The third-placed team in Finland's Liiga last season, SaiPa, were no match for a Frolunda side looking to banish memories of a poor finish to last season domestically. CHL form clearly hasn't deserted the Gothenburg side, who recovered from an early concession to score six unanswered goals, with new signing Oskar Olausson making his mark with three assists in the 6-1 victory.
Liiga was better represented in round one by its champions, Tappara, who marked their CHL return with a 6-3 victory over Czech side Liberec at home, where Aapeli Rasanen was the difference maker, twice giving the hosts the lead before completing his hat-trick late on.
Swedish Hockey League (SHL) champions Skelleftea matched Frolunda with a 6-1 victory over Nitra of Slovakia, but taking their win on the road. Andreas Johnsson and Valter Lindberg scored one and assisted two each, while Jonathan Pudas joined them on three points thanks to a trio of assists.
No nation has more representatives in the competition this season than Sweden with four, but it's other two sides were not able to get off to winning starts - Vaxjo Lakers were unable to force overtime away in Germany at Adler Mannheim, conceding an empty-net goal to lose 3-1, while SHL runners-up Rogle conceded two in each of the the second and third periods to fall to a 4-0 loss at Plzen in Czech Republic.
Two goals in the first 10 minutes set Finland's KooKoo on the way to victory at Herning Blue Fox of Denmark, and leading 3-1 with 20 minutes to play, another two strikes in quick succession made sure of what in the end was a 5-2 victory, in which Samuel Valkeejarvi led the game with a goal and two assists.
