Portrait of Red Bull Münchens CHL opponent Lukko Rauma

Tuesday, 30. May 2023 | Portrait of Red Bull Münchens CHL opponent Lukko Rauma

An old acquaintance back in the CHL: Lukko Rauma in portraitReunion in the new Champions League season// CHL - PORTRAIT On August 31, the CHL will kick off the 2023/24 season, with the Red Bulls facing six top opponents in the preliminary round, one of them being Finnish representative Lukko Rauma. Wait, there was something? Yes, that's right! Let's go back a few years.

In the southwest of Finland, the port city is located directly on the sea - more precisely on the Baltic Sea coast. Rauma was founded in 1442, making it the third oldest city in Finland. To this day, the approximately 40,000 inhabitants, who speak a dialect that is difficult to understand, are justifiably proud of the still medieval charm of their historic old town ("Vanha Rauma"). This special nostalgic character is provided by the approximately 600 wooden houses, complete with colorful and richly decorated facades, which run through almost the entire center.

Back on track in the Liiga

Lukko Rauma is undoubtedly the city's sporting flagship. Founded in 1936, the traditional club has been one of the best teams in Finland's top division - the Liiga - for years. Lukko plays its home games in the Kivikylän Areena, which can accommodate 5,400 spectators.

In the past season, the Blue-Yellow team played a strong main round and finished third in the final standings. In the playoffs, however, the team was eliminated in the quarterfinals. They lost the best-of-seven series against IFK Helsinki 4-2. Nevertheless, the past season was a step in the right direction. The year before, the team had to take a detour via the playoff qualifying round or the round of 16 to finish tenth in the table.

But the last championship title was not so long ago. In May 2021, Rauma was crowned Finnish champion for the second time in the club's history since 1963 after finishing first in the main round and a 3-1 result in the best-of-five final series against TPS Turku.

Positive result in the Champions League

Lukko Rauma qualified for the Champions League for the sixth time overall by finishing third in the standings last season. After missing out on the top flight last season, the southern fins are now back at European level.

The highlight so far was the semifinal appearance in 2016, and the team made it to the quarterfinals a year earlier and in 2022. In 37 CHL matches, the team has won 18 games and lost 14. They also boast a positive goal differential (104:76).

A pair of twins returns under new coach

The young team will be coached by Tomi Lämsä with immediate effect. The 43-year-old was introduced as the new head coach at the end of April. Previously, the Finn coached the U20 national team of his home country. "I like working with people and leading them. I work a lot with the players one-on-one. The squad is promising at the moment," said the new coach when he took office.

Teams from Finland are considered to be particularly strong and tactically well trained. It's no coincidence that the current squad is largely made up of Finnish and Swedish players. Exceptions are professionals from Canada, such as goalkeeper Samuel Harvey (new from HC Bolzano) or the two defenders Matthew Abt and Josh Brook (new from the Calgary Wranglers). In the future, a pair of Swedish twins, among others, will again provide goals in the forward line. Pathrik and Ponthus Westerholm returned to Lukko from the Malmö Redhawks.

However, by far the most famous professional ice hockey player, who was born in Rauma, never wore the blue and yellow jersey. Sebastian Aho is now one of the NHL superstars in the service of the Carolina Hurricanes. On the other hand, Petri Vehanen, goalkeeper for the Eisbären Berlin from 2014 to 2018, played for his hometown club for a long time.

Justin Schütz makes the Red Bulls cheer

There have already been four meetings with the Red Bulls, each in the knockout phase of the Champions League. In December 2021, our boys came back from a 2-0 deficit with goals from Trevor Parkes and Frederik Tiffels to earn a 2-2 draw with Rauma. In the second leg, Justin Schütz scored the celebrated 2-1 winning goal in overtime at Oberwiesenfeld - Munich's entry in the semifinals was thus perfect.

Six years earlier, however, Lukko prevailed in the sixteenth final. The two-time Finnish champions won 5-3 in front of their home crowd and 3-0 at the Olympia-Eisstadion two weeks later.