It’s hard not to be impressed with the toughness and skill level shown in ice hockey games. Across several different leagues, the fast-paced, hard-hitting action combined with the finesse of the top players is what makes hockey so compelling to watch. But despite what we’re told, there is much more out there than North America’s NHL.
Admittedly that league is the biggest on the planet and features all the best players on eye-watering salaries. But there are other leagues that deserve a spotlight shining on them. Here are five of the planet’s top hockey leagues and their reigning champions.
National Hockey League
We may as well kick things off with the big daddy of them all. As the premier ice hockey league in North America – and the world for that matter – the NHL is home to some of the best teams on the planet like the Pittsburgh Penguins, Chicago Blackhawks, Los Angeles Kings, and New York Rangers. None of those outfits are the reigning champions though.
That is an honour that goes to the Vegas Golden Knights. They managed to lift the Stanely Cup for the first time in franchise history last season, knocking off an underdog Florida Panthers side by four games to one in the Finals. Despite how impressive they were last term, Bovada has made the Nevada-based side -1200 sixth favourites to retain their crown, with the Carolina Hurricanes currently the +900 outright favourites to lift the famous trophy.
Kontinental Hockey League
Over in Russia and surrounding countries, the KHL reigns supreme. the league features teams from Belarus, China, Finland, Kazakhstan, Latvia, and other nations in addition to Russia. The current champions are CSKA Moscow, a team that’s no stranger to success. With big-name players like former NHLer Linden Vey and forward Konstantin Okulov as well as the likes of Ilya Kovalchuk and Alexander Radulov, the league is stacked full of talent.
The reigning champions are CSKA Moscow. They have reached the Gagarin Cup Finals in each of the last five seasons, winning three of them. The trophy is regularly contested by Russian teams who tend to be much stronger than their overseas opponents. Czech outfit HC Lev Praha are the only non-Russian team to have reached the playoff finals series however, they were downed by Metallurg Magnitogorsk in the 2014 showpiece.
Champions Hockey League
The Champions Hockey League is truly international, with teams hailing from Sweden, Switzerland, Finland, Germany, and several other countries. It is designed to be ice hockey’s equivalent of the UEFA Champions League in football, with the champions of their respective countries all fighting it out to be crowned European champions.
The most successful team in the league’s history is Swedish outfit Frölunda HC who’ve won the title three times with Germany’s Red Bull Munchen and fellow Swedes Skellefteå AIK also being strong competitors.
The reigning champions are Finnish side Tappara who lifted the trophy for the first time in franchise history last season by defeating Luleå HF in a nail-biting finale. Their victory marked just the second time in the history of the competition in which the tournament wasn’t won by a Swedish team, and the first time since fellow Finns’ JYP success five years ago.
Elite Ice Hockey League
The United Kingdom’s Elite Ice Hockey League is known for its physical play and hard-hitting games. It features teams like the Nottingham Panthers, Sheffield Steelers, and Belfast Giants, with the three teams combining to dominate the division in recent years. The aforementioned South Yorkshire side is the most successful team in the league’s history, winning the league title five times and winning the playoffs a further five times.
They aren’t the reigning champions however, with Northern Ireland’s Belfast Giants climbing to the Elite League’s summit. The Irish side has won the league outright in each of the last three seasons however, in the first two of those successes they were beaten by the Cardiff Devils in the playoff final.
Last season, they made up for two years of hurt, knocking off the Welsh side by four goals to one, securing an iconic Grand Slam after adding the Challenge Cup to their collection earlier in the campaign.
Deutsche Eishockey Liga
Germany’s premier ice hockey league, the DEL, is home to some of the biggest teams in Europe. With a focus on physicality and hard-hitting play, the games are always intense. The reigning champions are Red Bull Munchen, who managed to end Eisbären Berlin’s stranglehold on the league.
The capital city outfit had won each of the last two titles and we’re aiming for a historic threepeat before being usurped by their rivals from Bavaria. Players like Zachery Ziegler and Leonhard Pföderl had led Eisbären Berlin to cement their place as the top teams in Germany, but it is now the Red Bulls that reign supreme.
