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NHLGamers, The Russian virtual hockey scene has grown tremendously over the past few years and with that, the eighth iteration of the RCL now hosted two divisions for teams of various skill levels. The influx of organizations and traditional hockey teams into the scene has also helped growing the game, which we're pleased to see. The eighth RCL season was incredible in itself, and ended in a third consecutive RCL title for METALLURG MAGNITOGORSK, who won their former championships under the NOVA-banner. Some impressive records were also set along the way to the championship by this skilled roster, and all of the eleven roster players made contributions towards their accomplishment. Especially throughout the playoffs, the MAGNITOGORSK seemed unstoppable from time to time - Goaltender Aleksey "zZzvezZzda" Zvezdin was one of the most crucial parts in the team as he kept his net clean for a streak of 306 minutes and 25 seconds, the longest streak in RCL Playoff history. Also as a result of stellar goaltending and excellent team defense, METALLURG allowed only one goal in four games throughout their final series against Barys eSports. Together with Barys, the two also set the record for the longest game in RCL history - a fifth overtime game extending to 157 minutes and 27 seconds, coming to an end only when left defenseman Alex @SPB_AlexZver_22 Zverev found the net to seal the deal and win his team the championship. The assistant captain also commented on his teams efforts as follows: "We worked hard to take the RCL PRO title for the third time in a row. This season, many wrote us off due to the fact that there were some rebuilding in the team, but we've proven before that it is definitely not the names on the back that decide, but team play is what wins the titles. We had a great final, conceding only one goal in the entire series, the whole team played a brilliant defense. Of course it was also nice to finish with a victory in 4 matches of the 5th overtime. I am proud of my guys, I hope this is not our last RCL title - we will work hard to come back and repeat this next season!" METALLURG MAGNITOGORSK - Road to the championship: Regular season record: 18-2-2 (1st) Quarterfinals: vs HC KOROBKA 4-0 Semifinals: vs Nearbird Fighters 4-3 Finals: vs Barys eSports 4-0 Championship roster:

The finish line is in sight! With only a third left to go of the season, now is the time for a final push. It is still mathematically possible for every team to either make or fall out of the playoffs, but naturally the likelihood of those events are up for debate.  FILADELPHIA continues strong as the sole team to stay undefeated in regular time this season. The black and orange suffered their only loss so far at the start of last week in a big matchup against hREDS in their ECL 11 Elite finals rematch. This season, the team is looking better than ever defensively, while maintaining a high offensive production - proven by their very low GA/GP at only 1.06, simultaneously averaging 4 goals a game into the opposing net. It seems like FILA is a lock for the #1 seed into the postseason with their toughest matchups already out of the way, HAVU Gaming and hREDS have the chance to challenge but a favorable outcome for them would require some lackluster effort on FILADELPHIA's part. Just behind the top 3, things are wide open and somewhat surprisingly recently promoted GOONS have managed to keep up their good performances. The newcomers lead by the likes of Kristian @kriketski17 Veijola and Mika @FinKonna Paasikontu currently sit in 4th place with a few games in hand on Farjestad BK, who also seem intent on clinching yet another playoff spot, their third consecutive in fact. The Swedes suffered two stinging losses at the hands of YMCA Esports early last week, but managed to come back convincingly by destroying KOVA Esports in a scoring explosion, netting current goal scoring leader Andreas @affelj96 Ljungberg a total of eight goals in those two games. The battle for those few playoff spots around the playoff line is also raging hard, and as usual it'll come down right to the finish line. Most prominently, we've got POGGERS, SAWO ESPORTS and YMCA Esports currently in playoff position, but Vesa Pompa, IQUE and Northern Ascendancy have all but given up. JYP Jyvaskyla are also looking to salvage their season after a terrible start despite being previewed as a surefire playoff squad. Players going under the radar that have been crucial for their teams are definitely Mikko @EABUNKA Kärkkäinen for SAWO and Jan-Mikael @Janski (Jansku23) Aittoniemi for POGGERS - these guys sit at 25 and 23 goals respectively, amounting to nearly 50% of their teams production. In the scoring race, hREDS experienced centerman Perttu @Beniittto Kemppainen is topping the tables, followed closely by recent GWC EU Champion Erik @Eki Tammenpää and it looks like the fight for that #1 spot is going to go right down to the wire between these two. After yet another strong week, Johan @Lehmannens Lehmann has further solidified his position as leading scorer among defensemen. The 26-year old right defenseman notched six points in four games and is just ahead of Joel @jtorro-_- Tourunen and Aleksi @loimmu Loimuvirta.  When it comes to goaltending, Casper @ICappeI Lundgren reigns supreme! The FILADELPHIA netminder is at 17 wins for the season, a GAA of 1.06, a second-to-none save percentage and two goals! What!?   Transfers It's a somewhat rare occasion to see some movement at the Elite level after the start of the season, but some transfers have come to knowledge in the past week or so, we'll also be recapping possible movement in these reports. Here are the transfers that have come to light since last week:  Vesa Pompa IN Edvin @Thunborg5 Thunborg (FILADELPHIA) Despite not getting to make a single appearance in black and orange on ECL ice, the netminder spent a significant chunk of time learning from the best in FILADELPHIA. Now he is returning home to dear Vesa Pompa, who have struggled this season. The Swedes have an already strong netminder in Erik @MrAllsvenskan Rotsenius from before, so it'll be exciting to see if the two are to share duties or if Vesa Pompa has something else in mind. Thunborg already made his debut quite surprisingly on the RD spot in absence of other options - netting his career first ECL Elite goal against hREDS in a 3-2 defeat. Power Rankings Provided by @MartindalexC   1.  hREDS (14-3-1) [+5.5 | +11.50] 2.  POGGERS (10-8-0) [+5.125 | +6.875] 3.   FILADELPHIA (17-0-1) [+4.75 | +20.75] 4.  HAVU Gaming (16-3-1) [+4.50 | +15.25] 5.  GOONS (12-7-1) [+2.75 | +2.125] 6.  Färjestad BK (11-5-2) [+2.125 | +8.375] 7.  Tunnel Vision (5-9-4) [+1.50 | -6.75] 8.  Northern Ascendancy (7-8-3) [+1.00 | -3.125] 9.  IQUE (7-7-4) [-0.75 | -1.65] 10.  YMCA Esports (9-7-2) [-1.50 | +0.875] 11.  JYP Jyvaskyla (8-11-1) [-1.75 | +0.875] 12.  SAWO Esports (10-8-0) [-2.00 | +7.25] 13.  Vesa Pompa (7-7-2) [-2.75 | -2.25] T14.  Rusty Blades (3-11-2) [-3.75 | -10.875] T14.  ZSC Esports (3-11-4) [-3.75 | -8.75] 16.  KOVA Esports (7-11-2) [-7.50 | -9.50]

It's been a while since I've done a piece here at NHLGamer, but it seems like the perfect time to make a comeback with the group play wrapping up in the Anaheim Ducks 6v6 event. 72 teams across 9 groups battled it out and we've now reached the conclusion of the group play and heading into the new three tiered system playoffs (The Selanne, Kariya and Niedermayer tiers). This is something that has never been seen before, and it encourages more teams to continue grinding through the playoffs and potentially win some prizes even if you aren't in the Tier 1 playoffs. Those who finished top 2 in their group will move on to the tier 1 playoffs, while the 3rd-4th and 5th-6th of each group will play in the tier 2 and tier 3 playoffs respectively. But before we get to the playoffs, let's see how group play went for some of these teams. In Group 1 it should be no surprise that Olympia top their group with a record of 13-1-0. The winners of the Caps Gaming Showcase only let in 13 goals in 14 games played, and certainly looked in control in every single game that they played. @Rainz led all starting goaltenders with a 92.45 SV% through 7 games, backstopping his team to their success. One of the more surprising teams on the other hand was the second seed of the group being Momentumm. This team made waves in the most recent Kings Coast Cup taking BBB all the way to seven games before eventually losing in the final game. They took the experience from that series and were actually very successful in this group going 11-2-1 across 14 games. This high scoring offensive team has been turning a lot of heads recently and look to continue their hot pace into the Tier 1 playoffs, where they will face the challenge again going up against the best in elimination games. The rest of the group was very even matched, with the rest of the teams trading wins out of each other every single match day. Code of Conduct started off very slow in the group but rattled off 4 straight wins to finish third in the group, while newcomer Vanquish managed to win their final game of the group play to squeak into the last spot of the tier 2 playoffs. Group 2 was a three-headed monster with Hall 0f Fame, Composure and True North all at the top of their group, each with at least 20 points in group play. Hall 0f Fame and Composure’s only losses came at the hands of each other, while True North’s only losses came at the hands of the two teams above them, that’s how tight this battle was. All three of these teams are well experienced esports rosters here in North America, and are by no means green to strong event placements, and look to do damage in each of the tier 1 and tier 2 playoffs respectively. While True North may not be considered contenders against the elite teams in the tier 1 playoffs, with the unique format of the Ducks tournament here, expect them to be a team to watch out for in the tier 2 playoffs. Group 3 was headlined by the first undefeated team from group play, with Instinct coming out as the top seed. Their impressive 14-0-0 record Isn't necessarily surprising given this team's high skill level, but the most surprising thing about the run more so the 13-12 win against High Latency in week 2. I can't tell if this was planned, or if this was just the most offensive game ever seen, but I'm not sure we'll ever see another score line like this for quite some time. So consider this something for the history books. l Knight Shift l has steadily been rising up the ranks, and have gone from a relatively high offense 3’s style team, to a more defensive squad, with a lot closer score lines but also a lot better at keeping the puck out of the net and also keeping the puck away from their net in general. Some newer teams such as Blueline Bakery and Believe the Hype round out the tier three spots of this group. Group 4 was another very top-heavy group, with Prodigy taking first place with BBB not far behind. This Prodigy squad is much more similar to the one that we saw they made a large run last summer in the Northern Arena Cup right here on NHLGamer, with top 1v1 players transitioning over to 6’s and finding success immediately. BBB started out the group play extremely hot winning 10 straight games, before stumbling into the playoffs losing three of their final four games, albeit against the 3rd and the first seeds of their group. BBB has been all over the map in terms of success, as some events they looked like a dominant top five team in North America, but other times they look like they could barely beat a fringe playoff game. This team has massive potential to have success in the tier 1 playoffs, it simply comes down to which BBB team shows up. The Helmet Boys has been another team that has been rising up the ranks slowly but surely throughout the year, and find themselves with another fairly successful placement in an event, finishing with the third seed in group four, and a top seed in the tier 2 playoffs. While this team may not wow you with impressive stat lines or crazy run up the score games, they always seem to be in every single game they play and always take good teams to fairly tight score lines. Group 5 featured another undefeated team heading into the playoffs, as Hidden Potential topped their respective group. The addition of @DDW4 to the team has really proven to be quite beneficial for them, as they have had deep runs in previous events and look to do so again in this event. They've always been a very dominant team in the regular season, it's just a matter of piecing it together come the playoffs, and being the 2nd seed heading into the tier 1 playoffs is the perfect opportunity for them to shine. Hidden Potential LW @Shockz is having an MVP type performance as well, as he leads all players in goals, points, and shots on goal through group play. The west based team in Evolutional take the second spot here in group five and it was a little bit of a surprise. Being as this tournament is hosted by the Anaheim Ducks, who also hosts the WCHL here on NHLGamer, it's only fitting that we have a west coast team in the Tier 1 playoffs looking to battle it out for the top prize. While they're always seems to be controversy surrounding west coast teams and ping issues, there's no denying that this team can score, as they had multiple games with extreme high scoring games with 76 total goals in 14 games played. Group 6 ended up being a very top heavy group, with 3 teams over 20 points at the end. Leading the charge was the ever dominant Entourage, who continue their season long success with an almost perfect 13-1-0 record. At this point, it feels almost routine to see Entourage perform against the best, and it’s no surprise to see them at the top of any group. However, one big surprise was the 2nd seed, as Osiris came out on top with an impressive 11-3-0 record. While this may be a newer squad in the scene, the came out with a bang in their first event together, and ended up being only second to one of the best teams in the world currently. Teams like l Stealth l and Freedom both contain seasoned players here in North America, and beat out some recognizable brands from recent events like Unknown Talent and VIGILANCE for the tier 2 playoffs. Starstruck has been a team on the rise in the past few months, and continue that trend with a dominant group play in Group 7. The addition of @JClaus33 has been everything and more for the team, and they look to be contenders heading into bracket play. A brand that has always been a dark horse in every event they play in, CBJ Gaming continues to prove the doubters wrong with a ticket to the tier 1 playoffs, with a record of 9-2-3. With the sudden retirements of No Expectations forwards @oSparz and @N a s t y x 93, there was some uncertainty surrounding the squad and how they would perform in the event. They ended up scrapping together a team and managed to grab a tier 2 playoff spot with a respectable 9-5-0 record. Group 8 had arguably the biggest surprise group winner with The Empire taking the top spot. The squad’s 13-1-0 record is nothing to scoff at, and they did so in a pretty tough group, beating out some high profile teams LFG and Highlanders along the way. While this team features members who have been playing with each other for a long time, the ability to create a new team and have such success so quickly is quite the feat. Rounding out the top 4 from this group is the Ephesians, who had a hot start, a slight stumble in week 2 before finishing off week 3 with a perfect 4-0 to finish in the 3rd seed of group 8. Finally, group 9 contained a number of heavy hitters at the top, but it was Resilience who topped all of them with a perfect 14-0-0 record. This team was both dominantly offensively as well as defensively, as they finished with the least amount of goals against with 11 goals against in 14 games played. Backed by @TH4 x W4LL and his 88.89 SV%, this team looks poised to make a run for the title. Joining Evolutional as a west coast competitor, Ice is a much more well known squad, having multiple high event finishes under their belt before this one. They’ll look to represent their region well, especially in an event located so close to home. Unfortunately one team had to get the short end of the stick in this group, and it ended up being Denial in this case. While 23 points and a 11-2-1 record could be a top 2 seed in multiple groups, the system was not kind to them in this case, and they will have to settle for the tier 2 playoffs. This team looked to be dangerous in the tier 1 playoffs, but now competing in the upcoming tier 2 playoffs, this team could be the team to beat. The Selanne tier features the best performing squads from the group stage, with Resilience entering as the #1 seed. The Kariya tier features teams that have also done well in the group play, and they are placed with squads of similar ability to fight for great prizes. We've also got tons of skill in the Niedermayer tier, with Hydra Esports grabbing the #1 seed spot. With group play wrapped up, teams will now look towards their respective playoff brackets. The big difference between other events and this one is the all new tiered playoff system, which gives more teams the ability to compete for prizes. Catch all of the games over at twitch.tv/anaheimducks for all of the playoff action!