The Straubing Tigers have hit the ground running in their first-ever Champions Hockey League season. With Game Days 1-4 behind them, the German team have played their first four Group Stage games of the season and only have two Game Days left to win points.
Out of those four games, Straubing have won three and picked up nine points in total, meaning they are tied for first place with Group F rivals and reigning SHL champions Färjestad Karlstad.
Behind them are Villach SV of Austria, who Straubing will face across two games home-and-away in October, and Comarch Cracovia of Poland, who the Germans have beat twice already this season.
With nine points and the gap to the bottom two at six points, Straubing have a very good position from which to secure qualification for the CHL Playoffs but they still need maximum effort in their last two games.
“The fans bring so much of the atmosphere here, the place was going nuts"Straubing Tigers' Trenton Bourque
“It’s all been really exciting,” said Straubing’s Trenton Bourque, “the whole experience has been awesome, everyone has pretty high spirits at the moment.”
“The fans bring so much of the atmosphere here, the place was going nuts,” said the 24-year-old defenceman following their most recent victory at home, “they really helped us through the game, it was a big win.”
The game Bourque mentions was the club’s most recent – their Game Day 4 clash against Färjestad in front of their faithful home supporters.
Straubing beat the Swedes 5-2 to move up to them in the Group Stage standings whilst also exacting revenge for a 6-1 loss to Färjestad on Game Day 2.
“We played our game, sticked to the basics. 60 minutes of hard work with the team lead to the victory,” said Bourque.
Mark Zengerle, one of Straubing’s more experienced players, also chimed in: “This was a big win for us tonight. It was my best moment of the season so far.”
Zengerle mentioned that the Playoffs are firmly in their sights: “We want to advance to the Playoffs. We’ve got October in our sights and we’re looking forward to playing Villach to end the Group Stage.”
“It’s a good challenge, playing teams from different leagues, going to countries you’ve never played in."Straubing Tigers' Mark Zengerle
This is the club’s first season on Europe’s biggest club ice hockey stage and the players, and the fans, have only positive things to say about their debut season.
“It’s great for us to face all these other teams, see their structure, their game styles – we’re just trying to get better every game,” said Bourque.
“It’s a good challenge, playing teams from different leagues, going to countries you’ve never played in. I played last season with Berlin and it was really cool,” added Zengerle.
Straubing will return to CHL ice in early October to face Villach. First they will travel to Stadthalle Villach for their 4 October Game Day 5 game scheduled to start at 20:20 CEST, before ending the Group Stage at home against Villach on 11 October at 19:30 CEST.