| Tourney Name: | Champions Hockey League |
| Year: | 2017–18 |
| Num Teams: | 32 |
| Type: | other |
| Winners: |  JYP |
| Count: | 1 |
| Second: |  Växjö Lakers |
| Games: | 125 |
| Goals: | 735 |
| Attendance: | 421743 |
| Scoring Leader: | Fredrik Pettersson |
| Points: | 16 |
| Mvp: |  Šimon Hrubec |
| Prevseason: | 2016–17 |
| Nextseason: | 2018–19 |
The 2017–18 Champions Hockey League was the fourth season of the Champions Hockey League, a European ice hockey tournament. The tournament was reduced to 32 teams, and qualification was on sporting merits only. The six founding leagues are represented by between three and five teams (based on a three-year league ranking), while seven "challenge leagues" are represented by one team each. One place was reserved for the Continental Cup champion. Unlike in the three previous editions, founding teams did not automatically qualify.[1] The season concluded with the final on 6 February 2018 at Vida Arena where JYP beat Växjö Lakers 2–0, becoming the first non-Swedish team to win the title.
A total of 32 teams from different European first-tier leagues participate in the 2017–18 Champions Hockey League. Besides the Continental Cup champions, 24 teams from the six founding leagues, as well as the national champions from Slovakia, Norway, Denmark, France, Belarus, the United Kingdom and Poland qualified.[2] [3]
The qualification for these places was set out in the rules as follows:[4]
| Team | City/Area | League | Qualification | Participation | Previous best | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Frölunda HC | Gothenburg | Swedish Hockey League | 2017 CHL winner | 4th | data-sort-value="1" | champion | |
| HV71 | Jönköping | Swedish Hockey League | play-off champion | 4th | data-sort-value="5" | round of 16 | |
| Växjö Lakers | Växjö | Swedish Hockey League | regular season winner | 4th | data-sort-value="3" | semi-finals | |
| Brynäs IF | Gävle | Swedish Hockey League | play-off finalist | 1st | data-sort-value="9" | ||
| Malmö Redhawks | Malmö | Swedish Hockey League | play-off semi-finalist | 1st | data-sort-value="9" | ||
| Tappara | Tampere | Liiga | play-off champion | 4th | data-sort-value="5" | round of 16 | |
| TPS | Turku | Liiga | regular season runner-up | 4th | data-sort-value="4" | quarter-finals | |
| KalPa | Kuopio | Liiga | play-off finalist | 4th | data-sort-value="5" | round of 16 | |
| JYP | Jyväskylä | Liiga | play-off semi-finalist | 4th | data-sort-value="5" | round of 16 | |
| HIFK | Helsinki | Liiga | play-off semi-finalist | 4th | data-sort-value="4" | quarter-finals | |
| SC Bern | Bern | National League | play-off champion | 4th | data-sort-value="4" | quarter-finals | |
| ZSC Lions | Zürich | National League | regular season runner-up | 4th | data-sort-value="4" | quarter-finals | |
| EV Zug | Zug | National League | play-off finalist | 4th | data-sort-value="6" | round of 32 | |
| HC Davos | Davos | National League | play-off semi-finalist | 3rd | data-sort-value="3" | semi-finals | |
| Kometa Brno | Brno | Czech Extraliga | play-off champion | 1st | data-sort-value="9" | ||
| Bílí Tygři Liberec | Liberec | Czech Extraliga | regular season winner | 4th | data-sort-value="5" | round of 16 | |
| Oceláři Třinec | Třinec | Czech Extraliga | regular season runner-up | 3rd | data-sort-value="6" | round of 32 | |
| Mountfield HK | Hradec Králové | Czech Extraliga | play-off semi-finalist | 1st | data-sort-value="9" | ||
| Red Bull München | Munich | Deutsche Eishockey Liga | play-off champion | 3rd | data-sort-value="6" | round of 32 | |
| Adler Mannheim | Mannheim | Deutsche Eishockey Liga | regular season runner-up | 4th | data-sort-value="6" | round of 32 | |
| Grizzlys Wolfsburg | Wolfsburg | Deutsche Eishockey Liga | play-off finalist | 2nd | data-sort-value="6" | round of 32 | |
 Vienna Capitals | Vienna | Austrian Hockey League | play-off champion | 4th | data-sort-value="5" | round of 16 | |
| Red Bull Salzburg | Salzburg | Austrian Hockey League | regular season runner-up | 4th | data-sort-value="5" | round of 16 | |
| EC KAC | Klagenfurt | Austrian Hockey League | play-off finalist | 2nd | data-sort-value="7" | group stage | |
 Nottingham Panthers | Nottingham | Elite Ice Hockey League | Continental Cup winner | 2nd | data-sort-value="7" | group stage | |
| Cardiff Devils | Cardiff | Elite Ice Hockey League | regular season champion | 1st | data-sort-value="9" | ||
 HC '05 Banská Bystrica | Banská Bystrica | Tipsport Liga | play-off champion | 1st | data-sort-value="9" | ||
 Stavanger Oilers | Stavanger | GET-ligaen | play-off champion | 4th | data-sort-value="6" | round of 32 | |
 Neman Grodno | Grodno | Belarusian Extraleague | play-off champion | 2nd | data-sort-value="7" | group stage | |
| Esbjerg Energy | Esbjerg | Metal Ligaen | play-off champion | 2nd | data-sort-value="7" | group stage | |
 Rapaces de Gap | Gap | Ligue Magnus | play-off champion | 3rd | data-sort-value="7" | group stage | |
 ComArch Cracovia | Kraków | Polska Hokej Liga | play-off champion | 2nd | data-sort-value="7" | group stage |
For the group stage, the teams were drawn into 8 groups of 4 teams. Each team plays home and away against every other team for a total of 6 games. The best 2 teams qualify to the round of 16.[1]
As the reigning CHL champions, Frölunda HC was the top seeded team. In the top pot were also the reigning champions of the six founding leagues and the regular season winner of SHL, Växjö Lakers. The 16 remaining teams from founding leagues were placed to pots 2 and 3. The fourth pot included playoff champions of seven challenge leagues and Nottingham Panthers, the champion of 2016–17 IIHF Continental Cup.
If two teams are tied in points after the group stage is finished, the teams precedence is decided by head-to-head games. If teams are tied after that, then the team which was ranked higher prior to the tournament took precedence. When comparing head-to-head results, the following criteria were applied:[5]
If the head-to-head games between teams ended as draws after regulation, this additional criterion was applied:
If the head-to-head games between teams ended with game winning shots, this additional criterion was applied:
If teams are still tied, the higher position in the 2016–17 CHL club ranking was decided about precedence.
| width=25% | Pot 1 | width=25% | Pot 2 | width=25% | Pot 3 | width=25% | Pot 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Frölunda HC HV71 Tappara SC Bern Kometa Brno Red Bull München Vienna Capitals Växjö Lakers | TPS ZSC Lions Bílí Tygři Liberec Adler Mannheim Red Bull Salzburg Brynäs IF KalPa EV Zug | Oceláři Třinec Grizzlys Wolfsburg EC KAC Malmö Redhawks JYP HC Davos Mountfield HK HIFK | HC '05 Banská Bystrica Stavanger Oilers Neman Grodno Esbjerg Energy Cardiff Devils Rapaces de Gap ComArch Cracovia Nottingham Panthers |
| Group | Winners (seed) | Runners-up | |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | Tappara (2) | Red Bull Salzburg | |
| B | Malmö Redhawks (6) | Kometa Brno | |
| C | EV Zug (7) | JYP | |
| D | Adler Mannheim (3) | Oceláři Třinec | |
| E | Växjö Lakers (5) | Bílí Tygři Liberec | |
| F | Nottingham Panthers (8) | SC Bern | |
| G | Red Bull München (4) | Brynäs IF | |
| H | Frölunda HC (1) | ZSC Lions |
In each round except the final, the teams played two games and the aggregate score was decided the team which advances. As a rule, the first leg was hosted by the team who had inferior record in the tournament so far and the second leg was played on the home ice of the other team. If aggregate score is tied, a sudden death overtime followed. If the overtime is scoreless, the team who wins the game winning shot competition advances.
The final was played on the home ice of team who had better record in the tournament on February 6, 2018.
The eight group winners and the eight second-placed teams advanced to the Round of 16. The teams were divided into two seeding groups and group winners were randomly drawn against runners-up. Teams who had faced each other in the group stage could not be drawn against each other in the round of 16. The draw took place in Helsinki, Finland on October 13, 2017.[6]
Note:
The draw for the entire playoff was held on 13 October 2017 in Helsinki. The first legs were played on 31 October with return legs played the following week.
|}
First legs were played on 5 December, return legs were played on 12 December.|}
First legs were played on 9 January, return legs were played on 16 January 2018.|}
The final was played on 6 February 2018.
| Player | Team | data-sort-type="number" style="width: 2em;" | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | 9 | 9 | 7 | 16 | 4 | +7 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 37 | 24.32% | ||
 | 7 | 4 | 11 | 15 | 4 | +5 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 21 | 19.05% | ||
| | 10 | 10 | 4 | 14 | 4 | +5 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 42 | 23.81% | ||
 | 10 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 2 | –5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 30 | 13.33% | ||
| | 12 | 3 | 8 | 11 | 10 | +5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 18 | 16.67% | ||
| | 13 | 1 | 10 | 11 | 2 | +4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 32 | 3.13% | ||
| | 8 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 2 | +3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 31 | 12.9% | ||
| | 12 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 6 | +3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 37 | 10.81% | ||
| | 8 | 1 | 9 | 10 | 0 | +6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 7.14% | ||
| | 7 | 0 | 10 | 10 | 4 | +5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 0.00% |
Only the top five goaltenders, based on save percentage, who have played at least 40% of their team's minutes, are included in this list.
| Player | Team | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | 10 | 9 | 1 | 278 | 11 | 96.19% | 1.07 | 2 | 615 | ||
| 5 | 3 | 2 | 83 | 4 | 95.40% | 0.78 | 2 | 309 | |||
| | 3 | 2 | 1 | 87 | 5 | 94.57% | 1.67 | 0 | 180 | ||
| 5 | 3 | 2 | 122 | 8 | 93.85% | 1.59 | 2 | 301 | |||
| | 9 | 6 | 1 | 245 | 17 | 93.51% | 2.06 | 1 | 495 |