Champions Hockey League (Europe)

[Arn]

I wasn't sure which section to put this in, so mods feel free to move.

For anyone needing a hockey fix, a new Europe wide competition has just gotten underway. Based on the model of the UEFA Champions League it's made up of teams from all of the top European leagues (apart from the KHL) including Sweden, Finland, Czech, Swiss, Austrian, German, French and British.

Game day 3 is tonight and tomorrow and the games are being streamed live for a cost of ?5 for a day pass which allows you to watch any game. Face offs are around 7pm European time so 2pm east coast time.

Potential big game tonight is Frolunda of Sweden v Geneve-Servette of Switzerland (coached by Chris McSorley).
Tomorrow night Djurgarden of Stockholm play Eisbaren of Berlin which could be a great game with a great atmosphere.

Information is here : http://www.championshockeyleague.net/

Schedules here: http://www.championshockeyleague.net/page/schedule/8/gb/

 

[CarltonTheBear]

Have you watched any Frolunda games Arn? I know Andreas Johnsson's been on fire so far.

 

[Arn]

I haven't yet. I decided to watch the Nottingham Panthers games which were televised in the UK on the first two game days. They coped alright against Lukko the first night but got humbled 10-1 against Lulea.

Frolunda are actually the live TV game here tonight so I'll probably watch that as well and then pick up Djurgarden v Berlin tomorrow on the live stream (I've been to watch games in both their arenas, multiple times to Berlin, so I have a bit of an affinity for both sides).

I'd guess there are other Leafs prospects floating about the European teams and definitely some ex Leafs (Mark Bell is at Berlin, for example) which may make some of the games of more interest to those round here.

 

[Arn]

There's a quick two minute recap of the first two round of games HERE which gives an idea of the quality etc

 

[Bender]

Have you watched any Frolunda games Arn? I know Andreas Johnsson's been on fire so far.

Speaking of which, holy crap he's leading the league?? I know it's a young season but he's already at almost 40% of the points he had all last season in two games.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

Speaking of which, holy crap he's leading the league?? I know it's a young season but he's already at almost 40% of the points he had all last season in two games.

He is playing against different competition, at least right now, so it might be difficult to compare his stats to last season. They're in the group stage right now and the other 3 teams in Frolunda's group are from the Swiss, Austrian, and French leagues. Still, nice to see he's off to a great start of course. Frolunda scored 10 goals in their first 2 games and he was involved in 9 of them (pretty sure that 40% shooting percentage will drop though).

 

[Arn]

Frolunda scored another 7 goals last night. Andreas Johnsson was only 1+1 though, he's slowing down  ;D

Very entertaining game. I also watched some of Farjestad (who played the Marlies last season) who beat Zurich Lions 4-3 in OT. Again a really good game, but I reckon the crowd was about 1000, the arena was empty.

Very much looking forward to Djurgarden Stockholm v Berlin Eisbaren tonight now.

 

[Arn]

The atmosphere in the Hovet Arena in Stockholm for the Djurgardens v Eisbaren game is electric. Wish I was there!

 

[hockeyfan1]

Saw the recap highlights.  Looks like exciting hockey, complete with checks, fights, hits, plenty of drama in the scoring category, etc.  It's not the NHL, it's European, and it's got it's uniqueness.

One thing -- the uniforms, the team jerseys.  As much as they are colourful, at least the players are no longer 'skating advertisements' on ice.  Amen to that!

 

[Arn]

As someone who watches quite a lot of European hockey I feel it sometimes gets a bit of a bum deal. Fighting does get you a 5+ game penalty, but there's plenty of physicality and hitting as well and no end of skill, though it varies across the leagues.

The next round of games is today and tomorrow

http://www.championshockeyleague.net/page/schedule/8/gb/

Games in this round I'll be watching

Adler Mannheim (Germany) v Sparta Prague (Czech)
Lulea (Sweden) v Lukka Rauma (Finland)
Karpat Oulu (Finland) v Kosice (Slovakia)

and

Nottingham (Britain) v Hamburg (Germany) This is Nottingham's best (all be it hugely slim) chance of getting a point.

It would be great if the CHL winners could take on the Stanley Cup champions in the 3 game series the following year or something

 

[hockeyfan1]

As someone who watches quite a lot of European hockey I feel it sometimes gets a bit of a bum deal. Fighting does get you a 5+ game penalty, but there's plenty of physicality and hitting as well and no end of skill, though it varies across the leagues.

The next round of games is today and tomorrow

http://www.championshockeyleague.net/page/schedule/8/gb/

Games in this round I'll be watching

Adler Mannheim (Germany) v Sparta Prague (Czech)
Lulea (Sweden) v Lukka Rauma (Finland)
Karpat Oulu (Finland) v Kosice (Slovakia)

and

Nottingham (Britain) v Hamburg (Germany) This is Nottingham's best (all be it hugely slim) chance of getting a point.

It would be great if the CHL winners could take on the Stanley Cup champions in the 3 game series the following year or something.

It would probably be, since the NHL would get greater exposure.  Doubt it will happen so soon, so fast, but perhaps in time, especially if the World Cup of Hockey does not become a definite consistent event for the future.

 

[seahawk]

One thing -- the uniforms, the team jerseys.  As much as they are colourful, at least the players are no longer 'skating advertisements' on ice.  Amen to that!

I just noticed that as well. The couple ads on the jersey are not overbearing. If the NHL does go the way of having ads, this would be the way to go.

 

[Arn]

It would probably be, since the NHL would get greater exposure.  Doubt it will happen so soon, so fast, but perhaps in time, especially if the World Cup of Hockey does not become a definite consistent event for the future.

Maybe it could add a bit more context to the NHL Premier games in Europe if they ever come back. Send the Stanley Cup winners over to play 3 games against the CHL winner.

Maybe it'd be too late to wait til the Stanley Cup Final was over though to organise it all.

I wonder what chance there is of the Leafs ever coming to Europe...

 

[Arn]

For anyone with any interest, the 1/8th finals of this competition start this week. These are the matchups:

The format is European soccer style rather than North American playoff style - the games played as 2 game series with the overall aggregate score deciding the winner.

Access to live streaming of all 16 games of this round is available for ?5 through here: http://www.championshockeyleague.net/subscribe/product/

Leafs interest in the form of Andreas Johnson is also there represnting Frolunda who play Tappara Tampere tomorrow and next Tuesday. He went 7+9 in 4 preliminary round robin games and is just under 1 point per game in the Swedish League

 

[CarltonTheBear]

Did Modo not make it into this round? Or did some teams just not participate?

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

Did Modo not make it into this round? Or did some teams just not participate?

The 26 founding teams (of which Modo isn't one) get in automatically if they're still in their country's tier 1 league, then there is also the top regular season and top playoff team from each founding league (or if they're one of the founding teams they take other teams based on how they finished) and then there's a third level of top teams from non-founding leagues.

Modo finished 8th out of 12 last season so I assume they just didn't qualify.

 

[Arn]

Yeah it's a strange qualifying system. As you say founding members get automatic entry. So Djurgardens who were in the second tier Allsevnskan of Swedish hockey last season and got promoted qualified for the CHL while Modo who finished higher than them by being 8th in the SHL didn't make it to the CHL.

It is the first season of the competition so I think it will evolve on that front.

 

[hockeyfan1]

Team Canada led by forward Jeff Tambelini defeated Jokerit (Helsinki) by a score of 5-2, in Spengler Cup quarter-final action.

Coached by Guy Boucher, former Tampa Bay Lightning, Canada moves onto the semi-finals against Geneve-Servette.
Game is set for Tuesday (today).


http://www.sportsnet.ca/more/canada-tops-jokerit-to-reach-spengler-cup-semis/

 

[Arn]

So a quick update - the CHL semi finals were played last night and with a Leafs interest, the Frolunda Indians have qualified for the final.

LW Andreas Johnson is in the running for the tournament MVP . Johnson has been one of the drivers for Frolunda, despite his youth. The quick, skilled goal-scorer is now second in tourney scoring with 11 goals and 24 points in just 11 games. Drafted 202nd overall by Toronto in 2013.

Frolunda play Lulea in an all Swedish final on February 3rd at Lulea's rink.