2015–16 Champions Hockey League

2015–16 Champions Hockey League

Tournament details
Dates	20 August 2015 – 9 February 2016
Teams	48
Final positions
Champions	Frölunda HC (1st title)
Runner-up	Kärpät
Tournament statistics
Games played	157
Goals scored	802 (5.11 per game)
Attendance	513,760 (3,272 per game)
Scoring leader(s)	Ryan Lasch (16 points)
MVP	Ryan Lasch
← 2014–15 2016–17 →

The 2015–16 Champions Hockey League was 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 Champions Hockey League Final on 9 February 2016. Frölunda HC defeated Kärpät 2–1 to win the second edition of Champions Hockey League.

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

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][2]

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—like the previous season—got wild cards.^[3] From Slovakia, France, Norway and the United Kingdom, a second team also got a wild card.^[4] One wild card license were assigned to the 2014–15 IIHF Continental Cup winner HK Neman Grodno.^[5][6][7]

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
HC 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
Black Wings Linz	Linz	Austrian Hockey League	regular season runner-up	B
KAC Klagenfurt	Klagenfurt	Austrian Hockey League	play-off semi-finalist	B
Oceláři Třinec	Třinec	Czech Extraliga	regular season winner	B
HC Litvínov	Litvínov	Czech Extraliga	play-off champion	B
Lukko	Rauma	Liiga	play-off semi-finalist	B
Espoo Blues	Espoo	Liiga	regular season fifth [8]	B
Red Bull Munich	Munich	Deutsche Eishockey Liga	regular season runner-up	B
Düsseldorfer EG	Düsseldorf	Deutsche Eishockey Liga	play-off semi-finalist	B
HC Davos	Davos	National League A	play-off champion	B
Genève-Servette	Geneva	National League A	play-off semi-finalist	B
Växjö Lakers	Växjö	Swedish Hockey League	play-off champion	B
Skellefteå AIK	Skellefteå	Swedish Hockey League	regular season winner	B
Neman Grodno	Grodno	Belarusian Extraleague	Continental Cup winner	C
Stavanger Oilers	Stavanger	GET-ligaen	play-off champion	C
Storhamar Ishockey	Hamar	GET-ligaen	regular season runner-up	C
HC Košice	Košice	Tipsport Liga	play-off champion	C
HK Nitra	Nitra	Tipsport Liga	regular season runner-up	C
SønderjyskE Ishockey	Vojens	Metal Ligaen	play-off champion	C
Sheffield Steelers	Sheffield	Elite Ice Hockey League	regular season champion	C
Braehead Clan	Glasgow	Elite Ice Hockey League	regular season runner-up	C
Rapaces de Gap	Gap	Ligue Magnus	play-off champion	C
Grenoble	Grenoble	Ligue Magnus	regular season winner	C

The schedule of the competition is as follows.^[9][10]

Linköping

HIFK

Bern

Tappara

Zug

Djurgården

HV71

Salzburg

SønderjyskE

Skellefteå

Liberec

Nitra

Davos

Färjestad

Pardubice

Litvínov

Espoo

Grenoble

TPS

Düsseldorf

Linz

München

Košice

KAC

Mannheim

Vítkovice

Grodno

Kärpät

Vienna

Krefeld

Luleå

Lukko

Fribourg

KalPa

Třinec

Stavanger

Praha

Genève

Storhamar

Frölunda

JYP

Sheffield

Växjö

Ingolstadt

Braehead

Berlin

ZSC

Gap

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Teams in the 2015–16 Champions Hockey League
Black: Group A; Purple: Group B; Blue: Group C; Red: Group D; Orange: Group E; Green: Group F; White: Group G; Yellow: Group H; Brown: Group I; Pink: Group J; Gold: Group K; Turquoise: Group L; Cyan: Group M; Asselian: Group N; Deep pink: Group O; Steel: Group P.

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).^[5]

The group stage began on 20 August and ended on 6 September 2015.^[13][14] 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.^[15]

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;^[16]

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:^[17]

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.

Pos	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)	—

Pos	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	—

Pos	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	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	—

Pos	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	—

Pos	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	—

Pos	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	Grenoble	4	1	0	0	3	9	15	−6	3			1–4	2–1	—

Pos	Team	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		TPS	DEG	BWL
1	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	Black Wings Linz	4	1	0	1	2	11	18	−7	4			2–3(OT)	5–3	—

Pos	Team	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		RBM	KOS	KAC
1	Red Bull Munich	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	KAC Klagenfurt	4	0	0	1	3	5	15	−10	1			1–4	2–3	—

Pos	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	Vítkovice Steel	4	2	0	1	1	7	5	+2	7			1–2	—	3–1
3	Neman Grodno	4	1	0	0	3	4	7	−3	3			2–0	0–2	—

Pos	Team	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		KÄR	VIC	KRE
1	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	—

Pos	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	Fribourg-Gottéron	4	1	0	1	2	11	15	−4	4			4–3	3–4(SO)	—

Pos	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	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)	—

Pos	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	Genève-Servette	4	0	1	0	3	7	16	−9	2			0–3	4–3(OT)	—

Pos	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	—

Pos	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	—

Pos	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	—

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-game 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 games up to the final were set in brackets.^[12]
• 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.^[12]

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	Kärpät	Vienna Capitals
K	Luleå HF	Lukko
L	Stavanger Oilers	Oceláři Třinec
M	Storhamar Ishockey	HC Sparta Praha
N	Frölunda HC	JYP
O	Växjö Lakers	ERC Ingolstadt
P	ZSC Lions	Eisbären Berlin

	Round of 32						Round of 16						Quarter-finals						Semi-finals						Final
	Oceláři Třinec	2	1	3
	HV71	2	3	5			Espoo Blues	3	1	4
	Espoo Blues	4	2	6			HV71	1	1	2
	Adler Mannheim	1	3	4									Espoo Blues	2	1	3
	HC Sparta Praha	3	3	6									Kärpät	0	5	5
	ZSC Lions	2	0	2			HC Sparta Praha	4	1	5
	Düsseldorfer EG	0	0	0			Kärpät	2	4	6
	Kärpät	2	3	5															Lukko	2	2	4
	Red Bull Salzburg	1	2	3															Kärpät	3	2	5
	Storhamar Ishockey	3	3	6			TPS	4	2	6
	JYP	2	1	3			Storhamar Ishockey	3	1	4
	TPS	2	4	6									TPS	3	1	4(0)
	Lukko	5	3	8									Lukko (SO)	3	1	4(1)
	Red Bull Munich	3	0	3			Djurgårdens IF	1	1	2
	Djurgårdens IF	4	3	7			Lukko	2	2	4
	Växjö Lakers	3	3	6																					Kärpät	1
	Bílí Tygři Liberec	4	6	10																					Frölunda HC	2
	Linköpings HC	1	3	4			Bílí Tygři Liberec	3	3	6
	HIFK	2	2	4			HC Davos	5	4	9
	HC Davos	1	5	6									HC Davos	1	4	5
	Eisbären Berlin	3	3	6									Skellefteå AIK	1	1	2
	Stavanger Oilers	0	3	3			Eisbären Berlin	2	1	3
	HC Košice	4	0	4			Skellefteå AIK	5	2	7
	Skellefteå AIK	3	3	6															HC Davos	0	1	1
	ERC Ingolstadt	4	1	5															Frölunda HC	5	1	6
	Frölunda HC (OT)	2	4	6			HC Litvínov	2	0	2
	Vienna Capitals	3	2	5			Frölunda HC	1	6	7
	HC Litvínov (OT)	4	2	6									Luleå HF	3	4	7(1)
	Vítkovice Steel	0	1	1									Frölunda HC (SO)	2	5	7(3)
	Tappara	2	2	4			Tappara	2	0	2
	Färjestad BK	0	3	3			Luleå HF	1	5	6
	Luleå HF	3	1	4

Note:

1. The teams listed on top of each tie play first game at home and the bottom team plays second game 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 game at home.

The draw for the entire playoff (round of 32, round of 16, quarter-finals, semi-finals and final) was held on 8 September 2015.^[10][12] 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 game at home.

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	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
HC Sparta Praha	6–2	ZSC Lions	3–2	3–0
Eisbären Berlin	6–3	Stavanger Oilers	3–0	3–3
Düsseldorfer EG	0–5	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 HF	0–3	3–1

22 September 2015 16:00

Vítkovice Steel

0–2 (0–0, 0–2, 0–0)

Tappara

ČEZ Aréna, Ostrava Attendance: 4,057

22 September 2015 16:30

Bílí Tygři Liberec

4–1 (4–1, 0–0, 0–0)

Linköpings HC

Home Credit Arena, Liberec Attendance: 1,993

22 September 2015 16:30

Oceláři Třinec

2–2 (1–1, 1–1, 0–0)

HV71

Werk Arena, Třinec Attendance: 2,112

22 September 2015 16:30

HIFK

2–1 (1–0, 0–0, 1–1)

HC Davos

Helsinki Ice Hall, Helsinki Attendance: 3,649

22 September 2015 16:30

JYP

2–2 (0–0, 2–0, 0–2)

TPS

Synergia-areena, Jyväskylä Attendance: 2,045

22 September 2015 16:30

Lukko

5–3 (1–0, 3–1, 1–2)

Red Bull Munich

Kivikylän Areena, Rauma Attendance: 1,716

22 September 2015 16:30

Espoo Blues

4–1 (1–1, 3–0, 0–0)

Adler Mannheim

Espoo Metro Areena, Espoo Attendance: 1,183

22 September 2015 17:00

HC Košice

4–3 (0–1, 1–1, 3–1)

Skellefteå AIK

Steel Aréna, Košice Attendance: 5,038

22 September 2015 17:30

HC Sparta Praha

3–2 (1–0, 2–1, 0–1)

ZSC Lions

O2 Arena, Prague Attendance: 2,893

22 September 2015 18:00

Färjestad BK

0–3 (0–0, 0–2, 0–1)

Luleå HF

Lofbergs Arena, Karlstad Attendance: 1,594

22 September 2015 18:15

Vienna Capitals

3–4 (1–4, 1–0, 1–0)

HC Litvínov

Albert Schultz Eishalle, Vienna Attendance: 2,400

22 September 2015 18:15

Red Bull Salzburg

1–3 (0–0, 0–2, 1–1)

Storhamar Ishockey

Eisarena Salzburg, Salzburg Attendance: 1,206

22 September 2015 18:30

Eisbären Berlin

3–0 (0–0, 1–0, 2–0)

Stavanger Oilers

O2 World, Berlin Attendance: 4,069

22 September 2015 18:30

Düsseldorfer EG

0–2 (0–1, 0–1, 0–0)

Kärpät

ISS Dome, Düsseldorf Attendance: 5,431

22 September 2015 19:00

Djurgårdens IF

4–3 (2–1, 1–0, 1–2)

Växjö Lakers

Hovet, Stockholm Attendance: 566

29 September 2015 18:30

ERC Ingolstadt

4–2 (1–2, 2–0, 1–0)

Frölunda HC

Saturn Arena, Ingolstadt Attendance: 2,046

6 October 2015 16:00

HC Litvínov

2–2 (OT) (0–0, 0–0, 1–2) (OT 1–0)

Vienna Capitals

Ivan Hlinka Stadion, Litvínov Attendance: 2,084

6 October 2015 16:30

Skellefteå AIK

3–0 (0–0, 1–0, 2–0)

HC Košice

Skellefteå Kraft Arena, Skellefteå Attendance: 2,209