Cardiff Devils 20/21 European Tour
Earlier today, the CHL announced the pots for the draw that will take place next Wednesday June the 3rd for the 2020/21 CHL campaign. After announcing the changed format to a complete knockout tournament at the end of April scheduled to begin in early October. Speculation arose as to who the Devils would be likely to face depending on how the CHL decided to rearrange the pots from the usual 4 pots used for group stage draws. Expectation was that Devils would face a pot 1 team such as Frolunda.
Teams have been seeded into 2 pots based on their achievements in their national leagues and the league's standing in the CHL League Ranking. It was no surprise for the Devils to be placed in the lowest of the 2 pots due to the low ranking of the EIHL. This means the Devils could face any of the top 16 ranked teams. League conflicts will not affect the Devils as the only qualified EIHL team. The draw will take place on the 3rd of June starting at 17:00 BST and will be presented by Jann Billeter who will be joined by CHL President Peter Zahner and CHL CEO Martin Baumann.
The draw will create a playoff tree that will be used for matchups all the way from the round of 32 to the final. After the draw is concluded on Wednesday, the Devils will know their potential matchups if they were to win the 2020/21 CHL as unlikely as that is. In their 3 previous CHL campaigns the Devils have a faced a few of the teams placed in pot 1 with little success including back to back 9-2 losses against Frolunda and a crushing 10-1 loss against HC Davos. Devils fans will have mixed opinions about who they want to face with some hoping to progress as far as possible with others hoping to visit a new city or face one of Europe's best teams.
Devils potential round of 32 opponents
- Frolunda HC
- Lulea HF
- Zurich Lions
- EHC Red Bull Munchen
- Oulun Karpat
- HC Bili Tigri Liberec
- HC Bolzano
- Farjestad BK
- EV Zug
- Adler Mannheim
- Rauman Lukko
- HC Ocelari Trinec
- EC Red Bull Salzburg
- Rogle BK
- HC Davos
- Straubing Tigers
Below is the explanation video created by the CHL that shows how the draw will create the matchups from the round of 32 to the final.
