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NHLGamers, As the summer turns to fall we’re accustomed to be getting news about the next iteration in the EA Sports NHL-series that we’ve all grown to love. This year with the pandemic and speculation about the PS5 launch, the news have been pushed back a bit, but we’re getting closer to a closed beta and the final release of NHL 21. The new game will be released on PS4 and Xbox One, but the new consoles will as announced be backwards compatible. The cover athlete of NHL 21 will be Alexander Ovechkin - The Great Eight. Ovechkin came into the league in a time shortly after the “dead puck era”, where scoring was at an all time low and grindy, physical teams prevailed. The Russian superstar was a welcome splash of personality into an NHL that was at a dull moment in time. Ovechkin made an immediate impact and hasn’t stopped baffling us since his first strides on the NHL ice. We all remember that tinted visor, the yellow laces and the incredible highlight reel performances that has inspired a whole new generation of hockey players - and also the creative team of NHL 21. This years iteration of the game series has drawn inspiration from the eccentric personality of Ovie and the astounding skill that he possesses. From tons of individual customization to all new creative ways of beating your opponent, this is the year for skill hockey to shine. What’s new in NHL 21? The new game brings a few new or overhauled features out of which the largest are an all new casual mode called HUT Rush and the massively improved Be A Pro. HUT Rush is all about skill and showing off those sweet moves in combinations to earn the biggest possible rewards. It is a fast-paced mode that lets you hop into action through either a quick draft or with you HUT team and go up against others in either 5v5, 3v3 or arcade 3’s games. More skill - more points! Be A Pro has seen a massive overhaul and now gives you more control than ever over what kind of career you want to shape. Start either in Europe, the Canadian Junior Leagues or go directly into the NHL and start creating your own puck personality. Complete challenges during games to earn more XP, engage with media, players and coaches at key moments throughout your career and finally hoist the cup. Be A Pro also features an all new player hub that lets you see all information on one screen and navigate way faster and easier. The skill moves! You’ve probably heard about these already. Some of you are scared, myself included. NHL 21 will feature a bunch of new big and small skill moves such as the michigan, behind the net bank and the Kucherov no-move. Added to your arsenal in small space are slip dekes and standing dekes together with chips off the boards and into empty space. Moves such as the michigan and behind the net bank are of course highlight reel stuff and shouldn’t be all too easy to pull off, which will be fine-tuned based on player feedback over the course of the closed beta. However based on our experiences with a build not final - the michigan is REALLY hard to pull off. Improved goaltender controls Goaltender controls have seen minor changes and improvements.Save animations and reactions combined with positioning have been in focus this year. Goaltending controls have been very coarse earlier, but now it should be way easier to make minute movements very smoothly. EASHL practice mode You’ve been heard! NHL 21 brings back one of the most requested features for the competitive community. There are now a free skate and team practice mode in EASHL, where you can either test out your builds on an open sheet of ice or play together with you teammates against an AI opponent to sort out various strategies and set plays. In an open practice, teammates can shoot against either a CPU or human goalie. Server select in private EASHL matches Another great addition for the competitive community that allows a more even playing field when going up against opponents from various geographical locations. In addition to all of these concrete changes in the game, the team has continued to develop the AI in the game. This year, organic play flow has been a big theme in driving the development and bringing the AI to the next level. The AI is now challenging but realistic, your teammates are more predictable and puck carriers are driving the play more than before. Support positioning on defense is greatly improved in order to reward players that put pressure on the opposition. What’s still missing? The missing components are for the most part the usual suspects. This years iteration has addressed some issues like the practice mode and server select, but things like spectator mode are still absent. Some hardcore fans of GM connected have been advocating for bringing that mode back for years, but their voices are still left unheard. Maybe next year! Release date & editions The NHL 21 Closed Beta will be out on the 28th of August. NHL 21 will release on the 16th of October, with the preorder versions of the Deluxe and Ultimate editions granting three days of early access. The available editions are: NHL 21 Standard Edition 69,95€ Preorder bonus: - Up to 2 HUT Diamond Player Choice Packs (1 per month for 2 months) - Be A Pro XP Boost and Bonus Trait and Specialization Points - 1 Unlocked World of Chel Hockey Bag NHL 21 Deluxe Edition 89,95€ Preorder bonus: - Up to 5 HUT Diamond Player Choice Packs (1 per month for 5 months) - HUT Synergy Veteran Choice Pack (Choice 1 of 10; +1 OVR per month until August 2021) - HUT Cover Athlete Choice Pack (Choice of: Ovechkin, Matthews, McDavid, Pettersson, Laine, Subban) - 3 Days Early Access - Be A Pro XP Boost and Bonus Trait and Specialization Points - 2 Unlocked World of Chel Hockey Bags NHL 21 Great Eight Edition 99,95€ Preorder bonus: - Up to 10 HUT Diamond Player Choice Packs (2 per month for 5 months) - HUT Synergy Veteran Choice Pack (Choice 1 of 10; +1 OVR per month until August 2021) - HUT Cover Athlete Choice Pack (Choice of: Ovechkin, Matthews, McDavid, Pettersson, Laine, Subban) - 3 Days Early Access - Be A Pro XP Boost and Bonus Trait and Specialization Points - 5 Unlocked World of Chel Hockey Bags What are your thoughts on the information we’ve got? What did you with they would have added? What are you expecting from the beta? Let us know in the comments!

NHLGamers, The time has come for the Finnish Champions League to kick off. Last year when the FCL was introduced for the first time, 37 teams signed up for the competition. This year we’ve seen a massive increase in numbers as an outstanding 72 teams have registered for the race! We are happy to see such big growth happening once again, especially in a competition that requires the players to purchase a license. Let's make sure we are as welcoming to new members as possible to make sure we continue on this path. Below we have collected the most important information for our teams and captains: Schedule The season kicks off today, Monday 24th of August, with the following default game days and times: Monday 20:00 CEST Wednesday 20:00 CEST Thursday 20:00 CEST The schedule is available through the menu both on the main page and here on the community side. 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) If you're looking for FCL 1vs1, you can still sign up! SIGN UP FOR 1v1 HERE! Sign-ups for 1v1 will be open until Thursday 27.8. end of day (CEST). Groups Below is the complete list of the teams participating this season and in which groups they will play (teams displayed in random order): The 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). Brief season description The regular season lasts 3 weeks. Top 4 teams of each group + three best #5 based on PPG will advance to the playoffs. This means 32 teams (31+HAVU Gaming) will make the playoffs. Playoffs will be played in BO5 series'. Please see the rulebook for a more detailed description. Rulebook You can find the rulebook here. It is also always available through the league menu. We strongly suggest every player gets familiar with the rules before jumping on the ice and at the very least that the captains do so. The rulebook is in Finnish, so any foreign players will have to turn to their captains for a recap. The rulebook strongly builds on the ECL 10 rulebook, but there are some minor differences, such as the instigation of fights being forbidden. League Administration All league related verdicts will be decided by the League Administration. To open up a case, visit the Support section. Please note: before contacting League Administration, teams are expected to do their best and solve issues they might have on their own. Familiarize yourself with our rules first, as they include lots of guidance for different issues. League Administration is always to be used as the last resort to solve any disagreements. Communication In order to get in touch with your opponent, you can use the "Message all captains" button (pictured below) on the team's page. This will send a private message on the NHLGamer community to the three listed captains. Additionally, we offer an NHLGamer Discord server, which you can join by clicking the button below. We ask that at the very least the captains of each team join the server, as messaging through Discord is instant and it is a great way to communicate quickly and briefly. In the NHLGamer Discord you will find an FCL 6v6 group with designated channels for each group, and own channels for general chat, announcements and to share your streams (image below) A cool feature on Discord is also being able to get a team role (example above), which enables people to see what team you represent. See the channel #team-commands-guide for instructions on how to get your own role. If you need help with this, please see the #discord-support channel. Broadcasts The official NHLGamer broadcasts will be on NHLGamer's Twitch channel. Please follow our channel to support us and to get notified when we go live. The broadcast schedule will be published later, but we have put together a small streaming guide for you. This guide applies for when your team is featured on an official broadcast. Team management tools All teams have been created, the team management tools on the main page have been unlocked for the team captains. All players need to be invited to the team rosters ahead of playing their first game. Please note that all invited players need to accept the invitation (there will be a popup alert on the main page for them) before they show up on the team roster and can start playing! In case you have further questions, feel free to use the comment section below this article, or contact support. Licenses 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). We have contacted all teams (private message from @iRSPe) to get the necessary license information. There are some individual discrepancies on teams, but there are also still teams who have not sent their lists at all. Please note that playing without an active license is against the rules and can lead to forfeits and/or disqualification. Social media Twitter: When posting tweets of your lineups, matchups, recaps, clips, articles - or any other content you might want to create - can you please make sure to tag the following accounts and hashtag: @NHLGamerCOM @Gigantti @esm_gg #FCL #eSM Instagram: When posting on Instagram, can you please make sure to tag the following accounts and hashtag: @NHLGamerOfficial @GiganttiGaming @esmkisat #FCL #eSM We hope everyone has a great FCL. Good luck to all teams!

NHLGamers, It's the day of the FCL kickoff and what better time than to announce a new traditional sports club joining our ranks with an NHL roster. This time, we're glad to welcome TuTo, hailing from the historical city of Turku in southern Finland. TuTo as an organization is involved in a number of various sports including ice hockey, wrestling, football and many more. Esports rounds out that selection into an even ten for the prestigious club founded already in 1929. The club has partnered with graphic design agency Midström in order to produce top-notch media content. Midström will also act as the main sponsor of the esports team. "Lately we've been putting a lot of thought into the development of our kids and youth, and trying to find out role as a club in the change that's happening which brought esports to the forefront for us last year. We saw the possibilities and felt that it could be a successful concept for us alike so many other traditional sports clubs, with a goal to expand but also to learn about the expanding world of sports. As soon as Sami (@Samzoni) contacted me, we found a mutual understanding. We're happy to secure TuTo representation in esports and will continue developing that side of operations once we gain experience." - TuTo ry Operations Manager Sini Paakkinen The roster formerly known as DIKTATUURI will from now on bear the logo and name of TuTo Esports. The team took their first strides on the competitive ice in ECL 10 Lite, making a playoff push that unfortunately ended in the first round at the hands of 2nd seeded EBR eSports Official. Despite being a young club, the roster has some solid experience in their ranks. Assistant captains Sami @Samzoni Lehtonen and Tuomas @Tumpp1A Aaltonen combine for over 300 games throughout the NHLGamer era of NHL esports, whereas defenseman Janne @K31jj0 Matilainen is another player on the team who has been around since the inception of the ECL. "We've discussed a possible affiliation in our club for quite some time already and feel that our game has taken some steps in a good direction lately, which pushed us into discussions with TuTo. I've personally been a supporter of TuTo for quite some time already and our goaltender Henry @Fobba71 Kivilä has represented TuTo back in his hockey playing days, which made them a natural selection to partner with. We're extremely happy to make our deal official and being able to get to work!" - Assistant captain Sami @Samzoni Lehtonen explains some background behind the deal. TuTo ry TuTo Ry is a sports club operating in a total of ten various sports including ice hockey, football, wrestling and esports to name a few. The club was founded in 1929 and has since dabbled in a multitude of sports out of which some have been dropped due to various reasons. Their hockey club competes at the second tier (Mestis) in Finland, and hereby the club becomes the second Mestis club to sign an esports roster.

NHLGamers, With Saturday night and game seven of the finals still in fresh memory, what a way it was to end the season. The past ECL was a wild run with a diverse selection of storylines all around the league, perhaps more so than usually. As customary, we'll be taking you through the events of the past in this snapshot into ECL 10 Elite. First of all, on behalf of NHLGamer, I'd like to extend a thank you to our sponsors Prisma Gaming and IS Esports, without whom none of this would have been possible. It was a record-setting season and we're proud to have hosted a league with the biggest prize pool yet. We're at a good place as a community - a strong foundation is built and the trend is looking great! Naturally, we also want to thank the players who are at the very core of all that we do, for putting on such a show over the course of the season. Last but not least, thank you also to each and every one of you who have tuned in for a stream, given a like on social media or shared the notion of our league with a friend - your input to growing the community is invaluable. To differ from the usual, the season had a fair bit of uncertainty at the start. Live-events were put on hold due to the still ongoing COVID-19 situation which naturally didn't effect the online side of things but let's be frank - all of us love that live action. Unfortunately, due to the circumstances out of our control we couldn't deliver on that front this time, but as things slowly get back to normal we're looking forward to providing the next live-event soon enough. Regular season With the eSHL jumpstarting things, we saw a great influx of new organisations into the scene before ECL 10, which naturally is greatly appreciated. Some of these new teams included JYP Jyvaskyla, hREDS, KOVA Esports and SJ Gaming, who joined competition at the Elite level. Out of the new orgs, JYP and hREDS immediately signed up for title contention and put up a warning for HAVU and Linköping - a duo that had been reigning supreme for quite some time already. As seen in the final standings of the regular season, competition was tough. JYP came in hot right out of the gate and didn't let up, managing to close out the competition and secure a regular season win, whereas LHC and HAVU performed along the expected level. On the other hand, hREDS came in fourth but due to a less ideal start to the season, the talented bunch didn't quite keep up in pace with the other three big names. None of the four top teams made large adjustments over the course of the season, as hREDS were the only team to really have rotation in their lineup when founding member Tuukka @Tuukka.R Röpelinen stepped in for a few games here and there. The top four was a collective according to expectations, whereas the rest of the playoff-bound teams could have been a multitude of teams from the wide selection of remaining competitors. After a tough start, Unlucky Boys HC managed to pull it together by acquiring familiar face Ville @Viltzup Poutiainen and finished the season in 5th place with one of the hottest streaks in the league. Close behind came German powerhouse BRAYCE Phantoms, who have been causing waves in the community for a long time due to their impressive skill level, but also due to being the only Elite team from outside the Nordic countries. This has come with some downside for BRAYCE, since they have had trouble finding adequate practice games - an issue which evidently hasn't had too much of an effect on their play in the end. In seventh place, we find Roots who played a very balanced season. The team consists of some of the more experienced gamers in the scene, which was evident in their play throughout the season. While the team dropped points in some unfortunate matchups, they also managed to steal some important games against the likes of JYP and hREDS. Closing out the segment of playoff-bound teams is Farjestad BK, who were a somewhat unexpected addition to the playoff race with a high player turnover in the offseason. Both wingers were new faces, a new defenseman joined the squad and even the starting goaltender was acquired before the season. Despite being so new to each other, FBK managed to stay around .500 throughout the season and eventually edged out Checkmate for a spot among the top eight teams. Moving on to the bottom half of the standings, we have four teams within a points margin of each other - possibly a mere point away from making it into the postseason. Checkmate, KOVA Esports, Vesa Pompa HC and GHETTO FIREBIRDS all put forth very solid efforts but ended up coming just short this time around. Out of these teams Vesa Pompa and GHETTO were making their first run in the Elite division and immediately managed to make an impact around the league. Vesa Pompa had a difficult start but started improving after acquiring legendary scoring machine Vili @Vilupoika Häkkinen, who naturally finished with the highest points/game average in the team - by far. GHETTO FIREBIRDS came in with a bang and made questionable ECL Elite history right out of the gate. The team took a whole 12(!) games to overtime throughout the season and managed to win the extra point in only one of these contests. With eight victories, the newcomers pushed to 12th place only a point away from tying 8th place (by points). The unfortunate part about sports is that someone always has to lose, and that's what the bottom four teams did a lot of this season. SJ Gaming had a solid start but drifted in the wrong direction rather quickly, dropping down to 13th which puts them in a relegation battle against HanaaHC (2-1 for SJ currently). Lulea Hockey has been in a somewhat turbulent state for the past few months with a disappointment in the eSHL and now not being able to produce as expected in the ECL either. The team faced off against Reality Check in a relegation battle and retained their Elite spot with four straight wins. Gotham Knights came in 15th place in their return to the Elite level, not the kind of performance the team would have hoped for, but one of the most long-lived teams in the scene now has a chance to redeem themselves against Pro runner-up Enigma in a relegation battle. The last team and therefore facing direct relegation was Almost Famous, who made a brave attempt at coming back from losing almost their entire roster in the offseason, but the struggle was in vain this time. Playoffs I'm going to start off by using one of the most overused hockey clichés known to man - the playoffs are a different beast. That's the reality that Farjestad BK force fed JYP with in the quarterfinals, running over the #1 seed in five games with their unorthodox stretch passing and excellent play by goaltender Johan @Rundqviiist Rundqvist. Linkoping HC made quick work of Roots whereas HAVU Gaming provided the same treatment for BRAYCE Phantoms, who weren't a match for the #3 seed this time. One of the most exciting quarterfinal series in a while was seen between hREDS and Unlucky Boys HC. The series was taken all the way to a game 7, where Unlucky Boys looked like a certain winner with around 30 seconds to spare in the third period of game seven. UB were awarded a powerplay when Teemu @Xteemuz Polttila headed to the box for hooking at 59:34. After that - mayhem ensues. Joakim @Joukki Nyholm takes of directly from the faceoff, splits the defense and ties the game up shorthanded with 20 seconds to spare in the game. The teams headed into overtime and it was evident that UB had the wind knocked right out of them, as hREDS had the control for most of the 15 minutes until Niklas @NikkeDangles Tukiainen put the nail in the coffin and sent hREDS to the semifinals. Farjestad BK providing one of the greatest upsets in ECL playoff history certainly shuffled the playoff picture around a bit, but that did not stop the inevitable from happening. Both Linkoping HC and HAVU Gaming were set on making it back to the finals and getting their shot at the title. With 4-1 victories in both series, there was really no question about who we were going to se fight it our for the ultimate prize. The finals The ECL 10 Elite Finals were a two-day event, this time online due to the COVID-19 pandemic putting plans on hold when it comes to live-events. Both Linkoping HC and HAVU Gaming had been at this stage multiple times before, in fact three straight times in the ECL between the two of them. Going into the first three games on Friday, tensions were high as the stakes were higher than ever before. Eventually we saw some exciting and low-scoring hockey for three games straight, all ending in a 2-1 result in favor of HAVU Gaming who were set on reclaiming the throne. Going into Saturdays games with a 3-0 chokehold on the series almost set the stage for an early finish but that was not what LHC had on their mind. The reigning champions completed an impressive comeback from a 3-1 series deficit in ECL 9 and looked to do even better this time when they came back step by step eventually tying the series at 3-3 and pushing the finals into a game seven that was one for the ages - a phrase that seems to be repeated opver and over again when it comes to battles between Linkoping and HAVU. Once again, the seventh game of the series was an intense back and forth battle that wasn't finished until overtime with who better to close out the season than HAVU Gaming captain Tuukka @FlyerKungen Kuha, who managed to find an open opportunity head-to-head with LHC goaltender Casper @ICappeI Lundgren. Here's the madness that ensued: 🏆 AWARDS Playoff MVP: Hannes @Hansulinho Kettunen, HAVU Gaming Most Points: Paul @PleeMaker Arontie, Linkoping HC, 78 Goals, 44 Assists, 122 Points in 46 games Most Goals: Paul @PleeMaker Arontie, Linkoping HC, 78 Goals, 44 Assists, 122 Points in 46 games Most Assists: Erik @Eki Tammenpää, Linkoping HC, 42 Goals, 75 Assists, 117 Points in 46 games Most Hits by a Forward: Kristian @kriketski17 Veijola, JYP Jyvaskyla, 409 Hits in 35 games Best +/-: Joel @jtorro1233 Tourunen, Linkoping HC, +91 in 46 games Most Points by a Defenseman: Aleksi @loimmu Loimuvirta, Linkoping HC, 13 Goals, 43 Assists, 60 Points in 46 games Most Goals by a Defenseman: Wille @willekunq Juntunen, HAVU Gaming, 14 Goals, 27 Assists, 41 Points in 46 games Most Assists by a Defenseman: Aleksi @loimmu Loimuvirta, Linkoping HC, 13 Goals, 43 Assists, 60 Points in 46 games Most Hits by a Defenseman: Saku @Sakkem Saaranluoma, GHETTO FIREBIRDS, 245 Hits in 30 games Best goaltender (SV%):Hannes @Hansulinho Kettunen, HAVU Gaming, 340 saves on 403 shots, SV% 84,37 in 46 games