The German ice hockey champions Red Bull Munich missed an early entry into the round of 16 in the Champions Hockey League.
Coach Don Jackson’s team lost 1:4 (0:1, 1:1, 0:2) to Finnish representative Lukko Rauma on Tuesday and lost another game after three wins in a row. However, the chances of reaching the knockout phase are still good.
Munich’s league rivals ERC Ingolstadt, however, suffered a defeat for the second time in a row. The runner-up lost to the undefeated league leaders Växjö Lakers from Sweden 2:5 (0:1, 1:2, 1:2).
With nine points, the Upper Bavarians still have their sights set on the next round.
CHL 2023/2024 in a new mode
In Munich, Kim Nieminen (13th) and Ponthus Westerholm (27th) put the guests on the winning path. Ryan McKiernan (39th) scored the next goal, Westerholm (57th/59th) made the decision with his goals two and three.
Charles Bertrand (30th) and Casey Bailey (55th) scored the goals for the ERC, Noah Östlund (5th/50th), Emil Sylvegard (23rd), Filip Eriksson (28th) and Marcus Sylvegard (52nd) scored for the Swedish champions.
The current CHL season will be played in a new mode. Instead of 32, only 24 teams are taking part. These will not be divided into groups as before, but will be listed in an overall table in a “regular season” (August 31st to October 18th).
Each team only plays once against six different opponents in three home and away games. The best 16 teams advance to the knockout rounds.