Tappara Tampere filled in our final Liiga Champions Hockey League qualification place last week and became our fourth and final Finnish participants for 2021/22. With only six places left, who could join the rest of our line-up for the upcoming season? Here’s our weekly CHL qualifiers update:
Despite having all four of our Liiga qualifiers, all is not yet decided. There is still ranking for the Group Stage Draw to play for – the national champions are ranked highest in the seeding procedure, giving them a potential advantage going into the draw. We should have a national champion in the coming weeks. We’ll keep you updated!
Denmark’s Metal Ligaen is on the verge of providing our next CHL qualifier. The playoff finals between Rungsted Seier Capital and the Aalborg Pirates are well underway and could end as early as tomorrow!
Rungsted are currently leading the finals series 3-2 and were poised for qualification yesterday but lost their 2-1 lead six minutes before the final buzzer. Aalborg’s late three goal comeback kept them in the title race and postponed Rungsted’s celebrations, but will they manage to tie the series 3-3 tomorrow? Let’s see!
The Czech Extraliga could also give us its final CHL participant for 2021/22. Oceláři Třinec, who are already qualified for the 2021/22 season, are currently 3-1 up against Bílí Tygři Liberec in the championship final.
Liberec need to win the championship to qualify for 2021/22. If they don’t, BK Mladá Boleslav qualify as the third-placed regular season finishers. The decisive game five is scheduled for later today so keep your eyes on our socials to find out who will be playing in the CHL later this year!
The ICE-HL has its champions – KAC Klagenfurt beat HC Bolzano in a tense final and won their 32nd national title! Both clubs are qualified for the upcoming CHL season.
The Slovak Extraliga will determine its sole CHL qualifier in the coming weeks. The national championship finals have started and its now between HKM Zvolen and HK Poprad to battle it out for the title. We could have a winner by next week.
After an intense series of battles in the quarter-finals, the Swiss NL semi-finals are finally underway. EV Zug are paired with the Rapperswil-Jona Lakers and the ZSC Lions Zurich face two-time CHL participants Genève-Servette.
Both Rapperswil and Genève must win the championship to qualify for the CHL, whereas Zurich have an easier path to the CHL – if they win the championship they qualify, but if they don’t and the championship is won by Zug, they automatically qualify as the fifth-placed regular season finishers.
Despite being one of the last leagues to give us a qualifier, the German DEL has one of the fastest playoff formats on the continent. With a best of three format, games are full of action, the results are close and the fighting is fierce. And with the league’s final CHL qualification place up for grabs, teams are giving it their all.
The semi-finals start today and there could be a pair of finalists by the end of the week. Three-time CHL participants ERC Ingolstadt and the Wolfsburg Grizzlys both need to win the championship to secure CHL qualification. If either Adler Mannheim or Eisbären Berlin win the trophy, Pinguins Bremerhaven earn their first ever CHL qualification.
Sweden also has its semi-finalists. Rögle Ängelholm, who have yet to lose a playoff game are paired with Skellefteå AIK and the Växjö Lakers, who won the regular season are facing surprise team of the season Örebro HK.
2014/15 CHL Champions Luleå Hockey were knocked out of the SHL title race after a do or die game seven quarter-finals loss to Skellefteå and cannot qualify for the 2021/22 CHL season. Skellefteå on the over hand are one step closer to securing the league’s final CHL qualification place – if they win the title, they are qualified, but they also qualify as the fourth-placed team in the regular season if either Växjö or Rögle win the title.
But Örebro could steal the CHL qualification place for themselves – if they are to make their debut in the CHL later this year, the must win the national title. We'll keep you updated in the coming weeks!
That's all for this week - follow our social channels to keep up to date about any new CHL qualifiers and tune in again next week for a comprehensive update on Europe's top leagues.