2008–09 Champions Hockey League

2008–09 Champions Hockey League
League Champions Hockey League
Sport Ice hockey
Duration 8 October 2008 – 28 January 2009
Number of teams 14 (12 in group stage)
Season MVP Ari Sulander (ZSC)
Top scorer Jean-Guy Trudel (ZSC)
Finals
Finals champions ZSC Lions
  Runners-up Metallurg Magnitogorsk

The 2008–09 Champions Hockey League was the inaugural season of the Champions Hockey League, an IIHF organized ice hockey league for the best club teams in Europe. This first edition was played with 12 teams from seven countries (two teams each from Russia, Czech Republic, Sweden and Finland, one team each from Switzerland, Germany and Slovakia and a 12th team from one of these three countries, determined in a qualification tournament).[1] Every participating team was guaranteed an appearance fee of 300,000 euro and the winner received 1,000,000 euro. Prize money was also be awarded for winning group stage matches (50,000 euro), for the semi-final appearance (200,000 euro) and for the other finalist (500,000 euro). In total, 10 million euros were distributed, the largest prize sum ever in a European hockey club competition. [2] The ZSC Lions from Switzerland won the competition by beating Russia's Metallurg Magnitogorsk in the finals.

Contents

Participating teams

The 2008–09 edition of the Champions Hockey League is played with twelve teams from Europe's top seven hockey leagues. Ten teams qualified directly for the group stage due to their performances in the domestic leagues. The field was completed with the winner of last season's Champions Cup and one team from the qualifying tournament. The tables below lists these teams together with the reasons for qualifying.[3]

Directly qualified for group stage

Metallurg Magnitogorsk Magnitogorsk, Chelyabinsk, Russia 2008 IIHF European Champions Cup winner
Salavat Yulaev Ufa Ufa, Bashkortostan, Russia Russian Super League champion
Kärpät Oulu, Finland Finnish SM-liiga champion
Espoo Blues Espoo, Finland Finnish SM-liiga playoff finalist
HC Slavia Praha Prague, Czech Republic Czech Extraliga champion
HC České Budějovice České Budějovice, Czech Republic Czech Extraliga regular-season winner
HV71 Jönköping, Sweden Swedish Elitserien champion
Linköpings HC Linköping, Sweden Swedish Elitserien regular-season runner-up
HC Slovan Bratislava Bratislava, Slovakia Slovak Extraliga champion
ZSC Lions Zurich, Switzerland Swiss National League A champion
Eisbären Berlin Berlin, Germany Deutsche Eishockey Liga champion

Note: Because the Swedish regular-season winner (HV71) also won the play-offs, Linköpings HC as the runner-up of the regular-season will participate.

Participating in qualifying tournament

HC Košice Košice, Slovakia Slovak Extraliga regular-season runner-up
SC Bern Berne, Switzerland Swiss National League A regular-season winner
Sinupret Ice Tigers Nuremberg, Germany Deutsche Eishockey Liga regular-season winner

Note: Because the Slovak regular-season winner (Slovan Bratislava) also won the play-offs, HC Košice as the runner-up of the regular-season can participate in the qualifying tournament.

Qualifying tournament

Three teams played a qualifying tournament on 12–14 September in Nuremberg, Germany. A win was awarded 3 points, 0 points for a loss.[4] SC Bern won the tournament and qualified as the second team from Switzerland for the group stage of the Champions Hockey League. Bern's Ramzi Abid was the top scorer of the tournament with 3 goals and 1 assist. The matches were attended by an average of 3,426 spectators.[5]

Team GP W SOW SOL L GF GA PTS
SC Bern 2 2 0 0 0 9 5 6
Sinupret Ice Tigers 2 1 0 0 1 6 7 3
HC Košice 2 0 0 0 2 7 10 0
September 12, 2008
19:30 CET		 Sinupret Ice Tigers 1 – 4
( 0–0, 1–1, 0–3 )		 SC Bern Nuremberg Arena, Nuremberg
Attendance: 7,658
September 13, 2008
18:30 CET		 SC Bern 5 – 4
( 2–0, 2–3, 1–1 )		 HC Košice Nuremberg Arena, Nuremberg
Attendance: 1,859
September 14, 2008
18:30 CET		 HC Košice 3 – 5
( 0–2, 2–2, 1–1 )		 Sinupret Ice Tigers Nuremberg Arena, Nuremberg
Attendance: 3,373

Group stage

The draw for the group stage took place on Friday, 25 April 2008 in Zurich, Switzerland.[6] The twelve teams were drawn into groups of three. Each group played a double round-robin. If the games were decided after 60 minutes, the winner was awarded 3 points and the loser 0 points. In case of a tie, both teams got 1 point and a penalty shoot-out was staged with the winner being awarded a second point. The best team of each group – the two Russian teams Ufa and Magnitogorsk, Espoo from Finland and the ZSC Lions from Switzerland – advanced to the semi-finals.

Group A

Eisbären Berlin played their two home games at the new O2 World in Berlin in front of 13,000 and 13,500 spectators, respectively, a Champions Hockey League record. Magnitogorsk qualified for the semi-finals on gameday 5 after winning their first three games. Metallurg's Jan Marek was the top scorer in group A with 2 goals and 5 assists.

Team GP W OTW OTL L GF GA PTS
Metallurg Magnitogorsk 4 3 0 0 1 11 5 9
Eisbären Berlin 4 2 1 0 1 10 10 8
Kärpät 4 0 0 1 3 5 11 1
October 8, 2008
19:30 CET		 Eisbären Berlin 3 – 2
( 1–1, 1–0, 1–1 )		 Kärpät O2 World, Berlin
Attendance: 13,000
October 22, 2008
20:30 EET		 Kärpät 0 – 2
( 0–0, 0–1, 0–1 )		 Metallurg Magnitogorsk Oulun Energia Areena, Oulu
Attendance: 6,614
October 29, 2008
20:00 YEKT		 Metallurg Magnitogorsk 5 – 2
( 4–0, 0–1, 1–1 )		 Eisbären Berlin Magnitogorsk Arena, Magnitogorsk
Attendance: 7,701
November 12, 2008
20:30 EET		 Kärpät 2 – 3 (PS)
( 1–0, 0–1, 1–1, 0–1 )		 Eisbären Berlin Oulun Energia Areena, Oulu
Attendance: 4,619
November 19, 2008
20:00 YEKT		 Metallurg Magnitogorsk 3 – 1
( 0–0, 2–0, 1–1 )		 Kärpät Magnitogorsk Arena, Magnitogorsk
Attendance: 7,593
December 3, 2008
19:30 CET		 Eisbären Berlin 2 – 1
( 1–0, 1–1, 0–0 )		 Metallurg Magnitogorsk O2 World, Berlin
Attendance: 13,500

Group B

Espoo won all 4 of their games and qualified for the semi-final after gameday 5. The top scorer in group B was Bern's Christian Dubé with 5 goals (and 0 assists).

Team GP W OTW OTL L GF GA PTS
Espoo Blues 4 4 0 0 0 13 4 12
HV71 4 1 0 0 3 13 18 3
SC Bern 4 1 0 0 3 11 15 3
October 8, 2008
19:30 CET		 HV71 6 – 2
( 1–0, 2–0, 3–2 )		 SC Bern Kinnarps Arena, Jönköping
Attendance: 6,903
October 22, 2008
19:30 CET		 SC Bern 1 – 3
( 0–2, 0–0, 1–1 )		 Espoo Blues PostFinance Arena, Berne
Attendance: 6,756
October 29, 2008
20:30 EET		 Espoo Blues 3 – 2
( 2–1, 0–0, 1–1 )		 HV71 LänsiAuto Areena, Espoo
Attendance: 6,083
November 12, 2008
19:30 CET		 SC Bern 7 – 5
( 1–3, 3–0, 3–2 )		 HV71 PostFinance Arena, Berne
Attendance: 7,057
November 19, 2008
20:30 EET		 Espoo Blues 2 – 1
( 2–1, 0–0, 0–0 )		 SC Bern LänsiAuto Areena, Espoo
Attendance: 6,247
December 3, 2008
19:30 CET		 HV71 0 – 6
( 0–3, 0–1, 0–2 )		 Espoo Blues Kinnarps Arena, Jönköping
Attendance: 5,028

Group C

Salavat Yulaev was the first team of the 2008–09 Champions Hockey League to qualify for the semi-finals after winning their first three games. The top scorer in group C was Ufa's Alexander Radulov with 1 goal and 4 assists.

Team GP W OTW OTL L GF GA PTS
Salavat Yulaev Ufa 4 4 0 0 0 22 5 12
HC České Budějovice 4 1 0 0 3 9 17 3
HC Slovan Bratislava 4 1 0 0 3 11 20 3
October 8, 2008
20:00 YEKT		 Salavat Yulaev Ufa 7 – 1
( 1–0, 3–0, 3–1 )		 HC České Budějovice Ufa Arena, Ufa
Attendance: 7,835
October 22, 2008
19:30 CET		 HC České Budějovice 5 – 2
( 1–0, 2–1, 2–1 )		 HC Slovan Bratislava Budvar Arena, České Budějovice
Attendance: 4,250
October 29, 2008
19:30 CET		 HC Slovan Bratislava 2 – 4
( 1–0, 1–3, 0–1 )		 Salavat Yulaev Ufa Samsung Arena, Bratislava
Attendance: 5,238
November 12, 2008
19:30 CET		 HC České Budějovice 0 – 3
( 0–2, 0–1, 0–0 )		 Salavat Yulaev Ufa Budvar Arena, České Budějovice
Attendance: 4,109
November 19, 2008
19:30 CET		 HC Slovan Bratislava 5 – 3
( 3–0, 0–0, 2–3 )		 HC České Budějovice Samsung Arena, Bratislava
Attendance: 4,880
December 3, 2008
20:00 YEKT		 Salavat Yulaev Ufa 8 – 2
( 1–1, 4–1, 3–0 )		 HC Slovan Bratislava Ufa Arena, Ufa
Attendance: 8,292

Group D

The winner of group D was not decided until the final game in Prague between Slavia and the ZSC Lions. In front of 8,137 spectators, the Lions won the game 5–1 after scoring 4 goals in the last period. The group's top scorer (and the leading scorer after all group stage games) was Adrian Wichser from ZSC with 9 assists (and 0 goals).

Team GP W OTW OTL L GF GA PTS
ZSC Lions 4 3 0 1 0 20 11 10
HC Slavia Praha 4 2 1 0 1 15 15 8
Linköpings HC 4 0 0 0 4 11 20 0
October 8, 2008
19:30 CET		 HC Slavia Praha 4 – 2
( 2–1, 1–1, 1–0 )		 Linköpings HC O2 Arena, Prague
Attendance: 4,108
October 22, 2008
19:30 CET		 Linköpings HC 2 – 7
( 2–2, 0–2, 0–3 )		 ZSC Lions Cloetta Center, Linköping
Attendance: 7,961
October 29, 2008
19:30 CET		 ZSC Lions 4 – 5 (PS)
( 0–1, 1–1, 3–2, 0–1 )		 HC Slavia Praha Hallenstadion, Zürich
Attendance: 8,220
November 12, 2008
19:30 CET		 Linköpings HC 4 – 5
( 0–2, 3–1, 1–2 )		 HC Slavia Praha Cloetta Center, Linköping
Attendance: 6,842
November 19, 2008
19:30 CET		 ZSC Lions 4 – 3
( 1–1, 2–1, 1–1 )		 Linköpings HC Hallenstadion, Zürich
Attendance: 8,574
December 3, 2008
19:30 CET		 HC Slavia Praha 1 – 5
( 0–1, 1–0, 0–4 )		 ZSC Lions O2 Arena, Prague
Attendance: 8,137

Semi-finals

The semi-finals were played as two-legged matches. If a game was tied after 60 minutes, it would have been counted as a tie, without a penalty shoot-out taking place. Only if after two games the teams were level on points (i.e. one win each or two ties), a penalty shoot-out was staged to determine the series winner Home ice advantage of the second game went to the teams with the better records in the group stage.

First Semi-final

Because both teams from Russia qualified for the semi-finals, they had to play against each other according to the tournament regulations. Salavat Yulaev won the first game in Magnitogorsk with goaltender Alexandr Eremenko stopping 36 shots. The second game in Ufa, however, was won by Metallurg. Therefore, a penalty shoot-out was staged to determine the series winner, which was won 2–0 by Magnitogorsk.

10 December 2008
20:00 YEKT		 Metallurg Magnitogorsk 1 – 2
( 0–0, 0–2, 1–0 )		 Salavat Yulaev Ufa Magnitogorsk Arena, Magnitogorsk
Attendance: 7,750
7 January 2009
20:00 YEKT		 Salavat Yulaev Ufa 1 – 3
( 0–0, 1–0, 0–3 )		 Metallurg Magnitogorsk Ufa Arena, Ufa
Attendance: 8,500

Second Semi-final

Because the Hallenstadion in Zurich, the home arena of the ZSC Lions, was not available on the semi-final dates, the Lions were forced to play their home game at the Diners Club Arena in Rapperswil-Jona, about 25 km away from Zurich. The ZSC Lions won both their "home" game and the game in Espoo, where they were accompanied by about 600 fans from Switzerland.[7]

10 December 2008
19:30 CET		 ZSC Lions 6 – 3
( 1–0, 3–2, 2–1 )		 Espoo Blues Diners Club Arena, Rapperswil-Jona
Attendance: 6,100
7 January 2009
20:30 EET		 Espoo Blues 1 – 4
( 0–2, 1–0, 0–2 )		 ZSC Lions LänsiAuto Areena, Espoo
Attendance: 6,612

Finals

The final was also played as a two-legged match. Home ice advantage of the second game went to the ZSC Lions which had the better record in the group stage. As in the semi-finals, the Lions were forced to play their home game in Rapperswil in an arena with only half the capacity of the Hallenstadion in Zurich. Thus, the game in the Diners Club Arena was sold out within 30 minutes, leaving many fans without a ticket for the most important game in their clubs history.[8].

The ZSC Lions became the first-ever Swiss team to win a major European club competition by winning the Champions Hockey League in its inaugural season. After a 2–2 in Magnitogorsk, the ZSC Lions won the return game against Metallurg Magnitogorsk 5–0 to dethrone the 2008 European club champion. ZSC goaltender Ari Sulander was named Champions Hockey League MVP and was the first to hoist the Silver Stone Trophy.[9].

21 January 2009
21:30 YEKT		 Metallurg Magnitogorsk 2 – 2
( 0–2, 0–0, 2–0 )		 ZSC Lions Magnitogorsk Arena, Magnitogorsk
Attendance: 7,700
28 January 2009
19:30 CET		 ZSC Lions 5 – 0
( 1–0, 1–0, 3–0 )		 Metallurg Magnitogorsk Diners Club Arena, Rapperswil
Attendance: 6,200
Champions Hockey League
2008–09 Winners
ZSC Lions
First Title

Statistics

Scoring leaders

List shows the top skaters sorted by points, then goals. If the list exceeds 5 skaters because of a tie in points, all of the tied skaters are shown.

Player Team GP G A Pts +/– PIM
Trudel, Jean-GuyJean-Guy Trudel ZSC Lions 8 4 9 13 +1 2
Wichser, AdrianAdrian Wichser ZSC Lions 8 1 12 13 +4 4
Pittis, DomenicDomenic Pittis ZSC Lions 8 1 10 11 0 6
Sejna, PeterPeter Sejna ZSC Lions 8 5 5 10 +8 0
Jan Marek Metallurg Magnitogorsk 8 3 7 10 +7 14

GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/− = Plus/Minus; PIM = Penalties In Minutes Source: IIHF.com
02:45, 24 May 2010 (UTC)

Leading goaltenders

Only the top five goaltenders, based on save percentage, who have played 40% of their team's minutes are included in this list.

Player Team TOI SA GA GAA Sv% SO
Alexandr Eremenko Salavat Yulaev Ufa 280:00 138 7 1.50 95.17 0
Ilya Proskuryakov Metallurg Magnitogorsk 478:29 218 15 1.88 93.56 1
Ari Sulander ZSC Lions 480:00 224 17 2.13 92.95 1
Bernd Brückler Espoo Blues 299:09 126 10 2.01 92.65 1
Rob Zepp SC Bern 240:00 87 10 2.50 89.69 0
TOI = Time On Ice (minutes:seconds); SA = Shots Against; GA = Goals Against; GAA = Goals Against Average; Sv% = Save Percentage; SO = Shutouts

Source: IIHF.com
Updated: 02:48, 24 May 2010 (UTC)

References

  1. ^ "Three teams to compete for 12th CHL spot". http://www.iihf.com/home-of-hockey/news/news-singleview/article/three-teams-to-compete-for-12th-chl-spot.html?tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=955&cHash=8511afdfb5. Retrieved 2008-02-05. 
  2. ^ "Europe's new Club Competition". http://www.iihf.com/home-of-hockey/club-events/champions-hockey-league.html. Retrieved 2008-01-19. 
  3. ^ "Playoffs in Europe's Top-7 Leagues". http://www.iihf.com/home-of-hockey/club-events/champions-hockey-league/road-to-chl.html. Retrieved 2008-04-23. 
  4. ^ "Champions Hockey League Qualification". http://www.iihf.com/channels0809/champions-hockey-league-qualification/format.html. Retrieved 2008-09-12. 
  5. ^ "Champions Hockey League Qualification: Statistics". http://www.iihf.com/channels0809/champions-hockey-league-qualification/statistics.html. Retrieved 2008-09-15. 
  6. ^ "Champions Hockey League groups drawn". http://www.iihf.com/home-of-hockey/club-events/news-singleview-club-events/article/champions-hockey-league-groups-drawn.html?tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=401&cHash=7460f71524. Retrieved 2008-04-25. 
  7. ^ "Swiss Invasion?". http://www.championshockeyleague.com/index.php?id=87&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=449. Retrieved 2009-01-17. 
  8. ^ [pointer=1&tx_ttnews[tt_news]=444&tx_ttnews[backPid]=4 "ZSC game sold out within minutes"]. http://www.championshockeyleague.com/index.php?id=36&cHash=bbec41dd61&tx_ttnews[pointer]=1&tx_ttnews[tt_news]=444&tx_ttnews[backPid]=4. Retrieved 2009-01-17. 
  9. ^ "ZSC Lions win CHL!". http://www.iihf.com/home-of-hockey/club-events/champions-hockey-league/statistics.html. 

External links

Top-level European ice hockey club tournaments
European Cup
1966 · 1967 · 1968 · 1969 · 1970 · 1971 · 1972 · 1973 · 1974 · 1975 · 1976 · 1977 · 1978 · 1979 · 1980 · 1981 · 1982 · 1983 · 1984 · 1985 · 1986 · 1987 · 1988 · 1989 · 1990 · 1991 · 1992 · 1993 · 1994 · 1995 · 1996 · 1997
European Hockey League
1997 · 1998 · 1999 · 2000
European Champions Cup
2005 · 2006 · 2007 · 2008
Champions Hockey League
2008–09