It’s always special to win a championship and celebrate with your teammates and fans. But what about when you’ve grown up with that team, or spend years of your career there? We look at two of this season’s Final’s local heroes.
Radovan Pavlík
Imagine being 21-years-old and about to play your first ever Champions Hockey League final. Imagine doing that in only your fourth full season of professional hockey. And imagine playing in that final for the team you grew up playing for.
That’s the situation Mountfield HK’s Radovan Pavlík finds himself in ahead of the 2020 CHL Final. The forward played all of his youth hockey in Hradec Králové in a career that has also seen him called up to the Czech national team at almost every age group. He’s also had a fantastic CHL with five points in 11 games, and three goals as well. In the league Pavlík put up 24 points in his third full season for Mountfield last year, and this year already has 12 in 34 games.
Nicklas Lasu
Lining up on the ice side of the ice at the final will be a 27-year-old that already has two CHL titles, an SHL and a Liiga championship, and a IIHF U20 World Championships Sliver Medal to his name!
Nicklas Lasu was born and raised in nearby Mölnda on the outskirts of Gothenburg. After playing junior hockey there, he was part of the famed Frölunda setup from Under 18s and would go on to spend 12 seasons with the team across different age groups. Lasu made his first appearances for the senior side in the 2007/08 season, but by 2009 was a full member of the team.
After picking up that World Juniors medal in 2009 Lasu went on to be part of Frölunda’s team that won their first CHL title in 2015 and later clinched the SHL championship. He was there again when they did it a year later in Gothenburg, and then won the Liiga in his first year with Kärpät Oulu a season later.
Lasu has some 531 games for Frölunda in league and playoffs, picking up 139 points along the way. He has 33 points in 57 CHL appearances.