Nottingham Panthers begin their quest to win the IIHF Continental Cup on Wednesday, hoping to lift the trophy on home ice and become the first Elite League team to ever win the competition twice.
The Panthers face HK Mogo of Latvia at 7pm on Wednesday evening, with the event taking place entirely at the Motorpoint Arena. Mogo are something of a rarity in the Continental Cup, having come all the way through from the very first round in Vilnius, Lithuania, to reach the final. They won that group comfortably before qualifying from Group C in Angers, France, beating GyergyĆ³i (Romania) and Cortina (Italy) to secure one of the top two places.
In the Latvian Optibet Hokeja Liga, which includes teams from Estonia and Lithuania, Mogo lead the standings with 45 points from 27 games. The Latvians have lost just four games in regulation and have recorded 20 regulation wins.
Their roster features 38-year-old Kristaps Sotnieks, who has played 90 games for Latvia at the IIHF World Championships and logged more than 640 KHL games during his career. Captain Gints Meija has 574 KHL games to his name, while KriÅ”jÄnis RÄdlihs has appeared in 425.s name, while Krisjanis Redlihs iced in 425.
The Panthers will face GKS Katowice of Poland on Friday. The results of the games between these teams will decide who plays for the trophy on Saturday. In the other group, Angers (France) take on Herning) from 2:30pm.
Photo: Panthers Images
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