After two Game Days of the Champions Hockey League Regular Season, Swiss-based Genève-Servette have unpacked their first road trip with three out of a possible six points. Game Day 1 served a disappointing 5-2 loss to Austrian side HC Innsbruck, but the team bounced back with a hard-fought 3-2 win against HC Košice. 

Swiss forward Noah Rod leads the points tally with three points (2G, 1A), while blueliners Theodor Lennström and Sami Vatanen, who are both in their first season with Genève, were strong contributors with two points respectively. With a game each under the belt, netminding duties have been shared between locals Gauthier Descloux and Robert Mayer. Both games saw just 14 shots on each netminder, resulting in a less-than-ideal save average for both goalies. 

Head Coach Jan Cadieux has an idea about the stats his team will need to produce if they’re to be successful in their next game: “Bolzano won the regular season ahead of Salzburg. They scored more than 2.20 points per game over a whole season, which is remarkable! They’re a formidable team.” 

HC Bolzano stand as the lone Italian team in the competition and unfortunately haven’t been successful in acquiring any points so far. Germany’s Adler Mannheim delivered the first blow, a 4:2 win on Game Day 1, and Ilves Tampere would rub salt in the wounds with a 7:1 drubbing. Bolzano's Canadian trio of Bradley McClure, Michael Halmo, and Davis Vandane each picked up a couple of points over their first two games, and Swedish netminder Niklas Svedberg shouldered all of the responsibility in the crease, managing 63 saves over the two games, giving up an average of just over five goals per game. 

Coming off two straight losses, Bolzano Head Coach Niklas Sundblad will be preparing meticulously for the upcoming road trip: “We’re talking about the Swiss champions! I watched the finals last year, I know their coach and I know they have very talented players and very good imports. Swiss hockey is very fast, so I expect a game with great pace.”