Competition identity
Six games do not mean a six-team group
The 2026/27 Champions Hockey League has 24 clubs in one overall regular-season table. Each plays six different opponents: three games at home and three away. It is not a conventional group in which the same small set of opponents is played twice. The IIHF describes this as a groupless regular season.
The draw uses four pots of six. A team receives two opponents from each of the other three pots, playing one at home and one away. Sharing a table therefore does not mean playing every other participant.
A regulation win and an overtime win earn different points
The competition awards three points for a win in regulation. If a regular-season game goes to overtime or a shoot-out, the winner takes two and the other side takes one. A narrow win after overtime therefore adds a different points total from an equally narrow win within regulation.
For a hypothetical example, two regulation wins produce six points. Two overtime wins produce four. Both teams have won twice, but a wins column alone does not explain their different table totals. Check the result type alongside the score.
The top sixteen enter a different structure
The top sixteen progress into a seeded knockout bracket, with first facing sixteenth, second facing fifteenth and so on. The round of 16, quarter-finals and semi-finals use two-game home-and-away aggregate scoring. The final is the exception to that two-game structure.
A hypothetical side losing the opening leg 4–2 and winning the return 3–0 leads the combined score 5–4. The second match result and the tie result are related but different records. Do not decide advancement by comparing one win each as if this were a North American best-of-seven series.
CHL is an abbreviation with two hockey meanings
This competition is the European Champions Hockey League. The Canadian Hockey League also uses CHL but is an organization made up of the WHL, OHL and QMJHL. Its Memorial Cup is a different event. A bare CHL label does not resolve that distinction.
Use the club names and complete competition title when following a bracket. A Canadian junior result should never be inserted into the European competition table because both products share three letters.
Questions answered
Does every European CHL club play all 23 others?
No. Each has six different regular-season opponents.
Is an overtime win worth three regular-season points?
No. The published format splits those points two to the winner and one to the other side.
Are the play-offs a best-of-seven series?
No. The rounds before the final use two-game aggregate ties.
Sources & further reading
Official references for the subjects discussed. Service terms and device software can change.