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IIHF continues their esports initiative with the eWorld Championships for the second consecutive year. Finland is entering to defend their title, will anyone rise to the challenge this year? The IIHF eWorld Championships will return for a second consecutive year with a format similar to that of the 2022 season. All 22 participating nations will host qualifiers for both PlayStation 4 and Xbox One to determine two Champions that will represent each country in the final tournament.  Qualifiers will start in late January, and we'll have a new Champion in early March, 2023. The 2023 IIHF eWorld Championship is played in three stages, out of which the first is the National Qualifiers. First are the National Qualifiers, where both a PlayStation and Xbox champion will be determined, these 44 champions in total will make up the national teams for each country. After this, the final tournament starts with the Group Stage, followed by the playoffs, that will finish with the Grand Final. List of Qualifiers: Saturday, January 28th Denmark Austria Sunday, January 29th Hungary France Monday, January 30th Slovenia Poland Tuesday, January 31st Korea Italy Wednesday, February 1st Japan Ukraine Thursday, February 2nd Kazakhstan Norway Friday, February 3rd Slovakia Switzerland Saturday, February 4th USA Czechia Finland (continued on Sunday, February 5th) Sunday, February 5th Canada Latvia Monday, February 6th Great Britain Germany Tuesday, February 7th Sweden   Click your country in order to advance to the registration site, Finnish players are able to qualify right here at SportsGamer.GG. The signups are already open and anyone over 16 years of age from a participating country is available to sign up! To compete a player is required to have a stable internet connection and a console that is able to play the PlayStation 4 or Xbox One version of NHL 23, so sign up now in order to help your country go for glory in the 2023 IIHF eWorld Championship! Read more about the tournament at the official site www.gaming.iihf.com.

ISO Esports is a gaming organization hailing from Ulvila, Finland with teams in CS:GO and now NHL. Their new NHL roster is currently battling in the Elite Qualifiers with hopes of gaining an open spot in the European top 16. Otukset eSports emerged seemingly out of nowhere in the summer of 2021 and made an impressive FCL Playoffs push with a roster very few expected to stand a chance against the big dogs. The squad, then featuring players with experience mainly from mid-tier ECL Pro teams or below, immediately took the community by storm with their cheeky social media strategy and great performances on the ice. Sadly, the summer project didn't continue into the ECL, as several players were recruited to new opportunities, but Otukset were to make a return again in the 2022 eHockey SM. This time, the squad won't be parting ways for the ECL, but rather they'll be getting stronger. By joining forces with ISO Esports, the new roster is looking to focus their energy on first and foremost establishing themselves in the Pro division, but also pushing as quickly as possible for the European top 16. Jani Männistö, CEO of ISO Esports has the following to say about their new acquisition: "We had the great opportunity of signing a new team, and at the end of the day, the decision was easy. Our NHL team is a dedicated group, hungry for success. The atmosphere within the team is excellent and an open and active dialogue between the team and organization will be a key factor in our development. ISO Esports has established themselves in the Finnish esports scene and now our will to develop and succeed is bigger than ever." "Absolutely we'd want to see our team reach the highest of prizes right away, but a more realistic approach for our debut season is making the Playoffs. We are looking for longevity from our team and eventually they could reach that synergy that takes to the highest level." Valtteri @Kaikkien Janoisten Sankari (Goodtobeatonttu) Yli-Olli is excited about the future for his team, especially with some of their new signings and their new partnership with ISO. "Our past few campaigns in the FCL and eHSM have been successful mainly due to the fact the fact that we are thinking the game in very similar ways, and that's what we've been trying to keep in mind when signing new players to our squad around the Otukset core. We're excited to keep our momentum going into the ECL and ever since the first contact with ISO, I had the feeling that both us and the organization have very similar objectives, the cooperation has been smooth and we're looking good moving forward." "One of the main reasons for signing with an organization was obviously getting support and sponsorship, but we also felt that this is the right time to take the next step. Our game has been in good shape for some time already and we are now ready to make an impact." Currently the squad is fighting for an open position in ECL '23 Winter Elite together with HanaaHC, RCTIC and Renascor in the Elite Qualifiers. Their prospects are looking rather good with a 4-1-1 record in their six qualifier games.