Tappara Tampere will host Red Bull Salzburg in their opening Champions Hockey League game expected to take place on October 6. The match-up is expected to be a tough one, given the quality both sides possess, the prior history they share and their extensive CHL experience.
Tappara, who won Liiga back-to-back between 2015 and 2017, suit up for their seventh straight CHL season, while Salzburg have competed in all but the last season and last won the ICE Hockey League in 2016. Similarly, the two teams also achieved second-place rankings in their respective National league Regular Seasons to earn CHL Qualification for 2020/21. Tappara finished just behind Kärpät Oulu in Liiga, while Salzburg finished second to Italian side HC Bolzano in the ICE Hockey League.
Both sides have already met in the CHL – during the 2017/18 season, they faced each other in Group A. Tappara beat the Austrians twice: 6:1 at the Eisarena Salzburg, and 4:2 at Hakametsä Stadium to top the group with 15 points, whilst Salzburg finished in second-place with nine. They both qualified for the Playoffs, but, sadly, both Tappara and Salzburg were eliminated in the very first round.
“We are here to win.”Red Bull Salzburg Head Coach Matt McIlvane
Both sides clearly understand what they are up against: “We drew a tough, experienced opponent with very good top players. Starting with knock-out games immediately at an early stage, we must be successful in our preparation for the season in order to advance from the first round,” said Tappara Head Coach Jussi Tapola. Last season, Tappara started in Group A and despite experiencing some early struggles made it through the Group Stage and onto the Round of 16. But that was where their run ended that year, as they were unable to overcome Swiss team EV Zug and progress further to the Quarter-Finals.
The absence of the CHL Group Stage this season is a notable difference for both teams: “It's a huge change,” explained Tapola, “especially if we don’t get to play many national league games before the CHL knock-outs. Previously, the CHL Group Stage has played a very important role in getting the team prepared for the challenges ahead,” still, their goal is clear for Tappara’s Head Coach.
Red Bull Salzburg’s Head Coach Matt McIlvane is equally pensive about the format, “I think the biggest difference between not playing the Group Stage and moving right into the knockout stage is the quality of teams you get to play. It’s fun playing against a lot of different teams. Obviously with the corona situation we understand the change, but we are going into any game with the same mentality, where you prepare to win, so whether Group Stage or knockout stage, I think that part doesn’t change too much.”
“Our goal is to win the CHL.”Tappara Tampere Head Coach Jussi Tapola
League format aside, McIlvane has taken care to evaluate his Finnish opponents: “We know Tappara is a very well-organized club, and they have a long history of great success. We have watched them a bit with pre-scouting for Champions Hockey League over the years and know they are a very high-quality opponent.”
It’s all business for the 34-year-old Illinois native, who is entering his second season as Head Coach of Salzburg: “When we enter any season, be it our league season or the Champions Hockey League season, we have the same goal; we go in it to win. We realize what a great tournament it is and we know how big that task is, but when we enter the CHL our message to our guys is that we are here to win.”
Red Bull Salzburg, who were founded in 1995, last participated in the 2018/19 CHL season, where they had a dream run slaying the Rouen Dragons in the Round of 16, followed by ousting the top ranked Finnish team, Kärpät Oulu, in the Quarter-Finals. But it would be Red Bull Munich who would quash their chances of going any further in the Semi-Finals.
After a one-year absence from the CHL there is much to look forward to for Salzburg, “playing in the Champions Hockey League is a huge honor. Part of our goal is to be on the international stage and we don’t take that lightly at all. It is a real fun league for fans because they get to see a high quality of hockey, and especially this year, we have gone through so much in a ‘corona’ world that it would be great to have the CHL back,” affirmed McIlvane.
In Tappara the excitement is building up for their first 2020/21 CHL season game. When asked about his view on playing in the CHL and what it means for the club and its fans, Tapola was adamant, “it means a very tough international competition with great contacts throughout Europe. Great mutual experiences are essential to a team and its players. The appreciation and contributions towards the league are getting bigger every year.”
Fans can look forward to seeing Europe’s elite hockey league resume, and catch these two powerhouse teams in action, on Tuesday, October 6 at 18:00 CEST.