After a busy week which saw four teams qualify for the 2021/22 season of the Champions Hockey League, we are down to just two final places remaining in our line-up for the upcoming season. With the Group Stage Draw scheduled for Wednesday, May 19, who's in contention for those final two places? Here’s our weekly CHL qualifiers update:
Last Monday we got our final qualifier from the Czech Extraliga – BK Mladá Boleslav. The Extraliga semi-finalists and regular season third-place finishers have already participated in the CHL – back in 2016/17 they narrowly missed out on Playoffs qualification to group rivals Yunost Minsk.
Newly crowned Metal Ligaen champions Rungsted Seier Capital are also back for another stint in the CHL after their debut in the league in the 2019/20 season. As are five-time participants Skellefteå AIK, who are our final qualifier from Sweden.
A new addition to the league are HC Donbass Donetsk. The eight-time Ukrainian Hockey League (UHL) champions and ex-KHL team will make their debut in the CHL later this year as our first ever Ukrainian participant.
Our final two places are reserved for the DEL champions and the Swiss champions.
After an intense series of battles in the semi-finals, the Swiss NL final series is finally underway. EV Zug are paired with Genève-Servette and are currently one game up in the series.
Genève must win the championship to qualify for the CHL. If Zug win, the final CHL qualification place goes to ZSC Lions Zurich as the fifth-placed regular season finishers. With two games of the series scheduled for this week and more at the beginning of next week, we could potentially know the NL 2020/21 champion and next CHL qualifier next week. We’ll keep you updated on the action!
After another round of intense DEL hockey, there are finally two finalists! Eisbären Berlin and the Grizzlys Wolfsburg are currently battling it out for the national title. Wolfsburg are up one game after the first round and are only one win away from winning their very first DEL championship and clinching CHL qualification!
Wolfsburg need to win the title to qualify for the 2021/22 CHL season. If Berlin, who are already qualified for the upcoming CHL season, mount a comeback and manage to win the title for themselves, the final qualification place will go to Pinguins Bremerhaven.
The decisive game two is scheduled for tomorrow, so keep one eye on the score to find out which team will join our 2021/22 line-up!
Don't miss the CHL Group Stage Draw on Wednesday, May 19 at 18:00 CEST.
That's all for this week - follow our social channels to keep up to date about any new CHL qualifiers and tune in again next week for a comprehensive update on Europe's top leagues.