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NHLGamers, Another successful ECL Pro season is now behind and what a season it was for the top teams of the division as every one of the top four teams managed to earn the promotion to the Elite division for next season. On behalf of NHLGamer I want to congratulate Enigma, GOONS, Tunnel Vision and ZSC Esports for your success and good luck for next season in the highest division in Europe! It’s clear that the Pro division is heading in the right direction and with help of former Elite players, top teams in the league have found a way to close the gap between the two highest divisions. I like to believe this trend will continue in the future as well, especially now when so many Elite teams were relegated from the highest tier. Enigma was crowned champions after a tight 3-4 series win in the finals against GOONS. Before that we saw great team and individual achievements and to recap it all over we decided to make a little review of the season and award some teams and players for their success in the season. Regular season At the beginning of the season we already had some vision of the favorites and playoff candidates of both groups. Especially Enigma, Tunnel Vision, Frosty Kiekko-Vantaa and Leksands IF were touted to be favorites and tough to beat in their respective groups. Teams such as GOONS, Pata Hellalla and Herlev Eagles were expected to be stronger which turned out to be a correct prediction. The beginning of the season was really hard for two of the biggest favourites of the competition, Enigma and Tunnel Vision both faced several losses in the first rounds and were in light trouble early on. A couple of teams such as Djurgarden Hockey and Inter Iceland started the season really strong while teams like Alliance HT, We Kings and TIKI TALK had some serious troubles from the very beginning of the season and couldn’t really find a way out of the mud at any point. While the regular season was moving toward its end, the competition favorites were able to turn the tides and started beating their opponents night after night. It was also great to see that none of the teams that were promoted from Lite division had any major difficulties playing at the Pro level and especially Sack Brothers managed to overcome their somewhat low expectations and turn that into a playoff spot! Other teams that were able to complete a massive upgrade from last season were Inter Iceland, Djurgarden Hockey, Pata Hellalla, Rookie Mistakes, Herlev Eagles and Company of Geeks and they were all rewarded with a spot in the playoffs. On the other side especially TIKI TALK, Kaupallinen Yhteistyo, RPEAT Esports and Leksands IF had a really disappointing seasons and they need to work some things out to find their way back to glory. GOONS won group 2 and was the best team of the regular season with an impressive 25-4-1 record. Tunnel Vision was first in group 1 with a 20-5-5 record and was seeded as the second team for the playoffs. Inter Iceland and Djurgarden Hockey were able to finish their great regular season in 2nd spot of their groups while future champions Enigma and one of the most improved teams in Herlev Eagles were the 3rd placing teams of their groups. As always in the last rounds of the regular season, the best battles are found near the playoff line where especially Nordic Stars in group 2 were able to secure the playoff spot with only a points differential to Finnish Roosters. In group 1, Sack Brothers did an excellent job taking the last playoff spot just above strong teams such as Leksands IF and Kiekko-Espoo Esports. Best teams of the ECL 11 Pro regular season: GOONS (25-4-1) Tunnel Vision (20-5-5) Inter Iceland (21-7-2) The most positive surprises of the ECL 11 Pro regular season: Inter Iceland (21-7-2) Djurgården Hockey (20-7-3) Herlev Eagles (20-7-3) Biggest disappointments of the ECL 11 Pro regular season: TIKI TALK (8-14-8) We Kings (8-18-4) Alliance HT (6-18-6) Best powerplay of the ECL 11 Pro regular season: Vaxjo Lakers, 46,34 % Rookie Mistakes, 35,59 % Djurgården Hockey 34,21 % Best penalty kill of the ECL 11 Pro regular season: Tunnel Vision 91,3 % HV71, 90,63 % Blackdawgs, 89,36 % Top player stats of the ECL 11 Pro regular season (Attackers): @Kattenj, (33+41=74) in 30 games, Vaxjo Lakers @Stefan_397, (35+36=71) in 30 games, Inter Iceland @vibholm10, (44+26=70) in 30 games, Herlev Eagles Top player stats of the ECL 11 Pro regular season (Defenders): @Supremski, (7+33=40) in 30 games, Leksands IF @JOHTAJAVIRTANEN (10+29=39) in 30 games, Pata Hellalla @Patsberg_ (13+24=37) in 30 games, Rookie Mistakes Best goalkeepers of the ECL 11 Pro regular season: @SanteriAK47, (240 svs, 83.33 save %, 1.6 GAA, 6 SO, 25 W) in 30 games, GOONS @PLA77NER, (280 svs, 80,23 save %, 2.3 GAA, 4 SO, 21 W) in 30 games, Inter Iceland @Vaporik, (196 svs, 82,7 save%, 1,86 GG, 3 SO 14 W) in 22 games, RCTIC Playoffs Personally I love the first round of the playoffs since it’s where the biggest surprises of the season usually happen. This time there weren't many, though. One of the few upsets was when Rookie Mistakes were able to beat Herlev Eagles in round one with the score 2-4 and the great strength that Vaxjo Lakers were able to show against Frosty Kiekko-Vantaa in the series that turned to Lakers favor with dominantly 4-1. RCTIC, who was playing their first season in Pro did an excellent job and won Inter Iceland 2-4. Other than those couple of pairs, there wasn’t much to out of the ordinary business. Teams that were destined for success advanced to the quarterfinals without any major troubles. Quarterfinals turned out to be anything other than tight. The top four teams of the season GOONS, Tunnel Vision, ZSC Esports and Enigma showed no mercy for their opponents and marched to the semifinals with series, 4-0, 4-0, 0-4 and 4-1. Especially ZSC Esports showed their true potential at this point and put forth a great performance against Djurgarden Hockey who were having almost a perfect season until they met the Swiss lions. It was now clear that all of these four teams were going to have a real shot in the Elite relegation series to be promoted to Elite division for the next season. It was the semifinals where GOONS faced their first losses of the playoffs, however it didn’t stop them advancing to the finals after a 4-2 series win against ZSC Esports. Even though GOONS had been perfect for the whole season, ZSC Esports put up a real fight and in the end the win didn’t come easily. In the other pair, Enigma and Tunnel Vision faced each other in a series that were expected to be super tight and there wasn't a clear favorite to win the series. Both teams had excellent quarterfinals series behind them but Enigma showed real character by beating Tunnel Vision with the score 2-4. This was the moment when the odds of Enigma winning the title increased enormously. Many thought GOONS were still unstoppable and they could win the finals in similar manner that they’ve won the previous series, but Enigma came well prepared and focused for the finals. GOONS were perhaps the better team at the beginning of the finals but in the end there was no question about the winners of the cup. Enigma was able to take advantage of their last season's experience and overcome their finals opponents this time. With a great team performance Enigma kept GOONS out of good scoring positions and converted on their chances with a high success rate. The season eventually ended in finals game seven and Enigma are now the champions of ECL 11 Pro. Season awards ECL 11 Pro Champions: Enigma Best left winger of ECL 11 Pro: @pikkuroger, GOONS @Nieppii, Enigma @BensaPoju, Tunnel Vision Best center of ECL 11 Pro: @laitineen64, Enigma @xKeskitalo, GOONS @Original-SnuS, ZSC Esports Best right winger of ECL 11 Pro: @kriketski17, GOONS @sannteri, Enigma @Sokkelo__ , Tunnel Vision Best left defender of ECL 11 Pro: @Makeaxl, Enigma @viba2008, GOONS @tombo_02, Tunnel Vision Best right defender of ECL 11 Pro: @zNico, Enigma @Miika, GOONS @Haldeem, ZSC Esports Best goalkeeper of ECL 11 Pro: @SanteriAK47, GOONS @Pirtsa89, Enigma @MrAllsvenskan, Vaxjo Lakers All-Stars lineup of ECL 11 Pro: @pikkuroger - @laitineen64 - @kriketski17 @Makeaxl - @zNico @SanteriAK47 Rookie of the year in ECL 11 Pro: @pikkuroger , GOONS @viba2008, GOONS @Pirtsa89, Enigma @tombo_02, Tunnel Vision @LordStanley46_, Djurgarden Hockey We want to thank everyone who took a part in ECL 11 Pro. Once again congratulations to the promoted teams and especially champions Enigma. Now it’s time for teams to start preparing for the new season. The bottom teams of Pro will also take part in the new qualification series which should make the competition even tighter and more exciting than ever before. We have already seen some big moves in the transfer market and can’t wait to see more hidden gems and big names doing great things in the next season. Enjoy your off-season, see you on the ice everyone!

NHLGamers, The ECL 11 Lite season ended Bjorkloven's title run in a riveting final series where the fabled game 7 was eventually required to solve our champion. In this recap I briefly go through the finals and also the Lite season as an entirety - as a notion we can state that Bjorkloven Esport were quite an expected champion after an excellent regular season. However, the season also offered some surprises like the other big favorite MUKIMIEHET being eliminated in Round 1. Finals game by game: Game 1: 4-0 to Exerceo Exerceo started strong by robbing the advantage. Powerplay goals were decisive. Bjorkloven was unable to get to their standard level of playing. On the other hand Exerceo was clinical in capitalizing on their opportunities. Game 2 2-1 to Exerceo Bjorkloven improved from Game 1 but Exerceo continued with their clinical finishing. In general, the game followed a similar formula as the previous game. Game 3 5-1 to Bjorkloven Esports Bjorkloven stayed on the right path, improving even more. Tremendous goaltending and converting on their opportunities led to their first and crucial win in this series. Game 4 2-1 OT to Exerceo Bjorkloven took the lead and the game eventually went to OT where Exerceo scored the decisive marker. At this point Exerceo looked very strong and was going for the gold but consequently their season ended in a very different way. Game 5 2-0 to Bjorkloven With Exerceo having a stranglehold on the series, every game from now on could be the end for Bjorkloven. Their resilience really showed and a big defensive and goaltender effort secured a shutout win. Game 6 5-3 to Bjorkloven Goaltending was predicted to be a key aspect of the fina series and in game 6, we could say that Exerceo was cought slipping in that department. Although Exerceo came back from down 5-1 to 5-3 there was no doubts of the winner in this game 6. The turning point of the entire series. Bjorkloven capitalized on their momentum in the series. Game 7 4-2 to Bjorkloven 🏆 Evidently Bjorkloven got the crucial edge from coming back to tie the series. In Game 7 they were clearly one step ahead in every aspect of the game. Although Exerceo scored two goals there was really no beating Bjorkloven at this point. In this decisive game, Bjorkloven's leading scorers @olgaaa71 and @Tacterz played a big role and led their team by example. In the finals preview, goaltending was stated to be an important factor - a statement which proved to be very true in the end. Bjorkloven saw some top level netminging to secure the crucial wins in games 4-7, whereas Exerceo in turn didn't get those decisive gamesavers in these games. There were of course other reasons for Bjorklovens remarkable comeback from down 3-1. For example one of the key elements in these comebacks are the mental side of things. Bjorkloven had their back against the wall and remarkably often the team in those situations have a more relaxed feel in playing than the team who probably are already thinking of the championship celebrations taking place. We can only wonder how much of an impact a merited player such as @Tacterz had on his team in those moments. It should not be like that but surprisingly often it seems like the team close to the clinching win are losing their focus or the approach to the game and are living in the future rather than in the moment. Either way - we warmly congratulate both finalists for their efforts this season! To start the season, MUKIMIEHET were one of the definite favorites to win the title with their incredibly strong roster and vast experience both from playing together and from playing at higher levels. They managed to play a strong regular season but were eventually knocked out already in the first round by Tic Tac Toes causing one of the biggest upsets of the season early on in the playoffs. Several teams found the way to make phenomenal runs throughout the season and examples of these are Hotbox, BoxinElite, Golden Nights and Oton Letkutemppu. Some teams that were expected to perform a bit better than they eventually ended up doing are the experienced Murohoki, RoKi Esports and TuTo Esports. All of these teams look really good on paper and possess remarkable potential - resources that should be able to carry teams far in the Lite division but all of those teams faltered in the first playoff round. That just proves how tough the Lite division really is despite being the third tier of competition! An interesting notion this season was the fact that all semifinalists ended up being from the same regular season group. Notable players Throughout the season, some players made great impacts and managed to push their teams to the trajectory they eventually ended up on. A long stretch back in time, these were referred to as heart-and-soul players in a season preview. We'll be taking a short look back at some of the players that performed exceptionally well over the course of ECL 11 Lite. Obviously, this is a very subjective category and where some could make other picks, here are mine: Eventual champion Bjorkloven Esports played a great season as a five man unit and saw great goaltending, but power duo @olgaaa71 and @Tacterz eventually elevated the teams play above others. Goaltender @Mrantonn also ended up being a difference maker in the finals against his counterpart on the Exerceo side. @olgaaa71 26GP 42+53=95 (Regular season), 33GP 41+27=68 (Playoffs) @Tacterz 24GP 39+55=94 (Regular season), 33GP 26+41=67 (Playoffs) @Mrantonn 14GP, 13W, 83.65 SV%, 1.21 GAA, 4 SO (Regular season), 16GP, 12W, 79.37 SV%, 1.63 GAA, 4 SO (Playoffs) Exerceo ended up having a very similar formula as Bjorkloven, where a very strong duo up front carried their game very far. @Sagee95 and @Limbe65 were their main weapons all season, which shows in their numbers. @Sagee95 26GP, 45+53=98 (Regular season), 30GP, 26+44=70 (Playoffs) @Limbe65 26GP, 52+45=97 (Regular season), 30GP, 32+39=71 (Playoffs)(Playoffs) A third team that ended up pushing way further than expected (despite consistently being at the losing end of predictions) were Hotbox, who faltered only in the semifinals at the hands of the eventual champion. You could say they had three go-to guys that were their drivers all season long: @Frans-Fin 26GP, 30+57=87 (Regular season), 34GP, 24+41=65 (Playoffs) @Jann3_67_ 26GP, 30+36=66 (Regular season), 34GP, 30+22=52 (Playoffs) @Randomjanne 26GP, 16W, 77.12 SV%, 2.38 GAA, 4 SO (Regular season), 34GP, 23W, 82,69 SV%, 1.85 GAA, 2 SO (Playoffs) The french connection was strong in a team from - you guessed it - France. Grenoble BDL Esport had a sensational season led by a few players: @Adri1_SCP 26GP, 40+30=70 (Regular season), 34GP, 37+33=70 (Playoffs) @Winci 20GP, 30+35=65 (Regular season), 31GP, 19+33=52 (Playoffs) @Trollstivegen 26GP, 19W, 78.1 SV%, 2.04 GAA, 3 SO (Regular season), 34GP, 18W, 76,62 SV%, 2.44 GAA, 5 SO (Playoffs) Although MUKIMIEHET was one of the biggest disappointments of the season, two of their stars played a big role in their overall performance. For example, @PCJP had great stats as a goalie and was one of the best players in his team despite them being eliminated early. The same applies to @hpkfani as forward who was dominant in the offensive zone, just as we're used to. @hpkfani 28GP, 25+49=74 (Regular season), 5GP, 0+4=4 (Playoffs) @PCJP 28GP, 23W, 83.41 SV%, 1.32 GAA, 8 SO (Regular season), 5GP, 1W, 77,55 SV%, 2.2 GAA, 0 SO (Playoffs) The ones who eliminated the big, bad MUKIMIEHET were Tic Tac Toes and they had three main guys dominating their stats department. @L4nnisto was a great secondary scorer from the defense while @Artuzio and @Wpaanane lit it up as forwards. @maatti64 did a good job in the playoffs with the added responsibility, showcasing the potential he has. @Wpaanane 22GP, 41+43=84 (Regular season), 11GP, 13+6=19 (Playoffs) @Artuzio 26GP, 35+44=79 (Regular season), 11GP, 5+15=20 (Playoffs) @L4nnisto 26GP, 6+33 =39 (Regular season), 11GP, 4+3=7 (Playoffs) One of the biggest surprises of the season was Golden Nights. Although their defence backed up very well, their dominant attacking line Naappi, Saskipoeka00 and JJimbo stood for almost 75% of their production throughout the season. @Naaappi 26GP, 26+27=53 (Regular season) 16GP, 10+6=16 (Playoffs) @Sasuttaja00 26GP, 30+22=52 (Regular season) 16GP, 11+9=20 (Playoffs) @JJimbo- 26GP, 19+32=51 (Regular season) 16GP, 7+14=21 (Playoffs) Concluding words of the season It was really entertaining to follow the Lite division throughout the season. There were loads of exciting games with all the ingredients of great hockey. We all know the pinnacle of virtual hockey to be ECL Elite, but the Lite division should by no means sell itself short - it is high level. Teams have a very professional attitude and the entire ECL framework has a bright future ahead. The journey to mainstream entertainment has only just begun. All people involved should feel proud to be a part of the community and to be among the pioneers pushing this sport forward. Thanks to all - now let's look forward to next season in the ECL.