The 2024/25 ice hockey season starts in less than two weeks in the National League, but four Swiss clubs will already be competing in the Champions Hockey League from Thursday.
For the first time since the European club competition was relaunched ten years ago, the campaign will begin with a defending champion from Switzerland. Last spring, Genève-Servette Hockey Club became the first Swiss club to reach the final, winning 3:2 against the eventual Swedish champions Skelleftea.
Thanks to Geneva's triumph, Switzerland will have an additional team in the Champions Hockey League this season. In addition to Servette, Swiss champions ZSC Lions, second-placed Fribourg-Gottéron and third-placed Lausanne HC are also taking part.
Unchanged mode
The format with 24 participants and an overall table in the qualifying round (regular season) is the same as last year. Each team will play six games against six different opponents - three at home and three away. The top 16 advance to the knockout phase, which begins on November 12 with the round of 16 and is played in a round-robin format. The only exception is the final, which will be decided in one match and is scheduled for February 18.
The greatest competition for the Swiss quartet will come from the teams from Sweden and Finland. The two Nordic countries were the winners eight times before Servette's triumph (six times Sweden, twice Finland).
ZSC starts in the far north
It will be particularly interesting to see how the ZSC Lions - the last winners of the previous Champions Hockey League format in 2009 - perform. Since then, however, reaching the quarter-finals in seven attempts has been the highest achievement for the Zurich team. The Swiss champions begin their European adventure on Thursday with an away game against Norwegian champions Storhamar Hamar. The first real endurance test follows on Saturday with a visit to Ilves Tampere in Finland.
SDA