It's still three months shy of when the action will really begin, but on May 21st, the CHL drew its teams into the groups in which they will compete during the 2014/2015, which is a big thing for all the clubs involved and for European hockey in general.
by Derek O'Brien
MINSK - It was the biggest day yet for the Champions Hockey League. On Wednesday afternoon in Minsk, on a day off at the World Championships between the group stage and the quarterfinals, representatives from all CHL clubs and hockey media from around the world gathered to witness the draw -- where the 44 clubs were placed into 11 groups of four. What started as an idea in the summer of 2012 was now suddenly very real.
"The birth of it was in Barcelona two years ago. I was invited to moderate a European hockey summit and many of the people here at this draw were there, exchanged ideas and different options for putting together a good-quality European club team competition," said Draw emcee and longtime hockey commentator Paul Romanuk. "They wanted to make sure to do it right this time and it looks good already."
While Romanuk was the master of ceremonies, the actual draw was performed by former pro hockey defenceman Jaroslav Spacek, who is in town as an assistant coach for Team Czech Republic at the World Championships. Spacek played several years in the NHL, as well as for two clubs that will compete in the CHL, Farjestad Karlstad and Sparta Prague.
The draw procedure provided some challenges in making sure that no two teams from the same country ended up in the same group. In one case, during the drawing of the third basket, a club that had been already placed had to move to another to avoid national conflicts for other teams. This was solved quickly, however, and the draw itself took only 33 minutes from start to finish.
"The event went very well. With a club composition with eight clubs from Sweden and Finland, it is very difficult to avoid that two teams from one country are drawn into one group," said CHL chief operating officer Szymon Szemberg. "As we did many mock draws prior to the main event, we were prepared for many different, tricky conflict situations. The one which we had when drawing the third basket, was extreme. I am very happy that we managed to navigate ourselves through the challenges."
The groups that resulted are quite interesting, and sure to create discussion among fans over which are the strongest and weakest. Some clubs have been drawn with relatively close opponents in neighbouring countries, while others will have long hauls across the continent.
"We play against Valerenga Oslo. It's almost a derby, only two hours by bus from our city," Farjestad sports manager Leif Carlsson said of the Group B match-up that will allow fans of both teams to easily travel abroad. "We also have a three Norwegian players on our team (Ole-Kristian Tollefsen, Marius Holtet and Martin Roymark), so it will be very interesting for them to play against a Norwegian club."
Another club from western Sweden, Frolunda Gothenberg, has to travel to Austria, Switzerland and France to face their Group C opponents. "There's going to be a lot of travelling and I think these teams are strong at home, so it will be a challenge," general manager Christian Lechtaler said about facing Villach SV, Geneve-Servette and Briancon Diables Rouges on the road.
"Overall we're satisfied (with the draw), but we have to make some pretty long trips to far and remote countries," said Lukko Rauma general manager Timo Rajala, whose team will travel to Hamburg, Lulea, and Nottingham. He later added, "We are curous to compare our Finnish style with the team from Great Britain. We want to find out the quality of the league that Nottingham plays in."
Indeed, a lot of teams who are unaccustomed to international opposition expressed curiosity and excitement about playing teams from abroad, both at home and away.
"I'm very glad that Slovakian fans, especially in Kosice, will be able to see opponents of this calibre," said Kosice general manager Juraj Bakos, whose club is a perennial Slovakian powerhouse that is now relishing the chance to prove itself on a bigger stage. "Ever since the split of our Czechoslovakian league (in 1993), we've looked forward to something like this."
Another club that is really looking forward to this is ZSC Lions Zurich, who won the only title in the previous incarnation of the CHL in 2008/2009. Now, six years later, they will finally get a chance to defend their title.
"It's too bad for the hockey fans of Europe that we have had to wait so long for something like this," said Lions CEO Peter Zahner. "I think it's very important for the sport to have this international competition."
The next big event is the release of the schedule, and then the games finally begin on August 21st. But exactly three months before the first puck drop, the CHL took a big step forward.