Champions League Final Preview And Two Best Bets!!
Today is the day, a competition that we started dummying in August while we were on our way to Saratoga to watch the horses has finally reached the Final. Covid delays for numerous teams throughout this tournament into a scheduling nightmare will come to end tonight in Ängelholm, Sweden in a winner takes all game.
Rögle BK - Competes in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL) and currently tied for first place in the league.
Road To The Champions League Final:
⅛ Finals vs. Zurich (Swiss) - 4-3 and 4-1
Quarter-Finals vs. Sparta Prague (Czech) - 5-2 and 1-3
Top Scorer in Champions League: Canadian born Adam Tambellini 3 goals 5 assists for 8 points.
Fun Fact: Islanders legend Kenny Jönsson bookended his career in the NHL playing for Rögle. Who could forget his wild helmet and visor combos.
Tappara Tampere - Competes in the top league in Finland the SM-Liiga and are currently in 2nd place even though they have the most points as the standings are being decided by a point per match formula this season due to covid.
Road To The Champions League Final:
⅛ Finals vs. Växjö (Sweden) - 2-2 and 4-2
Quarter-Finals vs. Rouen (France) - 3-3 and 4-0
Semi-Finals vs. Munchen (Germany) - 3-0
Top Scorer in Champions League: Finnish born Otso Rantakari 0 goals and 7 assists for 7 points.
Fun Fact: NHL veteran Ville Nieminen played for Tappara before his career started in North America. Yes, same Ville Nieminen that thought it was a good idea to go after Sidney Crosby his rookie season when I was in the lineup.
We have another battle of Sweden vs. Finland and we all saw what the Finns did in the Olympics bringing home the gold medal, but we have to go with the home team here. Rögle is a tough building to play in and the travel from Finland is not easy.
Murls’ Best Bets:
Rögle ml -180
Under 5.5 -165
Twitter: mattmurley19
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