Champions Hockey League: These are the opponents of EC Red Bull Salzburg and Hydro Fehervar AV19
Start on Thursday Red Bull Salzburg against the Stavanger Oilers and Fehervar against the ZSC lions – and with it the preview of these two clubs:
Red Bull Salzburg (Group E)
Stavanger Oilers (NOR), HC Fribourg-Gottéron (SUI), Ilves Tampere (FIN)
The Red Bulls from Salzburg, regular CHL guests, naturally want to make people forget last year’s elimination against Rouen – the only drop of bitterness in an otherwise sovereign season. To do this, however, it is necessary to survive the group phase, with the Swiss representative Freiburg only played in October.
die Stavanger Oilers are a well-known opponent in Austria, as they always spend their summer camp in Slovenia and meet ICE opponents such as Heuer Villach and the Vienna Capitals. Ex-Graz coach Todd Björkstrand led the Oilers to the championship title last year after the playoffs were canceled twice earlier.
Not too much has changed compared to the previous season – Colton Beck is well known from the three new legionnaires through his work in Dornbirn. He presented himself there exactly as expected: good speed and attitude, some finish but not a player who can take a line to a higher level himself. Paul Bittner came from Düsseldorf, while Bryce Gervais spent last season after two in the DEL2 in the AHL at Rossi-Klub Iowa Wild.
Dan Kissel, on the other hand, has been a reliable offensive guarantor for years. The story of Greg Mauldin (formerly Zagreb) is rather unusual: he was already working as a coach for the US association before he returned to Stavanger in February and is still with the game at the age of 40. The only foreigner on the defensive is Martin Lefebvre, good on the power play, rather soft in a tackle. He returns to the Oilers after the Bratislava Capitals were eliminated.
In addition to these six guest workers, Björkstrand naturally has a solid local core at its disposal, such as the two dangerous wingers Christoffer Karlsen and Tommy Kristiansen and defender Andreas Klavestad. Goalie Henrik Holm had strong numbers in Fjordkraft Ligaen, but is usually only number 3 in the national team.
The Oilers will – Björkstrand guarantees – present themselves as a powerful and compact team. Of course, Salzburg has to start with a home win on Thursday in order to even be able to think about promotion.
Ilves Tampere managed the turnaround after years of hardship – the team was on the verge of bankruptcy. A group of financiers including NHL goalie Tuukka Rask took the helm and things have been picking up since, although Tappara remains the town’s top dog.
After third place in the previous season (there is actually a “small final” in the Liiga), some players dropped out, including tall national hero Marko Anttila (Kärpät) and striker Nick Baptiste (Kölner Haie). But with Defender Jyrki Jokipakka, a man with NHL experience came back after five years in the KHL. Also new: Defensive defender Kevin Czuczman, who at the age of 31 dares to make the leap from the AHL to Europe for the first time.
The stars of the team are on the attack: 37-year-old Petri Kontiola is still one of the smartest playmakers in the country. Captain Eemeli Suomi came from his own (always strong) youth, has been loyal to Ilves for years and is a constant offensive guarantor.
The line-up of goalkeepers is interesting: Marek Langhamer is Czech, as is his deputy Jakub Malek, who moved to Tampere today from the second Czech division. The third foreign man in the group is the 21-year-old Russian Vadim Zherenko.
Fehervar AV19 (Group D)
Rögle BK (SWE), ZSC Lions (SUI), Katowice (POL)
Like Olimpija Ljubljana, Fehervar AV19 is also starting for the first time as a representative of a smaller ice hockey nation at the CHL start, but unlike the Slovenians, it plays its way through a strong season. Also this year the Hungarians should belong to the top ICE teams again. With GKS Katowice the simplest group opponent awaits in October, Rögle BK and the ZSC Lions are completely different calibers at the beginning.
NL finalist ZSC lions gets to know the noisy but rather antiquated hall in Szekesfehervar on Thursday. Last year’s NL finalist hit the legionnaires market hard in the summer: Mikko Lehtonen earned his ruble in St. Petersburg last season and has been one of the best defenders outside of the NHL for years. His two-year contract in Zurich is undoubtedly one of the highest in the league.
Only recently added: Center Alexandre Texier. The Frenchman was only recently suspended by the Columbus Blue Jackets but it was only a formality. He wanted to return to Europe after deaths in his family, so the Blue Jackets retain his contractual rights.
Also coming from Columbus without such subtleties: Defender Dean Kukan. Also directly from the NHL: The Finn Juho Lammikko, who last acted in a bottom six role with the Vancouver Canucks. Like Lehtonen, Lucas Wallmark comes directly from the KHL (CSKA Moscow), the same applies to goalie Simon Hrubec (Avangard Omsk). Confirmed by last year’s legionnaires: Justin Azevedo and Garrett Roe, both now 34 years old.
Local top executives such as Sven Andrighetto, Denis Hollenstein and Yannik Weber also join Kukan, who also underline the overall impression that money is made available by means of the printing press, as is so often the case in the Netherlands. Coach Rikard Grönborg, who has had one eye on the NHL for years, was under pressure to succeed in what might be his last season in Zurich.
Roegle BK is one of the Swedish teams best known in Austria. The main reason for this: Marco Kasper finished eighth in the NHL Entry Draft there last season. The Detroit Red Wings immediately give him the usual entry level deal, but leave him in Sweden for one more season. In the preparatory games, the man from Klagenfurt was also consistently used as a center, which should probably also be the case on Saturday in Szekesfehervar.
Rögle dominated the SHL regular season last season, but was eliminated in the semi-finals by eventual champion Färjestad. GM Chris Abbott (twin brother Cam is behind the gang) again put together an interesting mix of legionnaires (eight) and young locals today, in addition to Kasper there are ten other cracks NHL properties. Perhaps the most interesting of these, even if he only came from Karlstad in the summer: center Theodor Niederbach, drafted like Kasper by the Red Wings. Goalie Calle Clang was loaned out by the Anaheim Ducks for one more season after Rögle and should continue to stabilize there after a good first season.
For the Legionnaires, Abbott lured goalgetter Riley Sheen to Sweden after an incredible year at Bietigheim. In contrast to group opponents ZSC Lions, the foreigners at Rögle have on average far more modest CVs: center Brady Ferguson (going into his third season) was an NHL/AHL borderliner. Defender Michael Kapla, who came from Skelleftea, only played his way up the Allsvenskan from a similar role.
In this group, the roles of favorites are clearly divided, anything but a rise of Zurich and Rögle would be a huge sensation.
Note: This article first appeared on laola1.at