Plenty of Nothing

Red Bull München in the Champions Hockey League

Red Bull München versus Red Bull Salzburg in the 2018-19 Champions Hockey League. They all wore the same hats. Source.

It's the return leg of the Champions Hockey League quarter-finals.

Red Bull München 0 - 3 Djurgården

Luleå 5 - 2 Lausanne

Djurgården and Luleå advance.

Red Bull München in the Champions Hockey League:

2015-16

GS    2015/8/20      Košice 2 - 4 Red Bull München

GS    2015/8/23      Klagenfurter 1 - 4 Red Bull München

GS    2015/8/25      Red Bull München 1 - 0 Košice

GS    2015/9/6        Red Bull München 6 - 1 Klagenfurter

 32    2015/9/22      Lukko 5 - 3 Red Bull München

 32    2015/10/6      Red Bull München 0 - 3 Lukko

2016-17

GS    2016/8/20      Fribourg-Gottéron 3 - 0 Red Bull München

GS    2016/8/23      Orli Znojmo 3 - 4 Red Bull München

GS    2016/9/6        Red Bull München 3 - 1 Fribourg-Gottéron

GS    2016/9/9        Red Bull München 7 - 0 Orli Znojmo

 32    2016/10/4      Red Bull München 1 - 1 Växjö Lakers

 32    2016/10/11    Växjö Lakers 4 - 3 Red Bull München

2017-18

GS    2017/8/25      Red Bull München 6 - 2 Cracovia

GS    2017/8/27      Red Bull München 4 - 1 HIFK

GS    2017/9/1        Cracovia 1 - 2 Red Bull München

GS    2017/9/3        HIFK 2 - 4 Red Bull München

GS    2017/10/3      Red Bull München 2 - 3 Brynäs

GS    2017/10/10    Brynäs 2 - 3 Red Bull München

 16    2017/10/31    Bern 2 - 3 Red Bull München

 16    2017/11/7      Red Bull München 2 - 5 Bern

2018-19

GS    2018/8/31      Red Bull München 4 - 3 Yunost Minsk

GS    2018/9/2        Red Bull München 5 - 1 TPS Turku

GS    2018/9/6        TPS Turku 5 - 3 Red Bull München

GS    2018/9/9        Yunost Minsk 0 - 3 Red Bull München

GS    2018/10/9      Red Bull München 3 - 2 Malmö

GS    2018/10/16    Malmö 6 - 1 Red Bull München

 16    2018/11/6      Red Bull München 2 - 3 Zug

 16    2018/11/20    Zug 0 - 2 Red Bull München

QF    2018/12/4      Red Bull München 2 - 1 Malmö

QF    2018/12/11    Malmö 5 - 5 Red Bull München

SF    2019/1/8        Red Bull München 0 - 0 Red Bull Salzburg

SF    2019/1/16      Red Bull Salzburg 1 - 3 Red Bull München

  F    2019/2/5        Frölunda 3 - 1 Red Bull München

2019-20

GS    2019/8/29      Red Bull München 3 - 0 Ambrì-Piotta

GS    2019/8/31      Red Bull München 3 - 0 Banská Bystrica

GS    2019/9/5        Banská Bystrica 2 - 2 Red Bull München (Banská won SO.)

GS    2019/9/7        Ambrì-Piotta 2 - 2 Red Bull München (München won SO.)

GS    2019/10/8      Red Bull München 2 - 1 Färjestad

GS    2019/10/15    Färjestad 3 - 1 Red Bull München

 16    2019/11/12    Yunost Minsk 2 - 3 Red Bull München

 16    2019/11/20    Red Bull München 6 - 0 Yunost Minsk

87th All-Japan Ice Hockey Championship

Ice Bucks' captain, Hiroto Sato. Source.

December 6

Match No. 1: Meiji University [1 - 2] Tohoku Free Blades

Match No. 2: Oji Eagles [5 - 1] Chuo University

Match No. 3: Dynax [1 - 6] Tochigi Nikko Ice Bucks

Match No. 4: Higashi Hokkaido Cranes [3 - 0] Kansai University Kaisers

December 7

Match No. 5: [Oji Eagles 3 - 4 Tohoku Free Blades]

Match No. 6: [Higashi Hokkaido Cranes 3 - 4 Tochigi Nikko Ice Bucks]

December 8

Match No. 7: [Oji Eagles 3 - 0 Higashi Hokkaido Cranes]

Match No. 8: [Tohoku Free Blades 1 - 5 Tochigi Nikko Ice Bucks]

Tochigi Nikko Ice Bucks are champions of Japan.

Lausanne HC in the Champions Hockey League

Source.

It's the first leg of the Champions Hockey League quarter-finals. We're following the teams that play the teams that beat the teams we were following in the last round.

Lausanne 1 - 2 Luleå

Djurgården 5 - 1 Red Bull München

Lausanne HC finished third in the Swiss league last season. The club was founded in 1922, but they have never been champions of Switzerland. They moved into a new arena this year after two seasons playing in a temporary facility made of aluminum.

Lausanne HC in the Champions Hockey League:

2019-20

GS    2019/8/30      Yunost Minsk 3 - 2 Lausanne

GS    2019/9/1        Pelicans Lahti 4 - 4 Lausanne (Lausanne won SO.)

GS    2019/9/6        Lausanne 3 - 2 Yunost Minsk

GS    2019/9/8        Lausanne 3 - 3 Pelicans Lahti (Lausanne won SO.)

GS    2019/10/9      Třinec 2 - 1 Lausanne

GS    2019/10/15    Lausanne 5 - 3 Třinec

 16    2019/11/12    Plzeň 1 - 2 Lausanne

 16    2019/11/19    Lausanne 5 - 4 Plzeň

Djurgården in the Champions Hockey League

Djurgårdens IF in 1957. Source.

It's the return leg of the Round of 16. The games we're interested in are:

Luleå [4 - 2] Bern

Djurgården [4 - 1] Skellefteå

[Luleå and Djurgården advance.]

Skellefteå vs Djurgården are both members of the Svenska Hockeyligan, where they have played twice so far this season:

Oct 17: Djurgården 1 - 3 Skellefteå

Oct 31: Skellefteå 4 - 0 Djurgården

Djurgården in the Champions Hockey League:

2014-15

GS    2014/8/21      Djurgården 5 - 4 Fribourg-Gottéron

GS    2014/8/24      Zlín 3 - 1 Djurgården

GS    2014/9/5        Djurgården 3 - 2 Eisbären Berlin

GS    2014/9/7        Eisbären Berlin 3 - 3 Djurgården (Eisbären won SO.)

GS    2014/9/23      Djurgården 8 - 0 Zlín

GS    2014/10/7      Fribourg-Gottéron 3 - 1 Djurgården

2015-16

GS    2015/8/20      Djurgården 2 - 4 Tappara Tampere

GS    2015/8/27      Tappara Tampere 2 - 3 Djurgården

GS    2015/8/29      Zug 2 - 3 Djurgården

GS    2015/9/4        Djurgården 5 - 3 Zug

 32    2015/9/22      Djurgården 4 - 3 Växjö Lakers

 32    2015/10/6      Växjö Lakers 3 - 3 Djurgården

 16    2015/11/3      Djurgården 1 - 2 Lukko

 16    2015/11/10    Lukko 2 - 1 Djurgården

2016-17

GS    2016/8/21     Djurgården 4 - 0 Dragons de Rouen

GS    2016/8/27      Djurgården 6 - 0 Davos

GS    2016/9/2        Davos 3 - 1 Djurgården

GS    2016/9/10      Dragons de Rouen 3 - 4 Djurgården

 32    2016/10/4      KalPa 2 - 0 Djurgården

 32    2016/10/11    Djurgården 2 - 1 KalPa

2018-19

GS    2018/8/31      Třinec 1 - 6 Djurgården

GS    2018/9/2        Storhamar 2 - 3 Djurgården

GS    2018/9/7        Djurgården 3 - 4 Třinec

GS    2018/9/9        Djurgården 5 - 2 Storhamar

GS    2018/10/9      Djurgården 3 - 5 Tappara Tampere

GS    2018/10/16    Tappara Tampere 5 - 1 Djurgården

2019-20

GS    2019/8/30      GKS Tychy 2 - 6 Djurgården

GS    2019/9/1        Vienna Capitals 1 - 2 Djurgården

GS    2019/9/6        Djurgården 3 - 6 Vienna Capitals

GS    2019/9/8        Djurgården 2 - 0 GKS Tychy

GS    2019/10/8      Djurgården 6 - 3 Adler Mannheim

GS    2019/10/15    Adler Mannheim 2 - 1 Djurgården

Luleå in the Champions Hockey League

Augsburg vs Luleå was a colourful affair. Source.

It's the first leg of the Round of 16. In this round we're following Skellefteå and Bern, the survivors from Group E. The games are:

Skellefteå [3 - 3] Djurgården

Bern [0 - 3] Luleå

Djurgården are from Stockholm. The name Djurgården means Deer Park, which suggests they're right in the royal part of the capital. Luleå is on the road between Skellefteå and Oulu.

Luleå in the Champions Hockey League:

2014-15

GS    2014/8/22      Hamburg Freezers 1 - 4 Luleå

GS    2014/8/24      Nottingham Panthers 1 - 10 Luleå

GS    2014/9/5        Luleå 6 - 0 Hamburg Freezers

GS    2014/9/7        Luleå 9 - 1 Nottingham Panthers

GS    2014/9/23      Luleå 3 - 1 Lukko

GS    2014/10/7      Lukko 2 - 0 Luleå

 16    2014/11/4      Luleå 2 - 4 Red Bull Salzburg

 16    2014/11/11    Red Bull Salzburg 5 - 7 Luleå (Luleå won SO.)

QF    2014/12/2      Lukko 2 - 5 Luleå

QF    2014/12/9      Luleå 2 - 1 Lukko

SF    2015/1/13      Skellefteå 2 - 2 Luleå

SF    2015/1/20      Luleå 3 - 2 Skellefteå

  F    2015/2/3        Luleå 4 - 2 Frölunda

2015-16

GS    2015/8/22      Luleå 3 - 3 Lukko (Luleå won SO.)

GS    2015/8/29      Luleå 4 - 2 Fribourg-Gottéron

GS    2015/9/4        Fribourg-Gottéron 4 - 3 Luleå

GS    2015/9/6        Lukko 0 - 3 Luleå

 32    2015/9/22      Färjestad 0 - 3 Luleå

 32    2015/10/6      Luleå 1 - 3 Färjestad

 16    2015/11/3      Tappara Tampere 2 - 1 Luleå

 16    2015/11/10    Luleå 5 - 0 Tappara Tampere

QF    2015/12/1      Luleå 3 - 2 Frölunda

QF    2015/12/8      Frölunda 5 - 4 Luleå (Frölunda won SO.)

2016-17

GS    2016/8/19      Eisbären Berlin 2 - 1 Luleå

GS    2016/8/23      Luleå 2 - 4 SaiPa

GS    2016/9/4        SaiPa 2 - 2 Luleå (SaiPa won SO.)

GS    2016/9/8        Luleå 2 - 5 Eisbären Berlin

2019-20

GS    2019/8/29      Luleå 2 - 2 Augsburger Panther (Augsburg won SO.)

GS    2019/8/31      Luleå 4 - 1 Liberec

GS    2019/9/6        Augsburger Panther 4 - 4 Luleå (Luleå won SO.)

GS    2019/9/8        Liberec 4 - 4 Luleå (Luleå won SO.)

GS    2019/10/8      Belfast Giants 3 - 6 Luleå

GS    2019/10/15    Luleå 4 - 0 Belfast Giants

Oulun Kärpät in the Champions Hockey League

Kärpät and Skellefteå at some kind of non-red-armband event in 2017. Source.

The Champions Hockey League group stage wraps up today. The top two from each group advance to the Round of 16. The final Group E games are:

Kärpät [4 - 4] Skellefteå [Kärpät wins the shootout.]

Grenoble [1 - 3] Bern

[Final Group E standings:

11    Skellefteå

11    Bern

11    Kärpät

  3    Grenoble

Skellefteå and Bern advance because each did better head-to-head against Kärpät. I think I see how that works:

Skellefteå earned 4 points off Bern. Bern earned 2 points off Skellefteå. Skellefteå finishes higher than Bern.

Skellefteå earned 4 points of Kärpät. Kärpät earned 2 points off Skellefteå. Skellefteå finishes higher than Kärpät.

Bern earned 3 points off Kärpät. Kärpät earned 3 points off Bern. Bern scored 4 goals against Kärpät. Kärpät scored 4 goals against Bern. But Bern scored 3 goals against Kärpät in one game, and Kärpät only scored 2 goals against Bern in any one game, so Bern finish higher than Kärpät.

The draw for the next round is Friday.]

Oulon Kärpät in the Champions Hockey League so far:

2008-09

GS    2008/10/8      Eisbären Berlin 3 - 2 Kärpät

GS    2008/10/22    Kärpät 0 - 2 Metallurg Magnitogorsk

GS    2008/11/12    Kärpät 2 - 2 Eisbären Berlin (Eisbären won SO.)

GS    2008/11/19    Metallurg Magnitogorsk 3 - 1 Kärpät

2014-15

GS    2014/8/21      Liberec 3 - 4 Kärpät

GS    2014/8/23      Košice 1 - 2 Kärpät

GS    2014/9/5        Kärpät 2 - 2 Kölner Haie (Kärpät won SO.)

GS    2014/9/7        Kölner Haie 3 - 2 Kärpät

GS    2014/9/24      Kärpät 3 - 2 Košice

GS    2014/10/8      Kärpät 3 - 1 Liberec

 16    2014/11/4       Kärpät 3 - 1 Vienna Capitals

 16    2014/11/11     Vienna Capitals 2 - 3 Kärpät

QF    2014/12/2      SaiPa 0 - 2 Kärpät

QF    2014/12/9      Kärpät 3 - 2 SaiPa

SF    2015/1/13      Frölunda 4 - 2 Kärpät

SF    2015/1/20      Kärpät 3 - 2 Frölunda

2015-16

GS    2015/8/20      Krefeld Pinguine 0 - 2 Kärpät

GS    2015/8/22      Vienna Capitals 0 - 2 Kärpät

GS    2015/8/27      Kärpät 4 - 1 Krefeld Pinguine

GS    2015/9/5        Kärpät 4 - 0 Vienna Capitals

 32    2015/9/22      Düsseldorfer EG 0 - 2 Kärpät

 32    2015/10/6      Kärpät 3 - 0 Düsseldorfer EG

 16    2015/11/3      Sparta Prague 4 - 2 Kärpät

 16    2015/11/10    Kärpät 4 - 1 Sparta Prague

QF    2015/12/1      Espoo Blues 2 - 0 Kärpät

QF    2015/12/8      Kärpät 5 - 1 Espoo Blues

SF    2016/1/12      Lukko Rauma 2 - 3 Kärpät

SF    2016/1/19      Kärpät 2 - 2 Lukko Rauma

  F    2016/2/9        Kärpät 1 - 2 Frölunda

2016-17

GS    2016/8/16      Vítkovice 2 - 4 Kärpät

GS    2016/8/16      Krefeld Pinguine 0 - 2 Kärpät

GS    2016/8/26      Kärpät 1 - 0 Vítkovice

GS    2016/9/10      Kärpät 5 - 3 Krefeld Pinguine

 32    2016/10/4      Sparta Prague 1 - 1 Kärpät

 32    2016/10/11    Kärpät 0 - 1 Sparta Prague

2018-19

GS    2018/8/31      Kärpät 4 - 0 Dragons de Rouen

GS    2018/9/2        Kärpät 9 - 3 Nürnberg Ice Tigers

GS    2018/9/7        Dragons de Rouen 2 - 4 Kärpät

GS    2018/9/9        Nürnberg Ice Tigers 4 - 3 Kärpät

GS    2018/10/9      Kärpät 3 - 2 Mountfield

GS    2018/10/17    Mountfield 3 - 4 Kärpät

 16    2018/11/6      ZSC Lions 4 - 4 Kärpät

 16    2018/11/20    Kärpät 3 - 2 ZSC Lions

QF    2018/12/4      Red Bull Salzburg 3 - 2 Kärpät

QF    2018/12/11    Kärpät 1 - 1 Red Bull Salzburg

Whenever I see the Champions Hockey League logo I think of CIL Paints.

SC Bern in the Champions Hockey League

SC Bern's shop. Source.

The Champions Hockey League group stage continues:

Skellefteå [2 - 0] Kärpät (Oct 8)

Bern [4 - 1] Grenoble (Oct 8)

The drive from Grenoble to Bern is 309.6 km. From Skellefteå to Oulu is 381.8 around the top of the Gulf of Bothnia. But Bern to Skellefteå is 2646.5 km, and Grenoble to Oulu is 3327.3 km.

Bern is the only club in Europe with an average attendance that would interest the NHL: 16,290 in 2018-19. The next nearest is SKA St. Petersburg at 13,016. Source.

[Group E standings after 5 games:

10    Skellefteå

  9    Kärpät

  8    Bern

  3    Grenoble

Grenoble cannot advance.]

SC Bern in the Champions Hockey League:

2008-09

QT    2008/9/12      Sinupret Ice Tigers 1 - 4 Bern

QT    2008/9/13      Bern 5 - 4 Košice

GS    2008/10/8      HV71 6 - 2 Bern

GS    2008/10/22    Bern 1 - 3 Espoo Blues

GS    2008/11/12    Bern 7 - 5 HV71

GS    2008/11/19    Espoo Blues 2 - 1 Bern

2014-15

GS    2014/8/21      Třinec 7 - 0 Bern

GS    2014/8/23      Tappara Tampere 3 - 5 Bern

GS    2014/9/4        Bern 0 - 4 Třinec

GS    2014/9/6        Bern 3 - 3 Tappara Tampere (Bern won SO.)

GS    2014/9/23      Bern 0 - 2 Stavanger Oilers

GS    2014/10/7      Stavanger Oilers 5 - 2 Bern

2015-16

GS    2015/8/21      HIFK 3 - 1 Bern

GS    2015/8/23      Linköping 2 - 2 Bern (Linköping won SO.)

GS    2015/8/28      Bern 2 - 2 HIFK (Bern won SO.)

GS    2015/9/5        Bern 1 - 7 Linköping

2016-17

GS    2016/8/16      Košice 3 - 6 Bern

GS    2016/8/18      Black Wings Linz 1 - 3 Bern

GS    2016/9/3        Bern 3 - 1 Košice

GS    2016/9/6        Bern 5 - 0 Black Wings Linz

32     2016/10/4      Red Bull Salzburg 1 - 4 Bern

32     2016/10/11    Bern 3 - 3 Red Bull Salzburg

16     2016/11/1      Bern 3 - 2 JYP

16     2016/11/8      JYP 3 - 3 Bern

QF    2016/12/7      Bern 1 - 1 Sparta Prag

QF    2016/12/13    Sparta Prag 4 - 1 Bern

2017-18

GS    2017/8/14      Bern 5 - 2 Nottingham Panthers

GS    2017/8/26      Bern 4 - 0 TPS Turku

GS    2017/8/31      TPS Turku 3 - 1 Bern

GS    2017/9/2        Nottingham Panthers 4 - 2 Bern

GS    2017/10/4      Mountfield 5 - 4 Bern

GS    2017/10/10    Bern 5 - 2 Mountfield

16     2017/10/31    Bern 2 - 3 Red Bull München

16     2017/11/7      Red Bull München 2 - 5 Bern

QF    2017/12/5      Bern 3 - 2 Växjö Lakers

QF    2017/12/12    Växjö Lakers 4 - 2 Bern

2018-19

GS    2018/8/30      Växjö Lakers 1 - 2 Bern

GS    2018/9/1        Cardiff Devils 2 - 3 Bern

GS    2018/9/6        Bern 4 - 3 Växjö Lakers

GS    2018/9/8        Bern 3 - 2 Cardiff Devils

GS    2018/10/10    Bern 1 - 1 Red Bull Salzburg (Bern won SO.)

GS    2018/10/17    Red Bull Salzburg 2 - 1 Bern

16     2018/11/6      Malmö Redhawks 4 - 1 Bern

16     2018/11/20    Bern 0 - 1 Malmö Redhawks

European Ins and Outs for 2019-20

The immortal Jagr. Source.

KHL: Bratislava Slovan have quit for financial reasons, reducing the league to 24 teams.

Sweden: Timrå and Mora are relegated from the SHL, and Leksand and Oskarshamn are promoted. This is the first time Oskarshamn have made the top tier. Almtuna are relegated from the second tier and Kristianstads IK are promoted to it.

Finland: No change in the Liiga. Leki have lost their Mestis license and are replaced by Hokki.

Germany: No change in the DEL. Deggendorfer SC are relegated from DEL2 and EV Landshut are promoted from the Oberliga.

Czech Republic: Piráti Chomutov are relegated, Jaromir Jagr's Rytíři Kladno promoted. Baník Sokolov are promoted to the second tier, increasing it to 16 teams.

Slovakia: Žilina are relegated, Michalovce promoted. Slovan Bratislava are readmitted from the KHL, increasing the league to 13 clubs.

Hungary: Vienna Capitals II have shifted to the Alps Hockey League, leaving the Hungarian Erste Liga with ten teams.

Switzerland: No change in the NL. HC Sierre is promoted to the second tier Swiss League, increasing that league to 12 teams.

Austria: Medveščak Zagreb dropped out of the EBEL in late January, leaving the league with eleven clubs. Milano Rossoblu have withdrawn from the Alps Hockey League, which now has 18 teams.

Norway: The GET-ligaen take in Grüner and Narvik and relegate Ringerike to bring their complement back up to ten clubs.

Britain: Milton Keynes Lightning have exited the EIHL, leaving that league with ten clubs. They join the ten team National League.

France: Diables rouges de Briançon are promoted to Ligue Magnus, and Étoile noire de Strasbourg are relegated. Lions de Lyon have dropped down to Division 3, leaving Ligue Magnus with 11 clubs.

Not European, but:

Asia League Ice Hockey: Nippon Paper Cranes have re-emerged as Higashi Hokkaido Cranes.

Grenoble in the Champions Hockey League

Grenoble in action, 1964. Source.

Grenoble Hockey Club was founded in 1963. Journalist Albert Antoine nicknamed them the Brûleurs de Loups, and in 1992 that was adopted as the club's official title. The people of Isère are called brûleurs de loups because in the 18th century they eradicated the local wolf population by setting the woods on fire. Source. Les Brûleurs have been champions of France eight times, including last season.

Brûleurs de Loups de Grenoble in the Champions Hockey League:

2009-10

As champions of Ligue Magnus Grenoble were to have appeared in the cancelled 2009-10 Champions Hockey League.

2015-16

GS    2015/8/21      Grenoble 1 - 4 Litvínov

GS    2015/8/27      Litvínov 6 - 4 Grenoble

GS    2015/8/29      Espoo Blues 4 - 2 Grenoble

GS    2015/9/4        Grenoble 2 - 1 Espoo Blues

Is the Champions Hockey League the first pan-European hockey championship? No. This is just the latest in a series of tournaments organized by the IIHF. From 1965 to 1996 there was the European Cup. That was replaced by the European Hockey League, which lasted only four years, and the Continental Cup, which is still going. From 2005 to 2008 there was the European Champions Cup. The Champions Hockey League was tried in 2008-09 but abandoned until it was restarted in 2014.

Recent Group E games:

Grenoble 2 - 6 Kärpät (Sept 5)

Bern 4 - 4 Skellefteå (Sept 5) SAIK won the SO.

Grenoble [1 - 4] Skellefteå (Sept 7)

Bern [1 - 1] Kärpät (Sept 7) Kärpät won the SO.

[Group E after these games:

                     Pts        GD

Kärpät             9        +6

Skellefteå        7        +4

Bern                5         -2

Grenoble         3         -8    ]

Skellefteå in the Champions Hockey League

Skellefteå versus Tychy last year. You can tell it's the Champions Hockey League because everybody has a red arm. Source.

Last season we followed the Continental Cup, the championship tournament for lower tier European hockey clubs. Now let's follow the top European club tournament, the Champions Hockey League.

The Champions Hockey League runs from August to February, concurrent with the national leagues. The tournament begins with 32 top European teams in a group stage, from which 16 emerge to participate in four rounds of playoffs to decide the champion. Top-ranked leagues (read Sweden and Finland) contribute as many as five teams, while the lowest-ranked get one apiece. Clubs from 13 countries are involved in this year's tournament.

The winner of the previous Continental Cup is reserved a place in the Champions Hockey League. However, last year's Continental Cup winner Arlan Kokshetau are not eligible, and the place has gone to runners-up Belfast Giants instead. Teams from Kazakhstan are not invited to the Champions Hockey League because the travel is too much for some of the other clubs, which probably explains why the KHL clubs are also not in this tournament.

Skellefteå AIK, from Northern Sweden, are in the Champions Hockey League for the fifth time in six years. They qualify as fifth-place finalists in the Swedish league last year. They are in Group E with Oulun Kärpät (who finished first in the regular season in Finland), SC Bern (last year's playoff champs in Switzerland), and French champion Brûleurs de Loups from Grenoble. Only two teams will advance from the group, and though Grenoble are bound to finish bottom Skellefteå will have a hard time getting past either Kärpät or Bern.

Each team in a group plays each opponent once at home and once away. The group stage goes on into October. Games this weekend:

Skellefteå 2 - 2 Bern (Aug 30) SAIK won SO.

Kärpät 3 - 1 Grenoble (Aug 30)

Skellefteå [1 - 2] Grenoble (Sept 1)

Kärpät [2 - 3] Bern (Sept 1) [Bern won in OT.]

[Following these games the Group E standings are:

                       G       GD     Pts

Kärpät             2       +1       4

Bern                2        0        3

Grenoble         2       -1        3

Skellefteå        2        0        2    ]

Skellefteå in the Champions Hockey League so far:

2014-15

GS    2014/8/21      Krefeld Pinguine 1 - 2 Skellefteå

GS    2014/8/23      SønderjyskE 1 - 4 Skellefteå

GS    2014/9/4        Skellefteå 4 - 1 SønderjyskE

GS    2014/9/6        Skellefteå 4 - 0 Krefeld Pinguine

GS    2014/9/24      Skellefteå 3 - 0 HIFK

GS    2014/10/7      HIFK 5 - 3 Skellefteå

16     2014/11/4      JYP 4 - 5 Skellefteå

16     2014/11/11    Skellefteå 3 - 2 JYP (Skellefteå won SO.)

QF    2014/12/2      Linköping 1 - 2 Skellefteå

QF    2014/12/9      Skellefteå 3 - 4 Linköping (Skellefteå won SO.)

SF    2015/1/13      Skellefteå 2 - 2 Luleå

SF    2015/1/20      Luleå 3 - 2 Skellefteå

2015-16

GS    2015/8/21      Nitra 2 - 4 Skellefteå

GS    2015/8/23      Liberec 0 - 4 Skellefteå

GS    2015/8/27      Skellefteå 2 - 2 Nitra (Skellefteå won SO.)

GS    2015/9/5        Skellefteå 5 - 2 Liberec

32     2015/9/22      Košice 4 - 3 Skellefteå

32     2015/10/6      Skellefteå 3 - 0 Košice

16     2015/11/3      Eisbären Berlin 2 - 5 Skellefteå

16     2015/11/10    Skellefteå 2 - 1 Eisbären Berlin

QF    2015/12/1      Davos 1 - 1 Skellefteå

QF    2015/12/8      Skellefteå 1 - 4 Davos

2016-17

GS    2016/8/18      Vienna Capitals 3 - 2 Skellefteå

GS    2016/8/20      KalPa 1 - 2 Skellefteå

GS    2016/8/27      Skellefteå 4 - 0 KalPa

GS    2016/9/7        Skellefteå 2 - 5 Vienna Capitals

32     2016/10/4      JYP 4 - 0 Skellefteå

32     2016/10/11    Skellefteå 4 - 2 JYP

2018-19

GS    2018/8/31      Bolzano 3 - 3 Skellefteå (Bolzano won SO.)

GS    2018/9/2        Tychy 1 - 8 Skellefteå

GS    2018/9/6        Skellefteå 6 - 2 Tychy

GS    2018/9/8        Skellefteå 2 - 1 Bolzano

GS    2018/10/9      HIFK 1 - 5 Skellefteå

GS    2018/10/16    Skellefteå 3 - 4 HIFK

16     2018/11/6      Storhamar Dragons 4 - 4 Skellefteå

16     2018/11/20    Skellefteå 3 - 2 Storhamar Dragons

QF    2018/12/4      Skellefteå 3 - 3 Plzeň

QF    2018/12/11    Plzeň 1 - 1 Skellefteå (Plzeň won SO.)

Source: German Wikipedia