CHL Season Review 2018/19

UNDEFEATED RUN OF HC PILSEN GKS TYCHY GET POLAND’S FIRST VICTORY Group Stage BOLZANO CONTINUING FINE FORM Pilsen dominated a strong Group H that in- cluded defending champions JYP, winning all 6 of their Group Stage matches to ad- vance to the Playoffs from top position. With 17 points from 5 regular time wins and 1 overtime win, HC Pilsen not only had the highest amount of gained points but were also the only team to go undefeated in the Group Stage of the competition. HC Pilsen also dominated individual statistics in the Group Stage, as key player David Stach re- corded 3 goals and 8 assists, for a total of 11 points from 6 matches – the highest amount of all players. 22 With a spectacular run from the bottom of the EBEL to the finals, eventually winning the Austrian league for the second time, HC Bolzano qualified for this year’s CHL campaign. The Foxes had previously ap- peared in the 2014/15 CHL season but failed to escape their group. This time, they fared much better, thanks especially to the goaltending of former NHLer Leland Irving and Marco Insam’s 6 goals, many of them timely. Bolzano finished second in Group C with 10 points, thus qualifying for the Play- offs and becoming the first Italian team to ever make the knockout stages. GKS Tychy made a splash in their first season in the Champions Hockey League. Tychy’s Game Day 5 victory against HC Bolzano, in which Michael Cichy scored a stunning be- tween-the-legs goal – voted Best Goal at the end of the season – was the first victory for a Polish club in the CHL. Previous Polish teams had come close but failed to get on the board, meaning Tychy will go down in Polish hockey history.