CHAMPIONS HOCKEY LEAGUE NEWSLETTER >> ISSUE 01 << MARCH 04, 2008

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1 CHAMPIONS HOCKEY LEAGUE NEWSLETTER Welcome to Champions Hockey League Since our official launch in St. Petersburg, we ve been busy building what will be the greatest, most exhilarating and dynamic hockey league Europe has ever seen. With Season One debuting this September 2008, we wanted to introduce ourselves and update you all with concrete information on what has been planned. Who s Behind Champions Hockey League For as long as he can remember, IIHF (International Ice Hockey Federation) President René Fasel has wanted a premiere European league where the best clubs in Europe compete against each other for the European crown. Last April, he announced the IIHF s intention to launch a new European club competition. Less than a month later, the IIHF commissioned a feasibility study to assess interest in the Champions Hockey League among European national associations, clubs and players as well as potential sponsors and broadcasters and last but not least, fans. Champions Hockey League: What European Hockey Wants The conclusion was overwhelmingly positive. National associations, leagues, clubs and players were more than willing to cooperate. Sponsors and broadcasters saw the great opportunity to reach a wider audience. And everyone, especially the fans, were delighted at this new and unique possibility. There was no doubt that Europe was ready for a premiere European club competition; a league worthy of the high-caliber ice hockey that s been played on this continent for years. CHAMPIONS HOCKEY LEAGUE >> PAGE 1 <<

2 Ovation Sports: Experience You Can Trust In January 2008, it was agreed that Ovation Sports will manage the Champions Hockey League. Ovation is led by Craig Thompson one of the founding fathers of UEFA s Champions League. Its multi-skilled staff has more than half a century of combined history turning Champions League Football into UEFA s most s valuable asset. In addition, Ovation has assembled a team of ice hockey IT S WORTH IT Craig Thompson Ovation Sports CEO Why Champions Hockey League will Succeed The CHL offers the largest prize money package ever of any European club competition. Thanks to a strong group of committed investors, in our first season 10 million Euros will be distributed. This will benefit not just club hockey, but the sport as a whole. >> Each of the 7 participating National Associations will receive 100,000 >> Each of the 7 participating European leagues will receive 300,000 >> Each participating European Club will receive 300,000 >> Each win in the Group Stage: 50,000. Win all 4 Group Stage games = 200,000 >> Make it to the Semi-Final: 200,000 each for 4 clubs >> European Championship Runner Up: 500,000 >> Win the European Championship Title: 1,000,000 BECAUSE RESPECTING THE LEAGUE SCHEDULES IS IMPORTANT >> We have cooperated with Europe s ice hockey clubs and leagues to make sure that the action packed five-month Champions Hockey League season is both convenient and compatible with the national league programs. >> Number of Games Played 2008/2009 per Club: Minimum 4, Maximum 9 (in the first season), if the club makes it all the way to the final and plays in the Victoria Cup. professionals. Together they bring Champions Hockey League an exceptional wealth of experience. We believe European club hockey deserves its own Champions League. Together with the IIHF, we are honored and ready to bring you Europe s most professional and exciting ice hockey competition. We have carefully studied what has come before. We ve understood the mistakes of the past, we know what went right and wrong because we are experts in sports league creation as well as centralized marketing. ONLY THE BEST PLAY THE BEST >> Every game will be exciting because our qualification system ensures that the teams are Europe s best from year to year. >> Why? Because a nation at the bottom of the rankings will never compete against one at the top, unless they ve earned it by qualifying. Now the European Champion can Face Off against the NHL >> For the first time ever, the IIHF and the NHL have agreed on a club competition - the VICTORIA CUP (see below) - which will match the best club in Europe against an NHL challenger. >> Now, European Club hockey finally has a chance to prove itself in an officially sanctioned global competition. EVERYONE S ON THE SAME TEAM >> For the last year, representatives of participating national hockey associations and leagues have helped create the best structure to ensure this competition s success. They will continue to do so as part of a soon-to-be-appointed CHL Administrative Board named by the IIHF. EVERYONE S COMMITTED FOR THE LONG TERM >> The IIHF has granted a seven-year mandate to ensure we have the time to bring you the best hockey competition in Europe. >> Our investor group guarantees the prize money and operational costs for a full three seasons. Though we are confident CHL s costs will be covered by generated revenue, we are not dependent on such to succeed. CHAMPIONS HOCKEY LEAGUE >> PAGE 2 <<

3 Champions Hockey League: Calender and Competition Format Wednesday in Europe is Champions Hockey League Night Our feasibility study showed that Wednesday is the night in Europe where current leagues play the least. It s the easiest night for our participating leagues to modify their schedules and so now, selected Wednesdays from September to January are Champions Hockey League nights. They ve been carefully chosen to minimize competition with football and thus, maximize exposure potential. Victoria Cup: A First for the First of October, 2008 Named after the arena in which the first organized hockey competition was ever played (March 3, 1875), the Victoria Cup is an unprecedented event; the first time the NHL has ever faced-off against the European club champion with a cup on the line. On October 1st, Russia s Metallurg Magnitogorsk, the winner of the 2007 European Championship Cup, will play the New York Rangers in the Post Finance Arena in Bern Switzerland. This will be the first Russia/NHL club matchup in 17 years. Hockey history will also be made on September 30th, when the NHL makes their first appearance on Swiss ice with an exhibition game between the Rangers and host SC Bern, one of Europe s premiere clubs. This year s Victoria Cup, is just the start of a long tradition. Every year, this illustrious competition will launch the Champions Hockey League season. As the league grows, the Victoria Cup will evolve with it; the vision is to one day match the winners of the Stanley Cup and the Champions Hockey League. CHAMPIONS HOCKEY LEAGUE >> PAGE 3 <<

4 2008/2009: Abbreviated Competition Format To secure its future, the debut of Champions Hockey League s must be unparalleled. The league s presentation in it s first season must be of the best and highest quality. Therefore, this season of Champions Hockey League will be an abbreviated version of what is to come in and beyond. The competition will commence directly with the Champions Hockey League Group Stage. We intimately understand the careful planning and airtight organization needed to ensure the success of a new league. An overloaded schedule in the first season would be detrimental. Now we ll have less games and an additional month in which to deliver the premiere of Europe s greatest league. Top 12 Clubs in Europe from the Top 7 Nations IIHF TOP 7 NATIONS PLAY OFF CHAMPIONS REGULAR SEASON WINNERS* RUSSIA FINLAND CZECH REPUBLIC SWEDEN GROUP STAGE RUSSIA FINLAND CZECH REPUBLIC SWEDEN Champions of Top 7 Nations Automatically Qualify GROUP STAGE REGULAR SEASON WINNERS 8 RUSSIA 9 FINLAND 10 CZECH REPUBLIC 11 SWEDEN QUALIFYING TOURNAMENT SLOVAKIA 5 SLOVAKIA REGULAR SEASON WINNER SWITZERLAND GERMANY 6 7 SWITZERLAND GERMANY 12 SLOVAKIA SWITZERLAND GERMANY * Regular Season Runner-up if Champion and Regular Season Winner are the same * Exception Russia and Finland the runner-up is the second team from the play-offs (First CHL Season Only) September October November December 2008 January 2009 KEY Qualifying Tournament Group Stage Game Days Semi-Final Final NHL Exhibition & Victoria Cup CHAMPIONS HOCKEY LEAGUE >> PAGE 4 <<

5 2008/2009:GROUP STAGE To those seven nations* (Sweden, Finland, Russia, Czech Republic, Germany, Switzerland and Slovakia) who will compete in the first season of the Champions Hockey League, our warmest and most heart-felt congratulations. The top twelve clubs from these nations will qualify for the first season of Champions Hockey League. IIHF RANKING SYSTEM 2 teams each in CHL Group Stage for Russia Finland Czech Republic Sweden 1 team each in Group Stage + 1 qualifier opportunity for Slovakia Switzerland Germany Teams for Q1 for Belarus Latvia Denmark Austria Kazakhstan Norway France Slovenia Italy Hungary Poland Netherlands Ukraine Great Britain Romania *The top 7 countries were determined through an IIHF ranking-system created for European club hockey. This ranking system will be used for automatic qualification in the Group Stage. 7 Playoff Champions + 4 Regular Season Winners (or Runner s Up) = 11 TEAMS WHO S TEAM 12? That all depends on Germany, Switzerland and Slovakia whose Regular Season Winners (or Runners Up) will play in a single round-robin qualification tournament for the 12th spot. The tournament will be played September 12 th,13 th and 14 th The exact date and venue will be determined at the conclusion of these nations regular hockey seasons. CHAMPIONS HOCKEY LEAGUE >> PAGE 5 <<

6 this season counts We d like to remind those clubs whose season is still running, that this season and the playoffs which follow count for qualification to the Champions Hockey League s inaugural season It is how clubs place both in your season and in the playoffs which will determine who will qualify for the Champions Hockey League Group Stage. Champions Hockey League offers two avenues to qualification. In addition to the playoff winners, winners of the regular season are also candidates. Champions Hockey League: Building Europe s Hockey Future Together By the time Season Two arrives, we will be ready for clubs from 22 nations. And with each season, Champions Hockey League has the opportunity to grow. Remember all great things start small. Look at Champions League football. At its inception in 1991, only 8 clubs participated. Now, that figure has grown to 32. CHAMPIONS HOCKEY LEAGUE >> PAGE 6 <<

7 What we ve been up to Branding: A Class Act >> For Champions Hockey League to stand out among the rest, it must be instantly recognizable. Turn on the TV and zap between channels. Close your eyes. You ll know just by listening that you re watching Champions Hockey League. >> We are working with some of the top European advertising, graphic design and music production agencies to create a logo, a look, a sound. We will soon be able to bring this unique, bold Champions Hockey League style to communications like this one. >> Our look will be clean and easy-to-spot. We will clear the clutter: clean ice, clean jerseys, clean look. Broadcasting Champions Hockey League >> The kind of hockey played in this league deserves to be seen. We will not limit ourselves to subscription television. Our goal is to broadcast this league to as wide an audience as possible and thus, we are signing up broadcasters country per country. We will announce details of broadcasting deals as soon as they are official. >> The key to delivering a good league is centralization. With so many leagues and so many clubs, Champions Hockey League must control its image. All broadcasters will be provided with the graphics toolkit giving the league a unified look and quality. No matter where a Champions Hockey League game takes place or is broadcast from, all will be delivered with the same excellent and uniform quality. >> We want the hockey seen at home to be everycentimeter as good and even better than what s seen LIVE. We are working with some of Europe s best engineers to utilize and develop innovative broadcast technology. This will allow us to bring our viewers the most vivid of hockey experiences on television. Commercial Success >> Due to its inherent commercial value, Champions Hockey League is ready for commercial success. Broadcasters and sponsors have shown great interest in this new competition which offers them an uncrowded platform and a chance to take advantage of a developing and undiscovered market. >> Advertising in Eastern Europe is growing at three times the rate of that of Western Europe. With ice hockey rivaling football as the number one sport in Eastern and Northern Europe, the Champions Hockey League offers advertisers a popular and advantageous vehicle by which to access this growing market. >> In addition, our centralized marketing strategy means a more exclusive family of partners that will generate greater revenue. The sponsorship program will give four major sponsors a massive pan-european marketing platform. This also offers the tremendous value of being able to stand out from the advertising clutter which is currently the norm in the sports sponsorship environment >> Ice hockey in Europe is a sport ready for impressive growth for both players and fans. Surpassing their own expectations, many European arenas have more than doubled previous turnout just by modernizing and enlarging stadium capacity. >> Europe boasts some of the world s most professional ice hockey arenas, offering up-to-date facilities for broadcasters and sponsors alike. >> Broadcasters and sponsors are hungry for the unique set of values ice hockey represents - this is a family sport different from the rest: it s fast, it s tough, it s real and it s tangible. The players are accessible and the action is up close and personal. >> Sponsorship discussions are currently under way with major global bluechip companies with a strong focus on European markets. Rules, Regulations, Referees and Scoring >> Champions Hockey League games will have a fixed broadcast window of 2 hours and 30 min, so broadcasters can plan their programming schedules. >> There will be no overtime. In case of a tied game, we will go directly to a penalty shoot-out. >> A victory in regulation time is worth 3 points. >> A victory in a shoot-out is worth 2 points. >> A defeat in a shoot out is worth 1 point. >> The winner of each group qualifies for the semi-final. CHAMPIONS HOCKEY LEAGUE >> PAGE 7 <<

8 Communications: As Transparent as Ice As in all relationships, communication between partners is the key especially when they include 22 different countries and almost as many languages. Our goal is to keep everyone participating, as informed and up-tothe-minute in a manner as skilled and as fast as the sport of ice hockey itself. We will be upfront, transparent and clear. To compete in, broadcast, sponsor, watch and enjoy this league, we want to make sure everyone understands what s happening when, why and how. If you have a question, we re here to answer it. Please feel free to Sydney Trattner, Ovation s Communications Coordinator, with any questions you may have: info@ovation-sports.com For IIHF and ice hockey related questions contact Szymon Szemberg, the federation s Communications Director: szemberg@iihf.com To Come >> As the league progresses, so too will our communication. We will continue to issue newsletters like this one in the coming months. >> We are planning a communications campaign to take place during the 2007/2008 national league playoffs in the seven countries participating in our first season. It is key that we generate interest and enthusiasm now, as these playoffs will have a direct impact and relevance to 2008/2009 Champions Hockey League season. >> We are working on a variety of different communication portals, the most important of which will be the Champions Hockey League website. >> In addition to all information on all leagues and clubs, competition format, regulations, calendars etc., here you will also have direct access to us. We will have staff that man this site and who are responsible for answering your questions in a timely fashion. >> The CHL newsletter will also be available on the IIHF website. >> We also plan to publish a Champions Hockey League magazine. CHAMPIONS HOCKEY LEAGUE >> PAGE 8 <<

9 European Club Hockey, Thank You The more we work on setting up the Champions Hockey League, the more we realize how much we need to thank everyone. Our job is easy. We already have the best to work with: professional leagues, quality clubs, highly-skilled players and passionate fans. We couldn t ask for more. Spread the Word We will be in touch again very soon. We wish you all the best of luck for the playoffs. Please know that we are 100% behind the Champions Hockey League. We will do everything in our power to ensure that this league will make hockey history. The success of the Champions Hockey league depends on all of us. Help us get the word out. All the best. Until next time, International Ice Hockey Federation and Ovation Sports CHAMPIONS HOCKEY LEAGUE >> PAGE 9 <<