2015–16 Champions Hockey League

The 2015–16 Champions Hockey League is the second 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 regulation round began on 20 August 2015 and ended on 6 September 2015. The playoffs began on 22 September 2015 and ended with the 2016 Champions Hockey League Final on 9 February 2016. Frölunda HC defeated Oulun Kärpät 2–1 to win the second edition of Champions Hockey League.

Team allocation

A total of 48 teams from twelve different European first-tier leagues participate in the 2015–16 Champions Hockey League.

Team license

The teams were decided with regards to different licenses for the founding teams, leagues and wildcards.

• A license: The 26 founding teams get an A license, if they play in the first-tier league of their respective domestic league system in the 2015–16 season.
• B license: Two 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 took the B license spots. The order the B licenses were handed out is:

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, Denmark, Slovakia, France and the United Kingdom will, like the previous season got wild cards. From Slovakia, France, Norway and the United Kingdom, a second team also got a wild card. One wild card license were assigned to the 2014–15 IIHF Continental Cup winner HK Neman Grodno.

Round and draw dates

The schedule of the competition is as follows.

Phase	Round	Draw date	First leg	Second leg
Group stage	Matchday 1	13 May 2015	20–21 August 2015
	Matchday 2		22–23 August 2015
	Matchday 3		27–28 August 2015
	Matchday 4		29–30 August 2015
	Matchday 5		3–4 September 2015
	Matchday 6		5–6 September 2015
Playoff	Round of 32	8 September 2015	22 September 2015	6 October 2015
	Round of 16		3 November 2015	10 November 2015
	Quarter-finals		1 December 2015	8 December 2015
	Semi-finals		12 January 2016	19 January 2016
	Final		9 February 2016

Group stage

For the 2015–16 season, the regular season was expanded to 48 teams, divided into 16 groups with 3 teams in each group. The two first teams in each group advanced to the play-offs (round of 32).

The group stage began on 20 August and ended on 6 September 2015. 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 13 May 2015 in Prague, Czech Republic. 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;

Pot 1	Pot 2	Pot 3
Växjö Lakers Oulun Kärpät HC Litvínov HC Davos Red Bull Salzburg Adler Mannheim Skellefteå AIK Tappara Oceláři Třinec ZSC Lions Black Wings Linz Red Bull Munich Frölunda HC Lukko Sparta Prague SC Bern	Vienna Capitals ERC Ingolstadt Linköpings HC JYP HC Pardubice Genève-Servette KAC Klagenfurt Düsseldorfer EG HV71 Espoo Blues Vítkovice Steel EV Zug Eisbären Berlin Luleå Hockey KalPa Bílí Tygři Liberec	Fribourg-Gottéron Krefeld Pinguine Färjestad BK HIFK Djurgårdens IF TPS HC Košice Stavanger Oilers SønderjyskE Ishockey Sheffield Steelers Rapaces de Gap HK Nitra Storhamar Ishockey Braehead Clan Grenoble Neman Grodno

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:

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

	Team	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		LHC	HIFK	SCB
1	Linköpings HC	4	3	1	0	0	14	4	+10	11	Advance to Playoffs		—	2–0	3–2(SO)
2	HIFK	4	1	0	1	2	6	8	−2	4			1–2	—	3–1
3	SC Bern	4	0	1	1	2	7	15	−8	3			1–7	3–2(SO)	—

Group B

	Team	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		TAP	DIF	EVZ
1	Tappara	4	3	0	1	0	16	6	+10	10	Advance to Playoffs		—	2–3(OT)	3–1
2	Djurgårdens IF	4	2	1	0	1	13	11	+2	8			2–4	—	5–3
3	EV Zug	4	0	0	0	4	6	18	−12	0			0–7	2–3	—

Group C

	Team	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		HV71	RBS	SON
1	HV71	4	4	0	0	0	16	4	+12	12	Advance to Playoffs		—	4–1	7–1
2	EC Red Bull Salzburg	4	1	0	0	3	10	13	−3	3			1–3	—	7–2
3	SønderjyskE Ishockey	4	1	0	0	3	8	17	−9	3			1–2	4–1	—

Group D

	Team	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		SKE	LIB	NIT
1	Skellefteå AIK	4	3	1	0	0	16	6	+10	11	Advance to Playoffs		—	5–2	3–2(SO)
2	Bílí Tygři Liberec	4	2	0	0	2	13	9	+4	6			0–4	—	2–0
3	HK Nitra	4	0	0	1	3	4	18	−14	1			2–4	0–9	—

Group E

	Team	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		HCD	FBK	PCE
1	HC Davos	4	3	0	1	0	12	6	+6	10	Advance to Playoffs		—	0–1(OT)	5–3
2	Färjestad BK	4	1	2	0	1	8	9	−1	7			0–4	—	4–3(OT)
3	HC Pardubice	4	0	0	1	3	10	15	−5	1			2–3	2–3	—

Group F

	Team	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		LIT	BLU	GRE
1	HC Litvínov	4	3	1	0	0	14	7	+7	11	Advance to Playoffs		—	3–2(OT)	6–4
2	Espoo Blues	4	1	0	1	2	7	8	−1	4			0–1	—	4–2
3	Brûleurs de Loups	4	1	0	0	3	9	15	−6	3			1–4	2–1	—

Group G

	Team	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		TPS	DEG	BWL
1	HC TPS	4	2	1	1	0	15	9	+6	9	Advance to Playoffs		—	1–2(SO)	6–1
2	Düsseldorfer EG	4	1	1	0	2	15	14	+1	5			4–5	—	6–3
3	EHC Black Wings Linz	4	1	0	1	2	11	18	−7	4			2–3(OT)	5–3	—

Group H

	Team	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		RBM	KOS	KAC
1	EHC München	4	4	0	0	0	15	4	+11	12	Advance to Playoffs		—	1–0	6–1
2	HC Košice	4	1	1	0	2	7	8	−1	5			2–4	—	2–1(SO)
3	EC KAC	4	0	0	1	3	5	15	−10	1			1–4	2–3	—

Group I

	Team	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		MAN	VIT	NEM
1	Adler Mannheim	4	2	1	0	1	6	5	+1	8	Advance to Playoffs		—	2–1(SO)	2–1
2	HC Vítkovice Steel	4	2	0	1	1	7	5	+2	7			1–2	—	3–1
3	HK Neman Grodno	4	1	0	0	3	4	7	−3	3			2–0	0–2	—

Group J

	Team	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		KÄR	VIC	KRE
1	Oulun Kärpät	4	4	0	0	0	12	1	+11	12	Advance to Playoffs		—	4–0	4–1
2	Vienna Capitals	4	1	0	1	2	8	14	−6	4			0–2	—	2–3(SO)
3	Krefeld Pinguine	4	0	1	0	3	9	14	−5	2			0–2	5–6	—

Group K

	Team	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		LHF	LUK	FRI
1	Luleå HF	4	2	1	0	1	14	9	+5	8	Advance to Playoffs		—	4–3(SO)	4–2
2	Lukko	4	1	1	1	1	11	12	−1	6			0–3	—	4–2
3	HC Fribourg-Gottéron	4	1	0	1	2	11	15	−4	4			4–3	3–4(SO)	—

Group L

	Team	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		OIL	TRI	KAL
1	Stavanger Oilers	4	2	0	1	1	11	7	+4	7	Advance to Playoffs		—	4–1	3–0
2	HC Oceláři Třinec	4	1	1	1	1	14	11	+3	6			4–3(OT)	—	6–0
3	KalPa	4	1	1	0	2	6	13	−7	5			2–1	4–3(SO)	—

Group M

	Team	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		STO	SPA	GEN
1	Storhamar Ishockey	4	3	0	0	1	10	5	+5	9	Advance to Playoffs		—	2–3	5–1
2	HC Sparta Praha	4	2	0	1	1	12	10	+2	7			1–2	—	5–2
3	HC Genève-Servette	4	0	1	0	3	7	16	−9	2			0–3	4–3(OT)	—

Group N

	Team	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		FHC	JYP	SHE
1	Frölunda HC	4	4	0	0	0	20	5	+15	12	Advance to Playoffs		—	3–2	9–1
2	JYP	4	2	0	0	2	10	9	+1	6			1–4	—	3–0
3	Sheffield Steelers	4	0	0	0	4	4	20	−16	0			1–4	2–4	—

Group O

	Team	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		VLH	ING	BRA
1	Växjö Lakers	4	3	0	0	1	20	10	+10	9	Advance to Playoffs		—	4–2	10–2
2	ERC Ingolstadt	4	2	0	0	2	16	15	+1	6			5–3	—	5–2
3	Braehead Clan	4	1	0	0	3	11	22	−11	3			1–3	6–4	—

Group P

	Team	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		ZSC	BER	GAP
1	ZSC Lions	4	4	0	0	0	20	10	+10	12	Advance to Playoffs		—	3–2	6–1
2	Eisbären Berlin	4	1	0	0	3	12	13	−1	3			3–6	—	6–1
3	Rapaces de Gap	4	1	0	0	3	9	18	−9	3			4–5	3–1	—

Playoffs

In the playoffs, the teams played 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 were as follows:

• The entire playoff was drawn at a single occasion on 8 September 2015 to determine the sixteen pairings for the Round of 32. After the draw, all matches up to the final were set in brackets.
• In the draw for the Round of 32, the 16 group winners were seeded, and the 16 runners-up were unseeded. The seeded teams were drawn against the unseeded teams, with the seeded teams hosting the second leg. Teams from the same group could not be drawn against each other.

Playoff teams

Group	Winners (Seeded in round of 32 draw)	Runners-up (Unseeded in round of 32 draw)
A	Linköpings HC	HIFK
B	Tappara	Djurgårdens IF
C	HV71	Red Bull Salzburg
D	Skellefteå AIK	Bílí Tygři Liberec
E	HC Davos	Färjestad BK
F	HC Litvínov	Espoo Blues
G	TPS	Düsseldorfer EG
H	Red Bull Munich	HC Košice
I	Adler Mannheim	Vítkovice Steel
J	Oulun Kärpät	Vienna Capitals
K	Luleå Hockey	Lukko
L	Stavanger Oilers	Oceláři Třinec
M	Storhamar Ishockey	Sparta Prague
N	Frölunda HC	JYP
O	Växjö Lakers	ERC Ingolstadt
P	ZSC Lions	Eisbären Berlin

Round of 32

The draw for the entire playoff (round of 32, round of 16, quarter-finals, semi-finals and final) was held on 8 September 2015. The first legs were played on 22 and 29 September, and the second legs were played on 6 October 2015. The seeded teams (group winners) played the last match at home.

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Oceláři Třinec	3–5	HV71	2–2	1–3
Bílí Tygři Liberec	10–4	Linköpings HC	4–1	6–3
Espoo Blues	6–4	Adler Mannheim	4–1	2–3
HIFK	4–6	HC Davos	2–1	2–5
Sparta Prague	6–2	ZSC Lions	3–2	3–0
Eisbären Berlin	6–3	Stavanger Oilers	3–0	3–3
Düsseldorfer EG	0–5	Oulun Kärpät	0–2	0–3
HC Košice	4–6	Skellefteå AIK	4–3	0–3
Red Bull Salzburg	3–6	Storhamar Ishockey	1–3	2–3
ERC Ingolstadt	5–6	Frölunda HC	4–2	1–4 (OT)
JYP	3–6	TPS	2–2	1–4
Vienna Capitals	5–6	HC Litvínov	3–4	2–2 (OT)
Lukko	8–3	Red Bull Munich	5–3	3–0
Vítkovice Steel	1–4	Tappara	0–2	1–2
Djurgårdens IF	7–6	Växjö Lakers	4–3	3–3
Färjestad BK	3–4	Luleå Hockey	0–3	3–1

Round of 16

The first legs were played on 3 November, and the second legs were played on 10 November 2015.

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Espoo Blues	4–2	HV71	3–1	1–1
Sparta Prague	5–6	Oulun Kärpät	4–2	1–4
TPS	6–4	Storhamar Ishockey	4–3	2–1
Djurgårdens IF	2–4	Lukko	1–2	1–2
Bílí Tygři Liberec	6–9	HC Davos	3–5	3–4
Eisbären Berlin	3–7	Skellefteå AIK	2–5	1–2
HC Litvínov	2–7	Frölunda HC	2–1	0–6
Tappara	2–6	Luleå Hockey	2–1	0–5

Quarter-finals

The first legs were played on 1 December, and the second legs were played on 8 December 2015.

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Espoo Blues	3–5	Oulun Kärpät	2–0	1–5
TPS	4–4 (0–1 SO)	Lukko	3–3	1–1 (OT)
HC Davos	5–2	Skellefteå AIK	1–1	4–1
Luleå Hockey	7–7 (1–3 SO)	Frölunda HC	3–2	4–5 (OT)

Semi-finals

The first legs will be played on 12 January, and the second legs will be played on 19 January 2016.

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Lukko	4–5	Oulun Kärpät	2–3	2–2
HC Davos	1–61	Frölunda HC	0–5	1–1

Notes

1. Order of legs reversed, since HC Davos home ice was unavailable on 19 January.

Final

9 February 2016 18:30

Oulun Kärpät

1–2 (0–2, 0–0, 1–0)

Frölunda HC

Oulun Energia Areena, Oulu Attendance: 6,614

Game reference
	2 min	Penalties	8 min
	19	Shots	23

References

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