Off-season changes & summary
The 2023/24 edition of the Champions Hockey League went ahead with a new format featuring 24 participating teams, down from 32 the previous year, and an adapted structure with a combined Regular Season Ranking replacing the Group Stage.
The CHL League Ranking was replaced by a fixed three-place allocation for each of the six Shareholder Leagues with the CHL Champions of the previous season earning an extra place for their league.
Five Wild Cards were open and were awarded to the national champions of Denmark, France, Norway, Slovakia and the United Kingdom.
Of the 24 qualified teams, only one made its debut in the pan-European competition in 2023/24 – HC Innsbruck – while 11 returned from 2022/23 and the remaining 12 teams of the line-up had played in the CHL in the past.
Playing Format
The adapted playing format meant teams faced six different opponents in the Regular Season, instead of just three home-and-away, which were allocated to them by an adapted CHL Draw procedure.
Teams were ranked in a combined Regular Season Ranking with the best 16 advancing to the Playoffs after all games had been, and eight of the lowest-ranked teams being knocked out.
The landmark season also introduced three on-ice rule changes:
- Minor penalties dealt the same as major: a team which caused a minor penalty will remain shorthanded even if the opposing team score a goal
- Serving delayed penalties: a minor penalty will be served even if a goal is scored while a delayed penalty is pending
- Shorthander erases current minor penalty: if a shorthanded team score, the minor penalty against will end
The Playoffs (Round of 16, Quarter-Finals and Semi-Finals) were played in a two-game, home-and-away, knock-out series, where the winner on goals aggregate advanced to the next round – the same as in the previous format.
There was, however, one change ahead of the start of the Playoffs – no Playoff Draw was needed as clubs faced each other based on their position in the overall standings (1st vs 16th, 2nd vs 15th, etc.).
The Final was a one-game all-or-nothing showdown, played at the venue of the team with the best-accumulated Regular Season and Playoffs record.
Regular Season review | click here for Regular Season Standings 2023/24
DEL side Adler Mannheim became the very first Regular Season Winners securing 16 points from five wins and one overtime loss, while runners-up Växjö Lakers became the first team to finish the Regular Season unbeaten with four regulation wins and two overtime wins.
One of the biggest surprises of the Regular Season was the elimination of reigning CHL Champions Tappara Tampere who finished in 18th place and missed out on the knockout rounds for the very first time in nine seasons.
Despite France’s Rouen Dragons failing to move on to the Playoffs, they pulled off two huge upsets when they beat eventual Finalists Skellefteå AIK in their home arena and rocked Liiga side Ilves Tampere 6-1 on Game Day 6.
The Belfast Giants finished the season with a best-ever 3-3 W-L record and missed out on a place in the Playoffs by just a single point, while first-time participants HC Innsbruck from Austria managed to get a place in the Top 16 in their debut season and were the only ICE HL team to play in the Playoffs.
Overall, all three Czech, Swedish, Swiss and German sides in the 2023/24 line-up moved on to the knockout stage, as did three Finnish teams (Finland were allocated four spots due to Tappara Tampere qualifying as the CHL Champions) and one ICE HL team.
Playoff Review | click here for 2023/24 Road to the Final
Clubs from six countries entered the Playoffs but that was reduced to four for the Quarter-Finals. The Semi-Finals retained four teams from four different countries making for a very diverse and interesting race to find our Finalists.
Three DEL teams entered the Playoffs, but unexpectedly, not a single one moved on to the Quarter-Finals, as ERC Ingolstadt, Adler Mannheim and Red Bull Munich all bowed out of the race of the European Trophy.
All three SHL teams moved on to the next round, as Skellefteå AIK moved past Czech side Oceláři Třinec and the Växjö Lakers beat ERC Ingolstadt to a place in the last eight.
Färjestad Karlstad and EHC Biel-Bienne's 18-goal series was one of the craziest match-ups of an overall high-scoring Round of 16. The Swedes eventually came out on top, scoring 5+ goals in both games.
The Lahti Pelicans vs. Vítkovice Ridera Round of 16 First Game was forfeited 3-0 due to an unplayable ice surface in Lahti, Finland and followed by a 1-1 Return Game in Czechia, Vítkovice advanced to the Quarter-Finals for the very second time in their CHL history.
The Lukko Rauma vs. HC Innsbruck match-up was the closest we had as it had to be decided in overtime after two games played. The Finns beat the resilient and hard-playing Austrians to a place in the next round.
Two of the three NL teams in the Playoffs made the top eight – Genève overcame a one-goal First Game deficit against reigning DEL champions Munich and fought their way through in the Return Game while the Rapperswil-Jona Lakers played two fantastic games against Regular Season winners Adler Mannheim.
Quarter-Finals
Genève beat another reigning league champion in the Quarter-Finals as they moved on to the Semi-Finals, eliminating Växjö.
There was an all-Swedish match-up in the round as Färjestad and Skellefteå clashed in a 4-3 First Game that had the slight advantage Färjestad’s way but a huge 4-1 comeback in the Return Game by Skellefteå, including a jaw-dropping cross-ice empty-net lob from Oskar Nilsson, sealed them a place in the Semi-Finals for the first time since 2014/15.
Czech side Dynamo Pardubice and Finnish side Lukko Rauma played a very close two-game series and a hard-fought two-goal advantage from the First Game proved important as Lukko just about made it through to the Semis.
However, Vítkovice Ridera held the Czech flag high by overcoming a one-goal First Game deficit in their match-up against the Rapperswil-Jona Lakers to book a place in the Final Four in style.
Semi-Finals
It was as close as it could be in the Semi-Finals in 2023/24, with both match-ups being decided by a single goal.
Skellefteå’s two-goal buffer from their First Game against Vítkovice Ridera proved its weight in gold as the Czechs took a battering ram to the Swedish side in the Return Game, knocking for a place in the Final, but Skellefteå’s gates just about held.
A 2-2 draw in the first encounter between Lukko and Genève set the stage for a winner-takes-all Return Game where the Swiss side’s spectacular elite Finnish forward Valtteri Filppula won it for Genève with his two goals.
The Final
It was the first time in a CHL Final for both Skellefteå and Genève and the very first time since the inaugural season of 2014/15 a Swiss team was awarded the hosting rights of the biggest game of the season as the reigning Swiss champions were announced as the hosts of CHL Final 2024 thanks to their better accumulated record over the Regular Season and Playoffs.
Skellefteå entered the Final with a 5/6 away game record in the CHL and with the best-performing powerplay unit in the world at the time, whereas Genève were unbeaten on home ice in the CHL all season and featured 2018 CHL Champion Jussi Olkinuora in their line-up after he transferred to the Swiss club from fellow CHL participants the Lahti Pelicans earlier in the season.
Tickets for CHL Final 2024 sold out in minutes as Geneva’s Patinoire des Vernets was set to host the spectacle on 20 February 2024. Ticket interest was so high that Genève created an outdoor fanzone which was filled with thousands of fans. The game started at 19:30 CET.
The home team came out hungry, scoring three goals within the first 20 minutes, including two on the same powerplay, but had to weather a late surge from the visiting Swedes to seal the win.
Eliot Berthon, Sakari Manninen and Daniel Winnik all scored for Genève, while Martins Dzierkals and Anton Heikkinen scored for Skellefteå.
Genève received their winners' medals and lifted the European Trophy in the arena but also went out to celebrate with their fans on an open-top platform in the fanzone outside.
Newly-crowned European Club Champion Valtteri Filppula became the very first Triple Gold Club (Stanley Cup, Olympic Games and IIHF World Championship winner) member to lift the European Trophy.
Vítkovice Ridera’s Dominik Lakatoš ended the season as the LGT Top Scorer and Genève’s Sami Vatanen was awarded the LGT MVP Award.