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Good evening NHLGamers, Me - The_Alpha_Furyan - and the rest of the NHLGamer staff bid you welcome to another installment of our ECL Season Preview. To get an idea of what we will be doing in these previews, you can check out our previous one for Season 3. While that preview focused more on listing all the participating teams and predicting which ones would come out on top from the regular season, this one will try to dig a little deeper and supply a more in-depth look at each and every division - something the community has been vocal about in their feedback to our writing staff. After looking at both the Lite and Pro divisions, we've now reached the final 16 teams of ECL 4, the Elite Division. Just like during the Pro preview I have @nylanderi, our newest content creator here at NHLGamer.com, and his excellent eye for team- and player scouting by my side for this one. Let us get to it, shall we? Main text, scouting and predictions by nylanderi Text editing and additional reporting by The_Alpha_Furyan Art by OxtreeLAT Prediction for the Regular Season Top - 5 1. Unknown WHO is a team that rely on solid team defense and counter attacking to win games. Unknowns defense, lead by isvamp, has been really good every time I have played against them in regular EASHL lately. Foppatofflan and MartindalexC on the wings have the skill to create a bunch of great scoring chances in every game. If they can play at their highest level during the entire regular season, they will definitely finish high - possibly even first in the regular season. Their goalie situation is probably their biggest weakness since they are currently still searching for a starting goalie as far as I know. I am aware that Ranta83 is really good between the pipes, but if he's not able to play that much they will need to find a reliable goalie. 2. Limitless Last seasons champions X Factor, with a new name and some new roster aquisitions from Finnish Roosters. The offense - on paper at least - is truly something to behold with all three starting forwards finishing in top 10 for scoring during ECL 3. One of the biggest transfers this offseason was Limitless' acquisition of Haldeem from Dynasty. The plan is for Haldeem to form a defender partnership with myself (nylanderi). If the defense clicks and FinKonna puts up the good performances he is capable of it should be really hard to score against Limitless in ECL 4. If this team is able to string together solid performances they will most likely be one of the powerhouses this season. 3. Aapon Taikasauva Last seasons offensive powerhouse team has changed a lot. They lost Joukki13 and Puantso, but acquired some new forwards. Bugimir, Nampa77 and Chafak are all really good additions to the team, and I believe they will go far this season as well. Bugimir and Indi are both great two-way forwards, and I believe that Aapon will be one of the best defensive teams this season because of it. 4. Laser HT After last seasons disappointing finish, Laser has changed quite a lot. They made some big moves during the offseason and you can be sure they will be one of the top teams once again. Their team might not be as good on paper as last seasons squad but if Dominointi gets his team going you can expect great things. 5. Written in The Stars Kinda like Limitless, Writtens lineup has changed a lot. They have acquired KingOfApes_ and Vilupoika from X Facto with both players expected to bring a lot to their offense. Totalii leads their defense but they also got a new LD, Defmaxou, from Alliance HT so it will really interesting how he will do for SKY. If everything works out as planned, these guys can challenge for the ECL Elite championship. Championship favorite I would say Limitless, but I dont really want to have a big target on my back from the rest of the Elite division... so I will pick Aapon Taikasauva. Aapons roster this season fits playoff hockey perfectly. They can shut it down and they have some really tricky players up front. Aapons starting goalie is still a mystery to me so that could potentially be something that messes up their season. However, if they have an active goalie who can hold his own in net you better watch out for this team. Players to watch 1. Norpee, Synergy, LW/C Talk about a player who can do it all, Norpee will continue to do wonders for SYN this season. He scored a whopping 152 points during the ECL 3 regular season but I still feel that he is actually quite underrated. Terrific two-way skills combined with top hockey-IQ, I think he will continue to cause all sorts of problems for Elite opponents. 2. Anrh17, Unknown, C/RW iSvamp let us know in the Unknown thread that Anrh17 is quite busy with his IRL hockey, but whenever he has time to play you can expect big things. Unknowns #1 center often flies under the radar because of their skilled wingers, but this guy has been excellent every time Limitless has matched up against them and should continue to be a difference maker during ECL 4. 3. Gendlik, SIKA, C SIKA truly aquired a great player from Nordic Blizzard this offseason. Gendlik is known for his silky smooth hands and he should be a great fit for SIKA. Watching them last season I felt that they really needed one more pure skill forward. Gendlik can quarterback SIKAs offensive game and take that team to another level. 4. s_w1ld_RUS, Written In The Stars, G In my opinion a Top-3 goalie in the game and he really proved it last season in Alliance and recently whenever I have matched up against him in EASHL. With this goalie, Written has a chance to be one of the better defensive teams in the ECL Elite division. 5. Puantso, Dynasty, LD/C I was quite surprised when I heard about this signing. Puantso has been a wonderful player for Aapon the past few seasons. Now he plays for Dynasty but I am not sure about which position he will occupy. I feel like he could be an offensive juggernaut for Dynasty as a C, but I have heard rumours that he might play LD. That’s not bad either since Haldeem left and I know for a fact that Puantso is really good at defense. If he does play D, he will for sure form one of the better defensive partnerships in the game with Snapu and Dynasty will most likely continue the tradition of being one of the top defensive teams. Teams to watch 1. Nordic Lightning “New” NL is a really interesting team. They are back in ECL 4 without their captain JaromirSniper68 but in EASHL games their defense has been really good and their fast counter attacks have caused all sorts of problems. Tactical_Face is a great goalie as well so I think these guys can really surprise a lot of people this season. 2. Dynasty They really impressed me last season, but I think Dynasty will be even better this season. They're a team who truly plays great in every area of the ice and will be a tough assignment for every opponent to break down. Dynasty, lead by Snapu, is looking for a long playoff run at this point and their recent EASHL performances show that they have a good chance to achieve just that. 3. Northern Stars During an off-season where it felt like everyone and their mother changed teams, NOS made the bold choice to stand pat - only mixing up their lineup internally with some possible position changes. This could prove to be a wise choice as many other Elite teams will be scrambling to find chemistry in their lineups while NOS will have many years of experience to lean on. Lets see how this decision works out. This was our full 3-part preview for ECL 4 and we hope that you enjoyed it. As always, feel free to leave to leave your thoughts in the comment section. Now, let's get back on the virtual ice and play some hockey! Later skaters, The_Alpha_Furyan & nylanderi for NHLGamer.com

Good evening NHLGamers, Me - The_Alpha_Furyan - and the rest of the NHLGamer staff bid you welcome to another installment of our ECL Season Preview. To get an idea of what we will be doing in these previews, you can check out our previous one for Season 3. While that preview focused more on listing all the participating teams and predicting which ones would come out on top from the regular season, this one will try to dig a little deeper and supply a more in-depth look at each and every division - something the community has been vocal about in their feedback to our writing staff. After giving you the preview for the ECL 4 Lite division yesterday, we now move on to the ECL 4 Pro division. To assist me with this preview I have enlisted the help of a community member who needs no introduction (but will still get one). After finishing up the previous ECL tournament as the captain of the championship winning team Limitless, this Finn wanted to contribute more to the community in the form of reporting. Therefore, it is with great joy we here at NHLGamer.com - through this article - introduce our newest content creator and Staff member, @nylanderi. So without further ado, I now turn the mic over to nylanderi for this preview. The predictions and words are his, my contribution is solely some editing and additional thoughts. Let's go! Main text, scouting and predictions by nylanderi Text editing and additional reporting by The_Alpha_Furyan Art by OxtreeLAT Prediction for the Regular Season Top- 5. 1. Carlsberg Carslberg HC is a team who would quite possibly be my pick for even the ECL Elite Championship - so this choice was pretty much a no-brainer for me. I expect this reunited team to dominate the regular season, possibly even finishing their whole run without any losses. Carlsberg truly are amazing in every zone on the ice, with almost no weaknesses to their game. Especially look for joukki13 and Patzlaf to most likely finish #1 and 2 in scoring for the Pro division. 2. Sjukstugan I will say that Sjukstugan has made some really interesting moves in the offseason - acquiring Filariou, The_Alpha_Furyan and LastMandalorian. From what I have seen when recently playing against 112 in EASHL games they have really taken their game a step in the right direction. Honestly, if they can defend as a team in ECL they could challenge CAR for the ECL 4 Pro title. In my opinion their team offense is their biggest source of strength, but forwards will have to make sure to also defend if they want to find themselves in ECL Elite when NHL 18 shows up and ECL 5 kicks off. 3. Unlucky Boys HC One of the more underrated teams out there, I think UB is really going to impress a lot of people this season. They have great players upfront in Anhel_kuru and Ilmari30 but also share a weakness with many other Pro teams - their defense. In UBs case, especially defending together as a team. If this team wants to succeed they will have to be able to shut other teams down. Their offense can score goals against pretty much anyone, but it will not help them if they let in more than they score. 4. Kattiautomatti This is a team that I am quite familiar with, seeing as how we faced them in the ECL 3 playoffs. Overall I think Katti is a really good defensive team, but they are somewhat lacking in offensive power. If they can find a way to score a few extra goals per game, look for them to go real far this season but if not, it could be a tough season. Good luck guys and again - thanks for the playoff series! 5. Silver Sword Griffins To me, it was kind of a big suprise last season to see how good SSG did. Their defense and goaltending is usually their strength (it has always been their trademark) but how they are going to score their goals is usually the big mystery. SSGs goals often come from low point shots with deflections and that style of play definitely requires luck if they want to go far. A big responsibility will be on the shoulders of #1 center and top scorer, ProMinx24. Will also be interesting to see how OxtreeLAT handles going from goaltender to defender - from what I have seen it should work out really well. Championship favorite It is Carlsberg. For me, as I said in the regular season predicitions, this was never in doubt. Maybe one of the other teams pull off an upset and somehow sneak by Carlsberg... but if they do not win the Pro division (or at the very least make the finals) it would have to be considered a failure. Players to watch 1. Janzuh, Carlsberg, D I have heard many people state that Janzuh is one of the very best LDs in the competitive NHL gaming scene, and I totally agree with that notion. Janzuh is rock solid in his own end and with his amazing hockey IQ I am sure he is going to have a huge role in Carlsbergs offense as well. 2. Ilmari30, Unlucky Boys HC, Forward One of the better playmakers in the game for sure. He makes things easy for him and his teammates. His definitely gonna quarterback UBs game, and take them far this season. 3. Stefan_397, Inter Iceland, Forward Stefan, just like the rest of Inter Iceland, is some kind of mystery to me (and to the community I think). I dont really know that much about him to be honest, only that he can score a lot of goals. If he can keep that kind of scoring up (65 goals last regular season) we can expect great things from Inter Iceland this season. 4. Kaneyh, White Trash, Forward Kaneyh is one of the best Versus/HUT players to come out of Finland and based on his stats from last season, his talents has carried over to 6v6 as well. If WT is able to shut down their opponents and Kaneyh manages to continue his skillfull terror upfront - watch out for him and for this team. 5. Juizki, Checkmate, G Juizki is one of the most underrated goalies in the game and everytime I have faced him in EASHL, he has been really good, bordering on amazing. Checkmate as a team has acquired a whole bunch of new players and with Juziki backstopping them, this team is going to be really interesting to watch. Teams to watch 1. White Trash We faced them last season and from what I could tell then (and now) their offense is truly elite level. But again the same story as most of the Pro teams comes back - they really lack unity in their own zone. If they can sort that out, these guys are going to be scary good. 2. HC Checkmate Building on what was said above in "Players to watch" with Juizki, Checkmate is a team to look out for this season. While maybe not at the very top of the predicted Pro teams, they still feature a lot of skill and massive amounts of chemistry. Their offense, led by BiggestEight on LW, also features speedcell104 and TackleControl - forming a line whose speed and creative attacks is enough to send the opponents heads spinning. Couple that with Juizkis play in net and new signing IYouShallNotPass on defense and you have a real interesting team. 3. Nordic Stars This is a team filled up with some great players. However, I have not yet faced them in EASHL competition so I couldn't really put them in the top 5 prediction this time. This team has the potential to be really good in every zone though and actually dominate the pro division - possibly even challenging CAR and 112 for the championship. 4. Baltic Sea Eagles Don't forget about these veterans. BSE has been around since before Jesus (not talking about the Company of Geeks captain... or am I?) and has amassed a lot of experience. This will be their first entry into the ECL scene from what I understand and it will be interesting to see how they handle the tempo of ECL competition. That is it for Pro, leave your thoughts in the comment section and give nylanderis first contribution to the website the attention it deserves. See you all tomorrow for the ECL 4 Elite preview! Later skaters, The_Alpha_Furyan & nylanderi

Good afternoon NHLGamers, Me - The_Alpha_Furyan - and the rest of the NHLGamer staff bid you welcome to another installment of our ECL Season Preview. To get an idea of what we will be doing in these previews, you can check out our previous one for Season 3. While that preview focused more on listing all the participating teams and simply predicting which ones would come out on top from the regular season, this one will try to dig a little deeper and supply a more in-depth look at each and every division - something the community has been vocal about in their feedback to our writing staff. Text, scouting and predictions by The_Alpha_Furyan Art by OxtreeLAT We kick off our 3-part installment by looking at the Lite division, where we find a total 32 teams (one more team was allowed late entry to even out the amount of Lite teams) - lots of them new to the community and to myself personally. This preview might be a bit biased towards the teams I know and have seen before but that should also provide some great motivation for all other teams to prove me wrong and fight for those top seeds. Prediction for the Regular Season Top- 5. 1. HC Ancient Warriors This team is on par with most Pro teams out there and should without a doubt be a contender to win the Lite title. If not the champions, they are likely to gain a top seed in the regular season and make their way through the playoffs to secure one of the promotion spots. 2. Bone Breakers I will admit to not knowing the full story of this team outside of their appearance in ECL 3 where their participation didn't extend all the way through the season. From what I've been told by multiple sources though, they were quite the force to be reckoned with back in the Consolehockey days and could be one of the top contenders for the ECL 4 Lite title. 3. DEAD END KINGS Featuring quite a few former players from Elite division team Synergy, DEAD END KINGS will be looking to establish their own legacy with this new team. Keep an eye out for this team right from the start as I predict they will come out of the gates hungry to prove that they belong in the Pro divison. 4. iNF4M0US Any team that is good enough to beat Laser HT under any conditions has my respect and that is just what this team did. No idea what the circumstances were for that game but like I said, beating LHT certainly establishes some credibility. 5. EN HUND Able to keep most of their roster together after a disappointing end to the ECL 3 season, EN HUND should be rejuvenated playing in the Lite division. Featuring many former members of Elite division team SIKA, EN HUND has both the experience and chemistry neccessary for both a strong regular season and a long playoff run. Championship favorite Going with my top pick for the regular season here as I predict HC Ancient Warriors to win the Lite championship. They're one of the best Lite teams I have personally played against and have been practicing hard ever since ECL 3, trying to get themselves ready for ECL 4. Getting past some of the other more experienced teams won't be a walk in the park though and who knows - we might see a complete upset coming out of Lite. Players to watch 1. esdor15, Lavetten, Forward One of the very best HUT players NHL 17 has to offer makes his ECL debut for team Lavetten and it should be an interesting one. With the right mindset, willingness to improve and translation of his Versus/HUT skill to EASHL - esdor15 could easily be one of the breakout players from ECL 4 Lite. At this point I am not sure what position he will occupy in the lineup but my guess is forward to maximize his offensive skill. 2. Stylez-Hadez, HC Ancient Warriors, C/RW/LW The captain and leader of my predicted ECL Lite championship team, HC Ancient Warriors, deserves a mention here. Stylez is originally from the Versus side of NHL 17 where he has been a Top-100 player for quite a while while only getting his first taste of ECL last season with Sjukstugan. When playing against Ancient Warriors in EASHL lately they've been very competitive and I have to believe that is largely due to their captain. 3. Nephenzy, DEAD END KINGS, C/LW Another captain on this list, Nephenzy is an experienced ECLer with two seasons in Synergy and one season in Northern Ascendancy under his belt. While capable of playing everywhere (as evidenced from last season where he played every position in the lineup for NOR), we will most likely see Nephenzy lead his team to a top seed in Lite from the center position. 4. PatzyDrake, Falun Coal Miners, LW One of the more experienced ECLers in the entire ECL Lite division, PatzyDrake has amassed exactly 60 goals and over 100 points through 3 ECL seasons thus far. A constant presence on the FCM left wing, this sniping powerforward is just as effective ripping a one-timer as he is dangling his way to the net. Will try to juggle his IRL career as a semi-professional handball player with his responsibilites as the go-to guy for FCM - remains to be seen how many games he will be able to play for ECL 4. 5. TEAMSEILA, EN HUND, D TEAMSEILA, the hardest hitting defender in ECL, barely missed out on winning the "Most Hits" trophy for ECL 3. While his strenghts lie in his physical game and defensive awareness, this ex-SIKA defender is also a capable leader with the ability to chip in offensively when needed. Will try to lead his team EN HUND to ECL Lite glory this season. But seriously, what is with the capital letters - both username and team name?! Teams to watch 1. Lavetten This team will feature many experienced Versus and HUT players with parts of the squad getting their EASHL feet wet in ECL 3 for team HC Solhem. While that adventure didn't turn out the way the team had hoped, look for the members of that squad to want revenge while playing this time for Lavetten. With the signings of esdor and dallinhoo, Captain (and winner of the Swedish Versus championships) juniorzalaz has put together a strong team. 2. Falun Coal Miners Got to give a shoutout to my old team here as well. With brothers and FCM owners/captains The_Alpha_Furyan & LastMandalorian both leaving for Sjukstugan - this team of real-life friends will be looking to prove themselves in ECL 4 Lite. Led by ECL veterans Meeertz (D), onecorner95 (G), PatzyDrake (LW) and iscojr94 (C), Falun will first be looking to establish a new team identity without the ever-constant crack of the whip from their previous captains. Look for this team to take a while to gel before taking off in the back half of the season. 3. Elämäm Kiekko The sweetheart team of ECL 3, these happy-go-lucky Finns certainly displayed a tremendous attitude during their first season. Despite losing more games than they won, they kept their spirits high and made sure to entertain the community as much as they could. Lets see what their sophomore season brings in terms of success on the ice! That is all for Lite. Look for our second part of the ECL 4 Season preview, Pro Division, tomorrow. For that installment (and for the Elite preview on Sunday) I will be enlisting the help of a new mystery Staff member-in-training... Keep an eye out! Later skaters, The_Alpha_Furyan for NHLGamer.com