In Game Days 3 and 4, the four teams in Group G split the points evenly, meaning Sparta Prague still holds a slim one-point lead over KalPa Kuopio - the difference being the Czech club's shootout victory in Finland on Game Day 1. KalPa closed that gap again with a win in Prague on Game Day 4, while the Vaxjo Lakers and Adler Mannheim stay competitive.

by Chapin Landvogt, with contributions from staff writers

With the first four games now played and in the record book, one look at Group G featuring Sparta Prague, KalPa Kuopio, the Vaxjo Lakers, and Adler Mannheim will tell you that anybody can beat anybody on any given day. Only Group A has shown itself to be as tight as this Group G at this point, where every team has at least one regulation win and no team has achieved more than two.

Things got off to a bit of a varied start back on Game Day 1, when KalPa first lost 5-4 to Sparta in a shootout. At the same time, Vaxjo were busy blowing out Mannheim 6-1. Expected by many to be a contender for the SHL championship this season, the Lakers first broke a 1-1 tie in the 35th minute of the game and proceeded to run the Eagles out of town. Forward Alexander Johansson had three goals while defenceman Sebastian Erixon racked up three assists.

For Sparta Prague, Robert Sabolic scored the decisive penalty shot, his second goal of the game, to earn Prague the road victory. Interestingly enough, the final five minutes of the game were as exciting as it gets. Sparta’s Jan Buchtele scored in the 56th minute to tie the game at three. Then Michal Birner scored what looked like the sure game-winner in the 58th minute, but no less than Buchtele then tied up the game at four scoring with only 27 seconds left in regulation time. Both of Buchtele’s goals were set up by Montreal Canadiens prospect Martin Reway.

The next leg of the event took place three day later when the Vaxjo Lakers hosted Sparta Prague, losing 5-2, while KalPa Kuopio just barely scratched by Adler Mannheim with a 1-0 victory at home. It was Jussi Timonen’s power-play goal in the 18th minute of the first period that proved to be the game-winner in what was a tight-night, hard fought battle. In Vaxjo, Johansson was able to score his third CHL goal in two games, which came at the 44th minute and cut Sparta’s lead to 3-2, but Lukas Pech scored his second goal of the game and in a row just three minutes later and this knocked the wind out of the Lakers for good. Pech finished the game with three points while linemate Petr Kumstat collected a goal and three assists.

On 4 September, Mannheim were finally able to gain their first victory while finally playing at home. They did so by a score of 3-1 over KalPa Kuopio, but the victory wasn’t obtained until the 54th minute when long-time international top scorer and former NHLer Glen Metropolit popped in a rebound feed from Matthias Plachta. Jonathan Rheault, who had scored the team’s first goal in the first period, then added an empty-netter in the 59th minute to seal the victory for the DEL entry.

At the same time, Sparta Prague was busy gaining their third straight victory, this time at home and once again against Vaxjo. It didn’t prove as easy, though, as the back-and-forth battle ended in a close 5-4 win. Youngster Dominik Volek was the hero for Prague, knocking in what proved to be the game-winner in the 44th minute, which gave the team what looked like a commanding 5-1 lead. With goals by Patrik Lundh in the 45th minute and then Liam Reddox in the 48th and 56th minutes of the game, things got real hot real soon! Fortunately for Sparta, they were able to weather the storm, even after Vaxjo had pulled their goalie for the final 45 seconds of the game.

Tuomas Kiiskinen assisted on the goal that brought Vaxjo within two, and said of his team's push at the end: “At that point we were getting stronger and stronger. There was still some time left and we believed we could score again and win the game. In the end it was a really tough and close game. We came back and it was a good thing for us but it wasn’t still enough.”

Lukas Klimek, who had a goal and an assist for Sparta, commented on the third period: “I don't think we really let up, but they had no choice but to push forward, they got some bounces and the pucks went in for them. But we've got to do a better job playing with the lead the lead next time.”

The four teams were at it again just two days later, when Vaxjo finally got itself back in the win column with a close 2-1 victory in Mannheim while Sparta Prague found itself on the bad side of a 3-2 score at home against KalPa Kuopio, which gained its second victory, both having been by a one goal difference. Martin Reway had a goal and assists for Sparta while Arttu Ilomaki scored the last two goals for KalPa, effectively deciding the game in the 33rd minute.

Czech Michal Birner, who had an assist on the second KalPa goal, was returning to the arena he had called home the two seasons before and talked about the win: “I’m happy we defeated Sparta mostly because of the young guys on our team. It’s a huge win for us because it was the last game before the start of the regular season. We know we lost some points in the home game against Sparta. I'd even say we were the better team in that game. We had more chances, we skated better, but we made stupid basic mistakes, so Sparta beat us in the shootout."

Speaking about the team’s first CHL loss, Sparta coach Josef Jandac said: "Unfortunately were playing from behind the whole game and just couldn't get that tying goal. We had some chances in the second period, but in the third we didn't create much, as they played well. We were also undisciplined on the power play and took some stupid penalties. That possibly cost us this game."

In Mannheim, things were much tighter than they had been in the original match in Vaxjo. As opposed to a 6-1 victory, the Lakers were barely able to attain their second CHL victory when ex-NHLer Nick Johnson scored in the 47th minute. Defenceman Eddie Larsson got his second assist of the game on this game-winner.

After the game, a relieved Sam Hallam, head coach of the Lakers, recapped: “The first period was okay, the way we played, even though we lost some important battles and lost pucks. The second period was way better and the game reached a competitive level, especially in the last 10 minutes. After we scored to take the lead in the third period we lost a bit of our play and were under pressure against the Mannheim offence. Altogether I’m very confident with the victory and our game today.”

Although the loss meant that Mannheim ended this stage of the competition with only one victory under its belt, head coach Geoff Ward was still taking positives from the game: “I’m also pleased with the way we played in the first period, but we lost our momentum in the second when we ran into penalty troubles. We have to improve our defensive work in the slot, since all the goals came from the slot. Also we have to work on scoring goals when playing equal strength.”

The next leg of the event will see group leader Sparta Prague face Adler Mannheim in the middle of the European continent, while Vaxjo and KalPa will duke things out in the Nordic realm. For Mannheim, it’s clear that anything less than two regulation wins will likely have them out of contention by 8 October. For KalPa, who have seven points as opposed to Vaxjo’s six, anything less than three points out of the two contests would mean a likely third place finish in the group. Interestingly enough, all sorts of combinations could occur that might even see current group leader Sparta finishing last, as unlikely as that would seem after the first four games.

As is fortunately the case, everything will be decided on the ice and in this tight group, CHL fans have a lot of excitement to look forward to.

Group G standings

Schedule and results