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Liebe DACH-Community, die 4. und damit vorletzte Woche der 7. GCL Ausgabe neigt sich dem Ende zu und die Teams kämpfen um jeden Punkt um ihr Schicksal in den eigenen Händen zu lassen. Ein Highlight der Woche war sicherlich das 3:7 der Herforder Ice Dragons, welche sich dennoch in der letzten Woche noch kräftig strecken müssen um nicht abzusteigen. Zu- und Abgänge: @Timasy -> Der Transfer der Saison, der wohl das meiste Staunen hervorgerufen hat. Timasy kehrt seinen alten Weggefährten den Rücken zu und schließt sich für den Rest der GCL den elitären Zürichern an. Ist er der möglicherweise entscheidende Faktor für die großen Titelambitionen der Schweizer Löwen oder entpuppt es sich als Risiko aufgrund der bisher großen Eingespieltheit der Starting 6? Goalie: @Sebwies2139 (The Black Jacks) Mit einer Fangquote von rund 84% und einem starken Gegentorschnitt von 1,71 in 14 Partien ist Sebastian Wieser unser Schlussmann der Woche. Die Nummer 39 der Black Jacks konnte sich in der letzten Woche in 8 Ligaspielen auszeichnen und trug maßgeblich zum Erfolg seiner Mannschaft bei. Wieser gibt seinen Vorderleuten den notwendigen Rückhalt und ist einer der Gründe weshalb der Aufsteiger auf einem starken vierten Platz rangiert. Der Torwart wechselte vor der Saison von den Black Wings zu den Eidgenossen und konnte 2 seiner bisherigen 3 Shutouts in dieser Woche feiern. Gegen die DEG Esports und Hyperion gab es kein Vorbeikommen am Linksfänger und insbesondere im Matchup gegen die Central Hockey Canucks konnte er sich mit 33 Paraden auszeichnen. Hat sebwies39 dem Routinier @wobfighterden Rang abgelaufen oder werden sich die beiden die Position weiterhin teilen? Wenn Wieser weiterhin so performed ist insbesondere in den Playoffs die ein oder andere Überraschung möglich. Defender: @Toneee9 (ZSC Esports) Der torgefährlichste Defender der Liga ist unser Verteidiger der Woche! Das in der Season Preview angemerkte "letzte fehlende Puzzleteil" des ZSC Esports ist mit 33 Punkten (11G + 22A) in 20 Spielen regelrecht "on fire". In den Matchups gegen The Black Jacks, iNSANiTY, Hyperion und Team LEISURE steurte Max Tonitz sagenhafte 19 Punkte bei. In der Kombination mit @Haldeem spielt der Österreicher befreit auf und ist nicht nur als Vorlagengeber auffällig, sondern vollendet auch selber. Gleich drei Doppelpacks in Woche 4 der GCL7 setzen die Nummer 9 der Schweizer an Platz 2 der punktstärksten Defender der Liga. Wie zu erwarten spielen die Esportler der Zürcher Löwen, wie bereits in der vergangenen ECL Pro (und Elite Qualifier), extrem stark auf - Ein entscheidender Grund dafür ist Max Tonitz aka @Toneee9. Forward: @Flo_goes_grazy aka flgr93 (Central Hockey Canucks) Der Leftwinger der Central Hockey Canucks ist mit 21 Punkten aus 8 Spielen unser Stürmer der Woche! Mit 2 durchaus überraschenden Shutouts gegen das favorisierte Inter Iceland befinden sich die Niederrheiner auf Platz 6 der Tabelle. Ein Grund dafür ist der Florian Griechbaum - teaminterner Topscorer, sowie viertpunktbester Stürmer der Liga. 45 Punkte in 20 Partien unterstreichen die gute Chemie und Harmonie der Canucks-Offensive auf dem virtuellen Eis. Griechbaum profitiert von dieser Eingespieltheit und nahm mit 90 Schüssen die Zweitmeisten im gesamten Wettbewerb (@DaMan Akin71 nahm 95 Schüsse in 18 Spielen). Für diesen offensiven Aufwand wird der Rechtsschütze belohnt und katapultierte sich mit seinen 13 Punkten im Doppelvergleich gegen die Herforder Ice Dragons zu seiner bislang besten GCL-Saison. Die Frage wird sein, ob Griechbaum auch in engen und wichtigen Spielen gegen vermeintlich stärkere Gegner diese Scoringqualitäten unter Beweis stellen kann. Sollte er weiter so scoren werden wir ihn sicherlich öfters im Team der Woche sehen! Performance of the Week: @Asap_Kev231 (ECDC Memmingen eSports) Premiere! Zum ersten Mal in der noch jungen Geschichte der GCL Weekly Recaps sehen wir einen Goalie bei der Performance of the Week! An Kevin Emmlers starken Auftritt im Rückspiel gegen Inter Iceland führt kein Weg vorbei. Vor knapp 120 ZuschauerInnen im NHLGamer Livestream kam die Nummer 29 der Indians auf Hochtouren und hatte mit 15 Saves und einer grandiosen Fangquote von rund 94% großen Anteil am Doppelerfolg über Inter Iceland. Insbesondere gegen die kaltschnäuzigen Inter-Stürmer ist es schwierig die Ruhe zu behalten. Dem Linksfänger gelang dies nahezu perfekt und hielt so seinen Feldspielern den Rücken und ermöglichte so den 3:1 Sieg über einen direkten Konkurrenten. Die Power Rankings ergeben sich durch die Spiele, welche im Zeitraum vom 08.03. bis 13.03.2021 gespielt wurden. erstellt von @Franky__2768 Das Ranking wird auf der Basis erstellt indem man die Ergebnisse gegen die Stärke der Gegner gewichtet. Zum Beispiel ein Team, welches 4-0-0 gegen Teams aus dem unteren Ende der Division gespielt hat wird eventuell unter einem Team platziert, welches diese Woche 0-4-0 gegen die Besten der Division gespielt hat. 1. Team LEISURE (5-1-0) 2. ZSC Esports (5-1-0) 3. noRex Gaming (4-0-0) 4. ECDC Memmingen eSports (5-0-1) 5. The Black Jacks (4-1-1) 6. Central Hockey Canucks (5-1-0) 7. Inter Iceland (0-2-2) 8. Hyperion (2-6-0) 9. Thunder United (4-1-1) 10. DEG eSports (0-5-1) 11. EISFORCE Hockey (2-2-0) 12. Herforder Ice Dragons (2-4-0) 13. UKnighted HC (0-2-0) 14. iNSANiTY (0-4-2) 3. Pokalrunde 1. iNSANiTY vs Inter Iceland 2. Infernus vs Deggendorfer SC eSports 3. Thunder United vs UKnighted HC 4. Acta non Verba vs ECDC Memmingen eSports 5. HC Berlin Eagles vs ZSC Esports 6. Team LEISURE vs DEG eSports 7. EC Bad Nauheim eSports vs SCB eSports 8. The Real Rookies vs EV Duisburg 9. noRex Gaming vs Gewinner aus Partie iNSANiTY vs Inter Iceland Die Pokalrunde wird vom 15.03.2021 bis einschließlich 25.03.2021 gespielt. Die Partie iNSANiTY vs Inter Iceland ist bitte bis spätestens den 18.03.2021 zu spielen.

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

NHLGamers, Despite his young age, 21-year-old Oskari @SibeIius Grönroos has played a very long career in virtual hockey. The young man has represented several top clubs, including FILADELPHIA, JYP and Butterfly Effect during these playing years. In early 2020, we conducted an interview with him in our "Player Spotlight"-series that you can read here: Player Spotlight: Oskari "Sibelius" Grönroos. He started his NHL playing career with 1v1 - a game mode he adopted back in NHL 15. It wasn't until a couple of years later that the young man switched over to the 6v6 side of things. SibeIius says that he has also participated in several versus tournaments, but the mode itself is not as pleasant and interesting as 6v6 action. Since moving to the 6v6 game format, SibeIius has made a rather quick ascent to the group of top players in the Finnish virtual hockey scene and holds a high standard internationally too. "I started playing NHL 15 games casually in the 1v1 format, and 6v6 I didn't start until NHL 17. That's also when I started transitioning towards competitive play more and ultimately it's led me to the point I'm at today." Transfer to HAVU For this season SibeIius moved to represent HAVU Gaming, which is definitely one of the top teams in virtual hockey. In the previous ECL 10 season, SibeIius represented JYP Jyvaskyla, a team that dominated the top of the regular season and was en route towards a successful run. However, in the playoffs, the team did not play as hoped and fell out of the quarterfinals against Swedish Farjestad BK in one of the biggest upsets in a long time. "I was very excited about the opportunity to represent HAVU. The group is full of good guys who I've known also off the ice for a long time. I would argue that HAVU's playing as a unit and consistency during the season will be the biggest differences when compared to JYP." Studies alongside gaming Although SibeIius represents one of Finland's top clubs, there is also time to study. He also says that leisure time is a good counterbalance to gaming and tough university studies. "I study at the Faculty of Law at the University of Helsinki, so when not training or playing otherwise, I'm catching up on some reading or doing other assignments for school. But if there's free time, I usually go out and have dinner with friends or talk to them in party chat and maybe play some 1v1 at the same time or watch some TV show or stream on the computer." When asked about his best memory in virtual hockey, the young man mentions winning the IS Cup 3 (NHL19 6vs6) Finnish Championship representing FILADELPHIA at a GameXpo event in the autumn of 2018. FILADELPHIA defeated Written In The Stars 2-1 in a BO3 final of the tournament. The IS Cup 3 event at GameXpo was a huge stepping stone for the development of the 6's community and the final series is still remembered as one of the most intense clashes of the sport. He says that the biggest reason why they won the tournament with FILADELPHIA was the team's seamless team spirit. "Team spirit was our key to success. I don't think any of the teams had a similar spirit compared to us and of course, we had a team considered one of the best in Europe as FILA still is, but I bet that the decisive factor was how relaxed and happy we were to just play." Strengths & weaknesses - European top 6 Each player has their own strengths and weaknesses, it's good to be aware of them and be able to develop them to be even better at any point. The young man feels that his clear strengths are on the mental side. "As a player, I feel like I have a relatively good pressure tolerance that's probably developed since I've played a lot of tough and tight games in the playoffs, off the field I feel like the kind of relaxed guy who likes to joke around and I think I get along pretty well with people." When asked about an ability of his choice that he could steal from one of his teammates, SibeIius starts pondering about a career on offense - hands like Tuukka @FlyerKungen Kuha or Ilmari @Buantso Lehkonen would be beneficial on that front. Anyone who plays even a little virtual hockey sometimes wonders what his or her dream unit would be like. We asked SibeIius to form a dream roster of his own, and there were some very familiar men among his selections. "There has been a lot of thought and reflection on these through different perspectives. My selection would be based on achieving the best possible performances on the ice through skill, but also chemistry. Outside of HAVU players I'd pick LW Paul @PleeMaker Arontie C Perttu @Beniittto Kemppainen RW Erik @Eki Tammenpää LD Aaro @xDoumi Ruuhinen RD Aleksi @loimmu Loimuvirta G Filip @Faze91- Azri." Future outlook Having played virtual hockey for such a long time, SibeIius states that he's also interested in other games, such as CS:GO. However, he notes that it would not necessarily be played at the competitive level. His long career in in NHL has also spurred some opinions on how the Finnish NHL scene should be developed in the future. "It's hard to say. Of course, more tournaments and more prize money would always be nice to get, but I'd say that @Kenu and the staff and partners are doing everything in their power to make this grow all the time. It would be cool if the NHL itself ever got involved, but I have no idea how excited the big gentlemen are across the pond. I think things are rolling quite well at the moment, given the circumstances." As he stated, besides playing a lot of his free time is taking up by his studies and he hopes that in the next five years he would be able to find work in the profession. However, he does not completely rule out some kind of career path along virtual hockey at some point. "Of course I'll be part of the scene for years to come but unless some big steps are taken in the next five years, I feel like my career might take me in another direction. Of course you never know, maybe I could handle some of the juridical duties at NHLGamer if things take a turn that way. I definitely hope that the friendships will last beyond our playing careers but overall the future isn't something I've offered much thought to due to my young age."