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This season, Niklas @uhNikke Nieminen had a career performance with his new team SAWO ESPORTS. Their run fell short of complete success in the quarterfinals recently, but we still decided that now is the time to take a look at the up-and coming goalie talent a bit closer. Niklas @uhNikke Nieminen, who is only 20 years old, has been one of the biggest names of the current Elite season, as he truly had a career season this ECL. The youngster has taken some very big strides forward and ended up dominating the regular season in several statistical categories. The new kid on the block has left several superstars, like Casper @ICappeI Lundgren and Filip @Faze91- Azri in the dust. "One of the enabling factors of my success was definitely the spirit in our team. I know a lot of the guys really well and the confidence level is very high. I spend a lot of time studying how other goalies play and draw inspiration from them into my own game. The team has been great to this point, but we can be even better. Personally, I didn't think I could be this good after the break I had, so I've even surprised myself", the young netminder goes over the success he had this season. More and more young players are pushing for their own spot among the European Elite. Nieminen states that it isn't enough just to claim a place in the lineup, but you have to be prepared to continue developing after that, otherwise the next big talent will pass you soon enough. He sees that in the future Roots' Linus @Limu95 Christiansson and GOONS’ Arttu @laitineen64 Laitinen are some of the names to keep an eye on. To get a better idea of the personality of the man of the hour, we asked the other players at SAWO Esports what kind of teammate and player Nieminen is like. ”As a player, Nikke is the most self-critical person I've ever encountered, no matter what happens, he always strives to do even better. In the party, Nikke isn't the loudest guy, but mainly focuses on stopping the pucks swung at him. I think he's a really relaxed and supportive teammate”, says SAWO winger Valtteri @Vattuyy Virtanen. ”Nikke is calm and is quite demanding for himself, he always tries to think about what he could do better and that's why Nikke is one of the best goalkeepers in Elite. Nikke has quite an elite skill to read the game that sometimes also helps the skaters out there”, Tomi @tombo_02 Laitinen praises his teammate. Nieminen tells how he eventually became a goalkeeper in the early days of his competitive playing career: ”So I ended up playing goalie when I joined HokiDogs for ECL 6 Lite. Before that, I had never even touched the virtual pads. Previously I had played on defense in various groups.” The Lohja, Finland native says that the first game in the NHL game series was NHL 13, after which the yearly iteration has been a must-have. It was only at a later stage that competitive gaming stepped in. He says that the games in the NHL franchise have been his favourites for a long time, but in his free time he also enjoys playing FIFA and CS:GO. hREDS captain Perttu @Beniittto Kemppainen gets a shoutout as a player whose helped Nieminen progress along his career: "One of my best memories is definitely back when I got involved with hREDS, and how Perttu helped me become a better player while being a part of that team." Nieminen says that he doesn't have any actual routines on the day of the game. He usually goes for a longer run and enjoys a gameday Red Bull. He notes that his absolute strengths as a player are calmness and perseverance. He tells me that always when on the ice, he tries to give it his all. Nieminen's team TUNNEL VISION signed with SAWO ESPORTS just a few days before the season started. We asked the goalie how this change has affected the team. ”Moving to SAWO ESPORTS has been a good thing and I really enjoy the responsibility I'm being given. I've been able to develop as a goalkeeper with the increased playing time. While i was in the army, I was in a backup role for hREDS because I couldn't get the right to practice and play from the army. I was quite close to quitting for a while at that point, but I decided to venture into the free agent market and that's when @tombo_02 reached out to me. When I hear that @Vattuyy was also getting on board, the deal was signed”, Nieminen goes over some events of his career. SAWO ESPORTS had a sensational regular season, securing the #2 spot into the postseason to everyones surprise. However, in the playoffs, Granit Gaming ended up being too much for them to handle, and their season ended in the Quarterfinals this past week. Despite their success, Nieminen still sees a lot to improve moving forward. ”From the goalkeepers point of view, our possession play and teamplay play has been very good in both directions. I expect that we will be able to continue in the same way and improve in all areas to become a more well-rounded team.”

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!

SportsGamers, Let the Semifinals begin! It's been an exciting postseason thus far, with Granit Gaming causing the biggest upset by overcoming #2 seed SAWO ESPORTS in the Quarterfinals. We're all astonished by the resilience of the teams at this stage, after overcoming obstacle after obstacle, pushing onwards toward the ultimate goal - an ECL '22 Winter Championship and a ticket to the Grand Finals. Today we start the action in our broadcast over at www.twitch.tv/SportsGamerGG as usual, make sure to tune in at 19:45 CET!      hREDS (1) vs  Granit Gaming (7) TOP SCORER Niklas @NikkeDangles Tukiainen 4 GP, 4+4=8 vs Henrik @Eken45jr Eklund 6 GP, 4+7=11 GOALTENDER  Filip @Faze91- Azri 4 GP, 4 W, 76,67 SV%, 1.75 GAA, 0 SO vs Reittu @Roisto999 Hynynen 6 GP, 4 W, 85,25 SV%, 1.5 GAA, 0 SO REGULAR SEASON RECORD 25-2-3 vs 18-10-2 REGULAR SEASON SERIES 4-1, 4-1 hREDS were able to sweep GOONS in the first round of playoffs. Even though the series ended in four games, it perhaps doesn't tell whole story of how the games went. Only one goal separated them in every game and in three out of four games some overtime action was required. It's a clear showcase of the tenacity of this team as they are not rushing to get the game winning goal but when the chance comes they will score. REDS did continue where they left off when it comes to scoring because also in the quarterfinals every guy from the red jerseys were able to score important goals for their team. In the regular season games against Granit, both hREDS wingers were able to score a hat-trick so we will see if the Swedish guys can keep up the coverage better this time around. One fun fact is that hREDS is now the only Finnish team among the semifinal teams but of course Frölunda's core is also from Finland, despite the organization being Swedish.  Granit Gaming wasn't a favorite against SAWO ESPORTS, who were second in the regular season. Despite that, they were able to pull an upset against the young Finnish guys with a 4-2 series win. Granit was able to put SAWO in a tough spot by winning all three games in the series opening night. A clear strength in the series for Granit continued from their regular season campaign, the fact that all of their players are a scoring threat. The teams left winger Henrik @Eken45jr Eklund is leading the entire league in playoffs scoring with 4 goals and 7 assists. One guy you have to bring up from Granit's last series is their goalie Reittu @Roisto999 Hynynen. There is no denying that this experienced netminder stole a couple of goals in the first round from SAWO. It looks like the talented Swedish group have found a new level by combining individual skill and teamplay.  This upcoming series will be interesting to watch in many different ways. Granit managed to upgrade their game a lot to the quarterfinals but even though they were able to handle SAWO, in the semifinals they will face the best team in Europe right now.  It's hard to go against the reigning champion but it's obvious that Granit will make this series hard for hREDS. Knowing the fact that Granit and REDS are very similar when it comes to having scoring power in every position, the main thing will be the defensive effort in both ends of the ice. It's of course expected that REDS will dominate with puck possession so Granit will have to make their decisions wisely when they get to the offensive zone. The goaltending battle will be fun to watch as both have hot goalies. Despite a great first round, this challenge will be too much for Granit, and hREDS will make their third consecutive finals run with a 4-1 series win.     Frölunda HC (3) vs  Färjestad BK (4) TOP SCORER Erik @Eki Tammenpää 4 GP, 3+4=7 vs Andreas @affelj96 Ljungberg 6 GP, 8+1=9 GOALTENDER Casper @ICappeI Lundgren 4 GP, 4 W, 82,76 SV%, 1.25 GAA, 0 SO vs Johan @McSavid Rundqvist 6 GP, 4 W, 87,04 SV%, 1.17 GAA, 2 SO REGULAR SEASON RECORD 22-5-3 vs 22-7-1 REGULAR SEASON SERIES 3-4, 4-5 OT On paper, it was a dominant showing for Frölunda HC against their dear rival HAVU Gaming in the Quarterfinals. The Indians managed to sweep HAVU, despite the black and green being in the drivers seat for the entirety of the series. Frölunda HC seem to have mastered the current meta and are able to convert on chances from the dirty areas. All of their games against HAVU were very low scoring, which we're definitely used to between the two. The most impactful player thus far for Frölunda could very well be Paul @PleeMaker Arontie, who has managed to find alternative ways to help his team despite not yet finding that finishing touch we're used to seeing. The left winger is one of the more aggressive players on his team, meaning that from time to time he will force things to happen in a stalemate game. Despite not always being on their game, it seems like Frölunda HC is the most resilient team around, and they always find a way to turn games in their favor, especially the bigger the stakes on the line. Look for Erik @Eki Tammenpää to step up with some big goals when needed the most. On the other end of the series, we're finding Färjestad BK, who have paved their way to the Semifinals once again with a great team effort. They had to extend a bit longer than Frölunda in their Quarterfinal matchup against IQUE, who had a sensational regular season. With their 4-2 series victory, they move on to this SHL-team rivalry on the virtual ice. As previously stated, the former Färjestad BK has relied a lot on Andreas @affelj96 Ljungberg on that left wing to make things happen, but with their acquisition of André @Foppatofflan Liljegren, they have seen a big upgrade to their offense, turning it to a true triple threat situation. Färjestad definitely showcased their defensive efficiency in the quarterfinals against IQUE, and kept every game low in scoring against the very offensively talented Finnish squad. Look for a similar trend to continue against Frölunda in this bout. If the duo down low Sebastian @SebbeLarsen86 Larsen and Roni @MrNipsuli Kaján can find opening for their quick forwards, that is the opportunity to strike for FBK. In this exciting SHL-rivalry tilt, we can expect Frölunda HC to lead the way with possession, but Färjestad BK will cause them trouble with their fast counter-attacking and triple threat offense. Frölunda HC is undeniably the better unit and should be able to control play across all three zones consistently, which should lead to them having a considerable advantage in scoring chances. The goalie duel is also an interesting one, in which we see the arguably two best Swedish goalies go up against each other. Statistically it's a tough call to differentiate between Casper @ICappeI Lundgren and Johan @McSavid Rundqvist, but I'd give the edge to Cappe due to his wider understanding of the game mechanics - he also has experience of playing forward at high levels. Despite Färjestad managing to win the regular season series, I wouldn't expect them to continue on a winning path too much further. They can grab one or two wins, but Frölunda will advance in the end, let's say 4-1.    

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

  NHLGamers, We've seen some very exciting playoff action thus far in the ECL Neo division, and the games keep getting tougher! Only eight teams remain as we enter the Quarterfinals. In Neo, the playoffs consist of the top 6 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 first 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 Neo playoffs: Round 1 6.-11.2 Round 2 13.-18.2 Quarters 20.-25.2 Semis 27.2.-6.3 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-five and the higher seeded team will play 'at home' first, then alternate back and forth with the lower seeded team.  Here are the matchups for the Quarterfinals of the ECL '22 Winter Neo Playoffs:   Latvian Hockey Federation (1) vs Caterpillar HC (17) Uudenmaan Oilers (2) vs HC JEUSSEN (9) Old Hogs (4) vs Unknown Heroes (7) Swiss Mountaineers (5) vs Huimat (6)   Good luck for everyone!