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NHLGamers, ECL 6 is already on the roll and lots of changes have happened during the off-season, the buzz has been ramping up in the last few weeks. It’s all part of the game and that’s what keeps us coming back for more. We’re all looking forward to yet another competitive season of virtual hockey, only this time, it will be the most competitive, most well-covered season yet. Mark my words. As teams have scrambled together their squads for the upcoming season, one question still remains: who will falter to the ground, and who will prevail as the victor? The Pro preview for this season will follow the same formula as for ECL 5. I will be highlighting a top 3-list of contenders for each group (teams will be in alphabetical order) as well as three players to watch from each group. This ECL is the first one we are operating with the extended staff and in Pro we will have @Crisu_rottis as the lead, assisted by @Mannheimer1938, @Snapster and Yours Truly. Without further ado, lets get on with the preview: Top 3 contenders in group 1 Baltic Sea Eagles BSE was one of the highest seeding teams going into the playoffs in ECL 5, but fell short in the first round against Evolution. They will surely look to redeem themselves this season. The roster underwent some minor changes during the offseason with G @Mehiiss and defenseman @Prom99leaving for White Trash. They countered by adding established pro players @FakiiR1, @vilperi90 and @otto aaltonen from Nordic Stars. The biggest question mark right now is their goaltending, can new addition pablojardinero step up to the challenge? Click here to see team page Shameful Knights The Knights roster remains close to the same as last season, with the only mentionable loss of goalie @Hullued leaving for Sjukstugan. Much like Baltic Sea Eagles, Shameful Knights have an inexperienced goaltender in @Stilando. This is a stellar chance to show what he is capable of in the crease. The very consistent offensive trio of @Tapparafan - @Migo_boo - @Ollizhki looks to keep on producing and pushing the Knights far into the playoffs, maybe this is the season they make a run for an Elite spot? Click here to see team page White Trash The roster of White Trash experienced something of a cleanse during the off-season as the roster size was reduced greatly. None of the core players left and it seems like White Trash aims to complete the season with a minimal squad rotation. The most notable addition in the off-season was promising goaltender @Mehiiss. It remains to be seen if this established Pro team can take the next step in ECL 6. Click here to see team page Players to watch in group 1 @selänne8, Arctic Playoff round 2 this time? BiggestEight is back, now as the captain of newly established team Arctic. He is surely hoping to click with his teammates and being able to elevate his game to the next level. Is this the season he will develop into an Elite-level scoring player? Click here to see player profile @vilperi90, Baltic Sea Eagles This experienced, high-scoring forward was added to BSE during the off-season after completing a successful push for elite with Nordic Stars in ECL 5. He has been a very consistent point producer during the last three seasons, all with different teams so I would expect Vilperi to elevate the game of BSE to the next level. Click here to see player profile @Stefan_397, Inter Iceland Scoring power for days in this prolific German winger. Can he repeat his Pro scoring title from last season? Click here to see player profile Underdog Monarchs I've heard that the Monarchs have been practicing hard during the off-season. Taking Lavetten's spot they certainly have their work cut out for them in living up to that name. The team is rather inexperienced, but by adding @pajenc before the season start they certainly make up for that a bit. Expect these guys to clinch a playoff spot. Click here to see team page Top 3 contenders in group 2 Alliance HT Alliance dominated the first season of RCL and played a decent ECL 5. In the off-season they lost @MAYZIIX but added @JaikenK, who is definitely one of the most exciting transfers regarding defensemen in Pro. The Russian team is now looking to be a serious contender and push far into the playoffs. Click here to see team page FILADELPHIA FILADELPHIA is yet another super-team, alike Carlsberg from ECL 4. They are a fusion of players from the disbanded Elite teams Aapon Taikasauva and MUKIMIEHET, accompanied by captain @Joonas Paatiala, who is no stranger to pushing one of these super-teams into Elite. Anything but a promotion will be a disappointment. Click here to see team page Synergy Hockey These guys have been playing this game for a long time and after a disaster season which led Synergy to be relegated from Elite last season, they look to make a push back in ECL 6. During the off-season, Synergy merged with DEAD END KINGS. Are they truly stronger in union? To be continued... Click here to see team page Players to watch in group 2 @Chafak, Red Machine Heart and soul of Red Machine. Known for his skills on the versus-side, he had a tough time last year. However, in ECL the season ended in a Lite title with a dominant scoring performance only matched by a few individuals, now also competing at the Pro level. We follow with excitement as he hopes to continue producing in ECL 6. Click here to see player profile @Erkki, FILADELPHIA Come on, is it even fair? This guy was one of the biggest factors in winning the Pro title for Evolution in ECL 5. Eki will look to keep taking face-offs, sniping biscuits and being what he is - an Elite level player, come ECL 6. Click here to see player profile @JaikenK, Alliance HT One of the most reliable two-way defenders in the game. After a difficult season with Sjukstugan in ECL 5, he is hoping to improve this season with the ultimate goal of earning Alliance HT a promotion. Click here to see player profile Underdog Red Machine Last season Lite champions made some minor adjustments to their roster with the most notable addition being @RutonMosse right before the season start. The youngster spent last season on a hiatus, but man does he have natural skill. However, the team lost goaltender and ECL 5 playoff MVP James_Bontage to OG Royals. Click here to see team page Personally, I have to say that this is the most exciting ECL season yet. There is so many amazing things happening in our community right now that this is a time to be grateful, stay hungry and wait with excitement for things to come. I left many good teams out of this preview and I hope those teams will prove me wrong during ECL 6. Best of luck to all of you and see you out on the ice!

Hello and welcome everyone! Let's start off by saying that we are both really happy to see so many new teams and it's also great to see a bunch of older teams sticking together! Not too many seasons ago we used to have one big league with teams from all skill ranges. This resulted in some games ending 20-0 and it was not fun for the less skilled or new teams. Divisions were created to give you some good matches with even teams, as well as building sustainability to the whole league and it has been a great success as we now have over 60 teams participating in the Lite division and over 100 teams in the whole league. It's great to have you all here, potentially fighting for that Pro promotion and eventually trying to reach the Elite division and win the grand prize. For other teams, the goal might be to do well in Lite and whatever your goals are, we hope you have a good and fun season with us this season. We will have best coverage of any season so far with streams, hot/cold mid-season reports and many other news stories coming up. There's also a dedicated staff members this season for each division and for the ECL Lite it's @miisolegend, @Mannheimer1938, @ramseyy2 and @Snapster. The official ways to contact your League Administration and get your cases solved as easily as possible are: - For all cases that needs to be solved you can open a ticket in the league administration section here. - If you make a mistake in the match report you must report it at the match report section. Failure to report match report mistakes might lead to disciplinary actions. Please refrain from sending private messages as a way to reach the staff whenever you can use the above mentioned Helpdesk, as we are putting our efforts into handling your messages as a team effort. Moving on to the Lite preview. There are so many new teams that there's bound to be lots of surprises along the way so if you are not mentioned in the preview, please surprise us and put your teams name on the map during the season and prove us wrong! Here are @miisolegend's top predicted teams in every Group: Group 1: Ghetto Firebirds Former ECL Pro team Ghetto firebirds are back in Lite but are hungry to get back to Pro and prove they are worthy of the spot. Last season didn't really go as planned but I think this firebird will rise from the ashes and show that they still have the fire in them. Section K is a good runner up in this division but I still think that GF will rise on top with their good roster package and gained experience in the previous seasons. Player to watch: Vilze92 Group 2: Freddie Mercury Institute This team beats Pro teams consistently and has won pretty much every Lite team they have faced in recent games. When we (Korpens Finest) have played against FMI it has always been tight games because of their solid defense and skilled forwards. Definitely a team to watch out for! Player to Watch: Kickingapollo Group 3: Style Two time OEHL champion (5vs5 scene) Swedish team Style plays aggressive hockey along with a good tight trap and they have that skill to make those 2 on 1 situations count. In my opinion Style will be one of the top contenders for a Pro promotion. Player to watch: Panarinz Group 4: Bare Knuckles Hockey This group was very hard to predict in terms of which team is going to go to the playoffs but there's one that stands out on top. I'd put my money on Bare Knuckles Hockey. Solid team with many seasons of experience in the ECL. If they can keep their game together they will definitely stand on top of this group Player to watch: GoDe45- Group 5: Cowabunga Hockey This group seems to be the toughest on paper, having teams such as Saucer Hockey Ab and Soldiers of Odins in addition to Cowabunga Hockey. Cowabunga Hockey has been crushing some of the Lite teams like cockroaches and has beaten Pro teams and Elite teams alike during the off-season. Cowabunga is probably the number one contender for Pro. Offensively this is a really skilled team and they have one of the best, if not the best goalie in Lite. Player to watch: sokkelo__ Group 6: Suomen Sonnit This was also a hard group to predict with several skilled teams like HokiDogit and Finnish Hockey Legends, but I'm gonna predict Suomen Sonnit coming out on top here. We (Korpens Finest) have faced this team many times and they are good at playing high pressure hockey, leaving little to no room for your defenders to clear the puck. Easy plays by defenders and great goaltending on top of that and we can expect a good result. Pro team in ECL 7? Remains to be seen. Player to watch: tseikei Underdogs/Teams to watch 1. Saucer Hockey Ab (Group 5) 2. The Black Jacks (Group 3) 3. EaLogic (Group 5) 4. Korpens Finest (Group 3) 5. Roistot (Group 2) 6. Club de Caballeros (Group 3) Feel free to comment and give your own opinion on the the subject in the comments section. Thanks for reading and good luck to everyone in the following season. Let the games begin! Best Regards! @miisolegend

Meet Kenneth, aka KenuFHR, boss of the ECL since its inception. He expresses his pride in seeing the league exceed the key figure of the one hundred teams and announces that several innovations are approaching. Hi Kenu! Tell me, how many hours a day do you spend managing ECL? « Hey! That’s a great question and the answer really depends on the day. Recently anywhere between 4-12 hours per day, taking into account general NHLGamer related tasks, but of course I take some days off here and there. The time leading up to the new seasons and the events, such as the Finnish Championships (eSM) and the IS Cup are the most time consuming projects and often require a big push. » The symbolic number of the hundred teams has been crossed. Is it a pride, or on the contrary an anxiety because of the management that it will impose? « There’s definitely a big feeling of pride for myself and the whole staff to reach this milestone. We were close with ECL 5, where we reached 96, so we were very hopeful to do it this time around. Of course the large amount of teams brings with it a big responsibility for us to run things smoothly, but let’s call it a inspirational and motivational boost rather than anxiety at this stage. » With so many teams and players, do you think about dealing commercial agreements with hockey brands or video game industry brands or other? « I definitely see a great opportunity in commercial co-operation and we had a good experience with Webhallen and our Summer Cup last summer. We’ve also seen our first eSports contracts for a few players in our league and the Cancun Pirates sponsorship by Bauer Hockey France is an excellent display that there is an interest in our community, teams and players. That being said, we have nothing to announce at this time. » « New and long-awaited features are coming » You called out to the community for help in January, was this call heard? « Absolutely! I was blown away by the amount of people that reached out, the quality of their applications and their work mentality later on. We have over 20 new members to our ECL Staff and the guys have done a great job so far preparing for the season. The challenge is of course to keep this positive spirit and activity going throughout the season and beyond, so let’s all do our best to make the new team feel welcome. We are still looking for more people interested in video production/editing, so if this is something you’d be interested in, please get in touch. » Well, let's talk about the upcoming season. A first surprise with the absence of Aapon, Elite champions. Do we know the reasons of their absence when they had announced to be back trough Facebook some weeks ago? « That was indeed a big disappointment for myself and many others, but these things happen. I believe some key players had decided they wanted to play elsewhere and in some cases this means taking away the glue that was making the team stick together so well in the past. » In your opinion, are there favorites already visible in Elite, Pro and Lite? « The divisions keep getting more and more talented each season and ECL 6 is no exception. I do think there are a few teams in each division with favorite status, but I prefer not to have an opinion about this. My goal besides running the website is to help my team, Monte Carlo, go as far as we can in ECL Pro. » Can you tell us some new things to come this season? « We have got a new member, @Hennisch, to join us and work on the code of NHLGamer and you can expect to see some new and long-awaited features rolling out during the ECL 6 season. With the new bigger ECL Staff we are putting a lot of work into producing more material during the season and seeing the most ECL streaming coverage we ever have before. Of course we are also putting a big emphasis on the very basics, such as reporting and replying to any team enquiries as quickly and accurately as possible. Last season we did that with roughly three active people and the new staff should make things run much more smoothly. It’s only logical to expect a small learning curve at the beginning of the season, so please have some extra patience in the first days, if there’s something. » « ECL 7 on NHL 19? » Finally, will ECL 7 take place on NHL 18 or rather on NHL 19? « As it looks right now, due to a lot of players wanting to take some time off in the summer, we believe it’s in the interest of the community to play ECL 7 on NHL 19. We do, however have a couple other 6vs6 tournaments planned for the time in between. Feel free to disagree with this and let us know if you think ECL 7 should take place during NHL 18. » Anything else to add? « On behalf of the team and myself, I am super excited about how many people and teams are finding their way onto our website and into ECL and we thank you for your interest and support! I would also like to thank my new (and old) staff members for their efforts in the off-season and the coming months - this is only the beginning. » Interviewed by Virtual_Saku

Even thought the title says "Captain", this also has some good points for everyone to think about. We are at the beginning of ECL 6 and you as a captain are the representant of your team. Below are some things to remember about what it means to be a captain of a team and what responsibilities you have, so that everyone here can have a good experience. Guidelines: No matter what the result, win or lose, you should always treat your opponent with respect. If there is a unclear situation contact the staff. Respecting your opponent applies to both the forums and the in-game actions. Always think before you say something out loud, as we are always looking to add players to the community - not to scare anyone away. The other guy might not have as thick skin as you do. In order for there to be a league, you need opponents to compete with, so try to make them feel as comfortable as possible while you are having a dialogue with each other. No one is saying you can't disagree or have different opinions, but in general please behave when debating. Be flexible - every opponent is not going to have the chance to play at the same time you do, so try to make it work with the tools you have. As a captain you should understand that it is not always that easy to get multiple people online at the same time and captains of both teams should consider not only his own interest, but also the opponents. We as a community need to help each other out. Do not try to blackmail the other team with a walk-over - the fun thing is actually playing the games, right? So try to make it work, but understand that it might not always be that easy. If there is no chance that you can agree on a playing time, contact the staff and remember, the staff takes lots of things into consideration when making the calls, such as co-operation, communication and the rules. Not every day is going to go the way you want it, you might hit a rough patch and go on a losing streak. As a captain it is your job to try to keep the morale high even though the going gets rocky. There will always be quitters, but to be able to make this even more of a legitimate league we need some sustainability. There is always going to be people that are going to quit due to a variety of different reasons, nothing in life says you must play this game, so remember to have a good size on your roster and involve them also in the daily playing of EASHL, as that helps the rest of the community and should help the league be more sustainable. Embrace the rivalries. Rivalry meetings is the little extra spice that can either make you feel like a king or be your worst nightmare. so it is important to remember even if you win or lose a rivalry meeting that you as a captain show class and respect to the other team. Responsibilities: Remember to report the score and stats at the latest 24 hours after the game, if you can’t do it, make some of your assistants to do it. No matter what the score, just do it. As a captain, this is your responsibility Make everybody on your team aware of the rules, what to do if a player lags out and stuff. It is important that everybody is aware what to do in these situations as it makes it a better experience for everyone. As a captain it is your responsibility that everybody is registered on your team, your team has at least 8 players and be sure that the in-game names are the same as in your player cards Make sure that you re-schedule the games that needs re-scheduling on the site as well. This will help everyone in the community to keep track of the standings, follow their favorite teams and bring more people to your streams as well! There's almost nothing better than grabbing some popcorn and watching one of the top games of ECL! Last but not least I'll give you "The Untold Story of a General Manager Trying to Make It" posts that will assure you that you are not alone with your daily struggles! PART 1, PART 2, PART 3, PART 4