The Champions Hockey League Quarter-Finals were packed full of action. From individual feats to team milestones, here are some of the Milestones reached in the previous round and more that could be broken in the New Year.
Tappara's Kristian Kuusela scored his eleventh point of the season in the Quarter-Finals putting him in second place on the Assists Leaderboard for 2021/22, just two behind Frölunda’s Ryan Lasch.
The Finnish forward is playing in his sixth season in the CHL and thanks to his side's historic run past the Round of 16, their first-ever, the 38-year-old veteran has been able to break the 10 assists in a season milestone for the very first time.
Three Frölunda players and two Tappara players recorded Games Played Milestones in the Quarter-Finals, as veteran players Ryan Lasch and Mats Rosseli-Olsen recorded a joint 70 Games Played, Patrik Carlsson recorded 60 Games Played and Tappara's fearless captain Otto Rauhala recorded his 50th game in the CHL.
Jere Karjalainen also of Tappara recorded his 40th game on Europe's biggest stage.
Coming back to Frölunda once more - their 5-3 win over Leksands IF in the Quarter-Finals First Game was their 60th win in the competition
The CHL returns in the first week of 2022 as the Semi-Finals start the New Year with a bang on Tuesday 4 January and then the following week on Tuesday 11 January. With high-octane drama set to unfold out on the ice, the following milestones are also waiting, ready to be shattered by some of the current stars of this season’s competition.
Where better to start than Ryan Lasch - the lynchpin of Swedish heavyweights Frölunda Gothenburg and the CHL’s all-time leader for goals (32), assists and points (107).
The 34-year-old winger is five short of reaching 80 assists in the competition as he bids to win a fourth CHL title with Frölunda. A number of Lasch’s teammates are also approaching various milestones that can be broken in the New Year.
Veteran captain Joel Lundqvist has featured in each of Frölunda's four CHL Championships which leaves him second only to Lasch in all-time goals, assists and points (61). Twin brother of legendary NHL goalie Henrik Lundqvist, Joel heads into the last four of this season’s CHL campaign requiring four goals to reach 30 whilst he's also five assists short of his 40th.
Another of Frölunda’s serial winners on the CHL stage, Patrik Carlsson also has milestones within reach and is one short of his 20th assist in the competition. Currently ranked fifth all-time in points, Carlsson needs to add to his current total of 42 points to move up to third in the all-time leaderboard (45 points).
Kristian Kuusela of Semi-Final rivals Tappara Tampere is also in competition to achieve the same feat, with a total of 43 points heading into the next round, and is also one goal away from scoring his tenth CHL goal.
Meanwhile, Tappara’s Head Coach Jussi Tapola is two wins short of what could be 50 victories in the CHL.
CHL newcomers Rögle Ängelholm, the only remaining debutants in the competition, have recorded eight wins out of their 10 games this season and are just two Semi-Finals wins over Frölunda away from making that 10.
In Germany, Red Bull Munich’s Trevor Parkes is currently ranked joint-fourth in goals this season (6) and is two short of totaling 20 goals in the CHL while at the other end of the ice, Munich netminder Danny aus den Birken is two short of recording his 20th CHL win, and defenceman Daryl Boyle will make his 50th CHL appearance in the New Year.
Tune in for the CHL Semi-Finals in January to catch all our matchup content!