Two debuting teams – Frisk Asker and EHC Biel-Bienne, have only scored 4 goals between them, but both have taken to the CHL differently. Biel-Bienne enter their second week of CHL hockey with two home wins and joint top of Group A. Their debut saw them put 2 past Frisk Asker in a 2-1 win. They had three times as many shots on goal, less penalty minutes and were overall more threatening in the game. Their second saw them take on 6-time CHL participants Tappara Tampere. The intense matchup went down to the final minutes still goalless but with just 68 second to go, Damien Riat scored the decider and secured all three points for his time in a very unexpected result. Biel-Bienne’s goalie Jonas Hiller, who shutout the Finnish giants making 40 saves, was the star of the match.

The sole representatives of Norway, Frisk Asker, have struggled in the competition so far only and have only managed to score a single goal. Their first two away games saw them travel to Switzerland to face EHC Biel-Bienne and Austria to face KAC Klagenfurt. A big talking point of their 3-0 defeat to KAC were penalty minutes – Frisk Asker racked up 22 penalty minutes and offered KAC 9 powerplays, from which 2 of the 3 goals on the night came from. Discipline in general has been hindering their results, as in their debut against Biel-Bienne, the first goal of the game came from a powerplay.

The matchup in Norway most probably won’t turn out to be a goal fest, but with Frisk Asker wanting to desperately win in their home debut and gain their first points of the season, it will offer some high paced, physical and intense hockey.