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At only 17 years of age, prospect Kasper @Kaz_zu Ramstedt has climbed the ranks to the top of the pool in terms of goaltending talent. He has made a name for himself in the Elite division previously playing for Rusty Blades and Roots Gaming, but his most recent claim to fame was the ECL '22 Winter Pro title with JYP Jyväskylä. The young man says that his first memories of playing NHL games date back to being just a toddler, when he played games with his own father and relatives: "I was playing with my father and godmother's husband at the time, and they stuck a disconnected controller in my hands, but I still celebrated the goals as hard as anyone", the Pori, Finland native thinks back at that time. After starting school, Ramstedt says that he started playing HUT for the first time. He recalls how his father then created his first PSN account called kaz__zu. The current PSN ID is a bit shorter, and has changed due to some forgotten logins along the way. At home, the young goalie prospect is mainly about hockey, as both him and his father shares a mutual interest in hockey and the NHL series. He says his father (@tondeeee) has also played at the ECL level and serves as a goalie coach outside of the virtual rinks. One of his closest teammates is long-time community member Väinö @vSilenttio Pietilä, who has kind words to say about the young goalie: ”Me and @Kaz_zu first met back in Roots at the end of 2020, when we signed the young kid who had only played for the Clumsy Penguins to mind the net with Joonas @swagx88 Kuossari in shared responsibility. It really didn't take long for Kassu to earn the trust of the team to play as a tandem with Joonas." Despite his young age, Kazzu has grown very close to several teammates and he is held in high regard as one of the nicer guys in the community. He sees that he's been welcomed with open arms into teams he's been a part of: ”I think it's funny, I don't want to focus on what age the others are as long as they're good guys, nothing else really matters. And I think it's great how well I've been included. It's also easy to play when your own team members trust you. I don't really get any tips from them anymore, they let me focus on my own work and I let them do theirs” One of Ramstedt's newer teammates is defenseman Saku @Sakkem Saaranluoma, who joined JYP from KOVA Esports after the latest FCL tournament, and he has got to know the goalie well: "It's always fun to play with @Kaz_zu. He brings a lot of energy to the party with his mouth in perpetual motion. His laughter and lightheartedness really spreads to the whole team. On the ice, he makes the necessary stops and always gives the team a chance to win, and his performances usually get better as the pressure rises. Even in the lates finals, he strung together three consecutive shutouts." In addition to stopping pucks on the virtual ice, Ramstedt is no stranger to strapping on the pads in the traditional sense either. He's spent 12 years stopping pucks also on the real ice and sees some benefit translating that to his virtual game. Especially positioning and reading plays are something that translates well, great reflexes can also be a benefit. However, he stresses that the real game and virtual goaltending are two very different things. Some of the most important skills a goalie should have are great nerves and the ability to handle pressure. Kazzu also notes that you shouldn't be too hard on yourself, since the goalie could often be both the hero and the villain, depending on how the end result looks on the board. The goaltender states that excercise is of great importance and helps with focus going into games. He also stresses that sometimes excercise is out of necessity, since practice could end shortly before the ECL action starts: ”I don't really have any game routines other than that I always try to play sports before games, e.g. in the gym, but the routines vary a lot because sometimes the workouts end at 9pm and the ECL games might start at 9.30pm, so I might be in a rush sometimes. I've always somehow managed to fuse the schedules together, and for that I'd like to thank all of the great community at SportsGamer." His ECL 11 appearances in some high-profile broadcast games against YMCA Esports are some that come to mind when asked about the greatest gaming memories thus far. The inexperienced netminder really made a statement in those two clashes, leaving the traditionally very offensive YMCA without a single goal in the games. As customary, we asked Kazzu to form the top 6 of his dreams, with a short comment about why these players were chosen: @Frans-Fin - @Siltsu - @Timotei97 @tondeeee - @Tanski87 @Kaz_zu ”I thought that would be a classy line-up and of course I had to include my own father, I don't know if I would've been welcome home if I didn't. I think we'd have a lot of fun with that group, every player is a great personality. @Tanski87 has played a big part for my career and he's always been supportive and trusted me even when things didn't go as planned. Some day I'd like to play as a defensive pair with my best friend @Siltsu for example.” In the Winter season, JYP Jyväskylä managed to win the Pro Championship and claim their spot back in the European top 16. We asked the netminder about some comments about the past season and something about what's to come for the team: "The Pro title was great, out season was good but quite fluctuant. Moving forward, we need to develop our game and be more consistent. Our roster has changed a bit as fellow kiddo Aaro @xAaro89x Aarvala has joined us as a winger, but I'll still remain the youngest on the team. I'm excited for next season back in Elite. I don't have any specific goals for the season, as I think it's going to be very even and tough. It would be great to make the playoffs, but my main focus is handling my own tasks and giving the team a chance to win every night." When asked about the young man's personality, teammate @vSilenttio doesn't hold back: ”I don't know what kind of locker room presence Kazzu has in the traditional sport when I'm not there, but from what I've experienced, everything about Kazzu points towards his representing the traditional goalie type, which is known to be a bit of a different breed. Goalies tend to be a bit different from their teammates and they usually have their own little things going, and I don't mean this in a bad way. If I'f have to provide a practical example, you all probably remember Ilya Bryzgalov and his galaxy rant back in the HBO Flyers-Rangers 24/7 documentary. Kazzu rarely talks about space, but I think you get the point.” ”Kazzu is also by far the loudest in-game player I have ever come across in my career. Whether it's crunching down on some peanuts, shouting at the opposing team, singing along with the latest Finnish hits, watching TikToks or simply breathing heavily into the mic, this guy always makes his presence known. No wonder he's already made a name for himself as "the beast", not only for his performances on the ice I guess. He has always been a good teammate for me, quickly finding his spot in JYP, and despite his young age and lack of experience, @Kaz_zu is a goalkeeper who has proven his level and is easy to trust in a tough place. Never change, kid <3!”, @vSilenttio continues.

SportsGamers, The sun is shining, and the snow is melting. As your traditional hockey seasons might be pushing towards the postseason, on the virtual side of things, we're just about to witness the Elite Finale tonight! We're very excited for what the games ahead will hold, but we're also turning our heads towards the ECL '22 Spring season and launching registrations for all divisions. For the ECL '22 Winter season, we brought in licenses to our lower divisions for the first time. We received huge support from the community and will continue with the same formula for the ECL '22 Spring season. We're always in the process of developing further, so all feedback will be welcomed with open arms. During the ECL '22 Winter season, you probably also noticed our rebrand, which brought a new name, a refreshed website, and some other added features. Most importantly, this allows for us to operate vertically across all sports games in the esports market. The community is certainly also interested to know on which console the ECL Spring will be played? We’ve decided that the ECL '22 Spring season will be played on the PlayStation 4 version and we’ll move to the PlayStation 5 version in the next ECL. However, this does not exclude playing other tournaments on the PlayStation 5 version already in the summer. Without further ado, let's go into it. The ECL is the pinnacle of European NHL esports - a league where all the best European NHL gamers create teams and compete against each other in the game mode EASHL (6v6) for the title of Best EASHL Team in Europe. The league currently features five divisions, so action is guaranteed for everyone regardless of skill level and experience! Basic information/requirements of ECL: Regional restrictions: ECL is a European tournament format, however, we do not necessarily exclude North American or Russian players. A European server will always be used. In case of severe connection issues, we reserve the right to exclude teams or players. Russian-owned organization's participation is currently prohibited indefinitely. The ban affects organizations, meaning that Russian players and their private created teams will be able to participate, but cannot be affiliated to a Russian-owned organization. 6v6 tournament: ECL is played 6 vs. 6 only, using the EASHL Challenge Club game mode in NHL 22. Individual requirements: Each player needs to have an account at NHLGamer.com and create their personal player card. Roster requirements: Teams in ECL Elite need to have at least 7 players to sign up. Teams in ECL Pro, ECL Lite, ECL Core and ECL Neo need to have at least 8 players to sign up. The roster cap is 14 players. ECL licenses: Teams in ECL Elite & ECL Pro will be require their respective ECL '22 Spring license in order to play. Optional licenses are available for the ECL Lite and Core levels. More details below. Rules: The ECL '22 Spring ruleset will follow the same foundation as in ECL '22 Winter season. Wildcard Battle: 5.-10.3. ⚠️ ECL Lite Qualifier: 5.-13.3. ⚠️ ECL Pro Qualifier: 5.-13.3. ⚠️ ECL Neo: 5.3.-1.4. ECL Core: 5.3.-1.4. ECL Lite: 5.-20.3. ECL Pro: 5.-20.3. ECL Elite: 5.-20.3. * Sign-ups will close 23:59 CET on the last day mentioned unless otherwise specified. Additionally, players qualifying for the Wildcard spot must be on the team roster by the time the sign-ups close. Below you'll find the condensed version of what's new this year in the ECL. For a longer look, please read our article about the new era of ECL. ECL Winter & Spring ECL seasons will no longer carry the same numerical distinctions next to them as before. Instead, NHLGamer will be hosting two annual ECL seasons: ECL Winter and ECL Spring. The combined prize pools for ECL Winter, ECL Spring and the ECL Grand Finals will be larger than anything seen before in NHL esports! We’ll be hosting an ECL Grand Final – with an additional prize pool – to crown the annual ECL Champion. This much-anticipated best-of-seven event will feature the ECL Elite teams who won ECL Winter and ECL Spring, respectively. Prize pools for ECL Pro, Lite and Core ECL Elite remains the pinnacle of virtual hockey gaming in Europe but as our community continues to grow and the competition becomes increasingly tougher, playing in ECL Pro, Lite and Core is more prestigious than ever before. We’ll be adding a license and prize pool for our second-tier division; ECL Pro – and voluntary licenses and prize pools for ECL Lite and Core. ECL Pro will feature a mandatory license fee and prize pool. All the money from the team licenses goes into the prize pool. The top sixteen (16) out of the divisions’ 32 teams will be awarded a share of the prize pool. ECL Lite and Core will feature a voluntary license fee and a prize pool for the teams who choose to acquire a license. The top 16 teams that choose to acquire a license in ECL Lite (64 teams) will be awarded a share of the prize pool. The top 32 teams that choose to acquire a license in ECL Core (128 teams) will be awarded a share of the prize pool. See more about licenses in our Licenses section. The divisions framework for the ECL '22 Spring will follow the same logic as for the previous season. We will have a total of five divisions with the following team allocation: Elite 16 teams, Pro 32 teams, Lite 64 teams, Core 128 teams and Neo 32+ teams. Please use the below links for more detailed info about each division and which teams are eligible to sign up: Wildcard Battle information (for ECL Lite and Pro Qualifiers) ECL Lite & Pro Qualifiers information ECL Neo Season Information ECL Core Season Information ECL Lite Season Information ECL Pro Season Information ECL Elite Season Information *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. Don't have a team yet? Team looking for additions to your roster? If you are a free agent looking to be picked up, please head over here. If you are representing a team looking for players, please head over here. Did your team sign with an organization that is represented in the game and needs in-game unlocks? Fill in this form. (Only if your organization has unlockables available in NHL 22) Social media Here's an update to the social media instructions. Our sponsors this season are Kouvolan Lakritsi, Wilhelm & St Hockey. Twitter: When posting tweets of your lineups, matchups, recaps, clips, articles - or any other content you might want to create - please make sure to tag the following accounts and hashtag: @SportsGamerGG #ECL22Spring #NHL22 #esports #kouvolanlakritsi #MukanaWilhelm Instagram: When posting on Instagram, please make sure to tag the following accounts and hashtag: @SportsGamerGG #ECL22Spring #NHL22 #esports #kouvolanlakritsi #MukanaWilhelm Note: It is super helpful and critical for us to succeed in getting our partners tagged, so they get the necessary mentions and interaction to validate their participation in the future. That being said, it is understandable that there may be circumstances due to your other partners where you are unable to tag competition etc. Your support is appreciated. As there are quite a few hashtags by now, especially from a Twitter perspective with limited characters, we recommend using at least #ECL22Winter in the text part of the tweet and leave the sponsor tags for the end. If you need to cut out tags, remove #esports and #NHL22. For Instagram this shouldn't be an issue. 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 This post has been promoted to an article