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Let's not tiptoe around it, these art the teams that are here to challenge for the throne and with that, a golden ticket to the Grand Finals in mid-June. We've already gone over most of the division and you know who we'll be previewing here, but let's try to dig a bit below the surface, so join us for the journey! Season information To find out about the prize pool specifics, check out our earlier prize pool info article. For a look at the whole ECL framework, check out the sign-ups article. Notable dates for the ECL '22: Spring Elite season: Regular season: 10.4-25.5. Playoffs: Quarterfinals: 30.5-2.6. Semifinals: 5.-8.6. Live Finals: 17.-18.6. Grand finals (if needed): 19.6. Default gamedays for the ECL '22: Spring Elite division will be on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday with feature broadcasts on every gameday at the SportsGamer Twitch at 17:45 CEST on Sundays and 19:45 CEST on Mondays and Wednesdays. Stay tuned for the season opening broadcast on 10.4. You can access the rulebook, schedule, standings, statistics and full rosters from the ECL ‘22: Spring Elite league page. The best of the best - Championship caliber The countdown is over and it's time for us to reveal the final order of our championship caliber teams. To no one's surprise, we're expecting both hREDS and Frölunda HC to top the tables and go the full length to determine who will come out on top in the ECL's new El Clásico. For all teams at the top but hREDS, the offseason was certainly one for the ages and it'll remain to be seen if that ended up strengthening these squads or not. On paper, all of them look stronger than ever and we are privileged to watch these teams clash for the title, starting on Sunday, April 10th at 17:45 CEST! 1. hREDS (Written by @ose16) ECL '22 Winter Elite season: Champions We're really at a lack of words at this point for how you could describe the domination of hREDS over the past two seasons as they became the first back-to-back Champions in the ECL Elite history. This season, the Reds will continue with the same lineup of course. Maybe the biggest question for these guys next season is, can they have that much needed hunger for the third title in a row because if that doesn’t exist, the likes of Frölunda HC are itching for a chance to pass them by. Captain Perttu @Beniittto Kemppainen has a massive role on that front together with his assistants, as they need to make sure to pull everything they can out of this well oiled machine. With the new format you have to remember that making it a three-peat this season, would simultaneously crown them the ECL '22 Grand Champions, but if not, they still have that golden ticket to fight for the title. Player to watch: Aaro @xDoumi Ruuhinen It's really hard to pull just one guy above the others from this lineup but if we had to, it'd be this guy. It's no coincidence that after @xDoumi came to hREDS they have started winning titles. Last season, he dominated all the stats and was crowned as the top defender in the league. Can he repeat that this season and control games with his team throughout the spring too? 2. Frölunda HC ECL '22 Winter Elite season: Runner-ups Frölunda HC made the transfer that couldn't be missed this offseason by acquiring long-time HAVU Gaming captain Tuukka @FlyerKungen Kuha to boost their offense and add even more of that winning mentality to their roster. How it's going to look for their lineup is that Joonas @Patzlaf Paatiala will take the LD spot, whereas Erik @Eki Tammenpää will move from the wing to center, a move that was previewed already in the ECL '22 Winter Elite finals. This means that if they didn't have enough experience from before, now they definitely do, as they could very well be the team with the most combined LAN and finals appearances under their belt. The thing that's plagued Frölunda for some time was their evident dislike of the game meta and the difficulty to find joy in improving themselves, something that should probably have seen a change with their big acquisition this spring. We're privileged to be able to watch first hand how this experiment will turn out, as arguably one of the greatest offensive trios ever gets separated and is being infused with a new, equally great player. There's a high likelihood of this season going down to the wire between Frölunda and hREDS once again, and if these guys can get as excited about the game as their competition, the race will be tighter than ever. Player to watch: Tuukka @FlyerKungen Kuha The former HAVU Gaming captain possesses second to none leadership qualities, a winning mentality and all the skill you could wish for, a perfect package. Without a doubt the most exciting transfer in recent memory and everyone will be watching to see how he will slot into the Frölunda lineup. 3. SAWO ESPORTS (Written by @ose16) ECL '22 Winter Elite season: Quarterfinals Last season, SAWO ESPORTS came in with a bang with the new lineup. Former Tunnel Vision's changes turned out to work wonders for them as the young team was 2nd in the regular season standings. The Playoffs were different story and with the disappointment, it could be good that spring came quickly for these guys, they must be eager to show that they can perform in the postseason too. This season, their offense stays the same and we will see if dynamic duo Jere @jxrska Laukka and Valtteri @Vattuyy Virtanen can continue on their productive paths. Center Aleksi @MozjaTG(Mozjayh) Kähkönen doesn’t maybe score that many goals but brings a great balance to this offensive trio with his abilities to make plays in the offensive zone but at the same time being a huge factor on defense. Down low, we'll see some changes as captain Tomi @tombo_02(tomboo-_-) Laitinen will get Teemu @Teemuyy Polttila by his side from Frölunda HC. They should have no problem with goaltending as cover gamer Niklas @uhNikke Nieminen will continue saving pucks between the goal posts. Player to watch: Teemu @Teemuyy Polttila It'll be interesting to see how big of a role the former Frölunda HC and hREDS defenseman will take this season. Despite the fact that he's played on two championship caliber teams, he is still looking for his first title. Still brings a lot of experience and winning culture to the squad. 4. Färjestad BK ECL '22 Winter Elite season: Semifinals There's been a number of players moving in and out of the Färjestad BK roster over the past few seasons, but captain Christoffer @I-Maise-I (I-Mallen-I) Berntsson, goalie Johan @McSavid Rundqvist, winger Andreas @affelj96 Ljungberg and their standings position have been somewhat consistent. This season, the team from Karlstad will be icing a fully Swedish lineup again, by bringing back Johan @Lehmannens Lehmann and having him take superstar Henrik @Eken45jr Eklund with him from the ashes of Granit Gaming. There's some history between several members of the team in having represented Vesa Pompa HC back in the day, where Affe, Lehmann and Eken actually won the very first SCL title at Birdie in Uppsala back in 2019. The new Färjestad is definitely more individually skilled than ever before and now has a tremendous amount of young talent in their ranks, but the biggest question is will the one puck be enough for them to share on the ice? Centerman Maise, defenseman Lehmannens and winger Eken all love quarterbacking plays and being in control, but can they find a suitable balance between the three of them? Player to watch: Johan @Lehmannens Lehmann His latest outing with Färjestad BK back in ECL 12 was a success story and truly brought him into the discussion of the very best defensemen in the league, in fact, he was crowned best defenseman and best offseason transfer to end the season, maybe we'll see a redo? To recap it all, here's our full ranking ahead of the ECL '22 Spring Elite season: 1. hREDS 2. Frölunda HC 3. SAWO ESPORTS 4. Färjestad BK 5. HAVU Gaming 6. IQUE 7. GOONS 8. JYP Jyväskylä 9. Roots Gaming 10. ZSC Esports 11. Stargazing 12. Falun Coal Miners 13. HV71 14. Örebro Hockey 15. Conquer Gaming 16. YMCA Esports Socials Here's an update to the social media instructions. Our sponsors this season are Kouvolan Lakritsi, St Hockey & Wilhelm. 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 very 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 #ECL22Spring 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.

After his dominant showing in the ECL '22 Winter Elite season, it is only right that the selection for the Spring season cover gamer would be Niklas @uhNikke Nieminen. In his first season as a bona fide Elite starter, he outclassed the competition and helped his team reach a #2 seed into the playoffs, which eventually ended up in a disappointment. after having started his competitive gaming career back in early 2018 with a team called Hokidogit, things have progressed quite fast for uhNikke. The 20 year old born and raised in Lohja, Finland took to the goaltender position due to necessity and has stayed on that path ever since. What really calls to him in playing the position is the fact that every game, you have a chance to either make or break it for your team. Things really took off in the fall of 2018, when the then very inexperienced netminder was picked up Delusion (now hREDS) to be their sole goaltender for their inaugural campaign in ECL 9 Pro - a season that ended in a Championship and promotion to the Elite division. Eventually, his tenure with hREDS ended up extending all the way until the fall of 2021 with one short sting with Tunnel Vision in between, but due to completing his military service, the goaltender didn't play too much and actually considered calling it quits at that point of his career. Now, six months and one ECL campaign with SAWO ESPORTS later, we are looking at a player at the top of his game, very eager to strap on the pads and to get the new season going. We reached out to Nikke for a short chat about the honor of being named ECL '22 Cover player alongside the prestigious group. List of previous ECL cover gamers: ECL 8: Erik @Eki Tammenpää ECL 9: Hannes @Hansulinho Kettunen ECL 10: Casper @ICappeI Lundgren ECL 11: Tuukka @FlyerKungen Kuha ECL 12: Niklas @NikkeDangles Tukiainen ECL '22 Winter: Johan @Lehmannens Lehmann & Hampus @l-Furyan-l Duvefelt First of all, congrats on the selection! You're entering great company, what does it mean for you to be the Spring season cover gamer? "Thanks! I'm very grateful to be in this position at this point of my career. I was close to calling it quits when I got our of the military but decided to give it one last shot with Tunnel Vision (now SAWO ESPORTS), and the result ended up being something great. Back in ECL 12 when my then teammate Niklas @NikkeDangles Tukiainen was the cover gamer I dared to dream of one day being at the top myself, and it's amazing how that's been manifested." You are now representing the entire league as a role model for other players, but also as the archetype of what the current top level gamer is, what do you think are some of the most important qualities a person in that position should possess? "Definitely a certain level of humility, but at the same time an immense hunger to succeed. With that I think you need to have a constant will to better yourself and take advice in order to do that. What separates a good player from a great player is often calmness, communication, and the ability to read the game." You've been a part of several different teams over the course of your career, barring your current one, what has been the most fun time of your career and why? "Probably the biggest step for my career has been when I joined Nordic Stars in 2019, which kind of put my name out there. Things progressed rather quick and when I joined Delusion for their first season in Pro, I was in for the biggest learning experience of my career. The atmosphere in that team is something else and it was evident from day one how much they really want to be the best out there." When you joined Delusion for ECL 9 Pro, you were filling the shoes of legendary @ICappeI as a rookie goaltender at the level, how did that feel? "Obviously I knew the stature of my predecessor, but I'm not the type to put too much pressure on myself and honestly didn't think about it too much. The boys put a lot of faith in me and I just did my thing." Who are some of the players you've looked up to over the course of your gaming career, not only because of their skills but perhaps their personalities? "Well, for my personal success a big thank you would go to Tuukka @Tuukka.R (KingOfApes_) Röpelinen, Perttu @Beniittto Kemppainen and the entire hREDS team, I looked up to them then and still respect them a lot for their desire to improve on a daily level. One player I've never played with but have followed closely throughout in Oskari @SibeIius Grönroos, who I hold in high regard and have tried to emulate my own game after. Last season I felt I was in the zone and haven't really followed others that much." Last but not least, a couple of thoughts on the upcoming season, who do you think will be contenders? Any interesting new outfits to look out for? "Firstly, I'm very excited for our own team. After the season we had in our last outing and with the addition of Teemu @Teemuyy Polttila from Frölunda HC I feel we're stronger than ever and are destined for success. The return of Falun Coal Miners is interesting and they've got a decent chance at the playoffs due to the history they've got together and their experience level. Some of the teams that are going to elevate their level should be YMCA Esports and Örebro Hockey. YMCA has one of the best goalies in the league (Ben @benu Rinnet) and a roster that's been together for a long time, whereas Örebro is getting an influx of talent through Väinö @Pikkardz Pikkarainen, who I can see helping them out a lot. Besides ourselves, the biggest contenders are hREDS and Frölunda HC." Sunday, 10th of April marks the start for our ECL '22 Spring Elite season and you'll see uhNikke take the ice with SAWO ESPORTS right away in their featured matchup against ECL '22 Winter runner-ups Frölunda HC. We expect to have a thriller on our hands, so make sure to join us at Twitch.tv/SportsGamerGG on Sunday at 17:45 CEST!

It's time to get underway with he second part of our ECL '22 Spring Elite Season Preview, consisting out of teams predicted to finish in the middle of the pack. Find out who we've put outside of the playoff picture, and who will grab the last available postseason spots. Season information To find out about the prize pool specifics, check out our earlier prize pool info article. For a look at the whole ECL framework, check out the sign-ups article. Notable dates for the ECL '22: Spring Elite season: Regular season: 10.4-25.5. Playoffs: Quarterfinals: 30.5-2.6. Semifinals: 5.-8.6. Live Finals: 17.-18.6. Grand finals (if needed): 19.6. Default gamedays for the ECL '22: Spring Elite division will be on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday with feature broadcasts on every gameday at the SportsGamer Twitch at 17:45 CEST on Sundays and 19:45 CEST on Mondays and Wednesdays. Stay tuned for the season opening broadcast on 10.4. You can access the rulebook, schedule, standings, statistics and full rosters from the ECL ‘22: Spring Elite league page. Socials Here's an update to the social media instructions. Our sponsors this season are Kouvolan Lakritsi, St Hockey & Wilhelm. 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 very 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 #ECL22Spring 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. Teams battling for playoff position - Throwing down the gauntlet It's time to introduce the middle of the pack, the positions where we expect the fiercest battles to go down, where all teams will be throwing down the collective gauntlet so to speak. As usual, we should see quite the fight go down all season long and into the very final rounds of the regular season. In the winter season, a rather unusually large gap was formed between the 9th and 8th spot, but with all teams seeing exponential growth over the offseason, we're expecting a tough grind to the finish line. Some of these squads are still young and possess the tools to go all they way if they end up clicking, but they have fallen short in previous seasons. This is the time to do all they can and see if all of their potential and hard work will come to fruition. 5. HAVU Gaming (Written by @ose16) ECL '22 Winter Elite season: Quarterfinals The long-time contenders have seen a steady decline over the past few seasons and with the transfer of former captain Tuukka @FlyerKungen Kuha to rival Frölunda HC, it appears that the glory days of HAVU Gaming would be over, at least for now. As a result, it's seemed that the team has rotated their lineup wildly over the course of the offseason, and they still might not have a final answer for which ensemble they're going to go with come opening night. Regardless of what they will choose, we are certain that the sheer routine level in their roster will be enough to earn them at least a playoff position. Player to watch: Ilmari @Buantso(Puantso) Lehkonen A massive comeback to ECL Elite and the familiar HAVU. After many championships in the black and green, played one season with JYP Jyväskylä in the Pro division. Like you could predict, he was on a completely different level among the Pro players and was the biggest factor for JYP winning the championship. Looking to help HAVU climb back toward the top. 6. IQUE (Written by @ose16) ECL '22 Winter Elite season: Quarterfinals IQUE was one of the most pleasant surprises last season, as they managed to gain fifth place finish for a rather favorable postseason push, but didn't quite find their game against the notoriously difficult opponent Färjestad BK. Like almost all the teams also IQUE had some movement happening in the offseason as Teemu @Teemuyy Polttila already came to IQUE from Frölunda HC but before the start of the season moved on to SAWO ESPORTS. Now it's expected that IQUE will continue with exact same lineup. Goalie Teemu @ITemeI Laukkanen had his breakout last season and if not earlier at least now has proven to be a solid Elite netminder. It's interesting to see could last season's biggest dark horse renew their playoff spot and maybe get to the next round. Player to watch: Aaro @Ikavalko Ikävalko After a couple of Pro and Lite seasons, he made the comeback to Elite last season and did so in successful fashion as he was the best goal scorer and point producer for his team. If IQUE was the surprise team last season, Ikavalko was the surprise individual. 7. GOONS ECL '22 Winter Elite season: Quarterfinals Whereas IQUE were a pleasant surprise last season, GOONS definitely disappointed and there's no tip-toeing around that fact. The team led by Kristian @kriketski17 Veijola has all the tools to be a true contender, but is yet to fully come out of their shell. They have the experience in goaltender Mika @FinKonna Paasikontu and defenseman Joel @jtorro-_- Tourunen, whereas forwards Arttu @laitineen64 Laitinen and Roope @pikkuroger Bergström represent some of the most highly touted prospects in the game. Now, if ever, is the time for this team to start improving and inching towards performing at their own level, there is lots of room to improve and if these guys manage to hit a home run, they're championship caliber. Player to watch: Arttu @laitineen64 Laitinen After surprising with IQUE back in ECL 12, the young center decided that a move to GOONS would benefit his career. While his individual numbers were slightly better due to the higher production of the team, his overall play didn't progress as much as expected. Now is the season he should make the step to the top player discussion. 8. JYP Jyväskylä ECL '22 Winter Pro season: Champions After one season away from ECL Elite action, JYP Jyväskylä is back at the top where they arguably belong. The team has had an intensive offseason with a hard grind, mainly in order to facilitate the arrival of new left winger Aaro @xAaro89x Aarvala, who has some big boots to fill as the replacement of Ilmari @Buantso Lehkonen, without any competitive experience above ECL Lite for that matter. The rest of the team more than makes up for that experience and the fact that the other forwards Antti @tbnantti Kuittinen and Santeri @indi969 Pendolin have played side by side since late 2018 will certainly make the adjustment process much easier. As no other major changes happened for the squad, we are expecting them to be a fringe playoff team that could end up taking off big time if they are able to utilize their full potential. Player to watch: Aaro @xAaro89x Aarvala It's highly unusual to see such a green player entering Elite competition. The potential of the young man is undeniable and it's not like we haven't seen similar tricks from JYP in the past, this signing has some striking similarity to that of Valtteri @Vattuyy Virtanen back before ECL 11. It's easy to predict a breakout season incoming. 9. Roots Gaming ECL '22 Winter Elite season: 9th Roots Gaming took the Elite division by storm last season, as they managed to pave their way into the division through additional Qualifiers and immediately made an impact, falling just short of the playoffs. Since then, the team hasn't made any changes and frankly, why should they? They have everything going for them with their young roster and the generous amounts of untapped potential. We'd be surprised if this team hasn't only gotten better with the time they've spent together and they should definitely be able to challenge for a spot in the playoffs. Look for the great puck movement and individual skill between forwards Linus @Limu95 Christiansson, Santeri @xleksa35 Levänen and Samuli @ssampee37 Mäntylä. Player to watch: Santeri @xleksa35 Levänen The captain is arguably his teams most important player. After being the most productive forward last season, now is a good time to build on that accolade and rise to the discussion of the top players in the division. 10. ZSC Esports ECL '22 Winter Elite season: 10th The Swiss lions hailing from Zürich have successfully claimed their place in Elite. A 10th place finish in the winter season can be seen as a moderate success for them and they are definitely starting to get more comfortable competing against the big boys, despite still being in an underdog position in most of their matchups. Zürich have made only one change in the offseason, bringing in former noRex Gaming forward Kevin @Keuschemisch Berg, who is going to man the left wing besides captain Sven @Original-SnuS Julmi and Alex @IDangledYouOut Wagner. This entails that offensively, the team looks to be their most balanced ensemble yet, with the wingers having scoring responsibility and center supporting as the complete player he is. On defense, these guys continue going with Max @Toneee9 Tonitz and Reto @Haldeem Haldemann, which has worked for them in the past and in net Reto @afc_Tschitsch (eTschitsch) Ulrich hopes to continue building on a great last season. Player to watch: Alex @IDangledYouOut Wagner The winger is notorious for being very aggressive off the puck and plays a hard hitting game. Possesses a lot of mechanical skill and would definitely be eager to improve on the personal level after not really getting the scoring going in the winter season. Now we've only got one more to go! On Friday evening, we'll return for the final part of our ECL '22 Spring Elite season preview and with that, finish off our prediction rankings. Who do you think will be the call for Champion?