Champions Hockey League - Group A

10 Aug 2014 | Henrik Lundqvist

The first edition of the new Champions Hockey League is only eleven days away. Every day until the start we will introduce four teams to you starting with the ones of Group A; Kärpät Oulu, Kölner Haie, Bili Tygri Liberec and HC Kosice.

Kölner Haie

Last year's DEL finalist Kölner Haie is one of six German clubs in Champions Hockey League. The team was really close to winning its ninth German title but lost 2-0 to Ingolstadt in the seventh game of the finals. Head Coach and General Manager of the team is the German NHL veteran Uwe Krupp.

Among their key players we find Chris Minard, Alexander Weiß, Andreas Falk, Andreas Holmqvist and Daniel Tjärnqvist. Notable new signings are Evan Rankin, Mike Iggulden and Jamie Johnson.

HC Kosice

HC Kosice is the only team from Slovakia in this competition. They have won the Slovakian championship seven times, including the 2013-2014 season. Kosice also won the Czechoslovakian title two times in the 1980's. The preliminary roster has only Slovakian and a handful of Czech players - Alexander Hylak, Tomas Kloucek, Radek Phillipp, Michal Seda and Ladislav Zikmund. The team is coached by Anton Tomko.

Kärpät Oulu

Kärpät Oulu has been dominating the Finnish league the last decade with five titles since 2004. Last year they managed to win both the regular season and the playoffs. The coach Lauri Marjamäki is only 37 years old but already has a lot of experience from coaching in Liiga, World Juniors and the Olympics. On the Kärpät roster you might recognize names such as Ivan Huml, Joonas Donskoi, Mika Pyörälä, Nicolas Deschamps, Patrick Davis and Dan Spang.

Bílí Tygři Liberec

Bílí Tygři Liberec from the northern parts of Czech Republic is one of the 26 founding members of Champions Hockey League. The club still awaits its first major title. Liberec will rely on veterans such as Martin Skoula, Martin Bartek and Petr Vampola. Pavel Hynek makes his second season as Head Coach of the team.

Schedule

21.08.2014 Kölner Haie-HC Kosice
21.08.2014 Bílí Tygři Liberec-Kärpät Oulu
23.08.2014 HC Kosice-Kärpät Oulu
23.08.2014 Kölner Haie-Bílí Tygři Liberec
04.09.2014 Bílí Tygři Liberec-HC Kosice
05.09.2014 Kärpät Oulu-Kölner Haie
06.09.2014 HC Kosice-Bílí Tygři Liberec
07.09.2014 Kölner Haie-Kärpät Oulu
24.09.2014 Bílí Tygři Liberec-Kölner Haie
24.09.2014 Kärpät Oulu-HC Kosice
08.10.2014 HC Kosice-Kölner Haie
08.10.2014 Kärpät Oulu-Bílí Tygři Liberec