Have you ever wondered which CHL Shareholder League has the most effective offence or the best special teams? Wonder no longer! In this comparison, you will find the complete league rankings for all the basic team stats categories, created by totaling the results of each league's representatives in the CHL.
Note: In order for the data to be as statistically accurate as possible, we only included the CHL Shareholder Leagues as they all have at least three clubs in the CHL.
Most goals scored per game - Sweden (SHL)
Let's start in the offensive zone. As some of you might have expected, the most productive league in the CHL is the Swedish SHL. It's actually no big surprise as the first- and second-placed team in this category, Frölunda Indians (4.54 GFG) and Luleå Hockey (3.67 GFG), both come from this Nordic country. On average, the Swedish clubs scored 3.53 goals per game. In fact, only one of their five representatives averaged less than three goals a game (Skellefteå AIK was just shy of this number with 2.88 GFG).
Second place goes to the Czech Republic, led by the third-highest scoring team in the CHL, HC Pilsen (3.63 GFG), which netted an average of 3.09 goals per game. It was actually a very tight battle for third place between the remaining Shareholder Leagues with all four being separated by only 0.18 goals per game.
Complete ranking:
Sweden (SHL) - 3.53 GFG
Czech Republic (ELH) - 3.09 GFG
Finland (Liiga) - 2.77 GFG
Germany (DEL) - 2.65 GFG
Austria (EBEL) - 2.61 GFG
Switzerland (NL) - 2.59 GFG
Club Leader: Frölunda Indians (SHL) - 4.54 GFG
Least goals conceded per game - Germany (DEL)
Now we move to the opposite end of the ice. The Shareholder League with the stingiest defence this past season was the German DEL, which was the lone league to squeeze their average to under two goals against per game. On average, they allowed just 1.88 goals in each game. Two of the three German teams were amongst the four teams with the lowest amount of goals against, Adler Mannheim finished second with 1.50 GAG, and Red Bull Munich's average of 1.90 GAG was good enough for fourth place.
Yet again, the silver medal goes to the Czech Extraliga, which averaged 2.24 goals against per game, but this time, they beat their biggest rivals, Switzerland, by a really tight margin of 0.03 GAG. At the bottom of the ranking, we find the EBEL with an average of 2.88 GAG. The Graz99ers were actually the second-worst team in this stat with 4.67 GAG, only behind the Cardiff Devils.
Complete ranking:
Germany (DEL) - 1.88 GAG
Czech Republic (ELH) - 2.24 GAG
Switzerland (NL)- 2.27 GAG
Sweden (SHL) - 2.42 GAG
Finland (Liiga) - 2.54 GAG
Austria (EBEL) - 2.88 GAG
Club Leader: Mountfield HK (ELH) - 1.46 GAG
Best powerplay - Sweden (SHL)
Starting the special teams chapter of this comparison, let's take a look at the powerplay. This time, we don't have a clear winner as four of the six Shareholder Leagues converted over 21% of the time on the man advantage. Three leagues averaged above 22%, but only one league was able to beat the twenty-three-percent mark, this being the teams from Sweden, which averaged 23.14% efficiency rate on the powerplay.
Switzerland finished just 0.25% behind Sweden, followed by the Czech Republic with 22.22%. Fourth place belongs to the EBEL, although teams from this league had vastly different experiences on the powerplay. KAC Klagenfurt was the best team in the entire CHL when it came to the powerplay, with 32.14% of their opportunities finishing with a puck in the back of the net, yet the remaining two Austrian teams, the Vienna Capitals, and the Graz99ers, both finished among the worst 10 teams in the league.
Complete ranking:
Sweden (SHL) - 23.14%
Switzerland (NL) - 22.89%
Czech Republic (ELH) - 22.22%
Austria (EBEL) - 21.13%
Finland (Liiga) - 18.27%
Germany (DEL) - 16.52%
Club Leader: KAC Klagenfurt (EBEL) - 32.14%
Best penalty kill - Germany (DEL)
We're back in the defensive zone and guess what?. That's right, the DEL dominated once again. The German teams combined for an average 88% success rate on the penalty kill. However, this number could have been even higher if it were not for Adler Mannheim (78.79%), as both Munich and Augsburg's penalty kill efficiency were well above the 90% mark. The Panther even led the league with an efficiency rate of 93.10%.
The Czechs finished second, killing on average 85.53% of their penalties. The bronze belongs to the NL with 83.64%. The last place in this ranking is occupied by the Finnish Liiga as none of its four representatives averaged higher than 78% efficiency on the penalty kill. In total, Finnish clubs were successful only 76.04% of the time when down a man.
Complete ranking:
Germany (DEL) - 88.00%
Czech Republic (ELH) - 85.53%
Switzerland (NL) - 83.64%
Sweden (SHL) - 81.12%
Austria (EBEL) - 78.38%
Finland (Liiga) - 76.04%
Club Leader: Augsburger Panther (DEL) - 93.10%
Best face-offs - Germany (DEL)
Where can we find the best centers? If you guessed Germany, then you have a bonus point! The DEL teams had a 55.17% win rate in the circle, this time led by Adler Mannheim with 56.95%, and all of the teams being well above the 53% bar. The Finnish Liiga offset their not-so-good results in the other categories with a 53.08% win rate, which was good enough for the second spot.
The only league not to beat the 50% mark, thus losing more face-offs than it won, was the Czech Extraliga, with a win rate of just 47.16%, far behind the second-worst Shareholder League, the EBEL. Interestingly, this is also the only team stat that was led by a non-Sharehodler League club as the Cardiff Devils won a total of 57.84% of the face-offs they participated in.
Complete ranking:
Germany (DEL) - 55.17%
Finland (Liiga) - 53.08%
Switzerland (NL) - 51.57%
Sweden (SHL) - 51.42%
Austria (EBEL) - 50.75%
Czech Republic (ELH) - 47.16%
Club Leader: Cardiff Devils (EIHL) - 57.84%
Highest average attendance - Germany (DEL)
We're finishing off this comparison off the ice with you, the fans! Top of the attendance charts is the DEL as, on average, 5,121 spectators were present in German arenas on CHL game days. Furthermore, Adler Mannheim won this stat by a landslide in the clubs ranking with a stunning average attendance of 7,045, and the Augsburger Panther's games attracted the second-highest amount of fans, 5,405 per match, to be precise.
The DEL and the second-best Shareholder League, the Czech ELH, were separated by almost 1,000 supporters as the Czech teams combined for an average attendance of 4,146.
Complete ranking:
Germany (DEL) - 5,121
Czech Republic (ELH) - 4,146
Switzerland (NL) - 3,897
Finland (Liiga) - 3,773
Sweden (SHL) - 2,997
Austria (EBEL) - 2,995
Club Leader: Adler Mannheim (DEL) - 7,045