Group D sees Kometa Brno, Eisbären Berlin, EV Zug and Neman Grodno come together in a group that's expected to be highly competitive. While Kometa probably enter as favourites and Neman as underdogs, any of these clubs is capable of beating any other and nothing can be taken for granted.
Kometa Brno
- Qualified as: Extraliga champions
- 2nd CHL appearance; Quarter-Finals in 2017/18
- Club information
Kometa made an impressive CHL debut last season, topping their group and reaching the Quarter-Finals. Now, the two-time reigning Czech champions will try to advance deeper into the competition. They have bolstered their already solid lineup with the additions of defenceman Juraj Mikúš and forwards Lukáš Kašpar and Peter Mueller. Mueller, a former NHLer, played in the CHL last season for Red Bull Salzburg. Last season, Kometa faced mainly Nordic CHL opponents and fared well, and also beat Swiss club EV Zug in the Round of 16. This time they will meet Zug again, and face German and Belarusian opponents for the first time.
Eisbären Berlin
- Qualified as: DEL finalists
- 4th CHL appearance; Round of 16 in 2015/16 & 2016/17
- Club information
Die Eisbären return to the CHL after a one-year absence, thanks to a trip to the DEL finals this past spring. They’ve made the Round of 16 on a couple of previous occasions and could do it again, but it won’t be easy. Their roster includes plenty of CHL and other international experience, including Olympic silver medalists Frank Hördler and Marcel Noebels. An interesting addition is 26-year-old Canadian forward Brendan Ranford, nephew of former NHL goalie Bill Ranford, who is making his European debut in Berlin. Die Eisbären defeated EV Zug in the Round of 32 in 2016/17.
EV Zug
- Qualified as: National League Regular Season runners-up
- 5th CHL appearance; Round of 16 2017/18
- Club information
EV Zug have competed in every CHL campaign so far, but have yet to have much success. They reached the Round of 16 last season and hope to build on that in the coming season. Trying to help them achieve that will be new Norwegian head coach Dan Tangnes, who has previous CHL experience coaching in Linköping. His new team is not totally unfamiliar to him, with American Olympian Garrett Roe, a CHL veteran with four different clubs, already on the team. As mentioned, Zug was knocked out of the competition by Berlin a couple years ago, but took five of six points from Grodno in the group stage last season.
Neman Grodno
- Qualified as: Belarusian champions
- 3rd CHL appearance, never advanced beyond Group Stage
- Club information
While never favoured to go far in this competition, Belarusian clubs have always been tough to beat in the CHL, especially on home ice, where they enjoy enthusiastic support. In their two previous CHL campaigns, Neman have won three of five home games and remained in contention to advance until their last group game. While they only managed a point from two games with Zug last season, they gave German and Czech teams a tough go in their first appearance back in 2015/16. The lineup they'll bring into Group D this season looks like it will be pretty similar to the one that finished third in its group last season.