With just eight teams remaining in the 2021/22 Champions Hockey League, it’s a two-leg affair to remain in the competition as Tappara Tampere and the Rouen Dragons meet in the Quarter-Finals.
Tappara rid themselves of past demons by finally progressing further than the Round of 16, after a tied first game against the Växjö Lakers, Tappara won the second game by a score of 4-2 to book their place in the final eight. If they’re to keep their season alive and go on even further, then they’ll once again be looking to the likes of Kristian Kuusela who has been one of the premier playmakers in this year's tournament.
Despite no goals to his name, the veteran forward has a whopping ten assists in the CHL this year, the second most in the competition, while the team have done a good job of sharing around the goalscoring duties, with four players tied for the most on the team with three goals each.
For the Rouen Dragons, they’re the first ever French side to make it this far in the competition, and they’ll be hoping to extend their run even further. Despite losing the second game of their Round of 16 clash with Red Bull Salzburg, a goal from Rolands Vigners in the final ten minutes was the only thing that separated the sides at the end of the Round of 16, with Rouen taking a 4-3 win overall.
Now as the team prepare for their meeting with Tappara, they’ll also have a playmaker to look to in Loïc Lampérier who has seven assists on the year, but while they have shared the goalscoring around in a similar fashion to their opponents, Vigners' goal against Salzburg was his fifth of the campaign, and he’ll be looking for more as Rouen prepare to extend what has been a great season of European hockey for the French club.