The Central European Hockey League (formerly: BeNe League/Beneliga) is the highest-level professional ice hockey league in Belgium and the Netherlands from 2015. The league was founded in 2015 as BeNe League/Beneliga, following a merger between the Belgian Hockey League and the Dutch Eredivisie and thus became the top tier of the sport in both nations. In terms of league structure, the BeNe League is made up of 11 teams, 6 from the Netherlands and a further 5 from Belgium , and they all play in a single group. The league featured a mix of Belgian , Dutch , European and overseas players. In 2023 two German clubs joined the league.
59-651: The Central European Hockey League is made up of 13 teams, 6 based in the Netherlands, 5 based in Belgium and 2 based in Germany. In the first season, the league comprised 16 teams (10 from the Netherlands and 6 from Belgium). These 16 teams were split into two groups, each containing 5 Dutch teams and 3 Belgian teams. Each team played a total of 22 games over the course of the regular season, they played each team in their division twice, as well as once against every team in
118-592: A best of five series with the winner being crowned as BeNe League Champion. (2019./20.) : The Central European Hockey League relies heavily on Belgian and Dutch native players, and as a result the majority of players on the Belgian and Dutch national teams ply their trade in the Central European Hockey League. Overseas players (termed imports ) are allowed in the league however, with each team being able to sign two imports. An import
177-740: A developmental team in the BeNe League in the form of Tilburg Trappers II. Following the 2009 season of the Belgian Hockey League, HYC Herentals and White Caps Turnhout decided to the join the Eredivisie, whilst the remaining 3 teams dropped down a division and played instead in the Belgian National League. This resulted in the North Sea Cup being played in place of both the Belgian Hockey League and
236-433: A 5 team league, which also featured Geleen Eaters, HYC Herentals, Heerenveen Flyers and Tilburg Trappers, and as a result the Eredivisie went ahead. Following the difficulties both leagues had suffered in the recent years, the hockey federations of both nations worked in partnership, and on 12 June 2015, it was announced that the Belgian Hockey League and the Eredivisie would merge in to the BeNe League. On 13 March 2016, it
295-405: A bye through to week 3 of the tournament to play home preliminary finals, while the losers play home semi-finals in week 2. The bottom four teams play the two elimination finals, where the winners advance to week 2 away games and the losers' seasons are over. The specific advantages gained by finishing in higher positions on the league table are as follows: First and second – These teams receive
354-412: A competition that often uses the stepladder system. The League of Legends Pro League (LPL) uses a double stepladder for its playoffs, giving the top two teams a bye to the semifinals, the third and fourth-place teams a bye to the quarterfinals, and the fifth and sixth-placed teams a bye to the second round. The League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK) also used a stepladder bracket for the playoffs, while
413-427: A double-elimination format send only the top eight teams, or a mix of top teams plus the winners of a single-elimination qualifier tournament, to their conference tournament. The NCAA baseball and softball tournaments have used the format since its inception for regional and College World Series play. The Little League World Series adopted a new format in 2010 that involves four double-elimination brackets. In 2010,
472-506: A four-team group. In this usage, the format is referred to as "GSL", after the Global StarCraft II League . Dota 2 competitions often use a GSL or round-robin group stage to seed teams into a double-elimination bracket. Super Smash Bros. tournaments, as well as other fighting game competitions, typically use an open double-elimination bracket with no preceding group stage or qualifiers. The Mideast regional of
531-516: A full home-and-away league season, was used by the second level of France's rugby union system, Pro D2 , through the 2016–17 season. Since then, Pro D2 uses a six-team playoff with the winner earning automatic promotion to the Top 14 and the runner-up entering a playoff with the 13th-place team in Top 14 for the final place in the next season's Top 14. Some knockout tournaments include a third place playoff ,
590-399: A more traditional playoff system in 2021. The video game Rocket League had a competition that used the stepladder system. The Rocket League Championship Series (RLCS) Winter Split in the 2022–23 season used a Round Robin group stage where places 2 and 3 would go to round 1 of the playoffs , while first place would go to the quarterfinals. The RLCS Season 8 World Championship also used
649-517: A pure knockout format was adopted beginning in 2013 . In the modern top-six system, the first round consists of knockout matches involving No. 3 vs No. 6 and No. 4 vs No. 5, with the No. 1 and No. 2 teams receiving a bye into the next round. After those matches, the format is identical to the Page playoff system. The A-League's former system had the top two teams participating in a two-legged match instead of
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#1732801030584708-483: A single match to decide which competitor or team will be credited with finishing in third and fourth place. The teams that compete in such third place games are usually the two losing semifinalists in a particular tournament. Although these semifinalists are still in effect "eliminated" from contending for the championship, they may be competing for a bronze medal , like some tournaments in the Olympic Games . Of
767-406: A single-elimination two-round, four teams format. While Nippon Professional Baseball 's Climax Series has been called a "stepladder" playoff with only three participating teams (in two rounds), it functions mostly as a single-elimination tournament with three teams, and is structurally the same as a six-team, three-round playoff. The KBO League 's Korean Series , on the other hand, is considered
826-500: A statement via their website stating they were unsure if they would be able to compete in the 2014/15 Eredivisie due to lack of funding, which is an issue that also occurred the previous year. On August 26, 2014, Geleen stated that in order to participate in the upcoming season they would have to raise somewhere in the region of €60,000. This was soon followed by an announcement that the Dordrecht Lions would be dropping down to
885-576: A stepladder bracket. There were 2 groups of 6, and they were double elimination . The groups were also stepladders. 4 teams started in the Winner's Quarterfinal, while 2 teams started in the winner's semifinal. If a team won the winner's final, they went to the semifinal of the playoffs. If they got second (by losing the winner's final), or won the loser's final, they would go to the quarterfinal. See 2023 West Coast Conference men's basketball tournament * denotes overtime period A double-elimination format
944-434: A stepladder system: the teams that finish fourth and fifth place play a best-of-three series (the fourth-place team automatically given a 1–0 series lead), meaning that the fourth-place team need to win only one game to advance while the fifth place have to win two. The winner of that round faces the team that finished in third place. The winner then plays the second-place team in a best-of-five series, whose winner in turn plays
1003-557: A type of single elimination where the top two teams get byes into the semifinals while the other four teams play in two eliminators like this: Although the Indian Super League follows the UEFA champions league style of two legs in their semi finals. The 2007 AFC Asian Cup knockout stage: The "stepladder", named because the bracket resembles a step ladder , is a variation of the single-elimination tournament; instead of
1062-512: Is a departure from norms in football codes in Australia; previously, the A-League used a hybrid elimination system that allowed top teams in the regular season to lose one finals match but still win the tournament. The Philippines Football League 's inaugural 2017 season also featured a playoff finals known as the final series. The Pro Kabaddi League and Indian Super League also uses
1121-474: Is defined as any player who is not eligible to play for either the Belgian or Dutch national teams. Playoff format#Best-of-three playoff There are a number of formats used in various levels of competition in sports and games to determine an overall champion. Some of the most common are the single elimination , the best-of- series, the total points series more commonly known as on aggregate , and
1180-701: Is one in which a participant ceases to be eligible to win the tournament's championship upon having lost two matches. The exact schedule shape will change depending on the number of teams per bracket. In the United States, a double-elimination format is used in most NCAA and high school baseball and softball tournaments. Starting in 2010 , the Little League World Series in baseball also adopted this format. Teams are eliminated from contention after incurring two losses in each round of play. Most major collegiate baseball conferences with
1239-401: The round-robin tournament . A single-elimination ("knockout") playoff pits the participants in one-game matches, with the loser being dropped from the competition. Single-elimination tournaments are often used in individual sports like tennis . In most tennis tournaments, the players are seeded against each other, and the winner of each match continues to the next round, all the way to
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#17328010305841298-476: The 1975 NCAA Division I baseball tournament : Some playoff systems combine the features of single- and double-elimination tournaments. In these systems, one or more higher-ranked teams have an opportunity to skip a round of the playoffs by winning their first match. Even if they lose that match, they can still advance to the championship final. Lower-ranked teams receive no such break. These are variations of systems developed by Australian lawyer Ken McIntyre for
1357-450: The 1–2 match against the winner of the 3–4 match. The 2006 Tim Hortons Brier , Canada's national men's curling championship: McIntyre's first modification was an expansion to five teams. In this format, the first-round matches No. 2 v No. 3 and No. 4 v No. 5, with the No. 1 seed receiving a bye into the second round. The 4–5 match is played to eliminate one team, while the 2–3 match is played to determine which match they will play in
1416-439: The 2006 Bartercard Cup , the championship of New Zealand rugby league: McIntyre next developed two slightly different systems for six-team playoffs. In each system, the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds played to determine the specific semifinal match in which they would compete, while the other four teams played knockout matches in the first week to eliminate two teams and determine the other two semifinal participants. The semifinal in which
1475-695: The FA Cup in England or the DFB-Pokal in Germany) use hybrid systems with various round-robin and single-elimination stages. Major League Soccer (MLS) uses a single-elimination format for their playoffs ; since 2023 , all rounds are conducted as single games, except the conference quarterfinals, which is best-of-three series. Liga MX in Mexico , which splits its season into two phases , uses playoffs known as
1534-719: The League of Legends Championship Series (LCS) and League of Legends Master Series (LMS) used it to determine the LCS and LMS third representatives at the League of Legends World Championship , which in this case was referred to as "The Gauntlet". The LCS scrapped the Gauntlet in 2020, while the LMS became the Pacific Championship Series (PCS) that year following a merger with Southeast Asia's scene. The LCK moved towards
1593-586: The Liguilla to determine the champions of each phase. Unlike the MLS system, all Liguilla matches are two-legged ties. Australia 's A-League introduced a six-team knockout playoff, known locally as a "finals series", in the 2012–13 season . Unlike the MLS playoffs or Liga MX Liguilla , the A-League finals series uses one-off matches throughout, culminating in the A-League Grand Final . This format
1652-520: The big four North American sports leagues , only the National Football League (NFL) uses a single-elimination system for all rounds of its postseason. Since the 2020 season, seven teams are seeded from each conference ( AFC and NFC ), with only the top team from each conference getting a first-round " bye ". The remaining six teams in each conference play against each other in the wild-card round . The lowest-seeded winner plays
1711-537: The 1973 season. In the CFL, six teams qualify for the playoffs, divided into two divisional brackets of three teams each. The second-place teams in each division host the division semi-final, while the division winners each receive a bye to the division final. The division final winners play in the Grey Cup . The only exception to a strict single-elimination format since the early 1970s was in 1986 (for that season only), when
1770-553: The AFL adopted a modified top-eight playoff in 2000 . The National Rugby League (NRL), Australia's top rugby league competition (also with a team in New Zealand), used this system from 1999 through 2011, after which it changed to the AFL system. The current AFL finals system breaks up the eight participants into four groups of two teams, ranked by their league position after regular-season play. Each group receives an advantage over
1829-562: The Eerst Divisie, and it was subsequently reported in September 2014 that the Eredivisie was in a state of Crisis due to the fact that the league was reduced to five participants. Furthermore, one of those five teams, Eindhoven Kemphanen, declared that they had no interest playing in a five team league, which potentially reduced the Eredivisie down to four teams for the 2014/15 season. Eindhoven Kemphanen subsequently agreed to play in
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1888-565: The Eredivisie. Following the culmination of the 2011–12 season , in which White Caps Turnhout dropped out midway through the season, followed by the Leuven Chiefs also stating they would be leaving the competition, it was announced that the Eredivisie would once again take place, and that HYC Herentals would participate. A reformed Belgian Hockey League, featuring both Leuven Chiefs, White Caps Turnhout, and former Belgian National League teams would also take place. The Geleen Eaters released
1947-414: The No. 1 seed facing the No. 16 seed in the first round, the bracket is constructed to give the higher seeded teams byes , where the No. 1 seed has bye up to the third (or fourth) round, playing the winner of game between the No. 8 seed and the No. 9-versus-No. 16 winner. This setup is seldom used in a best-of- x series, as it may yield long waits for the teams winning the bye, while the teams that played in
2006-615: The U.S. division and the International division were split into two four-team pools, with each pool conducting a double-elimination tournament to determine its winner. After the end of double-elimination play, the U.S. pool winners play one another in single games, as do the International pool winners, with the losers playing a third-place game and the winners playing a final. This was altered in 2011 so that all eight U.S. teams and all eight international teams played in one large bracket each, with each bracket's winner playing each other for
2065-478: The Victorian Football League (VFL), the historic predecessor to today's Australian Football League (AFL), starting in 1931. This system, also bearing the name of its promoter Percy Page, is a four-team playoff first developed for Australian rules football . It has been used in many competitions in that sport and in rugby league , but is most prominent in softball and curling (which use
2124-418: The championship, and each bracket's runner-up playing each other for third-place. All teams are guaranteed at least three games; the first team eliminated from each pool plays a "crossover game" that matches an eliminated U.S. team with an eliminated International team. Many esports , such as Counter-Strike and StarCraft , use a double-elimination bracket in competitions to determine the top two teams in
2183-561: The double-chance, and play their first two finals matches at home—their Qualifying Final, and then either a Semi-final (should they lose the QF) or Preliminary Final (should they win the QF). They must win two finals matches to reach the grand final. Third and fourth – Like the top two teams, they receive the double-chance, and must win two finals matches to reach the grand final. However, they only get to play one finals match at home—a Semi-final if they lose their QF, or Preliminary Final if they win
2242-575: The earlier rounds would be spent when they reach the later rounds. The Big East men's basketball tournament used this format in a 16-team, five-round format. The PBA Tour uses a four-player, three-round format (sometimes a five-player, four-round format). College leagues in the Philippines use this format (four teams, three rounds) only if there is an undefeated team, and if there are seven teams or more participating. Otherwise for tournaments of seven or more teams where no team won all games, it uses
2301-651: The final. When a playoff of this type involves the top four teams, it is sometimes known as the Shaughnessy playoff system , after Frank Shaughnessy , who first developed it for the International League of minor league baseball . Variations of the Shaughnessy system also exist, such as in the promotion playoffs held by League 1 of the British rugby league. The League 1 playoff does not involve
2360-421: The first round, eight teams (4 No. 16 seeds and 4 other seeds) play a play-in game to gain entry into the "main" bracket. In the first round, the No. 1 team plays the No. 16, the No. 2 plays the No. 15, and so on. Theoretically, if a higher-ranked team always beats a lower-ranked team, the second game will be arranged No. 1 vs. No. 8, No. 2 vs. No. 7, etc.; the third will be arranged No. 1 vs. No. 4, No. 2 vs. No. 3;
2419-400: The first-place team in a best-of-seven series for the title. The WNBA , from 2019 to 2021, used to have their playoffs done this way: the No. 5 seed plays No. 8, and No. 6 plays No. 7 in the first round. The top two seeds got double byes, and the next two seeds first-round byes. The first two rounds are single-elimination; all others are best-of-five. The video game League of Legends has
Central European Hockey League - Misplaced Pages Continue
2478-468: The four Western teams played a single-elimination playoff over the same timeframe. The CFL eventually amended this format into the present "crossover rule" in 1997 so as to allow a qualifying fourth-place team to compete as the third-place team in the other divisional bracket, thereby preserving the first-place byes. In both the men's and women's NCAA college basketball tournaments, there are 68 teams seeded into four brackets of 16 teams each. Prior to
2537-498: The fourth will be arranged No. 1 vs. No. 2. The brackets are fixed, meaning teams are not re-seeded between rounds. In association football , the World Cup uses single-elimination knockout rounds after a round-robin group stage. The Champions League and Europa League do the same, except each single-elimination round consists of a two-legged tie , with the winner determined by aggregate score . Most European domestic cups (e.g.
2596-422: The league amended its playoff format to allow a fourth-place team in one division to qualify in place of a third-place team with a worse record. That year, when only two East Division teams qualified—compared to four Western teams—the rules mandated the two Eastern teams play a two-game total-points series over two weekends (the two-game total point series was used as the CFL's playoff format prior to 1973), while
2655-583: The league victor. On top of this, the league also crowns National Champions from each country. The team that advances the furthest through the playoffs from each country is subsequently crowned as National Champion. One of the Netherlands most successful ice hockey teams, the Tilburg Trappers , announced that they would not be a part of the BeNe League, and would instead join the Oberliga , the 3rd tier of ice hockey in Germany. They do however, operate
2714-666: The lone "bye" team, and the other two winners play against each other in the divisional round; the winners of those games facing each other in the conference championships. In all cases, the higher-seeded team plays at home. The winners of the conference championships then face each other in the Super Bowl for the league championship. Like the NFL, the Canadian Football League (CFL) also uses one-game single-elimination playoffs, and has used them almost exclusively since
2773-465: The name "Page playoff system"). The Indian Premier League , Pakistan Super League in Twenty20 cricket , and NBA play-in tournament use this format as well. In this system, the first round (sometimes called the "quarterfinals") matches No. 1 against No. 2 and No. 3 against No. 4. The winner of the 1–2 match advances directly to the final. The next round, known as the semifinal, pits the loser of
2832-411: The other division. Points are awarded in the following fashion, 3 points for a win, 2 for a win in overtime and 1 for an overtime loss. At the end of the regular season, the top 4 teams from each division qualified for the playoffs. The playoff quarterfinals were played over two legs, whilst the semi-finals and final were both played as a best of three series . The winner of the playoffs was then crowned
2891-601: The present-day Super League in the UK and France. Many lower-level leagues in both Australian rules and rugby league still use the system. A variation of the five-team playoff system has been used by the Big Bash League since its 2019-20 seaeson . In the first round, the fourth- and fifth-ranked teams play each other and the winner goes to the next round as fourth while the loser is eliminated. Then, four-way playoffs will start (1 vs 2 and 3 vs winner 4–5 match.) As used in
2950-406: The regular-season league table to eliminate two teams in the first week of the playoffs. The procedure is: The fates of the teams in this round depend on whether they won or lost their Qualifying Final, and on their regular-season position. The four winners and the two losers that finished highest on the regular-season table advance to later rounds, with the two other losers eliminated. It guarantees
3009-495: The second round. In the second round, the loser of the 2–3 match plays the winner of the 4–5 match, while the winner of the 2–3 match plays the No. 1 seed. From this point forward, the tournament is identical to the Page playoff system. The SANFL is the highest level league using this system today, it has been used in the past by the VFL and several rugby league competitions, most notably the short-lived Super League of Australia and
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#17328010305843068-536: The semi-finals. The winner of the upper and lower quarter-finals join the two semi-finalists in a single-elimination bracket. This system was further refined into the top-six system used by the Championship and League 1 of European rugby league until being abandoned from the 2015 season forward. A slightly modified version of this system was used in the A-League of Australian soccer starting in 2010 before
3127-400: The single-elimination matches that the other four teams faced. It did not affect the teams' eventual playoff paths. As used in the 2010–11 A-League : McIntyre's final development expanded the concept to an eight-team playoff. This expansion meant that no team received a "second chance" after the first week of the playoffs. The original McIntyre final eight system is notable in that it uses
3186-425: The teams directly below it on the league table. These advantages are the so-called "double-chance", where a loss in the first week will not eliminate a team from the finals, and home ground finals. Note, however, that "home" designations are often irrelevant if a finals match involves two teams from the same state. The finals format operates as follows: The top four teams play the two qualifying finals. The winners get
3245-460: The top four teams; the team that tops the table after the Super 8s phase, which follows a single round-robin phase involving all league teams, is crowned champion and receives automatic promotion to the second-tier championship , while the next four teams contest a knockout playoff for the second promotion place. A nearly identical format, with the only difference being that the knockout stage followed
3304-406: The top two seeds advancement, and requires the bottom two seeds to win their qualifying final. The middle four teams' fate is determined by the performance of the other four teams. The two losing teams are eliminated, and the two winning teams progress to week 3. The two losing teams are eliminated, and the two winning teams progress to the grand final. Due to perceived weaknesses of this system,
3363-488: The winner of the 1–2 match competes directly determines one place in the championship final (often called a "Grand Final", especially in Australia). The other semifinal is an elimination match, with the winner advancing into a "Preliminary Final" to determine the other Grand Final place. There is also one more system. Two teams are in lower-bracket round 1, two teams are in the upper-bracket quarter-finals and two teams are in
3422-487: Was announced that GIJS Groningen would be joining the BeNe League from the Eerst Divisie bringing the number of teams up to 17. It was subsequently announced on 16 June 2016 that the Dordrecht Lions would not be playing in the BeNe League for the upcoming season, instead dropping down a division to the Eerst Divisie. This means that the 2016–17 edition of the BeNe League is projected to stay at 16 teams. In 2024 it
3481-412: Was renamed Central European Hockey League after two German clubs joined the league in 2023. In the main round, all 13 teams play a double round competition in the regular season. With this, each team will play 24 games. The top eight participants from the main round qualify for the play-offs. Playoff quarterfinals and semi-finals will be played as best of three series whilst the final will be played as
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