Ahead of the start of the upcoming Champions Hockey League season, we asked the Head Coaches of the Aalborg Pirates' six Regular Season opponents what their thoughts are on the Danish team - here's what they had to say!
Tappara Tampere Head Coach Rikard Grönborg: “The Danish champions. Danish hockey has been making big steps in the last few years, producing professional players all over the world. The league is competitive. Danish players in general are well educated and are good team players.”
Lukko Rauma Head Coach Tomi Lämsä: “One of the most successful teams in their domestic league: three years in a row in the finals, reigning Danish champions. It will be interesting to compete against this top-level Danish team. Their loud home crowd will not make our trip to Denmark any easier, no doubt.”
HC Innsbruck Head Coach Mitch O’Keefe: “The Danish champions and also the longest trip for our club dur- ing the season. We need to go there with a very competitive mindset. I believe it will be a very competitive game because it is a very hard rink to win in.”
Växjö Lakers Head Coach Jörgen Jönsson: “Aalborg are a top team from Denmark who have won the championship two times in a row with a team full of players who possess a lot of experience from the Danish national team.”
Färjestad Karlstad Head Coach Tomas Mitell: “I don’t know a lot about Aalborg, but what I do know is that Danish ice hockey is going places. Their national team are getting better and better, so even if we might be favourites in this game, we take nothing for granted.”
Oceláři Třinec Head Coach Zdeněk Moták: “The Aalborg Pirates defended their title in Denmark, which means a lot. They are a very strong team - they managed to defeat Sparta in the CHL last year, and they will definitely want to make an impression when playing at our home arena.”
Find out more about the Aalborg Pirates in the video below!