Release from 04.05.2018

CHL: Bozen in draw pot 1

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The CHL group stage draw is done in Copenhagen on May 16th 2018. HCB Südtirol Alperia is in draw pot 1.

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As all involved national leagues have now crowned their champions, the Champions Hockey League has published the final rankings ahead of the Group Stage Draw on 16 May 2018 at the Royal Arena in Copenhagen (16:00 CET live on CHL’s digital channels). All qualified teams are allocated to four pots, from which the eight groups will be drawn. Reigning CHL champions JYP Jyväskylä (FIN) are the top ranked and seeded team, followed by the national champions of the six Founding Leagues: Sweden, Finland, the Czech Republic, Switzerland, Germany and Austria.

CHL Group Stage Draw: Pot Allocation
Pot 1
• JYP Jyväskylä (CHLW)
• Växjö Lakers (SWE1)
• Kärpät Oulu (FIN1)
• Kometa Brno (CZE1)
• ZSC Lions Zurich (SUI1)
• Red Bull Munich (GER1)
• HCB Südtirol Alperia (ITA/EBEL1)
• Djurgården Stockholm (SWE2)

Pot 2
• TPS Turku (FIN2)
• HC Pilsen (CZE2)
• SC Bern (SUI2)
• Eisbären Berlin (GER2)
• Vienna Capitals (AUT/EBEL)
• Skellefteå AIK (SWE3)
• Tappara Tampere (FIN3)
• Mountfield HK (CZE3)

Pot 3
• EV Zug (SUI3)
• Nuremberg Ice Tigers (GER3)
• Red Bull Salzburg (AUT/EBEL)
• Malmö Redhawks (SWE4)
• IFK Helsinki (FIN4)
• Oceláři Třinec (CZE4)
• HC Lugano (SUI4)
• Frölunda Indians (SWE5)

Pot 4
• HC05 Banská Bystrica (SVK1)
• Neman Grodno (BLR1)
• Storhamar Hamar (NOR1)
• Cardiff Devils (GBR1)
• Aalborg Pirates (DEN1)
• Rouen Dragons (FRA1)
• GKS Tychy (POL1)
• Yunost Minsk (CCW)

CHL ranking criteria: A) National league champions, B) Regular season winners, C) Regular season runners-up, D) Losing playoff-finalists, E) Higher regular season ranked losing playoff semi-finalists, F) Lower regular season ranked losing playoff semi-finalists, G) Third placed team in regular season

Draw Rules
• There will be four pots containing 8 teams each.
• Pot 1: Teams ranked 1-8 | Pot 2: Teams ranked 9-16 | Pot 3: Teams ranked 17-24 | Pot 4: Teams ranked 25-32; the CHL ranking tool applies.
• Draw order: Teams from pot 4 will be drawn first, teams from pot 1 last.
• The Draw will provide 8 groups of four teams each.
• Clubs from the same league cannot be drawn into the same group.
• Should a league conflict occur then the club in question will be placed in the next possible group available, determined by the help of software.

2018/19 Playing format
The Group Stage of the 2018/19 season will start on 30 August and finish on 17 October. The total of 32 teams are divided into eight groups of four and each team plays six games – one home and one away against the other three teams in its group. The first- and second-placed teams in each group then advance to the Playoff Stage.
info: CHL