The Champions Hockey League held a Virtual Press Conference earlier today ahead of the start of the upcoming 2023/24 season - the ninth season of the elite European club ice hockey competition.
First to speak was CHL President Jörgen Lindgren who welcomed everybody to the pre-season event, saying: "It's great to be back after the summer, everybody is excited! I think it's going to be a great season - we've made some big competition changes which will be really fun to see in real life."
CHL CEO Martin Baumann was next to speak, first reviewing the last season where he noted how great it was to see fans back in the stands and what an amazing Final it was in Sweden. He then went on to run through some competition history stats, highlighting that this year we will surpass 1,100 CHL games played and will see the 101th team make their debut in the pan-European competition when HC Innsbruck take to the CHL ice for the very first time in jus two days time.
"I'm also happy to announce that we have a signed contract with our partner Infront Sports Media until 2027/28"Martin Baumann, CHL CEO
The CEO also went through prize money, the competition format and the plan for the 2023/24 season. Baumann revealed which clubs he will be travelling to during the first four Game Days and also presented new marketing rights that clubs have from this season, including a club media sponsor option.
Baumann also spent time introducing the CHL's new game - CHL Predictor and new stats widgets that will be available this season.
Following Baumann's segment, each of the 24 Head Coaches of the participating clubs introduced themselves and commented briefly on their goals and expectations.
All participating clubs are excited to be playing in the CHL - Lukko Rauma Head Coach Tomi Lämsä noted: "The CHL is a big thing for us and a proper challenge - this is a big part of our growing process."
Skellefteå AIK Head Coach Robert Ohlsson said: "We want to push ourselves harder this season, but there are 24 great clubs in the competition ready to face us."
Rapperswil-Jona Lakers Head Coach Stefan Hedlund is "looking forward to seeing the on-ice rule changes and new format in action!"
Red Bull Munich Head Coach Toni Söderholm, who took over from long-term coach Don Jackson earlier this year, mentioned how important the CHL can be in other aspects as well: "When I was a national team coach, I used these games as a benchmark to see how players play on an international level"
"We need to be at our very best to compete but also flexible to stand a chance of winning"Dan Ceman, HC Košice Head Coach
Belfast Giants Head Coach Adam Keefe guided his side to the treble in the EIHL last season: "It was a great season for us last year, winning everything domestically, but this is a whole different challenge. We're looking forward to heading to Finland and getting 2023/24 started!"
The Press Conference also brought in a panel of three experts who commented on the CHL's on-ice rule changes for 2023/24. Gord Miller, TSN Commentator, Tom Kowal, Officiating Expert and Tobias Salmelainen, CHL Sport Committee Member all gave their view on why they think these changes are the perfect balance of innovation, excitement and credibility and will help move the sport of ice hockey forward.
"Penalties in the NHL in the 1950's used to be a full 2 minutes so I'm excited for that to return!"Gord Miller, TSN Commentator
Gord Miller also noted that the NHL will for sure be monitoring the changes: "The hockey community is a small one and the NHL will absolutely be paying attention to what happens."
Tom Kowal highlighted that game officials don't need to adapt a lot to the new changes, but he admitted: "In terms of reading the play and creating sight-lines I think that will for sure need some getting used to."
"The players and the game has evolved and it's important that we evolve with it. I think these changes will really effect the game - especially in the third period and I'm excited to see them play out!"Tom Kowal, Officiating Expert
Tobias Salmelainen has had first-hand experience with the new rules having piloted them during this year's Red Bulls Salute: "The changes can help change the game late in the game and will clean the game up as teams try to stay out of the box for more."
All in all, the three experts were very positive about the changes, labelling it as a bold and strong move to be the first to test these on such a level.