JYP and AIK both aim high

In one of three match-ups this round to feature a Swedish and Finnish team going head to head, Skelleftea AIK face JYP Jyvaskyla. Both of these teams have been among the strongest in their leagues the past few years, but both are also probably disappointed with their play in the group stage. One of them will be further disappointed by exiting at this stage of the tournament. These two teams met in the Round of 16 two years ago. In a see-saw battle, which saw each team lead by two or more goals on aggregate at one point or another, Skelleftea prevailed in a shootout. Will they go down to the wire again?

As one of Europe's top clubs for the last several years, this year's group stage was somewhat of a disappointment for Skelleftea, as they picked up just 7 points in four games, yet amazingly still won Group N. They began with an overtime loss in Vienna and a one-goal win in Kuopio, then went home to face the same two teams again. They looked like they were back on track with a convincing 4-0 win over KalPa, but then lost to the Capitals for the second straight game 5-2. They know they'll have to be better against a strong Finnish team if they don't want their CHL journey to end very quickly. 

JYP were right in the middle of a highly polarized Group K, winning both games against the Gap Rapaces from France but losing both against Linkoping HC from Sweden. Taking six points against Gap was expected, but taking nothing from the two games against Linkoping is a bit of a disappointment. In each game there problem was letting the Swedish team dictate the pace for a part of the game, and the speed was too much for them. Against a highly talented team such as Skelleftea, that could be lethal. They will have to play a strongly disciplined game if they want to have a chance.

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