2021–22 Champions Hockey League

2021–22 Champions Hockey League

Tournament details
Dates	26 August 2021 – 1 March 2022
Teams	32
Final positions
Champions	Rögle BK (1st title)
Runner-up	Tappara
Tournament statistics
Games played	123
Goals scored	679 (5.52 per game)
Scoring leader(s)	Ryan Lasch (18 points)
MVP	Frederik Tiffels

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:

1. CHL champions
2. National league champions (play-off winners)
3. Regular season winners
4. Regular season runners-up
5. Regular season third-placed team
6. Regular season fourth-placed team
7. Regular season fifth-placed team

For the ICE Hockey League teams were picked in this order:

1. League champions
2. Regular season winners
3. Pick Round winners
4. Pick Round runners-up
5. Losing playoff finalists

For the Deutsche Eishockey Liga teams were picked in this order:

1. League champions
2. North / South group winners with higher PPG
3. North / South group winners with lower PPG
4. North / South group runners-up with higher PPG
5. 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		Draw date	First leg	Second leg
Group stage	Matchday 1	Groups A-F	19 May 2021	26–27 August 2021
		Groups G-H		9–10 September 2021
	Matchday 2	Groups A-F		28–29 August 2021
		Groups G-H		11–12 September 2021
	Matchday 3			2–3 September 2021
	Matchday 4			4–5 September 2021
	Matchday 5			5–6 October 2021
	Matchday 6			12–13 October 2021
Playoff	Round of 16		15 October 2021	16–17 November 2021	23–24 November 2021
	Quarter-finals			7–8 December 2021	14 December 2021
	Semi-finals			4–5 January 2022	11–12 January 2022
	Final			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

Pos	Team	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		SPA	VAX	BRE	TPS
1	HC Sparta Praha	6	3	2	0	1	17	10	+7	13	Advance to Playoffs		—	2–1 (OT)	5–2	3–2
2	Växjö Lakers	6	3	0	1	2	14	10	+4	10			2–1	—	5–0	4–2
3	Fischtown Pinguins	6	3	0	0	3	10	15	−5	9			1–2	2–1	—	3–0
4	TPS	6	1	0	1	4	10	16	−6	4			2–3 (SO)	3–1	1–2	—

Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		FRO	ZSC	HIFK	MLA
1	Frölunda HC	6	4	1	0	1	19	13	+6	14	Advance to Playoffs		—	4–3 (OT)	4–1	4–3
2	ZSC Lions	6	4	0	1	1	16	12	+4	13			4–2	—	0–3	7–3
3	HIFK	6	2	1	0	3	10	9	+1	8			2–3	0–2	—	2–1
4	BK Mladá Boleslav	6	0	0	1	5	9	20	−11	1			1–4	0–1	1–2 (OT)	—

Group C

Pos	Team	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		LUK	MAN	LAU	CAR
1	Lukko	6	4	0	2	0	22	11	+11	14	Advance to Playoffs		—	5–1	2–3 (OT)	5–2
2	Adler Mannheim	6	3	1	0	2	21	13	+8	11			2–1 (SO)	—	1–3	7–2
3	Lausanne HC	6	2	1	0	3	11	15	−4	8			0–3	2–5	—	2–0
4	Cardiff Devils	6	1	0	0	5	11	26	−15	3			3–6	0–5	4–1	—

Group D

Pos	Team	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		ROG	MUN	ZUG	SON
1	Rögle BK	6	4	1	0	1	23	14	+9	14	Advance to Playoffs		—	4–3	5–3	8–3
2	EHC Red Bull München	6	4	0	0	2	25	13	+12	12			2–1	—	3–4	6–2
3	EV Zug	6	3	0	1	2	28	19	+9	10			1–2 (OT)	1–6	—	9–3
4	SønderjyskE Ishockey	6	0	0	0	6	11	41	−30	0			2–3	1–5	0–10	—

Group E

Pos	Team	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		TAP	SKE	BER	LUG
1	Tappara	6	3	2	0	1	25	18	+7	13	Advance to Playoffs		—	4–2	5–4 (OT)	3–2 (OT)
2	Skellefteå AIK	6	3	0	0	3	22	21	+1	9			6–1	—	5–3	3–5
3	Eisbären Berlin	6	2	0	1	3	21	26	−5	7			1–6	3–5	—	6–3
4	HC Lugano	6	2	0	1	3	20	23	−3	7			3–6	5–1	2–4	—

Group F

Pos	Team	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		FRG	LEK	TRI	SLO
1	HC Fribourg-Gottéron	6	6	0	0	0	25	9	+16	18	Advance to Playoffs		—	3–0	6–2	5–2
2	Leksands IF	6	4	0	0	2	17	16	+1	12			2–5	—	3–2	5–3
3	Oceláři Třinec	6	2	0	0	4	15	17	−2	6			3–4	1–3	—	3–0
4	HC Slovan Bratislava	6	0	0	0	6	8	23	−15	0			0–2	2–4	1–4	—

Group G

Pos	Team	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		KAC	ROU	DON	RUN
1	EC KAC	6	3	2	0	1	19	9	+10	13	Advance to Playoffs		—	2–1 (OT)	1–2	3–2 (OT)
2	Dragons de Rouen	6	3	0	1	2	15	14	+1	10			0–4	—	4–3	5–1
3	HC Donbass	6	2	0	2	2	15	17	−2	8			3–4	2–1	—	2–3 (SO)
4	Rungsted Ishockey	6	0	2	1	3	13	22	−9	5			1–5	2–4	4–3 (OT)	—

Group H

Pos	Team	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		SAL	BOL	JAS	FRI
1	Red Bull Salzburg	6	4	1	0	1	23	13	+10	14	Advance to Playoffs		—	3–5	6–1	1–0
2	HC Bolzano	6	3	1	2	0	20	13	+7	13			3–4 (OT)	—	3–1	1–2 (SO)
3	JKH GKS Jastrzębie	6	2	0	1	3	17	21	−4	7			2–3	2–3 (SO)	—	4–3
4	Frisk Asker Ishockey	6	0	1	0	5	11	24	−13	2			2–6	1–5	3–7	—

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):

1. Points in head-to-head matches among the tied teams;
2. Goal difference in head-to-head matches among the tied teams;
3. Goals scored in head-to-head matches among the tied teams;
4. The higher number of goals in one of the matches among the tied teams;
5. The most goals in the two game winning shot series;
6. If more than two teams are tied, head-to-head criteria 1, 2 and 3 are reapplied exclusively to this subset of teams;
7. 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;
8. The higher position in the 2019–20 Champions Hockey League club ranking;
9. Goal difference in all group matches;
10. Goals scored in all group matches;
11. Regulation time wins in all group matches;
12. Overtime wins in all group matches;
13. 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						Quarter-finals						Semi-finals						Final
	HC Fribourg-Gottéron	2	2	4
	EHC Red Bull München	4	3	7
							EHC Red Bull München (OT)	2	2	4
							Lukko	2	1	3
	HC Bolzano	1	—	1
	Lukko	3	—	3
													EHC Red Bull München	—	0	0
												Tappara	—	3	3
	Växjö Lakers	2	2	4
	Tappara	2	4	6
							Tappara	3	4	7
							Dragons de Rouen	3	0	3
	Dragons de Rouen	3	1	4
	Red Bull Salzburg	0	3	3
																		Tappara	1
																			Rögle BK	2
	ZSC Lions	3	1	4
	Rögle BK	4	3	7
							Rögle BK	5	1	6
							HC Sparta Praha	2	3	5
	Skellefteå AIK	1	2	3
	HC Sparta Praha	3	1	4
													Rögle BK	5	3	8
												Frölunda HC	3	1	4
	Adler Mannheim	1	1	2
	Frölunda HC	10	4	14
							Frölunda HC	5	3	8
							Leksands IF	2	3	5
	EC KAC	4	1	5
	Leksands IF	0	8	8

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.

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
HC Fribourg-Gottéron	4–7	EHC Red Bull München	2–4	2–3
HC Bolzano	1–3	Lukko	1–3	Cancelled
Växjö Lakers	4–6	Tappara	2–2	2–4
Dragons de Rouen	4–3	Red Bull Salzburg	3–0	1–3
ZSC Lions	4–7	Rögle BK	3–4	1–3
Skellefteå AIK	3–4	HC Sparta Praha	1–3	2–1
Adler Mannheim	2–14	Frölunda HC	1–10	1–4
EC KAC	5–8	Leksands IF	4–0	1–8

Order of legs reversed after original draw.

Quarter-finals

First legs were played on 7 December, return legs were played on 14 December 2021.

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Lukko	3–4 (OT)	EHC Red Bull München	2–2	1–2
Tappara	7–3	Dragons de Rouen	3–3	4–0
HC Sparta Praha	5–6	Rögle BK	2–5	3–1
Leksands IF	5–8	Frölunda HC	2–5	3–3

Semi-finals

First legs were played on 4 January, return legs were played on 11 January and 1 February 2022.

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
EHC Red Bull München	0–3	Tappara	Cancelled	0–3
Rögle BK	8–4	Frölunda HC	5–3	3–1

Final

1 March 2022 19:00 (UTC+1)

Rögle BK

2–1 (1–0, 1–0, 0–1)

Tappara

Catena Arena, Ängelholm Attendance: 4,950

Game reference
	Christoffer Rifalk	Goalies	Christian Heljanko	Referees: Robin Šír Vladimír Pešina
	Zaar (Bengtsson, Jonsson) – 02:53 / Zaar (Tambellini, Stål Lyrenäs) (PP) – 29:22	1–0 / 2–0 / 2–1	44:23 – Merelä (Morley, Levtchi)
	2 min	Penalties	2 min
	29	Shots	25

Statistics

Scoring leaders

The following players are leading the league in points.

Player	Team	GP	G	A	PTS	PIM	+/–	GWG	PPG	SHG	SOG	S%
Lasch, RyanRyan Lasch	Frölunda HC	12	4	14	18	2	+5	0	2	0	23	17.39%
Tiffels, FrederikFrederik Tiffels	Red Bull München	10	8	6	14	0	+9	2	0	0	30	26.67%
Larsson, LudvigLudvig Larsson	Rögle BK	13	5	9	14	8	+1	0	3	1	21	23.81%
Street, BenBen Street	Red Bull München	10	3	10	13	2	+11	1	2	0	17	17.65%
Tambellini, AdamAdam Tambellini	Rögle BK	11	5	8	13	0	+5	2	3	0	26	19.23%
Carlsson, PatrikPatrik Carlsson	Frölunda HC	12	7	6	13	2	0	2	2	2	23	30.43%
Kuusela, KristianKristian Kuusela	Tappara	12	2	11	13	0	+5	1	2	0	20	10.00%
Ekeståhl-Jonsson, LucasLucas Ekeståhl-Jonsson	Rögle BK	13	2	11	13	4	+2	0	1	0	19	10.53%
Parkes, TrevorTrevor Parkes	Red Bull München	11	6	6	12	16	+9	1	3	0	24	25.00%
Bristedt, LeonLeon Bristedt	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	GP	W	L	SV	GA	SV%	GAA	SO	MIN
Hughes, ConnorConnor Hughes	HC Fribourg-Gottéron	5	4	0	126	4	96,92%	0,94	2	255
Lehtinen, LassiLassi Lehtinen	Lukko	5	3	2	111	6	94,87%	1,18	1	305
Salák, AlexanderAlexander Salák	HC Sparta Praha	6	4	1	159	9	94,64%	1,58	0	357
Pintarič, MatijaMatija Pintarič	Dragons de Rouen	10	4	5	388	22	94,63%	2,21	1	597
Boyle, KevinKevin Boyle	HC Bolzano	4	3	1	145	9	94,16%	2,25	0	240