The field of 32 is set!

The 32 teams that will compete in the 2017-18 Champions Hockey League are now set. Read below for details.

CHL News

With HC ‘05 Banska Bystrica winning the championship of the Slovak Liga on Saturday, all 32 teams that will compete in the 2017-18 edition of the Champions Hockey League are now known.

Below is a list of the 32 teams. The 24 clubs from the CHL’s six Founding Leagues are listed according to their countries, along with how they qualified. Below are the eight teams from Challenger Leagues, along with how they qualified.

Following the conclusion of all leagues involved, the 32 qualified teams will be ranked and placed into four baskets of eight teams each, in preparation for the CHL Group Stage Draw. The Draw takes place on Wednesday, 17 May at the IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship in Cologne, Germany.

The Group Stage for the 2017-18 season starts on 24 August and finishes on 11 October. The total of 32 teams are divided into eight groups of four and each team plays six games – one home and one away against the other three teams in its group. The first- and second-placed teams in each group then advance to the Playoff Stage.

With 16 teams in the playoffs, four rounds are required to determine the European club champions. The first three rounds are all two-game, home-and-away, total-goal series, similar to previous seasons. The playoffs start on 31 October and finish with a one-game Final on Tuesday, 6 February 2018.

Founding Leagues

Sweden

HV71 Jonkoping - champion, regular season 2nd place
Vaxjo Lakers - regular season 1st place
Brynas Gavle - finalist
Frolunda Gothenburg - CHL champion, semi-finalist
Malmo Redhawks - semi-finalist

Finland

Tappara Tampere - champion, regular season 1st place
TPS Turku - regular season 2nd place
KalPa Kuopio - finalist
JYP Jyvaskyla - semi-finalist
IFK Helsinki - semi-finalist

Czech Republic

Kometa Brno - champion
Bili Tygri Liberec - regular season 1st place, finalist
Ocelari Trinec - regular season 2nd place
Mountfield Hradec Kralove - semi-finalist

Switzerland

SC Bern - champion, regular season 1st place
ZSC Lions Zurich - regular season 2nd place
EV Zug - finalist
HC Davos - semi-finalist

Germany

Red Bull Munich - champion, regular season 1st place
Adler Mannheim - regular season 2nd place
Grizzlys Wolfsburg - finalist

Austria

Vienna Capitals - champion, regular season 1st place
Red Bull Salzburg - regular season 2nd place
KAC Klagenfurt - finalist

Challenger Leagues

HC ‘05 Banska Bystrica - Slovak champion
Stavanger Oilers - Norwegian champion
Gap Rapaces - French champion
Neman Grodno - Belarusian champion
Esbjerg Energy - Danish champion
Cardiff Devils - British champion
Comarch Cracovia - Polish champion
Nottingham Panthers - Continental Cup champion