Leaderboard

We are winding down towards the end of the regular season and while we had last week off from media coverage, the teams were still hard at action. Perhaps not as actively as usually, but regardless there were some games played here and there! At this point we're seeing most teams have already finished their games, but there's still a few meaningful battles to be played between tonight and tomorrow. As it stands right now, a minimum of 31 points will be required to make the playoffs, but we're expecting that total to rise by a bit as over the past five seasons, the average amount of points required has been at 32 and Roots Gaming, Conquer Gaming and Färjestad BK who are in the race for the final spots all have one matchup left to go. Let's take a look at the scenarios that could transpire as we head down the final stretch. Out of the teams that are currently sitting below the line, Färjestad is the only one who still has a chance to sneak into the playoff picture, whereas above the line it's looking tough for Conquer Gaming, who has a must-win matchup left against the Swiss lions ZSC Esports. That matchup in combination with FBK's bouts against JYP Jyväskylä will decide the fate for both of those teams. Färjestad isn't in particularly hot form as of late, but neither is their opponent and Christoffer @I-Maise-I Berntsson, Johan @McSavid Rundqvist and the boys will be giving it their all, that's for sure.  The relegation zone is also looking very interesting, with some very high stakes in the remaining games for these teams. Currently, IQUE is in last place, which would mean direct relegation for them, whereas Stargazing at 15th, JYP Jyväskylä at 14th and Falun Coal Miners at 13th would be in for relegation battles against up-and-comers from the Pro division. Thursday will feature a massive matchup between IQUE and Stargazing to determine who will end up facing relegation. After their sensational winter season, IQUE has fallen into tough times and are now clawing their way out of last place to salvage the future of their team in the Elite division, whereas Stargazing has had a rough go in their inaugural season at the top level. Regardless of the result, one of them will still have to fight for their spot in a relegation matchup.  JYP Jyväskylä, Falun Coal Miners and ZSC Esports all have one matchup left each, and they'll fight between the three of them for a spot in no man's land and a guaranteed continuation to their story in Elite next season. Both JYP and ZSC have the opportunity to spoil the postseason dreams of their opponents Conquer and Färjestad, whereas Falun is in for a tough battle against Roots, who are looking for at least two points in order to secure their 7th place, but could also pass HAVU Gaming for 6th if everything goes their way.  Barring any exceptional performances in the last few nights of play, we're also ready to crown Frölunda's Paul @PleeMaker Arontie both the top point producer and top goal scorer of the regular season despite him missing out on one game due to a walkover situation earlier this week. The highest scoring defenseman will be Teemu @Teemuyy Polttila for SAWO ESPORTS, who has seen some impressive growth with the added experience from his time in Frölunda and the increase in responsibility since moving on. In terms of goaltending, hREDS' Filip @Faze91- Azri is way ahead of the competition this regular season. Despite missing out on a few matches where Saku @Mehukatti10 Serttilä covered for him, he racked up an impressive 10 shutouts and is a level above everyone else in other statistical categories too. Follow the teams on social media to stay up to date on the schedule!

Last weekend, the Finnish FIFA national team participated in the FIFAe Nations Series Main Stage and managed to pave their way into the European Top 20 with a win over Belgium in the Knock-out stage. The FIFAe Nations Series Main Stage was played during Thursday, Friday and Saturday last week, and after a successful run in the group stage on Thursday and Friday, Finland finished 3rd in their Group A, matching them against Group C 2nd seed Belgium in the Knock-out stage. Belgium is known as a great team and previous matches against them had been very tough, putting Finland in a small underdog position heading into the big double-header on Saturday. The eventual winner would be decided based on aggregate score from both matches.  The Finnish team, consisting of Jesse @Kossu72 Kosamo, Jeremias @jerkosz Kosamo and Joona @Krompe Vaajala played well throughout the weekend and rotated playing turns regularly. Some consistency issues were evident especially early on both gamedays, but as the boys found their flow, they were tough to beat, manager Markus @MakezCR Moilanen was also very pleased with the performances of the weekend. On Saturday evening agains Belgium, Finland had a great opportunity to reach the Top 20 by winning the double header. The first game started off a bit slow, but after the first ten minutes of play, Finland was able to generate the first dangerous chance of the game and against all expectations, Kossu managed to surprise the keeper with a shot inside the back post. After 15 minutes of play, Finland had taken the lead. After the first goal, Belgium upped the tempo and came at the Finns with high and intense pressure, but it didn't cause any trouble for the playing duo Krompe & Kossu. As the half-time whistle inched closer, Finland was yet again able to create an almost identical chance to their 1-0 goal, and a very accurate finish put the score at 2-0 to and the first half. The second half saw Finland hold possession and minimizing chances for Belgium, and they didn't get any closer than hitting the crossbar. At the very end of the game, the Finns managed to break down the Belgian defense with a beautiful passing play, cementing the end result of game one at 3-0. The 3-0 Finnish lead heading into the second match put Belgium at a serious disadvantage and they needed to bring out their full arsenal in order to win. Once again, the hard pressure didn't yield any result and after 45 minutes of play, it was Finland who held the 1-0 lead after a cheeky lob finish by Kossu on a breakaway. The second half was a true scoring showdown. Belgium came out swinging and managed to score right out of the gate, and after that both teams traded chances and goals, seemingly on every attack. The second game finished at a 3-3 tie, meaning that Finland had won the matchup 6-3. Finland has came a long road to the European Top 20 and the players recognize that there's still a lot of hard work ahead to reach the FIFAe Nations Series final tournament in Denmark at the end of July. The next stage is the European Playoffs between the 16th and 19th of June, out of which 11 European teams will advance to the Top 24 in the world. "We're not done yet, now we're only one step closer to the goal we've set. Of course we're very satisfied with what we've done at the moment, but now we've got to start grinding again. We'll fix some small issues with our game and try to improve even more. If an when we get our bearings straight, we'll be able to take on anyone", Kossu summarizes.