Where were you one year ago today to see the Champions Hockey League Final between Lulea Hockey and Frolunda Gothenburg. We take a look back at the classic encounter, including the build-up before and all the aftermath.
by Derek O'Brien
Six days from now, Frolunda Gothenburg will visit Karpat Oulu to play the second Champions Hockey League Final. It will only be 260 kilometres away from the site they played the first one, in Lulea, one year ago today. It was a memorable game for all involved.
Leading up:
The first CHL Final featured two Swedish teams. Both finished the group stage with 15 points and were tied for top spot in their groups, and statistically they were similar heading into the title game – Frolunda out-scoring opponents 56–25 in 12 games leading up, while Lulea were 54–22.
However, as one of the SHL's top teams and featuring a roster that included the CHL's top three scorers in Mathis Olimb, Andreas Johnson and defenceman Erik Gustafsson, most figured Frolunda to be the favourites. They had to go through three strong Finnish clubs to get to the Final – first Tappara Tampere followed by IFK Helsinki, before finally needing an overtime victory over Karpat Oulu in the Semi-Finals on a goal by Gustafsson.
“We didn't skate as much as last game,” Frolunda captain Joel Lundqvist said about the second game of the series in Oulu. “They came at us hard and we were too slow. We've gotta be a little faster next game.”
Lulea almost weren't in the Final at all after opening the Eighth-Final round with a 4–2 loss on home ice to Red Bull Salzburg, then quickly falling behind 3 more goals in the return meeting in Austria to trail by 5 on aggregate. Against all odds, they came back to in in a shootout, then beat a couple of familiar foes – Finnish club Lukko Rauma in the Quarter-Finals and regional rivals Skelleftea AIK in the Semis.
Just days after their CHL Semi-Final triumphs, Frolunda hosted Lulea in an SHL game which was billed as a teaser for the CHL Final. However, Frolunda won 4–1 in what was described by most as a lacklustre affair.
“Each team played an intense Semi-Final game just two days ago though, so that was probably why,” figured Lulea coach Joakim Fagervall. “I think Frolunda played rather edgeless and somehow we managed to play even more edgeless. Unfortunately I don't think we ever improved to a decent level, which disappointed me as I figured this game would be a teaser and appetizer to the upcoming Final in the Champions Hockey League.”
But expectations were higher 12 days later with a piece of hardware and continental bragging rights on the line. These expectations would be met.
“It will be really fun to play a Final again,” Lulea assistant coach Stefan Nilsson said in the days leading up to the game, in reference to the club's 2012 European Trophy win. “We know each other well so there won’t be any surprises.”
The game:
And so the teams met on a cold and snowy night in northern Sweden, but the atmosphere inside Coop Norrbotten Arena warmed everybody up. Especially the visiting team, it seemed, as Frolunda exploded out of the gate, with Lundqvist making good on his promise to be faster with a fast goal at the 17-second mark.
“Obviously that's not the start we wanted to have, but it was a fluke goal,” said Lulea captain Chris Abbott, whose line started the game. “The shot went off my stick so the puck went off Joel (Lassinantti) and right out in front.”
Then they got another 12 minutes later – Johnson with the shot and Olimb scoring on the rebound. It was the 26th point for tournament MVP Olimb and the 25th for Johnson, but it was the last either of them would get. In fact, it was Frolunda's last goal of the tournament.
The score remained 2–0 after 40 minutes, but it could have been worse if not for the goaltending of Lassinantti. After the two early goals, he settled down and played brilliantly. His biggest save of the night may have been on a breakaway by Artturi Lehkonen in the second period.
“Lassie made some great saves tonight,” said Abbott. “He held us in there until we could finally get the offence going.”
The offence came in the final period, thanks to the power play. First it was a shot from the point by Kristian Nakyva to get Lulea on the board with 12:17 to play, then two more goals following a major penalty for elbowing to Frolunda defenceman Oscar Fantenberg, after a punishing hit on Karl Fabricius.
“You know, there was great atmosphere in the locker room and we had great harmony in the squad before the game and it felt like all of us were truly focused and pumped for the game, and the game reflected that in the first two periods,” said Frolunda winger Erik Karlsson. Unfortunately we drew a couple of bad penalties in the third period and that gave them a little energy, and when they scored their first goal the arena exploded and pushed the team even harder. They were able to take advantage of that energy boost and we couldn't, unfortunately.”
“Our power play hadn't worked the whole game but it came alive at the right time,” said forward Peter Cehlarik, who scored the equalizer. “It was a good cross-ice pass from our defenceman (Marcus Faggerud) and I just tried to one-time it. Luckily it went in.”
The winning goal came with 6:54 to play when Johan Forsberg deflected a shot from Jan Sandstrom, and young Swiss defenceman Dean Kukan sealed it with an empty-net goal in the dying seconds. By this time, Coop Norrbotten Arena was in an absolute frenzy.
“The whole audience here was perfect and we really enjoyed it,” Lassinantti said after the game. “Today it was full. The whole arena was loud and they were all cheering for us, so it was fun.”
It was also terrific for the CHL. When later asked about the highlight of the league's first season, CEO Martin Baumann responded, “Of course, the Final game. Lulea and Frolunda staged a great show. Full arena, wonderful atmosphere, the away team seemed to cruise to a seemingly easy victory when Lulea stormed back with four goals to turn the Final around, creating an epic finale. Simply unforgettable.”
Aftermath:
“This loss leaves a bad taste in our mouths but I think all of us will turn this into a positive and let it motivate us – that is a thing we definitely should build upon," said Frolunda defenceman Elias Falth. “We always want to win when we play and this will just add fuel to the fire and make us more pumped for the final race of the Swedish Hockey League. We are a tight team and this will just bring us closer together.”
“This really gives us a lot of confidence heading into the last few games of the regular season,” Abbott summed up. “We beat a couple of the best teams in our league to get here – first Skelleftea and now Frolunda, so we know we can beat anybody. So yeah, we've got some big games coming up, but first we're going to enjoy this one for the next couple of days.”
It wouldn't be long before Lulea's and Frolunda's paths would cross once more. Five weeks after the CHL Final, they met in the SHL Quarter-Finals. Fortunately for Frolunda, this was a best-of-seven series rather than a one-game affair, and they needed all seven games to vanquish their northern foes. Lulea built up a 3 games to 1 lead, but Frolunda rallied to win twice in overtime, then survived a late comeback attempt to win the decider by a 4–2 score.
“The CHL Final and this SHL Quarter-Final series were two different things and I think that our biggest story right now was that we turned a 1–3 deficit to a 4–3 series win,” Fantenberg said immediately following Game Seven. “But we learned from the mistakes in that game and somehow I would say that the loss in that game gave us a little more fuel to the fire into this series perhaps.”
Revenge would still be the word of choice when the two teams met yet again in this year's CHL Quarter-Finals.
“Of course it's going to be revenge for us because we lost the Final last year, but it was so close,” Fantenberg said before the series. “Of course we want revenge on them, but I think we're going to take it simply as a game and not try to think so much about last year, but of course it's going to be a little bit of revenge if we win.”
After two tightly-contested games – Lulea won by a goal on home ice, then Frolunda did the same – the aggregate score was decided in a shootout, with Frolunda emerging victorious.
In the aftermath of the victory coach Roger Ronnberg summed up, “It feels really great to advance to the Semi-Finals this season as well, but the best part is that we’ve knocked out the reigning champs of Europe! I'd lie if I said anything else than it's a great feeling standing here as a winner right now, so we're heading forward and excited about the Semi-Finals!”
After beating HC Davos in this year's Semis, Frounda are once again headed north to play in European club hockey's title game. Whereas last year's Final was in Lulea, this year it will be 260 kilometres east along the north coast of the Gulf of Bothnia in Oulu, home of Karpat. Will the title of European club champions stay in the north, or will Frolunda take care of unfinished business from one year ago?