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An excellent campaign in the 3rd season of the WECL has seen Nottingham Panthers HC hoisting the trophy for the first time in team history! The British team managed to put forth a strong effort in the regular season, but only accelerated their pace in the playoffs, only suffering one loss in the postseason at the hands of fierce rivals London Lightning. In the Finals, Nottingham eventually defeated Valence Hockey in a 4-0 sweep. Notthingam Panthers HC's road to the championship: #2 seed with the record 17-2-1 Quarterfinals: vs London Lightning (7) 4-1 Semifinals: vs Silver Sword Griffins (3) 4-0 Finals: vs Valence Hockey (1) 4-0 The winning roster: GOALTENDERS #33 @CW1LLO (C) DEFENSEMEN #24 @AdamB_24xx #88 @Ketsivaa #95 @Natholomew (A) FORWARDS #11 @mj_slam #16 @MartindalexC #23 @NotzPanthers (A) #93 @RASTAWILL_ On behalf of the entire SportsGamer community, we congratulate the champions and extend a warm thank you to all participants!

SportsGamers, the Player Spotlight series is making its return with the objective of showcasing gamers that would perhaps otherwise fall outside normal reporting, but that we want to get to know better. Our strength is this community, so let's get to know each other!   GCL8 is just about to finish! We have seen many favourites maintaining their position in the league as well as supposed smaller teams tripping up the juggernauts of the DACH-Community. Right in time we are back with yet another player spotlight. This time we are glad to present to you Thomas @newman_2909 Neumann. Captain for the Eisbären Lauf - on and off the virtual ice! 1. What was your first experience with the EASHL mode in NHL? My first experience was back in 2012. Since I started to play in 1994 on the Super Nintendo I always played EA SPORTS NHL quite regularly. Most of the times I used to grind Franchise Mode with a friend until I fell in love with Be a Pro and World of CHEL. 2. How did you end up in the 6v6 community? Due to the lockdown caused by Covid in 2020 we decided to found our Offline team (Eisbären Lauf) in World of Chel. In the beginning we played with 2 or 3 players and the other positions were played by the AI. After grinding 5v5 games with an AI goalie we decided to sign up for ECL 12 Neo and were in need of a goalie. Due to the fact that we were quite new to the community most of the Free Agents declined our offers to join us. Luckily two friends of our team decided to join us as our first goalie tandem in 6v6 EASHL! Looking back it was a big surprise that we managed to reach the ECL Neo Playoffs in our first season. 3. Describe your perfect day! Spending time with my friends and family while being on vacation. I would love to stay at the seaside, lake or pool! The day starts with a relaxing breakfast. Good conversations or board games are accompanied by a cold beer! A good BBQ session in the afternoon is completed by a live sport event at the evening. 4. Do you play hockey in real life? Yes, I play Goalie since 2008 for the Eisbären Lauf. We were able to secure four consecutive DNHL titles before Covid stopped the league operations (DNHL = Die Nordbayern Hockey Liga; similar to Beer/Hobby League). I hope that we are able to secure the 5th title in a row as soon as the season starts! 5. What's the biggest similarity between virtual and real hockey? Details matter. Just as in real hockey the small details will make the biggest differences in EASHL, too. In my opinion small things are extremely important to perform well. Feeling good with your equipment and setup is the foundation to be succesful. I also like to watch and try other players loadouts especially from the Elite and Pro Division to improve myself. But in the end it is very important that you feel comfortable - on and off the virtual ice. 6. As mentioned before you are between the pipes in real hockey. What do you prefer playing as a forward or defender in EASHL? In my first competitive seasons I played as a Defender since it was the only option in our team. I like playing as a defender because you are always under pressure and can be the deciding factor to your team on both ends of the ice. Since the start of this season I started playing as a Center. I really like being involved in almost every offensive and defensive play on the virtual ice. It starts with winning faceoffs which can be the x-factor in tight matchups and ends with being the transition man from defense to offense. 7. You are GM for one day and can pick your perfect starting six. One GCL Lineup (only DACH players; you are allowed to pick 2 players from your own team) and one ECL Lineup: ECL Lineup: LW: @PleeMaker C : @Beniittto RW: @Eken45jr       LD: @Toneee9 RD: @Bobiraataja(nikhaa27)                               G: @McSavid The ECL Lineup is a bit more tricky for me to pick. Even though I watch as many ECL Broadcasts as possible it is difficult to pick certain players due to the high performance density in the league. But above mentioned players have always been very remarkable to me. GCL Lineup: LW: @Keuschemisch C : @PlaymakerSJ RW: @IDangledYouOut                         LD: @GERxVillain RD: @CashAllGreen                                                G: @Hasek100 Due to the fact that the density in the DACH-Community is not that high, picking 6 players is a bit more easy for this lineup! Both wingers have proven themselves in the Elite Division and shown what they are capable of. @PlaymakerSJ and @Hasek100 have been institutions in this community for years now! And I really like both D-men and their capabilities on the offensive end of the ice! 8. You are quite new to competetive 6v6. What is your favourite NHL Gaming moment so far? There are two moments I'd like to highlight. Making the playoffs in our very first ECL Neo season as well as winning our first playoff series in this years ECL'22 Spring Core! 9. What was your dream job growing up and what do you currently do? As a child I always wanted to become a policeman or pilot. Unfortunately for both jobs my vision and eyesight were not good enough. Nowadays I'm working as a client advisor for a private bank. 10. What do you like to do in your spare time besides playing NHL? I love playing real hockey and spending as much time as possible on the rink. Apart from that I like visiting sports events such as hockey, football or handball games. 11. Who is the best player in the ECL and GCL? ECL: Definitely @Eki. There can't be any discussion about someone who secured several consecutive 1v1 European Championships. GCL: @Original-SnuS and @PlaymakerSJ are both extremely fun to watch. Their experience and skillset in 1v1 and 6v6 is something to look up to. But even though we are doing this interview I have to pick @Keuschemisch. In my opinion there is no other player in the whole community who invests so much time into the game to improve. His record and Championship in the eDEL and performances in 6v6 underline that. 12. High scoring game or OT drama? OT drama all the way. Those are the games that everybody wants to see. 13. What was your favourite team in real hockey? Chicago Blackhawks. Tony Amonte was the first player that I watched on TV. I was totally blown away and became a fan of the Blackhawks! 14. What are your goals in the next ECL in NHL23? In the next ECL '23 Winter Core we would like to make the playoffs again. We want improve step by step and perhaps secure Home ice advantage in round 1! Maybe we are capable of winning two consecutive playoff series next season! 15. What do you like most about being a captain on and off the virtual ice? Apparently I am not that bad at organizing. Since I always captained the team off the ice it was obvious that I would to that on the virtual ice, too. I really like to create a good environment so that everybody in the team feels comfortable. Building a good philosophy for the whole squad and having good conversations with all of my teammates is something I really appreciate. Seeing a good development of a certain player makes me really proud! 16. What’s your best real life hockey memory? Two Championships with the Eisbären Lauf! One decided in Overtime and the other one with a shorthanded GWG at 59:58. Absolute scenes! Apart from that I enjoyed watching my first live NHL Game back in May 2019. Game 5 between the Colorado Avalanche and San Jose Sharks! I wrote an article for nhl.com/de and was able to interview the German goalie Philipp Grubauer after the game. 17. Pizza with or without pineapple? Obviously without. If I'd put pineapple on Pizza I won't be able to go on vacation in Italy anymore. 18. Who would you like to see next in Player Spotlight? I would love to see Christian @GERxVillain Ungeheuer in the next Interview!  

On Friday, the SportsGamer community received sad news. One of our players and valued members had passed away far too soon. The always so happy, funny and kind Wille @airwizzard (AiRaThLeTe) Mattsson aka Ville Valo # 9 has unfortunately passed. The Swedish community honored him by playing with Ville Valo # 9 on our back on Friday. Our thoughts and prayers are with his friends and family in these tough times. SWEEASHL has started a fundraiser on Facebook for a burial flower and a fundraiser has been started for the Swedish heart and lung fund in the name of AiRaThLeTe, all raised funds will go towards their research to prevent similar deaths in the future. Donations to the heart and lung fund can be made here. Donations for a burial flower can be made here. Rest in peace Wille #9 💔 «In the memory You live You are always there In memory we see You Just as You were «