There have been big comebacks in the CHL with the semifinals at stake!

by Luke Fisher

Two teams staged return-leg comebacks in last season's Champions Hockey League, with eventual finalists Karpat Oulu and Frolunda Gothenburg both going into their Quarter-Final home games behind. Karpat made light work of the Espoo Blues in Oulu, overturning a 2-0 deficit with a convincing 5-1 win to make the Semi-Finals. Frolunda, meanwhile, won their home leg 5-4, leaving the aggregate score 7-7 with Lulea. Neither side was able to settle it in overtime, so to a shootout it went, where the Indians knocked out the defending champions.

In the two other games, Lukko Rauma and HC Davos held their nerves to advance. Both went into the return legs tied from the first game, but while Lukko headed back to Rauma to tie TPS 1-1 on the night (4-4 on aggregate), Davos headed to Skelleftea where they took a huge, and shocking, 4-1 win to knock the Swedes out on their own ice. Lukko, meanwhile, edged past their Liiga rivals on a shootout.

Frolunda were also comeback kings in the first CHL season as well, overturning a 2-1 deficit from Helsinki against IFK to a home 5-3 win and an aggregate score of 6-5. Both Lulea and Karpat took leads into their return games and went through comfortably, while Linkoping HC came from a goal behind in Skelleftea to win on a shootout and advance.