2021–22 Champions Hockey League

The 2021–22 Champions Hockey League was the seventh season of the Champions Hockey League, a European ice hockey tournament. The tournament was competed by 32 teams, with qualification being on sporting merits only. The six founding leagues were represented by between three and five teams (based on a four-year league ranking), while seven "challenge leagues" were to be represented by one team each.
Swedish team Rögle BK won their first Champions Hockey League title, defeating Finnish team Tappara 2–1 in the final. This made Rögle BK the sixth Swedish side to win the European Trophy and the first team in the history of the tournament to win the title in its first season. The title holders Frölunda HC were defeated by Rögle BK in the semi-finals with the total score 4–8.
American right winger Ryan Lasch from Swedish team Frölunda HC became the top scorer for the fourth time, scoring 18 points.
==Team allocation==
A total of 32 teams from different European first-tier leagues participated in the 2021–22 Champions Hockey League. Besides the Continental Cup champions, 24 teams from the six founding leagues, as well as the national champions from Norway, Denmark, France, Belarus, the United Kingdom, Poland and Ukraine could qualify. The qualification for these places was set out in the rules as follows:
# CHL champions
# National league champions (play-off winners)
# Regular season winners
# Regular season runners-up
# Regular season third-placed team
# Regular season fourth-placed team
# Regular season fifth-placed team
For the ICE Hockey League teams were picked in this order:
# League champions
# Regular season winners
# Pick Round winners
# Pick Round runners-up
# Losing playoff finalists
For the Deutsche Eishockey Liga teams were picked in this order:
# League champions
# North / South group winners with higher PPG
# North / South group winners with lower PPG
# North / South group runners-up with higher PPG
# North / South group runners-up with lower PPG
===Teams===
Team 	City/Area 	League 	Qualification 	Participation	Previous Best
Frölunda HC 	Gothenburg 	Swedish Hockey League 	2020 CHL winners 	7th 	Champion
Växjö Lakers 	Växjö 	Swedish Hockey League 	Play-off champion 	6th 	Final
Rögle BK 	Ängelholm 	Swedish Hockey League 	Regular season runners-up 	1st 	First appearance
Leksands IF 	Leksand 	Swedish Hockey League 	Regular season third 	1st 	First appearance
Skellefteå AIK 	Skellefteå 	Swedish Hockey League 	Regular season fourth 	6th 	Semi-finals
EV Zug 	Zug 	National League 	Play-off champion 	7th 	Quarter-finals
HC Lugano 	Lugano 	National League 	Regular season runners-up 	3rd 	Round of 16
HC Fribourg-Gottéron	Fribourg 	National League 	Regular season third 	3rd 	Semi-finals
Lausanne HC 	Lausanne 	National League 	Regular season fourth 	2nd 	Quarter-finals
ZSC Lions 	Zürich 	National League 	Regular season fifth 	6th 	Quarter-finals
Eisbären Berlin 	Berlin 	Deutsche Eishockey Liga	Play-off champion 	5th 	Round of 16
Adler Mannheim 	Mannheim 	Deutsche Eishockey Liga	South group winners 	6th 	Round of 16
EHC Red Bull München	Munich 	Deutsche Eishockey Liga	South group runners-up 	6th 	Final
Fischtown Pinguins 	Bremerhaven 	Deutsche Eishockey Liga	North group runners-up 	1st 	First appearance
Lukko 	Rauma 	Liiga 	Play-off champion 	4th 	Semi-finals
HIFK 	Helsinki 	Liiga 	Regular season runners-up 	5th 	Quarter-finals
TPS 	Turku 	Liiga 	Regular season third 	6th 	Quarter-finals
Tappara 	Tampere 	Liiga 	Regular season fourth 	7th 	Round of 16
Oceláři Třinec 	Třinec 	Czech Extraliga 	Play-off champion 	6th 	Semi-finals
HC Sparta Praha 	Prague 	Czech Extraliga 	Regular season winners 	4th 	Final
BK Mladá Boleslav 	Mladá Boleslav 	Czech Extraliga 	Regular season third 	2nd 	Group stage
EC KAC 	Klagenfurt 	ICE Hockey League 	Play-off champion 	4th 	Group stage
HC Bolzano 	Bolzano 	ICE Hockey League 	Regular season winners 	3rd 	Round of 16
Red Bull Salzburg 	Salzburg 	ICE Hockey League 	Higher ranked semi-finalists 	6th 	Semi-finals
Cardiff Devils 	Cardiff 	Elite Ice Hockey League	2019–20 regular season winners	4th 	Group stage
Dragons de Rouen 	Rouen 	Ligue Magnus 	Regular season winners 	3rd 	Round of 16
Frisk Asker Ishockey	Asker 	Eliteserien 	Regular season winners 	2nd 	Group stage
JKH GKS Jastrzębie 	Jastrzębie-Zdrój	Polska Hokej Liga 	Play-off champion 	1st 	First appearance
Rungsted Ishockey 	Rungsted 	Metal Ligaen 	Play-off champion 	2nd 	Group stage
SønderjyskE Ishockey	Vojens 	Metal Ligaen 	2019–20 Continental Cup winner	3rd 	Group stage
HC Donbass 	Donetsk 	Ukrainian Hockey League	Wild card 	1st 	First appearance
Slovan Bratislava 	Bratislava 	Tipos extraliga 	Wild card 	1st 	First appearance
==Round and draw dates==
The schedule of the competition is as follows.
Phase 	Round 	Round 	Draw date 	First leg 	Second leg
Group stage	Matchday 1 	Groups A-F 	19 May 2021 	26–27 August 2021 	26–27 August 2021
Group stage	Matchday 1 	Groups G-H 	19 May 2021 	9–10 September 2021 	9–10 September 2021
Group stage	Matchday 2 	Groups A-F 	19 May 2021 	28–29 August 2021 	28–29 August 2021
Group stage	Matchday 2 	Groups G-H 	19 May 2021 	11–12 September 2021	11–12 September 2021
Group stage	Matchday 3 	Matchday 3 	19 May 2021 	2–3 September 2021 	2–3 September 2021
Group stage	Matchday 4 	Matchday 4 	19 May 2021 	4–5 September 2021 	4–5 September 2021
Group stage	Matchday 5 	Matchday 5 	19 May 2021 	5–6 October 2021 	5–6 October 2021
Group stage	Matchday 6 	Matchday 6 	19 May 2021 	12–13 October 2021 	12–13 October 2021
Playoff 	Round of 16 	Round of 16 	15 October 2021	16–17 November 2021 	23–24 November 2021
Playoff 	Quarter-finals	Quarter-finals	15 October 2021	7–8 December 2021 	14 December 2021
Playoff 	Semi-finals 	Semi-finals 	15 October 2021	4–5 January 2022 	11–12 January 2022
Playoff 	Final 	Final 	15 October 2021	1 March 2022 	1 March 2022
==Group stage==
For the group stage, the teams were drawn into 8 groups of 4 teams. Each team played home and away against every other team for a total of six games. The best two teams qualified to the round of 16.
The draw of the group stage took place on 19 May 2021.
===Pots===
Due to a scheduling conflict caused by the 2022 Winter Olympics final qualification tournament being held on 26–29 August 2021, eight teams from countries participating in the Olympic qualification (Austria, Denmark, France, Italy, Norway, Poland, Ukraine) were be allocated into the pot 5 and drawn into two separate groups of four which did not play their games on the specified dates. There was no league protection for the teams from these two groups. The other 24 teams (from five remaining founding leagues as well as teams from Belarus and the United Kingdom as top two challenger leagues and 2019–20 IIHF Continental Cup winners SønderjyskE Ishockey) were allocated into four pots and drawn by the standard procedure into six groups of four.
Pot 1	Pot 2	Pot 3	Pot 4	Pot 5
 Frölunda HC
 Växjö Lakers
 EV Zug
 Eisbären Berlin
 Lukko
 Oceláři Třinec
 
 	
 Rögle BK
 HC Lugano
 Adler Mannheim 
 HIFK
 HC Sparta Praha
 Leksands IF
 
 	
 HC Fribourg-Gottéron
 EHC Red Bull München
 TPS 
 BK Mladá Boleslav
 Skellefteå AIK
 Lausanne HC
 
 	
 Fischtown Pinguins
 Tappara
 ZSC Lions 
 HC Yunost Minsk
 Cardiff Devils
 SønderjyskE Ishockey
 
 	
 EC KAC
 HC Bolzano
 Red Bull Salzburg
 Dragons de Rouen
 Frisk Asker Ishockey
 JKH GKS Jastrzębie
 Rungsted Ishockey
 HC Donbass
===Group A===
===Group B===
===Group C===
===Group D===
===Group E===
===Group F===
===Group G===
===Group H===
===Group stage tie-breaking criteria===
Teams were ranked according to points (3 points for a win in regulation time, 2 poins for a win in overtime, 1 point for a loss in overtime, 0 points for a loss in regulation time). If two or more teams were tied on points, the following tiebreaking criteria were applied, in the order given, to determine the rankings (see 8.4.4. Tie breaking formula group stage standings):
#Points in head-to-head matches among the tied teams;
#Goal difference in head-to-head matches among the tied teams;
#Goals scored in head-to-head matches among the tied teams;
#The higher number of goals in one of the matches among the tied teams; 
#The most goals in the two game winning shot series;
#If more than two teams are tied, head-to-head criteria 1, 2 and 3 are reapplied exclusively to this subset of teams;
#If more than two teams are tied, and after applying head-to-head criteria 1, 2 and 3, a subset of teams are still tied, goal difference and goals scored then the results between each of the three teams and the closest best-ranked team outside the subset was applied; best-ranked team outside the sub-group was applied;
#The higher position in the 2019–20 Champions Hockey League club ranking;
#Goal difference in all group matches;
#Goals scored in all group matches;
#Regulation time wins in all group matches;
#Overtime wins in all group matches;
#Overtime losses in all group matches.
==Playoffs==
===Qualified teams===
The knockout phase involves the 16 teams which qualify as winners and runners-up of each of the eight groups in the group stage.
Group	Winners(seeded in round of 16 draw)	Runners-up(unseeded in round of 16 draw)
A 	HC Sparta Praha 	Växjö Lakers
B 	Frölunda HC 	ZSC Lions
C 	Lukko 	Adler Mannheim
D 	Rögle BK 	EHC Red Bull München
E 	Tappara 	Skellefteå AIK
F 	HC Fribourg-Gottéron 	Leksands IF
G 	EC KAC 	Dragons de Rouen
H 	Red Bull Salzburg 	HC Bolzano
===Format===
In each round except the final, the teams played two games and the aggregate score was decide which team advances. As a rule, the first leg was hosted by the team who has the inferior record in the tournament with the second leg being played on the home ice of the other team. If aggregate score is tied, a sudden death overtime followed. If the overtime is scoreless, the team who wins the shoot out competition advances.
The final will be played on the home ice of the team who has the better record in the tournament.
===Bracket===
The eight group winners and the eight second-placed teams advanced to the round of 16. The teams were divided into two seeding groups and group winners were randomly drawn against runners-up. Teams who had faced each other in the group stage could not be drawn against each other in the round of 16.
===Round of 16===
The draw for the entire playoff was held on 15 October 2021 in Zürich. The first legs were played on 16 and 17 November with return legs played on 23 and 24 November 2021.
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===Quarter-finals===
First legs were played on 7 December, return legs were played on 14 December 2021.
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===Semi-finals===
First legs were played on 4 January, return legs were played on 11 January and 1 February 2022.
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===Final===
==Statistics==
===Scoring leaders===
The following players are leading the league in points.
Player	Team 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	Frölunda HC 	12	4	14	18	2 	+5 	0	2	0	23	17.39%
 	Red Bull München	10	8	6 	14	0 	+9 	2	0	0	30	26.67%
 	Rögle BK 	13	5	9 	14	8 	+1 	0	3	1	21	23.81%
 	Red Bull München	10	3	10	13	2 	+11	1	2	0	17	17.65%
 	Rögle BK 	11	5	8 	13	0 	+5 	2	3	0	26	19.23%
 	Frölunda HC 	12	7	6 	13	2 	0 	2	2	2	23	30.43%
 	Tappara 	12	2	11	13	0 	+5 	1	2	0	20	10.00%
 	Rögle BK 	13	2	11	13	4 	+2 	0	1	0	19	10.53%
 	Red Bull München	11	6	6 	12	16	+9 	1	3	0	24	25.00%
 	Rögle BK 	12	3	9 	12	14	+8 	1	1	0	12	25.00%
===Leading goaltenders===
The following goaltenders are leading the league in save percentage, provided that they have played at least 40% of their team's minutes.
Player	Team 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	HC Fribourg-Gottéron	5 	4	0	126	4 	96,92%	0,94	2	255
 	Lukko 	5 	3	2	111	6 	94,87%	1,18	1	305
 	HC Sparta Praha 	6 	4	1	159	9 	94,64%	1,58	0	357
 	Dragons de Rouen 	10	4	5	388	22	94,63%	2,21	1	597
 	HC Bolzano 	4 	3	1	145	9 	94,16%	2,25	0	240
==Notes==
==References==
2021
Champions