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We had the opportunity to discuss with one of the most influential Swedish NHL esports personalities, Daniel @Demski_ Gadd, who has captained the HV71 esports project since the start and is now entering the first Elite campaign with the club near and dear to him. Daniel @Demski_ Gadd believes that work experience with children has also brought a lot of benefits in the field of virtual hockey. He feels he has grown as a person and become an even better leader. ”Working with kids you need to be good at noticing how people feel even in stressful situations. You need to learn what to look for in peoples behavior in order to know how to help them and be there for them without having to ask. If you are good at those things the job just gets so much easier. Understanding that every person is unique and that people thrive under different circumstances is almost mandatory to be good at the job. I’ve really grown as a person and have become better and better at noticing small things while working with kids. I feel like those things are directly applicable when leading a team as well. Obviously it’s not the exact same thing but those skills have really helped me become a better leader. Because in my opinion, you can talk about tactics and how to get better at the game all day long, but if people in the team don’t feel good about themselves and enjoy playing, you won’t get any better at the game anyway. Feeling good and being happy is the most important thing, that’s where you need to start, because that’s where all good comes from.” Daniel has been playing competitive virtual hockey for many years. Earlier in his career, he won bronze at the SCL in 2019 with the Bucketeers. Gadd says he got his first NHL from his dad back in 2004, and has been playing with passion ever since. ”I’ve always been a big hockey fan, so hockey has always been a natural part of my life. Growing up I had a full size rink just a couple of meters outside the house where I spent a lot of hours as often as I could. Naturally you can’t play hockey outside when it’s not cold, so my father surprised me with a gift back in 2004, NHL 04. Since then I have been hooked on the NHL series playing every game that came out.” Now with several ECL campaigns under his belt, Gadd recalls with warmth the first tournaments he participated in. He emphasizes that he is very grateful for every opportunity that has presented itself throughout his career. ”My first experience with EASHL was when I was just playing for fun with a couple of friends. Back then I honestly didn’t even know that you could compete in NHL. Luckily for me we randomly got matched up against Bucketeers (now Färjestad) where Johan @Jerkix Eriksson played. He must have picked up on something when we played them because later on we got in contact and a new world opened up for me when he told me they were interested in signing me to compete for them in ECL 7 PRO. We put together a real solid team and managed to earn that elite spot my first season competing. To be able to compete in NHL was so much fun and something that really made it worth putting in all the hours that you have to. Looking back I am so grateful for Bucketeers giving me the opportunity that they did”, Gadd continues. He warmly recalls how HV71 has always been a very important thing throughout life. Gadd has grown up in the hockey town of Jönköping, so supporting the club has been a natural part of the Swedish players youth. He tells how he has watched almost every match of the Swedish team during the twelve years and these years are associated with very fond memories. "I have tons of amazing memories but the two greatest ones that come to mind is my first ever live hockey game that my dad took me to. HV71 won against Djurgården Hockey with 7-1, I think it was the season of 03/04 so I was only around seven years old. The other one is without a doubt HV71's latest championship in 2017. Overtime in a game seven for the gold medal and Simon Önerud scores the game winner assisted by Martin Thörnberg, both of them local hockey players whose hearts beat for HV71, I get goosebumps just thinking about it." The Swedish player has been involved in the construction project of the HV71 esports squad from the beginning and he also serves as the team captain. He feels that the decision to join the project was the best he has done in his career. "It’s an honor and a privilege. As a kid I dreamed of representing HV71 but I never thought it could become a reality, it really is a dream come true. I’m so glad HV71 keeps believing in me and the team and what we can do together. To be able to make this journey with such a great organization and amazing teammates, I really am blessed to have this opportunity. I am very exited for the new season, it’s going to be a lot of fun competing with the team again. This season will be by far the biggest challenge for us since HV71 was created two years ago. We as a team haven’t played in Elite so far and it will be a new experience for most of our players. It’s an amazing opportunity for us to grow though, both as a team and as players and I am really looking forward to see how we can handle it. I truly believe in this team and I will do my very best to help out as much as I can with the experience that I’ve got so far.” He believes that when they started as a team (in 2019), their greatest strength was building the squad from local players. He also feels that it has improved the chemistry between the players as they were also better able to practice in LAN environments. "I’m confident in saying that locality in the early stages of developing this team was the most important thing. It gave us the opportunity to practice together in HV71's arena, Husqvarna Garden. It helped me out as the captain of the team in an amazing way making strategies and helping players with small details in their game so much easier. And the team chemistry really took a big step forward being able to hang out together, we really became tighter as a group. I think we created a very good foundation of our team play back then, something we to this day keep building on. But as I mentioned before, sometimes you need a change and as important as locality was before I wouldn’t say it’s the most important thing right now. A good example of that would be how much my good friend and teammate Robin @Rubituss Söderqvist have helped us become a better team. The impact he has had is huge and also one the biggest reasons of our success. Putte @Putteekiing Unasin is another example of a player bringing something to the team that we just didn’t have before, a puck moving defender who is calm with the puck and good at setting up plays. The impact both of these players have on our team is big and the “A” on their chests is well deserved. Locality created the foundation of our team play, but the signings of some big names has given us an edge we simply didn’t have before.” The road they've traveled with HV71 has been a memorable one, and it's still tough to believe that the squad has paved their way to the European top in a relatively short time: "When starting out I couldn’t believe that one and a half year later I would throw the puck on net looking for a rebound and Martin @Zupancic_King424 Zupancic would score the game winning goal from that rebound securing the elite spot for us. The moment that puck crossed the goal line is by far my best memory as a captain.” He admits that the team has strengthened despite the player changes: ”To be honest most of the lineup have changed since we started two years ago. Sometimes you just need a change to take that next step in developing a team and in other cases you just kind of grow apart and heading in different directions just makes sense for both parties. However I have a strong belief in not changing too much too quickly, I think you need consistency to be able to grow, both as a team and as a player and I think that shows since a lot of players have played multiple seasons in HV71. The only players left since we first started is me and one the best goalkeepers in Europe, Christoffer @Tiipponenii(Coffelainen) Ericsson. He is very important for us and a big reason behind our success. The changes that we have made have always been one or maybe two at a time, keeping the core in the team and therefore the consistency. I’m very grateful for every player in HV71, both current and past, they all have a big part in what we have built so far." The HV71 centerman mentions that the fight for the Elite title will be tougher than ever this upcoming season. However, he has an exceptional eager to play the encounters between the Swedish teams: "In Elite every single team is so talented and there is so much skill in every player. I think all matchups will be very tough and it will be an honor to play against the very best of Europe night in and night out. Our goal is to establish ourselves in the Elite so our biggest competitors will be the teams looking to do the same. However, including ourselves it will be four Swedish teams in Elite and those games is always extra fun to play so I will have to say that Granit Gaming, Färjestad BK and Djurgården Hockey is a couple of big matchups for us." The Swedish player sees his team's greatest strength as a great team spirit and very good chemistry. He states that they enjoy playing together. ”I think we have a very well balanced team with players complementing each other creating a team first mentality. We love playing together and we have so much fun while playing, after all you gotta have fun to be able to perform. So our chemistry both on and of the ice is also one of our biggest strengths, creating the foundation of everything we do. Playing as a unit really is key for us, that said sometimes you need to do something extra, something out of the ordinary, especially when you are up against the very best of Europe, and I am confident we have the players to do so when needed. We also have a lot of young and hungry players who want to show the world their potential, that in combination with a couple of players with a lot of experience is a really good mix." "The two most important things for us this season is to stay humble for the task ahead of us and believing in ourselves and what we can achieve together. No matter how the seasons starts, no matter if we win or loose we can’t get too high or too low. We need to take one game at a time without thinking about the game before or the game after. We need to be consistent and not forget why we are here in the first place. We earned this spot in elite through determination and hard work, so let’s enjoy this season and work even harder to keep that spot", Gadd finishes.

Virtual ice hockey is on the rise among traditional hockey clubs, as many top international clubs have announced their involvement and are thus launching their own teams. Along with that trend, Örebro Hockey from Sweden, who previously participated with various rosters in both the SCL and ECL, have now signed a new Elite-level roster. Prior to joining forces with the Swedish club, the former POGGERS advanced to the quarterfinals in the last ECL 12 Elite playoffs. As the head of Esports för Örebro, hometown player Elie @eliekamel87 Kamel will take on a new role with the club in developing their operations, while also being the netminder on the virtual ice. “Since I live in Örebro and also played for Örebro in my youth my goal has always been to represent the club in the esports scene. When their previous affiliation ended, I saw my chance and contacted Ludwig at Örebro Hockey and in a short period of time we agreed that we could do great things together with me as a local esports representative, but also as a member of the playing squad and having history with POGGERS from before. Elie mentions that Örebro has a vision to make their club an attractive esports team and to create an academy for local players to further boost the growth of NHL esports in the area. The academy will help young players to learn, grow and evolve while representing Örebro eHockey on the virtual ice: "The first phase is to introduce the new Örebro Elite team, while phase 2 is going to be recruiting an academy team of potential younger talents." We also had a short talk with team captain Tero @Terodee Dahlström and asked about his thoughts on their new affiliation, and the story behind it all: “After all, for me, things don't change at all. He (Elie) has been a part of the core group here for a long time. Although in our group, at least in my opinion, it means much less than elsewhere. We are primarily a group of friends and all decisions are made together. We were without an organization for quite some time after the SJ contract ended, but at some point talks about representing Örebro surfaced, with Elie being local and all. How Örebro can help us will certainly be seen better in the future, but the support of the organization is always a great help and we're really excited to be a part of the future with Örebro.”

NHLGamers, While we're still enjoying the holidays, it’s time to move our gaze to the upcoming year. The new ECL Winter season is already at the doorstep. If you haven't read our general information yet, we suggest you head over to our ECL '22 Winter season article. We would like to remind you that registration for Core and Neo teams for the upcoming ECL Winter season will end today Monday 27th of December at 23:59 CET. ECL Elite: 2.- 17.12. ECL Pro: 2.- 17.12. ECL Lite: 2.- 17.12. ECL Core: 2.- 27.12. ⚠️ ECL Neo: 2.- 27.12. ⚠️ *If you're an existing team that wants to change names, simply sign up with the old name and contact support for the name change. If you're having issues with signing up overall, please contact support.

Roots Gaming returns to competitive virtual hockey after a short break. The goal of the organization is to provide its players with great opportunities to focus on gaming and things around it that make the gaming itself a better experience. After a break of around half a year, Roots Gaming makes a comeback to the virtual ice. Their first time around, they played in Elite with no changes in their core roster. Back then Roots had three top 8 placements at the highest level of NHL 6v6 gaming.   The new team that’s going to compete under the Roots Gaming organization is former BoxinElite. Next ECL season they will play in the Pro division. We asked from the team captain Santeri @xleksa35(xleksa_) Levänen how it all got started with this lineup: “The dea of an own team got started in May 2020 when we used to play the 1v1 game mode on Xbox. In spring 2020 we decided to move to Playstation with Linus @Limu95 Christiansson, Samuli @ssampee37 Mäntylä and a couple other of our friends. In that year’s autumn we participated in our first tournament and after that we have had quite favorable results in tournaments with small roster moves. Last Pro season we proved that we belong among the top teams but now it’s time to take the next step.”   The captain says that the biggest strengths in their team consists of team spirit and the fact that every player has a big role: “Our team has a couple experienced guys and the rest of the group are hungry young talents. Every team member has an important role on achieving our future goals as a team."    Roots Gaming ry is from Kerava and was founded in 2019. They are a non-profit esport organization with a goal to develop the Finnish esports and culture in Kerava. They also want to provide a safe and modern environment for children to practice and improve themselves in esports. Roots Gaming also offers coaching activities. Their objective is to change certain attitudes towards esports and that’s why physical activity, healthy eating habits and understanding rest are important things for them along with the core operation of gaming.   Esports director of Roots Gaming Väinö @vSilenttioPietilä was playing for Roots Gaming when they made their first appearance in the scene. We asked him to share some thoughts about the past and what things he’s excited about in future with BoxinElite: “Our first one and a half years in NHL taught us a lot of good things on and off the ice. We realized during that time as an organization that like many other esports games also NHL 6v6 playing consists of many other things besides just individual skills on the ice. That’s why we think that NHL as a team sport is made for us.” ”When we stepped aside from the scene in May 2021, we already knew that we would come back and now after we have looked into different teams, NHLGamer and the whole scene, we are ready to come back to our beloved esport. BoxinElite was one of the first teams that were under our radar for a long time and was actually the first team who we were in touch with about a possible cooperation. The team has done some good long-term work in all silence, even though they have only played a couple of tournaments together where they have got some good results. I see a lot of great things with the team and their team play, and with those things it’s easy to get started with our mutual journey”, Pietilä continues. Boxinelite is also really excited about their future with Roots Gaming: ”A little while ago, Väinö contacted us and told that Roots would be coming back to NHL esports and they would want us to join the project. We were humbled by that and realized in a short time that Boxinelite and Roots had similar ambitions and the desire to push things forward. Our cooperation with Roots Gaming is kind of a reward to us for our hard work but also it is a good motivator for the future!", states captain @xleksa35. Sonja Ahtiainen, Vice Chairman of Roots Gaming wants to emphasize some major points from their organization’s values and their future objectives: “We have experienced with our CS:GO team as also with our former NHL team that participating in everyday life with them has a comprehensive effect. Improvement of performance and team skills in a team sport and at the individual level are clearly noticeable. As an organization we want to be a part of our team’s actions and we want to improve it as a whole instead of only bringing basic things to them and after that leaving responsibility to the players. Our player’s wellbeing is at the center of our actions and our main target is to reform people’s thoughts about esports. The fact that Finnish esports culture has grown little by little in past years doesn’t mean that we could sit there and watch what happens next. It’s time to talk less and really turn the work mode on!”