In recent years, HC Pilsen have established themselves as a top team in the Czech Extraliga and have earned themselves a third trip to the European club championship for the third time in four seasons. While their first season in 2016/17 was rather forgettable, last season was very impressive. They were the CHL’s only unbeaten team in the Group Stage and carried that record into the Semi-Finals, where they were humbled by the powerhouse Frölunda Indians.

With goaltender Dominik Frodl and forward Milan Gulaš returning, and the additions of Tomáš Mertl and young defenceman Zack Malík – son of former NHLer Marek – Pilsen have reason to be confident heading into this opening game and they likely won’t be too anxious about starting against the Finnish champions. Last season, reigning CHL champions JYP Jyväskylä were in their group and Pilsen beat them twice.

Prior to last season, HPK Hämeenlinna had not had a lot of success in the Liiga in recent years and therefore hadn’t qualified for the CHL before their rather unexpected run to the title last season. Previously, the club had played in the European Championship, the Euro Hockey League and the European Champions Cup, but that’s going back a ways. This will be a tough test for HPK to start off with games in Pilsen on Thursday and Zug on Saturday – two strong teams that know their way around this competition.

Last season, HPK won the Finnish title largely thanks to the scoring of Teemu Turunen and goaltender Emil Larmi, so it’s difficult to say what to expect from this team. There are not a lot of names on the roster that are well-known outside of Finland, but 21-year-old forward Jere Innala is coming off a strong season, so the team will hope for increased production from him.