As the round of sixteen of this years Champions Hockey League gets underway, ZSC Lions Zurich play host to Kärpät Oulu for the first of their two meetings.

Zurich finished second in Group A to secure their spot in the first knockout round with 13 points, with their only loss so far coming at the hands of the Frölunda Indians, while Kärpät topped Group F, dropping points in just one game which ended in a shock win for the THOMAS SABO Ice Tigers.

Coming into the meeting on the back of a lot of domestic action, the two sides are enjoying two very different league campaigns.

In the Swiss NLA, Zurich currently sit seventh out of 12 teams, with just two wins in their last five outings, with their last two games ending in defeat.

Kärpät on the other hand have had a fine start to their league campaign. The reigning Liiga champions currently occupy top spot with 13 wins and four wins coming in overtime to give them a total of 17 wins in 20 games, with the side coached by Mikko Manner winning each of their last five games.

After posting five points in the group stage, 19-year-old Aleksi Heponiemi is having a great first professional season back in Finland. He finished last year with 118 points for the Swift Current Broncos of the WHL, and through 19 appearances he leads the team with 17 points, and with stacks of energy in his leagues, he will be a leading figure for Kärpät over the two legs as they look to map out their road back to the final for the second time, after they made it to the grand final two-years ago, losing out in a 2 - 1 loss to Frölunda.

Zurich will have to contend without their long time starting netminder with Lukas Flüeler out with a concussion. The 30-year-old featured in five group stage games, so they’ll like have to rely on Niklas Schlegel for the two legs, but the 24-year-old has been impressive when called upon so far, and will need to be again if the Lions are to make the quarterfinal for the third straight year.