final after gameday 5 . The top scorer in group B was Bern ' s Christian Dubé with 5 goals ( and 0 assists ) . Group C . Salavat Yulaev was the first team of the 2008 – 09 Champions Hockey League to qualify for the semi - finals after winning their first three games . The top scorer in group C was Ufa ' s Alexander Radulov with 1 goal and 4 assists . Group D . The winner of group D was not decided until the final game in Prague between Slavia and the ZSC Lions . In front of 8 , 137 spectators , the Lions won the game 5 – 1 after scoring 4 goals in the last period . The group ' s top scorer ( and the leading scorer after all group stage games ) was Adrian Wichser from ZSC with 9 assists ( and 0 goals ) . Semi - finals . The semi - finals were played as two - legged matches . If a game was tied after 60 minutes , it would have been counted as a tie , without a penalty shoot - out taking place . Only if after two games the teams were level on points ( i . e . one win each or two ties ) , a penalty shoot - out was staged to determine the series winner Home ice advantage of the second game went to the teams with the better records in the group stage . First Semi - final . Because both teams from Russia qualified for the semi - finals , they had to play against each other according to the tournament regulations . Salavat Yulaev won the first game in Magnitogorsk with goaltender Alexandr Eremenko stopping 36 shots . The second game in Ufa , however , was won by Metallurg . Therefore , a penalty shoot - out was staged to determine the series winner , which was won 2 – 0 by Magnitogorsk . Second Semi - final . Because the Hallenstadion in Zurich , the home arena of the ZSC Lions , was not available on the semi - final dates , the Lions were forced to play their home game at the Diners Club Arena in Rapperswil - Jona , about 25 km away from Zurich . The ZSC Lions won both their " home " game and the game in Espoo , where they were accompanied by about 600 fans from Switzerland . Finals . The final was also played as a two - legged match . Home ice advantage of the second game went to the ZSC Lions which had the better record in the group stage . As in the semi - finals , the Lions were forced to play their home game in Rapperswil in an arena with only half the capacity of the Hallenstadion in Zurich . Thus , the game in the Diners Club Arena was sold out within 30 minutes , leaving many fans without a ticket for the most important game in their clubs history . The ZSC Lions became the first - ever Swiss team to win a major European club competition by winning the Champions Hockey League in its inaugural season . After a 2 – 2 in Magnitogorsk , the ZSC Lions won the return game against Metallurg Magnitogorsk 5 – 0 to dethrone the 2008 European club champion . ZSC goaltender Ari Sulander was named Champions Hockey League MVP and was the first to hoist the Silver Stone Trophy . Statistics . Scoring leaders Goalkeepers : Save percentage