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NHLGamers, The RCL 7 season ended not so far ago, which pleased us not only with a prize pool of 100,000 rubles, but also an excellent finals battle where the reigning champions Nova battled the newcomer Show Time, who unexpectedly were able to get to the finals in their first ever season. The series turned out to be quite predictable, Nova showed who the champions are and for the second time in a row took the title and the heftiest chunk of prize money. Although it is worth noting that throughout the entire season Show Time showed promising results and gave hope to their fans. Naturally the league is developing, in small steps. First of all, the progress in teams is encouraging. The level over the past two seasons has become increasingly competitive, both within the RCL Pro division, where the players' skills have grown in understanding of team play, and on the European ice, where many Russian teams have shown a good battle, and most importantly, beautiful and spectacular hockey with many dangerous combinations and cunning attacks. However, we know there is still room to grow even more. RCL 8 Schedule Regular season 29.03-1.5 Playoffs 10.5-6.6 The RCL 8 season starts with qualifiers for four open spots in the Pro division already played out. Besides serving as qualifiers, these games also were opportunities for many teams to show what they are truly capable of, and many of them surprised us. Here is the list of qualifier participants, the four strongest teams got a promotion. The qualifiers showed some really tough games and teams battled to get into the RCL Pro division and will now try themselves in the strongest Russian Championship League division - of course also trying to win that prize pool money. The teams that did qualify for the RCL Pro division are: Blackdawgs Seventy Sixers Barys eSports HC KOROBKA Teams to watch NOVA -> METALLURG MAGNITOGORSK RCL 6 and RCL 7 Champions! Despite their new lineup, there is no doubting this squads skill. Under the leadership of Captain Maksim @Haiissey Trukhanov, Nova will reach an even higher level. Adding to their motivation is also their freshly inked deal with KHL club Metallurg Magnitogorsk. In the off-season, the team underwent minor changes, and with great confidence the team will continue preforming up to their impressive standards. The core of the team has been preserved, and the captain knows how to motivate his guys to achieve the best result. In my opinion, METALLURG MAGNITOGORSK has few weaknesses on the ice starting with the goalie between the pipes and ending with the offense, they are very strong players with excellent vision of the ice and great experience on the thumbsticks. Their main challenger this season is Blackdawgs, as several players moved from METALLURG to Blackdawgs in the offseason. That certainly adds another layer to watching the battle between these two teams. Placement after regular season: 1st-2nd Player to watch: Evgeniy @mons3223 Mons is a former Alliance HT player and has some valuable ECL Pro experience, with the first Russian club to compete at that level. Definitely a player of this calibre strengthens the team a lot and he will definitely demonstrate his class during the upcoming season. Rusty Bulls -> Barys eSports Barys eSports - the former Rusty Bulls squad, finished 8th in RCL 7, which was painful for the club. In the playoffs in the first round, suffered a defeat to the eventual champs Nova. Over the past couple of years, the team found themselves in a difficult position, it is obviously hard to draw conclusions from the outside and we can only see the result of this struggle. However, every year the league is getting stronger, and the competition is getting tougher. The ambitions of the two-time RCL champions do not allow the bar to be lowered and require new changes. What did the new captain @-Tarr- do, then? To begin with, a new path was chosen. One you can say to be in the trend of events - this is the signing of a contract with the KHL club Barys Nur-Sultan. Where it will lead only time will tell, but this is definitely a positive for Russian virtual hockey and for NHLGamer as a whole. The team has successfully qualified and is ready to take the ice. Let the performances speak for themselves. Placement after regular season: 4th-7th Player to watch: Kristers @PSchibra Bauers, the former ECL Pro player for Finnish Roosters. He was one of the best playmakers in his club and will definitely be the leading player in Barys eSport, expecting a lot of big assists and game winning goals. Virtuoso With the arrival of the "musicians" in the ranks of RCL, many people fussed and began to worry. What kind of club is this, champions from the Xbox platform? A dark horse or perhaps a Trojan horse even? Well, yes - Virtuoso have become a problem for many clubs in the tournament. The skilled ensemble did not let anyone off the hook easy and is now feared as one of the most dangerous and unpredictable opponents. Last RCL season was not the most successful for the club but we must pay tribute to the team captain Alexander @DeLuRe_09 Mytnik, he never rested on his laurels and was not going to hang up the skates. Every season he assembles a line-up that is ready to make sparks on the ice like only Virtuoso can do and this season is no exception. Placement after regular season: 5th-8th Player to watch: @The Great Dany returned to the team. Being a dangerous and cunning player, he will always find surprising solutions in the attacking zone and no goalkeeper will rest easy facing this guy. So be sure to follow him in the statistics and of course watch the Virtuoso matches. HC CORSAIR The team that lost their spot in RCL Pro after finishing last in the RCL 7 regular season will now try to reclaim their pride in the Lite division. Through restructuring and strengthening, the oldest club in the league is ready to go to battle with any of the teams of the Lite division, hopefully achieving their end goal of promotion. Mega The new unusual club for RCL Lite, consists entirely of Russian players living in Germany, earning the right to play in the GCL championship in the 3rd division simultaneously. The team is very successful in their GCL division, which bodes well for Mega going forward. I think this preseason training will give a lot of advantages over other RCL Lite teams. The new season will be even more competitive and more interesting than before, a lot of intrigue, a lot of emotions are involved as we go into the toughest season yet. Share your thoughts and predictions on who will be the new champion and who your favourite RCL Pro or Lite team is in the comments. Love hockey, live hockey! See you on the virtual ice and on the website. Thank you for staying with us throughout the years and for following the development of the league! This is a translation of the RCL 8 Season Preview, to read in Russian, click here. Translated with the help of @CMB-wf-.