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Universal Sports, the preeminent multiplatform destination for Olympic-related sports programming, announced they are bringing the top European hockey teams to U.S. fans for the first time as the exclusive home of the 2008-09 Champions Hockey League (CHL). Through a partnership with the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), weekly Wednesday coverage of the inaugural season of Europe's premiere club hockey tournament begins on TV and online Oct. 8 and runs through the championships in January 2009.

"Universal Sports is committed to providing year round coverage of Olympic-style sports including hockey, and our longstanding relationship with IIHF has allowed us to become the only place where U.S. fans can tune in to see the inaugural Champions Hockey League," said Universal Sports Chairman and CEO Claude Ruibal. "We look forward to growing the exposure and excitement around hockey in the U.S. leading into the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games. CHL on Wednesdays will be a great opportunity for American hockey fans to follow top-ranked European clubs and elite players on Universal Sports."

CHL contender Salavat Yulaev Ufa (Russia) recently made waves with a controversial signing of rising National Hockey League (NHL) star Alexander Radulov of the Nashville Predators. He is one of several former NHL players on teams qualified for the CHL campaign including goaltender Roman Turek playing for HC Mountfield Ceske Budejovice (Czeck Republic). Additionally, the CHL competitions will heat up quickly after last week's Russian Metallurg Magnitogorsk 4-3 loss to the New York Rangers during the first Victoria Cup. The Metallurg Magnitogorsk will hit the ice again on Oct. 22 where they will take on the Finnish SM-liiga champions Karpat Oulu for a chance to advance to the semi-finals in December.

The Universal Sports Network will feature exclusive CHL event video, often available live, athlete interviews and play-by-play game commentary online and on TV. Most recently, Universal Sports featured live coverage of all 56 championship games of the 2008 IIHF World Championships from Quebec City, Quebec, and Halifax, Nova Scotia and will be the official home for the IIHF 2009 World Championships from Berne and Zurich-Kloten, Switzerland.

"Our cross-platform coverage of the upcoming competitions illustrates our networks unique ability to fit Olympic and lifestyle sports into any living room, computer or even the palm of your hand," said Ruibal.

CHL is an IIHF organized ice hockey league comprised of the best club teams in Europe, all competing for league prestige and a piece of the 10 million euro prize purse, the largest amount ever involved in a European club competition. The CHL will feature 12 top teams from seven countries (Sweden, Finland, Russia, Czech Republic, Germany, Slovakia and Switzerland) competing in a round-robin format to earn spots in the action-packed playoffs in January.

The final two teams in the CHL playoffs will also earn the right to compete against a National Hockey League team later in 2009 for the newly-created Victoria Cup, with the winning team not only earning bragging rights but a 1 million Swiss franc bonus.

(Source: Bradcastnewsroom.com)