European Champions Hockey League 2015/16

[Conigliaro's Potential]

Not that there seems to be a lot of interest in European club hockey around SoSH, but if you're looking for a competitive ice hockey fix even here in late August, the second edition of the Champions Hockey League began last night. I'm doing play-by-play commentary for one live game a night during the Group Stage as well as for at least two of the knockout stages, and on Day 1 yesterday I got to call the rarest of goals when Andres Ambühl of the reigning Swiss champions HC Davos scored a 3-on-5 double shorthanded goal against Sweden's Färjestad Karlstad. 
 
I think you can buy two days' worth of live streaming broadcasts on every game being played (something like 16 games in total) for something like €5...reasons you might want to do this include:
 

• Wondering what hockey broadcasts sound like with no color commentator and no commercial breaks (yep, it's just me speaking for the entire game, although I do take breaks during each intermission)
• Wondering what hockey broadcasts sound like with no commentary at all (I and Brent Pope are each calling one game per day here in the first Thursday-to-Sunday long weekend, but the other games are commentary-free)
• Having a burning desire to know what Chuck Kobasew is doing these days (hint: I'm calling the IFK Helsinki-SC Bern game this afternoon)
• Wondering what professional team sports jerseys in America will look like in 50 years' time, once sponsor adverts cover every inch of available space not taken up by team logos and player names/numbers

Just so you know...
 
[EDIT: goofy font sizes]

 

[FL4WL3SS]

Pretty cool. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Conigliaro's Potential]

Just to tie this otherwise inactive thread to the August News thread, Auston Matthews - projected #1 pick in next year's NHL draft - has signed a one-year contract with ZSC Zurich in Switzerland. ZSC have won their first two games in Group P of the CHL, having been given an easy draw against Gap Rapaces (the French champions) and Eisbären Berlin (9th in the German league last year) and are basically guaranteed to advance to the knockout stage of the CHL; Matthews only becomes eligible for a Swiss work visa when he turns 18 on September 17, so he can't play until then, but he'll definitely be involved in the last 32, so you might consider tuning into one or more of the ZSC matches at that point to see how he fares against stronger competition.
 
(FYI, last year's CHL quarterfinalists were all from Finland or Sweden, so those are definitely the two strongest leagues in the competition - those are the teams you'd want to really see Matthews go up against. After that it's probably the clubs from Switzerland, the Czech Republic and maybe Austria on the second tier, with Germany further behind and everyone else thereafter pretty much at ECHL level at best.)
 
By the way, ZSC's coach is Marc Crawford. So Matthews has that going for him.

 

[Conigliaro's Potential]

A quick bump to mention that the CHL knockout stage begins today - full schedule of games is at:
 
http://www.championshockeyleague.net/
 
I'll be calling the game in Germany between Düsseldorf and the reigning Finnish champions, Kärpät Oulu; I called two Düsseldorf games in the group stage, and if you want to hear what hockey sounds like with a soccer-type crowd - constant chanting and a really great atmosphere - you should check this one out at 1:30 ET.
 
Of potentially more relevance to a North American audience, Auston Matthews makes his CHL debut today for ZSC Zurich away to Sparta Prague. Matthews scored a goal in each of his first two league games for ZSC, but this should be a step up for him; as per full knockout stage draw below, the Sparta-ZSC winner will play the Düsseldorf-Kärpät winner in the round of 16, and if the form book holds so that ZSC and Kärpät both win, seeing Matthews go up against one of the three or four best teams in Europe outside of the KHL will be an excellent way of scouting his current ability level.
 
FWIW, the CHL knockout stage is very similar to the European Champions League knockout stage in soccer - there's a one-game final, but before that each matchup consists of a two-game home-and-home series with the aggregate score determining the winner. There's no away goals rule, and no overtime in the first leg; if scores are tied after 120 minutes, there will be a 10-minute sudden death overtime period (4 on 4) and then a penalty shootout if required.
 

 
(EDIT - time zones...I keep forgetting I'm in Central Europe at the moment and not the UK.)

 

[Conigliaro's Potential]

FWIW, second legs of the Round of 32 take place tomorrow - and I get to commentate on the Auston Matthews show, with his ZSC Zurich Lions at home and trying to overturn a 3-2 first-leg deficit to Sparta Prague. Really looking forward to seeing what this kid can do! (Opening face off is 1:45 p.m. ET, if you're interested.)

 

[Conigliaro's Potential]

Just a quick bump to point out that the CHL semifinals take place on the next two Tuesdays. I'm excited to have been selected to do the play-by-play for the World Feed on both legs of the semifinal between HC Davos (SUI) and Frölunda Gothenburg (SWE) as well as the one-game final in February, so I'm travelling to Switzerland on Monday and then to Sweden the following week. This Tuesday's matchup is rather intriguing, as Frölunda and Skelleftea have moved 16 points clear of third place at the top of the Swedish SHL table, whereas reigning Swiss champions Davos defeated Skelleftea in their CHL quarterfinal.

FWIW, the Davos-Frölunda game starts shortly after 2 p.m. ET and is live on One World Sports in the US, following the other all-Finnish semfinal between Lukko Rauma and Kärpät Oulu. (I'm not sure if One World Sports will use my World Feed commentary or have their own commentator...I suspect the latter, but perhaps one of you might know?)