Ahead of the start of the upcoming Champions Hockey League season, we asked the Head Coaches of Vítkovice Ridera's six Regular Season opponents what their thoughts are on the Czech team - here's what they had to say!
Red Bull Munich Head Coach Toni Söderholm: “I expect a very good opponent. Their style of play is unpleasant. We’ve seen that in the CHL with other Czech teams. They are technically well trained and strong on breakaways.”
Rapperswil-Jona Lakers Stefan Hedlund: “Vítkovice are a very fast Czech team with a great transition game. They lost in their playoff semi-finals to Mountfield HK. Robert Bukarts was their top scorer last season.”
EHC Biel-Bienne Head Coach Petri Matikainen: "Vitkovice play in the Czech Extraliga and are a traditional team in Czech hockey. The Czech Extraliga is one of the best leagues in Europe and the hockey is fast and skilful. Many Czech NHL players are returning home after successful NHL careers to play for a few more years in this league. It will be a pleasure to play against them in their arena, which by the way is hosting the World Champion- ship alongside Prague in 2024.”
Lahti Pelicans Head Coach Tommi Niemelä: “The team from Czechia are strong and physical, displaying great competitiveness and resilience in battles.”
Ilves Tampere Head Coach Antti Pennanen: “The club is well managed, has a good and quality team with good coaches. They have a strong defence which will challenge our forwards. We need to keep good speed and movement of the puck against them. This will be a demanding challenge for us but we are excited.”
ERC Ingolstadt Head Coach Mark French: “We will see how we do in this game. We’ve already faced Vitkovice and Växjö in the CHL in the past, but except for Fabio Wagner, none of our cur- rent players were on the roster back then.”
Find out more about Vítkovice Ridera in the video below!