The Fischtown Pinguins Bremerhaven from the German Ice Hockey League (DEL) have to worry about qualifying for the quarter-finals in the Champions Hockey League. The North Germans lost the first leg of the round of 16 against top Finnish club Ilves Tampere 2:3 (1:1, 1:1, 0:1) despite a 2-1 lead. The goals from Alex Friesen (11th) and Christian Wejse (32nd) were not enough for the hosts to gain the cushion they had hoped for for the second leg on November 19th (Wednesday).
Bremerhaven had benefited from the unexpected elimination of German champions Eisbären Berlin in the round of 16. The second DEL team in the round of the best 16 is ERC Ingolstadt, which will welcome the Austrian representative RB Salzburg for the first leg on Wednesday (7.30 p.m.). The final of the premier class takes place in March.
In the ten CHL editions so far, only Red Bull Munich from the DEL has reached the final once. In 2019, however, Bayern lost to Frölunda HC Göteborg.