Featuring 44 clubs from 12 countries, the Champions Hockey League began its inaugural season as Europe’s newest and premier hockey competition. It was also the first time in history that 26 clubs, six national leagues and the International Ice Hockey Federation would collaborate to showcase Europe’s finest hockey.
Split into two phases, the league’s playing format consisted of the Group Stage, with the top 16 teams going on to the Playoffs. From the Round of 16 until the Semi-Finals, these were played as home and away, aggregate-scoring Playoff series; while the final itself was a one-off showdown. These 16 teams advancing from the groups included 11 group winners, plus the five best second-placed teams.
Let’s recap the highs, the lows, the surprises and the spectacular:
- Nordic rivals JYP Jyväskyla and Skellefteå AIK see-sawed in two tight games but it would be the Swedes to come out victorious and progress into the Quarter-Finals.
- Swedish team Linköping HC won both games against Czech side Sparta Prague.
- Finnish side Lukko Rauma ended TPS Turku’s hopes of going any further in the competition early inn the clash of two Finnish sides
- Luleå HC staged one of the most dramatic CHL comebacks ever against Red Bull Salzburg, overcoming a five-goal aggregate deficit to beat the Austrian side!
- Swiss side Genève-Servette blanked Finnish team SaiPa Lappeenranta, but the Finns rebounded, winning the next match to go through.
- There were close games between Kärpät Oulu and the Vienna Capitals, but the Capitals had no luck taking any wins off the Finns.
- Another nordic face-off ensued between Tappara Tampere and Frölunda Gothenburg, and the result? Two convincing wins for the Swedes, who showed no signs of dropping a game.
- Capping off the Round of 16, and despite their first game tie against Fribourg-Gottéron, IFK Helsinki regrouped to take the following game and progress into the next stage.
The Quarter-Finals can be summed up neatly in two words: Nordic dominance.
- Swedish compatriots and rivals, Linköping and Skellefteå, battled head to head but the black and gold of Skellefteå would reign
- In the next match up Luleå had a dominant sweep over Lukko Rauma, posting seven goals against the Finnish side
- SaiPa had little chance against Kärpät who hadn’t yet tied or dropped a game in five straight matches!
- And in the last matchup, Frölunda dropped their first game of the CHL season, but would go on to notch five goals in the next game against IFK to secure a place in the Semi-Finals.
The Final Four teams that stood proud and ready to enter the Semi-Finals arena were Kärpät Oulu, Luleå HF, Skellefteå AIK, and Frölunda Gothenburg. In spectacular fashion, both Semi-Final series would be one-goal contests. Luleå narrowly defeated Skellefteå, while it took OT and a sudden-death goal for Frölunda to end Finland’s hopes of having a team in the CHL Final.
This result meant an all-Swedish final. Hosts Luleå had a lacklustre start to the game and found themselves trailing by two to Frölunda, thanks to goals from Joel Lundqvist and Mathis Olimb.
What followed next could only be described as a nail-biting turn of events for the 6,300 spectators in the Coop Norrbotten Arena. Midway through the final period, Frölunda’s Oliver Bohm took a two-minute penalty for Interference allowing Luleå to open up their scoring with their first powerplay goal. Seconds later, Oscar Fantenberg would incur a Match penalty, allowing Luleå a second powerplay. Luleå capitalised twice to take the lead. In the dying minutes of the game, Frölunda pulled netminder Linus Fernström in a last-ditch effort to equalise, but to no avail. Luleå sealed the game with an empty-net goal to win the first Champions Hockey League final 4-2.