Espoo Blues' dream of CHL final ends in home defeat

Zürich Lions' goaltender Ari Sulander enjoys successful return to Finnish ice

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Espoo Blues were knocked out of the European Champions Hockey League at the semi-final stage on Wednesday, going down 4-1 at home to Zürich Lions in front of 6,600 spectators.
      The Lions will now play the Russian side Metallurg Magnitogorsk in a two-legged final on January 21st and 28th.
     
Any hopes that Espoo Blues would take a place in the final of the CHL had already been seriously dented last December when the club went down to a 6-3 defeat in Switzerland.
      Under the rules of the competition, even victory on home ice - regardless of the size of the win - would only have been enough for the Espoo side to force a penalty shoot-out.
      As it happens, the visitors were not in any mood to be that charitable.
      The Lions led 2-1 after two periods, and as Espoo coach Petri Matikainen pulled the Blues' goalie Bernd Brückler in a late effort to get back on terms, two Zürich goals into an empty net in the space of half a minute put a speedy end to the proceedings.
     
The win was a triumphant return for Zürich's Finnish goaltender Ari Sulander, 40, a veteran of 11 seasons with the Lions.
      He stopped 33 of 34 shots on goal, but in all honesty although he played well he was never under a huge amount of pressure as Espoo produced one of their more nervous and anaemic performances at just the wrong time.
      Coincidentally, it was against the Espoo Blues that Sulander had played his last game in Finland before heading abroad.
      He has played for the Lions the entire time he has been in Switzerland, and plans to take Swiss citizenship next year.
     
The Swiss team brought with them an enthusiastic travelling supporters' group of around 500, who would not leave the arena until they had called back their team to fête them no fewer than three times after the match.
      The victory was probably the biggest win in the club's 78-year history, and the trip up north will have seemed well worthwhile, despite the EUR 450 price-tag and the rather chilly conditions.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Espoo Blues to meet Zürich Lions in CHL semi-final (4.12.2008)

Links:
  2008–09 Champions Hockey League (Wikipedia)

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