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SportsGamers, Only the four best teams remain, and these are all squads we're very familiar with from their extended success at the European stages already. FILADELPHIA, GOONS, Tunnel Vision and hREDS have paved their way to the semifinals to determine who will hoist the cup in the 2022 eHockey Finnish Championships. The big question is looming, can FILADELPHIA find their competitive form to defend against the hungry squads that have pushed through the group stages and the long playoffs, while the defending champions only joined in at the playoff stage? What about the challengers Tunnel Vision, GOONS and hREDS - all of them have seen some roster changes, have they grown stronger or became weaker over time? Join in on the action Thursday evening at www.twitch.tv/SportsGamerGG to find out! FILADELPHIA  (1) vs GOONS  (4) TOP SCORER (Playoffs) Paul @PleeMaker Arontie 12 GP, 19+14=33 vs Arttu @laitineen64 Laitinen 12 GP, 25+26=51 GOALTENDER (Playoffs) Casper @ICappeI Lundgren 12 GP, 12 W, 87,04 SV%, 1,17 GAA, 3 SO vs Niklas @uhNikke Nieminen 12 GP, 12 W, 79,12 SV%, 1,58 GAA, 1 SO REGULAR SEASON RECORD 0-0-0 vs 14-2-0 FILADELPHIA were able to coast their way through most of the playoffs, but their Quarterfinals series against Reality Check was their first true test. Although it seemed to look like Reality Check was even controlling pace in the series from time to time, they were not rewarded for their efforts and FILADELPHIA triumphed once again. A clean 3-1 series win for FILADELPHIA is no accident, and the black and orange were the better team by some margin, even showing some resilience to be able to win games by being opportunistic with their chances.  Their opponent GOONS made surprisingly easy work of Conquer Gaming in the Quarterfinals. A series in which GOONS opened the scoring in all three games and really never looked back. Especially Teemu @Teemuyy Polttila showed what an important cornerstone he is to the team, handling his defensive duties as he should, while simultaneously contributing offensively with seven points in the three game series. Alongside hREDS, GOONS are definitely one of the most dangerous offensive teams left in the mix. Tunnel Vision  (2) vs hREDS  (3) TOP SCORER (Playoffs) Aleksi @MozjaTG Kähkönen 13 GP, 12+34=46 vs Niklas @NikkeDangles Tukiainen 12 GP, 21+38=59 GOALTENDER (Playoffs) Teemu @ITemeI Laukkanen 13 GP, 12 W, 85,5 SV%, 1,46 GAA, 1 SO vs Oskari @SibeIius Grönroos 12 GP, 12 W, 80 SV%, 1,42 GAA, 4 SO REGULAR SEASON RECORD 18-0-0 vs 14-2-0 This is the one we've been waiting for. Despite some roster movement on both sides, this is essentially a rematch of the ECL '22 Spring Finals. Back then, hREDS pulled the longer straw in an eventual game seven finish, could this one go all the way too? Both teams certainly seem offensively apt to take on the challenge of one another and we're not doubting their five man defense or their goaltender either. What will then be the decisive factor in this battle? As cliché as it sounds, it might be down to special teams. Out of the two teams, Tunnel Vision has managed to stay out of the box better, whereas hREDS have gone a bit more of an aggressive route. Not that it has hurt them thus far, but against a team of this caliber, you might want to be careful.  An interesting thing to keep an eye on throughout the series is also the reunion of Valtteri @Vattuyy Virtanen with his old teammates. The hREDS winger spent the entire ECL '22 campaign as the third piece in the excellent SAWO ESPORTS offensive trio with Aleksi @MozjaTG Kähkönen and Jere @jxrska Laukka, but has since his move to the big, bad reds been replaced by Otto @xHatsi Hämäläinen. Can the new kid on the block fill those boots? This matchup will serve as a rather concrete display.

Our 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! Three weeks before the release of NHL 23, we are back with yet another iteration of our Player Spotlight-series! You voted and we listened, so here we are with a closer look at Alex @IDangledYouOut Wagner, dubbed by your favorite commentary guy Paul @Cyn Anderson as "the player with the biggest set of arms in ECL Elite". He is known as a hard hitting forward and part-time EBUG for the Swiss back-to-back GCL Champions ZSC Esports! 1. What was your first experience with the EASHL mode in NHL? I think this goes way back to NHL 11. Back in the days I used to play with Stefan @Stefan_397 Hämmerle who is also one of my best friends in real life. We started playing 2v2 where the remaining positions were played by the AI until one of our opponents messaged us if we want to join them. My first competitive 6v6 games was when I joined UKnighted HC roughly one year later. 2. What’s the best part of playing for your current club ZSC Esports? I really like our determination and positive mindset. No matter the result our biggest strength is to stay positive at all times and push ourselves. Most of our team have been playing in the same squad for a long time now. This and the fact that we all know each other off the virtual ice as well can surely give us the edge in many moments. 3. You are one of the few German players that have been here since ECL Season 1. What is your favourite NHL Gaming memory so far? There were many great memories made on the journey. My first ECL Elite Shutout as a goalie and getting promoted to ECL Elite with ZSC Esports three seasons ago. But If I had to choose on specific moment I had to choose winning the GCL 7 title against our "eternal" rivals Deadly Phantoms. Finally being able to beat and especially sweep them in the finals was a big relief. Being able to defend our Championship in GCL 8 really tops things off - especially with the way we played and dominated. 4. You started playing competetive 6v6 as a Goalie. Which things do you like most about playing as a Goalie and as a Forward? The thing I love most about playing as a Goalie is being one of the most important x-factors in the team. Working together with your D-pair can be very decisive if you perform well or not. But being able to decide games with important saves is an amazing feeling. As a Forward or Defender I like making creative plays. Always trying to find new ideas and solutions for certain situations in a game and working with your teammates to improve is why I love playing this game. The rewarding feeling to see how you build up chemistry and improve your results is also one of the main reasons for that. 5. 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: @xLeikku C : @Patzlaf RW: @NikkeDangles                     LD: @xDoumi RD: @loimmu                                    G: @Faze91- GCL Lineup: Obviously I would love to pick all of my current teammates because in my opinion they all belong to the best players in the community. But to mix things up I am going to pick following players: LW: @Stefan_397 C : @IiVAPOR100iI RW: @DangledYouOut(TIUINIA)                              LD: @Reutschner16nhl RD: @Spezi                                                      G: @Hasek100 6. Which team do you support in real hockey? I support my hometown club EV Füssen who are currently playing in the "Oberliga Süd" (3rd German division).  7. Do you play or have you played hockey? When we were younger we always used to play Inline Hockey in the Summer and Ice Hockey on the frozen lake in Winter. Unfortunately I never played actively in a club. 8. What do you like to do in your spare time besides playing NHL? Most of the time you will find me in the Gym. When I'm not lifting weights you will most likely find me watching videos of Markus Rühl*. Apart from that I love to spend time with my friends, drinking a beer and having good conversations. I'm also a big fan of listening to podcasts. At the moment my favourite podcast is "Einfach mal Luppen" by Toni and Felix Kroos. *Explanation to our non-German readers: Markus Rühl is a famous German bodybuilder. 9. Who’s the best player in the ECL according to you? If I had to choose one specific player I would pick Joonas @Patzlaf Paatiala. The combination of offensive and defensive awareness, Hockey-IQ and vision on the virtual ice is just fun to watch. How he masters the game mechanics on both ends of the ice is something I really look up to. 10. Who's the best player in the GCL according to you? I have to pick my current teammate Max @Toneee9 Tonitz. In my opinion he is the perfect combination of ideal defensive awareness and offensive abilities. He is irreplaceable for our game. 11. How did you come up with your PSN ID? My PSN ID is an "homage" to one of my former teammates: Jürgen @DangledYouOut(TIUINIA) Kloster. He is one of my closest friends and at one point in time he changed his ID (to TIUINIA) and so I asked him if I can take his nickname instead. For me he is one of the most underrated forwards in the DACH-community. 12. Describe your perfect breakfast. Oatmeal, scrambled eggs, pancakes, EAA'drink, whey clear isolate and I'm ready for the day! 13. If you had to choose: being the best player in EA SPORTS NHL or an average hockey player in real life? To be honest I would pick being an average hockey player. To witness the atmosphere created by the fans in the arena must be an amazing feeling. Even if I was able to "only" play for my local 3rd division team EV Füssen. 14. You are DJ in the dressing room and can play one song to hype up your teammates. Which song are you playing? Limp Bizkit - Rollin'. 15. What’s your best hockey memory? This has to be when my local club EV Füssen gained promotion back into the Oberliga (3rd division). It was an amazing away day and securing promotion on that day away from home is something I will never forget. Apart from that another special moment was the World Championship quarterfinal in 2021 when Eisbären Berlin forward Marcel Noebels sent us into the semifinals with a cheeky one-hander against our favourite enemies from Switzerland. 16. What's the most important goal you have scored in a competetive 6v6 match yet? To be fair I cannot remember any specific goal. But one of my best performances has to be securing a shutout in ECL'22 Winter against Conquer Gaming after being called up as an "emergency goalie" for our team and being a bit shaky in the warmup games. 17. If you had to choose to play only one position for the rest of your virtual career. Which position would you pick and why? I think Goalie is my "most natural" position since I also stand between the pipes in real life when playing football or hockey with my friends. This position was always most fun to play for me. But currently I would prefer playing as a Forward especially due to the broken matchmaking in the game, playing as a Goalie can be quite ungrateful. 18. Pizza with three toppings, what are your choices? I'm rather uncomplicated in those things. Pizza Margherita is the way to go. 19. Who do you want to see featured next in Player Spotlight? I think it's finally time for Joshua @Hasek100 Plattner!