2016–17 Champions Hockey League

The 2016–17 Champions Hockey League is the third season of the Champions Hockey League, a European ice hockey tournament launched by 26 founding clubs, six leagues and the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). The season started on 16 August 2016 with the group stage and ended with the final game on 7 February 2017 with Frölunda defeating HC Sparta Praha, 4–3 in overtime.
== Team allocation ==
A total of 48 teams from different European first-tier leagues participated in the 2016–17 Champions Hockey League.
=== Team license ===
The teams were selected based on different licenses for the founding teams, leagues and wildcards.
* A license: The 26 founding teams got an A license, if they played in the first-tier league of their respective domestic league system in the 2016–17 season.
* B license: 12 teams – the regular-season winner and the play-off champion in the 2014–15 season – from each of the founding leagues (the Austrian EBEL, the Czech Extraliga, the Finnish Liiga, the German DEL, the Swedish SHL and the Swiss NLA) received a B licence to the tournament. If those teams had already received an A license, other teams from the league take the B license spots. The order the B licenses were handed out is: 
# National champion
# Regular season winner
# Runner-up, regular season
# Play-off finalist
# Best placed semifinal loser
# Worst placed semifinal loser
* C license: There were 10 wild cards. The champions from Norway, Slovakia, Belarus, Denmark, France, the United Kingdom and Poland got wild cards. From Norway and Slovakia a second team, the regular season winner, also got a wild card. One wild card license was assigned to the 2015–16 IIHF Continental Cup winner Dragons de Rouen.
=== Teams ===
Team 	City/Area 	League 	Qualification 	License
Red Bull Salzburg 	Salzburg 	Austrian Hockey League 	founding club 	A
Vienna Capitals 	Vienna 	Austrian Hockey League 	founding club 	A
Bílí Tygři Liberec	Liberec 	Czech Extraliga 	founding club 	A
Dynamo Pardubice 	Pardubice 	Czech Extraliga 	founding club 	A
HC Sparta Praha 	Prague 	Czech Extraliga 	founding club 	A
Vítkovice Steel 	Ostrava 	Czech Extraliga 	founding club 	A
HIFK 	Helsinki 	Liiga 	founding club 	A
JYP 	Jyväskylä 	Liiga 	founding club 	A
KalPa 	Kuopio 	Liiga 	founding club 	A
Kärpät 	Oulu 	Liiga 	founding club 	A
Tappara 	Tampere 	Liiga 	founding club 	A
TPS 	Turku 	Liiga 	founding club 	A
Adler Mannheim 	Mannheim 	Deutsche Eishockey Liga	founding club 	A
Eisbären Berlin 	Berlin 	Deutsche Eishockey Liga	founding club 	A
ERC Ingolstadt 	Ingolstadt 	Deutsche Eishockey Liga	founding club 	A
Krefeld Pinguine 	Krefeld 	Deutsche Eishockey Liga	founding club 	A
SC Bern 	Bern 	National League A 	founding club 	A
Fribourg-Gottéron 	Fribourg 	National League A 	founding club 	A
ZSC Lions 	Zürich 	National League A 	founding club 	A
EV Zug 	Zug 	National League A 	founding club 	A
Djurgårdens IF 	Stockholm 	Swedish Hockey League 	founding club 	A
Frölunda HC 	Gothenburg 	Swedish Hockey League 	founding club 	A
Färjestad BK 	Karlstad 	Swedish Hockey League 	founding club 	A
HV71 	Jönköping 	Swedish Hockey League 	founding club 	A
Linköpings HC 	Linköping 	Swedish Hockey League 	founding club 	A
Luleå HF 	Luleå 	Swedish Hockey League 	founding club 	A
Orli Znojmo 	Znojmo 	Austrian Hockey League 	regular season runner-up	B
Black Wings Linz 	Linz 	Austrian Hockey League 	play-off semi-finalist 	B
HC Plzeň 	Plzeň 	Czech Extraliga 	play-off semi-finalist 	B
BK Mladá Boleslav 	Mladá Boleslav	Czech Extraliga 	play-off semi-finalist 	B
SaiPa 	Lappeenranta 	Liiga 	regular season 5th 	B
Lukko 	Rauma 	Liiga 	regular season 6th 	B
Red Bull München 	München 	Deutsche Eishockey Liga	play-off champion 	B
Grizzlys Wolfsburg	Wolfsburg 	Deutsche Eishockey Liga	play-off finalist 	B
HC Davos 	Davos 	National League A 	regular season runner-up	B
HC Lugano 	Lugano 	National League A 	play-off finalist 	B
Skellefteå AIK 	Skellefteå 	Swedish Hockey League 	regular season winner 	B
Växjö Lakers 	Växjö 	Swedish Hockey League 	play-off semi-finalist 	B
Dragons de Rouen 	Rouen 	Ligue Magnus 	Continental Cup winner 	C
Stavanger Oilers 	Stavanger 	GET-ligaen 	play-off champion 	C
Lørenskog IK 	Lørenskog 	GET-ligaen 	regular season runner-up	C
HK Nitra 	Nitra 	Tipsport Liga 	play-off champion 	C
HC Košice 	Košice 	Tipsport Liga 	regular season winner 	C
Esbjerg Energy 	Esbjerg 	Metal Ligaen 	play-off champion 	C
Rapaces de Gap 	Gap 	Ligue Magnus 	regular season winner ‡ 	C
Yunost Minsk 	Minsk 	Belarusian Extraleague 	play-off champion 	C
Sheffield Steelers	Sheffield 	Elite Ice Hockey League	regular season champion 	C
ComArch Cracovia 	Kraków 	Polska Hokej Liga 	play-off champion 	C
Notes:
*‡ – Ligue Magnus champion Dragons de Rouen had already qualified via Continental Cup.
== Group stage ==
The format remained the same as in the previous season. The group stage began on 16 August and finished on 11 September 2016. The 48 teams were divided into 16 groups of three teams each. Each team played a double round-robin in their group, facing each team at home and on the road, giving 4 games per team. The 16 group winners and the 16 runners-up qualified for the playoffs.
=== Group stage draw ===
The 16 groups were determined by a draw taking place on 3 May 2016 in Zurich, Switzerland. The 48 teams had been ranked and placed into three pots of 16 teams each. Following the draw, each group consisted of one team from each pot. The seedings were as follows:
Pot 1	Pot 2	Pot 3
 Frölunda HC 
 Tappara 
 Bílí Tygři Liberec 
 SC Bern 
 Red Bull München 
 Red Bull Salzburg 
 Skellefteå AIK 
 HIFK 
 HC Sparta Praha 
 ZSC Lions 
 Luleå HF 
 Kärpät 
 HC Plzeň 
 HC Davos 
 Växjö Lakers 
 JYP	
 BK Mladá Boleslav 
 HC Lugano 
 Linköpings HC 
 SaiPa 
 Vítkovice Steel 
 EV Zug 
 Färjestad BK 
 Lukko 
 Dynamo Pardubice 
 Fribourg-Gottéron 
 Djurgårdens IF 
 TPS 
 HV71 
 KalPa 
 HK Nitra 
 HC Košice	
 Eisbären Berlin 
 Orli Znojmo 
 Grizzlys Wolfsburg 
 Vienna Capitals 
 ERC Ingolstadt 
 Black Wings Linz 
 Adler Mannheim 
 Krefeld Pinguine 
 Stavanger Oilers 
 Esbjerg Energy 
 Yunost Minsk 
 Dragons de Rouen 
 Sheffield Steelers 
 ComArch Cracovia 
 Lørenskog IK 
 Rapaces de Gap
=== Tiebreakers ===
The teams were ranked according to points (3 points for a win in regular time, 2 points for an overtime win or shootout win, 1 point for an overtime loss or shootout loss, 0 points for a loss in regular time). If two or more teams were equal on points on completion of the group matches, the following criteria were applied in the order given to determine the rankings:
#higher number of points obtained in the group matches played among the teams in question;
#superior goal difference from the group matches played among the teams in question;
#higher number of goals scored in the group matches played among the teams in question;
#higher number of wins in regular time in the group matches played among the teams in question;
#higher number of goals scored in one match in the group matches played among the teams in question;
#if, after having applied criteria 1 to 5, teams still had an equal ranking in a two-way tie, criteria 1 to 5 were reapplied against the third team in the group. If this procedure did not lead to a decision, criteria 7 to 10 applied;
#higher number of wins in overtime;
#higher number of goals scored in shootout (if both matches ended in shootout);
#if two teams still remained tied and they met in their group's final game, they played a shootout to determine which team is ranked higher;
#higher pre-draw rankings.
=== Group A ===
=== Group B ===
=== Group C ===
=== Group D ===
=== Group E ===
=== Group F ===
=== Group G ===
=== Group H ===
=== Group I ===
=== Group J ===
=== Group K ===
=== Group L ===
=== Group M ===
=== Group N ===
=== Group O ===
=== Group P ===
== Playoffs ==
In the playoffs, the teams play against each other over two legs on a home-and-away basis with the team with the better standing after the group stage having the second game at home, except for the one-match final played at the venue of the team with the best competition track record leading up to the final.
The mechanism of the draw for playoffs was as follows:
*The entire playoff was drawn on 12 September 2016 and determined the sixteen pairings for the Round of 32. Also at the draw, all matches up to the final were set in the bracket. 
*In the draw for the Round of 32, the 16 group winners were seeded, and the 16 runners-up were unseeded. The seeded teamswere drawn against the unseeded teams, with the seeded teams hosting the second leg. Teams from the same group could be drawn against each other, but teams from the same league or country could be paired in any round.
=== Playoff teams ===
Group	Winners(Seeded in round of 32 draw)	Runners-up(Unseeded in round of 32 draw)
A 	Frölunda HC 	EHC Wolfsburg
B 	Djurgårdens IF 	HC Davos
C 	HC Lugano 	Tappara
D 	ZSC Lions 	Lukko
E 	Kärpät 	Vítkovice Steel
F 	Fribourg-Gottéron 	Red Bull München
G 	EV Zug 	HIFK
H 	TPS 	Bílí Tygři Liberec
I 	SaiPa 	Eisbären Berlin
J 	HK Nitra 	HC Plzeň
K 	Linköpings HC 	JYP
L 	Växjö Lakers 	Yunost Minsk
M 	SC Bern 	HC Košice
N 	Skellefteå AIK 	KalPa
O 	Färjestad BK 	HC Sparta Praha
P 	HV71 	EC Red Bull Salzburg
=== Bracket ===
Note:
#The teams listed on top of each tie play first match at home and the bottom team plays second match at home.
#The order of the legs (what team starts at home) in the future rounds may be changed as the team with best record should have second match at home.
=== Round of 32 ===
The draw for the entire playoff (round of 32, round of 16, quarter-finals, semi-finals and final) was held on 12 September 2016. The first legs were played on 4 October, and the second legs on 11 October 2016. The seeded teams (group winners) played the last match at home.
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=== Round of 16 ===
The first legs were played on 1 November, and the second legs were played on 8 and 9 November 2016.
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=== Quarter-finals ===
The first legs were played on 6 December, and the second legs were played on 13 December 2016.
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=== Semi-finals ===
The first legs were played on 10 January, and the second legs were played on 17 January 2017.
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=== Final ===
The final was played on 7 February 2017.
== References ==
 
Category:Champions Hockey League
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