Ilves Tampere started their debut Champions Hockey League season with two games in the past four days.
Their first ended in defeat, as the Finns fell 2-3 to Swiss side Fribourg-Gottéron on Game Day 1. Then Ilves Tampere travelled to Salzburg to face 2022 ICE champions Red Bull Salzburg and were poised for a win until the Austrians scored a last-minute equaliser. But that didn’t prove an issue for Ilves as Joona Ikonen scored the OT winner to earn his side their first-ever win in the CHL.
“Those were our first real games of the season,” said Ilves team captain Eemeli Suomi, “some things that we have been practicing showed on the ice, but we still have ground to cover as the season goes on.”
As it is only early into the 2022/23 season and many of the teams competing only started training together a month or so ago, tavelling across Europe for CHL games can help a new group get to know each other on and off the ice better.
“This was a great trip. We have not been able to travel much due to covid and stuff, so the experience was much nicer than spending days at some Finnish sports academy for training camp. I enjoyed the trip a lot,” mentioned Suomi.
We will work hard and try to develop our game togetherIlves captain Eemeli Suomi
Ilves won the Liiga bronze medal last season. It was the first time they won a medal since 2001. After a successful season the team has obviously changed slightly – some players have left and some new faces have appeared, but according to Suomi the “team feels good”.
“We have only been together for a while, but it is good that we faced some tough opponents right away. The new guys have come in very well. We will work hard and try to develop our game together. We’ve got a good thing going on!” thinks Suomi.
Suomi also sees big value in international games in the CHL: “It is great to get such games before the Liiga season starts as the game here is a little different and helps us approach our national league regular season.”
Ilves is known to have a loud home crowd back in Tampere at the Nokia Arena and in the Hakametsä rink before that. When the team came to the ice to play at Salzburg, familiar chants to the Finnish players could be heard coming from the stands thanks to a big group of fans that made the trip from Finland to Austria to cheer on their favourite team.
“It was fantastic to see that this many fans had come to watch us play!” said the team captain, “I did not expect it to be in this scale. It was just like a home game for us. It was amazing.”
We aim to play two good hockey games this weekIlves captain Eemeli Suomi
CHL games will continue for Ilves this week as the club will meet Fribourg and Salzburg once again. This time the games will be played on Ilves’ home ice in the city of Tampere.
“It is great to be back in Tampere and play. We will try to do better than in these first two games. We aim to play two good hockey games this week,” ended Suomi.