Read below for information about the quarter-final series between Frölunda Gothenburg and IFK Helsinki. Frölunda won the series 6–5 on aggregate and advanced to the semi-finals.
IFK 2–1 FHC
Game 1
2. 12., 18:30 EET
FHC 5–3 IFK
Game 2
9. 12., 19:00 CET
Game 2
GOTHENBURG – A real roller-coaster of a game saw Frolunda Gothenburg advance to the semi-finals of the CHL, thanks to a 5–3 win on the night. That margin of victory gave the Swedish club a 6-5 win on aggregate, with Robin Figren's second goal of the game with only 50 seconds to play making the difference.
"I think we played an okay game in Helsinki last week but we were much better today, especially offensively," Frolunda head coach Roger Ronnberg said afterward. "I mean, we scored five goals today and I think that we managed to get our winning mentality back today."
Frolunda came back to home ice trailing their Finnish opponents by a single goal, after IFK Helsinki's 2–1 win one week ago in the Finnish capital. Mats Rosseli-Olsen put Frolunda back on even terms in the tie with just under five minutes remaining in the first period, and in the middle session the home side extended their lead to 2-0 on the night through Andreas Johnsson. That goal also gave Frolunda the aggregate 3-2 lead, but their joy was short-lived as HIFK hit back some five minutes later through Robert Leino to end the second period at 2–1, 3–3 overall.
That meant that the third period would be the decided, and what a ding-dong encounter it turned out to be! First Corey Elkins put HIFK ahead on aggregate at 44:04, only for Figren to tie it three minutes later – making it 4-4 on aggregate, but 3–2 Frolunda on the night. Just 1:21 later, Mathis Olimb shot the home side ahead on aggregate again – this time 5–4. Again Helsinki refused to back down, though. Leino scored his second of the game at 52:22 to tie it up once more, and the game looked to be heading to overtime.
"It was very difficult for us, but you have to keep in mind that it’s even more difficult for them (HIFK) and that’s the big difference, when you notice that they are starting to make a lot more mistakes and so," Ronnberg said, comparing how the two teams handled the pressure of the big game. "But I suppose that’s exactly what these kinds of games are there for, to keep a winning mentality in tight games like this when a goal can have devastating consequences. But I think our young team handles those games overall really good and we learn from every game how to play and remain focused."
As the clock ran down, HIFK killed off a 5-on-3 Frolunda power play to stay in the game, but there was still drama to come. At 58:50 on the clock Elias Falth was called for high-Sticking, putting the home side down to four men for the remainder of the third period. However, a call was them made on the Helsinki bench for too many men on the ice, meaning that the power play was wiped out and the remaining 1:10 would be played 4-on-4. It was the Frolunda who made the extra room on the ice count – Figren scoring again with 50 seconds left on the clock, and despite Helsinki pulling their goalie they were unable to find an equaliser.
"Haha, what can I say? I think it was a great goal," a happy Figren said when asked about his series-winner. "Mattias (Janmark) is a little known for his skill in taking control of the puck and can turn games around because of that, so you have to hang in there and follow up in the attack which was mostly what I tried to do and we managed to get a little give-and-go situation and, to be honest, I don’t really remember how the goal occurred. But somehow it went in and maybe it was one of those pucks that didn’t go in recently but did today instead."
READ the Live Blog here | WATCH the highlights here
"To be honest, I don't really remember how the goal occurred," says Frolunda hero Figren
Game 1
HELSINKI – Up against the offensive juggernaut of Frolunda Gothenburg, IFK Helsinki needed strong defence to take the first leg of this quarter-final and they got it. They allowed the CHL's highest scoring team only 24 shots and Ville Husso stopped 23 of them. They got all the offence they needed from Tomas Zaborsky, who scored two goals, as IFK Helsinki won 2–1 on home ice to take a one-goal aggregate lead into the second leg.
"It was an important win," said Zaborsky. "We knew they're a hard-working and fast team. We just needed to keep pressuring to get some goals."
The Slovakian sniper got things going in the first minute of the game when he elected to shoot on a 2-on-1 rush and beat Linus Fernstrom high to the glove side. Then Frolunda's big guns evened the score in an evenly played first period when Andreas Johnsson fed Mathis Olimb, who snapped it past the glove of Husso. Olimb and Johnsson continue to lead all CHL scorers, now with 22 points each. Frolunda stepped it up in the second period and out-shot IFK 13–7, but Zaborsky scored the only goal on the power play with a deadly wrister from the left wing.
"A couple more goals would have been great," Zaborsky added, thinking his team could have added to their lead. "We had chances to score them but unfortunately we couldn't get anymore goals. But we're in a great position for next week and we’ll see what happens then."
Zaborsky then took a skate in the face off a faceoff in the third period and went down in a scary scene. Losing him would have been big, but he returned to finish the game. Frolunda got few chances in a defensively played final frame, but Mattias Janmark almost tied the game for a second time with about a minute to go, forcing Husso to come up big one last time.
"We got off to a bad start and that set the tone for the first half of the game," said Frolunda coach Roger Ronnberg. "It got a little better over time but I'm annoyed with our play in the first half. At the same time, I think we did ourselves in by taking too many penalties, which didn't allow ourselves a real chance to change things around."
The teams will now reconvene in western Sweden in a week's time, with IFK Helsinki carrying a slim one-goal lead against a team that can score in bunches. If they want to prevent that from happening, they'll need a repeat of this performance.
"We did a good job," said IFK coach Antti Tormanen. "Frolunda's a fast-moving team and they can move the puck in small spaces. But we're going into the next game thinking about a tie, we're going there to win."
READ the Live Blog here | WATCH the highlights here
IFK's Toni Soderholm keen to reach Final Four by beating his former team
Preview
When things get rolling again on 2 December, Frölunda Gothenburg will face off against IFK Helsinki in a mini-series that most folks waging a prediction will be real fascinated in seeing. Frölunda will likely enter as the favourite and will be icing one of Finland’s top young players in Artturi Lehkonen. Frölunda managed to make their way to the next round of CHL play on the strength of a convincing 9–3 aggregate win over Tappara Tampere. They already had a four-goal aggregate lead after the win in Tampere, then made things clear with 4–2 home-ice victory. For the Indians, Andreas Johnsson added two more points to his impressive totals and Mathis Olimb was able to add yet another, thus giving the two linemates a tie in leading the CHL in scoring with 21 points each.
At the same time, upstart IFK Helsinki managed to keep things going positively, winning a close second match against Fribourg-Gottéron 3–1 after the clubs had tied their first game. Thanks to a power play goal with just 3:18 remaining in the third period, when Jasse Ikonen re-directed a pass from Robert Leino past Benjamin Conz, which served as the game-winning goal for IFK, the capital area team kept their CHL championship hopes alive. An empty-netter for good measure and the 3–1 victory was clearly a stone off their shoulders.
CHL top scorer Olimb: "We'll have to work a lot harder to score against IFK"
IFK's Corey Elkins on Frölunda" "We expect to play against a fast, aggressive team"
Frölunda's young Finn Artturi Lehkonen: "It's quite nice for me to visit Finland once in a while.
Closer look: Frölunda Gothenburg
(7-0-0-1, 21 points, 44:16)
Few teams have gone the wild route Frölunda has to become such a successful team, one that probably garners more NHL attention than maybe any other in Europe. After a few unsuccessful years, Frölunda hired former Swedish World Junior head coach Roger Rönnberg to lead the club in 2013–14. With Rönnberg at the helm, Frölunda started the process of rebuilding, and the average age dropped from 25.54 to 23.19 years in just one season. Currently, Elias Fälth is the oldest player on the team at 33, while the second-oldest player, Sebastian Stålberg, is just 24.
Despite so much youth in the lineup, the team finished in second place with 102 points in 55 games last season before losing a tough seven-game series to Linköping HC, leaving Frölunda their third straight quarter-final defeat. Coming into the 2014–15 season, Rönnberg was more than aiming to take Frölunda even higher and after 19 games, the team currently tops the standings. Leading the way offensively in both the SHL and CHL are Norwegian Mathis Olimb (5+16=21) and Swede Andreas Johnsson (10+11=21), while the third member of the line, Mattias Janmark, has been putting up solid SHL numbers too but currently has only three points (1+2) in the CHL. Tops among defencemen is Erik Gustafsson with 14 points (5+9). Not to be overlooked are the 11 points that 1993-born Nashville Predators prospect Max Görtz has gathered, nor the four points that ’93-born Ottawa Senators prospect Mikael Wikstrand has in just three CHL games.
Andreas
Johnsson
10+11, +10
CRAMO Top Scorer: Tied for the points lead in the whole CHL are 19-year-old Johnsson and 28-year-old Olimb. Because he has more goals (10 to 5), Johnsson will wear the Top Scorer's jersey in the first leg against IFK, but the Finnish club will have to be weary of both of them, as nobody's been able to stop them so far.
Erik
Gustafsson
5+9, +5
Top Defenceman: Gustafsson's 14 points after eight games leads all CHL defencemen and, in fact, places him third in overall scoring after teammates Olimb and Johnsson. His SHL numbers aren't too shabby either, with 12 points in his first 19 games.
Linus
Fernström
91.07%
Top Goaltender: Linus Fernström has started 14 of Frölunda's first 21 SHL games, though he's played in only three of eight CHL group games. Whether it's him or Lars Johansson, however, both goalies have put up sparkling domestic numbers and each picked up a win against Tappara. With all the team's offence they haven't needed solid goaltending so far in the CHL, but they probably will now in the later rounds.
Closer look: IFK Helsinki
(5-1-1-1, 18 points, 36:18)
The current success for Helsinki has been great for the team. The last few years hadn’t been the best for the club and its fans. After winning the title in 2011, the club hadn't been able to even reach the semi-finals and their trend has been a downward one ever since. In 2013–14, IFK finished in 10th, which was its worst finish in 12 years. The season included two different head coaches and over 40 different players. After the season, general manager Tom Nybondas hired Antti Törmänen as the new head coach, giving him a three-year contract. Törmänen has only been coaching for few years at the elite European level, but has already won a Swiss National League title with Bern in 2013.
The team has been much better in league play this season. They are currently in the middle of the pack in a very balanced Liiga, only a few points off the lead. Six forwards on the team have managed five or more points in the eight CHL contests to date and the first line of Teemu Ramstedt (2+7=9), Tomas Zaborsky (5+3=8), and Robert Leino (3+5=8) lead the way. If they’re not generating, then the team can run into problems.
This has been evident in league play as well. In addition to Ramstedt and Zaborsky, Jasse Ikonen and power-play quarterback Lauri Taipalus have also been producing well. All these players will have to continue to produce internationally if IFK Helsinki hope to advance against a very balanced Frölunda club.
Teemu
Ramstedt
2+7, +8
CRAMO Top Scorer: Ramstedt is a highly skilled, creative centre whose best abilities are in the offensive zone. The home-grown player player has scored nine points in eight CHL games so far, though he was held pointless in the two games against Fribourg.
Top Defenceman: Taipalus has been IFK's big producer from the back end in Liiga, with 11 points in his first 14 games. He also had three points in six CHL group-stage games but missed the series with Fribourg due to injury. French national team mainstay Yohann Auvitu has six assists in six CHL games.
Ville
Husso
91.79 %
Top Goaltender: Ville Husso has been one of the top goalies in the Liiga so far this season. He has also played all but half of one game for IFK during the CHL and has a save percentage of 91.79, making him the obvious go-to guy against Frölunda.