Champions League start

Swedish bomb should not be in the stomach of the Ice Bulls

The Ice Bulls know what awaits them tonight in the Volksgarten with the Swedish top team Skelleftea at the start of the Champions Hockey League. Captain Thomas Raffl and Co. want to surprise against the favorites.

With just four points from their six games and 20th place, the Eisbullen clearly missed out on a place in the last 16 of the Champions League last year. That should not happen again this year. However, the starting opponents are the same as last year, only this time at home: Swedish giants Skelleftea, who won 4-0 in 2023! The regular club of former Salzburg coach Hardy Nilsson celebrated its fourth championship title and is a real cracker in the European ice hockey concert. In the previous CHL season, they were only stopped in the final (2:3 against Servette Geneva). 

"It's a big challenge for us to have them right back in the first game," says veteran Chay Genoway, who has a lot of work ahead of him and his defensive colleagues. "We want to be compact, not give them any big chances and be ice-cold up front," says captain Tom Raffl, who is looking forward to finally being able to play in front of his own fans at home again with the Bulls.