The CHL Final played in Luleå, Sweden last month saw Finnish side Tappara Tampere beat Luleå Hockey 3-2 to earn the title of European Club Champions marking a spectacular end to the 2022/23 Champions Hockey League season.
With over half the roster for 2023/24 already full, now is the perfect moment to take a look back at the 2022/23 season as a whole - starting with Preseason and the Group Stage!
The playing format for the 2022/23 season of the Champions Hockey League remained unchanged from the previous year with 32 teams qualifying and participating.
Wild Cards were awarded to the national champions of Norway, France, Great Britain, Denmark, Slovakia and Poland. In addition to Polish Ekstraliga champions GKS Katowice, Poland was also represented by 21/22 IIHF Continental Cup winners Comarch Cracovia.
The remaining place in the line-up was filled with Slovenian club Olimpija Ljubljana who were awarded a Wild Card for 2022/23, becoming the 100th team to qualify for the CHL, while also becoming the first Slovenian team to play in the pan-European competition.
Out of the 32 qualified teams, seven made their debut in the CHL in 2022/23 - Jukurit Mikkeli, Olimpija Ljubljana, Rapperswil-Jona Lakers, Fehérvár AV19, GKS Katowice, Ilves Tampere and the Straubing Tigers, 14 returned from 2021/22 and the remaining 11 teams of the line-up had played in the CHL in the past.
EV Zug, Luleå Hockey and reigning CHL Champions Rögle Ängelholm were the three teams that dominated in the 2022/23 Group Stage, breezing through their six-game schedule unbeaten and all scoring a near-perfect 17 points out of a maximum possible 18.
It was a particularly tough year for teams from the Czech Extraliga, with all of them but Mountfield HK crashing out in the very first phase of the season.
On the flip side, Swedish teams did well as usual, with all five of them making the Round of 16 for a third consecutive season - three qualifying from first place and two from second.
Swiss teams also did well, with all but Rapperswil-Jona Lakers securing their spot in the final 16.
Slovan Bratislava, the only Slovakian team in 2022/23, still failed to score their first CHL points in their second season in the pan-European competition but came close on a few occasions.
DEL side the Straubing Tigers were one of the biggest surprises of the Group Stage, managing to secure top spot in a competitive Group F on their CHL debut. Five wins and only one loss ranked the Tigers 1st as they beat the likes of 2022 SHL champions Färjestad Karlstad to the coveted position.
Most groups were decided ahead of the final Game Days, but that wasn't the case in Group E where three teams were still in the race for the group’s second Playoffs qualification place as Game Day 6 rolled around.
One point from a shootout loss would ultimately be enough for ICE side Red Bull Salzburg to secure the place in the Round of 16, as they knocked the Stavanger Oilers, who were temporarily in second place following a 4-2 win over fellow hopefuls Ilves Tampere ahead of the Austrian team’s all-or-nothing game against Fribourg-Gottéron, down to third and out.
Five Swedish, four Swiss, three German and two Finnish teams were joined by one Czech and one Austrian to complete the Round of 16 line-up.
Return later this week for a look back at the action-packed 2022/23 Playoffs!