| Tourney Name: | Champions Hockey League |
| Year: | 2023–24 |
| Dates: | [1] |
| Num Teams: | 24 |
| Type: | other |
| Winners: | Genève-Servette HC |
| Count: | 1 |
| Second: |  Skellefteå AIK |
| Scoring Leader: |  Dominik Lakatoš[2] |
| Points: | 12 |
| Mvp: |  Sami Vatanen[3] |
| Prevseason: | 2022–23 |
| Nextseason: | 2024–25 |
The 2023–24 Champions Hockey League was the ninth season of the Champions Hockey League, a European ice hockey tournament. The tournament was competed by 24 teams, with qualification being on sporting merits only. Apart from the reigning champion, the six founding leagues were represented by three teams each, while five "challenge leagues" were represented by one team each.
Swiss team Genève-Servette HC won their first Champions Hockey League title, defeating Swedish team Skellefteå AIK 3–2 in the final. This made Genève-Servette HC the first Swiss side to win the title.[4] The title holders Tappara finished 18th in the regular season and did not qualify for the playoffs.[5]
Czech left forward Dominik Lakatoš from Czech team Vítkovice Ridera became the top scorer with 12 points.
Starting from the 2023–24 season the format was changed. The number of teams was reduced from 32 to 24 teams. The group stage was replaced with the regular season in which teams played six games each, with the teams being ranked in overall standings and 16 best-ranked teams advancing to the playoffs.
In the regular season draw, teams were allocated into four pots featuring six teams each. The seeding depends on the teams’ achievements in their national leagues and the respective league’s standing in the CHL league ranking. Each team was drawn against two teams from each of the other three pots.
In the playoffs, teams formed pairs based on the overall regular season standings.[6]
For the first time since the 2015–16 season, the IIHF Continental Cup winners did not get a wild card spot.[7]
A total of 24 teams from different European first-tier leagues were scheduled to participate in the league. Besides the title holders Tappara, 18 teams from the six founding leagues, as well as the national champions from Denmark, France, Norway, Slovakia and the United Kingdom participated.[8]
The qualification criteria for national leagues was based on the following rules:
Note: the national league champions of the United Kingdom are distinct from the national champions, who are determined in play-offs following the regular season. In 2023, Belfast Giants won both competitions.[9]
| Team | City/Area | League | Qualification | Participation | Previous best | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tappara | Tampere | Liiga | 2023 CHL winners | 9th | data-sort-value="1" | Champion | |
| Växjö Lakers | Växjö | Swedish Hockey League | Play-off winners | 7th | data-sort-value="1" | Final | |
| Skellefteå AIK | Skellefteå | Swedish Hockey League | Regular season runners-up | 8th | data-sort-value="1" | Semi-finals | |
| Färjestad BK | Karlstad | Swedish Hockey League | Regular season third | 6th | data-sort-value="1" | Round of 16 | |
| Genève-Servette HC | Geneva | National League | Play-off winners | 3rd | data-sort-value="1" | Round of 16 | |
| EHC Biel-Bienne | Biel/Bienne | National League | Regular season runners-up | 2nd | data-sort-value="1" | Quarter-finals | |
| Rapperswil | National League | Regular season third | 2nd | data-sort-value="1" | Group stage | ||
| Red Bull München | Munich | Deutsche Eishockey Liga | Play-off winners | 8th | data-sort-value="1" | Final | |
| ERC Ingolstadt | Ingolstadt | Deutsche Eishockey Liga | Regular season runners-up | 4th | data-sort-value="1" | Round of 32 | |
| Adler Mannheim | Mannheim | Deutsche Eishockey Liga | Regular season third | 7th | data-sort-value="1" | Round of 16 | |
| Ilves | Tampere | Liiga | Regular season runners-up | 2nd | data-sort-value="1" | Group stage | |
| Lukko | Rauma | Liiga | Regular season third | 5th | data-sort-value="1" | Semi-finals | |
| Pelicans | Lahti | Liiga | Regular season fourth | 2nd | data-sort-value="1" | Group stage | |
 Red Bull Salzburg | Salzburg | ICE Hockey League | Play-off winners | 8th | data-sort-value="1" | Semi-finals | |
 HC Bolzano | Bolzano | ICE Hockey League | Regular season winners | 4th | data-sort-value="1" | Round of 16 | |
| HC Innsbruck | Innsbruck | ICE Hockey League | Regular season third | 1st | data-sort-value="1" | First appearance | |
| Oceláři Třinec | Třinec | Czech Extraliga | Play-off winners | 8th | data-sort-value="1" | Semi-finals | |
| Dynamo Pardubice | Pardubice | Czech Extraliga | Regular season winners | 4th | data-sort-value="1" | Group stage | |
| Vítkovice Ridera | Ostrava | Czech Extraliga | Regular season runners-up | 4th | data-sort-value="1" | Quarter-finals | |
 Dragons de Rouen | Rouen | Ligue Magnus | Play-off winners | 4th | data-sort-value="1" | Quarter-finals | |
 Stavanger Oilers | Stavanger | Fjordkraftligaen | Play-off winners | 6th | data-sort-value="1" | Round of 32 | |
| Aalborg Pirates | Aalborg | Metal Ligaen | Play-off winners | 3rd | data-sort-value="1" | Group stage | |
| Belfast Giants | Belfast | Elite Ice Hockey League | Regular season winners | 3rd | data-sort-value="1" | Group stage | |
 HC Košice | Košice | Slovak Extraliga | Play-off winners | 4th | data-sort-value="1" | Round of 32 |
The schedule of the competition was as follows.[10]
| Phase | Round | Draw date | First leg | Second leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Group stage | Matchday 1 | 24 May 2023 | 31 August–1 September 2023 | |
| Matchday 2 | 2–3 September 2023 | |||
| Matchday 3 | 7–8 September 2023 | |||
| Matchday 4 | 9–10 September 2023 | |||
| Matchday 5 | 10–11 October 2023 | |||
| Matchday 6 | 17–18 October 2023 | |||
| Playoff | Round of 16 | No draw | ||
| Quarter-finals | 5–6 December 2023 | 12 December 2023 | ||
| Semi-finals | 9–10 January 2024 | 16–17 January 2024 | ||
| Final | 20 February 2024 | |||
In the regular season the 24 teams were combined into one table. Each team played home and away against six different opponents once. The best sixteen teams qualified to the round of 16.
The draw of the regular season took place on 24 May 2023 in Tampere, Finland.
The participating teams were seeded into Pots A to D according to their achievements in their national leagues and their respective league’s standing in the CHL league ranking. The reigning CHL champions Tappara were the top seeded team and therefore given a place in pot A. The top pot also contained the reigning champions of four of the top five founding leagues according to the league rankings (Sweden, Switzerland, Germany and ICE Hockey League), as well as 2022–23 Liiga regular season runners-up.[11]
Teams were allocated their opponents based on a pattern in connection to the positions in the regular season grid. They played the teams on the left-hand side at home and the ones on the right-hand side away excluding teams from the same row. Teams from the last column played teams from the first column away, and teams from the first column played teams from the last column at home.
| A1 | width=180 | Tappara | A2 | width=180 | Red Bull München | A3 | width=180 | Växjö Lakers | A4 | width=180 | Ilves | A5 | width=180 | Red Bull Salzburg | A6 | width=180 | Genève-Servette HC |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| B1 | Lukko | B2 | EHC Biel-Bienne | B3 | Oceláři Třinec | B4 | ERC Ingolstadt | B5 | HC Bolzano | B6 | Skellefteå AIK | ||||||
| C1 | HC Innsbruck | C2 | C3 | Färjestad BK | C4 | Pelicans | C5 | Dynamo Pardubice | C6 | Adler Mannheim | |||||||
| D1 | HC Košice | D2 | Aalborg Pirates | D3 | Vítkovice Ridera | D4 | Stavanger Oilers | D5 | Dragons de Rouen | D6 | Belfast Giants |
Teams were ranked according to points (3 points for a win in regulation time, 2 points for a win in overtime, 1 point for a loss in overtime, 0 points for a loss in regulation time). If two or more teams were tied on points, the following tiebreaking criteria was applied, in the order given, to determine the rankings (see 8.4.4. Tie breaking formula group stage standings):[12]
In the playoffs, pairings were formed based on the positions of the teams in the regular season as follows: the team finished 1st in the regular season face the team finished 16th, the team finished 2nd face the team finished 15th, and so on. There were no play-off draw or any reseedings for the quarter-finals and semi-finals. In each round except the final, the teams play two games and the aggregate score decides which team advances. The first leg was hosted by the team with the lower seed with the second leg being played on the home ice of the other team. If aggregate score was tied, a sudden death overtime follows. If the overtime was scoreless, the team who wins the shoot out competition advances.
The final was played on the home ice of the team with the higher accumulative ranking across the entire campaign, including play-off games.[13]
The first legs were played on 14 and 15 November with return legs played on 21 and 22 November 2023.
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First legs were played on 5 and 6 December with return legs played on 12 December 2023.|}
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First legs will be played on 9 January with return legs played on 16 January 2024.|}
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The following players led the league in points.[14]
| Player | Team | data-sort-type="number" style="width: 2em;" | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Vítkovice Ridera | 11 | 7 | 5 | 12 | 8 | –3 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 34 | 20.59% | |
| | Genève-Servette HC | 13 | 3 | 9 | 12 | 4 | +7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 47 | 6.38% | |
| Genève-Servette HC | 13 | 2 | 10 | 12 | 2 | +8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 8.33% | ||
| | Oceláři Třinec | 7 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 0 | –1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 22 | 22.73% | |
| | Skellefteå AIK | 13 | 6 | 5 | 11 | 2 | +10 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 31 | 19.35% | |
| | Genève-Servette HC | 13 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 12 | +3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 30 | 13.33% | |
 | Red Bull München | 7 | 1 | 9 | 10 | 0 | +8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 9.09% | |
 | HC Innsbruck | 8 | 6 | 4 | 10 | 6 | +5 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 26 | 23.08% | |
| | Växjö Lakers | 9 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 2 | -1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 12 | 41.67% | |
| | Lukko | 10 | 6 | 4 | 10 | 0 | +4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 42.86% |
The following goaltenders led the league in save percentage, provided that they have played at least 40% of their team's minutes.[15]
| Player | Team | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Vítkovice Ridera | 6 | 4 | 1 | 178 | 6 | 96.74% | 0.99 | 1 | 364 | |
| | Lahti Pelicans | 3 | 2 | 0 | 83 | 4 | 95.40% | 1.36 | 1 | 177 | |
| | Belfast Giants | 6 | 3 | 3 | 160 | 12 | 93.02% | 2.01 | 2 | 358 | |
| Adler Mannheim | 4 | 3 | 1 | 87 | 7 | 92.55% | 1.75 | 1 | 240 | ||
| | Lukko | 8 | 6 | 0 | 184 | 15 | 92.46% | 1.88 | 0 | 480 |
The Team of the Regular Season was announced on 2 November 2023.[16]
| Position | Player | Team | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Goaltender | Tyler Beskorowany | Belfast Giants | |
| Defenceman | Sami Vatanen | Genève-Servette HC | |
| Defenceman | Les Lancaster | Ilves | |
| Forward | Libor Hudáček | Oceláři Třinec | |
| Forward | Aatu Jämsen | Pelicans | |
| Forward | Pär Lindholm | Skellefteå AIK |
The winner of the LGT MVP Award was announced on 20 February 2024.
The Team of the Season was announced on 11 March 2024.[17]
| Position | Player | Team | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Goaltender | Jussi Olkinuora | Pelicans / Genève-Servette HC | |
| Defenceman | Sami Vatanen | Genève-Servette HC | |
| Defenceman | Tarmo Reunanen | Lukko | |
| Forward | Dominik Lakatoš | Vítkovice Ridera | |
| Forward | Linus Lindström | Skellefteå AIK | |
| Forward | Braeden Shaw | HC Innsbruck |