The SDHL championship series is set as Frolunda and Brynas will face off in the best-of-five finals to claim their spot as the top team in Europe.
After winning their first SDHL title last season, Frolunda is back looking for another, but they'll come up against stiff competition in Brynas who upset Lulea in the semifinals to punch their own ticket to the SDHL championships.
Competition In The Crease
Both teams have world class netminders with Frolunda being backstopped by Olympic Best Goaltender Andrea Brandli, and Czech starter Klara Peslarova in net for Brynas.
Frolunda led the SDHL in goals against allowing only 56 this season, with Brynas second at 66, and those facts are in no small part due to the goaltending each team brings to the ice.
Brandli posted a 1.49 GAA, .945 save percentage, and four shutouts this season appearing in 22 games for Frolunda. Peslarova posted a 1.89 GAA and .917 save percentage in the regular season, and has significantly bettered those numbers in the postseason.
Firepower Up Front For Both
Brynas and Frolunda have groups of national team level players driving their offensive groups. For Frolunda, Elisa Holopainen led the SDHL in goals this season scoring 27, and finished second in the league with 42 points. She's supported by several national team members including Hanna Olsson (Sweden), Sofie Lundin (Sweden), Andrea Dalen (Norway), Felizia Wikner Zienkiewicz (Sweden), Emilia Vesa (Finland), Sanni Rantila (Finland), and Emily Nix (Germany).
Brynas' top group includes Finnish national team forwards Viivi Vainikka who had 40 points this season, and Noora Tulus who followed closely with 39 points. Their group also includes Olympians such as Hanna Thuvik (Sweden), Jennina Nylund (Finland), and Sara Cajanova (Czechia) who was recently named the SDHL Defender of the Year.
The championship series is set to open March 21, with a potential game five spanning to March 31.