Read below for information on the Round of 16 series between Eisbaren Berlin and Frolunda Gothenburg. Frolunda won on aggregate 10-2 to advance to the Quarter-Finals.

Preview

Frolunda Gothenburg, the reigning CHL champions, haven't always looked like champions this season, but they've got the job done when they've had to. In their first six CHL games so far, they've won and lost against Dynamo Pardubice, Grizzlys Wolfsburg and Yunost Minsk, and yet here they are. After losing in Minsk to start off the Round of 32, they returned home with a convincing 5-0 win, perhaps signalling that they're finally on their way. Their opponents are Eisbaren Berlin, who have made the Round of 16 for the second straight season. Last season they went out to Skelleftea AIK in that round, and now they play another big Swedish club. While they've never gone beyond this point in the CHL, they did win the CHL's predecessor – the European Trophy – in 2010. These two teams met twice in the European Trophy tournament, with Frolunda winning 6-0 at home in 2011 and Eisbaren returning the favour with a home-ice win in 2013 by a 4-3 score. 

Depsite accumulating more points than Frolunda through their first six games, Eisbaren will start at home in this series due to Mercedes Benz Arena's lack of availability the following week. 

Closer look: Eisbaren Berlin

(4-0-0-2, 12 points, 18:14)

Eisbaren Berlin weren't given much of a chance to advance from a group that also included teams from Sweden and Finland, but after two wins against Lulea Hockey and two losses against SaiPa Lappeenranta, they finished right in the middle. Again they weren't given much of a chance in the Round of 32 against EV Zug, but opened with a convincing 4-0 victory at home, then won 2-1 in Zug for the sweep. Once again, nobody is giving the team from the German capital a chance in the Round of 16 against the reigning CHL and SHL champions. They've already knocked off one former CHL champion this year. Do they have any magic left for another?

Nicholas

Petersen

2+4, +2

 

Top Forward & CRAMO Top Scorer: Canadian winger Nick Petersen is now in his fourth season in Germany. After putting up solid offensive numbers for Schwenninger and Iserlohn, Berlin acquired him to add to the team's offensive game this season and he has not disappointed, with 6 points in six CHL games and 15 points in 10 DEL games, to put him among the league leaders. Overall, Die Eisbaren are not especially deep with high-scoring forwards, but they do have a lot of big players who can play a physical game and make life miserable for opposing defences. 

Micki

Dupont

1+0, +3

 

Top Defenceman: Another Canadian plays an important part of Berlin's game, and that's veteran defenceman Micki Dupont. While he played 23 NHL games when he was younger, Dupont has made a career for himself in Europe. At 36 years of age, Dupont can still quarterback a power play and produce offensively from the back end – last year he had 39 points in 59 regular season and playoff games. Besides Dupont, Berlin have a solid defensive corps consisting of German internationals Frank Hoerdler and Constantin Braun.

Petri

Vehanen

92.78 %

 

Top Goaltender: Petri Vehanen is now in his third season as top goalie of Eisbaren Berlin. Career highlights include backstopping Ak Bars Kazan to the 2010 KHL title and Finland to the 2011 World Championship title with a shutout of Sweden in the final. Now 39, Vehanen doesn't consistently put up the numbers he once did, but he has the ability to rise to the occasion and come up big when his team needs him. Last year, after a mediocre group stage, he was the biggest reason why Die Eisbaren were able to knock off the Stavanger Oilers and become the first German team in the CHL's Round of 16. This year, he repeated that with a shutout of Zug. Up next is an even bigger challenge in Frolunda.

Click here for team statistics. 

Closer look: Frolunda Gothenburg

(3-0-1-2, 10 points, 18:12)

Frolunda Gothenburg were expected to win Group A, and they did, but it was a lot harder than expected. First it was a narrow 2-1 win in Wolfsburg, followed by a 3-2 overtime loss in Pardubice. When they got home to Gothenburg, things seemed to be getting back on track with a 5-2 win over Pardubice, which wrapped up the group. In the group's last game, with a lot at stake for the visitors, Wolfsburg won 3-2 to become the group's other qualifier. In the Round of 32, they lost 3-2 in Minsk, and followed that up with a big 5-0 win at home to take the aggregate victory. In each of the CHL's first two seasons, Frolunda has reached the Final both times. 

Casey

Wellman

4+1, +3

 

Top Forward & CRAMO Top Scorer: By regularly scoring points in KHL, AHL and NHL, Casey Wellman is a well-scouted recruitment by the Gothenburg-based club. With 5 points, Wellman leads Frolunda in CHL scoring, and he got a big goal late in Minsk to close the aggregate deficit to one. Of couse, Wellman joins a crop of Frolunda forwards that know what this tournament is all about, such as Mats Rosseli-Olsen, Artturi Lehkonen and captain Joel Lundqvist, who have been to the CHL Final in back-to-back years, and surely have their sights set on a third trip.  

Henrik

Tommernes

1+2, +4

 

Top Defenceman: Henrik Tommernes was one of the best defencemen in last season's Swedish Hockey League, finishing fifth among d-men in the league scoring league and leading all defencemen in points in the CHL. Tommernes scored 9 goals on the power play in the SHL, which was second in the whole league. He started slowly in the CHL win no points in the group stage, but picked up 3 in the two games with Minsk. Jacob Larsson, John Nyberg and new recruit Jonathan Sigalet are other players to watch on the back end.

Johan

Gustafsson

88.61 %

 

Top Goaltender: Johan Gustafsson came to Frolunda before last season and had a really tough start, quite quickly being recognized as a backup to Lars Johansson, who was having a career year. Gustafsson would get his chance to shine as Johansson was injuried in the playoffs, and Gustafsson took advantage of that chance. He turned out to be the title-winning goaltender he was supposed to be and was a huge reason why Frolunda managed to win the SHL title. Now, he's the starting goalie and hasn't had to be great for Frolunda yet, but that will eventually change. 

Click here for team statistics.