The French national champions and the country's next CHL representatives are the Rapaces de Gap, who overcame a 3–1 deficit in games in the final to defeat the Epinal Dauphins. 

by Derek O'Brien

GAP, France – Trailing three games to one to the Epinal Dauphins in the best-of-seven Ligue Magnus final, les Rapaces de Gap came back with three straight victories, including a 5–3 home-ice win on Sunday in game seven, to win the Magnus Cup as French national hockey champions. As such, they qualify for the 2015–16 Champions Hockey League as the French representatives.

Gap finished third in the regular season, then beat the Amiens Gothiques 3–1 in the quarter-finals and the Dijon Ducs 4–1 in the semis. After falling behind 3–1 after four games against Epinal, the Raptors stayed alive by winning 3–1 on home ice, then won 4–2 in Epinal to force a decisive seventh game. There, they took a 2–0 first-period lead, including a huge power-play goal by Brett Bartman with just seven seconds left in the opening period. That two-goal difference stood up the rest of the way. Dominik Kramar and Mikael Perez produced two points each for Gap, while Peter Valier figured in on all three of Epinal's goals, scoring twice.

“There's a lot of joy,” expressed Gap head coach Luciano Basile in the aftermath of their game-seven win to website Vosges Matin. “I'm very happy for the players because they showed a lot of character. There were many obstacles this year to get here and this is the reward at the end. The players have always known face as this final.”

Established in 1937, this is Gap's third national championship – the first two came back to back in 1977 and '78. For Basile, however, this is his second-straight Magnus Cup. He piloted the Briancon Diables Rouges to the title last season, which made the Red Devils the first French team in the CHL.

Epinal was a bit of a surprise to be in the final, having finished eighth in the regular season, then needing the full five games to eliminate the Strasbourg Etoile Noire in the preliminary round. They then beat the Rouen Dragons in the quarter-finals three games to one and won game seven on the road to beat the Angers Ducs in the semis. They nearly pulled off an improbable championship victory, but despite three chances to close out the final series, just couldn't get it done.

“In this game I have absolutely nothing against the players,” said Epinal head coach Phillipe Bozon, the first French-trained player to play in the NHL. “They did everything to win like they did the whole season and played an excellent first 10 minutes. Had we scored, it would have been crucial. The second goal hurt us.” 

Despite the loss, Bozon was obviously proud of his team. “In my eyes, they are the champions. I told them so in the dressing room (after the game),” he said.

Not surprisingly, Gap and Epinal players dominated the list of top playoff scorers. The top three point totals all belonged to the Dauphins, with Jan Plch, Michal Petrak and Gregory Beron finishing with 20, 19 and 19 points, respectively. The two leading goal-scorers were Gap's Radim Valchar and Bostjan Golicic with 10 each.