What a weekend of hockey! The CHL has been packed full of action, great goals, and exciting finishes this season, and Gamedays 3 and 4 were no exception. We have already got qualified teams, and a number of groups which are going to go right down to the wire. Here is our attempt to sum up all the action, and make sure you’re up to date with all the stories heading into the final two Gamedays of the 2019/20 Group Stage.
1. Three teams secure qualification after just four games
This week, our first three teams booked their place in the Round-of-16. In Group B, all that remains is for HC Pilsen and EV Zug to fight it out between themselves to decide who will be top seed heading into the Playoffs. On Saturday night, both teams, who have won all four games they have played, got the crucial victories they needed to put qualification out of reach of Rungsted Seier Capital and Finnish Champions HPK Hämeenlinna, who are still looking for their first win in their debut season. Read the reaction from HC Pilsen's players here.
On Sunday night, German Champions Adler Mannheim joined the party, as they guaranteed qualification following their 4-0 shutout of Vienna Capitals. Whilst Pilsen and Zug have been known for racking up the goals so far in the CHL, Mannheim’s netminding duo of Dennis Endras and Johan Gustafsson has been in top form, and the club have conceded just 3 goals in 4 games.
2. Cardiff Devils record first ever away CHL victory, sit atop of Group H
The Cardiff Devils are in their third CHL campaign, but on Sunday night, managed to pick up their first ever road victory in the competition. After a winless campaign in 2018/19, the Devils have won 3 of their 4 opening games, including a double over last season’s EBEL Regular Season Round Winners, Graz99ers. On Sunday, the Devils blew away the 99ers, winning 5-2 at the Merkur Eisstadion, with this wrap-around goal by Sean McMonagle the pick of the bunch.
Qualification will still be a tough ask for the Devils though. They will need to get at least two points from their meetings with the defending CHL Champions, Frölunda Indians. The last time Frölunda played an EIHL side was in 2015/16, where they were drawn in the same group as the Sheffield Steelers. Frölunda won both games by a combined score of 13-2.
3. Třinec and Tappara revive their CHL campaigns
After GD2, things were looking bleak for Oceláři Třinec. They had dropped both of their opening games on the road and hadn’t even registered a single goal. On Friday night, Lahti Pelicans came to town, and blew away the Steelers for 39 minutes of the game. However, things began to turn in the home side’s favour, as with just 6 seconds to go in the second period, Tomáš Kundrátek broke a shutout streak which lasted 159:54 minutes, and scored Třinec’s first goal of the season. This gave the team life, as they then went on to score four times in the third period, completing a miraculous comeback against the Pelicans. They followed this up on Sunday by demolishing Yunost Minsk 7-2 to launch them back into contention for a playoff place, after looking down and out last week. Watch their comeback against Pelicans below.
Another club which turned their CHL campaign around was Tappara Tampere. The Finnish powerhouse dropped both of their opening games on the road, but had much more success at home. Tappara struggled to gain any offensive momentum during their road trip to Austria and Switzerland, but returned to the Hakametsä and thrashed KAC Klagenfurt 8-3 on GD3, before showing that they could also match the run-and-gun style with a solid defensive display by shutting out EHC Biel-Bienne 1-0 on Sunday.
With these two victories, Tappara have given themselves every chance of qualifying, seeing as they have two games remaining against winless Frisk Asker, whilst Biel-Bienne and KAC Klagenfurt are set to face off against each other twice.
4. A number of groups going down to the wire
Whilst we may know who is qualifying from Group B, in a number of groups, we are still no clearer as to who will make the Round of 16. As mentioned above in the case of Třinec and Tappara, Groups A and D are wide open. From Group A, KAC and EHC Biel-Bienne have 9 points, but Tappara are now hot on their heels. Whilst in Třinec’s Group D, all four teams are separated by just 3 points, with debutants Lausanne HC currently sitting top of the group with 4 points.
Another group which will go down to the wire is Group C. Currently Luleå Hockey and Augsburger Panther sit top of the group with 8 points, however, Bílí Tygři Liberec and Belfast Giants are hot on their heels.
View the full CHL standings here
5. Amazing home debuts for Augsburger Panther and Ambrì-Piotta
These two clubs have truly embraced the CHL during their debut seasons in the competition. In Augsburg, 5,986 fans attended the 3-1 victory over the Belfast Giants on Sunday, whilst the Valascia welcomed 5,031 fans who watched Ambrì-Piotta’s heartbreaking shootout loss against Red Bull Munich.
Over the course of the weekend, we published Arena Tours of both of these historic rinks on our social media channels (Facebook | Twitter | Instagram). Be sure to check them out below, and put these two towns on your list of places to attend before the season is over!