It’s been a brilliant debut in the Champions Hockey League for Swedish side Rögle Ängelholm and it continues into the Quarter-Finals after they advanced out of the Round of 16 thanks to a 7-4 aggregate win over ZSC Lions Zurich.
After topping their group, Rögle won the two-game series against Zurich to book their place in the final eight, setting up a meeting with Sparta Prague.
For 30-year-old forward Ted Brithén, it’s a proud moment for the club who helped him grow from their youth system into a professional hockey player.
“It’s a different opponent than we usually meet in our league. It’s a big deal, now we get to meet more teams from Europe so that’s an interesting challenge for us.”
Brithén who has spent most of his professional career with Rögle, has recently returned from injury, but knows he can rely on his team to get the job done while he gets back into game shape.
“I think it’s been up and down” Brithén said of how things have been since he was injured. “The team has played well during that time, so I could spend more time relaxing and focussing on getting better."
“You can really focus on getting well enough to play again, and don’t have to take chances to hurry back” Brithén said of his team’s good form during his absence.
Prior to his injury, Brithén had registered a goal and four assists for Rögle in the CHL.
Anybody who has played any competitive sport knows that you can’t replicate a game in training. “I’ve trained for a week and a half with the team, but nothing is like playing games."
We always find a way to get in the gameTed Brithén, Rögle Ängelholm
“In games, you play much more physically, you get more hits, and the speed is a lot higher. You have to focus much more during the game.”
While Brithén played in the return game, missing the first game against Zurich with his injury, it was a joint decision to insert him back in the line-up in a high-pressure game.
“Since the team has been winning, I didn't need to play until I felt 100%."
“I took this decision together with the medical staff. And this was a good game to do my return from my injury. It's a playoff game in the CHL and you must focus and really get it going right from the start, you got to get the basic game to work so all the fancy plays has to wait.”
While Brithén’s aim will be to get back into full fitness and contribute to the team's efforts in their domestic competition, and the rest of the CHL season, he believes in his team’s ability as a collective unit to get the job done, regardless of who’s in or out of the line-up.
“I would say that we compete hard every single game, all the players have that competitive level. There is no team that works harder than us during the game, we always find a way to get in the game even if we have a bad start."
"We are very difficult to beat, when we play our best game, we play a fast game and are hard to stop.”
For now, it’s a return to domestic action, before their CHL journey for this year continues in December against Sparta Prague, with a place in the Semi-Final up to grabs.