Today: CHL Draw at 5pm

Photo: Champions Hockey League

This Wednesday (19 May), live on FreeSports, sees the draw for the 2021/22 Champions Hockey League take place.

Live from Zurich, Switzerland, at 17:00 UK time, the 32 teams competing in this year's competition will be drawn into eight groups of four teams each.

The Cardiff Devils are representing the UK. The Devils were initially chosen for season 2020/21 as the highest-places team in the Elite League before season 2019/20 was canceled due to the Coronavirus pandemic, but with no full season in the UK this year that nomination has carried over. The same has also been applied to Danish side SonderjyskE, who maintain their place in the competition as Continental Cup Winners from 2020.

How will the draw work?

This year's draw is slightly different, in that teams from countries involved in the Final Olympic Qualification Tournament can only be drawn against each other. This affects teams from Austria, Denmark, France, Italy, Norway and Norway.

Debutants Donbass of Ukraine have also been placed into Pot 5. They were awarded a wildcard for this season in place of Slovakia, who have been excluded from the competition.

You can learn more about the draw in the video at the top of this page.

Cardiff are in Pot 4, and will be drawn against a team from Pots 1, 3 and 3 respectively. Pot 1 includes defending champions Frölunda, and the champions of Sweden, Switzerland, Germany, Finland and the Czech Republic. Pots 2 and 3 are made up of other clubs from those countries.