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NHLGamers, During this past week the NHLGWC regional finals and in that also the final events of the GWC season were completed. Due to the worldwide pandemic situation, all live events were cancelled and with that also the grand finals will be absent this year. Instead, fans around the world got to enjoy the play of our regional finalists in what would be some incredibly high stakes regional finals that we would cap off by crowning three regional champions - one in Canada, one in Europe, one in the US. Each of the regional champions took home a total of $10,000 USD and runner-ups earned a hefty slice of prize money with $2,500 USD. Here are your 2020 NHLGWC regional champions: 🇨🇦 Canada: Justin @Regs84 Reguly 🇺🇸 US: Josh @OFs Fuss 🇪🇺 Europe: Arttu @Artuzio Mustila Artuzio had a massive comeback year after a somewhat disappointing showing in the 2018 NHLGWC finals and came back determined to show his doubters this time around. The long time gamer based in Tampere, Finland did so in style and ended up beating Roni @MrNipsuli Kajan in the finals and claiming the EU regional championship. In the US regionals, OFs_HK showed up big and was something of a surprising winner as he managed to overcome the reigning world champion Matthew @TSCCookie Gutkoski in a thrilling final series! Our Canadian gamers brought on a show this year, but it was eventually two very familiar guys who fought for the title at the end, Regs and Matthew @YungGren Grenier went head-to-head in the final series, with Regs eventually walking away as the victor. We got a hold of the European champion Artuzio for a short interview: In 2018 you made a run all the way to the Grand Finals in Vegas. Did you utilize the experience and how have you developed in the last two years? "In Vegas i wasn't a consistent player. My offense was good back then but the defensive side needed improvements. After the 2018 GWC I reviewed my game and found some points on which to improve and since then, I've layed more focus on strategic defense and the hitting game, which i feel has been a great improvement for me." Which opponent do you think was the hardest this year? "Without a doubt @PleeMaker. I know his style very well, but he's always so dangerous, you really need to pay attention on defense in order to win. In both semifinal games, it looked like Plee was close to making a comeback, how did you stay calm during those moments? "I've tried to play a lot of wager games and smaller tourneys this year in order to improve my work under pressure and I feel like it's really paid off, just check the scoreboards!" Finally, what are you going to do with the prize money? "Haven't decided yet, so it'll be put into savings for starters." Congratulations to all participants! We're hoping to see you back next year, hopefully at live events! 🏆 Art: Chris @RyanDesigns Ryan

NHLGamers, SAWO ESPORTS is an organisation fresh out of the box and is the brainchild of community favorite caster Arttu @OLVARI Hämäläinen with help from the likes of Savo Volley and Finnish national team hitter Olli-Pekka Ojansivu, Iiro Naamanka from VR & AR specialists 3D-Talo and Mika Hyvärinen from hockey club Iisalmen Peli-Karhut. The organization prides itself in its heritage in the Savo-area in eastern Finland and has brought together four major clubs that are staples in sports across different sports in the area. Behind SAWO ESPORTS we find hockey clubs KalPa and Iisalmen Peli-Karhut together with football club KuPS. Their heritage is largely visible in the teams branding with the rooster logo that's become synonymous with Kuopio hockey and the black and yellow color scheme that is also repped by all three backing clubs. The objective of SAWO ESPORTS together with its partners is to create an organization with a widespread representation at the very top in various games. Two rosters will be announced this weekend and both are expected to make an immediate impact in their own games. In addition to focusing on the professional side of things, the organization wants to lay heavy focus on their youth operations, which will be run in cooperation with Juniori-KalPa ry. "We're launching an exceptional cooperation in the Finnish esports scene by having three major Savo-based sports clubs invested. Esports is definitely here to stay and will only continue the growing trend. There's also several development opportunities for us with KalPa", states Kalpa-Hockey Oy CEO Toni Saksman to Ilta-Sanomat. "A massive part of running a successful club is being able to productize and being an interesting and above all beneficial partner to our stakeholders. The beauty of these partnerships is the fact that we offer our traditional sports clubs a gateway to reach an audience unique to esports." - General Manager Hämäläinen on creating successful partnerships Today SAVO ESPORTS also announce their first roster, which will be competing at the highest level of NHL esports. The organisation has signed the roster of Checkmate, who has solidified their position as a fierce competitor in ECL Elite after working their way up from the Pro-division at the end of their ECL 8 campaign. The team has now completed two full seasons at the highest tier, having back-to-back heartbreak seasons where they barely missed the playoffs by not even a points margin. The Nikkinen brothers Jonne @TackleControl and Juuso @Juizki are the dynamic duo running the show at center and in net whereas the pieces around them have been shuffled a bit. After ECL 10 the main change will be seen in defense, as mainstay supporting cast Vesa @VesKuLiNe Voutilainen will step up in a bigger role and young stud Roni @MrNipsuli Kaján will move down the wing. The team has also acquired talented but unproven Atte @Akunkku Kuningas to boost their offense. When talking to captain @TackleControl, the man ensures that the team hasn't been in any rush to find a suitable organisation despite having been one of the few Elite teams with no affiliation: "The topic has come up on several occasions but the prevailing sentiment has always been that an affiliation isn't something we actively need, and that the organisation would have to seem interesting and professional for us to consider it. SAWO ESPORTS seems to be just that, we found our ambitions to line up nicely and wanted to see this opportunity through." "FCL is a challenge we take on with high, but realistic expectations, we've analyzed our game and made some roster changes out of necessity but also to simply improve our squad. We're confident in our defense, @Jooonasaurus adds some firepower up front and goaltender Saku @Mehukatti10 Serttilä impressed us during the offseason", Nikkinen continues when speaking about their roster. GM Hämäläinen is familiar to the NHL scene and therefore signing an NHL roster seemed natural: "Getting into NHL esports seemed like a natural choice also because we've partnered with two great hockey clubs KalPa and IPK. After a longer period of negotiations we finally managed to secure an ambitious roster that we believe can do great things for our team. We're hoping to start stocking our trophy shelves within our first year and the upcoming FCL is a great place to start." SAWO Esports start their NHL journey on Monday, 24th of August when the FCL season commences. Expect some tight battles in the fierce competition for the Finnish Championship title.

NHLGamers, We're ready to crown the next Swedish champions! The second iteration of the SCL is here, this year produced by NHLGamer in cooperation with the Swedish Ice Hockey Association (SIF), the Swedish Esports Federation (SESF) and Svenska Spel. The Swedish championship will feature an increased prize pool of 100 000 SEK divided between both the 6v6 and 1v1 game modes. Due to safety concerns around the pandemic situation, this years SCL will be produced online in its entirety. The entire league will be played on PlayStation 4. The first SCL season was played in spring 2019 and finished at Birdie in Uppsala, where Henrik @Eken45jr Eklund and Vesa Pompa HC was crowned champions. According to the SCL ruleset, both will receive an invitation to join this years SCL as the #1 seed in the playoffs. Players and teams kan choose to invoice SESF through their organization for earnings in form of prize money. Otherwise prize money will be paid as salary and will be subject to taxation and fees incurred for the "employer" - SESF according to Swedish legislation. An invoice should include the entire amount of earnings including VAT. Schedule Registrations 17.8-27.8 1v1 Regular season 31.8-12.9. Playoffs 14.9-24.9. Finals 2.10. 6v6 Regular season 29.8-18.9. Round 1 19.9-23.9. Quarterfinals 24-27.9 Semifinals + Finals 3.10 SIGN UP FOR 1v1 HERE! SIGN UP FOR 6v6 HERE! Eligibility A change from last year has been made in the eligibility rules, however the rule is still largely based on the same logic. This rule was intended to make sure the Swedish talent was emphasized and showcased, while remaining reasonably inclusive towards our other communities. For SCL 2020, two non-Swedish players will be allowed per team on ice in a game – under very specific conditions. Here they are: Outside of the Swedish championship (SCL), three separate national communities currently feature their own region-based championship. These are the German (GCL), Finnish (FCL) and Russian (RCL) communities. These will be defined as the “major communities” for the purposes of this text. Players hailing from nations that currently do not have a region-based championship to sign up for – one where they are allowed to play free of restrictions and are counted as the main target demographic – will be defined as “minor communities” for the purposes of this text. All teams must always feature a minimum of 4 Swedish players in their on-ice lineup Teams may feature a maximum of two non-Swedish players on ice if both players are from a minor community (for example: Danish, Norwegian, Latvian) Teams may feature a maximum of two non-Swedish players on ice if one player is from a major community (German, Finnish, Russian) and the other player from a minor community Teams may NOT feature two non-Swedish players on ice if both those players are from a major community (German, Finnish, Russian) Below you will find an image to help illustrate this rule clarification: The 1vs1 portion of the SCL is available only for Swedish citizens. License All Swedish and Finnish players require a player license from their respective esports federation, acquire your license by following instructions provided in the links below. For players of other nationalities, a license from their respective esports federation is recommended, but not required. Acquire your license here (Swedes) Acquire your license here (Finns) 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 SIF - The Swedish Ice Hockey Association The Swedish Ice Hockey Association is the governing body in Swedish ice hockey and inline hockey. The association is involved in all levels of ice hockey in Sweden and organizes the two Swedish Championship leagues being the men's SHL and women's SDHL. SESF - The Swedish Esports Federation SESF stands for Svenska E-sportföreningen and they are the governing body of esports competition in Sweden at the moment. The objective of the organisation is to develop the Swedish esports scene and shows a constant presence in organising tournaments and events. Currently, SESF provides training for esports referees and licenses for both referees and players. In Swedish esports competition, a SESF license is a quality guarantee. Main sponsor - Svenska Spel Svenska Spel is a state-owned company operating the regulated gambling market in Sweden. As a state-owned company, their surplus is paid straight to the Swedish Public Treasury. Svenska Spel offers a multitude of various gambling alternatives including sports betting, casino games and bingo. Through its subsidiary Cosmopol Casino it also operates four casinos in Stockholm, Gothenburg, Malmö and Sundsvall. Svenska Spel is a massive actor in Swedish sports as the main sponsor of football, handball, ice hockey and esports leagues, the organisation also sponsors the Swedish Olympic Committee. In addition, Svenska Spel supports youth sports in Sweden financially with up to 42 million SEK annually.