In a matchup between two teams appearing in the Champions Hockey League Semi-Finals for the first time, JYP Jyväskylä of Finland host Oceláři Třinec of the Czech Republic in the first leg. Synergia-areena has been a friendly place for JYP, who have won five straight home games in Liiga play and have not lost in CHL play, with four wins and a tie. Třinec, meanwhile, have won four straight Extraliga games away from home and their last two away games in the CHL. Both of these teams are hot going into this game, with JYP winning seven of their past eight games and Třinec winning three in a row. Overall, JYP sit fourth in the Liiga with 70 points in 39 games, while Třinec are fourth in the Extraliga with 64 points in 37 games.

While these two teams have never faced each other before, JYP defeated another Czech team in the CHL Quarter-Finals – tying Kometa Brno 3-3 in Jyväskylä before winning 5-3 in the Czech Republic. Třinec have yet to face a Finnish team in this year’s competition but they have had success against Nordic clubs, taking 22 out of 24 possible points from Swedish and Danish opponents so far. In their first two CHL seasons, they didn’t have much luck against KalPa Kuopio or Tappara Tampere, taking four of 12 possible points.

Antti Suomela and Jani Tuppurainen have been JYP’s most productive forwards so far this season, with 35 and 34 points, respectively in Liiga play, while Juuso Puustinen leads the team with 18 goals and has 33 points. Puustinen also leads the team with four goals in the CHL, while Tuppurainen is the team’s LGT Top Scorer with eight points. Veteran forward Jarkko Immonen has also been steady with 33 points in the SHL and six in the CHL. Their defence is anchored by the rock-solid Mikko Mäenpää, while in goal, Juho Olkinuora and Eetu Laurikainen have both been steady when called upon.

In Třinec, the big story has been Šimon Hrubec, especially in the CHL, where his numbers are simply eye-popping. In nine CHL games he has given up just nine goals and made 246 saves for a goals-against average of 0.99 and a save percentage of 96.47. He’s been almost as impressive domestically, where he has played in 30 of his team’s 37 games. Martin Růžička is the team’s top scorer domestically with 40 points in 34 games, while Jiří Polanský is the team’s LGT Top Scorer with 10 CHL points. The team’s captain is veteran defenceman Lukáš Krajíček, who leads a dependable corps that has helped Hrubec out immensely, and will provide a challenge for JYP’s shooters.

"Getting to the Semi-Final is already a big success because we've never made it this far before, but we want to make it to the Final," Růžička said a couple of days before the first leg. "I haven’t had much time to focus on our opponents, but our coaches have prepared some video and we'll watch them and prepare for the game as always."

He added: "All of the teams in the CHL play a bit different styles and altogether it’s completely different than hockey in the Extraliga."