2016–17 Champions Hockey League

2016–17 Champions Hockey League

Tournament details
Dates	16 August 2016 – 7 February 2017
Teams	48
Final positions
Champions	Frölunda HC (2nd title)
Runner-up	HC Sparta Praha
Third place	Fribourg-Gottéron Växjö Lakers
Tournament statistics
Matches played	157
Goals scored	795 (5.06 per match)
Attendance	508,624 (3,240 per match)
Scoring leader(s)	Casey Wellman (14 points)
MVP	Joel Lundqvist
← 2015–16 2017–18 →

The 2016–17 Champions Hockey League is the third season of the Champions Hockey League, a European ice hockey tournament launched by 26 founding clubs, six leagues and the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). The season started on 16 August 2016 with the group stage and ended with the final game on 7 February 2017 with Frölunda defeating HC Sparta Praha, 4–3 in overtime.^[1]

Team allocation[]

A total of 48 teams from different European first-tier leagues participated in the 2016–17 Champions Hockey League.

Team license[]

The teams were selected based on different licenses for the founding teams, leagues and wildcards.^[2]

• A license: The 26 founding teams got an A license, if they played in the first-tier league of their respective domestic league system in the 2016–17 season.
• B license: 12 teams – the regular-season winner and the play-off champion in the 2014–15 season – from each of the founding leagues (the Austrian EBEL, the Czech Extraliga, the Finnish Liiga, the German DEL, the Swedish SHL and the Swiss NLA) received a B licence to the tournament. If those teams had already received an A license, other teams from the league take the B license spots. The order the B licenses were handed out is:^[3][4]

1. National champion
2. Regular season winner
3. Runner-up, regular season
4. Play-off finalist
5. Best placed semifinal loser
6. Worst placed semifinal loser

• C license: There were 10 wild cards. The champions from Norway, Slovakia, Belarus, Denmark, France, the United Kingdom and Poland got wild cards. From Norway and Slovakia a second team, the regular season winner, also got a wild card. One wild card license was assigned to the 2015–16 IIHF Continental Cup winner Dragons de Rouen.^[5][6]

Teams[]

Team	City/Area	League	Qualification	License
Red Bull Salzburg	Salzburg	Austrian Hockey League	founding club	A
Vienna Capitals	Vienna	Austrian Hockey League	founding club	A
Bílí Tygři Liberec	Liberec	Czech Extraliga	founding club	A
Dynamo Pardubice	Pardubice	Czech Extraliga	founding club	A
HC Sparta Praha	Prague	Czech Extraliga	founding club	A
Vítkovice Steel	Ostrava	Czech Extraliga	founding club	A
HIFK	Helsinki	Liiga	founding club	A
JYP	Jyväskylä	Liiga	founding club	A
KalPa	Kuopio	Liiga	founding club	A
Kärpät	Oulu	Liiga	founding club	A
Tappara	Tampere	Liiga	founding club	A
TPS	Turku	Liiga	founding club	A
Adler Mannheim	Mannheim	Deutsche Eishockey Liga	founding club	A
Eisbären Berlin	Berlin	Deutsche Eishockey Liga	founding club	A
ERC Ingolstadt	Ingolstadt	Deutsche Eishockey Liga	founding club	A
Krefeld Pinguine	Krefeld	Deutsche Eishockey Liga	founding club	A
SC Bern	Bern	National League A	founding club	A
Fribourg-Gottéron	Fribourg	National League A	founding club	A
ZSC Lions	Zürich	National League A	founding club	A
EV Zug	Zug	National League A	founding club	A
Djurgårdens IF	Stockholm	Swedish Hockey League	founding club	A
Frölunda HC	Gothenburg	Swedish Hockey League	founding club	A
Färjestad BK	Karlstad	Swedish Hockey League	founding club	A
HV71	Jönköping	Swedish Hockey League	founding club	A
Linköpings HC	Linköping	Swedish Hockey League	founding club	A
Luleå HF	Luleå	Swedish Hockey League	founding club	A
Orli Znojmo	Znojmo	Austrian Hockey League	regular season runner-up	B
Black Wings Linz	Linz	Austrian Hockey League	play-off semi-finalist	B
HC Plzeň	Plzeň	Czech Extraliga	play-off semi-finalist	B
BK Mladá Boleslav	Mladá Boleslav	Czech Extraliga	play-off semi-finalist	B
SaiPa	Lappeenranta	Liiga	regular season 5th	B
Lukko	Rauma	Liiga	regular season 6th	B
Red Bull München	München	Deutsche Eishockey Liga	play-off champion	B
Grizzlys Wolfsburg	Wolfsburg	Deutsche Eishockey Liga	play-off finalist	B
HC Davos	Davos	National League A	regular season runner-up	B
HC Lugano	Lugano	National League A	play-off finalist	B
Skellefteå AIK	Skellefteå	Swedish Hockey League	regular season winner	B
Växjö Lakers	Växjö	Swedish Hockey League	play-off semi-finalist	B
Dragons de Rouen	Rouen	Ligue Magnus	Continental Cup winner	C
Stavanger Oilers	Stavanger	GET-ligaen	play-off champion	C
Lørenskog IK	Lørenskog	GET-ligaen	regular season runner-up	C
HK Nitra	Nitra	Tipsport Liga	play-off champion	C
HC Košice	Košice	Tipsport Liga	regular season winner	C
Esbjerg Energy	Esbjerg	Metal Ligaen	play-off champion	C
Rapaces de Gap	Gap	Ligue Magnus	regular season winner ‡	C
Yunost Minsk	Minsk	Belarusian Extraleague	play-off champion	C
Sheffield Steelers	Sheffield	Elite Ice Hockey League	regular season champion	C
ComArch Cracovia	Kraków	Polska Hokej Liga	play-off champion	C

Notes:

• ‡ – Ligue Magnus champion Dragons de Rouen had already qualified via Continental Cup.

Group stage[]

The format remained the same as in the previous season. The group stage began on 16 August and finished on 11 September 2016. The 48 teams were divided into 16 groups of three teams each. Each team played a double round-robin in their group, facing each team at home and on the road, giving 4 games per team. The 16 group winners and the 16 runners-up qualified for the playoffs.

Group stage draw[]

The 16 groups were determined by a draw taking place on 3 May 2016 in Zurich, Switzerland. The 48 teams had been ranked and placed into three pots of 16 teams each. Following the draw, each group consisted of one team from each pot. The seedings were as follows:^[7]

Pot 1	Pot 2	Pot 3
Frölunda HC Tappara Bílí Tygři Liberec SC Bern Red Bull München Red Bull Salzburg Skellefteå AIK HIFK HC Sparta Praha ZSC Lions Luleå HF Kärpät HC Plzeň HC Davos Växjö Lakers JYP	BK Mladá Boleslav HC Lugano Linköpings HC SaiPa Vítkovice Steel EV Zug Färjestad BK Lukko Dynamo Pardubice Fribourg-Gottéron Djurgårdens IF TPS HV71 KalPa HK Nitra HC Košice	Eisbären Berlin Orli Znojmo Grizzlys Wolfsburg Vienna Capitals ERC Ingolstadt Black Wings Linz Adler Mannheim Krefeld Pinguine Stavanger Oilers Esbjerg Energy Yunost Minsk Dragons de Rouen Sheffield Steelers ComArch Cracovia Lørenskog IK Rapaces de Gap

Tiebreakers[]

The teams were ranked according to points (3 points for a win in regular time, 2 points for an overtime win or shootout win, 1 point for an overtime loss or shootout loss, 0 points for a loss in regular time). If two or more teams were equal on points on completion of the group matches, the following criteria were applied in the order given to determine the rankings:^{[citation needed]}

1. higher number of points obtained in the group matches played among the teams in question;
2. superior goal difference from the group matches played among the teams in question;
3. higher number of goals scored in the group matches played among the teams in question;
4. higher number of wins in regular time in the group matches played among the teams in question;
5. higher number of goals scored in one match in the group matches played among the teams in question;
6. if, after having applied criteria 1 to 5, teams still had an equal ranking in a two-way tie, criteria 1 to 5 were reapplied against the third team in the group. If this procedure did not lead to a decision, criteria 7 to 10 applied;
7. higher number of wins in overtime;
8. higher number of goals scored in shootout (if both matches ended in shootout);
9. if two teams still remained tied and they met in their group's final game, they played a shootout to determine which team is ranked higher;
10. higher pre-draw rankings.

Group A[]

Pos	Team	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		FHC	WOL	DYN
1	Frölunda HC	4	2	0	1	1	11	9	+2	7	Advance to Playoffs		—	2–3	5–2
2	Grizzlys Wolfsburg	4	2	0	0	2	11	10	+1	6			1–2	—	6–0
3	Dynamo Pardubice	4	1	1	0	2	11	14	−3	5			3–2 (SO)	6–1	—

Group B[]

Pos	Team	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		DIF	HCD	ROU
1	Djurgårdens IF	4	2	1	0	1	15	6	+9	8	Advance to Playoffs		—	6–0	4–0
2	HC Davos	4	2	1	0	1	10	10	0	8			3–1	—	4–1
3	Dragons de Rouen	4	0	0	2	2	6	15	−9	2			3–4 (OT)	2–3 (OT)	—

Group C[]

Pos	Team	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		HCL	TAP	MAN
1	HC Lugano	4	2	1	0	1	11	9	+2	8	Advance to Playoffs		—	1–3	4–3 (OT)
2	Tappara	4	2	0	0	2	7	9	−2	6			1–3	—	2–1
3	Adler Mannheim	4	1	0	1	2	10	10	0	4			2–3	4–1	—

Group D[]

Pos	Team	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		ZSC	LUK	ING
1	ZSC Lions	4	3	1	0	0	11	3	+8	11	Advance to Playoffs		—	2–0	2–0
2	Lukko	4	1	0	1	2	9	9	0	4			2–3 (SO)	—	1–3
3	ERC Ingolstadt	4	1	0	0	3	5	13	−8	3			1–4	1–6	—

Group E[]

Pos	Team	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		KAR	VIT	KRE
1	Kärpät	4	3	1	0	0	12	5	+7	11	Advance to Playoffs		—	1–0 (OT)	5–3
2	Vítkovice Steel	4	1	0	1	2	7	10	−3	4			2–4	—	5–3
3	Krefeld Pinguine	4	1	0	0	3	8	12	−4	3			0–2	2–0	—

Group F[]

Pos	Team	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		FRI	RBM	ZNO
1	Fribourg-Gottéron	4	3	0	0	1	12	6	+6	9	Advance to Playoffs		—	3–0	5–2
2	Red Bull München	4	3	0	0	1	14	7	+7	9			3–1	—	7–0
3	Orli Znojmo	4	0	0	0	4	6	19	−13	0			1–3	3–4	—

Group G[]

Pos	Team	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		EVZ	HIFK	ESB
1	EV Zug	4	3	1	0	0	17	7	+10	11	Advance to Playoffs		—	2–1	3–2 (SO)
2	HIFK	4	1	0	1	2	13	11	+2	4			1–4	—	7–0
3	Esbjerg Energy	4	0	1	1	2	10	22	−12	3			3–8	5–4 (OT)	—

Group H[]

Pos	Team	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		TPS	LIB	LIK
1	TPS	4	3	1	0	0	15	3	+12	11	Advance to Playoffs		—	3–1	4–1
2	Bílí Tygři Liberec	4	1	1	1	1	8	9	−1	6			1–2 (SO)	—	4–3 (OT)
3	Lørenskog IK	4	0	0	1	3	5	16	−11	1			0–6	1–2	—

Group I[]

Pos	Team	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		SAI	BER	LHF
1	SaiPa	4	3	1	0	0	17	9	+8	11	Advance to Playoffs		—	6–3	3–2 (SO)
2	Eisbären Berlin	4	2	0	0	2	12	13	−1	6			2–4	—	2–1
3	Luleå HF	4	0	0	1	3	7	14	−7	1			2–4	2–5	—

Group J[]

Pos	Team	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		NIT	PLZ	OIL
1	HK Nitra	4	3	0	0	1	9	6	+3	9	Advance to Playoffs		—	2–1	2–1
2	HC Plzeň	4	2	0	0	2	12	10	+2	6			2–4	—	6–4
3	Stavanger Oilers	4	1	0	0	3	7	12	−5	3			2–1	0–3	—

Group K[]

Pos	Team	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		LHC	JYP	GAP
1	Linköpings HC	4	4	0	0	0	16	5	+11	12	Advance to Playoffs		—	4–3	6–1
2	JYP	4	2	0	0	2	12	9	+3	6			1–4	—	4–0
3	Rapaces de Gap	4	0	0	0	4	2	16	−14	0			0–2	1–4	—

Group L[]

Pos	Team	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		VLH	YUN	MLB
1	Växjö Lakers	4	2	0	2	0	16	10	+6	8	Advance to Playoffs		—	4–0	7–3
2	Yunost Minsk	4	1	1	0	2	10	13	−3	5			4–3 (OT)	—	4–3
3	BK Mladá Boleslav	4	1	1	0	2	12	15	−3	5			3–2 (SO)	3–2	—

Group M[]

Pos	Team	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		SCB	KOS	BWL
1	SC Bern	4	4	0	0	0	17	5	+12	12	Advance to Playoffs		—	3–1	5–0
2	HC Košice	4	1	0	0	3	10	15	−5	3			3–6	—	2–3
3	Black Wings Linz	4	1	0	0	3	7	14	−7	3			1–3	3–4	—

Group N[]

Pos	Team	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		SKE	KAL	VIC
1	Skellefteå AIK	4	2	0	1	1	10	9	+1	7	Advance to Playoffs		—	4–0	2–5
2	KalPa	4	2	0	0	2	7	8	−1	6			1–2	—	3–1
3	Vienna Capitals	4	1	1	0	2	10	10	0	5			3–2 (OT)	1–3	—

Group O[]

Pos	Team	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		FBK	SPA	CRA
1	Färjestad BK	4	3	0	1	0	16	5	+11	10	Advance to Playoffs		—	2–3 (OT)	7–0
2	HC Sparta Praha	4	2	1	0	1	16	10	+6	8			1–2	—	5–4
3	ComArch Cracovia	4	0	0	0	4	7	24	−17	0			1–5	2–7	—

Group P[]

Pos	Team	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		HV71	RBS	SHE
1	HV71	4	3	0	0	1	16	9	+7	9	Advance to Playoffs		—	1–2	5–3
2	Red Bull Salzburg	4	2	0	0	2	14	12	+2	6			2–5	—	8–1
3	Sheffield Steelers	4	1	0	0	3	11	20	−9	3			2–5	5–2	—

Playoffs[]

In the playoffs, the teams play against each other over two legs on a home-and-away basis with the team with the better standing after the group stage having the second game at home, except for the one-match final played at the venue of the team with the best competition track record leading up to the final.

The mechanism of the draw for playoffs was as follows:^[8]

• The entire playoff was drawn on 12 September 2016 and determined the sixteen pairings for the Round of 32. Also at the draw, all matches up to the final were set in the bracket.
• In the draw for the Round of 32, the 16 group winners were seeded, and the 16 runners-up were unseeded. The seeded teamswere drawn against the unseeded teams, with the seeded teams hosting the second leg. Teams from the same group could be drawn against each other, but teams from the same league or country could be paired in any round.

Playoff teams[]

Group	Winners (Seeded in round of 32 draw)	Runners-up (Unseeded in round of 32 draw)
A	Frölunda HC	EHC Wolfsburg
B	Djurgårdens IF	HC Davos
C	HC Lugano	Tappara
D	ZSC Lions	Lukko
E	Kärpät	Vítkovice Steel
F	Fribourg-Gottéron	Red Bull München
G	EV Zug	HIFK
H	TPS	Bílí Tygři Liberec
I	SaiPa	Eisbären Berlin
J	HK Nitra	HC Plzeň
K	Linköpings HC	JYP
L	Växjö Lakers	Yunost Minsk
M	SC Bern	HC Košice
N	Skellefteå AIK	KalPa
O	Färjestad BK	HC Sparta Praha
P	HV71	EC Red Bull Salzburg

Bracket[]

	Round of 32						Round of 16						Quarter-finals						Semi-finals						Final
	Bílí Tygři Liberec	4	0	4
	Färjestad BK	1	2	3			Bílí Tygři Liberec	1	1	2
	Vítkovice Steel	7	5	12			Vítkovice Steel	0	3	3
	HK Nitra	0	0	0									Vítkovice Steel	2	2	4
	KalPa	2	1	3									Fribourg-Gottéron	5	3	8
	Djurgårdens IF	0	2	2			KalPa	1	2	3
	HC Košice	1	1	2			Fribourg-Gottéron	1	3	4
	Fribourg-Gottéron	1	4	5															Frölunda HC	5	4	9
	Yunost Minsk	3	0	3															Fribourg-Gottéron	1	0	1
	Frölunda HC´	2	5	7			Eisbären Berlin	1	1	2
	Eisbären Berlin	4	2	6			Frölunda HC	6	4	10
	EV Zug	0	1	1									Frölunda HC	4	5	9
	HC Davos	4	3	7									Linköpings HC	0	2	2
	Linköpings HC	7	2	9			Linköpings HC	1	1	2
	HIFK (SO)	1	4	5(2)			HIFK	1	0	1
	TPS	1	4	5(1)																					Frölunda HC	4
	EHC Wolfsburg	1	2	3																					HC Sparta Praha	3
	ZSC Lions	4	5	9			HC Lugano	3	2	5
	HC Plzeň	1	3	4			ZSC Lions	2	4	6
	HC Lugano	4	3	7									ZSC Lions	0	2	2
	Tappara	0	2	2									Växjö Lakers	0	3	3
	SaiPa	2	4	6			SaiPa	3	2	5
	Red Bull München	1	3	4			Växjö Lakers	2	4	6
	Växjö Lakers	1	4	5															Växjö Lakers	1	0	1
	HC Sparta Praha (OT)	1	1	2															HC Sparta Praha	2	4	6
	Kärpät	1	0	1			HC Sparta Praha	2	5	7
	Lukko	0	3	3			HV71	4	0	4
	HV71	2	4	6									SC Bern	1	1	2
	JYP	4	2	6									HC Sparta Praha	1	4	5
	Skellefteå AIK	0	4	4			SC Bern	3	3	6
	EC Red Bull Salzburg	1	3	4			JYP	2	3	5
	SC Bern	4	3	7

Note:

1. The teams listed on top of each tie play first match at home and the bottom team plays second match at home.
2. The order of the legs (what team starts at home) in the future rounds may be changed as the team with best record should have second match at home.

Round of 32[]

The draw for the entire playoff (round of 32, round of 16, quarter-finals, semi-finals and final) was held on 12 September 2016. The first legs were played on 4 October, and the second legs on 11 October 2016. The seeded teams (group winners) played the last match at home.

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Bílí Tygři Liberec	4–3	Färjestad BK	4–1	0–2
Vítkovice Steel	12–0	HK Nitra	7–0	5–0
KalPa	3–2	Djurgårdens IF	2–0	1–2
HC Košice	2–5	Fribourg-Gottéron	1–1	1–4
Yunost Minsk	3–7	Frölunda HC	3–2	0–5
Eisbären Berlin	6–1	EV Zug	4–0	2–1
HC Davos	7–9	Linköpings HC	4–7	3–2
TPS	5–6	HIFK	1–1	4–5 (SO)
EHC Wolfsburg	3–9	ZSC Lions	1–4	2–5
HC Lugano	7–4	HC Plzeň	4–1	3–3
Tappara	2–6	SaiPa	0–2	2–4
Red Bull München	4–5	Växjö Lakers	1–1	3–4
HC Sparta Praha	2–1	Kärpät	1–1	1–0 (OT)
HV71	6–3	Lukko	2–0	4–3
JYP	6–4	Skellefteå AIK	4–0	2–4
EC Red Bull Salzburg	4–7	SC Bern	1–4	3–3

Round of 16[]

The first legs were played on 1 November, and the second legs were played on 8 and 9 November 2016.

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Bílí Tygři Liberec	2–3	Vítkovice Steel	1–0	1–3 (OT)
KalPa	3–4	Fribourg-Gottéron	1–1	2–3 (OT)
Eisbären Berlin	2–10	Frölunda HC	1–6	1–4
Linköpings HC	2–1	HIFK	1–1	1–0
HC Lugano	5–6	ZSC Lions	3–2	2–4 (OT)
SaiPa	5–6	Växjö Lakers	3–2	2–4 (OT)
HC Sparta Praha	7–4	HV71	2–4	5–0
SC Bern	6–5	JYP	3–2	3–3

Quarter-finals[]

The first legs were played on 6 December, and the second legs were played on 13 December 2016.

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Vítkovice Steel	4–8	Fribourg-Gottéron	2–5	2–3
Frölunda HC	9–2	Linköpings HC	4–0	5–2
ZSC Lions	2–3	Växjö Lakers	0–0	2–3
SC Bern	2–5	HC Sparta Praha	1–1	1–4

Semi-finals[]

The first legs were played on 10 January, and the second legs were played on 17 January 2017.

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Frölunda HC	9–1	Fribourg-Gottéron	5–1	4–0
Växjö Lakers	1–6	HC Sparta Praha	1–2	0–4

Final[]

The final was played on 7 February 2017.

7 February 2017 19:05

Frölunda HC

4–3 OT (2–2, 1–0, 0–1) (OT 1–0)

HC Sparta Praha

Frolundaborgs Isstadion, Gothenburg Attendance: 6,044

Game reference
	Johan Gustafsson	Goalies	Tomáš Pöpperle	Referees: Stefan Fonselius Mikko Kaukokari Linesmen: Roman Kaderli Balazs Kovacs
	0–1 02:30 – Cingeľ (Kalina, Kudrna) Wellman (Sundström, Tömmernes) (PP) – 07:46 1–1 1–2 10:42 – Vrána (Hlinka) (SH) Lundqvist (Tömmernes, Olofsson) (PP) – 12:06 2–2 Wellman (Olofsson, Donovan) – 27:27 3–2 3–3 46:15 – Klimek (Švrček, Pech) Lasu (Rosseli Olsen, Donovan) – 61:27 4–3
	4 min	Penalties	41 min
	35	Shots	36

References[]