With the 2021/22 Champions Hockey League season fast approaching and with only four final places left in the line-up of qualified teams, it’s time for the CHL Group Stage Draw!

Four-time CHL Champions the Frölunda Indians, Swiss NL regular season winners EV Zug and Liiga side Tappara Tampere are all qualified and will all make their seventh appearance in the CHL later this year, whilst Extraliga side Sparta Prague are back for the first time since the 2016/17 Final, where they finished Runners-up to Frölunda.

Swiss side Fribourg-Gottéron are also back after a three-season absence. Also in the mix are newcomers Rögle Ängelholm, JKH GKS Jastrzębie and Leksands IF, who will both make their debut in the upcoming season.

The 2021/22 Group Stage Draw will take place on Wednesday, May 19 at 18:00 CEST and will be broadcasted live across all the CHL’s digital platforms.

2021/22 Group Stage Draw procedure

To accommodate the needs of the national teams involved in the FOQ (Final Olympic Qualification) tournament, the CHL Board has decided to slightly adapt the draw procedure for the 2021/22 Group Stage Draw: eight teams from countries participating in the FOQ will be allocated into their own pot (pot no. 5) and drawn into two separate groups of four which will not play their CHL games during the FOQ tournament on the weekend of 26-29 August. The other 24 teams will be allocated into four pots and drawn by the standard procedure into six groups of four.

Once we have the complete line-up for 2021/22 we will announce seeding for the Draw.