Among the extra-league representatives in the table, the best, ninth Vítkovice will face Lahti again. Defenders Jordán and F. Král and forwards Horký and Bareš met the Finnish vice-champion, whose jersey is also worn by four compatriots, in the regular season and lost to him 0:4 in September. “At that time, we were undisciplined and the opponent used power plays,” described coach Miloš Holaň.
The Vítkovic team are now on a winning streak, while the Pelicans are currently second to last in the domestic competition after a series of four defeats in October. “It will be played in a month, nothing can be concluded from the current form. We have to get the most out of the hockey register,” forward Dominik Lakatoš realizes.
Pardubice dropped to the starting 11th position with a 2:3 defeat in Belfast. “The easily gained two-goal lead rocked us,” explained defender Jan Kolář, who scored for the first time in the season. “We weren’t well set in our heads, there was a lot of outnumbering,” lamented Martin Kaut, the scorer of the first goal.
Dynamo will face Ilves Tampere in the round of 16. Currently, the fourth team of the Finnish league with five legionnaires (goalkeeper J. Málek, defender Mašín and forwards Kodýtek, Kos and Š. Stránský) already lost 1:3 at home in the regular season. “We have something to give back to our opponent, there is certainly something to learn from,” Kolář realized.
Třinec will play against the currently second team of the Swedish league. In addition, Skelleftea deprived Ocelář of participating in the playoffs a year ago. “Now we are one lap further and we don’t want to stop. I would say that the team is getting better and hopefully we will show it,” said forward Libor Hudáček, who dominated the scoring in the regular season with a score of 4+6.
Hockey Champions League: Round of 16: TŘINEC–Skelleftea PARDUBICE–Ilves Tampere VÍTKOVICE–Lahti Rapperswil–MannheimIngolstadt–VäxjöInnsbruck–RaumaBiel–FärjestadMunich–Geneva
The playing days of the first round of the playoffs are November 14 and 15, the second leg is scheduled for a week later.