Leaderboard

NHLGamers, Playoffs in all our divisions are rolling on nicely and we're only starting to get into the really exciting games where the best of the best match up against each other. The Pro division this season has been as exciting as ever and as usual, we've seen some real powerhouses among the group. Without further ado, let's get into some previews about the upcoming series: Here's how the playoffs of ECL 9 Pro will be played from this point on: Quarterfinals: 9.1 - 15.1 Semifinals: 17.1 - 24.1 Finals: 26.1 - 2.2 All series are played in best-of-7 manner, meaning that the first team to amass four victories advances to the next round. Here are the matchups for the Quarterfinals of the ECL 9 Pro Playoffs: (1) Delusion vs Black Horse (8) To no surprise, Delusion had no difficulties in their first round series against Pata Hellalla. Advancing 4-0 and now meeting a slightly tougher opponent is not going to faze them either and their true test will come in the later stages of this tournament. Black Horse has a mountain to climb if they want to advance against a major favorite in this matchup. (2) Vesa Pompa HC vs Reality Check (7) Vesa Pompa HC played well in IS Cup 4 some months back and advanced with a comfortable 4-0 win over ZSC Lions in the first round of the ECL 9 playoffs. The team is expected to continue their good form, but beating a very skilled opponent in Reality Check won't be easy. Reality Check might challenge Vesa Pompa HC well and I would not be surprised if Game 7 is needed in this series. (3) Gotham Knights vs Vaxjo Lakers HC (6) This might be the one to watch in the quarterfinal round. Gotham might very well be the most long lived team in the NHLGamer era and they have eexperienced their fair share of ups and downs. After a fairly successful regular season campaign, they are looking to build on that foundation and overcome any obstacle they might face. Captain @ReDMisTi for Gotham is the biggest individual player in this series due to the x-factor that he possesses. Vaxjo on the other hand, I have some mixed feeling about. They are just about ready to get into their eSHL campaign which surely must be exciting but there is a risk that it takes away from their focus on this series. They are a solid team every step of the way and their performance will be determined by their level of focus. (4) GHETTO FIREBIRDS vs Kaupallinen Yhteistyo (5) I see GHETTO FIREBIRDS advancing from the first round as a minor surprise. They faced Sandstorm, who are a team stacked with talent, but this time it seems like the experience and teamplay of the FIREBIRDS prevailed. Kaupallinen Yhteistyo has a skilled roster lead by their high-powered offensive trio @Jooonasaurus, @Katuhessu (KrisutusB) and @Limbe65, who need to be shut down in the series. Overall I expect this matchup to be a tight one. The games ere expected to be rather low scoring and in the end the more disciplined team will come out on top. Good luck out there, as always - play hard and have fun!

NHLGamers, With less than a week left until the first gameday of the Swedish eSHL, announcements from teams are ramping up and with that, HV71 has released their roster for the upcoming season. That roster is comprised of some fairly unknown talents, led by captain and SCL 6vs6 bronze medalist Daniel @Demski13 Gadd, who will look to center the somewhat inexperienced bunch. The team was selected in a somewhat different way compared to other rosters that have been announced for the eSHL, as HV71 held online tryouts in order to select their participating squad, which in its final form consists of seven players (5 skaters + 2 goaltenders). "Our club meets the prospect of eSHL with open arms and we're excited about the initiative that the SHL is taking together with the teams. We believe that the timing is right and will see this as yet another tool for us to reach new audiences and increase the interest towards HV71." - HV71's Managing director Agne Bengtsson about their participation in the eSHL As said, the roster of the team consists of mostly new faces, out of which @Demski13 will be acting as the team captain. Most guys are local, which is something special and was an important part of the team building process from the very beginning. The team was hand picked through tryouts by the captain himself, so the project is of extremely high importance to the man himself. "It's a fun and inspiring project. We're a tremendously talented team and it's been a dream come true for me personally to be able to build this team in cooperation with HV71. I've been a fan of the club since childhood and I've seen every game for as long as I can remember. The statement that HV71 is the team my heart beats for doesn't even do this sentiment justice. The fact that we're a group of local guys just adds to the greatness of it all and surely makes us unique in comparison to the competition. The fact that we're such a tight knit group and have the physical ability to meet up for practices at Kinnarps Arena is something worth cherishing and I believe it'll play a big part for us down the line." - Captain @Demski13 on team building and representing the club he loves The inaugural season of the eSHL kicks off on Monday, 13th of January with a full round of games. Stay tuned for more news and the full schedule soon!

NHLGamers, We’re happy to announce that Rögle BK has secured a roster for the upcoming eSHL league that kicks off next week on Monday, January 13th 2020. For eSHL, Rögle has signed the roster of former Company of Geeks, which is a long lived franchise in the competitive NHL scene, having started their journey back in the early 2010’s in the days of EHL. There’s been some short breaks for the team, but they’ve remained a relevant piece of NHL gaming history and have since 2017 been back competing in the ECL. The team is currently on a playoff run in the Lite division. “We’re heading into an interesting challenge - nowadays a strong digital presence is required and I believe that this is a step in that direction for Rögle BK. By having a team represent us in the eSHL we’re excited to engage a new demographic that we potentially couldn’t reach otherwise. We recognize a large potential to expand our brand in a rapidly growing market.” - Rögle BK CEO Daniel Koch on their esports initiative For the upcoming season of eSHL, the team has revamped their roster a bit and made some additions in order to ensure the competitiveness of their team. Competition is hard, but long-time club member Simon @hammarjet Jönsson feels like they will be up for the challenge: “Naturally our goal is to perform to the best of our abilities and in that achieve a high finish. It’s all very new and it’ll be interesting to see how the eSHL clubs match up against each other. We’re proud to represent Rögle and will do our very best to do so in a successful way. Obviously Linköping, Luleå and Färjestad are the ones to beat, but as I said it’s all very new and you never know what is going to happen.” Rögle BK Originally, Rögle BK was founded as a bandy club in the village of Rögle in southwestern Sweden. Nowadays, Catena Arena in Ängelholm is where the team calls home. The hockey club was founded in 1950, and as a younger club from a rather small city, the history of the team holds some interesting tales. Since 1991, Rögle has spent time up and down between the two highest divisions in the Swedish league system, with their most recent promotion happening in 2015.

NHLGamers, We are few weeks in to year 2020 and the ECL 9 Lite Playoffs Quarterfinals are about to start. We've had the opportunity to watch a bunch of exciting games in the first two rounds and now games are going to get a bit harder as the best eight teams start to fight for a place in top four. The quarterfinals of the ECL 9 Lite playoffs is to be played between Thursday, January 9th and Thursday, January 16th. Every series is played in a best of seven-manner, meaning that the first team to amass four victories will advance. Here are the matchups for the Quarterfinals of the ECL 9 Lite playoffs: (2.) Mockba vs. Hokurit (19.) (3.) Riven Johdolla vs. Kouvola Screaming Eagles (10.) (4.) Clumsy Penguins vs. Company of Geeks (8.) (6.) Rookie Mistakes vs. Sulkavan Sudet (7.) Good luck out there, as always - play hard and have fun!

NHLGamers, With the eSHL season closing in on us, it's time to take a look at some of the teams that will be participating, and as we've released information about most other teams, let's now take a look at Malmö Redhawks. The club from the very south of Sweden has signed a highly competitive roster that is looking to take the league by storm. The base of Malmös roster consists of players from the reigning SCL champions Vesa Pompa HC and the team is captained by 25 year-old defenseman Johan @Lehmannens Lehmann. On top of Vesa Pompa players, such as Henrik @Eken45jr Eklund, Anton @antoniomannen004 Svensander and Edvin@Thunborg5 Thunborg, the club has signed a few players who are the very cream of the crop when it comes to competitive NHL 6's. The guys we're talking about is of course HAVU Gaming forwards Risto @Dominointi Järvi and Tuukka @FlyerKungen Kuha, who are no strangers to hoisting trophies and will surely be giving a welcomed boost to this already strong roster. Having a roster comprised of both Swedish and Finnish champions, Malmö puts themselves right into the contender discussion from the get go. "We got into contact with Malmö quite early on and realised that we had a shared understanding about the potential of NHL esports. Ever since our first contact, we've been convinced that the club is investing into this endeavor and have been met by nothing but top class attitude. It was honestly an easy decision to sign with Malmö and we're proud to be representing this club." - Captain @Lehmannens in an interview with Fragbite.se "I'm excited to get playing already! I'm very familiar with my teammates and know that there's tremendous potential that we possess. We've got a bunch of young players and are hungry for both progress and success. All of us want to take home that trophy and I'm confident we have all the tools to do so." - Right winger @FlyerKungen on malmoredhawks.com @Hansulinho will be serving as a backup for the team, which aims to play through the league with a tight set lineup. Malmö Redhawks Malmö is one of the largest Swedish cities and home to the southernmost team in the SHL. Having been founded in 1972, it is one of the younger clubs in the SHL. The club has won two Swedish championships (1992, 1994) and started their current run at the top level in 2015, when they gained their latest promotion.

NHLGamers, It’s a great day as we have the pleasure of announcing the eSHL roster of Djurgårdens IF, historically the most successful hockey club in the Swedish national league. The club hailing from Stockholm has today announced a contract with the former Miracle roster. Miracle, alike Djurgårdens IF is a team with a long history of playing at the top competitive level. in the past couple years, they’ve been playing under several different names, but the teams core and captain has remained the same as long-time community member Kimi @Zip player Nordberg has been the man in charge ever since the club was founded as White Trash in 2016 for ECL 3. The team saw decent success in the Pro division for a few seasons, but managed to have a breakout in ECL 6, where they reached the semifinals and finally ended up in a relegation faceoff against Nordic Stars. After a wild series, a promotion was reality and the team would compete at the Elite level from that point onward. ECL 9 was fairly good for the team, who struggled in the beginning but after a few timely acquisitions found their stride. Some minor changes will happen in the roster: “We’re making some changes to the lineup and will be playing with a tighter roster than before. The main change is that we’re bringing in Nico @nylanderi Laitinen on the starting spot at LD.” - Captain @Zip playeron roster changes for the eSHL One of the other leading forces behind the team is another pioneer and personality in our community - Mattias @iSvamp Björck, whom we reached for some comments about their new eSHL endeavor. Do you have any DIF fans in your ranks or past connections to the team? “@amadee21 has been working as a game reporter for Djurgården Hockey and has ever since he was a kid been a big fan. I know he always dreamed about playing for Djurgården in SHL, and now he gets that opportunity opportunity on the virtual ice, which I’m really happy about." "My own connection to DIF started back in 1997 I think. I'm a guy who watches a lot of live hockey, and I saw my first Djurgården game in 1997 against Färjestad. Since then, I’ve seen them both in playoff games in SHL, in the relegation series which earlier were called "Kvalserien". I think by now I’ve seen them play against every SHL team except Luleå and Oskarshamn.“ How does it feel to finally ink this deal and in that being solidified as eSHL participants? “It feels really good! This league has been a big topic in the community lately. I'm one of the guys that have rallied behind the statement that two ECL tournaments per year isn't enough for this game, and this community needs more competitive tournaments to actually become a valid Esport. To now have signed a deal with Djurgården Hockey and to get the chance to play in eSHL, with our own roster from Miracle representing this big Swedish club feels really good. We are also one of the teams that isn't using any loan players from other top clubs, which will make it interesting to see how far it can take us in this league, and also how much it will help us for the upcoming ECL 10 which still is the big thing. It will also be interesting to see how it will go for the clubs that have done local tryouts now when we have so many Elite teams like Linköping, Färjestad, Luleå and us." Who are the teams to beat this upcoming season? “Linköping without a doubt. They signed a complete roster from FILA, a club that has solidified their spot in the European top 3 for quite some time already. Behind them, I believe it’ll be really tight. Luleå had a great season in this ECL, they also showed some lineup depth and good management when they changed their lineup in the series against Roots, which took them to the semis. Färjestad has boosted their lineup with a defenseman from HAVU, and Vesa Pompa (Malmö) from PRO has loan-deals with maybe two of the best forwards in the world right now (Dominointi and Flyerkungen), which will make them a better team for sure. I also think that Växjö will be a team that can win games against every team in the league, their signing of eBasse is a good one and I really think he will fit their style. Linköping will probably get a perfect record, and the key games will be against the teams I mentioned above.” Djurgårdens IF Hockey Djurgårdens IF is one of the largest sports clubs in Sweden and with that one of the most recognizable ones too. Hailing from the nations capital Stockholm, they are currently the hockey pride of their city as dear rival AIK is struggling and not currently competing at the top level. Djurgården is the team with the most championships in the history of the Swedish national league (16), out of which the latest was won in 2001. The start date of the eSHL is closing in on us, so expect even more news coming up soon! Please also read Djurgårdens own press release here.

NHLGamers! The ECL 9 Neo Playoffs are nearing the end, but before we reach that point we still have a pair of very interesting semifinal matchups to be played. The semifinals will start on Thursday the 9th of January 2020 and end on Wednesday the 15th of January 2019. For the relevant rules regarding these playoffs, please find extracts from section 5.7 and 10.7.2 of the ECL 9 Rulebook below. Essentially, each series will be a best-of-five and the higher seeded team will play 'at home' first, then alternate back and forth with the lower seeded team. Without further ado, here are the matchups for the semifinals of the ECL 9 Neo Playoffs: (1) Kuutamokiekko vs. Olympia (8) (2) Seinajoki Noms vs. TanssiiTuhtienKansa (4) As always, NHLGamer would like to wish good luck to all remaining teams!