Lulea & Tappara in CHL final

The final: Lulea vs Tappara

As mentioned, this is the second trip to the final for each team, but Tappara’s is a lot more recent. Just last year, Tappara travelled to Angelholm, Sweden, where it dropped a close 2-1 decision. Lulea, on the other hand, has to go way back to 2014/15 for its final appearance but it won, overcoming a 2-0 deficit against the same Frolunda team it just beat, scoring four times in the third period to win 4-2. Lulea becomes the second city to host the final a second time and Coop Norrbotten Arena is the first facility to do so twice. 

For that reason, Tappara has many returning players from last year’s CHL finalist squad – 16 – whereas Lulea has only one: goaltender Joel Lassinantti, who played in the final eight years ago but has backed up Ward in most CHL games this season. 

Since that 2014/15 season, this is the fourth time that a Swedish team and a Finnish team will face off in the final. The Swedish club prevailed on each of the two previous occasions – Frolunda both times. The lone Finnish victory – the only non-Swedish title in the past seven seasons – came when JYP Jyvaskyla defeated the Vaxjo Lakers in 2017/18. 

For more on the Champions Hockey League, visit championshockeyleague.com.