CHL - Round of 16 - IFK Helsinki v Linkoping HC

Preview
The Swiss champs from Bern go up against JYP Jyvaskyla in what might be one of the more evenly matched pairings in this Round of 16. SC Bern are currently 4th in the NLA standings. This is the first time they've made it this far in the CHL and haven't had much trouble to this point, but JYP will be their toughtest challenge yet. Their best finish in a European club championship was 4th in the 1991-92 European Cup. JYP have had a tougher time so far this season, as they have won three of six CHL games and sit 12th in the 15-team Liiga. They made it this far in the CHL two years ago but no farther – their biggest international accomplishment to date is winning the European Trophy in 2013.

Closer look: SC Bern

(5-0-1-0, 16 points, 24:9)

SC Bern did not make much of an impression in either of their first two CHL seasons, but coming off a domestic title win this past spring, they were looking for more this year and, so far they've done it. They began their group play with a pair of wins in Kosice and Linz by scores of 6-3 and 3-1 to take immediate control of their group. They didn't let up once they got home, beating the same two teams 3-1 and 5-0 at PostFinance Arena. They continued their hot streak in the Round of 32, winning 4-1 in Salzburg to take a 3-goal lead into the return game at home. There, a 3-3 tie in front of a CHL-record crowd was enough to put them through. Bern have been impressive in every aspect of their game in the CHL so far, but after dominating Slovak and Austrian opponents, they have a much tougher test from Finland coming up now.

Martin

Pluss

2+4, +4

 

Top Forward & CRAMO Top Scorer: SC Bern are ranked No. 2 in CHL goal scoring so far, and have received offence from a variety of sources. Leading the way are Martin Pluss and Marc Arcobello with 6 points each. Arcobello also leads domestically with 21 points in 16 NLA games, followed by Ryan Lasch – last season's CHL scoring champion wth Frolunda. Lasch missed this year's group stage, but had 3 points in the Round of 32 vs Salzburg. Simon Bodenmann and Andrew Ebbett were the team's offensive leaders in the group stage, but both have missed lots of time with injury. Bodenmann is now back but Ebbett remains out. 

Eric

Blum

3+1, +1

 

Top Defenceman: Swiss international Eric Blum is once again the pillar for the Bern defence. With his intelligence and magnificent overview of the game, he had his best season offensively last year with 28 points (4+24) and was one of the team's key players in the championship run. The 30-year-old has also been one of the team’s best players so far this season, anchoring the team's stingy defence and chipping in a bit offensively as well. With a fit Blum in the lineup, SC Bern is much stronger.

Leonardo

Genoni

93.79 %

 

Top Goaltender: For 29-year-old Leonardo Genoni, this season is his first one in a Bern jersey. He came to the Swiss capital with a lot of accolades. A three-time Swiss Champion, the 2011 NLA MVP and two-time goalie of the year. With him, Bern bought some safe hands and legs in goal and he already showed his qualities in this young season. Hockey fans all over Europe saw what he is capable of last season when he backstopped HC Davos all the way to the CHL Semi-Finals. This season, he has played every minute of every CHL and NLA game for Bern so far, making him the clear No. 1 in front of Joel Aebi.

Closer look: JYP Jyvaskyla

(3-0-0-3, 9 points, 18:13)

JYP were right in the middle of a highly polarized Group K, winning both games against the Gap Rapaces from France but losing both against Linkoping HC from Sweden. Taking 6 points against Gap was expected, but taking nothing from the two games against Linkoping was a bit of a disappointment. Nonetheless, they regrouped in the Round of 32 and won a big game on home ice against another Swedish giant, Skelleftea, to take a 4-goal advantage up north. They lost by 2 in Skelleftea, but that was enough to advance forward. Up next they face SC Bern, the defending champs from Switzerland who have looked very impressive in the CHL so far, so JYP will have to bring their A-game if they want to return to the Quarter-Finals, where they last appeared in 2015.

Tuomas

Pihlman

1+4, +3

 

Top Forward & CRAMO Top Scorer: Tuomas Pihlman is a JYP product since his youth and has played in Jyvaskyla most of his professional career – save for a four-year stint in the New Jersey Devils organization, which he spent mostly in the AHL. The 33-year-old winger is currently the team's top scorer in the CHL with 5 points in six games. In Liiga play, their points leader is another longtime JYP veteran Jani Tuppurainen, who has had built promising chemistry with Antti Suomela. As a team, JYP have impressive depth at forward as they acquired several players during the summer, including Juha-Pekka Hytonen and Ossi Louhivaara, and didn't lose any key contributors from their roster.

Mikko

Kalteva

3+1, +3

 

Top Defenceman: Mikko Kalteva can be considered what is called a late-bloomer. He had his true breakout year in the Finnish Liiga last year after nine years in the league. He had 29 points, which was easily his career-best and it was also the best among JYP defencemen last year. He is going to have to be at least as good as he was last year because JYP's defensive corps has become much younger this season. Judging by his start in both the CHL and Liiga, he is. Kalteva has an important role as a veteran presence for the younger defencemen on the team, such as U18 champion Urho Vaakanainen, who was added to the team during the summer.

Pekka

Tuokkola

93.85 %

 

Top Goaltender: JYP signed veteran goalie Pekka Tuokkola during the summer to form a goaltending duo with 19-year-old Veini Vehvilainen, the World Junior champion who was Tuomas Tarkki's backup last season. They shared the workload during the group stage, but Tuokkola played both games vs Skelleftea, and has played the majority of the games in Liiga. Tuokkola, now 33, has played most of his career in Finland, but has also had stints in the KHL and EBEL, and played in the CHL last season as a member of KAC Klagenfurt.   

Day One
In front of another large home crowd, SC Bern remain unbeaten after seven CHL games this season. More importantly they lead by a goal after 60 minutes against JYP Jyvaskyla following a huge 3-2 comeback win. It was all JYP in the opening minutes, as Bern got into early penalty trouble and it cost them twice. First David Jobin went off for holding at 1:45 and Antti Suomela finished off a nice passing play 29 seconds later. Then Martin Pluss was called for tripping and Sami Niku's shot from the point through traffic found the back of the net and it was 2-0 less than five minutes in.
JYP smelled blood and went for the kill in the very first period of the series, outshooting Bern 21-10, but after being beaten twice early, Leonardo Genoni was perfect the rest of the way, reminiscent of his play in the CHL for HC Davos last season. Bern were a much different team in the second period, allowing only 4 shots against. And in the middle of the period they struck for three goals in a span of 3:17 – less time than it took JYP to score twice. Top scorer Ryan Lasch got things started on a great individual effort, taking the puck from end to end and beating Pekka Tuokkola.
“I figured I had a little more speed going then they did,” Lasch described. “I was going inside when my opponent went the other way and then I just kept my feet going and ended up in front of the goal and it went in. It was nice to get the momentum going for us.”
The momentum continued as 31 seconds later they tied it on a goalmouth scramble. Thomas Rufenacht and Simon Moser both whacked at it, with Moser's stick the last to touch the puck before it crossed the line.
“We had a bad start with unnecessary penalties and got punished by them on the power play, but then we got our foot into the game,” Rufenacht said later. “In the second period it was the solo by Lasch that got us back into the game. We understood very quickly, that we could not let them have chances on the power play.”
But Bern did get a chance themselves and converted on their second opportunity of the game, as Maxim Noreau's shot from the point was deflected in front by Marc Arcobello. Bern got the only power play of the third period but didn't get any offence on it. JYP tried to pess all period for the equalizer but Bern defended perfectly to preserve the lead in a period that was as different as night and day from the first – only 10 shots combined between the teams.
“I thought we played very well in the first period and we had a lot of scoring chances, but we scored only twice,” said JYP coach Marko Virtanen. “That was our chance, and in the second period we had some penalties and Bern had some chances. Then the third period was really tight.”
Looking ahead to the return game, he said: “In Jyvaskyla the rink is a little bit smaller, so it'll be a fast, tough game between two good teams. Everything's still open.”
Well familiar with Finnish hockey, Lasch is cautiously optimistic about the return game. “I think we’ve put ourselves into a good position right now but we know it’s far from over. From my experience – I played over there – it’s going to be a tough game. We’re satisfied with the result here at home but it’s far from over.”


Day Two
Knowing that the first goal in this matchup could prove to be crucial, it was Bern who started the better of the two sides. An early power play went begging for the Swiss side, however it wasn't long before they shocked the home crowd to open the scoring. Great forechecking from the away team forced a turnover in the offensive zone, and neat interchange play from Pluss and Scherwey set up Gian-Andrea Randegger for the wrist-shot through Pekka Tuokkola for the goal at 3:16. JYP had a couple of half chances to tie it up shortly after, the best arguably falling to Estonian Robert Rooba, but he couldn't get his backhand effort past Leonardo Genoni. JYP survived two more penalty kills in the period to go in at the break, somewhat fortunately, only a goal down on the night.
JYP needed to be better in period two, and did have then better of the chances throughout the 20 minutes. An early powerplay saw them on the offensive, with Jani Tuppurainen's slapshot just missing the top corner of Genoni's net. Bern captain Martin Pluss had his side's best chance of the period, but his sweet deke and shot was taken by Tuokkola to keep the scores level. Arguably the best chance of the period fell to JYP's Miiko Salmio, but he couldn't find the target form the edge of the crease with space in the net gaping, and Bern carried their lead into the third period. When Ryan Lasch put Bern 2-0 up on the night and 5-2 ahead on aggregate with less than two minutes played in the third even the most optimistic of JYP fans must have thought their side were dead and buried. However, the hosts kept attacking the Bern net, and a snapshot form captain Hytonen had them on the board at 45:54. Less than three minutes later JYP were level on the night, Salmio taking advantage of a poor clearance to bring his side back to within one on aggregate.
With JYP chasing the game late on, the hosts were building for a final charge in the last three minutes. That was however until a terrible pass from netminder Tuokkola hit the side of his own net, straight into the path of Bern forward Andrew Ebbett who slotted into the empty net to put Bern 6-4 up on aggregate and pretty much out of sight at 55:47. With 20 seconds left on the clock, a tip from Tuomas Pihlman meant JYP were a goal form forcing overtime, but Genoni stood tall to help Bern through to the next round. Final score 3-3 on the night, 6-5 to Bern on aggregate.