The Vaxjo Lakers open the new CHL campaign at home against BK Mlada Boleslav, who lost their first game in Minsk.

The Vaxjo Lakers have made themselves one of Sweden's top team in recent years, advancing to the SHL semi-finals three years running and winning the championship in 2014-15. That hasn't translated to a lot of success in the CHL yet, however. They've yet to crack into the Sweet 16 in two tries, so that will be their aim this year, at least. Veteran forwards Geoff Platt and Olli Palola from the KHL are notable off-season additions to Sam Hallam's squad.

"We have really great respect for Mlada Boleslav, who made a quick trip to the top league. We saw how Linkoping was beaten by two Czech teams last week, so we have to really be on our toes. Since they lost in Minsk in their first group game, it's guaranteed they'll be out for revenge," said Hallam. "We have a good feeling about the group and enter a key phase in which we must maintain our focus and careful planning to see how we stand up."

As Hallam mentioned, Mlada Boleslav lost Group L's opening game on Tuesday in Minsk, but it wasn't due to lack of effort. They outshot Yunost 27-18 and got two goals from Jakub Osrava, but gave up a late power-play goal and lost 4-3. They'll need a better outcome in Sweden if they want to avoid coming home without any points. 

"The game in Minsk we have nothing to be ashamed of. It was decided by luck," Mlada Boleslav head coach Frantisek Vyborny declared. "I firmly believe that we just have to get it out of our heads and on Thursday we will start in Sweden with a blank slate from the beginning. It's a challenging experence, but a valuable one."