Champions Hockey League - Group B

ZSC Lions

Defending CHL Champion ZSC Lions are well prepared coming off an 8th Swiss Championship title, sweeping the Kloten Flyers this spring. Coach Mark Crawford stuck to his contract and will train the Lions for at least another season. The core of the team remains in Zurich, Ronalds Kenins was transferred to the Vancouver Canucks and both young goalies Tim Wolf (to Rapperswil-Jona) and Melvin Nyffeler (to Fribourg-Gottéron) have found new Clubs while Luca Boltshauser returns from Färjestad and will surely have some helpful information on the Swedish Team. Under these circumstances the ZSC Lions are a contender for the Cup.

Färjestad Karlstad

As one of the most successful Swedish Teams since the start of the Millenium (4 Championship titles, 5 times runner-up) Färjestad is the other Team in Group B that is considered a serious contender for the CHL title. With Jakub Klepis from LEV Praha, Jesper B. Jensen from Rögle BK and Canadian Forward Luciano Aquino from Dornbirner EC the Karlstad based Team have strengthened their already Squad while loosing Oscar Odd (to Brookings Blizzard), Pekka Tuokkola (to Klagenfurter AC), Charles Betrand (Sport Vaasa), Linus Fröberg (to BIK Karlskoga and Pontus Aberg (to Nashville Predators).

Vienna Capitals

It's been a while since the Team from Austrian Capital Vienna won their first and only title in 2005 just 4 years after being founded. Runner-up in 2012 and a number of Semi-Final visits, Vienna's ambitions are high. Last season Vienna was able to secure the regular season title before loosing to Villach in the Quarterfinal. A reason maybe, that with 7 Canadian and one US born player under contract, the Capitals are confident to survive the Group phase.

Valerenga Oslo

Look no further if seeking the record holding Norwegian Champion. 29 titles are an impressive palmares, the last one dating back to 2014 (regular season champion). Probably the most well known player is the Coach nowadays. It's Espen Knutsen who started his career in 1988 with Valerenga and ended it in 2005 with Djurgarden of the Swedish Hockey League. Anything else than the qualification for the knock-out stage would be a disappointment for the Scandinavians.

My prediction for this group: Färjestad and ZSC Lions qualify for the next round. The In-League level is simply higher and more competitive in the SHL and NLA, the quality of the Players under contract better, so it shouldn't be a problem for both Teams but as usual, never underestimate the "little ones".

Schedule

21.08.2014  Vienna Capitals -- Färjestad Karlstad
21.08.2014  ZSC Lions Zurich - Valerenga Oslo
23.08.2014  Vienna Capitals - Valerenga Oslo 
23.08.2014  ZSC Lions - Färjestad Karlstad
04.09.2014  Valerenga Oslo - Vienna Capitals
04.09.2014  Färjestad Karlstad - ZSC Lions Zurich
06.09.2014  Valerenga Oslo - ZSC Lions Zurich
06.09.2014  Färjestad Karlstad - Vienna Capitals
23.09.2014  ZSC Lions Zurich - Vienna Capitals
23.09.2014  Färjestad Karlstad - Valerenga Oslo
07.10.2014  Vienna Capitals - ZSC Lions Zurich
08.10.2014  Valerenga Oslo - Färjestad Karlstad

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