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NHLGamers, As advertised over the past month or so, Monday night was the start date for one of the most anticipated NHL esports tournaments yet, as we kicked off the eSHL with a full six game round, where Växjö Lakers and Färjestad BK stood for the main action in the eSHL studio at Sportbladet. A total of 12 (out of 14) SHL clubs have signed their own teams going into the eSHL. Some have been announced a longer time ago whereas others waited until the last weekend before puck drop, but all teams have in unison stated that the esports initiative that the SHL is taking is an exciting road to travel and holds a tremendous amount of potential. That surely goes to show based on the viewer numbers during the first night, which ranged between 800-100 viewers on the main channels, not included the Sportbladet broadcast. What is the eSHL? If you've followed the news section at NHLGamer within the past month, you should be up to speed with the concept, but if not - here's a recap. The eSHL is a virtual counterpart to the real world SHL, which is the Swedish elite league in ice hockey. The league consists of 14 teams out of which 12 are now participating in the eSHL. The points system is similar to what you're used to seeing in our other leagues and tournaments, meaning that teams are awarded two points for a victory in regular time or OT, one point for a loss in OT and zero points for a loss. Eight teams will be making the playoffs, which will culminate in a live-event between the 28th and 29th of February in Stockholm, Sweden. The prize pool of the league totals up to 150 000 SEK (~14 235 EUR), which will be divided among all participating teams in a following split: 1. 50 000 SEK 2. 25 000 SEK 3-4. 13 500 SEK 5-8. 8 000 SEK 9-12. 4 000 SEK Participating teams Djurgården Hockey Djurgården is the current pride of Stockholm when it comes to hockey and they will be looking to continue on that path in the virtual world too. Having signed a talented roster for this tournament, it shouldn't be out of the question for this team to finish in the top half of the standings. Check out our team announcement here. Farjestad BK Having been one of the first SHL teams to announce their roster, the boys representing Farjestad have had some time to adjust to their new surroundings already. The team hailing from Karlstad made some massive signings just prior to the season by bringing in HAVU Gaming defensive pari Kristian-Mikael @Nassustelija Katajisto and Wille @willekunq Juntunen. A top four finish should be expected. Team announcement here. HV71 eSHL HV71 is a team that's been in the works for quite some time during the past few months. Captain Daniel @Demski13 Gadd has handpicked a group of local players and is hoping to create a coherent unit that could go far in the tournament. It's an interesting approach and should do good for the esports interest in the Jonkoping region. Check out our team announcement here. IK Oskarshamn Oskarshamn also went with a local initiative in the signing of their roster. Tryouts were hosted in cooperation with the local esports team E-sport Hultsfred in order to recruit local talent to the roster. Time will tell if it pays off, but we're expecting a tough challenge for this team. Leksands IF A very experienced group of guys is what Leksand got when they signed the roster of former Synergy Hockey. It'll be interesting to see if they can find their stride again and get back to the glorious form that they once possessed. Expected to finish in the top half of the table. Check out our team announcement here. Linkoping HC Having signed the complete roster of former FILADELPHIA, Linkoping instantly made their way into the talks of championship contenders. Nothing but the cup will be enough for this team. Check out our team announcement here. Lulea Hockey Lulea announced their team quite early on and they've been performing very well in their new colors. The team has a very deep roster, which can be switched around into several different outlooks and should be dangerous in any given form. A top four finish is expected. Check out our team announcement here. Malmo Redhawks Championship potential definitely not lacking from the roster of Malmo Redhawks as all of their players are currently reigning champions of some form. Together with Linkoping HC, Malmö will form the duo that is most likely to take home the title in this inaugural season. Check out our team announcement here. Orebro Hockey Orebro signed an experienced bunch of players, who are looking to improve their performances after some difficult times as of late. Captained by Joakim @Nexhztah Stewart, the team has made some new signings and should be able to fight their way into the playoffs if all the pieces fall into place. Check out our team announcement here. Rogle BK One of the latest roster announcements came from Rogle BK as they signed the former Company of Geeks, which is one of the most long-lived EASHL clubs despite some short breaks in their history. The roster is experienced but hasn't shown much in terms of competitive success as of late. They should be able to fight for a playoff spot. Check out our team announcement here. Skelleftea AIK Much alike their SHL counterpart, Skelleftea is investing in local players to represent them. Players were mainly recruited by local tryouts. Captain Christoffer @Xence1 Kauppi has a massive task at hand in generating a competitive unit in a short period of time. Anything is possible, but most likely this team is out of the playoffs at the end of the regular season. Vaxjo Lakers HC Vaxjo was the very first SHL team to announce their roster and have been doing rather well in their new colors. The team has found a good balance in signing local players such as captain Fredric @EDHOLMINHO Edholm and defenseman Johannes @Hockeyjohannes Hultmark but simultaneously bringing in external talent such as highly touted Finnish goaltender Joona @Hullued Saarinen. Växjo should finish in the top half of the standings. Check out our team announcement here. How to watch? The league is played with a fixed schedule, which makes it easy to follow whichever games you want to. Every gameday consists of six matchups, out of which one will be the selected main matchup of the night. The main matchup will be streamed by Sportbladet, and will feature an eSHL studio with a commentary team consisting of Fredrik "JAEGARNS" Andersson and Adam @esdor Ericson. The Sportbladet broadcast will start at 19:00 CET, whereas other games will start at 20:00 CET. Fredrik "JAEGARNS" Andersson and Adam @esdor Ericson in the Sportbladet studio. Here is a list of all the main matchups during the season: Monday, 13th of January at 19:15 CET: Vaxjo Lakers vs Farjestad BK Friday, 17th of January at 19:15 CET: Malmo Redhawks vs Linkoping HC Monday, 20th of January at 19:15 CET: Leksands IF vs Djurgården Hockey Friday, 24th of January at 19:15 CET: Rogle BK vs Vaxjo Lakers Monday, 27th of January at 19:15 CET: Orebro Hockey vs HV71 Friday, 29th of January at 19:15 CET: Leksands IF vs Lulea Hockey Monday, 31st of January at 19:15 CET: Djurgarden Hockey vs HV71 Friday, 3rd of February at 19:15 CET: Rogle BK vs Orebro Hockey Monday, 7th of February at 19:15 CET: IK Oskarshamn vs Skelleftea AIK Friday, 10th of February at 19:15 CET: Farjestad BK vs Linkoping HC Monday, 14th of February at 19:15 CET: Lulea Hockey vs Malmo Redhawks Find the full schedule here. All of the games except the headline matchup of each gameday will be streamed on the teams respective Twitch-channels. Remember to follow the eSHL on all social media channels for information about the league! e.shl.se Twitter Instagram

NHLGamers, After a longer break for christmas and new years we are back with another article in the Player Spotlight series. Before christmas we asked Antti @Anhel Kuru a bunch of questions. Today we are back with the next article in the series and this time we are featuring Oskari @sibeelius Grönroos. We asked him 19 questions and as you probably have noticed by now, some are the same as earlier, and some are new. Let's get to it: 1. What was your first experience with the EASHL mode in NHL like? - My first experience in EASHL was probably a random drop-in game in NHL 17. It was horrible but we've come a long way from that. 2. During this season you switched teams from Filadelphia to Butterfly Effect, has it been any different playing in Butterfly than in Filadelphia? - Yes for sure. Defense has been maybe the biggest difference between these two teams as FILA had really good discipline and a more passive style of defense while Butterfly is more active in the forecheck. Penalties have also been a big difference. 3. Who is the best hockey player in the world according to you? - McDavid is in a league of his own at the moment, there is no question about that. 4. Describe your perfect breakfast! - I rarely eat breakfast, but coffee is a must and maybe some kind of croissant with some ham, cheese and lettuce in it. 5. If you would be a manager for a day and had to pick one defender, one forward and a goalie to build a new ECL Elite team around. Which players would you choose? You can only choose one from your own team. - I would probably pick young players, so as a defender I would pick @xDoumi from Butterfly Effect. The forward choice is much harder but I think I would take @Beniittto because he is a center and already experienced and young. As a goalie I would probably go with @Hansulinho even tho he isn't as young anymore but he is the most consistent goalie at the moment. 6. What would you rather be, an average player in the real-life Finnish Liiga or the worlds best EA Sports NHL-player in both 1v1 and 6v6? - If I could be an average real life player in NHL I would choose that any day but in the Finnish league... I will go with being the best EA Sports NHL-player. 7. Do you play or have you played hockey? - I have only played hockey with friends at outdoor rinks. 8. What’s your best hockey memory? - My best hockey memory would be seeing my first NHL game live. It was Flyers vs Lightning. 6-5 overtime ending made it very enjoyable to watch. It was also my first time in America so that made it even more cool 9. What’s your favourite team? - My favourite team is the Chicago Blackhawks. 10. What do you do on a day off? - I don't have a job at the moment as I'm trying to get into law school, but on a day off I would probably just chill at home or see friends. 11. If you would have to spend one day playing NHL and had to listen to one song only, during the whole day, what song would you pick? - My favourite at the moment is probably Legends from Juice Wrld so I will go with that. 12. How did you come up with your PSN ID? - When I was younger and played soccer, my soccer coach gave me a nickname and that was Sibelius. People in real life also call me Sibbe as a shoter version of Sibelius. 13. Who’s the best player in ECL according to you? - I must say @Buantso is the best player in ECL at the moment for sure. 14. What is the first thing you are going to do when you retire? (from work) - When I retire from work I will just travel as much as I can. I love travelling. 15. What are your top 3 places or countries you want to visit? - That is a tough one. Probably 1. Bahamas 2. Australia 3. Hawaii 16. Which team will win ECL 9 Elite? - I hope Linköping wins it so HAVU won't get a second ECL title in a row. However I still think that HAVU will win it because they are more effective at scoring even though Linköping has scored more goals this season. HAVU has a better goalie and their forecheck will give a hard time to any team who they face at the moment. 17. The eSHL just started and a lot of players and some teams have been signed by SHL-clubs, what are your thoughts on the league and players going there? - I think the eSHL will be a great league with great players and teams and I hope it gets a lot of attention so it could maybe wake interest in other leagues to also create the same kind of tournaments or leagues. Hopefully this league will show the potential of this esport and help it grow. I'm also happy that it wasn't strictly for Swedish players so the league will be more competitive 18. Would you have liked to play in the eSHL? - Yes I'm kinda sad that I'm not participating in this league as it would have been a cool experience but sadly no one needed my services. 19. Last question, Sauna or hot tub? - Hot tub The stats of Oskari "Sibelius" Grönroos We thank @sibeelius for taking the time to sit down with us for this interview. Next weeks player has already been chosen but as we plan to release more of these articles, please let us know which player you would like to hear more from!

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!