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Action is just about to kick off in the playoffs of the Pro division! The theme of the regular season was parity unlike what we've seen before. Many teams expected to be at the top struggled immensely, opening up opportunities for other teams to thrive. Let's kick off the postseason! Structure & Prize Pool Schedule Broadcasts As you have grown accustomed to during the regular season, there will be at least one Pro broadcast per week on Tuesdays, with a 19.45 CEST start time. You can access that and our other live content on the SportsGamer Twitch, where you can also find our up-to-date stream schedule. This preview was written in co-operation by @Wpaanane & @jahajaha93. (1) Reality Check vs (8) GHETTO FIREBIRDS Reality Check really flexed their muscles by once again going all out in a powerful regular season showing. They showed their power at goal scoring, getting the most goals in group 1. Adding @Mikax222 and @JesseL2002 to their lineup has made Reality Check maybe the favorites to win whole Pro Division. On the other hand, GHETTO FIREBIRDS didn't have as good of a regular season as expected but they still managed to claim the needed points for a playoff spot. Adding @Valluxet and @Talonmies69 (Talonm1es) to their lineup hasn't really worked out in the best way yet but this team is capable of winning games when they find good form and get the real mentality. This series will be tough and we'll be excited to see if GHETTO FIREBIRDS can challenge Reality Check for the spot to the Quarterfinals. Key players from both teams can be found on the wing as Reality Check's @Pursuitti 29+31=60 scored most goals for his team in the regular season. GHETTO FIREBIRDS' winger @Valluxet 25+23=48 also scored most goals for his team in the regular season. We'll see if these players keeps scoring goals in the increasingly important games. Prediction: @jahajaha93: Plays for GHETTO FIREBIRDS @Wpaanane: 4-2 Reality Check (1) Växjö Lakers vs (8) Geekz Energy eSports Finishing 1st in Group 2, the mixed nationality roster repping the Swedish hockey club Växjö Lakers delivered as they were expected to, perhaps even a bit better. Having that successful regular season Växjö Lakers must have confidence for the upcoming first round of the playoffs and they aren't looking to slow down any time soon. Växjö Lakers scored the most goals in the entire Pro division with 110 goals in 30 games played. Geekz Energy eSports started their season by losing six games in a row, but after that something clicked and they started to claim points on a nightly basis and they finished 8th in group 1. They are a dangerous counter-attack team that can strike in the blink of an eye. Key players for both of these teams you can find on center position. Växjö's @dzouvi with 26+26=62 is a former Elite division player, who had a wonderful regular season alongside @Kattenj on his left flank, who was the teams leading point getter with the phenomenal 35+47=82 points. Geekz Energy eSports' centerman @Krinke 21+26=47 is also a former Elite player, a very skillful center with great faceoff ability (53.4% as his faceoff percent). We'll see can Geekz Energy eSports answer to this huge challenge when they are up against another contender Växjö Lakers. Prediction: @jahajaha93: 4-0 Växjö Lakers @Wpaanane: 4-0 Växjö Lakers (2) HanaaHC vs (7) VISU Gaming HanaaHC, the runner-up from Group 1, hopes to make a deeper playoff run than last season. They fell short against noRex Gaming in game six of the Winter season. They had a great regular season and if they are keeping the same form up, they are going trough from this round with relative ease. VISU Gaming missed playoffs last season but they were active in the offseason and added @IKarkkiI, @Pontinho(I-CLAUGHTON-I) and @jubex0r to their core and made their way to the playoffs this time around. This matchup will bring us tight and small margin games. Key players in this series are both playing on the left wing. Hanaa HC's @xLeikku 33+34=67 continued where he left off last season and had a great regular season. VISU Gaming's experienced left wing @hpkfani(MuKiMaisteri) 39+23=62 also has a great regular season behind. MuKiMaisteri scored 39 goals in 30 games, being the top scorer for VISU Gaming and the second best finisher in the division. Also VISU Gaming's rookie defenseman @Pontinho (I-CLAUGHTON-I) 6+25=31 had an excellent regular season as a rookie. We'll see how he performs in the playoffs. Prediction: @jahajaha93: 4-2 HanaaHC @Wpaanane: 4-3 HanaaHC (2) Deadly Phantoms vs (7) Sulkavan Sudet The German pride Deadly Phantoms is on a mission to make their way back to the Elite division and will make life miserable for anyone that will try to stop them. This is one of the most complete teams in the division and despite not outright dominating in the regular season, the German outfit is built to take down strong opposition in gruelling playoff competition. Coming into the playoffs in 8-1-1 form also is very telling of their form right now, and they look like they could be on the brink of peaking at the right time. Sulkavan Sudet, on the other hand were a team that many expected to be in the middle of the pack or even finish outside of playoff position. The team is a true Pro division juggernaut and possess a tremendous amount of experience to get the job done. The grinding they've done in Pro thus far has only fuelled the fire and these guys must be very hungry to show everyone that they have the necessary skill to move up the ranks. Statistically, it looks like it's going to be mission impossible for the wolfpack to overcome the German side, but we'll be smarter after a minimum of four games. The Phantoms have some of the best players in the division at several positions, but especially important to them are centerman @PlaymakerSJ (28+25=53), defenseman @xXPsykoSkillsXx (12+32=44) and goalie @RPH_31 (17 W, 83.33 SV%, 1.42 GAA), not only due to their excellent numbers, but the intangibles that these guys possess through the experience they've got with the team. Sulkava doesn't quite have the roster to match, but the pressure to get his team to perform to the best level will be on captain @Oxdoggi (14+28=42). Prediction: @jahajaha93: 4-0 Deadly Phantoms @Wpaanane: (3) Tohtorit vs (6) Herlev Eagles We're going to see tight small margin games in this matchup. Tohtorit is 11-0-1 in their last 12 games, whereas Herlev Eagles barely managed to pave their way to the playoffs. Both of these teams are very skilled so we're expecting to see some nice plays and nice goals between these two teams. Especially puck movement and the pace of it will be an important factor. From Herlev Eagles' side @TeikDaun and also from Tohtorit's side @Stammer70 will be important, both goalies can win games for their own side and could end up tipping the scales if one of them gets hot early on. Also wingers from these both teams are in the spotlight as @keranee and @vibholm10 are very dangerous especially in the offensive zone. Also Tohtorit wingers @Ojala16 and @Ristimaki12 are both passing playmakers but have the ability to sniff a scoring chance when the opportunity presents itself. This will be a tough one but Tohtorit are a slight favorite to win this matchup. Herlev Eagles needs to step up after a difficult regular season if they are going to win this series. Prediction: @jahajaha93: 4-2 Tohtorit @Wpaanane: 4-1 Tohtorit (3) Be a Bro vs (6) RCTIC We're going all the way in this one! Be a Bro and RCTIC are clashing in a matchup between two very experienced and skilled rosters. Despite Be a Bro being assembled over the offseason, the squad still holds several veteran players that have found chemistry nicely along the way. RCTIC, on the other hand, are now in their third consecutive ECL Pro season with increasingly good results. Some fluctuation to start the season really did RCTIC in when trying to gain a higher finish, but they managed to find their form later on, much alike their competition in Be a Bro. Key players for both teams can be found on the wing, as Be a Bro's @imosi and @rakkauspakkaus- have been great with production for them, but they've been nowhere near the production level of RCTIC's @Limbe65, who finished third in the league and first in goals with 47+24=71. While Limbe will be the definite X-Factor for RCTIC, it's undeniable that Be a Bro has the wider arsenal and they've still got the highest scoring defenseman @MCH_98 (8+33=41) in their ranks, who we haven't even mentioned yet! Prediction: @jahajaha93: 3-4 RCTIC @Wpaanane: 4-2 Be a Bro (4) Sinister vs (5) Renascor Sinister has some of the most exciting up and coming players in the game on their roster with @OsquuG and @JerePaloranta (Harlowi-) leading the way, but they are lacking in the experience department. Look for their defensemen @xeblax1 (TonninHazzi) and @Thewix93 (thewix_1) to hold down the fort while the youngsters up top try to wreak havoc in the Renascor end. The Russian side surprised this season with a great run thus far after losing some key components in the offseason. The departure of star player @Valluxet has perhaps forced players like @Virusactive and @ilyagolubev (tendeerly) to elevate their game, and they have done so on command. Quite some time has passed since any of these players have made a deep Pro playoff push, so consider them as green to the stage as the Sinister side. The difference in individual skill and scoring power tips the scales heavily in favor of the Sinister squad, but if the Russians can find a way to really pull things together in their own end, you never know what could happen in a one-goal game. The further we go without a goal on the board, the better the situation is for Renascor throughout. In terms of goalie duels, this one is quite interesting. Renascor have their mainstay @sumskoy26 (SumkaX), who actually improved statistically quite a lot from last season (+5,03SV% and -0,06GAA, +3 shutouts). Sinister will be icing @PuukAesi (rransu), who very much alike his teammates, isn't overly experienced at this level and has slowly grown into the goalie he is today. Statistically, he is better than his counterpart, but it's tough to draw conclusions based on that when both teams have competed in different groups. We're calling this even for now, and the guys will show us who takes the cake come puck drop. Prediction: @jahajaha93: 4-1 Sinister @Wpaanane: 4-2 Sinister (4) AHJO vs (5) Hokurit We're in for a tight one in this matchup. Hokurit were one of the sensations last season, but suffered some big losses in the offseason. Despite that, they have been able to bounce back nicely and the experience they've gathered has now solidified them as a bona fide playoff team in the Pro division. On the other side we have AHJO, the former Dynastia. This squad has had a rather streaky season, but their campaign has been good enough thus far. In the playoffs, they'll need to elevate their level even more and they seem to be at the brink of peak form with their 7-2-1 record in the last ten games. Statistically, the two squads are very similar, and one team running away with games shouldn't be expected. If any differences should be highlighted, the AHJO squad looks a bit more individually skilled and since putting @TheArska (XxProArskaxX) on defense, their game has clicked very well. However, we mustn't forget that Hokurit definitely do possess that skill too, and a player like @J-_-Jamaltheman could be a difference maker for them. Both of these teams are on the aggressive side, and like to put pressure on the opposing team with physical play. AHJO with their 113 PIMs were among most penalized teams in the division, and Hokurit with 105 PIMs aren't close behind. This leads us to expect a fair amount of special teams play in this series, which again gives a slight advantage in the favor of AHJO both on the powerplay and penalty kill. Prediction: @jahajaha93: 4-2 AHJO @Wpaanane: Plays for AHJO 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.

Here we go again, the regular season has ended and it's time to turn our heads towards the playoffs. After the long winter we are now slowly also in spring time up north. Who will shine? Who will fall? Time will tell. Structure & Prize Pool Schedule Arkham Asylum topped the regular season groups. Conceding less than one goal per game in the regular season is impressive and achieved through good team defence and final lock @PCJP (Pelkonen-I92I) had been solid throughout the season. Even though hockey is a goal scoring game, defence always plays a big part especially in the playoffs. Teams that defend tight and shut down opponents' scoring chances will always go far in the postseason. Good examples of this are the aforementioned Arkham Asylum (group2), Bastu (group2), Södertalje SK (group3) and Project X (group4). In the midseason report I noted that even though Destiny was at the top of the standings, they conceded much more goals than other top teams and that continued throughout the regular season. Let’s see if they can continue scoring goals when the teams start to defend tighter. When looking into the stats there are a couple surprises to be found. @Jusa (JusaSoLow) scored 50 goals in the regular season but if you have played against his team HC Shh you'll know where those numbers stem from. The overall top scorer came from Spirit in the form of @Toivonen_, who topped the player stats. The best defenseman on the scoring sheet was @Eemil (eKoski_) from Tadpole, the strong team definitely helps, without even going into the skillset of the man himself. In terms of goaltending, @Jiihooo86 was on a level of his own - the captain of the Resurrection was a key player for them to advance to the playoffs. His impressive SV% and GAA shows that he still is one of the best goalies around. Let’s see how he will perform in the playoffs. Resurrection had a slow start to the regular season and almost didn’t make it to the playoffs as I predicted on the midseason report. They proved me wrong and showed that they belong in the playoffs with the lead of their veteran captain. The first playoff round usually is a bit slower and there's an adjustment process going on, so it doesn't always show the complete diraction of the playoffs. Some teams may have slow starts to the runs and some teams may outperform in the first round. There are interesting matchups so let’s try to predict a little and speculate who will continue from the first round. Here's a few predictions on a couple of the first round marquee matchups: Arkham Asylum - Frölunda HC Academy 4-1 Even though Frölunda have skilled individuals, Arkham’s defense is so good they shouldn't have any problems to advance. Maybe they take this series in four games but I'd like to see that Frölunda can steal one game. Tadpole - Pata Hellalla 4-0 Former Pro team Pata haven’t found their game this season. They clinched a spot in the playoffs in the last round of the regular season. I don’t want to ruin anyone's day but I don’t see them in the second round. Destiny - Timrå IK 4-2 Offensive power meets the solid fast puck movers. In terms of defense these teams are even, but Destiny has the fire power and shouldn't have any problems to advance from here. Spirit - Resurrection 4-1 If JiiHooo86 can shut the net they can make it more even. Still Spirit’s offense is the key to their success and I'd expect them to run over Resurrection. Synergy Hockey - Neptune Hockey 4-0 Synergy's former Pro and Elite players didn’t shine too much in the regular season but now playoffs are a different beast. Neptune Hockey played well in their first Lite season but the experience from Synergy Hockey will take them to the next round. 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.

SportsGamers, It's time to kick off the playoffs in our Neo division! First of all, congrats to all teams who made it to this point, and to those who end their season now, we hope you'll be back stronger next time. A total of 24 teams have qualified, out of which the eight best teams based on PPG will receive a bye for the first round. The rest of the teams will be seeded based on PPG and play each other in the first round, after which we will continue as usual. The first round of the playoffs will start on Sunday the 8th of May 2022 and end on Thursday the 12th of May 2022. Here is a full schedule of the ECL '22 Spring Neo playoffs: Round-of-32: 08.05 – 12.05 (BO5) Round-of-16: 15.05 – 25.05 (BO5) Quarterfinals: 30.05 – 02.06 (BO5) Semifinals: 05.06 – 08.06 (BO5) Finals: 12.06 (BO5) 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.  Click here to view the matchups for round 1 of the ECL '22 Spring Neo Playoffs   Good luck for everyone!