We delve back into the CHL history books to see what happened at this stage in each of the past two seasons.

Of the five teams that made the last eight in each of the previous two Champions Hockey League seasons, only Frolunda Gothenburg have made it this far a third straight year. Lukko Rauma, Lulea Hockey, and Skelleftea AIK have all been knocked out, while Linkoping HC are the only other team remaining this season who have got to this round before.

Two years ago, Frolunda were beaten 2-1 in Helsinki by IFK in the first leg, and last year lost 3-2 to defending champions Lulea in game one. For Lulea, they were 5-2 winners in Rauma in the first leg in 2014-15 as they went on to win the trophy.

If you’re looking for shocks from this stage in previous years, then there are two that stand out – and both come from last season. The Espoo Blues beat eventual finalists Karpat Oulu 2-0 on home ice as netminder Kaapo Kahkonen recorded a 28-save shutout, with Jussi Makkonen and Jari Salio adding the goals. The other shock, of sorts, came in Switzerland. HC Davos were somewhat unfavoured against Skelleftea, but both sides put on a great show as the hosts held their SHL opponents to a 1-1 tie. Despite a shot count of 34-26 in the visitors’ favour, goals from Marc Aeschlimann and Andrew Calof were the only ones of the game to send it back to northern Sweden all square.

In the first CHL season, no games were left tied going into the return legs, with visiting teams winning three out of four. Last year, however, things were a little different – two games ended all square, while in the other pair of matches it was the home team taking a lead with them into the return game.