Champions Hockey League
The seventh season of the Champions Hockey League is scheduled to start on October 6th. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, there will be no groups this season, therefore the CHL will start immediately with a knockout system. Defending champions are the Frölunda Indians (SWE), who won the Champions Hockey League for the second time in a row past season.
For the 2020/21 season, the bet-at-home ICE Hockey League will once again have three teams in the CHL. Since there was no Champion in the past season, the winner of the Basic Round, the top team of the Pick Round and the next best team of the Pick Round received the spots for the CHL. Thus, the EC Red Bull Salzburg, HCB Südtirol Alperia and spusu Vienna Capitals will represent the ICE in the Champions Hockey League 2020/21.
The start of this special season will be in the Round-of-32, with home and away matches to determine the promoted team for the next round. The team with the better overall score after both matches qualifies for the next round. In the Round-of-16, quarterfinals and semifinals, the promoted team will also be determined after two games. The final will be played in one match.
At the beginning of the CHL Salzburg, who were always qualified for the CHL except for the last season, will meet Tappara Tampere from Finland. The first leg will take place on October 6th at Tampere, the second leg will follow on October 13th in Salzburg.
The HCB Südtirol Alperia will compete with the EHC Biel-Bienne from Switzerland. For Bolzano it is the third participation in the CHL. The match dates are October 7th in Bolzano and October 14th in Biel.
The spusu Vienna Capitals have qualified for the CHL every season so far. The Viennese also compete with a Swiss team. They will first compete against HC Davos on October 6th in the Erste Bank Arena in Vienna. The return match will take place on October 14th in the Vaillant Arena in Davos.