Orli Znojmo, the Czech-based club in the Austrian EBEL, have finished tied for first place in the league's pre-playoff round-robin to qualify for next season's Champions Hockey League.

CHL News, quotes from Tomas Teply

Heading into the last day of play in the EBEL's "Pick Round", Znojmo were tied for second place with the Vienna Capitals with 17 points, trailing leaders Red Bull Salzburg by three points. All three games started at the same time and their scores fluctuated throughout the evening, meaning so did the projected order of finish.

Trailing 3–1 early in the third period, it appeared Znojmo would finish no better than third, but they rallied for three straight goals in a span of 2:08 to overtake visiting Dornbirner EC and win 4–3. Both Vienna and Salzburg ended up losing, meaning the three points land the Eagles into a first-place tie with Red Bulls. 

"When we went down 3–1, we didn't get down on ourselves. On the contrary, we were energized and showed what we can do as a team. We showed that we're ready for the playoffs," said Roman Tomas, who led Znojmo's offence with a hat-trick in the game, including the game-winning goal on a long shot from the blueline. 

On qualifying for the CHL, Tomas said that his team is "Overjoyed." He added, "A team with a small budget has earned its place among the big clubs. Not every team makes the Champions League, so that's something that should be appreciated."

This means that three of the league's four CHL entries are now known, with Znojmo joining founding members Salzburg and Vienna. The fourth will be whichever team other than those three advances the farthest in the upcoming playoffs.