2008–09 Champions Hockey League
LeagueChampions Hockey League (2008–09)
SportIce hockey
Duration8 October 2008 – 28 January 2009
Number of teams14 (12 in group stage)
Season MVPFinland Ari Sulander (ZSC)
Top scorerCanada Jean-Guy Trudel (ZSC)
Finals
ChampionsSwitzerland ZSC Lions
  Runners-upRussia Metallurg Magnitogorsk

The 2008–09 Champions Hockey League was the only season of the Champions Hockey League (2008–09), an IIHF-organized ice hockey tournament for the best club teams in Europe. The season was played with 12 teams from seven countries (two teams each from Russia, Czech Republic, Sweden and Finland, one team each from Switzerland, Germany and Slovakia and a 12th team from one of these three countries, determined in a qualification tournament).[1] Every participating team was guaranteed an appearance fee of 300,000 euro and the winner received 1,000,000 euro. Prize money was also awarded for winning group stage matches (50,000 euro), for the semi-final appearance (200,000 euro) and for the other finalist (500,000 euro). In total, 10 million euros were distributed, the largest prize sum ever in a European hockey club competition. [2] The ZSC Lions from Switzerland won the competition by beating Russia's Metallurg Magnitogorsk in the finals.

In December 2013, the IIHF officially announced that they had launched a new tournament with the same name, born out of the European Trophy, starting in the 2014–15 season.[3]

Participating teams

The 2008–09 edition of the Champions Hockey League is played with twelve teams from Europe's top seven hockey leagues. Ten teams qualified directly for the group stage due to their performances in the domestic leagues. The field was completed with the winner of last season's Champions Cup and one team from the qualifying tournament. The tables below lists these teams together with the reasons for qualifying.[4]

Directly qualified for group stage

Russia Metallurg Magnitogorsk Magnitogorsk, Russia 2008 IIHF European Champions Cup winner
Russia Salavat Yulaev Ufa Ufa, Russia Russian Superleague champion
Finland Kärpät Oulu, Finland Finnish SM-liiga champion
Finland Espoo Blues Espoo, Finland Finnish SM-liiga playoff finalist
Czech Republic HC Slavia Praha Prague, Czech Republic Czech Extraliga champion
Czech Republic HC České Budějovice České Budějovice, Czech Republic Czech Extraliga regular-season winner
Sweden HV71 Jönköping, Sweden Swedish Elitserien champion
Sweden Linköpings HC Linköping, Sweden Swedish Elitserien regular-season runner-up
Slovakia HC Slovan Bratislava Bratislava, Slovakia Slovak Extraliga champion
Switzerland ZSC Lions Zürich, Switzerland Swiss National League A champion
Germany Eisbären Berlin Berlin, Germany Deutsche Eishockey Liga champion

Note: Because the Swedish regular-season winner (HV71) also won the play-offs, Linköpings HC as the runner-up of the regular-season will participate.

Participating in qualifying tournament

Slovakia HC Košice Košice, Slovakia Slovak Extraliga regular-season runner-up
Switzerland SC Bern Berne, Switzerland Swiss National League A regular-season winner
Germany Sinupret Ice Tigers Nuremberg, Germany Deutsche Eishockey Liga regular-season winner

Note: Because the Slovak regular-season winner (Slovan Bratislava) also won the play-offs, HC Košice as the runner-up of the regular-season can participate in the qualifying tournament.

Qualifying tournament

Three teams played a qualifying tournament on 12–14 September in Nuremberg, Germany. A win was awarded 3 points, 0 points for a loss.[5] SC Bern won the tournament and qualified as the second team from Switzerland for the group stage of the Champions Hockey League. Bern's Ramzi Abid was the top scorer of the tournament with 3 goals and 1 assist. The matches were attended by an average of 3,426 spectators.[6]

Team GP W SOW SOL L GF GA PTS
Switzerland SC Bern 22000956
Germany Sinupret Ice Tigers 21001673
Slovakia HC Košice 200027100
September 12, 2008
19:30 CET		Sinupret Ice Tigers Germany1–4
(0–0, 1–1, 0–3)		Switzerland SC BernNuremberg Arena, Nuremberg
Attendance: 7,658
Game reference
A. Savage (ES) 35:52Goals30:07 (PP) R. Abid
41:13 (ES) P. Bärtschi
50:52 (ES) S. Gamache
59:41 (EN) S. Bordeleau
September 13, 2008
18:30 CET		SC Bern Switzerland5–4
(2–0, 2–3, 1–1)		Slovakia HC KošiceNuremberg Arena, Nuremberg
Attendance: 1,859
Game reference
L. Goren (PP) 06:59
C. Dubé (PP) 10:49
P. Bärtschi (ES) 28:23
R. Abid (ES) 35:17
R. Abid (PP) 52:03		Goals26:38 (PP) J. Faith
27:09 (ES) M. Simurda
28:43 (ES) M. Simurda
44:26 (ES) J. Faith
September 14, 2008
18:30 CET		HC Košice Slovakia3–5
(0–2, 2–2, 1–1)		Germany Sinupret Ice TigersNuremberg Arena, Nuremberg
Attendance: 3,373
Game reference
J. Kmiť (PP) 24:27
M. Miklík (ES) 28:22
J. Sýkora (ES) 50:19		Goals01:31 (PP) B. Leeb
15:30 (PP) M. Periard
24:46 (ES) B. Leeb
34:56 (PP) C. Laflamme
48:03 (PP) P. Fical

Group stage

Location of teams of the group stage in 2008–09 Champions Hockey League.
Yellow: Group A, Red: Group B, Blue: Group C, Green: Group D.

The draw for the group stage took place on Friday, 25 April 2008 in Zürich, Switzerland.[7] The twelve teams were drawn into groups of three. Each group played a double round-robin. If the games were decided after 60 minutes, the winner was awarded 3 points and the loser 0 points. In case of a tie, both teams got 1 point and a penalty shoot-out was staged with the winner being awarded a second point. The best team of each group – the two Russian teams Ufa and Magnitogorsk, Espoo from Finland and the ZSC Lions from Switzerland – advanced to the semi-finals.

Group A

Eisbären Berlin played their two home games at the new O2 World in Berlin in front of 13,000 and 13,500 spectators, respectively, a Champions Hockey League record. Magnitogorsk qualified for the semi-finals on gameday 5 after winning their first three games. Metallurg's Jan Marek was the top scorer in group A with 2 goals and 5 assists.

Team GP W OTW OTL L GF GA PTS
Russia Metallurg Magnitogorsk 430011159
Germany Eisbären Berlin 4210110108
Finland Kärpät 400135111
October 8, 2008
19:30 CET		Eisbären Berlin Germany3–2
(1–1, 1–0, 1–1)		Finland KärpätO2 World, Berlin
Attendance: 13,000
Game reference
T. Mulock (ES) 01:35
A. Rankel (ES) 20:52
D. Pederson (ES) 40:34		Goals04:33 (PP) I. Mikkola
47:45 (ES) T. Koivisto
October 22, 2008
20:30 EET		Kärpät Finland0–2
(0–0, 0–1, 0–1)		Russia Metallurg MagnitogorskOulun Energia Areena, Oulu
Attendance: 6,614
Game reference
Goals34:30 (PP) J. Marek
43:46 (PP) V. Atyushov
October 29, 2008
20:00 YEKT		Metallurg Magnitogorsk Russia5–2
(4–0, 0–1, 1–1)		Germany Eisbären BerlinMagnitogorsk Arena, Magnitogorsk
Attendance: 7,701
Game reference
November 12, 2008
20:30 EET		Kärpät Finland2–3 (GWS)
(1–0, 0–1, 1–1, 0–1)		Germany Eisbären BerlinOulun Energia Areena, Oulu
Attendance: 4,619
Game reference
November 19, 2008
20:00 YEKT		Metallurg Magnitogorsk Russia3–1
(0–0, 2–0, 1–1)		Finland KärpätMagnitogorsk Arena, Magnitogorsk
Attendance: 7,593
Game reference
December 3, 2008
19:30 CET		Eisbären Berlin Germany2–1
(1–0, 1–1, 0–0)		Russia Metallurg MagnitogorskO2 World, Berlin
Attendance: 13,500
Game reference

Group B

Espoo won all 4 of their games and qualified for the semi-final after gameday 5. The top scorer in group B was Bern's Christian Dubé with 5 goals (and 0 assists).

Team GP W OTW OTL L GF GA PTS
Finland Espoo Blues 4400013412
Sweden HV71 4100313183
Switzerland SC Bern 4100311153
October 8, 2008
19:30 CET		HV71 Sweden6–2
(1–0, 2–0, 3–2)		Switzerland SC BernKinnarps Arena, Jönköping
Attendance: 6,903
Game reference
T. Laine (PP) 18:29
T. Laine (ES) 20:20
M. Tedenby (ES) 22:31
M. Thörnberg (PP) 44:22
J. Lindström (ES) 44:36
B. Melin (ES) 51:38		Goals48:36 (PP) S. Bordeleau
55:41 (ES) C. Dubé
October 22, 2008
19:30 CET		SC Bern Switzerland1–3
(0–2, 0–0, 1–1)		Finland Espoo BluesPostFinance Arena, Berne
Attendance: 6,756
Game reference
S. Gamache (ES) 53:55Goals03:19 (ES) T. Kähkönen
19:39 (PP) E. Rajamäki
59:55 (EN) J. Uhlbäck
October 29, 2008
20:30 EET		Espoo Blues Finland3–2
(2–1, 0–0, 1–1)		Sweden HV71LänsiAuto Areena, Espoo
Attendance: 6,083
Game reference
November 12, 2008
19:30 CET		SC Bern Switzerland7–5
(1–3, 3–0, 3–2)		Sweden HV71PostFinance Arena, Berne
Attendance: 7,057
Game reference
November 19, 2008
20:30 EET		Espoo Blues Finland2–1
(2–1, 0–0, 0–0)		Switzerland SC BernLänsiAuto Areena, Espoo
Attendance: 6,247
Game reference
December 3, 2008
19:30 CET		HV71 Sweden0–6
(0–3, 0–1, 0–2)		Finland Espoo BluesKinnarps Arena, Jönköping
Attendance: 5,028
Game reference

Group C

Salavat Yulaev was the first team of the 2008–09 Champions Hockey League to qualify for the semi-finals after winning their first three games. The top scorer in group C was Ufa's Alexander Radulov with 1 goal and 4 assists.

Team GP W OTW OTL L GF GA PTS
Russia Salavat Yulaev Ufa 4400022512
Czech Republic HC České Budějovice 410039173
Slovakia HC Slovan Bratislava 4100311203
October 8, 2008
20:00 YEKT		Salavat Yulaev Ufa Russia7–1
(1–0, 3–0, 3–1)		Czech Republic HC České BudějoviceUfa Arena, Ufa
Attendance: 7,835
Game reference
K. Koltsov (PP) 11:19
R. Nurtdinov (ES) 21:15
A. Perezhogin (ES) 34:06
I. Grigorenko (ES) 39:11
L. Cermak (PP) 43:17
A. Perezhogin (SH) 45:57
K. Koltsov (ES) 55:37		Goals45:19 (ES) T. Kurka
October 22, 2008
19:30 CET		HC České Budějovice Czech Republic5–2
(1–0, 2–1, 2–1)		Slovakia HC Slovan BratislavaBudvar Arena, České Budějovice
Attendance: 4,250
Game reference
M. Hudec (ES) 01:17
P. Gregorek (PP) 22:52
I. Huml (SH) 29:49
O. Vesely (ES) 40:28
R. Horak (ES) 46:47		Goals24:08 (ES) L. Vaic
50:28 (ES) R. Kukumberg
October 29, 2008
19:30 CET		HC Slovan Bratislava Slovakia2–4
(1–0, 1–3, 0–1)		Russia Salavat Yulaev UfaSamsung Arena, Bratislava
Attendance: 5,238
Game reference
M. Lazo (ES) 06:54
R. Liscak (ES) 23:01		Goals20:50 (ES) I. Shadilov
30:09 (PP) V. Vorobyev
39:11 (ES) A. Radulov
48:15 (ES) K. Koltsov
November 12, 2008
19:30 CET		HC České Budějovice Czech Republic0–3
(0–2, 0–1, 0–0)		Russia Salavat Yulaev UfaBudvar Arena, České Budějovice
Attendance: 4,109
Game reference
November 19, 2008
19:30 CET		HC Slovan Bratislava Slovakia5–3
(3–0, 0–0, 2–3)		Czech Republic HC České BudějoviceSamsung Arena, Bratislava
Attendance: 4,880
Game reference
December 3, 2008
20:00 YEKT		Salavat Yulaev Ufa Russia8–2
(1–1, 4–1, 3–0)		Slovakia HC Slovan BratislavaUfa Arena, Ufa
Attendance: 8,292
Game reference

Group D

The winner of group D was not decided until the final game in Prague between Slavia and the ZSC Lions. In front of 8,137 spectators, the Lions won the game 5–1 after scoring 4 goals in the last period. The group's top scorer (and the leading scorer after all group stage games) was Adrian Wichser from ZSC with 9 assists (and 0 goals).

Team GP W OTW OTL L GF GA PTS
Switzerland ZSC Lions 43010201110
Czech Republic HC Slavia Praha 4210115158
Sweden Linköpings HC 4000411200
October 8, 2008
19:30 CET		HC Slavia Praha Czech Republic4–2
(2–1, 1–1, 1–0)		Sweden Linköpings HCO2 Arena, Prague
Attendance: 4,108
Game reference
M. Vondrka (ES) 15:26
R. Červenka (PP) 17:24
R. Červenka (PP) 38:26
J. Bednář (ES) 49:19		Goals08:31 (ES) J. Fransson
36:30 (ES) P. Petterstrom
October 22, 2008
19:30 CET		Linköpings HC Sweden2–7
(2–2, 0–2, 0–3)		Switzerland ZSC LionsCloetta Center, Linköping
Attendance: 7,961
Game reference
M. Ylven (ES) 02:32
J. Eriksson (ES) 18:59		Goals06:47 (ES) S. Blindenbacher
17:53 (PP) T. Monnet
26:59 (ES) P. Sejna
38:24 (ES) P. Sejna
42:42 (ES) C. Buhler
47:30 (ES) T. Monnet
57:51 (PP) D. Pittis
October 29, 2008
19:30 CET		ZSC Lions Switzerland4–5 (GWS)
(0–1, 1–1, 3–2, 0–1)		Czech Republic HC Slavia PrahaHallenstadion, Zürich
Attendance: 8,220
Game reference
November 12, 2008
19:30 CET		Linköpings HC Sweden4–5
(0–2, 3–1, 1–2)		Czech Republic HC Slavia PrahaCloetta Center, Linköping
Attendance: 6,842
Game reference
November 19, 2008
19:30 CET		ZSC Lions Switzerland4–3
(1–1, 2–1, 1–1)		Sweden Linköpings HCHallenstadion, Zürich
Attendance: 8,574
Game reference
December 3, 2008
19:30 CET		HC Slavia Praha Czech Republic1–5
(0–1, 1–0, 0–4)		Switzerland ZSC LionsO2 Arena, Prague
Attendance: 8,137
Game reference

Knockout round

Semifinals Finals
          
Russia Metallurg Magnitogorsk 1 3 1 (2)
Russia Salavat Yulaev Ufa 2 1 1 (0)
Russia Metallurg Magnitogorsk 2 0 0
Switzerland ZSC Lions 2 5 1
Switzerland ZSC Lions 6 4 2
Finland Espoo Blues 3 1 0

Semi-finals

The semi-finals were played as two-legged matches. If a game was tied after 60 minutes, it would have been counted as a tie, without a penalty shoot-out taking place. Only if after two games the teams were level on points (i.e. one win each or two ties), a penalty shoot-out was staged to determine the series winner Home ice advantage of the second game went to the teams with the better records in the group stage.

First Semi-final

Because both teams from Russia qualified for the semi-finals, they had to play against each other according to the tournament regulations. Salavat Yulaev won the first game in Magnitogorsk with goaltender Alexandr Eremenko stopping 36 shots. The second game in Ufa, however, was won by Metallurg. Therefore, a penalty shoot-out was staged to determine the series winner, which was won 2–0 by Magnitogorsk.

10 December 2008
20:00 YEKT		Metallurg Magnitogorsk Russia1–2
(0–0, 0–2, 1–0)		Russia Salavat Yulaev UfaMagnitogorsk Arena, Magnitogorsk
Attendance: 7,750
Game reference
7 January 2009
20:00 YEKT		Salavat Yulaev Ufa Russia1–3 (0–2 GWS)
(0–0, 1–0, 0–3)		Russia Metallurg MagnitogorskUfa Arena, Ufa
Attendance: 8,500
Game reference

Second Semi-final

Because the Hallenstadion in Zürich, the home arena of the ZSC Lions, was not available on the semi-final dates, the Lions were forced to play their home game at the Diners Club Arena in Rapperswil-Jona, about 25 km away from Zurich. The ZSC Lions won both their "home" game and the game in Espoo, where they were accompanied by about 600 fans from Switzerland.[8]

10 December 2008
19:30 CET		ZSC Lions Switzerland6–3
(1–0, 3–2, 2–1)		Finland Espoo BluesDiners Club Arena, Rapperswil-Jona
Attendance: 6,100
Game reference
7 January 2009
20:30 EET		Espoo Blues Finland1–4
(0–2, 1–0, 0–2)		Switzerland ZSC LionsLänsiAuto Areena, Espoo
Attendance: 6,612
Game reference

Finals

The final was also played as a two-legged match. Home ice advantage of the second game went to the ZSC Lions which had the better record in the group stage. As in the semi-finals, the Lions were forced to play their home game in Rapperswil in an arena with only half the capacity of the Hallenstadion in Zürich. The game in the Diners Club Arena was sold out within 30 minutes, leaving many fans without a ticket for the most important game in their club's history.[9]

The ZSC Lions became the first-ever Swiss team to win a major European club competition by winning the Champions Hockey League. After a 2–2 draw in Magnitogorsk, the ZSC Lions won the return game against Metallurg Magnitogorsk 5–0 to dethrone the 2008 European club champion. ZSC goaltender Ari Sulander was named Champions Hockey League MVP and was the first to hoist the Silver Stone Trophy.[10]

21 January 2009
21:30 (UTC+5)		Metallurg Magnitogorsk Russia2–2
(0–2, 0–0, 2–0)		Switzerland ZSC LionsMagnitogorsk Arena, Magnitogorsk
Attendance: 7,700
Game reference
Referees:
Czech Republic Radek Husička
Czech Republic Vladimír Šindler
Linesmen:
Czech Republic Petr Blümel
Czech Republic Roman Pouzar
0–109:14 – Trudel (Schelling, Pittis)
0–212:05 – Wichser (Sejna, Gardner)
Atyushov (Marek) – 51:011–2
Rolinek (Varlamov) – 59:172–2
8 minPenalties8 min
35Shots28
28 January 2009
19:30 (UTC+1)		ZSC Lions Switzerland5–0
(1–0, 1–0, 3–0)		Russia Metallurg MagnitogorskDiners Club Arena, Rapperswil
Attendance: 6,200
Game reference
Referees:
Finland Tom Laaksonen
Finland Jari Levonen
Linesmen:
Finland Mikko Kekäläinen
Finland Jussi Terho
Down (Pittis, Trudel) – 17:171–0
Sejna (Wichser, Suchý) (PP) – 34:482–0
Seger (Pittis, Monnet) (PP) – 48:573–0
Alston (Geering, Monnet) – 49:514–0
Trudel (Pittis, Down) – 57:295–0
6 minPenalties10 min
39Shots25
Champions Hockey League
2008–09 Winners
Switzerland
ZSC Lions
First Title

Statistics

Scoring leaders

List shows the top skaters sorted by points, then goals. If the list exceeds 5 skaters because of a tie in points, all of the tied skaters are shown.

Pos Player Team GP G A Pts +/− PIM
1Canada Jean-Guy TrudelSwitzerland ZSC Lions84913+12
2Switzerland Adrian WichserSwitzerland ZSC Lions811213+44
3Canada Domenic PittisSwitzerland ZSC Lions81101106
4Slovakia Peter SejnaSwitzerland ZSC Lions85510+80
5Czech Republic Jan MarekRussia Metallurg Magnitogorsk83710+714

GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/− = Plus/minus; PIM = Penalties In Minutes
Source: IIHF.com

Leading goaltenders

Only the top five goaltenders, based on save percentage, who have played 40% of their team's minutes are included in this list.

Pos Player Team TOI SA GA GAA Sv% SO
1Russia Alexandr EremenkoRussia Salavat Yulaev Ufa280:0014571.5095.170
2Russia Ilya ProskuryakovRussia Metallurg Magnitogorsk478:29233151.8893.561
3Finland Ari SulanderSwitzerland ZSC Lions480:00241172.1392.951
4Austria Bernd BrücklerFinland Espoo Blues299:09136102.0192.651
5Germany Rob ZeppGermany Eisbären Berlin240:0097102.5089.690

TOI = Time on ice (minutes:seconds); SA = Shots against; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; Sv% = Save percentage; SO = Shutouts
Source: IIHF.com

References

  1. ↑ "Three teams to compete for 12th CHL spot". IIHF. Archived from the original on 2008-02-05. Retrieved 2008-02-05.
  2. ↑ "Europe's new Club Competition". IIHF. Archived from the original on 26 December 2007. Retrieved 2008-01-19.
  3. ↑ New era dawns for Europe Archived December 17, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
  4. ↑ "Playoffs in Europe's Top-7 Leagues". IIHF. Archived from the original on 30 April 2008. Retrieved 2008-04-23.
  5. ↑ "Champions Hockey League Qualification". IIHF. Archived from the original on 19 September 2008. Retrieved 2008-09-12.
  6. ↑ "Champions Hockey League Qualification: Statistics". IIHF. Archived from the original on 14 September 2008. Retrieved 2008-09-15.
  7. ↑ "Champions Hockey League groups drawn". IIHF. Archived from the original on 2008-05-11. Retrieved 2008-04-25.
  8. ↑ "Swiss Invasion?". Retrieved 2009-01-17.
  9. ↑ "ZSC game sold out within minutes". Retrieved 2009-01-17.
  10. ↑ "ZSC Lions win CHL!". IIHF. Archived from the original on 20 December 2008. Retrieved 28 January 2009.
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