Not sure how the host of the Champions Hockey League Final is determined? Read below to find out!

CHL News

The Champions Hockey League Final will be played on Tuesday, 9 February. Unlike the previous knockout stages, it will only be a single-game affair, rather than a two-game home-and-away series, so the question becomes, which of the two finalists earns the right to host it?

In simplest terms, the team with the best accumulated record throughout all stages of this season's CHL will host. That means that the Final will be played in the city of the team that has the most total points after 12 games, based on the 3-2-1-0 point system. Because individual games can end in ties during the knockout stages, each team in a tied game receives 1 point.

This is how the four remaining teams look after 10 games, with of course two semi-final games still to be factored in:

While Karpat Oulu have the most points so far, it's important to keep in mind that they don't automatically host the Final if they win their Semi-Final. That's because points are awarded based on the results of 60-minute games, not 120-minute aggregates. They could win the aggregate score against Lukko but still be overtaken in points by HC Davos or Frolunda Gothenburg.

As Lukko Rauma demonstrated in their quarter-final against TPS Turku, it is possible to win a series with just 2 points – each of the games ended in ties. Because any overtime or shootout played in the knockout stages is used as a tie-breaker for the series and not the individual game, its winner does NOT receive an additional point (if it did, it would create the unusual situation where Frolunda would have received 4 points last Tuesday for beating Lulea in regulation time, and then winning the series tie-breaking shootout).

Frolunda and Karpat both went through this last season, as they faced each other in the 2014–15 Champions Hockey League Semi-Finals. Frolunda headed into the second leg with 2 more points than Lulea Hockey. However, Lulea beat Skelleftea AIK in regulation time and took 3 points, while Frolunda lost in regulation in Oulu and received 0 – Frolunda then scored in overtime to advance to the Final, but the game was played in Lulea. 

If the two finalists are tied in overall points, the following criteria will be applied to determine the home team:

1. Better goal difference (goals for – goals against) in all CHL games;
2. More goals for in all CHL games;
3. Higher position within the Group Stage;
4. Greater number of points in the Group Stage;
5. Better pre-season CHL club ranking.

We will re-visit the situation after the first leg of the Semi-Finals to see who is in the driver's seat to host the CHL Final on 9 February.