Helping to kick off this iteration of the Champions Hockey League is a battle between Finnish challengers Tappara Tampere, who are set for their 11th CHL appearance, and Czech side Bílí Tygři Liberec. Tappara captured the national championship in Finland's Liiga, defeating KooKoo Kouvola to take their 21st title in club history and earn their place among Europe's elite for the 2026/27 CHL season, while Liberec finished their season in the Czech Extraliga in third place and will be suiting up for their sixth CHL season.

The Czechs had a steady string of CHL qualifications in the early going of the pan-European competition, but have missed the last five campaigns. Of their five previous iterations, they managed to qualify for the Playoffs three times and made it as far as the Semi-Finals during the 2017/18 season, where they lost to the Växjö Lakers. Now, after a solid effort in their domestic league, Liberec are back and well aware of the task in front of them. Sport Director Michal Birner made mention as such, saying, "You don't get any easy opponents in the CHL!"

Meanwhile, Tappara, one of the most successful and most ambitous teams in Europe, are also returning to CHL action following a very brief break and are looking forward to their opposition in the Regular Season, according to Sport Director Janne Vuorinen, who noted, "I think we were lucky with a really good draw." The last time the Finns played, their season was cut a bit short in the Round of 16, where they failed to take down eventual Finalists of the season Färjestad Karlstad. Nevertheless, it's been three seasons since Tappara were crowned European Champions, so expectations for the club are high for the Finns to get their season off to the best of starts.