Following their victory in Game 7 of the SHL Finals on Thursday night, Farjestad Karlstad have been confirmed as the final Champions Hockey League qualifier in Sweden and will take the last remaining place in Europe’s elite club hockey competition for the 2022/23 season.

The 32 qualified teams – which includes seven newcomers – are now eagerly waiting for 25 May when the CHL Group Stage Draw takes place at the 2022 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship in Tampere, Finland (17:00 local time, 16:00 CET). 

The Draw will be conducted by CHL President Peter Zahner and CHL CEO Martin Baumann with the help of two special guests: former Finnish NHLers Olli Jokinen (1231 NHL regular season games + 6 playoff games in 17 seasons) and Sami Kapanen (831 NHL regular season games + 87 playoff games in 12 seasons) will both be responsible of drawing the teams out of the pots. 

While Jokinen has been active in coaching for a couple of years now and will compete in the Champions Hockey League for the very first time this upcoming season with his team Jukurit Mikkeli (FIN), Kapanen has transitioned into management and franchise owner roles, but also featured as head coach for Liiga side Kalpa and NL side HC Lugano after his retirement as a player.

The CHL Group Stage Draw will be broadcasted live on both the CHL website and the league’s official social media channels, starting on 25 May at 16:00 CEST (17:00 local time).

Find out how the CHL Group Stage works:

Qualification Overview:

Sweden (5 places)

• Rogle Angelholm (CHL Champions)
• Farjestad Karlstad (National Champions)
• Lulea Hockey (Regular Season Runners-Up)
• Skelleftea AIK (Regular Season Third-Placed)
• Frolunda Gothenburg (Regular Season Fourth-Placed)

 
Switzerland (5 places)

• EV Zug (National Champions)
• Fribourg-Gotteron (Regular Season Runners-Up)
• ZSC Lions Zurich (Regular Season Third-Placed)
• Rapperswil-Jona Lakers (Regular Season Fourth-Placed)
• HC Davos (Regular Season Fifth-Placed)

 
Germany (4 places)

• Eisbaren Berlin (National Champions)
• Red Bull Munich (Regular Season Runners-Up)
• Grizzlys Wolfsburg (Regular Season Third-Placed)
• Straubing Tigers (Regular Season Fourth-Placed)

 
Finland (4 places)

• Tappara Tampere (National Champions)
• Jukurit Mikkeli (Regular Season Runners-Up)
• Ilves Tampere (Regular Season Third-Placed)
• TPS Turku (Regular Season Fourth-Placed)

 
Czech Republic (3 places)

• Ocelari Trinec (National Champions)
• Mountfield Hradec Kralove (Regular Season Winners)
• Sparta Prague (Regular Season Third-Placed)

 
Austria/ICE (3 places)

• Red Bull Salzburg (League Champions)
• Villacher SV (Regular Season Runners Up)
• Fehervar AV19 (HUN; Regular Season Third-Placed)

 
Wild Card (1 place)

• Olimpija Ljubljana (SLO, ICE)

 
Challenger Leagues (7 places; Champions only)

• Cracovia Krakow (POL/IIHF Continental Cup winners)
• Aalborg Pirates (DEN)
• Grenoble Bruleures de Loups (FRA)
• Stavanger Oilers (NOR)
• GKS Katowice (POL)
• Slovan Bratislava (SVK)
• Belfast Giants (UK)