Bílí Tygři Liberec and the Frölunda Indians are two teams that have become used to success over the past few years but have underperformed so far this season, domestically at least. They have both, nonetheless, made it to the Champions Hockey League’s Round of 16, with the first game to be played in Liberec.
The White Tigers were the Czech champions in 2015/16 and last season finished first in the regular season before losing in the league finals to Kometa Brno. In the CHL, this is their third straight appearance in the Round of 16, and they’re now looking to advance beyond for the first time. While they played reasonably well in this year’s group stage to finish second in Group E, they have underperformed so far in the Extraliga, where they currently sit 11th in the 14-team circuit. However, they head into the international break winners of three of their last four.
Individually, goaltender Roman Will has been their backbone, appearing in all but one game in both the Extraliga and the CHL. Martin Bakoš was their top scorer in the CHL group stage with eight points in five games, while Michal Bulíř leads the team domestically with 10 points in 16 games.
“It's a skilled team with both veteran and young talent. Liberec has a good defence, quick counter-attack and technically skilled players,” said Frölunda video coach Erik Lignell. "They made Växjö tough in the group stage and many teams, including us, have had a hard time against Czech teams, especially down there. We expect a tough game and we will need to play well.”
The Indians have won the last two CHL titles and they’ve kept rolling along in the European championship this season, winning all six group-stage games to extend their CHL-record winning streak to 16. However, they have not been quite as successful in the Swedish Hockey League this season. Although they beat Linköping HC 4-0 on Saturday, they had lost their previous two domestic contests and they currently sit right in the middle of the league – seventh place out of 14 teams.
Last season, John Gustafsson was Frölunda’s main man between the pipes but so far this season he has been outperformed by 25-year-old SHL rookie Johan Mattsson. Mattsson turned in a 27-save shutout against Linköping and his numbers in both the SHL and CHL are outstanding. The Indians are led offensively by returning American Ryan Lasch, the 2015/16 CHL Top Scorer and MVP who currently leads the team domestically with 16 points in 14 games and topped the whole CHL group stage with 12 points in five games.