It's been a long and twisty road to the 2024 Champions Hockey League Final for Swedish side Skellefteå AIK who are the closest they've ever been in eight seasons to lifting the European Trophy above their head - join us for a look back at their Road to the Final!

"We don't give up" Dylan Sikura, Skellefteå AIK

Three-time SHL champions Skellefteå entered their eighth season of elite European club ice hockey having made it all the way to their domestic playoffs finals and having finished in the Quarter-Finals in the 2022/23 season of the CHL.

They started their European campaign on 1 September with a 4-0 shutout win over Red Bull Salzburg at home - Rickard Hugg scored the club's first goal of the season.

Two more games in the Skellefteå Kraft Arena followed within the next week, a very close 3-4 loss to Czech side Dynamo Pardubice and a rather surprising 0-1 defeat to France's Rouen Dragons. Not the start they expected...

Beating the Champions on home ice

But a three-game road trip, including a much-anticipated clash with title-holders Tappara Tampere, flipped their luck completely, taking the Swedes out of the lower half of the Regular Season Standings and propelling them into the Top 5 and most importantly into the CHL Playoffs for the eighth time in a row!

The highlight of the Regular Season was their 5-3 smashing of Tappara, who are often seen as THE club to beat in Europe, with a spectacular team effort featuring five different scorers - which is something we would get used to with Skellefteå as the season progressed.

Dragon Slayers

The new competition format requires no Playoffs Draw which meant the Swedes knew they'd face a formidable Oceláři Třinec side, their second Czech opponent of the season at that point, right after the Regular Season Standings were finalised.

The two teams clashed in mid-November in Třinec and their crazy back-and-forth game was decided by Libor Hudáček within the final five minutes. Final score? 4-3 to Třinec, meaning the Swedes would head into the Return Game at a one-goal disadvantage.

Many saw Skellefteå out of the competition against the reigning Czech champions, but boy were they proved wrong when the Swedes put five into their net the following week. And only true Skellefteå fans remember the rogue fire alarm that went off in the final period - if you know, you know.

And how can we forget a Max Lindholm hattrick against the Dragons!

(Photo: Lukáš Filipec)

Familiar Foe

Facing Swedish teams in the CHL has become a thing for Skellefteå. A year after they were knocked out of the QFs by Frölunda Gothenburg, they were set to face Färjestad Karlstad with a spot in the Final Four up for grabs.

Just like in their First Game against Třinec, the team donning black and yellow jerseys fell 3-4 (and it could've been much worse hadn't it been for two late Skellefteå goals that kept the score within touching distance).

Return Game? Well, they wouldn't be in the Final if they hadn't have won so let's cut to the chase...

THAT goal...

D-man Oskar Nilsson was the star player of the game with two third-period goals to seal the deal on what was a dominant display of force against Färjestad. His second was an empty-netter, which sounds as interesting as a power break, but trust us - this is a must-watch!

And just like that, Skellefteå equalled their best showing in the pan-European competition since the inaugural season of 2014/15. Up next: Vítkovice Ridera, the Swedes' third Czech opponent of the season.

The First Game of their match-up saw Skellefteå travel to Ostrava and there they managed to take a two-goal lead in their series - the first time they'd done so all season.

Dylan Sikura, Pär Lindholm, Martins Dzierkals and 2023/24 LGT MVP Award Nominee Linus Lindström all scored on the night.

Holding on for dear life

The Return Game was in no way as glamorous as the two sides' encounter a week earlier but a sole goal from Elias Salomonsson early into the game proved crucial against a tough and physical Vítkovice side who came at the Swedes in wave after wave.

Great defensive work and solid goaltending were as key as ever on what was somewhat of a bittersweet night - making your first-ever CHL Final, yet moving through off the back of a very intense loss on home ice.