Vitkovice – Ingolstadt 5:1 (end) | Třinec – Bern 7:0 (end) | Tappara – Stavanger 7:3 (end)
Kuopio – Sparta 4:5 (2:3 after SO) | Köln – Košice 2:1 (end) | Vienna – Färjestad 4:1 (end)
Krefeld – Skellefteå 1:2 (end) | Zürich – Vålerenga 4:1 (end) | Genève – Frölunda 4:3 (end)
Briançon – Villach 1:2 (end) | Zug – SaiPa 1:2 (end) | Liberec – Kärpät 3:4 (end)
SønderjyskE – IFK Helsinki 4:5 (0:2 after SO) | Djurgården – Fribourg 5:4 (after OT) | Växjö – Mannheim 6:1 (end)
final
Bílí Tygři Liberec
3:4 (0:2, 2:2, 1:0)
Kärpät Oulu
Thursday 21.08.2014, 20:00 • Tipsport Arena, Liberec, Czech Republic • Champions League
     
    Well-deserved victory for the Finnish side that even had a four-goal lead at one point of the game. Tigers managed to make the game more fun by scoring three unasnwered, but in the end, Kärpät will be returning home as winners. (22:17:41)
     
    60:00
    Game over.
     
    59:33
    Shot by Plutnar blocked in front.
     
    58:35
    Schwarz leaves the net, extra attacker is on.
     
    57:51
    Blast of a one-timer by Glenn just missed the net.
     
    56:55
    Good shot by Filippi deflected up high.
     
    56:23
    Big glove save by Schwarz robbing Julius Junttila.
     
    55:39
    Ondřej Vitásek (LIB) gets a two for holding. 4 on 4 coming up.
     
    55:10
    Filippi and Masuhr started swining at each other after a wrassle in the doorstep.
     
    54:57
    Mikko Alikoski (KÄR) gets two minutes for roughing.
     
    54:40
    Icing against Kärpät.
     
    53:59
    Filippi fired one from the left wing, good save by Karhunen.
     
    53:28
    Long shot by Škoula taken care of by Karhunen, but Vampola almost got to the rebound.
     
    52:01
    Icing against Liberec, commercial break coming up.
     
    50:20
    Good shot by Bartek just misses.
     
    49:34
    Mikko Niemelä (KÄR) gets two minutes for interference.
     
    48:33
    Great shot from the blue line by Derner, pad save made by Karhunen.
     
    48:08
    Liberec looking for the equalizer, Škoula was set up well, but couldn't convert.
    Martin Bartek – 3:4
     
    45:37
    Goal for Liberec!
    The lead is cut to a single goal. MARTIN BARTEK makes the rest of the period very dramatic after he scores from the area between the circles. Assisted by Tomáš Filippi and Michal Bulíř.
     
    45:30
    Shot by Bulíř deflected up into the netting.
     
    44:10
    Liberec clears the puck.
     
    43:28
    Shorthanded break for Vampola, good pad save by Karhunen.
     
    42:19
    Lukáš Derner (LIB) gets two minutes for interference.
     
    42:12
    Shot by Eminger deflected into the corner by Plutnar.
     
    41:41
    Icing called against Liberec.
     
    41:01
    Icing called against Kärpät.
     
    40:01
    Start of 3rd period.
     
    The second period had two goals from each of the two teams, Kärpät first jumped up into a 4-0 lead before having it cut to two goals by Tomáš Filippi and Michal Bulíř.
     
    40:00
    2nd period finished.
    Michal Bulíř – 2:4
     
    38:59
    Goal for Liberec!
    And now the lead is cut in half. MICHAL BULÍŘ carried the puck in and shot one over the pad of Karhunen and in. Will the Tigers come back? Assisted by Jakub Valský.
     
    38:47
    Hard shot by Huml in the left circle denied in front.
     
    37:14
    Shot by Vampola stopped in front, Oulu able to clear the puck out.
     
    36:02
    Patrick Davis (KÄR) gets two minutes for interference.
    Big chance for Kärpät
     
    34:14
    Spang came in as a trailer and he was set up well in front, Schwarz managed to make a great save to keep the puck out.
     
    33:57
    Bartek set up in a great position in front, pad save by Karhunen.
     
    32:27
    Pyorala had the puck in front of the open net, but Voráček managed to get to him just in time and get the puck away from his stick.
     
    30:42
    Bartek was sent on a breakaway, but he didn't have enough speed and Glenn was able to catch up.
     
    29:57
    One-timer by Kemppainen denied by Schwarz.
     
    29:29
    Icing against Kärpät.
    Tomáš Filippi – 1:4
     
    28:39
    Goal for Liberec!
    The White Tigers get on the board halfway through the second period. Great pass by Bulíř set up TOMÁŠ FILIPPI in a great position in front and the latter had no problem one-timing it home to cut the lead to three. Assisted by Michal Bulíř.
     
    27:09
    Marek Schwarz replaces Ján Lašák between the pipes.
    Simon Suoranta – 0:4
     
    27:09
    Goal for Kärpät!
    Four-goal lead for the Finnish team. SIMON SUORANTA with a bad-angle shot that got past Lašák via the five-hole. That's also the end of the night for the Slovak goalie. Assisted by Ryan Glenn.
     
    26:55
    Oulu with a couple of good shots, but Lašák managed to keep them out.
     
    24:30
    Liberec trying to get back into this one, but the reigning Finnish champions are not letting them.
     
    23:04
    Goal for Kärpät!
    Kärpät takes a three-goal lead following a great play by the second line. Good pass by Huml is converted by DAN SPANG who jumped in on the left side. Assisted by Ivan Huml and Joonas Komulainen.
    Dan Spang – 0:3
     
    22:42
    Huml dangerous along the left wing, but there was nobody to feed in front.
     
    21:15
    Deschamps left all alone, but Kajínek was quickly getting back forcing him into a shot that got stopped by the pad of Lašák.
     
    20:49
    Bartek decided to fire one with Voráček providing screen, Karhunen managed to keep it out.
     
    20:01
    Start of 2nd period.
     
    The first period wasn't much fun, but it did produce a couple of goals, both by the Finnish side. Patrick Davis opened the scoring just three minutes in and Julius Junttila doubled up the lead with 21 seconds left in the frame.
     
    20:00
    1st period finished.
    Julius Junttila – 0:2
     
    19:39
    Goal for Kärpät!
    Shorthanded goal for Oulu and the Finnish side takes a two-goal lead in dying seconds of the first period. Spang forced a Liberec turnover and sent Kemppainen ahead and the latter found JULIUS JUNTTILA with a great cross-ice feed enabling him to just fire it into the wide-open net. Assisted by Joonas Kemppainen and Dan Spang.
     
    19:09
    After a series of hard hits from both teams that nearly resulted into a brawl, Lasse Kukkonen (KÄR) gets penalized for holding.
     
    17:46
    Suoranta dangerous in front of Lašák, didn't fire the puck.
     
    17:01
    Spang once again looking to cause trouble in front of Lašák with a shot from the blue line.
     
    15:59
    Huml got into a good position in front, but couldn't fire it on Lašák's net.
     
    15:36
    Icing called against Liberec.
     
    14:00
    Big hit by Voráček on Vallin who got pretty deep to the Liberec zone.
     
    12:38
    Derner circled around the Kärpät net, but couldn't fire it on goal afterwards.
     
    11:32
    Víšek taken down in the corner, but he gets back up after a couple of seconds and it looks like this won't keep him out of the game for long.
     
    11:12
    Long one-timer by Škoula kept out by Karhunen.
     
    11:07
    Hard shot by Vlach from the left wing, Karhunen stops it and holds on to the puck.
     
    09:40
    Kärpät close to scoring another one with Lašák not in position and the puck taking a couple of bounces in front.
     
    09:21
    Filippi on the doorstep, he received a pass from Bulíř and redirected it just wide of the net.
     
    09:08
    Škoula set up for a one-timer by Bulíř, another block made by the Finnish team.
     
    09:00
    Bartek with a good setup of Derner in front, Davis came down to block the shot.
     
    08:34
    Bartek with a shot attempt, but he fanned on it.
     
    08:12
    Urban, Derner and Vlach were looking to get deep into the Kärpät zone, but the puck ends up in the stands.
     
    07:53
    Icing called against the home team.
     
    07:25
    Spang fired one with Donskoi in front, Lašák hangs on to the puck.
     
    06:17
    Kärpät powerplay unit still unable to get anything done.
     
    05:23
    Good penalty kill by Jelínek keeps the puck inside the Kärpät zone.
     
    04:34
    Jan Víšek (LIB) gets called for hooking.
     
    03:57
    Dan Spang just dumped the puck on net from the blue line and it created mess in front of Lašák, Liberec defense able to deal with it though.
    Patrick Davis – 0:1
     
    02:56
    Goal for Kärpät!
    The Finnish side takes an early lead on the powerplay. PATRICK DAVIS had the puck in the right circle and found a way to squeeze it between the hand and the pad of Ján Lašák and just past the goal line to open the scoring. Assisted by Nicolas Deschamps.
     
    02:48
    Filippi went in along the wing and fired one of the crossbar!
     
    02:21
    Shot by Komulainen misses the Liberec net.
     
    01:29
    Stoppage of play after Petr Jelínek was pushed into the rear of the Kärpät net.
     
    00:58
    David Kajínek (LIB) gets two minutes for tripping.
     
    00:23
    Karhunen touches the puck for the first time, but nothing difficult, just a dump-in by the home team.
     
    00:01
    Game started.
     
    Starting lineups:

    Bílí Tygři Liberec: Lašák (Schwarz) – Voráček, Škoula, Vitásek, Kajínek, Derner, Plutnar, Šimek – Víšek, Bartek (C), Bulík – Valský, Filippi, Bulíř – Vampola, Jelínek, Jass – Vlach, Urban, Kica – Jonák.

    Kärpät Oulu: Karhunen (Tarkki) – Kukkonen (C), Masuhr, Spang, Glenn, Niemela, Vallin, Eminger – Pyorala, Deschamps, Davis – Maenalanen, Komulainen, Huml – Junttila, Kemppainen, Donskoi – Manninen, Keranen, Suoranta, Alikoski – Manninen.

    Referees: W. Edqvist (SWE), M. Fraňo (CZE) – D. Jelínek (CZE), T. Pešek (CZE).
     
    Last time Liberec and Oulu met was during the 2011 European Trophy season. Hosting Tigers in Raahe, the Weasels cruised to a good-looking 4-1 victory.
     
    After four mediocre years, the Oulun Kärpät, also known as "Weasels" in English, came back strong in the 2013-14 season and emerged as champions for the first time since 2008. Not much has changed in the roster over summer, Ben Maxwell left for KHL while Ville Pokka and Jussi Rynnäs signed NHL contracts, but Iiro Tarkki is now joining the team, making up a great goaltending tandem with Oulu native Tomi Karhunen who led the team to the title in the playoffs last season.
     
    Following years under captainship of legendary forward Petr Nedvěd, Bílí Tygři (White Tigers) are looking to establish a new style of play and more team approach. The current stars include Slovak goalie Ján Lašák, one-time Stanley Cup champion Martin Škoula and goal-scorer Martin Bartek. Struggling early in the preseason looking to find a way to be a winning team even without Nedvěd, Liberec now has a chance to turn the page and become what they need to be.
     
    Hello everyone, it's Day One of the Champions Hockey League season and Finnish powerhouse Kärpät Oulu is in Liberec, Czech Republic, to square off with Bílí Tygři on the opening night.
     
    Welcome. This game starts at 20:00 CET, 21:00 EET.
    Recommend
    Commentary by

    Radoslav Vavřina

    Goals & lineups Match log
    Goals and assists: 29. Filippi (Bulíř), 39. Bulíř (Valský), 46. Bartek (Filippi, Bulíř) – 3. Davis (Deschamps), 20. Junttila (Kemppainen, Spang), 24. Spang (Huml, Komulainen), 28. Suoranta (Glenn)

    Bílí Tygři Liberec: Lašák (28. Schwarz) – Voráček, Škoula, Vitásek, Kajínek, Derner, Plutnar, Šimek – Víšek, Bartek (C), Bulík – Valský, Filippi, Bulíř – Vampola, Jelínek, Jass – Vlach, Urban, Kica – Jonák.
    Kärpät Oulu: Karhunen (Tarkki) – Kukkonen (C), Masuhr, Spang, Glenn, Niemela, Vallin, Eminger – Pyorala, Deschamps, Davis – Maenalanen, Komulainen, Huml – Junttila, Kemppainen, Donskoi – Keranen, Suoranta, Alikoski – Manninen.
    Referees: W. Edqvist (SWE), M. Fraňo (CZE) – D. Jelínek (CZE), T. Pešek (CZE)