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NHLGamers, Today we’re happy to announce a very special partnership, it’s the first of its kind, where Team Frosty and the Finnish Mestis club (second tier) Kiekko-Vantaa is entering a mutually beneficial partnership with the objective to strengthen the esports and traditional hockey culture in the city of Vantaa. The first step of cooperation between the two clubs is launching the esports hockey team Frosty Kiekko-Vantaa (FKV) for the upcoming FCL season. The partnership entails that the NHL roster of Team Frosty will from now on bear the blue colors of Kiekko-Vantaa instead of the regular red accents of Team Frosty. Despite a change in colors, the team will be repping the familiar wolf emblem on their chest. Both clubs will have an increased visibility in each other's events and content creation around the partnership will be ramped up to the next level. “Our partnership was sparked from the simple desire to put Vantaa on the map in the esports world. Team Frosty is founded in Vantaa, so it was very natural to partner with a local sports club. Kiekko-Vantaa showed interest and we’ve been building this project together all summer.” - Team Frosty chairman of the board Semih Sahin “Partnering with Team Frosty is a great thing for us. Esports has seen tremendous growth recently and we feel that there’s lots of unique opportunities in this partnership. We’re also very proud to be the first Mestis team to partner with an esports organisation.” - Kiekko-Vantaa communications officer Mikko Mannonen “We’re over the top excited! It’s an honor to represent a club like Kiekko-Vantaa. Overall it feels like a dream come true to represent a traditional hockey club as a virtual hockey player. Our goal for next season is to improve our position from last season and to claim an Elite promotion spot.” - Sami “imosi1” Ibrahim on representing the new Frosty Kiekko-Vantaa Team Frosty and Kiekko-Vantaa are entering a partnership that’s new in the Finnish NHL esports scene in many ways. Kiekko-Vantaa will be the first Mestis club to join esports competition, but the tight cooperation between the two clubs is what will really set them apart from the competition. We’ll be eagerly waiting for what’s to come. Team Frosty The esports organisation from Vantaa was founded in 2018 by Semih Sahin and Max Öhquist. The organisation made their first stint in the NHL scene in 2018 and made a comeback with a new roster in the spring of 2020. Kiekko-Vantaa As their name suggests, the hockey club represents the city of Vantaa. The club was founded in 1994 and has been competing at the second highest tier of Finnish hockey since 2000, when Mestis was founded. Most notably, Antti Niemi represented the club in his younger years and in fact his #39 hangs retired in the rafters of Trio Areena. Columbus Blue Jackets goaltender Joonas Korpisalo has also made two stints at Vantaa in his early career.

NHLGamers, Almtuna IS, hailing from Uppsala in Eastern Sweden becomes the next Swedish traditional hockey team to start their esports journey. The club reached an agreement with long time fans and NHL gamers Dennis @PillenUpp Johansson and Daniel @dgsson Gustafsson, who will be acting as captain and assistant in the esports club. "Daniel and me wanted to launch an esports team for Almtuna IS. It's great that our beloved club wanted to go along with it and representing them is an inspiration going forward. We'll proudly be sporting Almtunas colors in upcoming events" - Captain Dennis Johansson on signing with Almtuna. We got in touch with goaltender and assistant captain Daniel Gustafsson for some understanding into the mindset of the team and background: Hi Daniel! First off, tell us a bit about your group of guys - what kind of players have you recruited and what are your strengths? - We've had a focus on recruiting players we are familiar with from before. Guys we know we can trust. Our squad is a bit older and possesses a lot of experience, several of our players have captained rosters in the past. Since the beginning, one of our main focuses has been taking everyone into account and making this a mutual project, which is something I feel we've done very well. We've still got our eyes open for a right-handed player capable of moving up and down the left flank. I've heard that both you and Dennis are Almtuna fans, how about the rest of your team? How does it feel to represent "your club"? - Me and Dennis both have grown up in Uppsala and as said - are passionate fans of Almtuna IS, naturally it's beyond exciting to be able to represent them. The rest of our team is divided across Sweden, but I guess this project has slowly converted them and they are now eager to follow Almtuna in HockeyAllsvenskan. After a summer break, the next league is just around the corner. How have you been preparing and what are your expectations moving forward? - Over the summer we've been playing around and participated in some practice tourneys. I feel our game has evolved for the better step by step. We're excited about the ECL and are hopeful about the SCL happening. We're expecting to join the Lite division in ECL 11 and are aiming for a playoff run. Above all though, we're looking to get Almtuna established in esports. Almtuna IS Almtuna IS competes at the second highest level in Sweden, HockeyAllsvenskan. The club itself was founded in 1932, but hockey wasn't added to the program until 1947. HockeyAllsvenskan has been the clubs level since 2003 and Almtuna IS has most notably produced players like Magnus Hellberg and Robin Press to name a few.

NHLGamers, Last year, the FCL concluded at the Summer Assembly event and we finished by crowning Kristian @kriketski17 Veijola (1v1) and HAVU Gaming (6v6) champions. This time we’re proud to announce our recurring partnership with Gigantti to bring you another immensely exciting season of FCL action. Like last year, the FCL holds the official Finnish Championship license (eSM 2020) from the Finnish Esports Federation (SEUL) and the league will feature both the 1v1 and 6v6 game modes. The FCL will be played through August and September and is planned to finish on the 10th of October with a live event* in the capital area of Finland. The combined prize pool is 10 000 EUR. Like last year, this iteration of the FCL will allow for non-Finnish citizens to challenge for the throne in the 6v6 league. The upcoming league will feature a foreign player quota, which entails that a majority (51%) of the team's roster (and line-up) must be Finnish. In addition, all captains must be Finnish citizens. All players require an eSM 2020 license in order to participate in FCL 6v6 and/or FCL 1v1. The cost of the license is 5 EUR and it can be obtained at esm.gg/pelaajalisenssi/ (click here for instructions in English). The one-time purchase of the license allows you to take part in all eSM 2020 leagues and tournaments (for 1v1 you must be a Finnish citizen). SIGN UP FOR 1v1 HERE! Sign-ups for 1v1 are open now and will be open until 27.8. Preliminary schedule for 1v1: Group stage: 31.8-20.9 Playoffs: 21.9-1.10 TOP 4 Finals: 10.10 (BO3) Sign-ups for 6v6 are now closed. Schedule for FCL 6v6: Group stage: 24.8-11.9 Playoffs round 1: 14.-18.9. (BO5) Playoffs round 2: 21.-25.9 (BO5) Quarterfinals: 28.9-1.10 (BO5) Semifinals: 3.10-5.10 (BO5) Finals: 10.10 (BO5) *Prizes are subject to tax as per Finnish law and the tax is withheld before payment. Prizes will be paid out within 90 days of the FCL 2020 Finals. Due to the majority of the FCL being played online and cross-platform play not being available, this year FCL will be played only on the Playstation 4 console. The final formats and schedules for both the 1v1 and 6v6 portions of FCL will be determined based on the number of signups. Invitations FCL 6v6: Reigning Finnish Champion HAVU Gaming will be invited to round 1 of the playoff stage as the #1 seed as per eSM 2020 rules (restrictions apply). FCL 1v1: Reigning Finnish Champion Kristian @kriketski17 Veijola will be invited to the playoff stage as the #1 seed as per eSM 2020 rules. The Finnish player who finishes highest in the NHL GWC 2020 European Finals will be invited to the playoff stage as the #2 seed. *Note: NHLGamer and Gigantti reserve the right to alter or cancel the live portion of the FCL in accordance with regulations and restrictions that may apply, or based on the judgement of the event organizer. Photo: Arttu Kokkonen / SEUL About us Since its inception, NHLGamer has continuously strived to offer the best possible experience for any and all gamers who have come to enjoy the competitiveness of playing the EA Sports series of NHL games. Created by gamers for gamers, we are very much in touch with the growing community and want to understand the fundamental desires of our end customers fully. The international competitive leagues in Europe (ECL) and North America (NACL) are our crown jewels, which have proven to draw interest from the very best teams and players worldwide. While proud of our achievements and the success we've had in creating and maintaining such a great community of talented gamers, we are not done yet. Our long-term goals include growing the community, hosting larger leagues with prize pools, and working together with organizations at the cutting edge of gaming and esports. About our partners Gigantti is the largest consumer electronics retailer in Finland, with 41 stores and 1200 employees. Gigantti has been an active player in the esports scene for a few years already. Their Overwatch-squad Team Gigantti bears the flag of Europe's most successful team, whereas the Gigantti CS:GO Cup and last year's FCL finals have proven to be great examples of what the tech retail giant can do in the field. Gigantti will continue on the path of developing Finnish esports and a key factor of that is partnerships with the industry-leading players. The Finnish Esports Federation (SEUL) works as the umbrella organization for Finnish competitive electronic gaming. SEUL's mission is to improve and promote electronic sports and the activities of our members. The federation was established in December 2010 to respond to the growing need for an organization to promote esports as a hobby and as a respectable sport. The activities performed by SEUL are divided into the development of esports, protection of player’s interests and communicational work. The development of esports is done partly by utilizing workgroups, which are based on the work of our volunteers. The board is responsible for the day to day operations in co-operation with employees. The federation co-operates with many national organizations such as VERKE, EHYT ry and KAVI, promoting a positive image of gamers and gaming in general. The federation’s participation in the international field is strong, since they represent Finland in the International Esports Federation (IESF). SEUL is also on the receiving end of the yearly grants given out by the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture for youth programs, and represents Finnish esports as a member of the Finnish Olympic Committee. What are you waiting for? Sign up now for the chance of winning the Finnish Championship and some great cash prizes! We sincerely hope to see as many of you there as possible! Also, since the sign-up period is rather short, we'd appreciate it if you spread the word to everyone!