Launched in the 2014–15 season by 26 clubs, 6 leagues and the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), the tournament features top teams across Europe.

On 9 December 2013, a new tournament with the same name was launched by the IIHF and a group of 26 clubs from six countries, born out of the European Trophy, starting in the 2014–15 season.

The playoffs were as a single-elimination tournament, with all rounds leading to the final played in two-game, home-and-away, total-goal series.

Frölunda HC won their first Champions League title by beating Oulun Kärpät in the final.

The season started on 16 August 2016 and ended with the final game on 7 February 2017 with Frölunda defeating Sparta Prague, 4–3 in overtime.

[8] Starting with the fourth CHL season, the championship was reduced to 32 teams, and qualification was on sporting merits only.

[9] Finnish side JYP Jyväskylä won the title defeating Swedish team Växjö Lakers 2–0.

Swedish team Frölunda HC successfully defended their Champions Hockey League title, defeating Czech team Mountfield HK 3–1 in the final to win the European Trophy for a fourth time.

For the first time in the history of the league, the final was held in the Czech Republic as Mountfield HK earned the right to host the game at ČPP Arena.

This season was marked by the participation of the first Hungarian and Slovenian teams, with Fehérvár AV19 and Olimpija Ljubljana joining the competition.

For the first time since the 2015–16 season, the IIHF Continental Cup winners did not get a wild card spot.

[11] In the first three years of the competition, the 26 founding teams had guaranteed spots in the group stage ("A license").

Starting in the 2017–18 season, 32 teams again participated in the group stage, with 24 of the entries coming from the six founding leagues (Swedish Hockey League, Finnish Liiga, Swiss National League A, Czech Extraliga, German DEL and Austrian/international ICEHL) and all berths being earned through on-ice achievement: the "founding clubs" were no longer guaranteed a place in the competition.

[6] The amount of prize money gradually increased according to plan and for 2018–19 season it reached 2.34 million euros.

Clubs are entitled to earn money from arena tickets, plus they have pre-determined conditions on how they can get their own partners just for the CHL.

Czech clubs often take advantage of the opportunity to fly out at least once in the regular season, where they also offer tickets to partners and the public.

The trip can also be conceived as a business event, or to thank sponsors for their support, which can even pay for the club's air travel costs.