We spoke to representatives of our three Liiga participants from Finland following the CHL Draw in Stockholm, Sweden, 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.
Timo Koskela, sport director of three-time Champions Hockey League participants Ilves Tampere is really excited for the new season: "We're really looking forward to being part of this great competition! The competition is tough and we can't wait."
Ilves will be the sole Tappara-based club in the line-up for 2025/26, having been overshadowed by local rivals and past CHL Champions Tappara Tampere on the pan-European stage throughout the competition's history, but with a solid set of six opponents for the Regular Season, Ilves be looking to improve on their exit after this stage of the season last year. Does any one opponent stand out to them at this point?
"The reigning CHL Champions, ZSC Lions Zurich, will be the toughest team to beat," commented Koskela.
Kalle Sahlstedt, sport director of Lukko Rauma, is also very excited for the new season to start. "We always want to win and that's exactly what we're here for," he said when asked about his club's goals for the upcoming season.
"We always want to win"Kalle Sahlstedt, Lukko Rauma
Returning to the CHL fold after missing last season, Lukko are even more eager to show everybody they are well and truly back. How do they take their six-team draw?
"It's a tough set of teams, but I'm happy with it," said Sahlstedt, "we will be going to Germany and Poland and have really strong home games as well."
Does one stand out for the team? GKS Tychy was the response. "We've never been there and never met a team from Poland, so it's going to be exciting to face them," explained Sahlstedt.
Last up, new Liiga champions KalPa Kuopio, who in the words of sport director Anssi Laine are expecting some "great games" in the 2025/26 Regular Season. Their goal for the year? To go as far as possible.
"All our opponents are tough teams, but we're excited to see where we are this season," he said, "ERC Ingolstadt stand out to us, our old goalie coach is with them now, so it will be fun playing against his team," added Laine with a smile.
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