2018–19 Champions Hockey League
# 2018–19 Champions Hockey League

The 2018–19 Champions Hockey League was the fifth season of the Champions Hockey League, a European ice hockey tournament. The tournament was competed by 32 teams, and qualification was 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 represented by one team each. One place was awarded to the Continental Cup champion. Unlike in the first three editions, founding teams did not automatically qualify. The group stages began on 30 August 2018, and ended on 17 October 2018. The season had an average attendance of 3,401 per game, one percent increase from the previous season.

Swedish team Frölunda HC won their third Champions Hockey League title, defeating Red Bull München, the first German team to reach the final, 3–1 at the Scandinavium in Gothenburg.

## Team allocation

A total of 32 teams from different European first-tier leagues participated in the 2018–19 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 |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| JYP | Jyväskylä | SM-liiga | 2018 CHL winner | 5th | Champion |
| Växjö Lakers | Växjö | Swedish Hockey League | play-off champion | 5th | final |
| Djurgårdens IF | Stockholm | Swedish Hockey League | regular season runner-up | 4th | round of 16 |
| Skellefteå AIK | Skellefteå | Swedish Hockey League | play-off finalist | 4th | semi-finals |
| Malmö Redhawks | Malmö | Swedish Hockey League | play-off semi-finalist | 2nd | round of 16 |
| Frölunda HC | Gothenburg | Swedish Hockey League | regular season third place | 5th | Champion |
| Kärpät | Oulu | Liiga | play-off champion | 4th | final |
| TPS | Turku | Liiga | regular season runner-up | 5th | quarter-finals |
| Tappara | Tampere | Liiga | play-off finalist | 5th | round of 16 |
| HIFK | Helsinki | Liiga | play-off semi-finalist | 5th | quarter-finals |
| Kometa Brno | Brno | Czech Extraliga | play-off champion | 2nd | quarter-finals |
| HC Plzeň | Plzeň | Czech Extraliga | regular season winner | 2nd | round of 32 |
| Mountfield HK | Hradec Králové | Czech Extraliga | regular season runner-up | 2nd | group stage |
| Oceláři Třinec | Třinec | Czech Extraliga | play-off finalist | 4th | semi-finals |
| ZSC Lions | Zürich | National League | play-off champion | 5th | quarter-finals |
| SC Bern | Bern | National League | regular season winner | 5th | quarter-finals |
| EV Zug | Zug | National League | regular season runner-up | 5th | round of 16 |
| HC Lugano | Lugano | National League | play-off finalist | 2nd | round of 16 |
| Red Bull München | Munich | Deutsche Eishockey Liga | play-off champion | 4th | round of 16 |
| Eisbären Berlin | Berlin | Deutsche Eishockey Liga | regular season runner-up | 4th | round of 16 |
| Nürnberg Ice Tigers | Nuremberg | Deutsche Eishockey Liga | play-off semi-finalist | 1st | |
| HC Bolzano | Bolzano | Austrian Hockey League | play-off champion | 2nd | group stage |
| Vienna Capitals | Vienna | Austrian Hockey League | regular season first round winner | 5th | round of 16 |
| Red Bull Salzburg | Salzburg | Austrian Hockey League | regular season pick round runner-up | 5th | round of 16 |
| Yunost Minsk | Minsk | Belarusian Extraleague | Continental Cup winner | 2nd | round of 32 |
| Neman Grodno | Grodno | Belarusian Extraleague | play-off champion | 3rd | group stage |
| HC '05 Banská Bystrica | Banská Bystrica | Tipsport Liga | play-off champion | 2nd | group stage |
| Storhamar Ishockey | Hamar | GET-ligaen | play-off champion | 2nd | round of 16 |
| Cardiff Devils | Cardiff | Elite Ice Hockey League | regular season champion | 2nd | group stage |
| Aalborg Pirates | Aalborg | Metal Ligaen | play-off champion | 1st | |
| Dragons de Rouen | Rouen | Ligue Magnus | play-off champion | 2nd | group stage |
| GKS Tychy | Tychy | Polska Hokej Liga | play-off champion | 1st | |

## 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 6 games. The best 2 teams qualified to the round of 16.

### Pots

As the reigning CHL champions, JYP were 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. 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 Yunost Minsk, the champion of 2017–18 IIHF Continental Cup.

| Pot 1 | Pot 2 | Pot 3 | Pot 4 |
| - | - | - | - |
| JYP Växjö Lakers Kärpät Kometa Brno ZSC Lions Red Bull München HC Bolzano Djurgårdens IF | TPS HC Plzeň SC Bern Eisbären Berlin Vienna Capitals Skellefteå AIK Tappara Mountfield HK | EV Zug Nürnberg Ice Tigers Red Bull Salzburg Malmö Redhawks HIFK Oceláři Třinec HC Lugano Frölunda HC | HC '05 Banská Bystrica Neman Grodno Storhamar Ishockey Cardiff Devils Aalborg Pirates Dragons de Rouen GKS Tychy Yunost Minsk |

### Group stage tie-breaking criteria

If two teams were tied in points after the group stage was finished, the teams precedence was decided by head-to-head games. If teams were 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 were 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
* overtime wins against the other tied team
* more goals scored in the two game winning shot competitions
* higher position in the 2017–18 CHL club ranking

### Group A

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | FHC | ZSC | VIC | ABP |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Frölunda HC | 6 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 22 | 11 | +11 | 13 | Advance to Playoffs | — | 4–2 | 1–4 | 6–0 |
| 2 | ZSC Lions | 6 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 26 | 18 | +8 | 13 | Advance to Playoffs | 3–2 (SO) | — | 7–4 | 6–5 (OT) |
| 3 | Vienna Capitals | 6 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 19 | 22 | −3 | 7 | | 1–4 | 2–6 | — | 2–3 (OT) |
| 4 | Aalborg Pirates | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 11 | 27 | −16 | 3 | | 1–5 | 1–2 | 1–6 | — |

* 1 2 Head-to-head points: Frölunda HC 4, ZSC Lions 2.

### Group B

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | MAL | RBM | TPS | YUN |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Malmö Redhawks | 6 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 24 | 16 | +8 | 12 | Advance to Playoffs | — | 6–1 | 8–4 | 4–1 |
| 2 | Red Bull München | 6 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 19 | 17 | +2 | 12 | Advance to Playoffs | 3–2 | — | 5–1 | 4–3 |
| 3 | TPS | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 15 | 21 | −6 | 6 | | 1–2 | 5–3 | — | 3–1 |
| 4 | Yunost Minsk | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 13 | 17 | −4 | 6 | | 6–2 | 0–3 | 2–1 | — |

* 1 2 Head-to-head goal difference: Malmö Redhawks +4, Red Bull München –4.
* 1 2 Head-to-head goal difference: TPS +1, Yunost Minsk –1.

### Group C

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | SKE | HCB | HIFK | GKS |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Skellefteå AIK | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 27 | 13 | +14 | 14 | Advance to Playoffs | — | 2–1 | 3–4 (OT) | 6–2 |
| 2 | HC Bolzano | 6 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 20 | 16 | +4 | 10 | Advance to Playoffs | 4–3 (SO) | — | 4–1 | 6–4 |
| 3 | HIFK | 6 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 14 | 18 | −4 | 9 | | 1–5 | 1–2 (SO) | — | 2–1 |
| 4 | GKS Tychy | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 16 | 30 | −14 | 3 | | 1–8 | 5–3 | 3–5 | — |

### Group D

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | EVZ | KOM | BER | NEM |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | EV Zug | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 22 | 12 | +10 | 16 | Advance to Playoffs | — | 2–1 | 6–1 | 2–3 (OT) |
| 2 | Kometa Brno | 6 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 18 | 16 | +2 | 9 | Advance to Playoffs | 2–3 | — | 4–3 | 6–2 |
| 3 | Eisbären Berlin | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 17 | 21 | −4 | 6 | | 3–5 | 2–3 | — | 4–1 |
| 4 | Neman Grodno | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 14 | 22 | −8 | 5 | | 2–4 | 4–2 | 2–4 | — |

### Group E

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | TAP | STO | DIF | TRI |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Tappara | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 29 | 12 | +17 | 15 | Advance to Playoffs | — | 6–1 | 5–1 | 3–2 (OT) |
| 2 | Storhamar | 6 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 17 | 20 | −3 | 9 | Advance to Playoffs | 3–2 (SO) | — | 2–3 (OT) | 6–2 |
| 3 | Djurgårdens IF | 6 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 21 | 19 | +2 | 8 | | 3–5 | 5–2 | — | 3–4 |
| 4 | Oceláři Třinec | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 13 | 29 | −16 | 4 | | 2–8 | 2–3 | 1–6 | — |

### Group F

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | KAR | DRA | NIT | MHK |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Kärpät | 6 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 27 | 14 | +13 | 14 | Advance to Playoffs | — | 4–0 | 9–3 | 3–2 |
| 2 | Dragons de Rouen | 6 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 15 | 15 | 0 | 9 | Advance to Playoffs | 2–4 | — | 4–2 | 2–0 |
| 3 | Nürnberg Ice Tigers | 6 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 17 | 25 | −8 | 8 | | 4–3 | 2–5 | — | 4–3 (OT) |
| 4 | Mountfield HK | 6 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 12 | 17 | −5 | 5 | | 3–4 (SO) | 3–2 | 1–2 | — |

### Group G

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | RBS | SCB | VLH | CAR |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Red Bull Salzburg | 6 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 18 | 15 | +3 | 13 | Advance to Playoffs | — | 2–1 | 4–3 | 4–2 |
| 2 | SC Bern | 6 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 15 | 11 | +4 | 13 | Advance to Playoffs | 2–1 (SO) | — | 4–3 | 3–2 |
| 3 | Växjö Lakers | 6 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 21 | 18 | +3 | 8 | | 5–2 | 1–2 | — | 3–1 |
| 4 | Cardiff Devils | 6 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 14 | 24 | −10 | 2 | | 2–5 | 2–3 (OT) | 5–6 (OT) | — |

* 1 2 Head-to-head points: Red Bull Salzburg 4, SC Bern 2.

### Group H

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | HCP | LUG | JYP | BAB |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | HC Plzeň | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 14 | +11 | 17 | Advance to Playoffs | — | 3–2 | 4–2 | 6–4 |
| 2 | HC Lugano | 6 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 13 | 12 | +1 | 9 | Advance to Playoffs | 2–3 | — | 2–0 | 4–1 |
| 3 | JYP | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 16 | 14 | +2 | 6 | | 2–6 | 0–1 | — | 6–0 |
| 4 | HC '05 Banská Bystrica | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 13 | 27 | −14 | 4 | | 2–3 (OT) | 5–2 | 1–6 | — |

## Playoffs

### Qualified teams

| Group | Winners (seed) | Runners-up |
| - | - | - |
| A | Frölunda HC (6) | ZSC Lions |
| B | Malmö Redhawks (8) | Red Bull München |
| C | Skellefteå AIK (4) | HC Bolzano |
| D | EV Zug (2) | Kometa Brno |
| E | Tappara (3) | Storhamar |
| F | Kärpät (5) | Dragons de Rouen |
| G | Red Bull Salzburg (7) | SC Bern |
| H | HC Plzeň (1) | HC Lugano |

### Format

In each round except the final, the teams played two games and the aggregate score decided the team which advanced. As a rule, the first leg was hosted by the team who had the inferior record in the tournament to that point and the second leg was played on the home ice of the other team. If aggregate score was tied, a sudden death overtime followed. If the overtime is scoreless, the team who wins the game winning shot competition advanced.

The final was played on the home ice of the team who had the better record in the tournament on 5 February 2019.

### 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. The draw took place in Helsinki, Finland on 19 October 2018.

| Round of 16 | Round of 16 | Round of 16 | Round of 16 | Round of 16 | Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | | Final | Final | Final | |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Red Bull München | 2 | 2 | 4 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 16 | EV Zug | 3 | 0 | 3 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 16 | EV Zug | 3 | 0 | 3 | Red Bull München (OT) | Red Bull München (OT) | 2 | 5 | 7 | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | Malmö Redhawks | Malmö Redhawks | 1 | 5 | 6 | | | | | | | | | | |
| 8 | SC Bern | 1 | 0 | 1 | Malmö Redhawks | Malmö Redhawks | 1 | 5 | 6 | | | | | | | | | | |
| 9 | Malmö Redhawks | 4 | 1 | 5 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 9 | Malmö Redhawks | 4 | 1 | 5 | | | | | | Red Bull München | Red Bull München | 0 | 3 | 3 | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | Red Bull Salzburg | Red Bull Salzburg | 0 | 1 | 1 | | | | | |
| 5 | ZSC Lions | 4 | 2 | 6 | | | | | | | | | | | Red Bull Salzburg | Red Bull Salzburg | 0 | 1 | 1 | | | |
| 12 | Kärpät | 4 | 3 | 7 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 12 | Kärpät | 4 | 3 | 7 | Kärpät | Kärpät | 2 | 1 | 3 | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | Red Bull Salzburg | Red Bull Salzburg | 3 | 1 | 4 | | | | | | | | | | |
| 4 | Dragons de Rouen | 3 | 1 | 4 | Red Bull Salzburg | Red Bull Salzburg | 3 | 1 | 4 | | | | | | | | | | |
| 13 | Red Bull Salzburg | 3 | 5 | 8 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 13 | Red Bull Salzburg | 3 | 5 | 8 | | | | | | | | | | | | Red Bull München | Red Bull München | 1 | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Frölunda HC | Frölunda HC | 3 | |
| 6 | Kometa Brno | 5 | 5 | 10 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Frölunda HC | Frölunda HC | 3 |
| 11 | Tappara | 1 | 5 | 6 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 11 | Tappara | 1 | 5 | 6 | Kometa Brno | Kometa Brno | 1 | 1 | 2 | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | Frölunda HC | Frölunda HC | 4 | 6 | 10 | | | | | | | | | | |
| 3 | HC Lugano | 1 | 4 | 5 | Frölunda HC | Frölunda HC | 4 | 6 | 10 | | | | | | | | | | |
| 14 | Frölunda HC | 1 | 5 | 6 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 14 | Frölunda HC | 1 | 5 | 6 | | | | | | Frölunda HC | Frölunda HC | 6 | 3 | 9 | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | HC Plzeň | HC Plzeň | 3 | 1 | 4 | | | | | |
| 7 | Storhamar | 4 | 2 | 6 | | | | | | | | | | | HC Plzeň | HC Plzeň | 3 | 1 | 4 | | | |
| 10 | Skellefteå AIK | 4 | 3 | 7 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 10 | Skellefteå AIK | 4 | 3 | 7 | Skellefteå AIK | Skellefteå AIK | 3 | 1 | 4 | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | HC Plzeň (SO) | HC Plzeň (SO) | 3 | 2 | 5 | | | | | | | | | | |
| 2 | HC Bolzano | 1 | 2 | 3 | HC Plzeň (SO) | HC Plzeň (SO) | 3 | 2 | 5 | | | | | | | | | | |
| 15 | HC Plzeň | 6 | 6 | 12 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |

Note:

* The teams listed on top of each tie were runners up in the group stage and play the first leg at home. The bottom team were group winners and play the second leg at home. The Malmö Redhawks, however, ended up playing their first leg at home due to their arena being reserved on 20 November.
* The order of the legs (which team starts at home) in the future rounds may be changed as the team with the best record should have the second game at home.

## Statistics

### Scoring leaders

The following players led the league in points.

| Player | Team | GP | G | A | PTS | PIM | +/– | GWG | PPG | SHG | SOG | S% |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Ryan Lasch | Frölunda HC | 13 | 5 | 17 | 22 | 6 | +4 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 26 | 19.23% |
| Chay Genoway | Frölunda HC | 13 | 6 | 10 | 16 | 35 | +1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 36 | 16.67% |
| John Mitchell | Red Bull München | 11 | 2 | 12 | 14 | 24 | +6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 26 | 7.69% |
| Nicklas Lasu | Kärpät | 9 | 8 | 5 | 13 | 2 | +4 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 25 | 32.00% |
| Milan Gulaš | HC Plzeň | 10 | 8 | 5 | 13 | 8 | +11 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 38 | 21.05% |
| Trevor Parkes | Red Bull München | 9 | 9 | 3 | 12 | 18 | +5 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 29 | 31.03% |
| Jarkko Malinen | Tappara | 7 | 2 | 10 | 12 | 2 | +4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 18.18% |
| Oscar Möller | Skellefteå AIK | 10 | 7 | 4 | 11 | 0 | +6 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 48 | 14.58% |
| David Stach | HC Plzeň | 10 | 3 | 8 | 11 | 0 | –2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 18 | 16.67% |
| Peter Schneider | Vienna Capitals | 6 | 7 | 3 | 10 | 29 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 27 | 25.93% |

### Leading goaltenders

The following goaltenders led the league in save percentage, provided that they have played at least 40% of their team's minutes.

| Player | Team | GP | W | L | SV | GA | SV% | GAA | SO | MIN |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Cristopher Nihlstorp | Malmö Redhawks | 4 | 2 | 2 | 108 | 7 | 93.91% | 1.75 | 0 | 240 |
| Steve Michalek | Red Bull Salzburg | 10 | 4 | 3 | 264 | 19 | 93.29% | 1.90 | 0 | 600 |
| Matija Pintarič | Dragons de Rouen | 8 | 3 | 4 | 290 | 21 | 93.25% | 2.65 | 1 | 475 |
| Johan Mattsson | Frölunda HC | 6 | 3 | 2 | 122 | 9 | 93.13% | 1.69 | 0 | 319 |
| Leonardo Genoni | SC Bern | 8 | 5 | 3 | 203 | 15 | 93.12% | 1.86 | 1 | 483 |
