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Another ECL Pro season is now finished and what a season it was. Two top teams managed to earn their places in the Elite division for the Spring season. On behalf of SportsGamer and the community I want to congratulate JYP Jyväskylä and Stargazing for their successful seasons and wish them good luck among the European top 16. Regular season At the beginning of the season we had some clear favorites and playoff candidates in both groups. Especially JYP Jyväskylä, Reality Check, GHETTO FIREBIRDS and VISU Gaming were named as favorites in both groups and most of them were very hard to beat in the regular season. Teams like Dynastia, RCTIC, Hanaa HC and Renascor were expected to be stronger after some great offseason signings and that turned out to be a correct prediction as all of these teams made their way to the playoffs. A couple of the favorite teams started their seasons weaker than expected and they had big troubles against some teams on occasion. At the end of the regular season we saw some really tight battles for the final playoff spots. Perhaps the biggest surprises of this ECL Pro regular season was that VISU Gaming and Växjö Lakers didn’t make their way to the playoffs. VISU Gaming played in the finals of the Elite Qualifiers before the season started. Somehow they just didn’t get their game going in the regular season, but they managed to keep their spot in the Pro division eventually. Växjö had a strong team with all the Elite experience, but alike VISU Gaming they didn't get their game going in time to make the playoffs. Also I would add Pata Hellalla to this list, they have played in the top two divisions for so long now but at this time they didn't have a chance to keep their spot. Regular season All Star lineup @Ojala16 (Tohtorit) - @Virusactive (Renascor) - @Valluxet (Renascor) @MCH_98 (Hokurit) - @xXPsykoSkillsXx (Deadly Phantoms) @Jeresti (GHETTO FIREBIRDS) Playoffs In the first round we saw some really tight series including one that went all the way to game seven. With only one series ending in a sweep, we can really say that all of these teams belonged in the playoffs. In the quarterfinals we saw two matchups going all the way to a game seven and both clear favorites were on the brink of elimination, but both Reality Check and JYP Jyväskylä managed to come away with the win in the end. The semifinals were a joy to watch, both series extending to a game seven. It was a game of inches and with these small margins, a bounce or two the other way could've changed the outcome. JYP and Reality Check pushed through to the Finals. In the finals we saw the two strongest teams in the Pro division. Both teams won their own group. Reality Check started their series with two complete blowout wins but after that JYP Jyväskylä showed how dominant of a team they can be at their best by winning four games straight and being crowned the Champions of ECL '22 Winter Pro, gaining their promotion to Elite back. Quite interestingly, two teams that had a weaker regular season really came out of their shells in the playoffs. Those teams were RCTIC and Stargazing. Both teams lost the Semifinal in game seven and both of those teams can be proud of how good they played against two contender teams. Having tight defense and scoring on counter attacks kept their hopes alive all the series. Also having great goalies behind their tight defense almost led their way to the finals. Playoffs All Star lineup @Buantso (JYP) - @tbnantti (JYP) - @Pursuitti (Reality Check) @vSilenttio (JYP) - @kim_johan (Reality Check) @FINSeRe (Reality Check) Elite Qualifiers After their successful Pro campaign, Reality Check, RCTIC and Stargazing were allowed a great chance to climb their way to the Elite Division in the Elite Qualifiers against Conquer Gaming, HV71 and Northern Ascendancy respectively. We saw tight battles between all these teams but unfortunately only one team from the Pro division managed to secure their spot in Elite for next season as Stargazing overcame Northern Ascendancy. Going from Core to Elite in two seasons is something that you could just dream about. Congratulations to Stargazing for achieving that huge step forward. The most important individuals for their teams There are so many players that can be put on this list but I named one from every playoff team. These players aren’t just scoring points, these players are helping their team to win every game and play to the best of their abilities in both ends of the ice. Also there are two goalies on this list that made an impact this season. Renascor: @Valluxet, Tohtorit: @Ojala16, Hanaa HC: @xLeikku, Reality Check: @vvlampela, JYP Jyväskylä: @Buantso, Sinister: @OsquuG, RCTIC: @Naikou88, Deadly Phantoms: @xXPsykoSkillsXx,Dynastia: @Pikkardz, Hokurit: @MCH_98, GHETTO FIREBIRDS: @Jeresti, Herlev Eagles: @TeikDaun, Stargazing: @Flopper71, Sulkavan Sudet: @Koppipelaaja, noRex Gaming: @Keuschemischand Gifu Hockey: @N44TTI_16. Finally, two teams really stood out above all others this season, capping their campaigns off with promotions. Let's go through the journeys to success for both JYP Jyväskylä and Stargazing. JYP Jyväskylä Regular season record (23-5-2), #2 seed in the playoffs. In the regular season JYP dominated their opponents, but in the beginning of the season they also had some serious problems. After the first eight games JYP had a 4-2-2 record, which was a tremendous disappointment but after that they really got their game going and only lost three games after that hard start. Round 1 JYP Jyväskylä - Gifu Hockey 4-0 In the first round of the playoffs JYP faced #8 seed GIFU Hockey. JYP dominated every game even though they hardly even reached their best level. JYP allowed only one goal in four games and paved their way quite easily to the next round. Quarterfinals JYP Jyväskylä - noRex Gaming 4-3 This series will be remembered as the tightest series in the Quarterfinals, the series went all the way to game seven. noRex Gaming put up a really good fight against JYP and looked very dangerous from time to time. noRex started the series with two wins, but after that JYP took the drivers seat in the series and cruised their way to the semifinals. Semifinals JYP Jyväskylä - RCTIC 4-3 This incredibly tight series between these two strong teams went all the way to game seven. Even though this series went to game seven I feel like JYP had this series under control all the time. JYP won game seven 3-1 with a dominant performance and kept their dream alive going to the final against Reality Check. Finals JYP Jyväskylä - Reality Check 4-2 Reality Check got a dream start to this series and won the first two games. After that JYP really shut things down defensively and started converting on their chances. JYP won four games in a row without allowing a single goal and honestly dominated every single game in this series even though Reality Check won game one and two. There weren't any underdogs in this series, clearly two best teams in the Pro division this season. Stargazing Regular season record (20-9-1), #10 seed in the playoffs. Stargazing started their regular season with four wins in a row and lost only three games in the first 17. After that they started to struggle a little bit, but still managed to make their way to the playoffs easily. Round 1 Stargazing - Sinister 4-2 In the first round of the playoffs Stargazing faced the very good defending team Sinister. All these games were tight in this series but at the end Stargazing managed to get their game going and kept their dream alive, closing the series in game six with a 3-2 win. Quarterfinals Stargazing - Tohtorit 4-2 In the quarter finals we saw last seasons Core bronze game rematch between Stargazing and Tohtorit. Stargazing dominated the first night between these two teams and won the three first games in this series. After that night, Tohtorit started to bounce back, but a bit too late. Tohtorit won game four and five but after that Stargazing closed the series with a clear 3-0 win and got through to the semifinals. Semifinals Stargazing - Reality Check 3-4 This series was a close one and went to game seven. After the first night Stargazing was leading the series 2-1 and also won game four. They had three chances to end the series but Reality Check somehow found their game in the right time and dominated games after that, getting away with the win in the end. Even though Stargazing lost this series they still had a chance to achieve that Elite spot through the relegation series. Elite Qualifiers Stargazing - Northern Ascendancy 4-0 This series included three overtime games and every single time Stargazing left the ice as a winner. Stargazing won the first game 6-1 with a dominant performance but after that they started to struggle in the offensive zone. Having great goalies in both ends made this series even more interesting. Every single overtime game Stargazing ended with a power play goal, and every single time @Flopper71 scored the game winner. Stargazing are now playing in ECL Elite next season. A great performance all season long and a deserved promotion for them. That's all for the ECL '22 Winter Pro season, remember that the signups for the spring season are now open and we're hoping to see you all there!

SportsGamers, It's been a long season but now also the last of our divisions have come to a close in the form of the ECL '22 Winter Core Finals, where #2 seed Točený Salámy took on #5 seed Almtuna eSport. A tough battle was expected between the two combatants and they certainly delivered. Despite the series being over by a sweep, three games out of four extended into overtime. When it was all said and done, Almtuna eSport hoisted the cup in the newest ECL division.   Almtuna eSport's s road to the championship: #5 seed from group 4 with the record 21-3-0 Round 1: vs Carolina Reapers 4-1 Round 2: vs SKYFALL 4-2 Round 3: vs Ebangalakata 4-0 Quarterfinals: vs Lausanne HC Esports 4-1 Semifinals: vs Sawolanche 4-1 Finals: vs Točený Salámy 0-4 The winning roster: GOALTENDERS #11 @Rickard Pettersson (lokope11) #30 @benjamint737 DEFENSEMEN #2 @Knickedikk (Snyggve-) #62 @PillenUpp (A) #74 @oh_man (bjoohm) FORWARDS #16 @jazze- #18 @BeastBenn14 (C) #87 @SmitteX (A) #91 @Svana_22 Once again, congratulations to the winners on behalf of the entire community!

Would your friend group make the best NHL esports squad around? SportsGamer presents a ground-breaking competitive amateur tournament for Finnish citizens in the form of the Wilhelm eHockey Tour! The Wilhelm eHockey Tour starts in mid-April and is aimed at casual players in the Finnish market. All you need is a team with 2-4 players, access to NHL 22 on PlayStation 4 and a stable internet connection to have a chance at glory and the largest slice of the 10 000 € prize pool. We’ll tour all the biggest hockey towns in Finland virtually in order to determine the inaugural Wilhelm eHockey Tour Champion. The tournament is intended for players who are interested in playing competitively, but haven't necessarily taken the steps to get involved yet. Our goal is to get new players into competitive NHL gaming and grow our community. In order to make the gaming experience for new players as enjoyable as possible, we have restricted participation in the tournament so that players and teams from the top two ECL divisions (Pro & Elite) cannot participate in the tournament. While this event is for Finland only, we want to see this event succeed and bring similar events for other countries in the future. What? A competitive NHL 22-tournament, played on PlayStation 4. Mode: CHEL 4v4 Prize pool 10 000 € Teams of 2-4 players Where? City tournaments will be played online, and each team is eligible to participate in as many as they want The finals will be played in Helsinki When? The city tournaments will last 1-2 days over the weekend, depending on amount of participants Helsinki 16.-17.4. Tampere 23.-24.4. Turku 30.4.-1.5. Oulu 7.-8.5. Jyväskylä 14.-15.5. Kuopio 21.-22.5. Mikkeli 28.-29.5. Kouvola 4.-5.6. Espoo 11.-12.6. TOP 32 Playoffs 14.-15.6. Finals, Helsinki 18.-19.6. Whether you’re always playing for the win, or are just out there to have some fun, this is your chance to test out the competitive side of NHL esports at an amateur level. The prizes are also great! Our partners will be rewarding the best performers in each city tournament with product prizes in addition to the main prize pool up for grabs. Your road to the playoffs can be paved either by gaining a top 3 finish in one of the city tournaments, or by touring the events and collecting enough ranking points to qualify. Eventually, the eight best squads will make a finals appearance in Helsinki in June. The city tournaments and the final event can all be followed at the SportsGamer.gg Twitch-channel. In addition to top notch entertainment and great virtual hockey, our viewers can also expect some raffles and product prizes from our partners. Wilhelm eHockey Tour Landing Page (In Finnish) Partners:

The ECL Winter 22 Lite division has now ended and it's time to take a moment to look at what has happened over the course of the long campaign. Lite started as a 64 team division, but there could be only one winner. Congratulations to Mora IK who came through the Lite qualifiers all the way to the top to win the Lite division. This season saw dominating teams, underdogs going through and upsets alike - let's go through some of these events. @Timotei97 for Bellizzi dominated skater stats being the only one to reach over 100 points in the regular season, but a couple other players crossed that fabled 50 goal mark, with Valco's @itspardytime being the best scorer with 58 goals. Among defensemen we saw a quite unusual phenomenon, when traditionally defensively supreme @iSvamp stepped up as the leading scorer, both Prima eSport defensemen were great in the +/- department, as a result of their superior play in the regular season. The best goalies by save percentage (at least 14 games) were @Hangoverangel (Pasilan SKA), @I-THE_EAGLE-I (EHC Biel Bienne), @Giinis (Bastu) and W1nchester_62 (AK Bars). Quite interestingly, in each group we had one team that were in a class for themselves, above the competition. In group one, Prima eSport, group two Linköping HC, group three Golden Nights and for group four, FILADELPHIA Academy. One thing that all these clubs share is their sovereign play and also the favorite position they had going into the season. On the other hand, one of the biggest upsets must have been the Resurrection. They managed to win the Core division in ECL 12, but lost some key players in the offseason, which might have been one of the key factors leading to such a tough outcome this season. One team that also has suddenly seen a decline is without a doubt Södertälje SK. A couple of seasons ago they played in Pro and in the last ECL they reached the quarterfinals. What has happened to the once so competitive squad? Another strong team from last seasons Core division is Pasilan SKA, who also had a disappointing Lite entry. Losing their star player @Macentoitunu hit them hard and they couldn't patch the leak. Luckily, we were also treated to some teams upping their game, in other terms surprising us positively. Valco (former TIKI TALK) was one of these teams. Last season's disappointment turned to this season's success. One great emergence was also TadPole, who played in Core last season and proved that they still have more potential in store for us moving forward by reaching a #8 seed in the groupstage. Also, there's no getting by how Hunters managed to push their way to the semifinals with a rather inexperienced squad. Especially @Vale16 stands out as their leading scorer throughout, but their sole most experienced player @Karkkyjaa must have also played a big role for the team. *Note that the writer plays for Hunters, the above section was written by @jahajaha93. Regular season All Star lineup purely based on stats: @Timotei97 (Bellizzi) @Robban kaudern (Kaudomovic) (Mora IK) @itspardytime (Valco) @iSvamp (Prima eSport) @saunapastori (Tadpole) @Janne Hietala (Hiatala__) (Tadpole) However, the greatest team of the season was undeniably Mora IK. Coming through the Lite Qualifiers to win the whole division against one of the strongest Lite teams ever in FILADELPHIA ACADEMY is an incredible feat. The finals that ended in a game seven were also a thrilling series and a pleasure to watch throughout. With that, I thought we could break down our two finalists, starting out with FILADELPHIA ACADEMY, who held the favorite position going into the finals. FILADELPHIA ACADEMY Regular season record: 26-2-0 (Group 4) #1 seed into the playoffs FILADELPHIA ACADEMY had a great regular season as expected, dominating most matchups with a couple of slip-ups, that can be chalked up to loss of focus on some nights. Round 1 FILADELPHIA ACADEMY - RoKi Esports 4-0 When the playoffs started, RoKi Esports put up a great fight against the #1 seed as the first three games were only one goal games despite FILADELPHIA holding possession for the most part. The series ended in a FILADELPHIA firepower showcase and a 6-0 victory for that side. Round 2 FILADELPHIA ACADEMY - Toxicity 4-1 This was a pretty similar series to their opening round, but Toxicity stole one game. FILADELPHIA still outscored Toxicity 15-7 when the second game ended 8-1. Without that second game's slaughter, the games were tight and Toxicity put up a good fight. FILA was really clinical when it mattered the most. Quarterfinals FILADELPHIA ACADEMY - Alliance HT 4-2 Against Alliance HT, FILA started out the series routinely. They controlled the game through puck possession and playing their own game but firepower was missing. Alliance's tight defence held out the Filadelphia from the best scoring sector, putting the first game to double overtime and @TEST0-RYTZE scored the game winner. The second game was like a replay from the first game, but a couple of early goals came in favour of FILA and their defense held up throughout the game. The third game of the series was FILADELPHIA holding the puck and trying to find a way to score, but Alliance's defence was rock solid with @someth1ng_w1ld between the pipes. Eventually the game ended 4-2 to Alliance as a result of amazing goaltending and great team defense. Alliance also capitalized on the momentum and won the fourth game 3-0 and showed that they are really fighting for the spot in the semifinals. The fifth and sixth game, on the other hand, showed what FILADELPHIA ACADEMY is made from. They put forth a solid performance in both games, taking the wins 4-0 and 2-0. Two shutouts for @Tappu and it sure looked like nothing can stop them from now on. Semifinals FILADELPHIA ACADEMY - Hunters 4-0 Hunters was surely not going to be the team to stop FILA. The series was tighter than 4-0 would indicate, but the scoring efficiency of FILADELPHIA really put them ahead. Mora IK Regular season record: 23-5-2 (Group 4) #6 seed into the playoffs Mora IK, our other finalist were the clear underdogs. Moras regular season had a rough start as they lost their first three out of four games, but after that they found their stride, and only lost three more during the regular season. They might have had some benefit to going through the Lite Qualifiers and really glued together over the course of their campaign. Round 1 Mora IK - Its a nice city 4-1 In the first round of the playoffs Mora faced another qualifier team in Its a nice city. The first game was clearly Moras, the second game was anyone's game when Mora took the 1-0 victory. The third game went to Its a nice city. Puck control was quite even throughout but Mora seemed to have the edge in finishing. Especially the fifth game was a show of Moras good defense and firepower with a 5-1 victory. Round 2 Mora IK - Bastu 4-3 This was a thrilling seven game series between two good teams. Both teams held shutouts and scored when they had the chance. All in all, a very even series but Mora came out as the winner and continued to the quarterfinals Quarterfinals Mora IK - Linköping HC 4-1 Linköping HC controlled the play for most of the series. More shots, more possession, more offensive zone time. Still, a strong defense and a solid goalkeeper are the things that wins you games in these tight situations. Moras team defense was a key factor for the win and goalkeeper @Jeqque44 handled the situation and kept his cool when it mattered the most. Semifinals Mora IK - Prima eSport 4-1 During the playoffs, Moras game came together really nicely as the season progressed. In the semifinals they faced a really tough opponent, Prima eSport, who won their group in the regular season by losing only four games. Good puck movement and tough defense were Primas keys to success and we waited for at least a long series between these two teams. However, the first night they played, Mora grabbed a 3-1 lead in the series. Games were pretty even but Prima ended up running into the suffocating Mora defense and their hot goaltender. Mora used their scoring chances really well and was patient throughout the series. When they got the lead they held it. When they were trailing in the second game they started to pressure more and won it in overtime. Finals FILADELPHIA ACADEMY – Mora IK 3-4 The final with the two best teams of the season. Probably one of the best teams in Lite history in FILADELPHIA ACADEMY. A dominant regular season, only three playoff losses. Firepower on both wings and a really experienced captain. They had to go up against the team that got through the qualifiers, came together in the regular season. Played smart defense throughout the playoffs and would come into the finals as massive underdogs. Eventually, the Finals followed the script quite closely. None of the teams managed to grab more than two consecutive wins and it was really a back and forth battle. After the first night of games, Mora held a 2-1 series lead. FILADELPHIA held the possession, but once again, Mora and their team defense held tight. During the second night of play, FILADELPHIA managed to grab the 3-2 series lead and it looked like this could be in the history books, but Mora managed to really dig deep and turn it around in astonishing fashion. To everyone's surprise, we crowned the underdogs the new Lite Champions at the end of the season. Playoffs All Star lineup Basically you could put the whole Mora team here, but we'll try to do a more complete approach. @xAaro89x(FILADELPHIA ACADEMY) @andreaskakan(Mora IK) @Bror1326 (Mora IK) @ZNKK(Mora IK) @Laama777(Hunters) @Jeqque44(Mora IK) Both wingers were almost the most important players for their teams and scored at a tremendous pace throughout. They also really came up clutch in the games when they were needed the most. @ZNKK could have been the best defensive defenseman there was this season. His TA/GA ratio is top notch and he also holds the most interceptions in the playoffs. @Laama777 was also a very strong defensive presence for his team and ended up scoring some really big goals in the playoffs, especially against Golden Nights, without which Hunters wouldn't even have been in the mix in the late postseason. The goalie @Jeqque44 was in a class of his own this season, a total brick wall. That'll be all for the ECL '22 Winter Lite season, remember that the signups for the spring season are now open and we're hoping to see you all there!