This past week, the Swedish and Finnish regular seasons finished and we had three more qualifiers – Djurgården Stockholm, Tappara Tampere and the Lahti Pelicans – bringing the number of qualified teams for the 2019/20 Champions Hockey League season to 20.

There are 12 more teams still to qualify and they will all come via the playoffs of 12 leagues. Either they will be the national champions or, in the cases of founding leagues, the next team in the regular season if the champion has already qualified. Therefore, it’s going to be a while before we see our next qualifier, and then we could get several in a short period of time in April.

It does however mean that we're getting to the time when we will start welcoming teams from outside of the Founding Leagues. Playoffs are under way in Belarus (Semi-Finals), Denmark (Quarter-Finals), France (Semi-Finals), Norway (Quarter-Finals), Poland (Semi-Finals), and Slovakia (Quarter-Finals). The national champions of the United Kingdom are still to be determined, but both qualifiers for next season are already known.

Check out who's already qualified here

Remember that in the Founding Leagues, if a team that eventually wins its national championship has already qualified, the following teams are in line to take the last spots from the following leagues:

Austria – If Grazz 99ers and Vienna Capitals contest the playoff finals the playoffs, KAC Klagenfurt qualify.

Czech Republic – If Bílí Tygři Liberec, Ocelaři Třinec, or HC Pilsen win the playoffs, Mountfield HK qualify.

Finland – If Kärpät Oulu, Tappara Tampere or Lahti Pelicans win the playoffs, TPS Turku qualify.

Germany – If Adler Mannhem or Red Bull Munich win the playoffs, Augsburg Panther qualify.

Sweden – If Färjestad Karlstad, Luleå Hockey, Frölunda Indians or Djurgården Stockholm win the playoffs, Skellefteå AIK will qualify.

Switzerland – If SC Bern, EV Zug, Lausanne HC or EHC Biel-Bienne win the playoffs, HC Ambrì-Piotta qualify.