Last week, we gave you our series which celebrated the CHL’s diversity, entitled Hockey is Europe’s Game (Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3). We highlighted the geographical reach of the competition, as players from 24 European countries have played in the Champions Hockey League. However, we couldn’t do that without recognising the huge impact that North American players have had in Europe’s elite international club competition. In this article, we give you our subjective Top 10 of U.S. and Canadian players from the CHL’s five-year history.
#10 Josh Soares
The man who went down in history as scoring the first goal in the CHL’s history, Josh Soares was a huge part of the CHL as a member of Norwegian club, Stavanger Oilers. Over four seasons in the CHL, the Ontario native was a constant offensive threat, scoring 11 goals for the often-underdogs from Norway. In 2018, Soares left Stavanger and returned to North America, but he left Europe forever in the history books!
#9 Andrew Ebbett
The centrepiece of SC Bern’s offensive force over the past four seasons, Andrew Ebbett has made an impact each season in the CHL. Bern have yet to get their hands on the CHL crown, but continue to contend, and Ebbett has been a big part of their success. The B.C. native has racked up 24 points over 4 CHL seasons, including this overtime winner against the Cardiff Devils.
#8 Chay Genoway
In 2018/19, Chay Genoway had perhaps one of the best individual season’s a defenceman has ever produced in the CHL (Honourable mention to Swiss blueliner Yannick Rathgeb!). The Frölunda Indians defenceman was nominated for the CHL Most Valuable Player award after scoring a remarkable 16 points (including 6 goals!) in 13 games as Frölunda marched their way to their third CHL title.
Chay Genoway had 4 points in the 2018/19 Quarter-Finals! Check it out below!
#7 Rhett Rakhshani
This California kid has been a constant offensive threat wherever he has played. Rhett Rakhshani makes this list on the back of his consistent points output, which continue to grow and grow as a member of the Frölunda Indians. A veteran of four Swedish teams, Rakhshani has played in four CHL seasons, scoring 19 points and having one CHL title to his name. He will continue to wear the Frölunda red in 2019/20, so we can expect more from the American forward.
See Rakhshani’s silky skills on display against HC Pilsen!
#6 Ryan Zapolski
The U.S. starting goaltender at the 2018 Winter Olympics, Ryan Zapolski has had a short but monumental impact in the Champions Hockey League. Zapolski joined Finnish club Lukko Rauma in 2013, starred in the CHL’s first two seasons, posting save percentages of 0.959 and 0.941 in 2014/15 and 2015/16 respectively. His fantastic form meant the KHL came calling, but after three seasons away, Zapolski will return to the CHL in 2019/20 with the Vienna Capitals. You’ve got a good one, Vienna!
Check out this Zapolski save in the 2015/16 Quarter-Finals!
#5 Éric Perrin
We could not have this list without including Éric Perrin - the elder statesman of Finnish domestic hockey for almost a decade. Perrin starred for both JYP Jyväskylä and TPS Turku well into his forties, finally hanging up the skates this off-season at the age of 43. The shifty centre played five seasons in the CHL, reaching the Quarter-Finals with TPS in 2015/16. In total, Perrin scored 22 points in 32 CHL games, and we wish him the best of success in his non-playing career!
Check out Perrin’s final CHL goal for JYP!
#4 Maxim Noreau
In terms of his impact on the CHL, this list puts Maxim Noreau top of the pile in terms of North American defencemen to grace the competition. The Montréal native may not have had the single-season impact that Genoway had, but has consistently been a reliable contributor from the blueline. Noreau has played three seasons in the CHL, two with SC Bern between 2016 and 2018, and most recently for the ZSC Lions Zurich in 2018/19. In that time, Noreau has tallied 20 points in 28 games, including this delightful wristshot against Aalborg Pirates in last season’s Group Stage
#3 John Hughes
Red Bull Salzburg’s John Hughes should be in the list just for his now-legendary shimmy celebration in 2018/19’s Quarter-Finals against Kärpät Oulu. However, he takes third spot in our list after being an ever-present in the CHL for five straight seasons with the Salzburg-based club. Hughes will go down in his club’s history as one of their greatest-ever players, having scored a mammoth 627 points in 510 Regular Season games for Red Bull Salzburg. However, in the CHL, Hughes has also led the line for his team, adding 29 points in 36 games.
That’s one way to celebrate! Check out Hughes’s famous shimmy!
#2 Broc Little
Hailing from Arizona, U.S.A, Broc Little has been a household name in Sweden, Switzerland and Finland since moving across the Atlantic Ocean. Wherever he has gone, Little has scored points, and that has also been the case in the CHL. Despite not playing in the competition last season, Little has the second-most points of any North American-born player in the CHL’s history, racking up 33 points in 29 CHL games for Linköping HC and HC Davos. Despite never making it past the Quarter-Finals stage, Little’s exploits deserve recognition, and we are disappointed that he will not play in the CHL for a second straight season!
Watch Little score twice in one game for HC Davos
#1 Ryan Lasch
If you checked our social media accounts over the weekend, you would have seen how Ryan Lasch has arguably been the stand-out player in the CHL’s storied history. He has racked up 69 points in 47 CHL games, 26 more than any other player. The California native has played in all five CHL seasons, three with Frölunda Indians, and spells with TPS Turku in 2014/15 and SC Bern in 2016/17. Lasch has truly shone for the Indians, scoring a remarkable 53 points in 33 games. Lasch won the CHL MVP title in 2015/16 and will look to help Frolunda on their way to a fourth CHL title in 2019/20.
Check out Lasch’s goal from the 2018/19 CHL Final
Honourable Mentions
Over the years, the Champions Hockey League has welcomed a number of massive names who have joined us after storied NHL careers. Despite not making this list, players such as Glenn Metropolit, Pierre-Marc Bouchard, Matt Stajan, Matt D’Agostini, Peter Mueller and Mark Arcobello have all made a significant impact on the competition, giving their all to see their teams advance in the competition.
This list could also change in a number of years if the North American players of Red Bull Munich build upon last season’s form. Red Bull Munich reached the CHL Final, and North American forwards John Mitchell and Trevor Parkes (voted as 2018/19’s CHL Most Valuable Player), were vital pieces of this puzzle. Parkes scored 9 goals in 9 games, predominantly with Mitchell as his set-up man.
Check out Trevor Parkes’s stunning Quarter-Finals performance!
Last, and by not means least, we cannot forget perhaps the biggest name to have ever played in the Champions Hockey League, Toronto Maple Leafs forward and #1 overall draft pick, Auston Matthews. In his pre-draft year, Matthews played 2 games for ZSC Lions Zurich in the CHL, scoring 1 assist in that time. Since then, Matthews has gone on to be a 3-time NHL All-Star, and previous holder of the Calder Trophy.
So, in summary, we love and respect the North American contribution to the Champions Hockey League over the past five seasons. These players have given it all for their teams and will go down in history as some of the tournament’s greatest-ever players. Hockey is truly a global game, and the CHL is at the heart of that.