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NHLGamers, The ECL 11 Elite season was an exceptional run of virtual hockey in more ways than one. Not only are we living in a time of the world where many of us are confined to staying home in an attempt to keep ourselves and the ones around us safe, but we might also me finding new interests or time to put into our existing ones. Despite COVID-19 torturing the world for an extended period of time already, it has alongside the challenges posed, opened up a great amount of opportunities for our scene and has potentially served as a growth catalyst. Not only the times are exceptional, but so are the individuals at the ECL Elite level too. ECL 11 Elite was a record-breaking parade for eventual champion FILADELPHIA, who set a new regular season wins & point total record while also setting a new regular season shutout record (@ICappeI) in the process. There's no denying how supreme the black and orange currently reign and with this season recap, as customary, we'll be taking a look back at the good, the bad and the ugly of the ECL 11 Elite season. In order to serve as a baseline, here is how the teams ranked to end the season, with our season preview ranking for reference: 1. FILADELPHIA (2nd) 2. hREDS (1st) 3. HAVU Gaming (3rd) 4. JYP Jyvaskyla (5th) 5. Farjestad BK (8th) 6. Northern Ascendancy (9th) 7. Vesa Pompa (11th) 8. Roots (4th) 9. SJ Gaming (13th) 10. KOVA Esports (7th) 11. SAWO Esports (14th) 12. YMCA Esports (6th) 13. Gotham Knights (10th) 14. Team Leisure (12th) 15. Conquer Gaming (16th) 16. Dark Horse (15th) *Final ECL 11 Elite position, playoff teams ranked by playoff wins Some quite bold predictions were made, but except for a few major anomalies, the general outlook of the predictions are quite close in comparison to the final results. Now when assessing a teams performance, obviously the bottom line is the finishing position, but we need to remember that in a division like ECL 11 Elite with the 16 top teams of Europe, if not the world, the margins are incredibly slim from time to time. The topics that were discussed when it comes to the cream of the crop - namely HAVU Gaming and hREDS - prior to the season were mainly whether HAVU could keep their level of performance after making a roster change for the first time since ECL 8 and if hREDS would finally fulfill their full potential. What goes for FILADELPHIA, we knew that we'd be getting their usual solid and stable effort that seems to have reached an all time high this season. Then, when it comes to the rest of the playoff teams, there are a lot of opinions but I suppose most people have a general idea of the few "segments" in the Elite division and while we'd be beating a dead horse by continuing the discussion on that note, we'll be focusing on the trends over the course of the season. POWER RANKINGS - SEASON TRENDS The above graph describing how teams have fared in the power rankings over the course of the season gives a decent idea of the form each team managed to keep up from week to week. Keep in mind that each week is evaluated as a completely individual entity, not only amount of collected points matter, but also perceived difficulty of schedule. Regular season The first week of the regular season served as a great taste of what was to come throughout the season and it was surely good to see an unprecedented amount of talent in the booth with all of Cody @Tougie24 Tougas, Paul @Cyn Anderson, Nick @f5penguin DiMeo, Drew Golfdarb, Arttu @OLVARI Hämäläinen and Julius Sorjonen stepping up to provide their insight along with highlight reel calls throughout the season. Our very first featured matchup of the season unbeknownst to anyone at that point served as a preview for the finals with FILADELPHIA and hREDS going head-to-head and eventually splitting victories to kick it all off. On top of that, JYP Jyvaskyla and Farjestad BK showcased a long awaited rematch of last seasons upset rivalry, also splitting the wins, showing just how tough the battle ahead would be for all sixteen teams involved. Later on in the week, Joona @jm98II Muona scored a goal-of-the-season candidate against hREDS and Oskari @SibeIius Grönroos got his first goal of the season simultaneously being the first 6th skater goal of the campaign. FILADELPHIA, hREDS and HAVU Gaming started their seasons strong with YMCA Esports and SJ Gaming trailing close behind after an equally successful first week. All in all, a first week full of surprises led to SJ Gaming and Vesa Pompa somewhat surprisingly topping the tables. As we've seen over and over again in this division - nothing lasts forever, because HAVU Gaming or FILADELPHIA will take it away, which is exactly what happened causing the celebration of SJ Gaming and Vesa Pompa to be rather short-lived. Some highlights at this point of the season were definitely the clash between Swedish rivals Vesa Pompa and Farjestad BK that ended up being a split in a low-scoring matchup. At the top of the table, HAVU had managed to stay undefeated for eight games straight, whereas FILADELPHIA duo Erik @Eki Tammenpää and Paul @PleeMaker Arontie hovered at an impressive pace of 3 points per games and topping the stats after their first ten outings of the season. Notably, FILADELPHIA suffered their only regulation loss of the season at the hands of SJ Gaming at this point, in their fourth matchup of the campaign. Heading into the third week of the regular season, we knew that the midway point was nearing and with that also a holiday break that could do some good for some struggling teams. It was the week of goaltenders and former ones, as we broadcasted the third matchup of the season for Roots rookie netminder Kasper @Kaz_zu Ramstedt when his team went up against YMCA Esports and the youngster did not disappoint, securing a double shutout and some crucial points for his squad. Elsewhere, it was also becoming apparent that another rookie, Vesa Pompa signing Filip @Faze91- Azri had shown up to play and stay at the top, punching his ticket for the goalie of the season race. Remember that notion about former goalies? Well, Hannes @Hansulinho Kettunen topped the scoring tables - take that, doubters. Coming back from a well deserved holiday break, it was apparent that Farjestad BK were going hard for the playoffs, a big week for the Swedes skyrocketed their position in the standings and despite matching up against some lower ranked teams, they surely did their due diligence by securing the points up for grabs. At this stage, Gotham Knights also had their little rays of light in an otherwise rather forgettable season, coming off an already good third week, they managed to steal a point from FILADELPHIA and got to see their defenseman Timi @Rimpe Rimpeläinen top the points by defensemen-table for a while, however with Roots' Väinö @vSilenttio Pietilä in hot pursuit. Rolling into the last two weeks of the season, we had a general idea of a few teams being ready for the playoffs, whereas some others were struggling mightily and were perhaps already preparing for eventual relegation battles. One of the struggling teams were SAWO ESPORTS, who hadn't been able to find their game throughout the season, but got some wind under their wings with big performances by long-time goaltender Juuso @Juizki Nikkinen, who managed to keep up a 249 minute and 17 second shutout streak, which might me an ECL Elite record. The battle for those last playoff spots was raging hard as ever and going into the last week, it was looking like Northern Ascendancy and Roots would manage to edge out the competition, being mainly SJ Gaming and KOVA Esports. As it all was said and done, no major changes in the standings occurred over the last few gamedays and we finished the season with as usual - the eight best teams going into the playoffs. Playoffs The ECL 11 Elite quarterfinals kicked off hot with a few very interesting matchups, with the one stealing most of the spotlight being the rematch between JYP Jyvaskyla (4th) and Farjestad BK (5th). The ECL 10 upset, where FBK rocked the division by eliminating #1 seed JYP was truly fresh in our memories and we were anxious to find out how the story would continue. Make no mistake - some tension was evident at the start of the series, but it was quickly made clear that this time, the story would be different and to no surprise, JYP Jyvaskyla managed to redeem themselves advancing to a semifinal matchup against none other than FILADELPHIA, who had made easy work of Northern Ascendancy (as they should have) in their quarterfinal bout. After a worrying colder run to finish off the last week of the regular season, HAVU Gaming was seen going up against Roots in the quarterfinals in the black and green battle, making quick work of the for now weaker Roots squad. The fourth and final quarterfinal matchup was also a rather one-sided show, between hREDS and Vesa Pompa, who really managed to prove us wrong this season by clawing their way into the playoffs. The semifinals were exciting all around, but the thunder was surely stolen by HAVU Gaming - hREDS, which ended up being the headline matchup. Despite their struggles, HAVU didn't look out of place at this stage of the season and had all the tools even to hoist the cup eventually, but hREDS were even better with their overpowering offensive strength and stellar play in net by experienced Mika @FinKonna Paasikontu. JYP Jyvaskyla were in over their heads trying to challenge the record-breaking FILADELPHIA squad but were after all able to keep every game close, coming just short in each battle. Eventually, two strong contenders entered the finals and if the season had been exceptional up to this point, this matchup stayed on that path. We're so used to seeing the two juggernauts FILADELPHIA and HAVU battle it out that hREDS were a very welcome breath of fresh air. The games were entertaining as they tend to be when the two most skilled teams clash, but unfortunately for the audience, the series was short lived. Whereas hREDS had been named the most skilled team in the league, FILADELPHIA is the strongest unit and there's no denying that. The time spent together with that group has gelled them into a true ECL dynasty, which is what pushed them to a clear ECL 11 Elite Championship. If you missed the finals, here's the broadcast of game 4 and all the celebration that ensued: AWARDS 🏆 Top 6 of ECL 11 Elite Joakim @Joukki Nyholm - Joonas @Patzlaf Paatiala - Erik @Eki Tammenpää Tuukka @Tuukka.R Röpelinen - Aleksi @loimmu Loimuvirta Casper @ICappeI Lundgren Most Points: Joakim @Joukki Nyholm, hREDS, 46 Goals, 55 Assists, 101 Points in 44 games Most Goals: Joakim @Joukki Nyholm, hREDS, 46 Goals, 55 Assists, 101 Points in 44 games Most Assists: Perttu @Beniittto Kemppainen, hREDS, 27 Goals, 70 Assists, 97 Points in 44 games Most Hits by a Forward: Christoffer @I-Maise-I Berntsson, Farjestad BK, 183 Hits in 36 games Best +/-: Aleksi @loimmu Loimuvirta, FILADELPHIA, +64 in 43 games Most Points by a Defenseman: Tuukka @Tuukka.R Röpelinen, hREDS, 18 Goals, 30 Assists, 48 Points in 44 games Most Goals by a Defenseman: Tuukka @Tuukka.R Röpelinen, hREDS, 18 Goals, 30 Assists, 48 Points in 44 games Most Assists by a Defenseman: Teemu @Xteemuz Polttila, hREDS, 8 Goals, 33 Assists, 41 Points in 44 games Most Hits by a Defenseman: Ari @FakiiR1 Palviainen, KOVA Esports, 200 Hits in 30 games Best goaltender (SV%): Johan @McSavid Rundqvist, Farjestad BK, 326 saves on 397 shots, SV% 82,12 in 36 games

As an action towards the instances of improper and unacceptable behavior in our community, we will be updating our rulebook(s) and community guidelines to set clear expectations and a code of conduct that is to be followed in all interactions around our community. A clear-cut guideline on what type of behavior will not be tolerated and what might be the repercussions of such actions. At NHLGamer, we want to ensure a fair, safe, and inclusive environment for gamers of all ages, genders, and backgrounds. We are tremendously proud of the community that we all have built together so far but know that we can do even better by being even better towards each other. In the process of working to enable this type of environment, we need to have rules in place and will occasionally have to give out suspensions to our users. This is not something we enjoy doing but is necessary to preserve the integrity of the rulebook and the game. Our ideology has always been and will continue to be, that when someone crosses the line – our main priority is to put a stop to it and then educate the team/individual and everyone else in the community about why the action in question is wrong and unacceptable. The purpose of punishment is to drive the point home, to ensure actions have consequences, and to discourage teams/individuals from repeating their offense(s). In short, rules are there for a reason, and should you break them you will be punished. And, hopefully, learn from it. While different cultural and educational backgrounds do not make inappropriate behavior acceptable, it can sometimes create gaps in how different people interpret a situation. Like we mentioned above, two of the integral goals of our community are inclusion and education. That means we will also do our best to understand the reasoning for the behavior of a person who breaks our rules, to make sure we give them the best opportunity to learn from their mistake and not repeat it - not just because of the fear of punishment, but to make them understand why it is not acceptable. If the user does not learn from their mistake, though - we do reserve the right to more severe punishment. It is an instinctual reaction in many of us to want to punish someone who breaks the rules we as a society – or, in this case, community – set out for ourselves. It can even be tempting to, if the rule transgression is egregious enough, banish the rule-breaker in question forever and purge him or her from sight and mind. But is that the thing that puts the individual on a path to fixing their actions? To making things right? While the most extreme of cases might call for such a decision, it should not be a quick-trigger action. At the same time, a rulebook cannot – and should not – be written under the assumption that a perceived softness in punishment will not be abused. So, how do we find the medium between these two ‘extremes’, as it were? In order to make this process as transparent and fair as possible, we are working to set a standard on how these cases will be determined. Here is an example of how it could look*: First offense, 2 weeks - 3 months Second offense, 6 months to 1+ year Third offense will cause a minimum of 3 years and up to a permanent community and league participation ban *Note: This is a work-in-process example. This will only be used on serious matters. We reserve the right to go higher depending on intent. We will also be adding rules about apparel on broadcasts and socials: No tobacco, alcohol, drugs, nudity, hateful or otherwise inappropriate text, logos, or images No discrimination No brands that compete with our partners** **Exceptions can be made in the case of team partners On a more general level, we are not satisfied with the efficiency that we were able to handle support tickets, especially on the League Administrative side during ECL 11 and the goal of our work in preparing for the next season is to mitigate the bottlenecks that lead to this situation. The reasons behind the long turn-around time on some of the tickets were e.g. A large number of tickets compared to the size of available support staff Partially insufficient tools at the disposal of some of the support staff A need for better-defined rules in some cases that would have helped resolve cases more efficiently and perhaps avoided a support ticket in the first place Please do not misinterpret this as distrust towards our rulebook. We are proud of our rulebook, but like any rulebook, it requires updates, further specifications, and re-evaluating certain aspects due to changes to the game, changes to public opinion, and the growth and needs of our community. Finally, while we have no intention of becoming the internet police, we do take our role as one of the leading entities in this community seriously. We do want to educate when and where we can and continue to make this space a safe and welcoming one for people from all walks of life. Therefore, we will be looking to partner with different types of third-party organizations in the future to help give our members access to useful, well-researched information from people that are actual experts on subjects like racism, sexism, depression, and addiction. This will require time and research as we do not intend to simply stamp a logo on something, believing that solves the issue at hand. In the end, we will always be open to continued feedback, criticisms, and suggestions. We are not perfect, nor will we ever be. But we can always try to do better. And we will.

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!