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Photo credit: Jussi Jääskeläinen NHLGamers, Over the past few months, Telia Esports has been running a historical NHL esports league for the Finnish audience together with Liiga - the Finnish ice hockey elite league. The league included all fifteen Liiga organzations, represented by two gamers each in a tournament consisting of a 28-game regular season followed by best-of-three playoffs and a best-of-five final series. With a prize pool of 10 000€ on the line, all teams surely looked to give their all and over the course of the season, everyone got their fifteen seconds of fame as all teams were featured in live broadcasts from the Telia Esports studio. Here's a list of all eLiiga players for the inaugural season: HIFK: Niklas @NikkeDangles Tukiainen, Perttu @Beniittto Kemppainen HPK: Perttu @Regulinho Salo, Jim @SadaPoika Leskinen Ilves: Aaro @xDoumi Ruuhinen, Tomi @tombo_02 Laitinen Jukurit: Tuukka @FlyerKungen Kuha, Hannes @Hansulinho Kettunen JYP: Antti @tbnantti Kuittinen, Oskari @sibeelius Grönroos KalPa: Saku @Mehukatti10 Serttilä, Roni @MrNipsuli Kaján Kärpät: Paul @PleeMaker Arontie, Kristian @kriketski17 Veijola KooKoo: Nico @zNico Tuoreniemi, Janne @Nieppii Niemelä Lukko: Juuso @Kemppane_ Kemppainen, Tuomas @Tumpp1A Aaltonen Pelicans: Niklas "Koivisto81" Koivisto, Niklas "TheNikez37" Karlsson SaiPa: Kristian @Krisutus Räsänen, Joona @Hullued Saarinen Sport: Eemil @Sokkelo__ Soikkeli, Jani @layout Laakkonen Tappara: Erik @Eki Tammenpää, Arttu @Artuzio Mustila TPS: Valtteri @Vattu__ Virtanen, Väinö @Pikkardz Pikkarainen Ässät: Teemu @Xteemuz Polttila, Tapani @Tappu Anttila The past weekend featured the semifinals on Saturday, whereafter Sunday was the day for our bronze matchup and the grand finals. Eventually the top 4 teams that came to play this weekend were Tappara, Jukurit, KalPa and Kärpät and Sunday's matches featured the 3rd seed KalPa versus 7th seed Kärpät in the bronze matchup whereas 1st seed Tappara went up against 5th seed Jukurit in the grand final for the historical inaugural season championship title. The excitement over the weekend was unreal and especially Sunday's decisive games were something else. Having the dynamic of two players representing each team made for some interesting strategic choices, but the eventual final series between Tappara and Jukurit extending to a full five games ensured that each representative got to face each other. The #1 seed Tappara represented by @Artuzio and @Eki naturally held all the pressure as expectations were high from the beginning, whereas the Jukurit duo was extremely strong but paved their way to the finals as somewhat of a surprise and had the luxury of coming in as slight underdogs. Results of the final games Tappara - Jukurit Game 1: 11-6 (Eki - Hansulinho) Game 2: 6-8 (Artuzio - FlyerKungen) Game 3: 4-3 (Eki - FlyerKungen) Game 4: 4-5 OT (Artuzio - Hansulinho) Game 5: 7-3 (Eki - FlyerKungen) At the end of a full five game series, Tappara's @Artuzio and @Eki hoisted the first ever eLiiga trophy. Congrats guys! All eLiiga players and fans are surely pleased to hear that Niklas Segercrantz from the Telia Esports team has stated to Jatkoaika.com, that the team is satisfied with the success that the series has seen and that there are plans on developing the product even further in the future.

NHLGamers, After the second full week of ECL 11 Elite action, we have somewhat restored order in the kingdom and the usual suspects FILADELPHIA and HAVU Gaming top the tables. One of the looming questions before the season was speculation about how Hannes @Hansulinho Kettunen would slot into the LW spot in that HAVU roster and now a few weeks later with his team going 8-0-0 and the man himself snagging some personal success in eLiiga along the way, I think we can at least put some of that speculation to rest. Order has also been restored in the scoring leaders department, where FILADELPHIA duo Erik @Eki Tammenpää and Paul @PleeMaker Arontie are topping the tables at the modest pace of around 3 points per game after their first ten outings. A look at the overall picture of the division shows that all teams have now managed to snag their first win of the season and only one remains undefeated - HAVU Gaming to no surprise. Despite not yet having to face any of their fiercest rivals, staying undefeated is a strong feat and shows just how formidable of a contender HAVU is yet again this season. While the broadcasted games this week didn't provide the caliber of highlights we saw in the first week of the season, we surely had some interesting turns of events and some discussion surfacing. Some eyebrows were raised during Wednesday's matchup between SAWO ESPORTS and Gotham Knights when a seemingly unenthusiastic SAWO took a beating in their first game of the night while a team member had more screen time in the Twitch chat than in the actual game. While this undeniably creates some comedic value in the chat, one must wonder how it impacts the focus on the game and perhaps more importantly, how it is valued within the team. Luckily, SAWO managed to gather themselves and bounce back nicely in the second bout but it's a tough look for the team regardless. From the lows to the highs of last week, despite suffering two consecutive losses without a goal scored against HAVU Gaming, German Team LEISURE can draw some consolation from this insane save made by goaltender Patrick @RPH_31 Braun: Transfers It's a somewhat rare occasion to see some movement at the Elite level after the start of the season, but some transfers have come to knowledge in the past week or so, we'll also be recapping possible movement in these reports. The past week was unusually exciting at the transfer market as several teams shuffled some players around and we also ended up seeing some always controversial player poaches: hREDS OUT Niklas @uhNikke Nieminen, Tunnel Vision Having proven his level at the Elite level but taking a step back from the starter duties due to attending military service at the start of 2021, @uhNikke decided to take his talents to Tunnel Vision in Pro on a loan deal. Most likely this move will not affect hREDS competitiveness as they still have @FinKonna who is a very competitive goaltender who is capable of winning games for his team. Dark Horse IN Janne @JanneK. Komsa, Tunnel Vision The newest team in the Elite division decided to strengthen their ranks in net with an experienced goaltender as a result of @Magizam having a tough first week at the Elite level and with one matchup behind, @JanneK. seems to have improved the netminding department to some extent at least. OUT Kristian @Krisutus Räsänen, SAWO ESPORTS Dark Horse had a tough start to the season as expected and no points will be coming easy for them in their first Elite campaign. The loss of a starting forward in @Krisutus will sting despite having a quality player in @Ollizhki backing him up. It remains to be seen if Dark Horse will look to strengthen their ranks but due to transfer deadlines having passed in other divisions, they will need to poach a player from another Elite team if looking to do so. KOVA Esports IN Igor @xMotzz Motov, Nordic Stars KOVA made an acquisition that is somewhat of a headscratcher when getting another defenseman into their roster. The team already has two starters who are unlikely to be moved so it is probable that @xMotzz will not be seeing competitive ice time with his new team. SAWO Esports IN Kristian @Krisutus Räsänen, Dark Horse Finding yourself at the bottom of the standings meant that there would be a need for changes for SAWO. Whether acquiring @Krisutus was done as a result of @SUPERVIRTA leaving or not, it'll be interesting how it will affect the dynamic in the team. OUT Joonas @SUPERVIRTA Virta, FA The recently acquired defenseman suddenly left the squad due to time constraints. Team captain @TackleControl has been seen at the LD position since. Power Rankings Making a return this season will be the Elite: Power Rankings, provided by @MartindalexC. As always, the rankings are generated by weighting a team's results with the level of opposition that was faced, i.e. a team that went 4-0-0 against teams at the very bottom of Elite may very well be ranked below a team that went 0-4-0 against Elite's very finest. Without further ado though, let's have a look at how teams fared over the second week of ECL Elite: 1. HAVU Gaming (4-0-0) [+2] 2. FILADELPHIA (5-1-0) [=] 3. JYP Jyvaskyla (4-2-0) [+4] 4. YMCA Esports (4-1-1) [+2] 5. hREDS (3-1-2) [-2] 6. Northern Ascendancy (2-1-1) [+6] 7. Färjestad BK (2-3-1) [+2] 8. Roots Gaming (3-1-0) [+7] 9. Gotham Knights (3-3-0) [+1] 10. KOVA Esports (3-3-0) [-2] 11. Conquer Gaming (1-5-0) [+3] 12. SJ Gaming (1-3-0) [-7] 13. Team Leisure (2-3-1) [=] 14. Vesa Pompa (1-1-0) [-8] 15. SAWO Esports (1-2-1) [-4] 16. Dark Horse (1-2-1) [=]

NHLGamers, Welcome to the 2nd half of the ECL11 Neo mid-season report where we’ll look at Groups 6 through 10. Let’s get back to it, shall we! Group 6 Group 6 looks to have a clear winner already, with Latvian Warriors cruising in to a comfortable 5 point lead over nearest challengers Bone Breakers, who they won both games against earlier in the season. MOGA and EHC Traktor Chelyabinsk sit behind in 3rd in 4th place, but the playoff battle in the group remains wide open. Only 7 points separates MOGA, EHC Traktor Chelyabinsk, HC Poteropojat, Nordic Eagles, Etuna Eagles, Acta Non Verba and Aina Pystyy, with some of the lower placed in these teams already averaging a higher points per game average than the teams above them, with several games in hand over their rivals. Etuna Eagles will battle this week with Acta Non Verba, and Nordic eagles, the teams above and below them, in what will shape a fascinating playoff race in group 6. With the games coming thick and fast for these sides, the playoff race in group 6 could end with as little as 2 points between 7 teams. SC Rackelhahn eV, who sit bottom of the group with just a point will also play key games vs Bone Breakers and MOGA. While Rackelhahn can no longer qualify for the playoffs, their solitary win came in OT vs the Group leading Latvian Warriors, in their most recent round of games and they will take confidence from this going into the end of their season. Key team stats Most points per game: Latvian Warriors (1.8) Most goals per game: Latvian Warriors (3.08) Least goals against per game: Latvian Warriors (1.42) Best power play: SC Rackelhahn eV (40%) Best penalty kill: MOGA (91.67) Group 7 UKnighted HC hold a comfortable lead in Group 7 at the midway point. With just 1 loss to their names this season, and holding two wins over nearest rivals IHL Rams, they certainly hold advantage in the group. The most likely side to cause them problems is Masiina. Who also hold one loss, but winning their 2 extra games will leave them tied at the top of Group 7, with UKnighted and Masiina to meet in the final round of fixtures, neither side can afford to slip up in their remaining games. Elsewhere in the top half of the group, Karhukissat are sitting pretty in 4th place but 3 losses at this early stage may have already turned their table topping dreams into a damp squib. In the playoff battle, Ballbusters HC and Gleumes Hockey Krefeld occupy the final playoff spots, holding a considerable points advantage over the teams below them. In 7th place, most likely playoff spot challengers IHL Royals can still look to spring a surprise and overtake Krefeld but it will prove a difficult challenge. Games against HC Ice Time, Russian Ghouls, and leaders Uknighted leaves the Royals needing a minimum of 6 points prior to their last round of games which sees them play against Krefeld. At the bottom, Czech side The Hockey Crew, have disappointed this season. Holding just a single win over fellow strugglers Russian Ghouls. HC Ice Time also sit outside the playoff race, with their defensive struggles being the cause of their woes, as their offence has been effective despite their league position. Key team stats Most points per game: UKnighted HC (1.83) Most goals per game: UKnighted HC (8) Least goals against per game: UKnighted HC (1.17) Best power play: UKnighted HC (44.74%) Best penalty kill: UKnighted HC (89.47%) Group 8 A top of the table encounter tonight between EHC Tatneft AK Bars and the Finnish Finishers may well decide the winners of the group if either side can take the 4 points on offer in regulation, be sure to keep an eye out on twitch for these games! The Russians, who hold a 3-point advantage going into tonight’s games will see this as an opportunity to put the Group out of sight if they can put the Finishers away early. In the playoff spots, it remains extremely tight. BackDoorLoosters hold 3 points over their group rivals but just a single point separates x6tence Hockey, HC Palosaari and Team Czechoslavakia and French side Remparts Tours Esport 2. These sides all play each other in the coming week in what is the most cutthroat playoff race in ECL Neo this season. As Spain’s solitary representatives in ECL, x6tence will be hoping they can carry the flag into the playoffs but face a tough schedule to allow this to happen. At the bottom, Swiss Seniors, HC Korobka and French Rookies are all well out of the playoff race. The Rookies sit bottom of the group but and face Korobka tonight in battle to move off the bottom. For the Seniors, while the playoffs are gone, their remaining games against Finishers and Palosaari gives them a huge chance to affect the final group standings should they pull off a shock. Key team stats Most points per game: EHC Tatneft AK Bars (1.71) Most goals per game: EHC Tatneft AK Bars (6.71) Least goals against per game: Finnish Finishers (1.92) Best power play: Finnish Finishers (41.67%) Best penalty kill: EHC Tatneft AK Bars (100%) Group 9 Group 9 sees both a 3 team race for Group winner and a 6 team race for the playoffs. At the top, Vemppaosasto sit with a 3 point lead over Dynamo Dragons. Vemppaosasto however have the benefit of games against strugglers Epinal HC Esport and playoff challengers Uudenmaan Oilers to round of their race for the top. Dynamo Dragons face fellow Challengers The Real Rookies in the final round of fixtures however. The Rookies are the most physical side in Neo this season, racking up 296 hits so far this season. Herforder Ice Dragons debut season sees them hold a comfortable lead over the other playoff challengers. Just three points separates the next four teams, Enkopings SK HK eSport, Uudenmaan Oilers, EASHL Russian, and Motherfreakerz. Of these 4, Motherfreakerz hold the advantage in scheduling with 2 games to play against bottom side Karvanakit, maximum points here followed by a huge match this week vs the Oilers would see them sneak into the playoffs for the first time in 4 attempts. Karvanakits position in the table could be false however, as they are yet to play three of the four teams that lie directly above them, and while wins in all six of these games is unlikely, it would still be enough to pull them in to the playoff race also. Key team stats Most points per game: Vemppaosasto (1.71) Most goals per game: Vemppaosasto (4.64) Least goals against per game: Dynamo Dragons (1.5) Best power play: Dynamo Dragons (43.48%) Best penalty kill: Vemppaosasto (94.12%) Group 10 Group 10 sees possibly the strangest table in ECL Neo. With the race for the top underway, All, 6 teams in the playoff spots can still win the Group. Due to this, all 6 teams sit at least 8 points clear of the teams outside the playoffs, having played the same number of games, or less. Outside the playoff places, both Swiss Tigers, EHC Ice breakers sit tied at the bottom with just one win each. Annecy Hockey eSport, sit above in 8th but need 6 wins from their final 6 to mount a very unlikely playoff challenge. Taskubulis in 7th need the same. At the top, a 2nd game loss for EHC Amur against Annecy leaves them also needing straight wins to secure the group, despite having beat nearest challengers Monkey Brotherhood twice earlier in the group. With the Brotherhood unlikely to slip up tonight against Ice Breakers, it’s all to play for in the top 2. Ettan IK play both teams in the deciding week of fixtures and will want to prove that they can also challenge the top teams, with just 4 points separating them from the top its everything to play for Ettan. For Wisby Islanders this week, they will look to right things on offence as their 15 minutes on attack against Deggendorfer SC eSports mustered them just 3 goals, and zero wins. Key team stats Most points per game: EHC Amur (1.67) Most goals per game: EHC Amur (5.92) Least goals against per game: Wisby Islanders (2.33) Best power play: EHC Amur (60.61%) Best penalty kill: Biggie Stockholm (90.91%) With that, we conclude this second part of our ECL 11 Neo mid-season report. The last half of the season is already underway and now is the time to rack up those extremely important points, we wish all teams good luck in the pursuit of those last playoff spots!

NHLGamer, The midpoint of the ECL 11 Pro season is right about now and it's a good time to take a closer look at what happened in the first half of the season in both groups. The first half of the season has been very even for both groups with no teams really running away with it yet and everyone still in the mix. There are only a few points difference between the top eight teams in both groups which will definitely add to the excitement as the season progresses even further. Despite it being a close fight for each team, there have still been several squads that have surprised us - some on the good side and some on the worse. GROUP 1 Top performers: Herlev Eagles As the biggest surprises of group 1, the Herlev Eagles have continued their strong run of form that started in the FCL. The team seems to have found their identity nicely and ever since assuming their Danish prefix they have really came into their own. The teams play has seen consistent development and their form curve is on an upwards trajectory. It is to be expected that the team will be seen in the important playoff battles, but the team's playbook might not be thick enough in order to secure any of the brighter trophies this season. Inter Iceland Inter Iceland's strong momentum has carried the team to a good start of the season. The German squad has managed to hang with the big boys of their group for quite some time and could even be on their way towards a #1 seed. Before the start of the season, the team was not expected to be at the top of the group but has surprised positively. It should be noted, however, that the team has encountered a majority of the weaker teams in the group during the early part of the season, but without taking anything away from Inter – the team's going has been very strong and disciplined. The discipline shows that most of the games played by the team have ended with a one-goal difference, but converting those tight battles into victory takes a great amount of skill. Both @Fire_019 and @Stefan_397 have been crucial to guaranteeing Inter Iceland's success during the early part of the season. Tunnel Vision In the early moments of the regular season, Tunnel Vision lost two of key players when talented @Eemil moved to SJ Gaming and goaltender @ITemeI moved on to JYP, both in pursuit of that famed Elite ice time. Although the team experienced player losses, there was also player traffic in the other direction, as the team was joined by a very experienced player, @JanneK. who is a great goalie that has the capability to steal games for his team. Their recent addition of @uhNikke makes them even stronger and solidifies Tunnel Vision as a title candidate. Production is very even across all three forwards and their defensemen are also chipping in, but they will need to ramp up their numbers in that department to be at the absolute top when the bigger games start. Should do better: Vaxjo Lakers The Swedish Vaxjo Lakers have had a very challenging start to the season, but the team is firmly sticking to the lower seeded playoff spots despite having a bit of a tough time. A strong SCL put Vaxjo right up there as one of the strongest Swedish teams in the scene, but their ECL campaign hasn't quite worked out and some of the roster shuffling they did seemed to have impacted the team negatively. They might have dropped games here and there, but at least their powerplay has been as deadly as ever, finishing with a 57,14% efficiency rate. Kiekko-Espoo Esports Kiekko-Espoo Esports made playoffs and even got the chance to qualify for an Elite spot at the end of ECL 10, but this season their usual selves have been nowhere to be found. Having seen minimal player turnover with only @Mikka leaving his winger position open for the at leas on paper equally talented @Borjendahlen the structure and dynamics of the team shouldn't have been thrown off so the question remains - what has happened in the offseason? Going below .500 in the season so far is troubling for a team of their prestige and Kiekko-Espoo needs to find a solution to their problems fast if they wan't to salvage their season. Disappointing start: TIKI TALK Halfway through the regular season, not all teams have kept up pace. TIKI TALK currently holds the tail end of the first group with way less games played than their competition. The team is very legendary in the scene and despite their golden ages being ancient history, TIKI TALK is still used to better than this. For the first time ever, they might be facing relegation to the Lite division. The team has not yet been able to scrape any wins from their matches. They have experienced major roster changes that will certainly affect the team's play, in defense of TIKI. GROUP 2 Top performers: GOONS GOONS cannot really be seen as a great surprise, as they were very active on the transfer market and made some great acquisitions such as former Elite level centerman @xKeskitalo and Black Horse defenseman @Miika. The team also received very strong reinforcements when @kriketski17 joined the playing roster out of the blue. This player move further boosted the team's stock in playoff battles and has spurred them in their push to the top of the table. Djurgarden Hockey Djugarden's high league ranking can be seen as something of a surprise early on especially considering that the team didn't make playoffs last season and have acquired an interesting centerman in @LordStanley46_, who takes the massive leap from Neo to Pro and doing that in a convincing fashion. The defensive extraordinaires have now fallen into a brewing losing streak, dropping three consecutive games which is causing some worry. DIF is among those teams that seems to have found the clue to a deadly powerplay though - scoring at a rate of 43,75%. Should do better: Pata Hellalla In the middle of group two Pata Hellalla has been a bit sidetracked for a very long time and at times the team has been very close to falling down the league level even. However, the team has a very long background in the scene and has gradually improved their game. Recent development has boosted their stock when considering potential playoff teams, and the playoffs is where they should do well with all their experience and the rejuvenated style of play. Enigma Enigma started the regular season as a very heavy favorite to take group two, but success has not been achieved as hoped. As a result, some moves were made and newly acquired center @Ojamoska was allowed to leave. He was replaced by @laitineen64, who started the season with MUKIMIEHET and seemed to better the Enigma squad after a short adjustment period. Last season, the team was already knocking on those Elite gates, so it shouldn't be out of the question to see Enigma improve drastically as the season progresses. Nordic Stars Nordic Stars has been one of those teams who seem to play every night for a very long time. they are also a very familiar sight in the Pro division as they have been in the division for all except one Elite season. The team consistently dominates the regular season but seems to fade away in the playoffs, maybe this time they'll do it the other way around? Their roster surely is as strong as ever and @Vire30 as a centerman is one of the better players in the division which makes you wonder when they'll start clicking and firing on all cylinders. With that we'll be concluding this short snapshot into the ECL Pro season, if your team wasn't mentioned, don't worry - perhaps we'll get to you in the upcoming pieces! Do you agree with the takes above and if not, what do you think should have been discussed? As always, have fun - play hard!