If Kolner Haie want to return to the Champions Hockey League in 2014-15, one of the people they will rely on is veteran Swedish centre Andreas Falk.

by Tomas Schugerl and Derek O'Brien

KOSICE - In a very competitive Group A, Kolner Haie finished with seven points and on the outside looking in on the playoff stage. As a team that qualified for the 2014-15 Champions Hockey League season as a B-license club, they will now need a good finish in the DEL to return next season. They have a lot of work ahead of themselves, however, as they have only won two of their first 11 games and sit 13th out of 14 teams.

One of the players that the team will rely on to make the German league playoffs and return to the CHL is veteran centre Andreas Falk. The 31-year-old Swede, who has previously suited up for CHL clubs Skelleftea AIK and HV71 Jonkoping in his career, is now in his third season with the Cologne-based club. He spoke about the state of the team and shared his overall thoughts on the CHL after the team's last group-stage game, a 4-3 loss in Kosice. In the days following the loss, head coach Uwe Krupp was relieved of his duties and replaced by Nicklas Sundblad.

What do you think about today's game in Kosice?

Neither team had a chance to make the playoffs, so we were able to play a bit more relaxed. Kosice did great tonight, scored on their chances and played great into the first two periods. In the third period, we played better. We're struggling a little bit in our league, so this was step forward for us. We scored three goals and played well in the third.

Is it difficult to adjust to the different styles of the teams from different leagues? Have you seen the Kosice style of play before?

Yes, we played against Liberec and other teams also. You know, they have dangerous forwards. Kosice have a really good team, great forwards and a good goalie so it's tough to play against them. There are differences between the Swedish, German and Slovak systems, and here there's a great chance to compare them in games.

You are well-known as a great defensive centre. What do you think about the defensive play of your team overall?

It could be better. We've been struggling little bit, and have several problems on defence also. In the first two periods we had problems with Kosice; they had more chances. In the last period we started to play our system and it was better afterwards. That's what we need to take with us into our upcoming league games.

You have many experiences in hockey. What do you think about CHL? Is it important for the players?

For sure, I played the first edition of the CHL in 2008 (for HV71) and that was a great experience too. It's a nice project, but there is a lot of travelling involved. Otherwise, it's great to play competitive games against teams from other countries.