After a 17 month wait it’s finally time for Rögle Ängelholm to make their Champions Hockey League debut and what bigger test for the newcomers than Swiss powerhouse EV Zug?

The Swedish side qualified for the 2020/21 season of the CHL, but due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the season was cancelled and they missed out on their first taste of European hockey. For many teams, qualifying for the CHL two times in a row is difficult but Rögle’s second-place finish in the SHL regular season last year earned them a second chance at the CHL.

Under the guidance of CHL Champion Cam Abbott, Rögle also challenged for the SHL title as they fought their way to the playoff finals, beating veteran CHL sides Frölunda Gothenburg and Skellefteå AIK in the process. Though they missed out on the championship, their stellar performances over the past two seasons are proof that Rögle, who were only promoted to the SHL six seasons ago, aren’t just a one-season wonder, but a club on the up. Watch out for this debuting side!

You can think of no bigger test for a club on their debut than EV Zug. The elite Swiss side are one of the biggest names in the CHL and have participated in every season since the league’s founding. Over the course of the last seven NL seasons, Zug have never finished outside the regular season top four and enter this season of the CHL on the back of their most successful campaign in recent memory.

Zug finished first in the NL regular season – an unsurprising result for them, but the team matched this success in the postseason by making it all the way to the finals and claiming just the club's second-ever Swiss title. See, despite being such a feared opponent and having consistent table-topping performances in the regular season, playoff success has often eluded the team.

And it’s a similar story in the CHL – Zug have topped their group four times and have qualified for the CHL Playoffs in all but two seasons. However, they have never made it past the first two rounds and the Swiss powerhouse is still yet to taste European glory.

The Swiss side lost two key players over the offseason – Erik Thorell and Grégory Hofmann. Whilst Thorell joined fellow CHL side Sparta Prague, Hofmann made his big move to the NHL. But Zug haven’t just sat by, and they have found ample replacements, signing 27-year-old NHLer Christian Djoos from the Detroit Red Wings and 30-year-old Anton Lander who joins from Lokomotiv Yaroslavl.

EV Zug Head Coach Dan Tangnes, who spent time both as a player and as a coach with Rögle, also had his eye on one player from the Rögle roster – Niklas Hansson. He made the transfer a few months back and will face his old club in one of his first games for Zug.