It’s playoff time in almost all of Europe now, with some regular-season winners surprisingly falling behind early in their series against lower-ranked opposition. Where and how? Read below to find out!
by Luke Fisher
Austria
The Graz 99ers will only have themselves to blame if they fail to make the EBEL playoffs. They now trail the Klagenfurt AC by a point in the race for the final spot in the Qualification Round, after losing on home ice to the same opposition on Friday. If that wasn’t bad enough, the 99ers were up 3–1 after 20 minutes, but lost 5–3. It will all come down to Tuesday, the final day, to decide the final place, with a point for Klagenfurt against Dornbirn in any form putting them through. Graz must beat Ljubljana and hope Klagenfurt lose in regulation; while Dornbirn can still make it through if they beat Klagenfurt in regulation time and Graz lose. HC Bolzano have topped the round so will be in the playoffs, while in the Pick Round, Red Bull Salzburg will get first choice over who they want to play in the quarter-finals by finishing on top. Black Wings Linz have secured second, while Orli Znojmo and Alba Volan Szekesehervar could still swap for third and fourth place after the Hungarian side came out victorious when the two teams met last week. The Vienna Capitals and Villach SV go into the playoffs having finished fifth and sixth in the Pick Round, respectively.
Czech Republic
The Czech Extraliga regular season concluded on Sunday, and just like the DEL it’s now all eyes on the preliminary round to determine the quarter-final match-ups. HC Plzen will face BK Mlada Boleslav and HC Pardubice will square off against Vitkovice Ostrava to determine who plays Ocelari Trinec and HC Litvinov. Meanwhile, it’s confirmed that Kometa Brno play PSG Zlin and Sparta Prague will face Mountfield Hradec Kralove in the quarter-finals.
Denmark
In the Danish Ligaen quarter-finals, Blue Fox Herning have surprisingly lost their opening two games against seventh-placed Rungsted Ishockey – giving the regular-season winners a mountain to climb now to make the next round. Elsewhere, SonderjyskE Vojens and the Rodovre Mighty Bulls are tied at 1–1, as are the Aalborg Pirates and Frederikshavn White Hawks. The Odense Bulldogs go into game three needing to win, as they trail the Esbjerg Energy 2–0.
Finland
Five games are left to play in the Liiga for all teams, and while Karpat Oulu sit 10 points clear, and are almost nailed-on to win the regular season, it’s very tight below them. Just six points separate Tappara Tampere in second from IFK Helsinki in eighth, as teams chase the six automatic quarter-final berths. Meanwhile, eighth-placed HPK Hameenlinna need to make up five points on Assat Pori to make the post-season.
France
The Ligue Magnus quarter-finals have already begun, with league winners Grenoble Brulers de Loup joining the party and already 2–0 up on the Dijon Ducs, who upset the Chamonix Chamois in the preliminary round. The second-placed Rouen Dragons are locked in a 1–1 tie with the Epinal Dauphins, who eliminated Etoile-Noir Strasbourg, while both Rapaces de Gap and the Angiers Ducs are two games up on the Amiens Gothiques and Briancon Diables-Rouges, respectively.
Germany
The DEL playoffs are now all but fixed, with the only thing left to be decided is who will play Adler Mannheim and Red Bull Munich, the latter having secured a B-License for next year's CHL with their second-place finish. Four teams will battle it out in the preliminary round to decide who will face the league’s two best teams over the regular season. The Nuremburg Ice Tigers will play Eisbaren Berlin, and Grizzly Adams Wolfsburg meet Krefeld Pinguine, with the winners making the quarter-finals. Those series start on Wednesday, with the quarters beginning a week later.
Great Britain
An implosion in Nottingham, which saw the Panthers lose to last-placed Dundee, means that last year's CHL representative has dropped well out of the race to win the league. The Braehead Clan sit five points clear at the top, although the Sheffield Steelers and Cardiff Devils both have a game in hand. The Elite League runs until the end of March, though, so there is plenty of time for them to catch up.
Norway
There’s one round still left to play in the Norwegian Ligaen, although the Stavanger Oilers have won the league and the Storhamar Dragons will finish second. Frisk Asker could still be beaten to third by Sarpsborg, as could Lorenskog to fifth by Valerenga Oslo; however, apart from that everything is ready for the post-season.
Slovakia
League winners HC Kosice surprisingly lost in their opening quarter-final game against SHK 37 Piestany on home ice, but bounced back in game two to tie the series. Second-placed HK Nitra started their post-season in impressive form, winning two games against MHC Martin by a combined score of 15–4 to go two games up. Banska Bystrica–Trencin, and Zvolen–Poprad, get under way tonight.
Sweden
The SHL still has two rounds to go ,with Skellefte AIK already having taken top spot to return to the CHL, while Frolunda Gothenburg, the Vaxjo Lakers, Linkoping HC, Orebro HK and HV71 Jonkoping in line for the top six to automatically make the quarter-finals. Farjestad Karlstad, reigning CHL champions Lulea Hockey, Djurgarden Stockholm and Brynas Gavle look destined to make the preliminary round. Farjestad can still mathematically make the top six; however, they would need HV71 to lose all of their remaining games. The round to sort out the teams from seven to 10 will start next Monday.
Switzerland
A bit shock opened the Swiss playoffs when ZSC Lions Zurich were beaten 5–0 at home to Biel in their opening game over the weekend. There were also upsets in the other two games, with both Lugano and Zug losing on home ice to Geneve-Servette and Davos respectively. Elsewhere it went according to form with Bern beating Lausanne with one goal in the entire 60-minute game.