Leaderboard

I_Eki_I finished #1 in the NHL GWC European Regional Finals and took home the $5,000 and a ticket to the Finals in Vegas (twitch.tv/NHL) Hey NHLGamers, It's been an exciting weekend, as I was able to experience the European regional finals of the 2018 NHL Gaming World Championship on location at the Viasat studios in Stockholm. I'd like to start by thanking @Kane for making me his +1 and thus granting me access to the event - much appreciated! As we mentioned in an earlier news story, all of the eight players that made it to the European finals are a part of our NHLGamer community and it was really nice to get to meet everyone. The eight players made their way into the European finals through the four qualification tournaments: @Hansulinho (Xbox Live: Hansulinho) - EU XBOX #1 bracket winner @plee999 (Xbox Live: PleeMaker) - EU XBOX #1 bracket runner-up @Erkki (PSN: I_Eki_I) - EU PS4 #1 bracket winner @FlyerKungen (PSN: FlyerKungen) - EU PS4 #1 bracket runner-up @Kane (Xbox Live: Kaneyh) - EU XBOX #2 bracket winner @Nieppii (Xbox Live: Nieppi) - EU XBOX #2 bracket runner-up @Darkic01 (PSN: Darkic01) - EU PS4 #2 bracket winner @Artuzio (PSN: Artuzio) - EU PS4 #2 bracket runner-up The European finals were played using double elimination rules, meaning that losing one time puts you in the lower bracket and two losses means you're out. If you were to reach the final without any loses, that would put you one win away from winning the regional finals and $5,000, whereas reaching the finals through the lower bracket would require you to win two games in a row in the final round. The stakes for the games played on Sunday were high, and come June 19th, there's a lot of money on the line! (twitch.tv/NHL) The EU Finalists arrived in Stockholm on Saturday morning and for some players, such as PleeMaker, that meant getting up at 3 AM, as he had to fly out to Helsinki first. The day was spent at the Viasat studios, where the players got accustomed to the environment, were interviewed by the broadcast team, got photos taken etc. The day ended at around 8 PM and the players tried to get enough sleep for what would certainly be one of their biggest days in their NHL gaming careers. On Sunday morning it was off to the studio around 6:30 AM and after some breakfast, warmups and photoshoots it was time to play. The games were played in two rooms: The main stage and upstairs on a smaller stage. The best place to watch the games were outside the main stage room in the couch area and that's where most players and guests would spend their time between games. There were also some friendly games played in the warmup area. I made a small travel/behind the scenes video from the trip and it also features interviews of the two winners this weekend, be sure to check it out and give it a thumbs up if you enjoy it. At the end of the day, two players came out on top and met each other in the EU Regional Finals. I_Eki_I won the very first game of the day against Artuzio 7-2 and would only need one win to come out on top. The final game between these two was not at all as lopsided as the first game of the day, but I_Eki_I managed to keep his edge, taking home the $5,000 by a score of 2-1. The two players to make it into the World Finals: I_Eki_I and Artuzio, being interviewed by Andrea Helfrich (twitch.tv/NHL) Overall, it was really nice to be able to be on set for such an amazing event and I hope the broadcasts catch as big of an audience as possible and we'll see more of this (and hopefully 6vs6) in the future. A big thank you to all of the players and their friends and family members that I met during the weekend. It was also nice to get to meet the broadcast team of Andrew Telfer (TheNasher61), Arda Öcal, Frankie Ward and Andrea Helfrich, who all did an amazing job to bring the games alive. Not only are they professionals and good at what they do - they're also very friendly and approachable. The results of European Finals (twitch.tv/NHL) So there you have it. All of these eight gamers put on a great show and we should applaud them all for making it as far as they did. After this weekend, there could only be two remaining and NHLGamer would like to congratulate this weekends winner I_Eki_I and runner-up Artuzio for their success and wish them the best of luck in Las Vegas on the 19th of June in the World Finals! If you haven't already watched the official stream, you can watch it below via the NHL's official Twitch channel: