Read below for information on the quarter-final series between Lukko Rauma and TPS Turku. Lukko won on aggregate 5–4 in a shootout to advance to the semi-finals.

Preview

If there's a difficult quarter-final series to call, it might be the one between Lukko Rauma and TPS Turku – two Finnish clubs that are nearly equal in the Liiga standings. In their two league meetings this season, they've both won on home ice – Lukko on 10 October 3–2 in overtime, then it was TPS by a 3–1 score on 22 November. Now they'll play each other twice in early December to decide a spot in the CHL semi-finals.

TPS were impressive in Group G along with Dusseldorfer EG and Black Wings Linz, winning their first three games before losing their last game after they'd already secured a spot in the next round. Against Finnish rivals JYP Jyvaskyla in the Round of 32, they tied on the road before turning up the heat on home ice, winning 4–1 to advance. Up next they faced an interesting situation against this year's CHL Cinderella story – Storhamar Hamar – as the upstarts from Norway jumped out to a quick 3–0 lead in Turku, but the home side came back with four straight goals to win. They weren't out of the woods yet, as they still needed at least a draw in front of a hostile crowd in Hamar, but they did just that, playing to a 1–1 tie through 59 minutes before Henrik Tallinder scored the game-winning goal in the last minute into a Storhamar net that had been vacated to go for the aggregate equalizer. 

In Group K, Lukko lost both games against Lulea Hockey and won both against Fribourg-Gotteron to finish 2nd with 6 points. Against Red Bull Munich, they opened up a 5–1 lead in the Bavarian capital before the home side scored two late goals to reduce the aggregate score to just 2. That became a moot point in the return leg, however, as Lukko won 3–0 on home ice to put it away. In the eighth-finals, Lukko scored a pair of 2–1 victories in a very close series against Djurgarden Stockholm – Lukko scored late to win both games – to secure their spot in the quarter-finals for the second-straight year.

Turku and Rauma are only 90 km apart on Finland's southwest coast, so this is a good opportunity for the fans of both teams to show support for their teams both home and away. It begins in Turku on 1 December, with the return leg in Rauma on 8 December. Both games begin at 18:30 EET, 17:30 CET.

 

Closer look: Lukko Rauma

(5-1-1-1, 18 points, 23:17)

Lukko Rauma was founded in 1936, but ice hockey came along many years later. In 1936 people in Rauma didn’t even know about the sport. The first rink didn't come until 1947. In effect, that’s the moment when hockey really began in the town. Lukko won their first Finnish championship in 1963 and the people of Rauma have been waiting for their turn to celebrate again ever since. They've gotten their hopes up a few times, but the ultimate prize has just escaped them on a few occasions.

Lukko has played in European international competitions before. Back In the 1996–97 season the club played in the European Hockey League, but weren't able to get beyond the group stage. They qualified for the Champions Hockey League in 2014–15 and managed to get to the quarter-finals, where they lost to eventual champions Lulea Hockey, a team that they have now played six times in two seasons after two more meetings in 2015–16. They are once again back in the quarter-finals, and are now looking to go further than they've ever gone in a European club competition.

Toni

Koivisto

5+5, +3

 

Top Forward & CRAMO Top Scorer: Toni Koivisto is the team's top scorer in both the Liiga, and CHL, with 10 points in eight CHL games and 21 points in 20 Liiga games – that places him 3rd in Liiga scoring and tied for 3rd in the CHL. He was especially productive in the Round of 32 against Munich, netting 5 points in the two games. Together with set-up man Janne Lahti, they form a dangerous scoring duo that Lukko will have to be wary of.  

 

Ilkka 

Mikkola

1+4, -1

 

Top Defenceman: Ilkka Mikkola is one of the most successful players in the Finnish Liiga with eight titles, and is a respected team leader. The experienced captain leads the game by playing conservatively in his own end every shift and starting attacks with accurate breakout passes. He's not easily agitated, but doesn’t hesitate to protect his net and goalie by any means necessary. Offensively, Janne Niskala scores at nearly a point-per-game pace in both the CHL and Liiga, and is the Finnish league's top scorer among d-men.

 

Ryan

Zapolski

95.08 %

 

Top Goaltender: Ryan Zapolski quickly became a Lukko fan favourite by keeping his first non-American team near the top of the Finnish Liiga in 2013–14 with confident goaltending. Ever consistent, only once has Zapolski finished a season with a save percentage below 90 since his first NCAA season. He's a hero among Lukko fans, a well-liked teammate and an opposing forward’s worst nightmare. He has been just as strong domestically as in the CHL with the best goals-against average and save percentage.

 

Click here for team statistics.

 

Closer look: TPS Turku

(5-1-2-0, 19 points, 27:16)

TPS were Finland's dominant club in the 1990s, as in the 12 seasons from 1988–89 and 2000–01, they went to the finals 11 times and won the national title eight times. Six out of the club’s 11 total championships were achieved under the lead of head coach Hannu Jortikka, a Turku-native hockey player turned coach who has spent recent seasons working in the KHL.  

Easily recognizable in their simple yet timeless black and white sweaters. TPS is famous for being the youth club of two brothers who both became famous NHL stars. Saku and Miko Koivu, who both became NHL captains and World Champions, both own a share of HC TPS and both have successfully played for the club of their youth during NHL lockouts.

Since winning their most recent title in 2010, the team has missed the playoffs four times in five years, but things finally seem to be turning around. After 25 Liiga games they are in 3rd place with 46 points, with fans around Europe seeing their resurgence in their CHL performance. 

Dave

Spina

3+6, +3

 

Top Forward & CRAMO Top Scorer: TPS are relying heavily on experience this season. One of those experienced players is Dave Spina, acquired from SaiPa in the off-season. A proven scorer, Spina has done that in both the Liiga and CHL, and was especially clutch in the second game against JYP, where his 3 goals provided the necessary difference in the 3-goal aggregate win. Also, newly-named captain Tomi Kallio has also proven to be more than a reliable scorer, having developed some nice chemistry with linemate Lauri Tukonen. As well, Eric Perrin is the top scorer in the Liiga.

Henrik

Tallinder

3+2, +7

 

Top Defenceman: Swedish stalwart Henrik Tallinder was acquired to become the solid rock around which the TPS defence would be built. He has been just that. Tallinder is one of the leaders of the team and leads by example by thwarting the opposition’s offence time after time. On top of that, Tallinder has also chipped in offensively on a club that gets a lot of offence from the back end – Petteri Nummelin and Harri Tikkanen have 6 points each and veteran Tomas Mojzis has 3 points and is an impressive +9 in eight games.

 

Teemu

Lassila

93.94 %

 

Top Goaltender: Teemu Lassila has offered his team solid goaltending work during the seven CHL games he's played so far. His stats are impressive: a save percentage of 93.94 and a goals-against average of 1.68. Youngster Alexander Georgiyev played only one game and let four goals in against Dusseldorf. As well, Lassila has been getting about two-thirds of the workload in Liiga play, so it is clear that he is TPS's number-one goaltender.

 

Click here for team statistics.