- Both teams lost their opening games on Friday
- Berlin have made the CHL Round of 16 twice
- Brno made the CHL Quarter-Finals last year
Having lost their opening games on Friday night, both of these teams will want to put some points on the board in this game to avoid falling too far behind the pack. That goes especially true for Eisbären Berlin, who don’t want to come away with no points from two home games.
While this will be the first meeting between these teams in the Champions Hockey League, they did meet a pair of times in the European Trophy, With Eisbären winning 6-1 in Berlin in 2012 and Kometa winning 2-1 in a shootout in Brno in 2013.
Die Eisbären are surely disappointed with squandering a 3-1 lead on home ice against EV Zug, giving up three straight powerplay goals and then a shorthanded empty-netter to lose 5-3.
“We took too many bad penalties and that’s been going on since the start of training camp … Brno have been the Czech champions for the last two years, which says a lot about the strength of their team.”Clément Jodoin (Head Coach, Eisbären Berlin)
Kometa also lost by two goals in their opener – falling down 2-0, rallying with two quick goals in the second period to tie it before conceding two more for a 4-2 final. Despite being the favoured team, they found out that Grodno is not an easy place for a visiting team to play and neither is Wellblechpalast, where Berlin’s home games are being played during the Group Stage.
“Just like our club, Berlin has great fan support with a beautiful arena and a high-quality team. The games will be definitely very interesting for both teams and I believe also for a great atmosphere from both sides.”Libor Zábranský (Head Coach, GM & Owner, Kometa Brno)