Five teams joined our line-up for the 2021/22 Champions Hockey League season last week, meaning there are only nine qualification places left to fight for! Here’s our weekly CHL Qualifiers update:
Our first addition last week were IFK Helsinki. The Finnish side became our second Liiga qualifiers and will feature in their sixth CHL season later this year. They were shortly followed by newly crowned Belarusian champions Yunost Minsk, who won their tenth championship on Wednesday.
Red Bull Salzburg were also confirmed as the final ICE-HL qualifiers for the 2021/22 season. The Austrian team have the Vienna Capitals to thank, as they qualified thanks to them missing out on the championship final.
Towards the end of the week, we saw Finnish side TPS Turku qualify, and Germany’s Adler Mannheim become our first DEL qualifier. Who could follow them in the coming weeks?
The DEL look most likely to produce more teams for our 2021/22 CHL line-up in the coming weeks. Teams have between three to five games remaining in the regular season and there are still three CHL places up for grabs. Eisbären Berlin are likely to become the second confirmed team, whilst more qualifiers are expected to come later next week.
The Swiss National League still have one CHL qualification place reserved for their national champions. They are entering the quarter-finals playoff stage and the competition for the national title is fierce. If the championship is won by a team already qualified for the CHL, regular season fifth-placed team ZSC Lions Zurich will be awarded the final CHL place.
Another league in the quarter-finals stage is the SHL. Sweden’s top eight teams of the season are fighting for the national title and four teams still stand a chance of qualifying for the CHL – Färjestad Karlstad, Luleå Hockey, Skellefteå AIK and Örebro HK, who have never competed in the CHL.
If either one of these teams win the championship, they qualify for the 2021/22 season, but if a team already qualified for the CHL win (the Frölunda Indians, Rögle Ängelholm, the Växjö Lakers or Leksands IF), the final SHL qualification place goes to the fourth-placed team in the regular season – Skellefteå. We’ll keep you updated!
The Czech Extraliga is still in its semi-final stage. Already qualified Sparta Prague have fought back from losing their series against Bílí Tygři Liberec 3-0 to 3-2. The only way five-time CHL participants Liberec can qualify for 2021/22 is if they beat Sparta and win the final.
Already qualified Oceláři Třinec are currently winning their series against BK Mladá Boleslav 3-2.
Finland’s Liiga is nearing the playoffs. The last scheduled round is to be played tomorrow and the league’s final qualification place is reserved for the national champions.
Denmark’s Metal Ligaen has its finalists! 2019/20 CHL participants Rungsted Seier Capital will face 2018/19 CHL participants the Aalborg Pirates in the first game of the finals series this Friday. But who will return for 2021/22? We could know the league’s sole CHL qualifier as early as next week!
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.