Kokshetau, Cardiff, Katowice, Grenoble make January’s grand final

The four teams for the 2025 IIHF Continental Cup final are set: 2019 champion Arlan Kokshetau (KAZ), 2024 finalists Cardiff Devils (GBR) and GKS Katowice (POL), and 2010 finalist Bruleurs de Loups Grenoble (FRA) will battle for the trophy in January.

The weekend action in Slovakia and Denmark was full of drama. At the Zilina Ice Stadium, Cardiff lost both goalies to injury and had to make an emergency signing to complete the three-game program. Despite that, victories in the opening two games were enough to get coach Peter Russell’s team into its third consecutive final. With hastily acquired netminder Maks Duve between the pipes for their third game, the Devils blew a 3-1 lead to lose 6-3 to Arlan on Sunday afternoon. That was enough to send the Kazakhs through as Group E winners, despite host team Vlci Zilina’s 5-0 win over Rittner Buam of Italy.

In Denmark, Group F came down to the final day with three teams hoping to progress. Host club Aalborg Pirates was in pole position after winning its first two games. Even in the event of a three-way tie, the Danes could afford a one-goal loss against GKS and still progress. However, Bruleurs de Loups’ 11-1 thrashing of Romania’s Corona Brasov left the French team safe unless there was a freak result in the final game. Then Katowice beat Aalborg 4-1, knocking the Pirates out of the competition.
 

Group E

Arlan’s Continental Cup journey took it from rock bottom to top spot in the space of three days. The Kazakhs made a sluggish start to the competition, falling behind 2-0 in the first period of their opening game against Vlci Zilina. From that point, things improved, but Arlan still lost 4-3 in overtime.

Next up, Arlan trailed outsider Ritten Buam at the first intermission. Despite recovering to win the game 2-1 and move into second place, there was still work for the Kazakhs to do. Failing to defeat Cardiff in the third game would open the door for Vlci to sneak into second place.

Cardiff, meanwhile, impressed with comfortable wins over Ritten (5-1) and Zilina (4-1). However, those results came at a cost. In the opener, GB international goalie Ben Bowns limped out after taking a knock in the build-up to the Italians’ goal. Then, against the hosts, Mac Carruth left the game injured, forcing Bowns to return “on one leg,” according to Peter Russell. The Devils did a great job for their netminder, limiting Vlci to just four shots on goal in the third period.

Given those injury worries, Cardiff needed to draft in another goalie for game three. Maks Duve, a 24-year-old Ukrainian who played in Lithuania last season, got the call. Slovak worries that this would hand Arlan a decisive advantage initially seemed groundless: Cardiff got up 3-1 inside 26 minutes.

But Arlan is used to fighting back. The game was tied 3-3 by the second intermission. And after a cagey third period, experienced forward Stepan Sannikov put the Kazakhs ahead for the first time when he got a drop pass from Danil Paramonov and scored from between the hash marks with 2:03 left. Just 15 seconds later, Dmitri Arkhipov made it 5-3.

The game finished amid chaotic scenes. Riley Brandt’s interference foul sparked a fight between Jarrod Gourley and Arseni Barysau. Arlan finished with a 5-on-3 power play and Sannikov set up Arkhipov to round out the scoring at 6-3.

The result put Arlan atop the group with seven points, one better than Cardiff. Zilina finished with a 5-0 win over Rittner, but could do no better than third place. The host club suffered from injuries and was forced to deploy Martin Bellus as a defender in the absence of Canadian duo Brenden Miller and Miguel Tourigny. The Ritten game was chiefly notable for 19-year-old Michal Dubek collecting a shutout in his senior hockey debut for the hosts.

Group F

Aalborg Pirates had a simple enough task on paper: anything better than a regulation-time loss against GKS Katowice in Sunday’s concluding game would guarantee the hosts moved on. The Poles, meanwhile, knew they had to win. Moreover, after Bruleurs de Loups thrashed Corona Brasov 11-1 to raise the prospect of a three-way tie, GKS needed to win by at least three goals, or an improbable two-goal margin in a final score of 6-4 or greater.

The Poles had a dream start when Swedish defender Pontus Englund opened the scoring at 0:42, assisted by Polish internationals Grzegorz Pasiut and Patryk Wronka. Julian Jakobsen tied it up right away for Aalborg, but in the fifth minute Pasiut got his second helper of the night as Jean Dupuy restored the GKS lead.

The second period was goalless, although Aalborg had slightly the better of the play. Michal Kieler made some big stops in the GKS net to keep his team in front.

However, a 2-1 victory would not be enough for Katowice. It had to score more to boost its goal differential in any three-way tie with Grenoble and Aalborg. In the third period, the big moment arrived. Pasiut got the puck in his own zone and went haring down the left wing. Wronka came charging up the middle to join him and steered Pasiut’s pass into a wide-open net to make it 3-1 at 7:12. That boosted the Poles’ qualification hopes, but one more goal was still needed.

It came with 5:48 left. Bartosz Fraszko had already made one lung-busting breakaway, only to be denied by Aalborg goalie George Sorensen. However, the 29-year-old forward, who represented Poland at last year’s IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship, found the energy to complete his shift by burying the rebound after Englund’s point shot bounced in front of the net. The three-goal margin was good enough for GKS, but the Pirates still had time to plunder a goal that could change the whole picture. However, Aalborg ran into spirited Polish defence in the closing minutes and couldn’t break through even after pulling their goalie.

Katowice’s 4-1 win also ensured that Bruleurs de Loups would progress. The French team lost its opener against Aalborg, but bounced back with a vital 4-2 verdict over GKS on Saturday. A comfortable 11-1 win over Corona, powered by a hat-trick from Francois Beauchemin, had Grenoble in touching distance of qualification, but it still needed the right result in the final game.

The Continental Cup final is scheduled for 16 to 19 January 2025. The host will be selected from the four teams that have qualified, and a decision will be announced shortly.