The 2019/20 Champions Hockey League Playoff Draw will take place Friday 18 October in Helsinki, and it will be conducted by a special guest. Read below to find out all relevant information for the draw and the Round of 16.

The Champions Hockey League is proud to announce that former Finnish football player and coach Sami Hyypiä will conduct the Playoff Draw on 18 October in Helsinki. Sami won the UEFA Champions League back in 2005 with Liverpool FC, where he spent 10 years of his storied career. The Finn, who has also played and coached in Germany and Switzerland, is an avid hockey fan.

The CHL Playoff Draw will take place on Friday 18 October, two days after the Group Stage has been completed. The live show will be recorded at the CMore studios in Helsinki and streamed live on the CHL’s digital platforms (Website & Facebook). The Playoff Draw commences at 12:00 CEST (13:00 local time).

Draw Rules & Regulations

16 teams enter the Playoff Draw - the 8 group winners and 8 runners-up. The group winners are all placed in Pot A and the runners up in Pot B. Teams from Pot A will be randomly drawn against teams from Pot B.

The draw will not only produce the Round of 16 pairings, but also determine each team’s position in the playoff tree, showing their potential path all the way to the Final. Starting in the Playoffs, national clashes are now possible. However, teams that played each other during the Group Stage cannot play each other in the first playoff round. As match-ups in all subsequent rounds will be determined by bracket position, they will be able to meet again later in the competition. Once the Playoff Draw for the Round of 16 has been made, no additional draws for the following rounds will be held.

Playoff Format & Schedule

The CHL Playoffs start on 12/13 November with the first three playoff rounds being a two-game, home-and-away, aggregate scoring series. The season culminates on 4 February 2020 with the ultimate one-game Final.

In general group runners-up will play their home game first in the Round of 16, unless an arena is unavailable and the home games must be switched. For the following playoff rounds the CHL will determine the schedule based solely on factors such as arena availability and broadcasting obligations.

To find out how the CHL Playoff Draw works exactly, watch the video below: