- Winner qualifies for Playoffs while loser must hope for other results to go his way
- Tappara Tampere won CHL last season
- Biel-Bienne have lost last three CHL games, Tappara's lost last two
It doesn't get much bigger than this: the winner of EHC Biel-Bienne vs. Tappara Tampere has a sure place in the 2023/24 Champions Hockey League Playoffs while the loser will be left in limbo, hoping that results from around Europe go their way.
You may be wondering what has gotten the reigning CHL Champions and best team in Finland of 2/3 past seasons into this position and the short answer is: no one is quite sure. The Finns have a solid 22+% Powerplay efficiency and an even better 90+% Penalty Kill efficiency, having let only two goals in while a man down.
They've also been strong in other aspects, for instance, their near-55% Face-off win % is one of the better percentages league-wide and with a shutout to his name and over 92% Save percentage in five games played, Christian Heljanko has been his usual self in net for the Finnish powerhouse club.
Tappara have scored goals and won games (3/5), but poor third periods and discipline have made a lot of unnecessary work for them late into games, and cost them crucial points. With the final game of the Regular Season and with so much on the line, Head Coach Rikard Grönborg will have to rally the team and re-find their clinical game management from their dominating 2022/23 season.
On the flip side, Biel-Bienne are also in a rather surprisingly tough position. The Swiss team won their opening two games of the season in convincing fashion but it's all gone downhill from there, both in the CHL and domestically where Biel-Bienne sit 11th with just three wins in 12 games played....
In the CHL, their main issue has been poor defence, goaltending and powerplay efficiency (just over 14%). They're also on a negative Goal Difference, whereas Tappara sport a +4 in that category. Only two players are on more than a point per game which is a huge drop off for a team that scored nine goals in two games at the very start of the season.
With Playoff qualification on the line, it's good that they managed to finally break their seven-game losing streak on Friday and have the weekend off before they host Tappara in the Tissot Arena. And with the home game advantage, they could pull this one off!