Road games are always a challenge, but not for reigning SHL champions the Växjö Lakers who kicked off their Champions Hockey League season with back-to-back wins on away ice.

Game Day 1 started with a commanding 5-1 win over the Lahti Pelicans, while Game Day 2, against Nordic rivals the Stavanger Oilers, was a tightly contested 7-6 shootout win. The two strong performances ensured five out of a possible six points in the Regular Season Standings, in addition to Växjö averaging an incredible six goals per game, making them currently the top-ranked team for offence.

German forward Tobias Rieder was stellar, potting four points (1G, 3A) in two games, along with teammate Joachim Blichfeld who picked up three goals. Defenceman Joel Persson currently leads the defensive unit with four points (2G, 2A) while netminder Emil Larmi ranks number seven among goaltenders, he’s made 17 saves so far, and given up just one goal.   

The Swedish side can look forward to two games on home ice, but for Head Coach Jörgen Jönsson it won’t be a walk in the park: “Aalborg are a top team from Denmark who have won the championship two times in a row with a team full of players who possess a lot of experience from the Danish national team.” 

Founded in 2012, current Danish champions the Aalborg Pirates had the home-ice advantage for their first two games, but only managed to pick up a single point towards their Regular Season Standings.  

Their Game Day 1 opener against reigning CHL Champions, Tappara Tampere was a thriller which would see them fall just shy of a win in OT. Despite outshooting their foes 30-23, Aalborg would go down 2:1.

Lukko Rauma were the second Finnish team of the week to bring down the Danes, this time 6:2. Head Coach Garth Murray was very happy with the first result but felt his team was a “step behind on a lot of things” during the following game, and will no doubt be looking to refocus the team for the upcoming games.  

Canadian forward Calder Brooks, who is in his first season with the Pirates, netted the only goal against Tappara and has been averaging a solid point per game so far, while netminder and Danish native George Sørensen was a standout during Game Day 1 where he made 21 saves and allowed just two goals.