After back-to-back European club championships, Frölunda disappointingly went out in the Round of 16 last season. Looking to return to the top this year, they were strong in the Group Stage with four regulation wins, one shootout loss and one regulation loss. They took five of six points against Swiss champions ZSC Lions Zurich as they now prepare to face the team Zurich beat in the finals: Lugano. Ryan Lasch, the Top Scorer and MVP of the 2015/16 CHL season, is leading Frölunda offensively again both domestically and in the CHL with 10 points in the Group Stage – all assists. In both competitions, Johan Mattsson and Magnus Gustafsson have split time in goal fairly evenly, with similar statistics.

Lugano are making their second CHL appearance and went out in the Round of 16, so now they’re trying to take a step further. They didn’t start the Group Stage in a great way this year, dropping three of their first four games, but then shut out defending champions JYP Jyväskylä in back-to-back games to advance. They have the goaltending of Elvis Merzlikins to thank for that, as how goes the Latvian national team starter, so go Lugano. He played every minute in goal for the team in the Group Stage and almost every game in the NLA so far. Offensively, Gregory Hofmann and Jani Lajunen both registered five points in the Group Stage, although the latter has recently been sidelined with acute appendicitis and will miss the Round of 16.