Things went right down to the wire in Group H, as heading into the final Group Stage games, it still wasn’t clear who would be advancing to the 2019/20 Champions Hockey League Playoffs.
After a slow start to the campaign, reigning champions Frölunda Indians put in a huge performance on their trip to Wales to take on the Cardiff Devils, which secured their place in the next round, as well as ensuring that Mountfield HK would be joining them. It was another big win for Frölunda against the Devils that saw them go through, securing a 9-2 victory thanks largely to two players in particular.
The CHL’s all time points leader Ryan Lasch continued to add to his all time point totals with five assists on the night, while Samuel Fagemo earned his praise scoring four goals to help steer the reigning champions through to the next round.
“It was a fun game, I think we played good for 60 minutes”Samuel Fagemo after the Frölunda Indians victory over the Cardiff Devils
“It’s not easy to come here and play in front of these fans It was a really fun game and we’re excited to play in the Playoffs. We have a really good team too so we’re excited Frölunda are in the next round.”
Despite their best efforts, the Devils couldn’t hold on in the third period where Frölunda took complete control of the game.
The team were happy to only trail 4-2 after the first 40 minutes, but five goals in the final period saw the Welsh teams chances of qualifying for the playoffs vanish. “I thought we played a lot of good minutes, I thought the first two periods we were pretty good.” Team captain Joey Martin said after the game.
“I thought we were a lot better than last week in Frölunda”Joey Martin after the Devils' final Group Stage game
“Unfortunately I don’t think the scoreline really reflects how well we played. Their special teams was great again even though I thought we did a pretty good job ourselves. Obviously really disappointed with the result.”
Cardiff now focus on their domestic campaign as they look to have another good season in the EIHL, with hopes of returning to the CHL for a fourth straight season, while Frölunda continue on to defend their title, and they’ll find out their next round opponents soon.