The 2024 Champions Hockey League final on Tuesday February 20th will be contested by Sweden’s Skellefteå and Switzerland’s Genève-Servette.
The two teams were victorious on Tuesday against Vítkovice Ridera and Lukko Rauma respectively in two wonderfully enjoyable semi-final return legs.
Skellefteå hold on
Skellefteå were the favourites to go all the way once they knocked out fellow Swedish Hockey League team Färjestad in the Quarter Finals. They remain on course to live up to that billing, but Vítkovice pushed them all the way and the final hooter at the Kraft Arena was met with as much relief as it was joy from the Skellefteå fans.
The Swedish team had given themselves a great platform to build on by winning the first leg in Ostrava 4-2. The two-goal lead was increased to three just under six minutes into the return leg as the Winnipeg Jets’ prospect Elias Salomonsson stepped up from the blue line and fired a wrist-shot past Matěj Machovský.
The score remained the same until midway through the Second Period when Vítkovice scored on a power play through Marcel Barinka to make it 1-1 on the night and 5-3 on aggregate. The visitors would then get within one goal barely 90 seconds in to the Third Period, Marek Kalus tucking home a rebound past Linus Söderström, as Vítkovice piled the pressure on in a fast-paced finale.
They couldn’t quite get the extra goal they needed to send the game to Overtime and Skellefteå were able to hang on to make it through to their first CHL final by an aggregate score of 5-4.
A Famous Fightback
The other semi-final ended with the same aggregate scoreline; however this time it was the away team who skated off the ice as the victors.
Lukko Rauma would have been content with their efforts in the first leg, holding Genève-Servette to a 2-2 draw to ensure that any win at Kivikylän Areena in front of their home fans would be enough to make it through to the final.
It looked like everything was going to plan for Lukko when Jakob Stenqvist and Brayden Burke both scored in the first 12 minutes to give them a 4-2 aggregate lead. That was until Genève sensationally scored two goals in less than a minute late on in the Second Period through Valtteri Filppula and Sami Vatanen.
It set up a mouth-watering Third Period that quickly lived up to expectations. Filppula scored his second on the night barely five minutes into the period, stunning the Lukko fans and sending the pocket of travelling Genève-Servette supporters into ecstasy.
Just a few minutes later, Genève-Servette’s Simon Le Coultre was called for a Delaying the Game penalty and his two minutes in the penalty box must have felt like an eternity as he watched his teammates battling to protect their lead. They managed to do it and, despite a late flurry by Lukko, they held on throughout the rest of the period to become the first Swiss representatives in a CHL Final.
Vítkovice Ridera and Lukko Rauma should be proud of their efforts in a very competitive field across the CHL season despite the obvious disappointment of being so near and yet so far from glory.
As for Skellefteå and Genève-Servette, they have both made some club history by reaching the Final for the first time; however, they did not come this far to settle for the achievement of being a finalist.
Predictions on the result will have to wait until much nearer the time. The action needed right now is to book in the evening of February 20th as a must-watch event for all fans of European hockey.
