Read below for information on the quarter-final series between Frolunda Gothenburg and Lulea Hockey. Frolunda won on aggregate 8–7 in a shootout to advance to the semi-finals.

Preview

This highly anticipated quarter-final features to teams that have become very familiar with each other over the past couple of years, Frolunda Gothenburg and Lulea Hockey. They met 13 times during the 2014–15 season – five regular-season SHL games, seven more in a thrilling playoff series and of course, a memorable Champions Hockey League Final, in which Frolunda scored two early goals but Lulea rallied for four in the third to win in front of a sold out and rocking Coop Norrbotten Arena. So far this season they've met twice, with Frolunda winning both – 4–2 in Lulea in the second game of the season and 4–3 on home ice one week before the start of the CHL quarter-final.

After the success of last season, both clubs have high expectations this season – Lulea want to repeat as champions and Frolunda want to take that one last step that they missed – and have both impressed so far this year. But only one of them will go beyond this point.

Lulea finished 1st in Group K with 8 points thanks to two regulation victories over Lukko Rauma – they managed only an overtime win and a loss against Fribourg-Gotteron. They drew fellow Swedish club Farjestad Karlstad in the Round of 32 and won 3–0 in Karlstad but then blew that three-goal aggregate lead on home ice, needing a goal midway through the third period by Brendan Mikkelsson to advance. Up next were IFK Helsinki, who were tough on their home ice and won 2–1. Lulea were much stronger in the return leg, however, winning 5–0.

Frolunda were also 1st in their group, finishing with a perfect 12 points in Group N, although after opening with a 9–1 win over the Sheffield Steelers, the remaining three group games against the Steelers and JYP Jyvaskyla were close. In the knockout stages, the Indians have made a habit of digging themselves a hole in the first leg and then climbing their way out in the second. First they fell 4–2 in Ingolstadt before rallying a week later on home ice to tie the aggregate score in the dying seconds courtesy defenceman Lukas Bengtsson. Then in overtime, Ryan Lasch scored a highlight-reel goal to win it. In the next round Frolunda lost 2–1 in Litvinov, then rebounded with a big 6–0 win on home ice. In the quarter-finals, they will again start on the road, but will try to keep their heads above water this time and make life easier for themselves in the return leg back home.  

In the SHL Frolunda are 1st and Lulea mired in 10th, but these two teams start on even ground in the CHL quarter-finals. Frolunda have beaten Lulea a few times since their defeat in the CHL Final in February, but still want this victory to complete their revenge. Lulea, meanwhile, are the reigning European champions and won't give up their crown without a fight. It begins on 1 December in northern Sweden, then concludes a week later in southwestern Sweden. Both games start at 20:00 CET. 

Closer look: Frolunda Gothenburg

(6-0-0-2, 18 points, 33:12)

The most successful period in Frolunda's seven decades of playing hockey was the early 2000s, when they won two Swedish titles in three years – they had also previously won once in 1965. With stars on the team such as goaltender Henrik Lundqvist and centre Daniel Alfredsson (playing back on the team of his youth during the 2004–05 NHL lockout), Frolunda have gained a reputation as Europe's best exporter of talent – a claim goes back to the days when the club produced Swedish NHL pioneers Ulf Sterner and Thommie Bergman. The team continues to be a talent factory, and as recently as 2014, eight Frolunda players were chosen in the NHL Entry Draft. 

For the last decade, Frolunda have consistently been in the Swedish Hockey League's upper echelon, but a fifth title has managed to escape them. They've finished second in the regular season each of the past two years, but came up short of the league finals both times. And of course, they made it to the CHL final and had a two-goal lead with a period to go, but let it slip through their fingers. This year they mean business. That's evident from the start to the domestic season, and the way they've advanced through the CHL, overcoming all sorts of obstacles by getting big goals when they need them. 

A key to Frolunda's great offence is their power play, which has struck a CHL-leading 18 times so far, which accounts for more than half of their goals. Blessed with a wealth of attacking talent, Frolunda have four players in the top 12 CHL point scorers in Lasch, Artturi Lehkonen, Andreas Johnson and defenceman Henrik Tommernes. Domestically they have been just as dominant, losing only three of their first 21 games while out-scoring SHL opponents 82–43 to put themselves atop the standings.  

Ryan

Lasch

5+6, +3

 

Top Forward & CRAMO Top Scorer: When Frolunda lost CHL MVP centre Mathis Olimb in the off-season, they needed to replace the offence he produced and former TPS winger Ryan Lasch has done just that. The 28-year-old American leads the team in SHL scoring and also leads the whole CHL, and made the difference in Frolunda's Round of 32 victory over Ingolstadt, scoring the overtime-winner on a spectacular indivudual effort. As well, Lulea know what kind of threat he is to score, with 2 goals in the first meeting between these teams this season. But on a team full of dangerous scorers, other players to watch out for are Swede Andreas Johnson, Canadian Spencer Abbott, and Finn Artturi Lehkonen.

 

Henrik

Tommernes

3+6, +4

 

Top Defenceman: After failing getting a spot in Vancouver Canucks for two seasons, 25-year-old Henrik Tommernes has returned to the club where he started his professional career and spent five seasons before he went to North America. He’s a great all-round d-man with a great offensive mind. He scored a hat-trick (+1 assist) in the 9–1 win against the Sheffield Steelers and was the club's top scorer in the group stage with 8 points. He's only recorded 1 assist so far in the four games vs Ingolstadt and Litvinov, but has continued to play solidly in his own end. He scored a big power-play goal to tie last Tuesday's game with Lulea late in the second period.

 

Lars

Johansson

93.40 %

 

Top Goaltender: 28-year-old Lars Johansson is starting his third season in Frolunda Gothenburg and has really gotten to prove that he deserves starting goalie job. The two previous seasons he and Linus Fernstrom pretty much split the job, alternating almost every game, but Johansson managed to out-compete Fernstrom in the playoffs and became the starter. This season he’s battling with former U20 World Champion (2012) and Senior World Champion (2013) Johan Gustafsson, who's back in Sweden after two seasons in North America. Johansson has started six CHL games so far and has won all six with a 93.40 save percentage and 1.15 goals-against average. He will most likely start at least one of the games, if not both, against Lulea.

Click here for team statistics.

 

Closer look: Lulea Hockey

(4-1-0-3, 14 points, 24:14)

After forming in 1977 and advancing to the top Swedish league in 1984, Lulea's best period of success domestically was a five-year period in the mid-1990s when they made the finals three times, including their lone national championship in 1996. Since that time, they have made just one trip to the finals and that was in 2013 when they fell to regional rivals Skelleftea AIK.

In this season's Swedish Hockey League they have hovered around the middle of the pack, still with a chance of moving up but also looking over their shoulders to avoid falling out of playoff position. However, they've shown in the past that they tend to come through when the pressure's on, especially in international competition.

Playing against Europe's best is where this club from the far north of Sweden has really made its mark. Of course they won the Champions Hockey League last year in which they repeatedly beat the odds – overcoming a five-goal aggregate deficit against Red Bull Salzburg in the eigth-finals, beating the hated and powerful Skelleftea club, the two-time reigning SHL champions at the time, in the semi-finals, and then famously coming from behind with four third-period goals to topple Frolunda in the final. Prior to that, they were also a dominant force in CHL's forerunner, the European Trophy, which Lulea won in 2012 and finished third in 2011.

The team still has several holdovers from last year's European championship club, including goaltender Joel Lassinantti, and has added several other veteran pieces to try to take another run at the prize.  

Jacob

Micflikier

6+3, +4

 

Top Forward & CRAMO Top Scorer: With 6 goals and 3 assists in eight games, Jacob Micfliker has been a major factor in Lulea's CHL season so far. Lining up with Jacob Lagace and Bill Sweatt, they make one of the best offensive lines in the CHL so far. A former Linkoping forward who played in the CHL last year, Micflikier's strong play at both ends of the rink has been a welcome addition to the team in its quest to repeat as European champions. In the SHL he has 13 points in 21 games, and scored a goal in last Tuesday's game vs Frolunda. Toni Rajala, Lucas Wallmark and Johan Harju are the team's top three domestic scorers.

 

Brendan

Mikkelson

2+3, +4

 

Top Defenceman: Losing a top defenceman like Kristian Nakyva is painful for any team. Luckily for Lulea, others have risen in Nakyva's absence. One of those is former NHLer Brendan Mikkelson, who leads the team in scoring among defencemen in both the CHL and SHL. His experience has been an asset to Lulea so far, and he helped get the team going offensively against Farjestad, scoring the opening goal of Game 1 in Karlstad, and then scored his team's only goal of Game 2 midway through the third period, which turned out to be the aggregate-winner. 

 

Joel

Lassinantti

91.30 %

 

Top Goaltender: This one is a real no-brainer. Joel Lassinantti is the best goalie in the Lulea Hockey organization. Last season he was among the very best in the SHL, and all of Europe got to see that when he helped backstop his team over some very strong opponents, including Frolunda in the final. In that game, some big saves while his team was down 2–0, particularly on a breakaway from Artturi Lehkonen, to keep it within reach before the big comeback. Despite this, there are some who say that Lassinannti still has another level to his game that he hasen't shown us yet. It will probably take top-flight netminding for Lulea to get past one of Europe's top teams.

 

Click here for team statistics.