Group Stage Draw in Prague, Wednesday at 12:00 CET

Czech hockey legends Dominik Hasek and Robert Reichel will conduct CHL draw, Wednesday at 12:00 CET at 02 Arena.

Press Release

The second annual Champions Hockey League Draw will take place on Wednesday, 13 May at 12:00 at O2 Arena in Prague, Czech Republic. Czech hockey legends Dominik Hasek and Robert Reichel will be on stage to draw the teams of out the three baskets.

Hasek – arguably the best goaltender in hockey history, a six-time Vezina Trophy winner as the NHL’s best goaltender, a two-time Hart Trophy winner as NHL MVP, an Olympic champion in 1998 and a two-time Stanley Cup champion – will draw the top-seeded teams from Basket 1.

Reichel – also an Olympic champion having been a teammate of Hasek in Nagano, a three-time World Champion and captain of the Czech “golden generation” in the late 1990s and early 2000s – will draw the teams from Basket 3.

CHL Chairman Anders Ternbom will draw the teams from Basket 2.

The draw will be streamed live on championshockeyleague.net.

Click here for the ranking and seeding of the 48 teams before the draw.

Last year's Draw took place in Minsk on 21 May 2014. There, the 44 competing teams were divided into 11 groups. The season began on 21 August and culminated with an exciting one-game Final on 3 February, in which Lulea Hockey defeated Frolunda Gothenburg 4–2.

For the 2015–16 season, the Champions Hockey League has expanded its field of teams from 44 to 48. They include the CHL's 26 Founding Members and 12 top finishers from Europe's top six national leagues, as well as 10 “Wild Card” teams from the rest of Europe. This ensures that the champions and finalists of Europe's top 12 national leagues will compete.

The 48 Champions Hockey League clubs represent together a total of 284 national titles between them.

The Group Stage of the 2015–16 season will begin on 20 August and finish on 6 September. Each team will play four games – one home and one away against the other two teams in its group. The first- and second-placed teams in each group will then advance to the Playoff Stage. The one-game Final will take place on Tuesday, 9 February 2016.