Norway’s oil capital of Stavanger may be drained by lower oil prices at present but its hockey team was pumped up after winning the first match of national championship action Monday evening. The Stavanger Oilers also topped the rankings at the end of the season.
The Oilers beat Storhamar 4-2 in the opening match of the championships on home ice in Stavanger. The Oilers won the hometown advantage because they also beat numer-two Storhamar in the league rankings.
Now the two teams will travel back and forth between Stavanger and Hamar until one of them becomes the first to win four matches in the best-of-seven championship tournament. The Oilers are also defending their championship title from last year. They earned their spot in this year’s finals after beating Vålerenga of Oslo 5-4 last weekend.
The next championship match was to take place on Wednesday in Hamar, then back to Stavanger on Friday and Hamar again on Sunday.
newsinenglish.no staff
