Frölunda Gothenburg are a team that need no introduction to CHL fans. The Swedish outlet are the most successful team in CHL history and feature a line-up of players that seem to get better each and every year.

The eight-time qualifiers have never missed a CHL season since 2014/15 and regularly make it to the Final, but they somewhat deviated last season, dropping out to eventual winners Rögle Ängelholm in the Semi-Finals for the first time in three seasons.

This season they've been as strong as ever, picking up five wins and a sole loss in the Group Stage good for a total of 15 points. As usual, they've been especially strong going forward and have found the net a chart-topping 34 times, with both Ryan Lasch and Jere Innala making it onto the Top 10 Goalscorers leaderboard with five goals each.

Unsurprisingly, CHL legend and All-Time Top Scorer Ryan Lasch leads the team with an out-of-this-world 16 points (5G, 11A) in six games, whilst another six of his teammates have scored over a point per game so far this season. 

Frölunda have been equally as strong on the penalty kill, which has been operating at over 95% - good for second CHL-wide. 

The Swedes just need to keep their head down and continue with how they've been playing so far this season but a dark horse challenger in the form of Straubing can often be hard to read and predict.

The Straubing Tigers have been one of the biggest surprises of the season so far. The DEL club's top-level performances landed them top spot in a competitive Group F, beating the likes of 2022 SHL Champions Färjestad Karlstad to the position.

Top spot usually results in an easier draw in the Playoffs Draw due to seeding, but fate has been harsh to the newcomers, drawing them against one of the most feared teams of the competition.

Compared to their Round of 16 rivals, the Germans have scored 10 fewer goals, have a less effective penalty kill and have a worse Goal Difference (+13 to Frölunda's table-topping +18), but a stat that you can't miss is that of their man between the pipes - Hunter Miska.

The American-born netminder has been their go-to man to guard the net, having suited up for five games this season. He sits on a 91.97% Save Percentage, having made 126 saves and even recorded a shutout against Comarch Cracovia on Game Day 1, easily placing him among the Top 3 goaltenders of the Group Stage.

Leading the team in scoring has been Taylor Leier, who has been superb so far this season, finding the back of the net six times!

Teammates Luke Adam and Sandro Schönberger have both scored four, while Mark Zengerle has provided a team-leading six assists.

With stats like this and a solid man in net, Straubing can properly challenge Frölunda over the two games!