Following an appearance in the 2021/22 Champions Hockey League Final, Tappara Tampere have once again fought their way through to the Semi-Finals and are just two games away from playing in the Final for a second year in a row.
“It’s a great accomplishment,” started Tappara goaltender Christian Heljanko, “I think among the players the value of these games has been rising through the years – CHL games are those that we’re truly waiting for.”
Playing on the pan-European stage offers teams the chance to square up against the best hockey teams on the continent.
“CHL games are always a great opportunity to test our level, it’s a great opportunity for all our players to play against these big teams – I am sure that our opponent now will be even tougher than the last one.”
In the previous round, the Quarter-Finals, Tappara beat reigning CHL Champions Rögle Ängelholm 5-1 in the Return Game to secure their place in the Top Four. The game had special meaning for both sides, as the Swedish team beat Tappara to the European Trophy in last year’s CHL Final.
“It was awesome to beat Rögle”Tappara Tampere’s Christian Heljanko
“Especially when you think about how we came back in the first leg. With bad luck it could’ve been a much tougher game for us,” he said.
“We got a few important goals and kept the keys to victory in our hands for the Return Game. There we played exactly like we needed to,” reminisced Heljanko.
Tappara, from the Finnish city of Tampere, have shown convincing performances all season long. Their trusted netminder can also see that they have a good thing going at the moment.
“We have been able to play solid games throughout our CHL season. We were ready from day one,” said the 25-year-old who has played in nine CHL games this season.
The Finnish international has made waves with his 94.81% Save Percentage, one of the best in the CHL in 2022/23, having let only 1.32 goals on average into his net per game.
“We’ve been able to squeeze the best out of the team”Tappara Tampere’s Christian Heljanko
“Looking back, it was a big steal that we took the win against Rapperswil, overcoming all the difficulties we had on the ice. Also, our narrow win against Davos was a huge one. We’ve been able to squeeze the best out of the team when needed,” summarised Chrisu, as he is nicknamed by many of Tappara’s devoted fans.
Tappara have been successful in the Finnish league over recent years, but now they have set their eyes on the top tier of European club ice hockey - the Champions Hockey League.
“In Liiga, we know pretty much exactly who we’re going to face, but for CHL games we need to do a lot more background work to learn about the opponents,” Heljanko mentioned.
The team are now preparing to face their next opponent – Swiss side EV Zug.
“On paper, Zug are as impressive as it gets in European ice hockey. The list of names on their roster is remarkable. We haven’t gone through their style of play or anything yet, but we’ve talked about the upcoming games a lot.”
“We are aware that the games are coming, and we need to be able to improve our game as we head towards the biggest game of the season at that point,” Heljanko promised.
Whether the Swiss team are favourites to go through to the Final or not, the situation suits Tappara in Heljanko’s opinion.
“I think it fits our plan that we go into the game as the underdogs – at least on paper. In most times, when that has been the case, we’ve been able to play well,” said the goaltender who has saved 219 shots this season, the most of any goalie in the competition.
“We will give it our all”Tappara Tampere’s Christian Heljanko
Tappara have been playing a lot of games lately, but Heljanko isn’t worried about motivation because each game in the CHL excites the gang.
“I don’t think we need to any extra boost for the games against Zug, we will give it our all!” he ended.
Tappara will host Zug in the Nokia Arena on Tuesday, 10 January at 17:30 CET, before travelling to Switzerland for the Return Game the following week for a game scheduled for Tuesday, 17 January at 20:15 CET.