Djurgården Stockholm have been a feared opponent from the very start of the season and have certainly lived up to their pre-season claims of wanting to return among Europe’s elite.
After being drawn into Group F at the start of the season, the Swedish club faced GKS Tychy, the Vienna Capitals and Adler Mannheim in the Group Stage. They kicked off their fifth CHL season with a 6-2 win over Tychy, followed by a 2-1 win over the Capitals on the road and finished the remaining four Group Stage matches to ultimately end up second behind Adler Mannheim in the Group F standings with 12 points.
The Round of 16 draw saw Djurgården face a familiar opponent – fellow SHL team Skellefteå AIK. After an intense 3-3 draw away, Djurgården turned it up a notch at home and advanced to the Quarter-Finals for the very first time in their history thanks to a memorable 4-1 victory in front of their home fans.
Their Quarter-Final matchup with last season’s finalists Red Bull Munich was set out to be their biggest challenge yet, but after a surprising 5-1 win at home, Djurgården were feeling confident travelling to Germany for the return leg. Red Bull Munich, who were unbeaten at home all season, DEL or CHL, prior to the match, were expected to put up a fight and not go down easily. But Djurgården came prepared and extended their lead even further to finish the Quarter-Finals with a 3-0 win away to beat Munich 8-1 on aggregate. Their biggest challenge so far turned out to be quite the opposite.
The five-time CHL participants are unbeaten in the knockout stages so far and have only lost a single game at home this season. With their confidence sky-high, Djurgården are gearing up for their fast approaching Semi-Finals clash with Mountfield HK and are without doubt already eying the trophy.