Tweak to Challenge Cup knockout stages

Tue Aug. 26, 2025

Teams agree small change to format

There’s a small tweak coming to the Challenge Cup format next season, following a decision agreed by all 10 EIHL teams at July’s league meeting.

In 2025/26, Semi-Final seeding will be based on win percentage from the group stage, rather than the top seed choosing their opponent.

Here’s how it’ll work:

The two group winners will be seeded 1st and 2nd, based on their group stage win percentages.
The remaining two qualifiers will be seeded 3rd and 4th

Semi-Final Matchups:

The higher seed gets the choice of playing the second leg at home.

Only group stage results count toward win percentage. The result of the Elimination Game will not be factored into the seeding calculation.