An invitation has been extended to the winner of the Bitish Elite Ice Hockey League invites Great Britain to compete in the Champions Hockey League as a Wild Card for the 2016–17 season. The winner winner will be determined on Sunday.
Press Release
By receiving one Wild Card for the 2016–17 season, Great Britain will participate in the Champions Hockey League for the third consecutive year. The Wild Card will be awarded to the EIHL regular season winner, which will be determined at the upcoming weekend.
The two contending teams for the Wild Card position are the Sheffield Steelers, the defending champions who competed in the CHL in 2015–16, and the Cardiff Devils. Sheffield currently hold a 2-point advantage in the standings, with both teams having two remaining games. The regular season will conclude on Sunday, when Cardiff host the Nottingham Panthers and Sheffield play away to the Fife Flyers.
The EIHL is the lone exception to the CHL convention of giving priority to playoff champions, as Great Britain, in line with their tradition, determines its national champion following the regular season, not in the playoffs. The team that wins the regular season standings is the national champion in Great Britain. Therefore, it has been agreed with the EIHL that the regular season winner will obtain the Wild Card.
The Wild Card, also called C-Licenses, are in general awarded by the CHL to top teams from the “Challenge Leagues”, which are ranked below the six Founding Leagues. As was the case last season, there are 10 C-Licenses for 2016–17. Nine of them are now confirmed for the leagues of Norway, Slovakia (champion and regular season winner each), Denmark, France, Belarus and Great Britain (champion each) as well as to the winner of the IIHF Continental Cup. The review for the last C-License spot is still in progress and the recipient will be announced later on.
2016–17 Format and Group Stage Draw
The format for the 2016–17 Champions Hockey League remains the same as in 2015–16. 48 teams compete on the “Destination Final” to be crown as Europe’s club champion. 26 A-License (Founding Clubs) clubs are joined by 12 B-License (in principle the national champions and regular season winners of the six Founding Leagues) and 10 C-License clubs.
The Group Stage Draw takes places on 3 May in Zurich, Switzerland.
The Group Stage of the 2016–17 season will begin on 18 August (16 August for Swiss teams) and finish on 11 September. The total of 48 teams will be divided into 16 groups of three and each team will play four games – one home and one away against the other two teams in its group. The first- and second-placed teams in each group will then advance to the Playoff Stage.
With 32 teams in the playoffs, five rounds will be required to determine the European club champion. The first four rounds will all be two-game, home-and-away, total-goal series, similar to the previous seasons. The Playoff Stage will begin on 4 October and finish with a one-game Final on 7 February.