Vitkovice host 1st game of underdog duel

The match-up of Friboug-Gotteron and Vitkovice Ridera Ostrava features two teams that not many picked to make it this far. Domestically, both have struggled to start the season, but coming on more lately. Vitkovice are 9th in the 14-team Extraliga, while Fribourg are 11th out of 12 NLA teams. 

In the CHL, however, both teams were solid through their group stages and Round of 32, but faced stiff opposition in the Round of 16. Fribourg got past KalPa Kuopio and Vitkovice past Bili Tygri Liberec – both in overtime – and now both are in the CHL Quarter-Finals for the first time. In making it this far, both teams have been very stingy defensively, giving up 11 and 12 goals in eight games respectively, so don't expect this to be a high-scoring series. 

“Many people told us that we didn’t qualify and we’re only playing because we’re one of the founding teams, but we've shown that we want to be successful in the CHL,” said Vitkovice head coach Jakub Petr. On Fribourg, he said, “They are improving. They’ve got some new faces and are a team full of good players, so it will be very tough. We were outside the top 10 too this season, so I don’t look at the table. Current form will decide it, I think. We’re going to battle hard.”

Looking at Vitkovice, Fribourg defenceman and Cramo Top Scorer Yannick Rathgeb said, “What I do know is that it's a Czech team. In general, teams from eastern Europe play different than Scandinavian teams. Pucks are chipped in the zone more often and they forecheck constantly, which means we will have to play hard and physical, but our goal for sure is to win this round and move on to the Semi-Finals.”

The first game is in Ostrava, and two Fribourg players will be re-visiting their home country – forwards Roman Cervenka and Michal Birner.

Historically, this is already the farthest Fribourg have ever advanced in a European club championship, whereas Vitkovice were silver medallists at the 1981-82 European Cup. 

Read more on the series here.