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NHLGamers, We hope all of you had a safe new years celebration and are as excited as us to get started on a successful 2021! With that, the first round of the ECL 11 Lite Playoffs has also been capped off with a bunch of exciting action both in the rearview and in the future matchups. Round one was underdogs galore, as an unusually high amount of lower seeded teams managed to surprise the favorites heading into the series - one of the major upsets was the elimination of Spirit at seed #4. Taavetin Starat advanced to Round 2 and challenges Bjorkloven, who are the #1 seed and will be the ones to beat. Tic Tac Toes also eliminated one of the big favorites, when the experienced and skill packed roster of MUKIMIEHET were sent home. Several other underdogs also saw an extension to their season, such as Golden Nights, Syndrome, Nordic Nosebleed and Grilli Tulille to name a few. All of the hassle in the first round will surely be throwing off some predictions for the second and add to the excitement of it all. As said, lots of underdogs are still in the race but the prevailing forces are still the very dominant ones continuing their strong runs of form. Some teams that succeeded in the regular season that are advancing to round 2 of playoff contention included for example Bjorkloven Esport, ECDC Memmingen eSports, Nearbird Fighters and Ringette HC, out of which the three latter managed to sweep their first round opposition. Here are the full fixtures for the Round 2: https://nhlgamer.com/leagues/96/playoffs Here is the full playoff schedule for ECL 11 Lite: With the nitty gritty out of the way, we will have time for a few quick previews of some matchups to keep an eye on in the second round of action: (1) Bjorkloven Esport - Taavetin Starat (61) Regular season sensation Bjorkloven Esport goes up against playoff sensation (so far) Taavetin Starat - the two clashed in the group stage already with the double header yielding full points for the Swedes, while Starat only managed to walk away with a consolation point from an overtime loss. We're expecting Bjorkloven to bring their best as usual, but they cannot underestimate their opponent, as Starat has really gotten their game going after a tough first half of the season. The recipe for success in this series is simple, Bjorkloven needs to continue doing what they have been doing so well all season which is finding the connection between their forwards up front, whereas Starat need to find a way to keep scoring to a minimum and utilize the chances they are given. Prediction: Bjorkloven Esports advances 4-1 (3) Nearbird Fighters - Tic Tac Toes (58) Nearbird Fighters has been one of the better teams in the Russian scene for quite some time already and have in fact been grinding away in the Lite division since ECL 5 under the watchful eye of captain @Hair. The team is on a hot streak having swept their first round opponent and finding a convincing scoring touch while doing so. However, there's no question about the fact that opposition will get significantly tougher now. Tic Tac Toes seem to be waking up like a bear our of hibernation after barely making the playoffs out of the group stage but finally outclassing MUKIMIEHET in the first round. The team full of 1v1 virtuosos has translated their skill well onto the 6v6 ice and with the lead of @Artuzio, we know that they can go far this season. Prediction: Tic Tac Toes advances 4-2 (8) Exerceo - Grilli Tulille (54) Exerceo looked to be one of the stronger teams heading into the season with several players having experience in big roles from higher divisions, and they have performed up to par this far into the season. In this series, they will be up for a challenge against a group of guys who definitely know how to play, but are perhaps more used to putting a ball into the net as opposed to the puck that we all know is the central object in the game of hockey. In their first round matchups, Exerceo convincingly defeated Handu Pumpulla, whereas Grilli Tulille completed an incredible comeback ultimately defeating Hammarby Hockey in a game 7. Having built all that momentum propelled even further by a good social media hype is perhaps what GT needs to launch them into the next round. Prediction: Exerceo advances 4-1 (12) Central Hockey Canucks - Oton Letkutemppu (51) We're in for an interesting battle between two very different teams in this one. Central Hockey Canucks is one of those teams that have played in incredibly consistent season, going rather unnoticed just behind the front of the pack, whereas Oton Letkutemppu is coming in as a clear underdog, but with all the chances to cause an upset - the experienced team has shown before that they have what it takes to go all the way (ECL 8 Lite champions). The Canucks are a team that has been gathering their forces in the Lite and Neo divisions as well as the GCL over several seasons already and now is the time that they seem adamant on taking the next step. As their form seems right now, it would be a surprise if the Canucks would be at the losing end of a 7 game series. Prediction: Central Hockey Canucks advances 4-2 (18) Sjukstugan - Northern Legacy eSports (39) Swedish legends Sjukstugan are in for a challenge and have to prove that despite facing adversity, they still have the mojo that has been their bread and butter throughout the years. Having one of the deepest rosters in the division will be beneficial in a tightly contested series and that is something that Sjukstugan will have to utilize once their first line of offense starts feeling the additional pressure from the opposing defense. Nothern Legacy eSports is a team that does defense extremely well. The somewhat new roster took some time finding their game in the regular season but in the hands of experienced captain @Tinkesakara, the team seems to have found their identity as of late. Having shut down Black Sharks in the first round, NLE now moves on to tougher opposition and will need to up their game considerably if they are looking to go even further. Prediction: Sjukstugan advances 4-2 (27) AfroDunk - Beast Hockey (28) This one should be a series that can go either way and pretty much any little factor could tip the scales in one direction or the other. The two teams played very similar regular seasons statistically, with decent scoring and defensive averages, while keeping their special teams at a sufficient level. Also based on their regular season play, the difference between the two seems to be that Beast Hockey is more eager to take the body, which might turn into an advantage if that weapon is utilized correctly. Beast Hockey completed an impressive comeback from a 3-1 losing situation against RoKi Esports, which could be the momentum they need to win the series. Prediction: Beast Hockey advances 4-3 In addition to these, we've got several other great series on tap in the second round, remember to follow the teams on social media for information about scheduled games and streams. As always, have fun - play hard!