2008–09 Champions Hockey League.html
 
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Current sport event
 This article documents a current ice hockey season.
Information may change as the event progresses.
2008–09 Champions Hockey League
League Champions Hockey League
Sport Ice hockey
Duration 8 October 2008 – 28 January 2009
Number of teams 14 (12 in group stage)

The 2008–09 Champions Hockey League is the inaugural season of the Champions Hockey League, an IIHF organized ice hockey league for the best club teams in Europe. The first edition, starting October 8, 2008, is 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). 1 Every participating team is guaranteed an appearance fee of 300,000 euro and the winner will receive 1,000,000 euro. Prize money will also be awarded for winning group stage matches (50,000 euro), for the semi-final appearance (200,000 euro) and for the other finalist (500,000 euro). In total, 10 million euros per season will be distributed, the largest prize sum ever in a European hockey club competition. 2

Contents

Participating teams

The 2008–09 edition of the Champions Hockey League will be played with twelve teams from Europe's top seven hockey leagues. Ten teams are qualified directly for the group stage due to their performances in the domestic leagues. The field is 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.3

Directly qualified for group stage

Flag of Russia Metallurg Magnitogorsk Magnitogorsk, Russia 2008 IIHF European Champions Cup winner
Flag of Russia Salavat Yulaev Ufa Ufa, Russia Russian Super League champion
Flag of Finland Kärpät Oulu Oulu, Finland Finnish SM-liiga champion
Flag of Finland Espoo Blues Espoo, Finland Finnish SM-liiga playoff finalist
Flag of the Czech Republic HC Slavia Praha Prague, Czech Republic Czech Extraliga champion
Flag of the Czech Republic HC České Budějovice České Budějovice, Czech Republic Czech Extraliga regular-season winner
Flag of Sweden HV71 Jönköping, Sweden Swedish Elitserien champion
Flag of Sweden Linköpings HC Linköping, Sweden Swedish Elitserien regular-season runner-up
Flag of Slovakia HC Slovan Bratislava Bratislava, Slovakia Slovak Extraliga champion
Flag of Switzerland ZSC Lions Zurich, Switzerland Swiss National League A champion
Flag of Germany Eisbären Berlin Berlin, Germany Deutsche Eishockey-Liga champion

Note: Because the Swedish regular-season winner (HV71) also won the play-offs, Linköpings HC as the runner-up of the regular-season will participate.

Participating in qualifying tournament

Flag of Slovakia HC Košice Košice, Slovakia Slovak Extraliga regular-season runner-up
Flag of Switzerland SC Bern Berne, Switzerland Swiss National League A regular-season winner
Flag of Germany Sinupret Ice Tigers Nuremberg, Germany Deutsche Eishockey-Liga regular-season winner

Note: Because the Slovak regular-season winner (Slovan Bratislava) also won the play-offs, HC Košice as the runner-up of the regular-season can participate in the qualifying tournament.

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. 4 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.5

Team GP W SOW SOL L GF GA PTS
Flag of Switzerland SC Bern 2 2 0 0 0 9 5 6
Flag of Germany Sinupret Ice Tigers 2 1 0 0 1 6 7 3
Flag of Slovakia HC Košice 2 0 0 0 2 7 10 0
September 12, 2008 Sinupret Ice Tigers Flag of Germany 1 – 4 Flag of Switzerland SC Bern Nuremberg Arena, Nuremberg
September 13, 2008 SC Bern Flag of Switzerland 5 – 4 Flag of Slovakia HC Košice Nuremberg Arena, Nuremberg
September 14, 2008 HC Košice Flag of Slovakia 3 – 5 Flag of Germany Sinupret Ice Tigers Nuremberg Arena, Nuremberg

Group stage

The draw for the group stage took place on Friday, 25 April 2008 in Zurich, Switzerland.6 The twelve teams were drawn into groups of three. Each group played a double round-robin and 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.

Team GP W OTW OTL L GF GA PTS
Flag of Russia Metallurg Magnitogorsk 4 3 0 0 1 11 5 9
Flag of Germany Eisbären Berlin 4 2 1 0 1 10 10 8
Flag of Finland Kärpät 4 0 0 1 3 5 11 1
October 8, 2008 Eisbären Berlin Flag of Germany 3 – 2 Flag of Finland Kärpät O2 World, Berlin
October 22, 2008 Kärpät Flag of Finland 0 – 2 Flag of Russia Metallurg Magnitogorsk Oulun Energia Areena, Oulu
October 29, 2008 Metallurg Magnitogorsk Flag of Russia 5 – 2 Flag of Germany Eisbären Berlin Magnitogorsk Arena, Magnitogorsk
November 12, 2008 Kärpät Flag of Finland 2 – 3 (PS) Flag of Germany Eisbären Berlin Oulun Energia Areena, Oulu
November 19, 2008 Metallurg Magnitogorsk Flag of Russia 3 – 1 Flag of Finland Kärpät Magnitogorsk Arena, Magnitogorsk
December 3, 2008 Eisbären Berlin Flag of Germany 2 – 1 Flag of Russia Metallurg Magnitogorsk O2 World, Berlin

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).

Team GP W OTW OTL L GF GA PTS
Flag of Finland Espoo Blues 4 4 0 0 0 13 4 12
Flag of Sweden HV71 4 1 0 0 3 13 18 3
Flag of Switzerland SC Bern 4 1 0 0 3 11 15 3
October 8, 2008 HV71 Flag of Sweden 6 – 2 Flag of Switzerland SC Bern Kinnarps Arena, Jönköping
October 22, 2008 SC Bern Flag of Switzerland 1 – 3 Flag of Finland Espoo Blues PostFinance Arena, Berne
October 29, 2008 Espoo Blues Flag of Finland 3 – 2 Flag of Sweden HV71 LänsiAuto Areena, Espoo
November 12, 2008 SC Bern Flag of Switzerland 7 – 5 Flag of Sweden HV71 PostFinance Arena, Berne
November 19, 2008 Espoo Blues Flag of Finland 2 – 1 Flag of Switzerland SC Bern LänsiAuto Areena, Espoo
December 3, 2008 HV71 Flag of Sweden 0 – 6 Flag of Finland Espoo Blues Kinnarps Arena, Jönköping

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.

Team GP W OTW OTL L GF GA PTS
Flag of Russia Salavat Yulaev Ufa 4 4 0 0 0 22 5 12
Flag of the Czech Republic HC České Budějovice 4 1 0 0 3 9 17 3
Flag of Slovakia HC Slovan Bratislava 4 1 0 0 3 11 20 3
October 8, 2008 Salavat Yulaev Ufa Flag of Russia 7 – 1 Flag of the Czech Republic HC České Budějovice Ufa Arena, Ufa
October 22, 2008 HC České Budějovice Flag of the Czech Republic 5 – 2 Flag of Slovakia HC Slovan Bratislava Budvar Arena, České Budějovice
October 29, 2008 HC Slovan Bratislava Flag of Slovakia 2 – 4 Flag of Russia Salavat Yulaev Ufa Samsung Arena, Bratislava
November 12, 2008 HC České Budějovice Flag of the Czech Republic 0 – 3 Flag of Russia Salavat Yulaev Ufa Budvar Arena, České Budějovice
November 19, 2008 HC Slovan Bratislava Flag of Slovakia 5 – 3 Flag of the Czech Republic HC České Budějovice Samsung Arena, Bratislava
December 3, 2008 Salavat Yulaev Ufa Flag of Russia 8 – 2 Flag of Slovakia HC Slovan Bratislava Ufa Arena, Ufa

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).

Team GP W OTW OTL L GF GA PTS
Flag of Switzerland ZSC Lions 4 3 0 1 0 20 11 10
Flag of the Czech Republic HC Slavia Praha 4 2 1 0 1 15 15 8
Flag of Sweden Linköpings HC 4 0 0 0 4 11 20 0
October 8, 2008 HC Slavia Praha Flag of the Czech Republic 4 – 2 Flag of Sweden Linköpings HC O2 Arena, Prague
October 22, 2008 Linköpings HC Flag of Sweden 2 – 7 Flag of Switzerland ZSC Lions Cloetta Center, Linköping
October 29, 2008 ZSC Lions Flag of Switzerland 4 – 5 (PS) Flag of the Czech Republic HC Slavia Praha Hallenstadion, Zürich
November 12, 2008 Linköpings HC Flag of Sweden 4 – 5 Flag of the Czech Republic HC Slavia Praha Cloetta Center, Linköping
November 19, 2008 ZSC Lions Flag of Switzerland 4 – 3 Flag of Sweden Linköpings HC Hallenstadion, Zürich
December 3, 2008 HC Slavia Praha Flag of the Czech Republic 1 – 5 Flag of Switzerland ZSC Lions O2 Arena, Prague

Semi-finals

The semi-finals will be played as two-legged matches. Home ice advantage of the second game goes to the teams with the better records in the group stage. If two teams from the same country reach the semi-finals, they will be paired against each other.

First Semi-final

10 December 2008
Metallurg Magnitogorsk Flag of Russia v Flag of Russia Salavat Yulaev Ufa
7 January 2009
Salavat Yulaev Ufa Flag of Russia v Flag of Russia Metallurg Magnitogorsk

Second Semi-final

10 December 2008
ZSC Lions Flag of Switzerland v Flag of Finland Espoo Blues
7 January 2009
Espoo Blues Flag of Finland v Flag of Switzerland ZSC Lions

Finals

The final will also be played as a two-legged match. Home ice advantage of the second game goes to the team with the better record in the group stage. The winner qualifies for the 2009 Victoria Cup.


21 January 2009
Winner Semi-final 1 Flag of ? v Flag of ? Winner Semi-final 2
28 January 2009
Winner Semi-final 2 Flag of ? v Flag of ? Winner Semi-final 1

Statistics

Scoring leaders7

Player G A Pts
Flag of Switzerland Adrian Wichser (ZSC) 0 9 9
Flag of Slovakia Peter Sejna (ZSC) 3 4 7
Flag of the Czech Republic Jan Marek (Metallurg) 2 5 7
Flag of the Czech Republic Jaroslav Bednar (Slavia) 4 2 6
Flag of the Czech Republic Roman Červenka (Slavia) 3 3 6

G - goals, A - assists, Pts - points

Goalkeepers: Save percentage8</