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This time, we had the chance to discuss the beginnings, highlights and future of NikkeDangles' career so far. Despite his young age, the hREDS winger has become one of the brightest stars in the scene. Niklas @NikkeDangles Tukiainen has at a very young age risen among the brightest of stars in competitive NHL. Success has also been achieved, most recently the Finnish Championship bronze medal in 1v1 and the Finnish Championship silver medal in 6v6. Tukiainen admits that although NHL has always been his number one game, he has still enjoyed quite a lot of Fortnite and considers himself decent at it: "The first NHL was NHL 09 and since then I've played all the NHL games. Gaming became a bit more serious when I switched over from Xbox to PS4 at the start of NHL 18. In addition to NHL, I also play a lot of Fortnite, where I'm also good. However, NHL will always be my number one game. I live with my mom, and she's very supportive of my gaming, and I'm lucky to have her. She always watches the streams of all my important games." The young star also says that he has always looked up at superstar Erik @Eki Tammenpää, especially when he himself was unable to participate in international tournaments. "When I couldn't participate in international tournaments myself, I looked up to Eki, especially after his World Championship title. I still look up to him, he makes very good content while streaming and his Youtube content is great too. Also his consistent tournament success is something to admire. He really knows what he's doing." Tukiainen says his best memory of the game is the first LAN event where he was able to play against top players in the qualifiers. "One of my fondest memories from the beginning of my competitive career is when I got through to the LAN event and got to play the best players in Finland. From the beginning of NHL 19, I realized that I could play at the top level, but it took me a while to get the tournament success. I also remember that helpless feeling of not being able to take the next steps towards success, but you just have to be able to grind, things are going to go your way at some point as long as you don't give up." He says that the 1v1 game mode is comfortable to play, since you're able to control every position and the flow of the game better, while in 6v6 you can only do so much from your own spot. Tukiainen says that on important gamedays he makes sure that he has slept enough, eaten well and taken a little walk before getting games started. Listening to good music also helps to prepare for important moments. "When it's an important gameday, I make sure to have a good nights sleep, eat well, and stay hydrated. I also like to go for a walk before the games and listen to a lot of music to get in a good vibe." Most recently, hREDS surprised the reigning Champion FILADELPHIA on the European grand stage when they swept the finals 3-0. "The best memory I have so far is definitely out ECL 12 victory. After our loss some time ago in the FCL Finals, i really began to understand the trick we pulled back then and began to appreciate the championship more." No team has ever managed to win consecutive ECL titles. hREDS will set out for the coming season to snap that streak. "The goal is just to win the ECL and be the first team to win the ECL back to back. If we want to do that we have to train a lot more than during the last ECL, because all teams are going to play a lot more at the beginning of the new version (of the game) than during the last ECL because many teams had little motivation to train due to the summertime." The youngster is already a role model for many players of the future. We asked him to give some tips to those players who may be dreaming of a competitive gaming career in virtual hockey. "You have to train a lot, especially every time a new game comes out because you need to get caught up with the new stuff. Regularity is always really important to me because since I feel like even a 1-2 day break can impact your gameplay negatively, that's why i try to play at least a little bit every day. Then if you really want to do well in tournaments, I recommend looking over your own game afterwards and trying to figure out what went wrong and what you could develop in the future." Finally, we asked who he'd like to switch places with if give the opportunity to do so: "If I had to switch places with someone, it would probably be with Tuukka @Tuukka.R(KingOfApes) Röpelinen because I'm used to playing forward and personally I'd like to play on defense at some point in my 6vs6 career."

Mika @mikaasi Heikkilä is very a experienced player and has represented the Gotham Knights, FILADELPHIA and FILADELPHIA Academy among others along his virtual hockey career. He first fell in love with the NHL game series back in 04 and admits that hockey is a sport very close to heart, although he never practiced the sport himself. "I started playing NHL back in -04, and from there on out every NHL game is in my collection. Hockey has always been close to my heart, even though I've never played it myself. I started playing 6v6 games during NHL 11 and then I also participated in the first 6v6 tournament organized by Consolehockey. Back then, as a young boy (14 years old) I just played for fun, but in a certain way also seriously because I wanted to develop as a player and help my team to survive. I couldn't imagine at the time that 6v6 tournaments would become such a competitive thing as they are at the moment. It's definitely been cool to watch the scene develop. It certainly became more goal-oriented when NHLGamer started organizing tournaments and also when a lot of players and teams moved to PlayStation and thus the level of tournaments reached a new level." Heikkilä states that the first Finnish championship and the ECL 7 title are his fondest memories with the game series. He has spent several years with FILADELPHIA and truly calls the club home.  "I'm sure a lot of people have a bunch of stories of themselves scoring decisive goals and making clutch plays but mine is simply all of my time with FILADELPHIA. Especially the first Finnish championship and the ECL Elite 7 Championship are some of the best memories for me. Even though I was more or less a bench warmer on that team, I've always appreciated the team's team spirit and that good vibe on the team way above simply looking out for myself. FILADELPHIA has always felt like a home of its own and for example the friendship I've build with team captain Joonas @Patzlaf Paatiala (since NHL 12) is one I'm sure will last for life. Live events, on the other hand, are their own experience entirely and always bring fun memories to mind when looking back at them." As an experienced player, Heikkilä has a few thing in mind he'd like to see implemented even better to help the scene grow, but he admits that NHLGamer especially has done a great job. "I would say that surely the scene would develop even faster and better if EA advertised the 6v6 gaming more and used more resources to develop it anyway. NHLGamer has done a great job for tournaments and the scene is constantly growing, which hopefully only promises for a better future. It will be interesting to see what the future holds." A leader with experience to help younger players Last year, European top tier juggernaut FILADELPHIA set up an academy team aimed at developing both new talents as well as older players who are yet to reach their prime and might have a chance to once make an appearance for the main squad. "FILADELPHIA's academy activities are aimed at developing both young and also older players to reach their top level and perhaps one day represent the main team. They started recruiting for the team and Pontus @Pontinho (I-CLAUGHTON-I) Claughton was selected as the first captain. I played for the Gotham Knights at that time, and when that team fell apart, I thought about the continuation of my career for a while in peace. Patzlaf asked me how interested I was in joining that project and I went to see how the game felt for a few nights. I started to get excited about it, and I decided to join in. I was already supposed to play with the academy last ECL season, but there were roster changes going on in FILADELPHIA's main team and they needed a player there and of course I helped with it. After the season, however, I returned to the academy because I wanted to play and help the team develop any way I could." The main team and the academy work in tight cooperation. Heikkilä, who captains the Academy team, admits that one of the best things for the Academy in terms of cooperation is definitely the experience and know-how of FILADELPHIA's main squad and the possibility of playing in the first team in the future. FILADELPHIA, on the other hand, has the opportunity to get players from the academy if necessary. "I would like to raise the best things about it, at least from the academy's point of view, that GM Patzlaf has invested a lot of his own time and expertise to help academy players with game matters. I see a lot of potential individuals in our team who can even break into the Elite of the scene in the future and work for it." Mikaasi also sees himself as a good mentor for younger players, as he has played at various levels and through various eras of the NHL competitive scene. He tries his best to help his teammates with the game and any questions they might have for him. "Yes, I would be lying if I said that being captain didn't require any leadership and showing a model to the younger. As an experienced player, I have tried to help every player around me with just that everyday work during games. For example, if there are situations that need to be reviewed, we will discuss the matter together and try it out so that we can make it work. At least I've felt that academy players have already learned new things at this point." As usual, we also asked Mikaasi to pick out his own 6v6 team of potential future stars: Center: @theMaddias Apparently could play a multitude of positions, but had such a nice FCL run so he can't be left out of this lineup. Right wing: @xColeslaww Hands are fine and overall a good player in question. Left wing: I could say @pikkuroger, but he's already playing at a high level, so I'm going to pull home and say @xAaro89x. This guy's going to be a top player in the near future. Right defenseman: @Bobiraataja(Nikhaa27) Great with the defensive skill stick. Left defenseman: @viba2008 He's got all the potential to be a top 5 defenseman in the scene. Goaltender: Our Academy goalie @Edvvinio, he surprises me time and time again with his skills. Heikkilä hopes that in the future even more clubs would be eager to start affiliate clubs or entertain the thought of similar development projects. FILADELPHIA aims to act as a pioneer. "Of course, it would be great to see more academy activities by other squads in the scene, and I would see it in such a way that we would have to have a system where representative teams could use their academy players in a similar way as NHL clubs use their AHL squads. However, there is still a lot of work to do in order to achieve that, so let's take one step at a time."