As the 2016-17 Champions Hockey League moves on to the Round of 16, we take a look at what's happened here over the past two years in the first legs.

by Luke Fisher

Last year, Frolunda – who went on to win the CHL's European Trophy – went down 2-1 in Litvinov and headed back to Gothenburg with a deficit, while defending champions of the time Lulea Hockey lost 2-1 in Tampere against Tappara. Sparta Prague looked to have put one foot in the Quarter-Finals with a 4-2 home win over Karpat Oulu, while the Espoo Blues opened up a two-goal lead on HV71 Jonkoping with a 3-1 home win.

Big stories of the round, however, were the big road wins for both HC Davos and Skelleftea AIK. The Swiss side travelled to Liberec, where a sell-out crowd of over 7,000 saw an exciting hockey game in Liberec with eight goals, but didn't get to see their hometown White Tigers win. Davos scored twice in the first 10 minutes, and the teams traded goals after that, meaning the Swiss club headed back to Davos two goals up thanks to a pair of goals from Andres Ambruhl, while veteran Branko Radivojevic netted with 2 goals for Liberec. Die Eisbaren, playing SHL opposition as they will again this season, gave up 2 goals in the first 12 minutes and were never able to recover. Tim Heed and Erik Forsell each had 3 points for a Skelleftea, who went out in the last round this year to JYP Jyvaskyla. Berlin will hope to avoid a repeat of that scoreline this year.

Two years ago the Round of 16 was the first knock-out stage after a prolonged group phase. SaiPa Lappeenranta, who made it through back then, went down 2-0 in Geneva, giving themselves a mountain to climb on home ice, while eventual champions Lulea were defeated 4-2 at home by Red Bull Salzburg – one of the shocks of the day. Big wins of the round came for Frolunda and Lukko. The Gothenburg side took a 5-1 win in Tampere over Tappara to take a commanding lead home with them and record one of only two first leg wins for the Swedes, while Lukko Rauma faced TPS in Turku and won by the same score.  Elsewhere, Sparta suffered defeat at home to Linkoping HC 2-1, while Fribourg-Gotteron and IFK Helsinki – both of whom are still alive at this stage again this year – played out a 2-2 tie.