Olimpija Ljubljana to join Giants in CHL line-up for 2022/23

The team from Slovenia join the competition as Ukrainian representatives HC Donbass Donetsk are forced to withdraw from the upcoming CHL season due to the ongoing situation in their country.

“The act of war against Ukraine is a tragedy, and it is unimaginable what suffering it is causing to the people of Ukraine.

“It is of course comprehensible that HC Donbass Donetsk are unable to participate in the 2022/23 CHL season under such circumstances and we would like to thank the club for their commitment and the huge amount of effort they put into their first CHL appearance last season,” a CHL board statement said.

“It is the CHL’s objective via the Wild Card system to appoint deserving clubs and to contribute to the development of European club ice hockey by having a participation field as internationally diverse as possible.

“The nomination of Olimpija Ljubljana offers us the opportunity to add a new country to the CHL map. The club is on the rise and just concluded its first season in the ICE Hockey League in a decent manner. For this reason, it was decided to allocate a Wild Card and the 32nd place in the 2022/23 CHL season line-up to them,” the CHL board concluded.

Qualification overview as per 2 May 2022:

Sweden (5 places)

Rögle Ängelholm (CHL Champions)

Luleå Hockey

Skellefteå AIK

Frölunda Gothenburg

+ National champions or regular season 5th placed team (if champions are already qualified)

Switzerland (5 places)

EV Zug

Fribourg-Gottéron

Rapperswil-Jona Lakers

ZSC Lions Zurich

HC Davos

Germany (4 places)

Eisbären Berlin

Red Bull Munich

Grizzlys Wolfsburg

Straubing Tigers

Finland (4 places)

Tappara Tampere

Jukurit Mikkeli

Ilves Tampere

TPS Turku

Czech Republic (3 places)

Oceláři Třinec

Mountfield HK

Sparta Prague

Aust