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This report is written based on the status before the games on Sunday, January 8th. The ECL '23 Winter Pro season is already leading towards it's end, but we're still coming at you with a slightly delayed Mid-season report! Let's check in on how these teams have progressed throughout the season, and which one's have surprised us the most, whether it is for the good or the bad. Both groups are looking very evenly matched, with a couple of teams pulling away with the lead in group 1, but in group 2 it's looking like an all out free-for-all between five or six teams for the top seed. At this point, not that many teams have mathematically secured their spots in the Playoffs, and neither have any of them been mathematically eliminated. For some, that is looking like a long shot though. Quite surprisingly, HanaaHC and RCTIC who participated in the Elite Qualifier ahead of the season haven't managed to own up to the level of play expected. While both are currently in Playoff position, our season preview forecasted these two together with Renascor to top their respective groups. At the moment, though, only Renascor has managed to perform. Group 1 In this group, the fight for the top spot will most likely come down to three teams, as Örebro Hockey, Be a Bro and Luleå Hockey are all looking like they're on good pace to grab that crown. Most of the games between these three top dogs have already been played, so it'll now come down to how they can stack up against the rest of the competition in the group. Örebro are currently topping the tables with a few games in hand on the other two, which means Be a Bro and Luleå hold the advantage in that sense, and could end up making an overtake down the main stretch. Timi @Rimpe Rimpeläinen has once again made a successful comeback to the ECL ice after one season of absence. Last time we've seen the experienced allrounder, he spent the ECL '22 Winter season on defense for YMCA Esports in Elite, and now he's leading the league in scoring from his familiar left winger spot for Örebro Hockey. Leksand IF's Linus @Bror1326 Nidalen is closest in pursuit, but still eight points behind. In addition to a strong leading scorer, Leksand IF have also managed to string together a great campaign this season. They've got great offense, but also one of the best in the league in net with Jesper @I-Lillebror-I Nidalen in net. The young goaltender has kept his head cool throughout the season with an impressive 88,08 SV% and 9/12 breakaways saved. He's also currently in the 4 shutout club alongside only Djurgården's Matthias @Tizjeflen Johansson, Arkham's Juuso @TheSpeedo Sirkola and Nemesis' Joel @JaxonRules93 Jackson. A pleasant surprise in Group 1 has definitely been Ace Hockey and their highly efficient offensive play with Wiktor @Dehliiin Dehlin as their top dog as usual. The Swedish team is also boasting an impressive 45,5% powerplay percentage, which is contrasted by a lackluster penalty kill at only 63,64%. Currently, this squad is sitting just outside the Playoff picture and their form does not indicate good things. If they'll find a way to turn things around down the main stretch, they could be one of the last teams squeaking in. In somewhat similar position we've got Tohtorit, who have established themselves as rather consistent performers at the Pro level. They had a catastrophic start to their season, but have definitely managed to course-correct, now running with a five win streak, hoping to continue on that past and push them into the Playoffs.  The most obvious letdowns in the first group are Mora IK and Frölunda HC Academy, without a doubt. These teams have struggled in almost every department and especially Mora IK can't seem to even buy a goal with a measly 1.3 goals for average. Frölunda HC Adademy, on the other hand are also struggling heavily with their defense, being the worst in the league at 4.94 goals against per game. Group 2 At the moment, it's looking like things might come down to the wire between five or six different teams to clutch up for that top spot. Nemesis are the provisional holders of that #1 seed at the moment, but with teams like VISU Gaming, IK Oskarshamn, Memento and Renascor chasing them down, it'll remain to be seen how long lived that joy will be. For Nemesis, the good thing is that they are seemingly all set for the Playoffs already with several highly competitive matchups in their back pocket already. They're not a team that will outgun their opponents, but they have honed their skills and evolved into a group that can win those low-scoring battles and turn games in their favor with the little things they do. IK Oskarshamn were one of the teams that caught some flack in our season preview, but they've definitely shown us wrong. Henri @Chevikov (Hikoilija_) Heikkilä is a rookie winger, who has taken the step to being their heart-and-soul player and is currently leading the team from the front on an impressive run with the league's best special teams number at 133,91. Oskarshamn is currently fighting for the top spot, but should end up in a favorable spot for the Playoffs at the minimum. Some of the more experienced squads including Central European juggernauts Deadly Phantoms and Inter Iceland, have surprisingly found themselves performing below expectations. DPH have several GCL championships and plenty of Elite experience in their back pockets, but they haven't managed to find their way back into the European top 16 just yet, and lost superstar winger Tim @Timasy Hess in a transfer to Elite squad Falun Coal Miners earlier this season, which will trip up their campaign a bit. The Phantoms will be looking to fight their way into the Playoffs, where they'll be able to employ their tough style of play and wear down their opponents in long seven game series. Inter Iceland, on the other hand, also feature some high scoring skill in the form of both Stef(ph)ans @Stefan_397(ViSiOnZ97_) Hämmerle and @Krinke Krinke, who for one reason or another just haven't hit their stride this season. The team is in a tough spot and look like they'll be in a relegation spot with high probability.  Björklöven Esport is another team who have managed to establish themselves in the Pro division, but are struggling to find a footing this season. They had some heavy roster turnover in the offseason and seemingly haven't found a way to click just yet. With 10 games still left in the season, there's time for this roster to find a way into the Playoffs, but they'll need to start improving drastically if they wish to do so.  There's still plenty of virtual hockey left to play in the last week of the regular season, and a lot is on the line for all teams involved. This Tuesday, you'll be able to follow along once again in our weekly ECL '23 Winter Pro broadcast with some big games in the showcase! 

With the ECL '23 Winter Elite season moving into the last full week of competition in the Regular season, some of the predicted top teams are in excellent form. We've also got some surprising appearances around the top of the standings, and things are starting to look dire towards the bottom. Join us for this overview into the action over the past week! There's no doubt about hREDS being one the hottest teams in the league at the moment, with losses only to main rivals Frölunda HC and Tunnel Vision along their campaign thus far. In their last few matchups, JANO was seemingly able to mount some opposition against the reigning Champions, but in their usual way, hREDS were able to clear the minor obstacle with an overtime win. It's looking like Tunnel Vision is the only team to compare in terms of form at the moment, with a similar record in their latest matches, but their offense seems to be clicking slightly better and they've been able to clear opponents with relative ease.  Roots Gaming had an absolute disaster of a week after previously managing to climb the ranks, the four losses against JYP and ISO, who can be considered their main competition in the fight for the last playoff spots this season, will definitely leave a mark moving forward. Next in line for Roots should be Växjö, ZSC and Luleå, which should be a great opportunity for this squad to get back on track and pick up some much needed points. Unlucky Boys haven't had the best start top the new year, with only one regulation win in their three full matchups. JANO and JYP Jyväskylä are fighting for similar positioning with them, so those lost points will definitely sting in that tight mid-table race. The burger boys will be going up against Reality Check HC in our featured broadcast matches tonight with massive points up for grabs. Reality Check are currently sitting in a surprising second place in the standings, but with 24 games already played. The team is easily slotting into the Playoffs based on point average in their first Elite season, though. V-V @vvlampela Lampela (cTunkeilija) is in great form for the black and yellow with a 25 goals and 48 points, earning him second position in the scoring race at the moment. Reality Check HC have also been helped greatly by goaltender Sebastian @FINSeRe Remes, who is second to only Frölunda's Casper @ICappeI Lundgren with an impressive 85.99 SV% on a much bigger sample size. The experienced goaltender is also topping the tables in terms of shutouts with three of those to his name thus far.  Things are looking dire for several established Swedish teams that have fallen towards the bottom of the pack. Falun especially, who have only 10 games remaining in their regular season, suffered recent tough losses against GOONS, who they are in direct competition with. They've now got big games against Luleå and Växjö coming up, and this experienced roster will definitely be throwing all they've got at these matchups. Adding Tim @Timasy Hess before the new year has helped them slightly and eight points collected in their five latest matchups is a step forward for the Coal Miners, clinging to their Elite spot at this point.    Standings - Week 4 1.  Frölunda HC (-) 15-2-3 2.  Reality Check (+4) 13-7-4 3.  hREDS (-1) 14-1-1 4.  Tunnel Vision (-1) 12-0-2 5.  JANO (+5) 9-6-5 6.  JYP Jyvaskyla (+3) 11-5-0 7.  ZSC Esports (+4) 11-9-0 8.  Nordic Stars (+3) 9-5-2 9.  ISO Esports (-1) 7-7-6 10.  Unlucky Boys HC (-3) 8-7-3 11.  Roots Gaming (-7) 7-6-3 12.  GOONS (-) 7-8-3 13.  Falun Coal Miners (+2) 5-11-4 14.  Luleå Hockey (-1) 4-5-3 15.  Växjö Lakers (-1) 4-9-3 16.  Färjestad BK (-3) 4-7-3 Tonight, ECL '23 Winter Elite returns for some important matchups with big points on the line. Reality Check HC takes on Unlucky Boys, whereas GOONS are taken on by the league leading Frölunda HC in the later matchup. Join us for all the action at 19:45 CET as usual. See you at www.twitch.tv/SportsGamerGG!

The regular season has officially wrapped up for the NACL season, and we now look forward to the playoffs. We started with 45 teams, and we are now officially down to the top 24 teams battling out for the top spot, and more importantly, the ticket to the World Finals in Helsinki. The groups have been extremely tight, with only a few points separating teams in each group. The tight play will hopefully continue into the playoffs, for some high octane matchups! We’ll start with a quick recap of all of the groups and how we got to this point in the playoffs, followed by some quick predictions and previews of the matchups ahead. Group 1 There is no surprise of who would be at the top for group one, as Scary Hours and IslesGT would top the group easily and earn that bye into the second round of playoffs. Both teams combined for only four losses in out of the entire regular season out of 44 total games, and looked dominant throughout the competition. The rest of the playoff picture was very competitive, with seeds 3 through 6 separated by only three points. Teams like Supremacy and TST have certainly proved themselves in this right, coming in as slight underdogs in the group but most certainly made an impact and have shown that they are able to compete at this level. Group 2 A very competitive group at the top, with Legacy soaring to the top after finishing most of their games in the final hour of the season. Teams like Underdogs and Instinct had to settle for third and fourth respectively after very impressive campaigns out of Entourage and Legacy to lock up those top two seeds. Both teams should have no trouble getting through their first-round matchups, as both teams have made deep runs in the past. The remaining 2 teams, Kingdom and Ohana, are newer squads looking to make their first splash as a roster. Both teams have some familiar faces across the board, and shouldn’t be considered slouches with so many quality teams above them. Both teams are capable of stealing games if their opponents are not on the top of their game. Group 3 One Unit has to be one of the best stories this event, topping their group and earning that bye in the playoffs. The team has been making waves in recent events, and their trajectory has been soaring as the months have gone on. They pushed down some title contenders to lower seeds, and have proven they can compete with the cream of the crop in North America and come out on top. No big surprises either way, with Caps Gaming earning the other bye, followed by Ducks Gaming, Eclipse, No Mercy, and Tropics. Another tight group, with teams only separated by a few points. Group 4 Group 4 felt more like the wild west aside from the top 2 seeds, as Composure and Strictly Business cruised to the playoffs with relative ease. With top teams like Flawless, Heroes, and Catch 22 not in playoffs, the door was wide open for other teams to prove themselves in the spotlight. Veterans being at the top of these teams will have a tall task of taking this opportunity in stride, as they have proven before they are a tough team to put away, and will look to do just that heading into the post season. With the first round of the playoffs set, we’ll go over each matchup briefly and give a prediction each series. Playoffs will start with seeds 3-6 from each group facing off in round 1 in a best of 7 format. The top 2 seeds from each group will wait for the first round to complete before selecting their opponent to face in round 2. The Underdogs (9) vs Ohana (24) Underdogs is the clear cut favorite here. Ohana have some talent and have shown promise, but Underdogs should have a relatively clean series here. They have already made top 8 this year, and a loss in a best of 7 series here would be a complete surprise for all. Prediction: Underdogs in 4. Anaheim Ducks Gaming (10) vs JOFA (23) One of the PSN teams joining thanks to newly added crossplay, but I think Ducks Gaming is a couple steps above JOFA. Too much chemistry and too much experience in such an early round to go up against. The PSN teams will be fun to watch develop with cross play allowing for more opportunity, but going up against one of NA’s best will be too much to close out. Prediction: Ducks Gaming in 4. Hidden Potential (11) vs Turning Point (22) A very interesting matchup, and one that is much closer than the seeds suggest. These teams played in group play and split the games with tight 2-1 scores in both games. Hidden Potential did have some roster turmoil during the season, and revamping their lineup mid season cause some potential issues. Turning Point are as steady as ever with a ton of chemistry, and their tight checking style could be tough to beat during the playoffs. Overall I like HP’s ceiling more than Turning Point’s, and as long as they can avoid the 2-1 overtime games too many times, they have the edge here. Prediction: Hidden Potential in 6. Veterans (12) vs Tropics (21) Veterans comes from a depleted group 4, and will need to prove themselves every chance they get from here. @AgentSook613 has had an arguable MVP level performance for the team, dragging them forward with 18 more points than the next person on his team. He’ll need to continue this pace to advance any further. I think Tropics is a deeper team with more skill across all positions, and will come out on top here. Prediction: Tropics in 6. Eclipse (13) vs I n t e r s t e l l a r (20) Another PSN team that will be intriguing to watch how they stack up against some of Xbox’s best. While Eclipse has been in a turbulent period recently, they still have a good team that is capable of being a dark horse if they click at the right time. They finished 14-6-0, which is by no means a push over team. Their revamped roster has tons of skill, with players like @Twistafied and @CaLL Me Jakoo joining @rickchelup front to lead the charge. I think Interstellar will be competitive in the series and more competitive than others may think, but it will ultimately fall to Eclipse. Prediction: Eclipse in 6. Supremacy (14) vs Kingdom (19) A true wildcard matchup, as both teams came into the event with question marks, and now face each other to see where they stand among the top teams. Supremacy is a PSN team reunited under an old banner, but they have shown good placements in the past before. Kingdom has some great talent, with top 1v1, 3’s, and 6’s players amongst their ranks. The big question was how will it click in a 6v6 environment, and so far it has looked pretty good. They still haven’t quite shown enough to warrant moving forward past another team similar to their level, but it will be fun to see the potential grow from this squad regardless. Prediction: Supremacy in 6. Instinct (15) vs TST (18) Brothers matching against each other in @oHeroism and @Yetdi gives the matchup a little extra fun to experience. These 2 teams share a ton of connection to each other, which may be TST’s biggest asset heading into the series. They've had to scrim this team many times before, and will be TST's x factor to the unthinkable. I still think this is Instinct’s series to lose, but would be fun to see some tight games in the process. Instinct had a rough group play in my opinion, but still finished 13-6-1. They are more than poised to do well here. Prediction: Instinct in 4. Eruption (16) vs No Mercy (17) Similar to Veterans, Eruption is coming from a wild group and will need to compose themselves here against swift competition. They deserve to be here, but the competition only gets tougher and will need to show they belong against a veteran brand in No Mercy. No Mercy has been fairly inconsistent recently, but is finally starting to return to their old form, one that saw them as staples in the late stages of events throughout EASHL’s history in North America. With their roster solidifying, the time is now to show what they have. Prediction: No Mercy in 5. Those are all of the matchups for the first round of the playoffs of NACL ‘23: Winter! All of these teams will be battling out for not only the title, but also the chance to take on Europe’s best to be crowned EASHL’s world champion for the first time ever! Be sure to follow twitch.tv/SportsGamerGG to watch the action live, primarily on Sundays and Thursdays at 9pm ET.

At the completion of this report approaching the halfway point of the season, the number of games played by each team was still very unequal. However, we were already able to distinguish a trend at the top of the table. At the bottom also even if it remained to qualify. We've made the decision to divide this retail review into three groups: contenders, challengers and chasers. Given that this ranking will certainly still change a lot teams involved in this report will still have a chance to right their course. Please note that the statistics quoted here were recorded on December 30, 2022. Thank you to the teams who took care to answer our questions. Contenders: 1.4pts per game and more Group 1 HC Korobka : 1.72pts/g North Sawo Lions : 1.5 EHC Olten eSports : 1.5 Hannover Indians eSports : 1.5 Warheads : 1.4 Group 2 Cheeky Grinders : 1.79pts/g Predators : 1.44 Black Hurricanes : 1.43 It is reasonable to estimate that the future ECL 23 champion Winter Core is among one of these eight teams. It took fourteen games for Korobka to be beaten after a perfect start. The same goes for Cheeky Grinders who had only lost twice, including one in overtime. As we often say, matches are won in attack but championships are won in defense, the Swiss formation of Olten eSports was then the one who in this register came out best with a defensive coefficient of 1.5 goals conceded per game. Let's have a look at what players from those can release so far. @Steve SteVeKoeck (EHC Olten eSports) "It is an interesting group, with great players. All games are tough and we need a big fight every time to win or lose. We have to remain focused during every game." @Yaredhagos (Cheeky Grinders) "So far the games have been good even if playing on another server that the northern one is bad. For now not many teams have been really impressive except maybe Black Hurricanes who plays in unorthodox style." @Narkkitehti (North Sawo Lions) "Everything is working flawlessly! SportsGamer website is always working and if we face a problem, help arrives super fast. Keep up the great work! HC Korobka and Hannover Indians Esports from our group have been great and the biggest surprise so far. Honourable mention goes to our team, we are playing our first season in ECL and points are coming in from doors and windows." @Mestar93 (Black Hurricanes) "We have tried to play according to the match schedule, but it was found to be impossible. Few teams have had a game day/time according to the match schedule. In any case, we have been able to agree on new days/times relatively easily, with the exception of Turku. Block two Cheeky Grinders stood out from the crowd, and played a good game." Challengers: 1.3 to 1pts per game Group 1 MoDo Hockey : 1.29 pts/g KohKae Esports : 1.25 Fenris Wolves : 1.14 Eliel Kings : 1.07 Group 2 Pirates eSports : 1.25pts/g Deggendorfer SC Esports : 1.2 Mighty Stixxx / Force Majeure : 1 We have previously seen the teams that will undoubtedly play the outposts during the final stages, now here are the ones that could come to play the role of underdog. Honestly, two of them, MoDo Hockey and Mighty Stixxx, could even climb into the top group by the end of the season. There is a surprise in this list and it comes from France. Pirates eSports, which is the first appearance in Core, had a rather advantageous start to the season. We will have to see if this team can maintain its pace during the rest of the championship. Another honorable mention, it is credited to KohKae Esports, which had until then been the only team to have beaten Korobka twice. Let's go to the interview area to get the feelings of the players in this group of underdogs. @khallekha (Fenris Wolves) "It’s a sad thing that we have to pay to join Core. Everyone is ok with paying the license but it’s a bit too much to take more money than that. Another thing that's not good is teams like Korobka in our group. They are playing with 5 ex-pro players and 1 ex-lite player. We think that this team should play at least in Lite, but we understand that they want to play in Core to receive the prize money. Also a very sad thing about so many team drops from core. We should have around 90 teams participating instes of 26. We think you know why so many teams dropped! We are pretty happy with ourselves so far. We are playing with 5 players that have never ever played ECL. And we have a circulating schedule for all players so everyone will play equally. That’s for the future progress skills of the new players! I don't think that many captains resonate the way we do!" @Sebban Chilidoodle (MoDo Hockey) "We had to face a tough schedule but a decent run to begin. We can be dangerous in the playoffs with a tighter defence. We have a tight group that has been playing together for some seasons. Impressed that we have such a good run so far." @Mickebdl (Pirates eSports) "The start of the championship is well beyond our expectations. We are coming out of a satisfactory first block with five wins in eight games and while we were in Neo again last season without ever having been able to go very far in the playoffs. However we have several players who evolved in Core and that helps us a lot. We are now expected and we will have to face teams very well grouped in defense, we are preparing for it. We haven't set ourselves any goals but we will fight to reach the playoffs, which would be a very good performance for our first season in Core." @Fisk33n (Mighty Stixxx) "It has been a fun tournament so far, one of the best tournaments in our team's history. Both when it comes to our own playstyle and results in the games. And the communication with our opponents. Great talk and the few times we needed help from admins, they have been quick and helpful! This might seem egoistic, but our team has impressed me the most so far. Looking at our history it has been an impressive tournament so far from Mighty Stixxx. But if not us, then I have to say that when we played against Cheeky Grinders, we got impressed by their play. They were stronger in every position and had a great tactic. We had no chance at all, and I won't be surprised if they play in the final this season!" Chasers: 0.99pts per game and less Group 1 Remparts de Tours Esport : 0.8pt/g Old Dirty Primates : 0.57 Vasteras IK : 0.4 EHC Basel eSports 0.07 Group 2 Turkunummi : 0.92pt/g HC Pustertal eSports : 0.9 Karhukissat : 0.83 Iserlohn Roosters eSports : 0.7 Ambri eSports 0.6 For each of the teams mentioned in this last group, anything can still happen. Particularly on the side of the Remparts de Tours, whose experience should lead the French team to experience a better continuation of the season. Turkunummi too are undoubtedly a team capable of more accomplished results and January should help them get back on track. The same goes for Iserlohn who knew how to beat Black Hurricanes, thus proving that his current ranking is probably biased. Ditto for the Primates who knew how to beat MoDo, Olten and KohKae, these are encouraging results. As before, let's see what comes out of it on the players' side. @Geoffrey2point0 (Remparts de Tours Esports) "After a nice placement during the previous ECL we really hoped for better from this start to the season. We have not yet been able to raise our level of individual and collective play. There is still a long way to go! We will see what effect the winter break had. We have to give the best of ourselves, especially since the IRL Remparts de Tours team is having a very good season. We must take an example and rise to the occasion!" @Jay Hunter jAY-HUNTER87 (Iserlohn Roosters eSports) "The first games were very close. The league is very balanced and we're slowly getting points. It's going to be an exciting season. As always, the Finnish teams are very strong, so it's even nicer that we've often been able to annoy them on the North server. MoDo Hockey is of course a strong team to keep an eye on." @JPBROO (Ambri eSports) "In the first games we didn't play well enough in the 60 minutes, we had problems both defending and scoring. In the next matches we managed to take a few points with a defensively solid performance. What we miss to get more points is being able to keep the level high in both games against the same opponent. We are trying to increase our level game after game and we will try to reach the goal of the playoffs till the end. In general, I find our group balanced, I saw all well organised teams ready to fight until the end to win. No one gave us points for free. Merit should be given to those who are at the head of the group right now." @hcpfan (HC Pustertal eSports) "From our point of view our group is really strong. Every team can beat any other opponent, so it will be a tight race for the playoffs. We as a team expected some more points from the start for us, but we'll push hard to bounce back and we'll fight for our spot in the playoffs! If we have to name one we'd say Black Hurricanes, but overall most of them were about as strong as expected. We haven't faced every team yet and we're looking forward to impressing some opponents as well!"