Both GKS Tychy and Skelleftea dropped points in their opening fixtures in this Champions Hockey League campaign, but with the added bonus of a shootout loss for Skelleftea, the side from Sweden did manage to at least pick up a point to soften the blow as Alexander Petan scored the only goal in the shootout for HC Bolzano to give them the lead. GKS Tychy weren’t so lucky, coming in against a strong side in IFK Helsinki, two third period goals from the Finnish side were enough to give them the points as Group C is wide open going into the second round of games.

GKS Tychy will rely heavily on US born netminder John Murray, who returns for his second year with the side, and in his lengthy career in the Polish leagues, he’s established himself as one of the best netminders in the league. Despite their best efforts in their opening game, they couldn’t quite solve IFK Helsinki, however there of their players managed to get a goal and an assist on the board in Tomas Sykora, Michael Cichy and Filip Kmorski, so they’ll be hoping for more of the same and another great team effort when the puck drops for game two.

For Skelleftea, Norwegian star forward Mathis Olimb is back for his third CHL campaign, back in 2014-15 he helped Swedish side Frolunda to the trophy, winning tournament MVP honours in the process with 26 points in just 13 games and he’ll be a vital part of any success Skelleftea will have this time around. He managed an assist in their opening game shootout loss, but seeing as much time on the ice as he did, there’s no doubt there is more to come from the 32-year-old. Skelleftea may have dropped points in game one, but it wasn’t for lack of trying, as they came up against a strong goalie in Leland Irving, who turned away 43 of 46 shots he faced on the night.