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With two playoff rounds past us, we are now down to the final four. Some huge upsets nearly happened in the quarterfinals, though the sole materialized surprise was RCTIC topping Herlev Eagles. Interestingly, the remaining teams’ starting lineups consist of just Finnish players. How do the semifinals pairings match up then? Let's take a look. Schedule   Preview (1) Reality Check - Stargazing  (10) Dynastia delivered an upset in the first round, and were not too far off from doing that in the quarterfinals either. The top seed Reality Check first clawed their way back from a 0-2 deficit to tie the series 2-2, before losing the fifth game and giving the match ball to Dynastia. Despite only being one loss away from having their dreams crushed, Reality Check proved their ability to execute under pressure. By winning the last two games they secured their spot amongst the Pro division’s top four, along with at least a qualification series against an Elite team and some more cash. Opposite Reality Check, Stargazing was the one trying to take down a higher seed in their own series. In fact they almost swept Tohtorit, leading the series 3-0 after the first night of play. They lost the following two games in overtime though, before finally finishing it off in the sixth one. A 4-2 series win was pretty much as expected, even though their opponent had done better in the regular season. For some reason, Stargazing is in a way somewhat reminiscent of Enigma (now IQUE) from a few seasons back. They even have a common factor: @Pirtsa89 between the pipes. Stargazing’s regular season was more like the ECL 10 Pro runner up version of Enigma, which actually did not yet include Pirtsa, instead of the ECL 11 Pro Champion squad he played a big part in. It remains to be seen if they can follow those footsteps all the way to the end, or if Reality Check will take them down before they even get to the finals. Reality Check definitely have their own ambitions as well, looking to take home back-to-back championships and promotions after their Lite success last season. One interesting storyline is @James (Jamechkin) facing his old team: he played for Reality Check in ECL 9 and 10, and in the ECL 12 Pro Qualifier. The reunions do not stop there though, as Reality Check’s @FINSeRe was @xColeslaww’s (koleslaav_) and @Flopper71’s teammate in ECL 10 and 11. They played for Rookie Mistakes, which merged with Stargazing ahead of this ongoing season. Stargazing surely got a significant morale boost from the nearly completed sweep, along with some added mental toughness from being able to avoid getting reverse sweeped. A bit similarly, Reality Check is also sure to have toughened up from the climb back they had after an unfortunate start in the quarterfinals. Both teams have had some uniting, team-building experiences, so there is only one question – who has gained more from those and can turn it into triumph? This will most likely be an incredibly tight series that is decided on the smallest of margins. Reality Check is the more experienced of the two, though Stargazing seems to have better momentum coming into this week. Betting against the number one seed in a series like this might be a little bold, but what are we here for if not bold predictions? The players know each other reasonably well outside ehockey too, so some friendly competitiveness will definitely add its own spice into the mix and provide extra motivation when it is needed the most.   Prediction: 3-4 Stargazing     (2)  JYP Jyväskylä - RCTIC  (9) Like Reality Check, JYP Jyväskylä did not have the start of their dreams in the quarterfinals. They went down 0-2 as well, though they won the following three games before their next loss. In the end, they too were able to turn the game 7 bout into a win, ending noRex Gaming’s hot playoff campaign. Having a close call in the second round was perhaps needed after going through the first round unbeaten, it is at least sure to wake up the veteran squad to focus on the task ahead. Thus far in the playoffs RCTIC has been plowing through opposition with surprising ease. They were not really predicted to win either of their previous series, but they did it anyways – and in what fashion: a 4-1 series win in both the first round and quarterfinals. No team has lost less games in the Pro playoffs this season. Similarly to Stargazing and Reality Check, there are also some familiar faces between these teams: namely JYP Jyväskylä’s @vSilenttio (vee_SILE). He played with RCTIC’s @yrjoo and @Naikou88 for SIKA back in ECL 6 Pro. Naikou is a RW meanwhile vee_SILE an LD, which provides an interesting head-to-head battle between two players who certainly have some hunch about each others’ playstyles. Also of note, outside the virtual ice @Aze (AzeStiNe) has been co-hosting vee_SILE’s live ehockey podcast as of late. JYP Jyväskylä had a proper wake up call with noRex Gaming’s form, and now face a stylistically somewhat similar RCTIC side. They will have to have learned the cause of what happened last week, and to have improved upon that, or RCTIC will capitalize ruthlessly in the same way they did when they took down Renascor and Herlev Eagles. If JYP can improve distinctively and play true to their full potential, RCTIC, or really any other team on this level for that matter, will not effectively be able to stop them from getting that championship without some impressive heroics. Both RCTIC and JYP Jyväskylä have a tremendous amount of experience, we will see which one of the two still has more gas left in the tank. The stakes are big and there are some personal connections in this matchup as well, so on the other hand finding motivation should not be the toughest of tasks. Hunger and sheer will are what RCTIC needs to tilt this their way. JYP Jyväskylä should be quite comfortably ahead of RCTIC, even though the “icy boys” have proven a lot of doubters wrong. Can RCTIC keep this flaming hot streak going for a while longer and make it to the finals? It does not seem too likely at the moment, however, neither did it before either of their previous series. Maybe it is indeed plausible in the end. Nevertheless, do not count RCTIC out before the games have even started. If things go right their way from the get go, they have shown the ability to do some damage even against perceivedly stronger opponents.   Prediction: JYP Jyväskylä 4-1     That is it for our semifinals preview, enjoy the action and stay tuned for the finals next week! For individual statistics, check out the team pages. To the teams, good luck and have fun, it is the journey not the goal that makes it all worth it   PS: We would love for you to follow our social channels, as they are an integral part of the ECL season. Discord Instagram Facebook Twitch Twitter

The ECL '22 Winter Lite playoffs are rapidly advancing to their Quarterfinal stage. All in all, it's been a rather straight forward run of matchups round after round, and we haven't seen that many upsets. Despite that, I'd say that Alliance HT and Hunters might be minor surprises to being seen at this stage of the season. All of the top seeded teams are still in the race for the title. Let's move on to previewing our clashes of the round: FILADELPHIA ACADEMY vs Alliance HT FILADELPHIA ACADEMY are continuing their strong playoff campaign. Apart from one loss and few tighter games along the road, FILADELPHIA ACADEMY eliminated Toxicity quite comfortably. Offensive trio @xAaro89x, @mikaasi and @TEST0-RYTZE were the biggest stars in that series. Alliance HT had an exhausting seven game series against Bellizzi, so they're coming away from that carrying some baggage, but also with some valuable experience. They eventually were able to turn the series in their favor but we'll see the price they've paid when facing an even tougher opponent in the Quarterfinals. Alliance HT are definitely in a state of flow now and are confident as they got away with the series in round 2. @Awptim and @Artyom (Zakhod_99) did great last round, so keep an eye on them for Alliance.  Prediction: 4-2 to FILADELPHIA ACADEMY Prima eSports vs Powerhouse HC Powerhouse HC eliminated the better seeded EHC TATNEFT AK BARS in the previous round in a seven game series. Despite being on the receiving end in several games, they were able to turn the tide and come away with crucial victories. @Jooonte90, @L4nnisto and @Burritokuningas scored many of the important goals in crucial moments and @Eiteam assisted on many of them. Powerhouse HC showed in that series by winning after hard moments the determination and skill that you need in the playoffs. They are now one of the serious contenders for winning the title. Prima eSports have cleared both the previous rounds with relative ease, winning 4-2. @Philip Deemus has been one of their most important players. Prima eSports must have noted Powerhouse HC's great form and are ready for it. Unless we'll see one team run away with this one early, it's looking like an extended series, possibly even game seven. Hard to say in this series but I have been impressed by the Powerhouse HC streak and will continue predicting in their favor. These teams also clashed in the regular season, where Prima won both games with a one goal margin. With improved form since then Powerhouse HC has all the tools to turn the tables in the most important moment of their season.  Prediction: 4-3 to Powerhouse HC Golden Nights vs Hunters Golden Nights is moving forward in a very convincing way. Hunters is definitely a good team and deserving of their place by reaching this far. In Golden Nights, we see an almost complete package of the parts that are essential to a good and successful team: great puck movement, skilled individuals, and excellent teamwork. These are the factors that put them ahead of so many teams in my books. Hunters dominated against Valco and all credit to them for that, it isn't an easy thing to do against an experienced squad. Now in Golden Nights, they're facing a club that is on a different level defensively which will draw away from their offensive firepower. They'll need to find new ways to play, but if they can adapt, they could challenge. Keep an eye on @xSaski_ for Golden Nights and @Laama777 for Hunters to make things happen. Prediction: 4-1 to Golden Nights Linköping HC vs Mora IK Swedish Derby! Linköping HC is one of the four top seeded teams, whereas Mora IK is arriving to challenge them. Both had tough series in round 2 and extended to a full seven games. We'll see some great goaltending on both ends of the ice, indicated by the impressive 3 shutouts for the goalies. Linköping's goalie @RaNtA is the slightly more experienced netminder and his counterpart @Jeqque44 is still looking to make his mark on the scene. This is a great chance for a success story, but due to the experience Linköping might have a minor edge in most areas. Despite that, I expect Mora to pull through and find that little bit of extra talent from their back pockets. Prediction: 4-2 to Mora IK As always, we're wishing all teams good luck! Play hard and have fun!

 NHLGamers, Time for Round 3 of the ECL Core Playoffs! Some exciting matchups are on the table and we recommend staying up to date on any streams and results by following the teams on social media. In Core, the playoffs consist of the top 8 teams from each group being seeded against other teams who finished in the same position (e.g. group winners are seeded #1-4, group runners-up are seeded #5-8 and so on.). The second round of the playoffs will start on Sunday the 20th of February 2022 and end on Friday the 25th of February 2022. Here is a full schedule of the ECL '22 Winter Core playoffs: Round 1 6.-11.2 Round 2 13.-18.2 Round 3 20.-25.2 Quarterfinals 27.2.-4.3 Semifinals 6.3-11.3 Finals TBA For the relevant rules regarding these playoffs, please find extracts from the ECL Rulebook below. Essentially, each series will be a best-of-seven and the higher seeded team will play 'at home' first, then alternate back and forth with the lower seeded team.  Click here to view the matchups for round 2 of the ECL '22 Winter Core Playoffs   Good luck for everyone!

SportsGamers, We proudly announce the Relax Cup, aimed for all teams playing on the Central European server. After five years of running the Relax Cup tournament independently for the Czech and Slovak community we came to the conclusion that playing on the limited regional basis with all the same teams over and over is no longer that fun. That is why it would be more interesting to play with the teams from different countries and we're hoping that expanding the scope of our cup will do just that! Eligibility Teams, who have the Central European server as "home server" are eligible to join the Relax Cup. This entails that the captains and majority of the lineup have to be located in a Central European country. Format The Relax Cup will consist of a group stage and playoffs. Groups will be formed based on the amount of participating teams, also the amount of playoff teams will depend on participation. Playoffs are played in a best-of-seven format. Schedule Registration: OPEN NOW - closes February 27th Season start: March 7th Season end: TBA SIGN UP HERE! The main picture of the Relax Cup tournament is a friendly spirit and joy. The objective is to involve many teams from different skill levels to have a good time, get to know each other, while having some friendly competition along the way. We look forward to seeing as many of you as possible join us. CSCL / RC Admin team