- Both teams lost opening games, Tappara got 1 point
- Třinec reached CHL Semi-Finals last season
- Tappara have never advanced farther than Round of 16
Oceláři Třinec and Tappara Tampere have both established themselves as regular Champions Hockey League competitors and they’ve faced each other before - in the Group Stage of the 2014/15 season, Tappara won twice by a total score of 9-1, but that was four years ago. This year, neither team is happy with how things have started.
Třinec lost 6-1 on home ice to Djurgarden Stockholm, while Tappara surprisingly fell in a shootout in Hamar, Norway to Storhamar. It looks like this group could turn out to be a really tight one, with every point important.
Although they didn’t play a terrible game against Djurgarden and the score certainly wasn’t indicative of the play, nothing seemed to go right for the Steelers. Last year’s CHL MVP, netminder Šimon Hrubec, allowed six goals on 20 shots. They’ll need a quick change in fortunes if they are to advance from this group, let alone get back to the Semi-Finals.
“Obviously, we can’t be happy with the cheap goals we gave away. We had chances but didn’t take advantage of them, but it was the first game and I believe Sunday will be a different story.”Václav Varaďa (Head Coach, Oceláři Třinec)
Tappara have been the most successful team in Finland recently, making the league finals five years in a row and winning two titles. Despite that, they haven’t gone further in the CHL than the Round of 16, and Thursday’s shootout loss at Storhamar isn’t the start they wanted this year. A win in Třinec could go a long way to changing their fortunes.
“It’s interesting. You never know what’s going to happen at the start of the season, but it was a pretty good game.”Jukka Rautakorpi (Head Coach, Tappara Tampere)