1st Czech Republic Hockey League

The Chance Liga is the second-highest level of professional ice hockey in the Czech Republic, after the Extraliga. It began in 1993 and is run and administered by Czech Ice Hockey Association.

Chance liga
Upcoming season or competition:
Current sports event 2022–23 Czech 1. Liga season
SportIce hockey
Founded1993
No. of teams14
Country Czech Republic
Most recent
champion(s)		HC Dukla Jihlava (4th title)
Promotion toCzech Extraliga
Relegation toCzech 2.liga
Related
competitions		Czech Extraliga
Czech 2.liga
Official websiteChance Liga

Until 2015, the league was known as the 1st Czech National Hockey League. It was then known as the WSM Liga until 2018.

Format (2023-24)

In the first phase, every team plays each other four times—twice at home and twice away—which makes for a 52-game regular season.

After the 52-game regular season, the first six teams directly qualify for the quarter-finals, while teams which placed 7 to 10 play a round-robin to determine the final two participants in the quarter-finals.

The playoffs end with the finals, with the winning team go on to face the bottom team from the Extraliga in a round-robin. The winner of the round-robin is promoted to Extraliga for the following season.

The last placed team at the end of the regular season is directly relegated to the Second League for the following season. They are replaced by the winner of a 3 team round-robin group between the winners of the East, the Central and the West divisions of the Second League.

Three points are awarded for a win in regulation time and two points for an overtime or shootout victory, while the team defeated in overtime or shootout gets one point.

The level of 1. národní hokejová liga is slightly lower than the Czech Extraliga, but there are a lot of players moving between those two leagues every season. Each team in this league is allowed to have five imports. The league has no salary cap, with an average salary of USD 2200 per month, but some of the best players reportedly sign contracts for more than USD 5000 per month, plus most of the teams cover accommodation expenses for their players during the season.

Current teams (2023-24)
Team City Arena Capacity Affiliate Team
HC Baník Sokolov Sokolov Zimni stadion Sokolov 5,000 independent
VHK ROBE Vsetín Vsetín Zimní stadion Na Lapači 5,386 independent
HC Slavia Praha Prague Zimní stadion Eden 4,000 independent
HC Stadion Litoměřice Litoměřice Kalich arena 1,750 independent
HC ZUBR Přerov Přerov Zimní stadion Přerov 3,000 independent
HC Frýdek-Místek Frýdek-Místek Hala Polárka 2,056 HC Oceláři Třinec (ELH)
LHK Jestřábi Prostějov Prostějov Zimní hokejový stadion Prostějov 5,125 independent
HC Dukla Jihlava Jihlava CZ LOKO Arena 6,500 independent
SK Horácká Slavia Třebíč Třebíč Zimní stadion města Třebíče 5,000 independent
HC RT TORAX Poruba Poruba Zimní stadion Ostrava - Poruba 5,000 independent
HC Dynamo Pardubice B Chrudim Zimní stadion Chrudim 1,744 HC Dynamo Pardubice (ELH)
SC Kolín Kolín Zimní stadion Kolín 5,500 Mountfield HK (ELH)
Orli Znojmo Znojmo Nevoga Arena 4,500 independent
PSG Berani Zlín Zlín Zimní stadion Luďka Čajky 7,000 independent

Champions
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