Färjestad and Luleå ready for the start of CHL

Tonight the first matches are played in CHL. And both of the Swedish teams stepping into the tournament tonight, Färjestad and Luleå, have had to wait three years to play in the tournament again. The last for both teams was the 2016/2017 season, when there was a loss in the sixteen finals for Färjestad and Luleå did not make it past the group stage.

Luleå has played three training games for CHL, and has won all three. And it's a good feeling that the team brings with them to the tournament where Augsburg, who finished third in the basic series and went out in the semi-finals of the German league, waits in the first match.

- We have done very well, but also things that we can do better of course. But on the whole I think we have had a good business, says Luleå's coach Thomas Berglund to SVT Sport.

Now Berglund and Luleå feel ready with training matches, and look forward to matches that matter.

- We've had three training games now. We are very eager to get started, and also fun that something is starting to apply. We look forward to this tournament and will go on to win it.

For Färjestad, Banska Bystrica, who won the Slovak league three years in a row, waits in the first match. The team plays in the CHL for the third year in a row, but has never made it past the group stage. And even though Färjestad won only one of four training matches before meeting with the Slovaks, Johan Pennerborn is not worried about the team's form.

- I think you are on a dangerous path if you start thinking about results like this early in the preseason, especially before there are competition matches. It's about creating a game that is sustainable throughout the season, he tells SVT Sport.

Johan Pennerborn is also tagged in matches where it is more than just the game to be sanded.

- Today is a sharp situation. It is clear that at home, here we want to win and dictate the conditions.

In Färjestad, as in many other teams, there are many new players. But even so, Pennerborn thinks he sees a stable defense game already. But he still admits that it's hard to know before the team actually played competition games.

- It is good when we start the competition matches that we also get scientific facts from the matches how we stand and how we are located. We get a lot of answers that way, he says.