Last Wednesday, fans of CHL clubs found out who their team will be grouped with for th 2015–16 season. Now they also know when they play – each team will play two home and two away games between 20 August and 6 September. 

CHL News

The Champions Hockey League has released its schedule for the 2015–16 Group Stage. In all, 96 games are organized into three consecutive weekends (Thursday to Sunday) of 32 games each between 20 August and 6 September.

Opening night, Thursday, 20 August, will see 12 games being played across Europe with four games to follow on Friday, 21 August. The first game-day features, among others, Djurgarden Stockholm vs. Tappara Tampere to open Group 2, while 31-time Swiss champion and CHL newcomer HC Davos taking on Sweden’s Farjestad in Karlstad in Group 5. Both of Davos’ Swedish forwards Dick Axelsson and Marcus Paulsson have previously played for Farjestad. 

On Saturday, 22 August, Lulea Hockey will begin defence of their CHL title on home ice, the same rink they won it against Frolunda Gothenburg back on 3 February. Their opponents will be Lukko Rauma – a team with which they've started to develop quite a rivalry after meeting four times last season. Lukko open their schedule two days earlier against the other Group 11 club, Fribourg-Gotteron, in the only group to include three teams which all made the Round of 16 last season.

Other than Lulea and Lukko, other clubs will renew acquaintances from last season as well – Red Bull Salzburg and HV71 Jonkoping battled in Group I last season with the Austrian club winning both times. HV71 will try to get a home-ice win on 22 August. The Stavanger Oilers and Ocelari Trinec won in each other's arenas in two close games last year in a highly competitive Group E – Stavanger will try to reverse that trend when they host Trinec to open Group 12 on 20 August. Meanwhile, Karpat Oulu eliminated the Vienna Capitals from the Round of 16 last season – Vienna will try to get some measure of revenge when they host Karpat in Group 10 on 22 August. 

At the other end of the spectrum, Group 6 is the only one to feature three teams all making their CHL debuts. HC Litvinov open that group on 21 August in Grenoble, then travel north to Espoo, Finland to battle the Blues two days later. The Czech champions open their home schedule on 27 August against Grenoble.

The CHL breaks new ground when it visits Belarus for the first time on 21 August, when Neman Grodno host Adler Mannheim. And while the competition did have a British representative last season, this season it has two including one in Scotland – the Braehead Clan of Glasgow. After starting their CHL adveture with a tough two-game trip to Northern Europe, Braehead make their home debut on 29 August against the Swedish champion Vaxjo Lakers.

Of course, all 16 groups have their own unique and interesting storylines. Check the complete schedule to see when they play.