Champions Hockey League (2008–09)
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| Sport | Ice hockey |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2008 |
| Inaugural season | 2008 |
| Ceased | 2009 |
| CEO | Craig Thompson |
| No. of teams | 12 (group stage) 14 (total) |
| Country | Multiple in Europe |
| Last champion(s) |
 ZSC Lions (1) |
| TV partner(s) |
Europe: various USA: Universal Sports CAN: The Score |
| Related competitions |
Victoria Cup |
| Official website | championshockeyleague.com |
The Champions Hockey League was a short-lived ice hockey tournament which was launched in 2008 by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) after adopting the proposal put forth by Ovation Sports AG, and only played in the 2008–09 season. Its creation coincided with the IIHF's 100th anniversary and replaced the IIHF European Champions Cup, the previous competition for Europe's top ice hockey teams. The financial reward for progressing to the CHL Group Stage was a portion of the 16.9 million Swiss francs that was distributed between the teams with a 1,000,000 Swiss francs bonus going to the winner; the largest monetary reward ever given in any European ice hockey competition.
The Silver Stone Trophy, which has been awarded to the top club team in European hockey since 1997, was the CHL's championship trophy. Because of contractual problems between the IIHF and CHL investors the Champions Hockey League was cancelled after only one season had been played.
On December 9, 2013, the IIHF officially announced that they had launched a new tournament with the same name, born out of the original Champions Hockey League in 2008-09, starting in the 2014–15 season.
The Champions Hockey League was planned to be a best-of-the-best competition contested among the European national club champions and the top runners-up of the best seven hockey leagues, a total of 12 teams. The 12 teams included the champions of the best seven leagues and a second team from each of the best four leagues. The second teams from the leagues placed 5–7, played a qualification tournament over one weekend to determine the twelfth and final participant of the Champions Hockey League.
The following table based on the 2008 IIHF League Ranking gives an overview over the qualification process.
The CHL was broadcast across Europe on various national TV networks, as well as on the Internet.
It could also be watched regularly in some extra-European markets. Universal Sports (part of the NBC Universal group) was the league's broadcaster in the United States, while The Score held the Canadian rights.
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