We spoke to representatives of our three Liiga participants from Finland following the CHL Draw in Prague, Czechia, to find out what their goals were for the upcoming season, what they thought about their six Regular Season opponents and who they were most looking forward to playing.
"We have some top European teams, national champions, a really interesting set of opponents!"Juhamatti Yli-Junnila, Lahti Pelicans
"Our goal is to win every game," started Janne Lahti, representing reigning Liiga champions Tappara Tampere who remain the only club to have qualified and played in each Champions Hockey League season since 2014/15.
From Juhamatti Yli-Junnila of the Lahti Pelicans, it was also a simple response: "Our first goal is to reach the Playoffs."
Ilves Tampere's Tommi Niemelä revealed that his side are aiming for the very top prize, saying: "The goal is to be the last team celebrating!"
What did the Liiga representatives think of their draw?
"We have a bit of everything," revealed Tappara's Janne Lahti going through the draw, "we're looking forward to facing Sparta as they have a couple of our players with them now."
And Juhamatti Yli-Junnila's thoughts on the Pelicans' draw? "We have some top European teams, national champions, a really interesting set of opponents," he said, "it's going to be a great challenge for us!"
As Tommi Niemelä looked back at his team's draw, he said that all six are going to be "great challenges" and that it looks like it's going to be a "great CHL season" for one of Finland's most traditional clubs.
And finally, which clubs stood out most to the representatives following the CHL Draw? For Tappara Tampere it's a split between Sparta Prague and Färjestad Karlstad: "Sparta are a traditional team from Czechia but at the same time it's great to face one of the top teams from Sweden, Färjestad."
"But Lausanne also stand out, it's really hard to say, all the games will be interesting," he added.
Juhamatti Yli-Junnila's answer also highlighted multiple teams: "All of them will be interesting opponents, but Genève-Servette as the reigning CHL Champions and Skellefteå AIK as the SHL champions will be two really tough games."
"But that's two chances to help us improve our game and learn something," he added.
For Ilves? "All six opponents will be great challenges, but just for me, personally, I'm looking forward to travelling to Lausanne HC. I worked there for two years so it's going to be a little special," revealed Tommi Niemelä.