Rögle Ängelholm added another chapter to their fairy-tale story in the Champions Hockey League on Tuesday night. The current SHL leaders beat four-time CHL champions Frölunda Gothenburg, inflicting their first-ever Semi-Finals defeat, and sealed their spot in this year’s Final! Not only that, but their outstanding sporting performances this year landed them the hosting rights for the big night!
Tuesday’s away game in Gothenburg was an intense night for both teams. Rögle had a two-goal aggregate score lead from last week’s First Game, but no goal difference can keep you safe for 60 minutes against such a strong team like Frölunda, especially when a place in the CHL Final is on the line.
But Rögle pulled it off and had another great game against their fellow countrymen. Netminder Christoffer Rifalk played the full 60 minutes in both Semi-Final games, we caught up with him to catch his thoughts.
I’m really enjoying the momentChristoffer Rifalk, Rögle Ängelholm
“It’s a great feeling, it's a huge deal,” started Rifalk, “we made history for the club, so I’m really enjoying the moment.”
As Rifalk approached the interviewer, he was greeted by chants from a healthy crowd of Rögle supporters who made the trip to Gothenburg to support their team. The fans stayed long after the game ended to really let the feeling of playing in the CHL Final on 1 March soak in. What does support like this feel like for a player?
“It’s amazing! I almost can’t hear your, the fans are really loud!” said the 25-year-old Sweden international.
Rifalk played a huge part in Rögle’s wins over Frölunda – he made 72 saves over the two games, only letting four hit the back of his net. His rock-solid goaltending gave Rögle the courage and space to push high up the ice and capitalise on Frölunda’s mistakes.
“They created a lot of chances, but we managed to ride them out and score on top of that. It was a really good effort from the whole team, we all fought really hard.”
But success against Frölunda isn’t something new to Rögle – in last season’s SHL playoffs, the two sides clashed in the quarter-finals, but before you could blink the series was over as Rögle cruised past Frölunda winning the series 4-0 in decisive fashion. What part of their game plan works so well against Frölunda?
It all just seems to workChristoffer Rifalk, Rögle Ängelholm
“It’s hard for me to tell,” said Rifalk, “we have a game plan when we face them, and it seems to work well. It’s important to analyse games – in a few days time we will face them in the SHL again, so we can’t get comfortable.”
The CHL Final will be played on 1 March and yesterday it was announced that Rögle will host the big night!
“It's going to be really fun. First of all, we have to wait and see which team we are going to face, but a Final is a Final - it's exciting.”
Rifalk is famed for his creative dance moves after big games and the fans were doing all they could during the entire interview to persuade him to show off a few, but there was none of that for Rifalk… or was there?
“I’m so stiff in my muscles right now so even if I wanted to dance, I can't tonight,” said Rifalk, but as he skated towards the locker rooms, he made a few twirls to thank the fans for their amazing support all night long.