Five teams take part in the Quarterfinals for the very first time this season. After Brynäs IF and JYP Jyväskylä, the other three are all Czech.

Champions Kometa Brno have made this stage in their first Champions Hockey League adventure; however, the other two sides have previous competition experience – but never to this stage.

“It’s really prestigious moment for the club, it’s something very special to be among the top eight teams of Europe,” said LGT Top Scorer Martin Bakoš of Bílí Tygři Liberec. “But all this doesn’t mean we’re satisfied, we want to go further and I believe we have what it takes.”

The White Tigers take on Swiss giants ZSC Lions Zurich, and Bakoš knows what they have to do. “We have to get a good result at home and then we’ll fight for the next round in Zurich. As they always say, we have to score at least one more goal than them. I believe we have a real chance to make it through, we want to make our fans happy.”

With only eight teams left in the competition, do minds start to focus on the big prize in February? “It doesn’t make much sense to think about how far we could get, we have to focus on Zurich right now. We expect two very difficult games in which we want to win. I believe the team could make it very far, but first, we have to make the first step this Tuesday.”

Meanwhile, Oceláři Třinec missed out on the CHL last season, but now back in the competition have seen off two SHL teams and look to go further. Check out what Martin Růžička had to say!