Off-season changes & summary
The playing format for the 2022/23 Champions Hockey League Season remained unchanged from the previous year with 32 teams qualifying and participating.
Wildcards 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.
Playing Format
The playing format remained unchanged from the previous season. Following a Group Stage Draw, teams were drawn into eight groups of four. Teams played their three Group Stage opponents both home and away, with the top two from each group's standings moving on to the Playoffs.
At this stage, a random Draw was held to determine the next matchups and potential Path to the Final for each team, with group winners being seeded and drawn against runners-up.
The Playoffs (Round of 16, Quarter-Finals and Semi-Finals) were played in a two-game, home-and-away, knock-out series, where the winner on goals aggregate advanced to the next round.
The Final was a one-game all-or-nothing showdown, played at the venue of the team with the best-accumulated Group Stage and Playoffs record.
Group Stage review | click here for Group Stage Standings 2022/23
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 one of them securing their spot in the final 16.
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 lineup.
Playoff Review | click here for 2022/23 Road to the Final
Clubs from six countries entered the Playoffs but that was reduced to four countries in the Quarter-Finals and even further to three in the Semi-Finals.
Three DEL teams entered the Playoffs, but unexpectedly, not a single one moved on to the Quarter-Finals. Bavarian giants Red Bull Munich fell to Swiss side EV Zug 5-1 at home and then 5-1 on the road to be eliminated in spectacular fashion.
Straubing struggled with four-time CHL Champions Frölunda Gothenburg, losing 7-2 on aggregate, while Grizzlys Wolfsburg didn't manage to overcome eventual Finalists Luleå Hockey.
Mountfield kept the Czech flag flying high, beating Färjestad to a spot in the final eight, while EV Zug became the only remaining Swiss team in the competition following poor performances from HC Davos, Fribourg-Gottéron and ZSC Lions Zurich.
Quarter-Finals
The stand-out matchup of the Quarter-Finals was that of Rögle Ängelholm vs Tappara Tampere - an exact rematch of last season's Final in which the Swedes beat the Finns to the title of European Club Champions. In what was a closely-contended game, Rögle beat Tappara 3-2 in the First Game, but a huge 5-1 Return Game saw Tappara move on.
Skellefteå AIK locked horns with Frölunda Gothenburg in a tight series that determined its winner in a shootout, as Frölunda bested their fellow SHL rivals.
Mountfield HK faced EV Zug in a two-game series that also went right down to the wire. The Czech team looked poised for a win after a two-goal comeback in the final five minutes of the First Game, but a late goal from the visitors finalised the score at 2-2 leaving it all to play for in Switzerland. The Return Game saw Leonardo Genoni make 28 saves on the night and Brian O'Neill score the game-winner in OT as Zug secured their place in the Semi-Finals for the very first time in their CHL history.
The fourth Quarter-Finals matchup saw Luleå Hockey face Finnish side Jukurit Mikkeli who they already drew in the Group Stage. The Swedes beat Jukurit 5-1 in the First Game and added a 3-1 Return Game win to move on to the Semi-Finals with ease.
Semi-Finals
Two CHL veterans clashed in the Semi-Finals as EV Zug and Tappara Tampere, two of the three teams to have never missed a CHL season since 2014/15, faced each other for the third season in their CHL history. The First Game was played in Tampere's Nokia Arena and saw Christian Heljanko record his fourth shutout of the season in a game that Tappara Tampere dominated from start to finish, earning the Finns a two-goal lead ahead of their Return Game in Switzerland the following week.
The Return Game, a high-pace game packed full of action, saw the Swiss side do their absolute best to secure their place in the Final but ultimately Tappara Tampere's consistent performances, solid goaltending and patience across the two legs proved superior, as the Finns moved on to the Final for a second season in a row.
The second Semi-Finals matchup between Luleå Hockey and Frölunda Gothenburg witnessed two Swedish teams battle it out for a place in the all-or-nothing Final. After a 2-2 First Game, who would move on was to be decided in the Return Game, but that would prove difficult, as after 60 minutes of game time, the score was still indecisive.
Overtime and a subsequent shootout were needed to secure Luleå Hockey's place in the 2022/23 Final, with Brendan Shinnimin scoring the game-winner in the eighth round. Matteus Ward was a key player of the Return Game, making 34 saves and stopping six shots in the shootout to help his team maintain their unbeaten record by claiming their 11th victory of the season.
The Final
For the second time in CHL history, Luleå Hockey were awarded the hosting rights of a CHL Final due to their superior points record over the Group Stage and Playoffs, meaning the snow-covered seaside town of Luleå in northern Sweden would play host to the ultimate game of the 2022/23 season.
Luleå Hockey entered the Final unbeaten with 11 wins to their name, while Finnish side Tappara Tampere were in the Final for a second time in a row, following a disappointing end to last year's season.
A packed Coop Norrbotten Arena welcomed fans from both countries and paid homage to their journeys to the Final with a spectacular intro show.
Tappara's Kristian Tanus opened the scoring of the game under two minutes in, with Niko Ojamäki doubling his side's lead seven minutes into the game to give the Finns a near-perfect start to the game.
Luleå troubled Tappara throughout the second period, but a spectacular Christian Heljanko wouldn't budge and brought the second period to a close with the scoreline still at 2-0 to Tappara.
The Finns added a third goal in the opening minutes of the final frame with Jori Lehterä firing the puck into the home team's net
With minutes ticking away, the Swedes upped the pressure even more and at 52:04, team captain Erik Gustafsson finally beat Heljanko to give his side a ray of hope.
Five minutes later, Juhani Tyrväinen also got his name on the scoresheet, as Luleå got within touching distance of adding goal #3 but a rock-solid Heljanko in net and Tappara's high stakes defending saw the Finns hold on long enough for them to clinch their first Champions Hockey League title and take the European Trophy back to Finland for the first time since 2018.
Frölunda’s Ryan Lasch – the CHL’s all-time scoring leader with 131 points – earned his fifth LGT Top Scorer Award, whilst Tappara's Christian Heljanko was awarded the LGT MVP Award.