CONTINENTAL COMPETITIONS
The European club continental competitions have undergone a make-over in NHLX.
​
-
Champions Hockey League (CHL): Format adjusted from the old 48 team format to a revised 32 team format that matches real life. In addition, league participation has been expanded – the main result being that the VHL (as the “top” Russian domestic league – see the Russian Changes section for more info) now has access to the CHL.
​
-
The Kings of Europe Cup (KoEC): This is the new, premier non-NHL competition in the world of hockey. It is a short tournament that pits the Gagarin Cup winners from the KHL, the Europa Cup Winners (see more info on the ESL here) and the CHL winners all against each other to determine the one true club chmampion of European hockey.
​
-
Continental Cup: The Continental Cup has been temporarily disabled. I may return it at some point but with almost all the relevant leagues having access to the CHL, I’ve decided to focus elsewhere for the time being.
​
​
CHAMPIONS HOCKEY LEAGUE (CHL)
The CHL has been revised to match the real, current format of the competition. 32 teams are drawn into 8 groups of 4 in the Group Stage. The top two from each group advance to the playoff stage which is a 16-team bracket, with the winner determined by the aggregate of a home-and-home two-game series for each round until the Final, which is a single-game championship match.
As mentioned the CHL has expanded to include the top finishers in the VHL. With the KHL being contracted and the ESL being established – those two leagues are considered their own tier of super leagues (and have automatic entrance into the Kings of Europe Cup…more on that below). They do not have access to the CHL – instead the CHL is focused on the best of all the “regular” top tier domestic leagues in Europe.
BREAKDOWN OF CHL PARTICIPANTS BY LEAGUE
​
-
Four (4) League Slots (Top 4 Finishers in each League)
-
SHL (SWE)
-
Liiga (FIN)​​
-
-
Three (3) League Slots (Top 3 Finishers in each League)
-
VHL (RUS)
-
NL (SUI)
-
DEL (DEU)
-
Extraliga (CZE)
-
ICEHL (AUS)
-
-
One (1) League Slot (Champion of each League)
-
Extraliga (SVK)
-
PHL (KAZ)
-
EIHL (GBR)
-
Elitserien (NOR)
-
Superisligaen (DEN)
-
Ligue Magnus (FRA)
-
Extraleague (BLR)
-
Erste Liga (HUN)
-
Hokej Liga (POL)
-
KINGS OF EUROPE CUP (KoEC)
The Kings of Europe Cup – often shorthanded to “Kings Cup” – is the new, premier club competition in the world of hockey outside the NHL. It is a season-ending tournament at the end of April (after domestic leagues and the CHL end but before the EHM European calendar flips over on May 1). It is a three team tournament that features:
-
The Gagarin Cup winner (KHL playoff champion)
-
The Europa Cup winner (ESL playoff champion)
-
The Champions Hockey League winner
The tournament is contested at the O2 Arena in London as the host arena. It is a neutral site and gives the tournament a big platform in a world city.
​
CUP STRUCTURE​
Group Stage:
-
During the initial group stage, the 3 clubs play a double round-robin schedule (each team plays the other two teams twice). After each team has played 4 games, the top two teams advance.​
Championship Final:
-
The final is a single-game championship match for all the glory and for the prize of the Kings Cup trophy as the best club team in Europe (and, ostensibly, the best team outside the NHL).
​
Because the competition includes the CHL champion, several interesting scenarios are possible:
​
-
You could end up with two clubs from the same country in the tournament. If a VHL team wins the CHL, they would match up against a KHL club potentially from Russia as well. For example, if Severstal out of the VHL wins the Champions Hockey League, they may find themselves facing off against SKA St. Petersburg (a theoretical KHL champ) in the Kings Cup.
​
-
Likewise, any ESL club who wins the ESL playoffs could end up facing a domestic foe from their league if that team wins the CHL. So, you could have, for example, Frolunda from Sweden and the ESL and Vaxjo from the SHL as two of the three Kings Cup participants.
​
-
You could take a team from a smaller league all the way to “Kings of Europe”. It would be a very hard challenge but not impossible. Could Nottingham Panthers win the EIHL, make it through the entire Champions League gauntlet and then beat both mighty KHL and ESL clubs? Not likely – but hey, you could make It happen! This gives you something amazing to strive for even if you are managing in a less reputable league.
​
