The two favourites in Group G face off in Gävle on Friday night, at Brynäs IF hosts IFK Helsinki. Making their first CHL appearance, Brynäs will be nonetheless tough to beat after making the SHL finals last spring. IFK Helsinki are making their fourth straight CHL appearance, and a match-up between Swedish and Finnish teams rarely lacks emotion.

“Our primary goal is to get to the playoffs, and if we go through we’re going for gold,” declared Brynäs Head Coach Roger Melin. “Brynäs has a strong history as a top team in the Swedish Hockey League and our goal is to consolidate ourselves as a recurring top team in the Champions Hockey League.”

IFK Helsinki Head Coach Ari-Pekka Selin didn’t mince words when speaking about his team’s goals for the CHL, or about who the biggest obstacle to that is. “We are aiming at ending the Swedish domination in the CHL, so our goal is to win the Champions Hockey League.” On his team’s first Swedish opponent, however, he downplayed his team’s chances, calling Brynäs “a very tough team that lost the Swedish championship last spring by the narrowest of margins. Finishing second in the SHL says a lot about this team. They are the favourites in this group, but we like being the underdogs.”