2017–18 Champions Hockey League

The 2017–18 Champions Hockey League was the fourth season of the Champions Hockey League, a European ice hockey tournament. The tournament was reduced to 32 teams, and qualification was on sporting merits only. The six founding leagues are represented by between three and five teams (based on a three-year league ranking), while seven "challenge leagues" are represented by one team each. One place was reserved for the Continental Cup champion. Unlike in the three previous editions, founding teams did not automatically qualify. The season concluded with the final on 6 February 2018 at Vida Arena where JYP beat Växjö Lakers 2–0, becoming the first non-Swedish team to win the title.
== Team allocation ==
A total of 32 teams from different European first-tier leagues participate in the 2017–18 Champions Hockey League. Besides the Continental Cup champions, 24 teams from the six founding leagues, as well as the national champions from Slovakia, Norway, Denmark, France, Belarus, the United Kingdom and Poland qualified.
The qualification for these places was set out in the rules as follows:
# National league champion (play-off winners)
# Regular season winners
# Regular season runner-up
# Losing play-off finalist
# Higher regular season ranked losing semi-finalist
# Lower regular season ranked losing semi-finalist
# Third placed team in regular season
# Fourth placed team in regular season
# Fifth placed team in regular season.
=== Teams ===
Team 	City/Area 	League 	Qualification 	Participation	Previous best
Frölunda HC 	Gothenburg 	Swedish Hockey League 	2017 CHL winner 	4th 	champion
HV71 	Jönköping 	Swedish Hockey League 	play-off champion 	4th 	round of 16
Växjö Lakers 	Växjö 	Swedish Hockey League 	regular season winner 	4th 	semi-finals
Brynäs IF 	Gävle 	Swedish Hockey League 	play-off finalist 	1st 	
Malmö Redhawks 	Malmö 	Swedish Hockey League 	play-off semi-finalist 	1st 	
Tappara 	Tampere 	Liiga 	play-off champion 	4th 	round of 16
TPS 	Turku 	Liiga 	regular season runner-up	4th 	quarter-finals
KalPa 	Kuopio 	Liiga 	play-off finalist 	4th 	round of 16
JYP 	Jyväskylä 	Liiga 	play-off semi-finalist 	4th 	round of 16
HIFK 	Helsinki 	Liiga 	play-off semi-finalist 	4th 	quarter-finals
SC Bern 	Bern 	National League 	play-off champion 	4th 	quarter-finals
ZSC Lions 	Zürich 	National League 	regular season runner-up	4th 	quarter-finals
EV Zug 	Zug 	National League 	play-off finalist 	4th 	round of 32
HC Davos 	Davos 	National League 	play-off semi-finalist 	3rd 	semi-finals
Kometa Brno 	Brno 	Czech Extraliga 	play-off champion 	1st 	
Bílí Tygři Liberec 	Liberec 	Czech Extraliga 	regular season winner 	4th 	round of 16
Oceláři Třinec 	Třinec 	Czech Extraliga 	regular season runner-up	3rd 	round of 32
Mountfield HK 	Hradec Králové 	Czech Extraliga 	play-off semi-finalist 	1st 	
Red Bull München 	Munich 	Deutsche Eishockey Liga	play-off champion 	3rd 	round of 32
Adler Mannheim 	Mannheim 	Deutsche Eishockey Liga	regular season runner-up	4th 	round of 32
Grizzlys Wolfsburg 	Wolfsburg 	Deutsche Eishockey Liga	play-off finalist 	2nd 	round of 32
Vienna Capitals 	Vienna 	Austrian Hockey League 	play-off champion 	4th 	round of 16
Red Bull Salzburg 	Salzburg 	Austrian Hockey League 	regular season runner-up	4th 	round of 16
EC KAC 	Klagenfurt 	Austrian Hockey League 	play-off finalist 	2nd 	group stage
Nottingham Panthers 	Nottingham 	Elite Ice Hockey League	Continental Cup winner 	2nd 	group stage
Cardiff Devils 	Cardiff 	Elite Ice Hockey League	regular season champion 	1st 	
HC '05 Banská Bystrica	Banská Bystrica	Tipsport Liga 	play-off champion 	1st 	
Stavanger Oilers 	Stavanger 	GET-ligaen 	play-off champion 	4th 	round of 32
Neman Grodno 	Grodno 	Belarusian Extraleague 	play-off champion 	2nd 	group stage
Esbjerg Energy 	Esbjerg 	Metal Ligaen 	play-off champion 	2nd 	group stage
Rapaces de Gap 	Gap 	Ligue Magnus 	play-off champion 	3rd 	group stage
ComArch Cracovia 	Kraków 	Polska Hokej Liga 	play-off champion 	2nd 	group stage
==Group stage==
For the group stage, the teams were drawn into 8 groups of 4 teams. Each team plays home and away against every other team for a total of 6 games. The best 2 teams qualify to the round of 16.
As the reigning CHL champions, Frölunda HC was the top seeded team. In the top pot were also the reigning champions of the six founding leagues and the regular season winner of SHL, Växjö Lakers. The 16 remaining teams from founding leagues were placed to pots 2 and 3. The fourth pot included playoff champions of seven challenge leagues and Nottingham Panthers, the champion of 2016–17 IIHF Continental Cup.
===Group stage tie-breaking criteria===
If two teams are tied in points after the group stage is finished, the teams precedence is decided by head-to-head games. If teams are tied after that, then the team which was ranked higher prior to the tournament took precedence. When comparing head-to-head results, the following criteria was applied:
# more points in games against the other tied team
# better goal difference in games against the other tied team
# more goals scored against the other tied team
# more goals scored in a single game against the other tied team
#:If the head-to-head games between teams ended as draws after regulation, this additional criterion was applied:
# overtime wins against the other tied team
#:If the head-to-head games between teams ended with game winning shots, this additional criterion was applied:
# more goals scored in the two game winning shot competitions
#:If teams are still tied, the higher position in the 2016–17 CHL club ranking was decided about precedence.
Pot 1	Pot 2	Pot 3	Pot 4
 Frölunda HC 
 HV71 
 Tappara 
 SC Bern 
 Kometa Brno 
 Red Bull München 
 Vienna Capitals 
 Växjö Lakers	
 TPS 
 ZSC Lions 
 Bílí Tygři Liberec 
 Adler Mannheim 
 Red Bull Salzburg 
 Brynäs IF 
 KalPa 
 EV Zug	
 Oceláři Třinec 
 Grizzlys Wolfsburg 
 EC KAC 
 Malmö Redhawks 
 JYP 
 HC Davos 
 Mountfield HK 
 HIFK	
 HC '05 Banská Bystrica 
 Stavanger Oilers 
 Neman Grodno 
 Esbjerg Energy 
 Cardiff Devils 
 Rapaces de Gap 
 ComArch Cracovia 
 Nottingham Panthers
=== Group A ===
Pos	Team 	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD 	Pts	Qualification 		TAP	RBS	WOB	BAB
1 	Tappara 	6 	5	0 	0 	1	26	11	+15	15 	Advance to Playoffs		— 	4–2	4–2	3–0
2 	Red Bull Salzburg 	6 	3	0 	0 	3	20	22	−2 	9 	Advance to Playoffs		1–6	— 	4–3	5–0
3 	Grizzlys Wolfsburg 	6 	2	0 	0 	4	15	23	−8 	6 	 		1–7	4–5	— 	4–3
4 	HC '05 Banská Bystrica	6 	2	0 	0 	4	13	18	−5 	6 	 		5–2	5–3	0–1	—
=== Group B ===
Pos	Team 	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD 	Pts	Qualification 		MAL 	KOM	KAL 	OIL
1 	Malmö Redhawks 	6 	4	0 	1 	1	23	17	+6 	13 	Advance to Playoffs		— 	3–0	6–2 	2–1
2 	Kometa Brno 	6 	2	3 	0 	1	18	15	+3 	12 	Advance to Playoffs		5–4 (OT)	— 	3–2 (OT)	4–3 (OT)
3 	KalPa 	6 	3	0 	1 	2	25	22	+3 	10 	 		6–4 	2–4	— 	7–1
4 	Stavanger Oilers	6 	0	0 	1 	5	13	25	−12	1 	 		3–4 	1–2	4–6 	—
=== Group C ===
Pos	Team 	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification 		EVZ	JYP	NEM 	VIC
1 	EV Zug 	6 	3	1 	0 	2	20	16	+4	11 	Advance to Playoffs		— 	6–3	3–2 (SO)	3–1
2 	JYP 	6 	3	1 	0 	2	16	15	+1	11 	Advance to Playoffs		3–2	— 	3–2 (SO)	4–1
3 	Neman Grodno 	6 	1	1 	3 	1	18	18	0 	8 	 		2–3	3–0	— 	5–4 (OT)
4 	Vienna Capitals	6 	1	1 	1 	3	17	22	−5	6 	 		5–3	1–3	5–4 (SO)	—
=== Group D ===
Pos	Team 	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD 	Pts	Qualification 		MAN	TRI 	HV71	ESB
1 	Adler Mannheim	6 	5	0 	0 	1	26	12	+14	15 	Advance to Playoffs		— 	6–2 	6–3 	4–1
2 	Oceláři Třinec	6 	4	0 	1 	1	20	10	+10	13 	Advance to Playoffs		3–0	— 	3–0 	9–1
3 	HV71 	6 	2	1 	0 	3	16	16	0 	8 	 		1–4	2–1 (SO)	— 	3–0
4 	Esbjerg Energy	6 	0	0 	0 	6	7 	31	−24	0 	 		2–6	1–2 	2–7 	—
=== Group E ===
Pos	Team 	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD 	Pts	Qualification 		VLH 	LIB	HCD 	CAR
1 	Växjö Lakers 	6 	4	1 	0 	1	22	16	+6 	14 	Advance to Playoffs		— 	6–3	5–3 	3–2
2 	Bílí Tygři Liberec	6 	3	0 	1 	2	24	21	+3 	10 	Advance to Playoffs		3–4 (OT)	— 	4–3 	5–2
3 	HC Davos 	6 	2	0 	1 	3	22	19	+3 	7 	 		0–3 	3–2	— 	10–1
4 	Cardiff Devils 	6 	1	1 	0 	4	17	29	−12	5 	 		5–1 	3–7	4–3 (OT)	—
=== Group F ===
Pos	Team 	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification 		NOT	SCB	TPS	MHK
1 	Nottingham Panthers	6 	3	1 	0 	2	18	17	+1	11 	Advance to Playoffs		— 	4–2	2–0	4–3 (OT)
2 	SC Bern 	6 	3	0 	0 	3	21	16	+5	9 	Advance to Playoffs		5–2	— 	4–0	5–2
3 	TPS 	6 	3	0 	0 	3	12	15	−3	9 	 		5–2	3–1	— 	3–1
4 	Mountfield HK 	6 	2	0 	1 	3	18	21	−3	7 	 		2–4	5–4	5–1	—
=== Group G ===
Pos	Team 	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD 	Pts	Qualification 		RBM	BIF	HIFK 	CRA
1 	Red Bull München	6 	5	0 	0 	1	21	11	+10	15 	Advance to Playoffs		— 	2–3	4–1 	6–2
2 	Brynäs IF 	6 	4	1 	0 	1	25	12	+13	14 	Advance to Playoffs		2–3	— 	4–3 (SO)	8–0
3 	HIFK 	6 	2	0 	1 	3	20	20	0 	7 	 		2–4	2–5	— 	6–3
4 	ComArch Cracovia	6 	0	0 	0 	6	8 	31	−23	0 	 		1–2	2–3	0–6 	—
=== Group H ===
Pos	Team 	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD 	Pts	Qualification 		FHC	ZSC 	KAC	GAP
1 	Frölunda HC 	6 	5	1 	0 	0	21	10	+11	17 	Advance to Playoffs		— 	5–4 (OT)	2–1	5–1
2 	ZSC Lions 	6 	3	0 	2 	1	24	10	+14	11 	Advance to Playoffs		1–2	— 	3–0	4–0
3 	EC KAC 	6 	2	1 	0 	3	15	15	0 	8 	 		2–4	2–1 (OT)	— 	4–2
4 	Rapaces de Gap	6 	0	0 	0 	6	8 	33	−25	0 	 		1–3	1–11 	3–6	—
== Playoffs ==
=== Qualified teams ===
Group	Winners (seed) 	Runners-up
A 	Tappara (2) 	Red Bull Salzburg
B 	Malmö Redhawks (6) 	Kometa Brno
C 	EV Zug (7) 	JYP
D 	Adler Mannheim (3) 	Oceláři Třinec
E 	Växjö Lakers (5) 	Bílí Tygři Liberec
F 	Nottingham Panthers (8)	SC Bern
G 	Red Bull München (4) 	Brynäs IF
H 	Frölunda HC (1) 	ZSC Lions
=== Format ===
In each round except the final, the teams played two games and the aggregate score was decided the team which advances. As a rule, the first leg was hosted by the team who had inferior record in the tournament so far and the second leg was 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 game winning shot competition advances.
The final was played on the home ice of team who had better record in the tournament on February 6, 2018.
=== Round of 16 ===
The draw for the entire playoff was held on 13 October 2017 in Helsinki. The first legs were played on 31 October with return legs played the following week.
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=== Quarter-finals ===
First legs were played on 5 December, return legs were played on 12 December.
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=== Semi-finals ===
First legs were played on 9 January, return legs were played on 16 January 2018.
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=== Final ===
The final was played on 6 February 2018.
== References ==
Category:2018 in ice hockey