Friday: Giants in Finland to begin CHL adventure

Photo: Philip Magowan / Press Eye

Belfast Giants' 2023/24 Champions Hockey League begins tonight in Rauma, Finland, for the first of two road games in the country.

This season sees the introduction of the CHL's new format whereby the Giants will be play six different teams. After tonight, they had to defending champions Tappara tomorrow, before visiting Innsbruck on Thursday.

They'll then return home to face another ICEHL side, Bolzano, at the SEE Arena on Sunday. Belfast are home to Red Bull Salzburg and Dynamo Pardubice on Game Days 5 and 6 in October.

Tonight's fixture against Lukko pits the Giants 2021 Liiga championship-winning club. They reached the Quarter-Finals of the CHL in 2014/15, before going one step further the following season. The club, which was founded in 1936, made it to the Quarter-Final stage again last season. The town of Rauma itself has a population of just shy of 40,000, and is located on the west coast of Finland.

"It was obviously a great season last year for our organisation, but the CHL is a different competition and it's a different season now," said Giants Head Coach Adam Keefe. "We're excited to get going as a group, and we've not played any Finnish teams yet in the CHL so far, so we're looking forward to getting started.

"Lukko Rauma have a great hockey programme, with both its men’s and women’s teams being very successful. Having won the Finnish Liiga in the 2021/22 season, we know they’re a well-organised side that will prove to be stern opposition for all teams in the CHL."

On facing the Giants, Lukko's Head Coach Tomi Lämsä’s said: "They're an experienced and most-likely physical and straight-forward team, with lots of North American players in their team and it shows in their style of hockey. The Giants are unarguably the crown jewel of modern hockey in the UK.”