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After some of the biggest games to date here at SportsGamer, we have crowned our NACL '23 Winter Champions - Entourage! We were expecting to see a Finals series unlike anything else seen before, with two teams going back-and-forth, potentially all the way in a seven game series, however, Entourage had different plans. While the short lived series was statistically very close, it was just a story of everything going right for Entourage, and in turn, everything going wrong for Scary Hours. In the end, the Champions prevailed with a sweep in the series! With their Championship, not only does Entourage secure the largest share of the 6 000€ prize pool, but they also punch their ticket to the inaugural World Finals in Helsinki, Finland on February 25th.  Entourage's road to the championship: #2 seed with the record 17-0-3 Round 1: bye Round 2: vs Supremacy (14) 4-0 Quarterfinals: vs The Underdogs (9) 4-1 Semifinals: vs One Unit (4) 4-2 Finals: vs Scary Hours (1) 4-0 The winning roster: GOALTENDERS #11 @IvanDelosh (xDelee) #79 @Rampage l79l DEFENSEMEN #8 @Doughty x i8i (A) #37 @Time2shineee #65 @Dumoulin65 FORWARDS #27 @BoilyHP #71 @hxndry (C) #86 @xDeath (Ethancy) #93 @gilly (A) We managed to reach out to the Entourage captain Lucas @hxndry Hendry amidst all the celebration: What was going through your mind in those closing moments of the game?  Any time there's an overtime between two great teams, the littlest things can end up making the big difference. As you saw, we were throwing punches back and forth in overtime and I'm so happy with how that turned out. We didn't wanna go any longer with how sweaty those games were! How has all of this success come together for Entourage over the past year? We definitely knew the talent was there when building this roster and as I said in one of the pregame interviews, we can take our losses and roll with them. We've played for about nine months now and just keep getting better and better! What's your preparation going to be ahead of the World Finals? We're definitely going to have to do some scouting on the EU teams and watch those Semifinals they're playing in right now. We'll have to try to pick up on some of the tendencies those guys have and see through the differences between the EU and NA game. It'll be achange of pace adjusting to that playstyle but we're excited to finally get to play those guys.  On behalf of the entire SportsGamer community, we congratulate the Champions and extend a warm thank you to all participants!

SportsGamers, We're at the Quarterfinals stage of the Lite division, and at this point all of the remaining teams have secured a portion of the prize pool and a spot in the Pro division Qualifiers for next season. The stakes are only getting higher from here, so let's get ready for some big matchups and thrilling gameplay! Schedule RO32: 22.-25.1.2023 RO16: 29.1-1.2.2023 Quarterfinals: 5.-8.2.2023 Semifinals: 12.-15.2.2023 Finals: 19.-22.2.2023 Without further ado, here are all of our matchups: Six Sticks Misfits (1) vs  Herforder Ice Dragons (19) The top seed Six Sticks Misfits have been able to dispatch TROJANS and DEG eSports easily in the first two rounds of action, with trusty old scoring machine @Lamsa leading the way being second in the entire league in terms of scoring. The misfits have been able to shut down their opponents while simultaneously being able to explode for some big numbers occasionally. In fact, these two squads matched up against eachother in the last games of the regular season, and ended up splitting wins in two very tightly contested games. While the Misfits controlled action especially in their own home game, Herforder have proven to be a resilient opponent able to overcome high skill teams in tough matchups. Their latest triumph was over heavy favorite Hunters in a series that extended to game 7 overtime. While the German squad looked to be under heavy fire from time to time, they never faltered and eventually experienced winger @eBasstian sealed the deal for them to move on. Prediction: 4-2, Six Stick Misfits.    Gunners HC (3) vs  Purification (15) Gunners HC are now the second highest seed remaining in the Playoff picture, and the extremely defense-oriented squad goes up against the Swedish roster of Purification, with tremendous speed up the wings. Both teams have had somewhat similar roads through the Playoffs with a tough matchup in the first round against Swiss clubs SCB eSports and Lions Academy respectively, after which the two combatants dispatched NOSTREETSPORTS and Sodertalje SK without too many troubles. Purification will expect big things from defenseman @wickmanwOw, who has been quarterbacking most of their play throughout the Playoffs, whereas Gunners HC have been able to find a rather balanced approach reliant on quick puck movement and tight team defense, as a result allowing goaltender @jaakqoo to shine as one of the brightest stars in the division at the moment.  Prediction: 4-2, Gunners HC.    Pirati Chomutov Esports (5) vs  Prestige (8) We could very well be in for some fireworks in this one, as two of the highest scoring teams throughout the season will be going up against each other. The Czech outfit of Chomutov have their top guy @Adri1_SCP up front, whereas Prestige has @I_Saarinen_I as the equivalent. Both teams have plenty of secondary scorers, but this could end up being a story of these two star players. Which one of these guys can outplay the other? Comutov have been penalized quite a lot throughout the Playoffs, so they'll certainly want to cut back on those extra two-minutes in the sin bin. Prediction: 3-4, Prestige.    Vizio (6) vs  Project X (7) Keep an eye on this series, where we'll have most likely the highest individual skill team Vizio, going up against Project X, probably one of the most experienced teams in the division alongside Six Stick Misfits. Perhaps the biggest Lite division offseason acquisition, @JesseL2002 has been excellent for Project X, leading the team in scoring in both the regular season and Playoffs. The left winger also is a big player in the teams puck possession play and makes for a lethal duo together with @Tappu on the left flank. Vizio is one of the most high possession teams in the Playoffs and with all the skill in their roster, they will be able to frustrate teams with second to none puck protection and cycle play.  Prediction: 2-4, Project X. 

The NACL '23 Winter Finals will be played in full tonight, and we're extremely excited to see two prestigious teams that have been able to compete at a high level for a very long time. Both the #1 seed Scary Hours and the #2 seed Entourage have some big titles under their belts already, but now the stakes are higher than ever and they'll be playing to punch their ticket to the inaugural World Finals in Helsinki on February 25th. Make sure to also read our full NACL '23 Winter Finals Preview before we go live tonight. Scary Hours (1) vs Entourage (2) TOP SCORER Harley @Sitballs (Sitful-_-) Sitko 18 GP, 22+22=44 vs Ethan @xDeath (Ethancy) Macdonald 15 GP, 23+26=49 GOALTENDER Justin @Bardown Beauty Turner 13 GP, 11 W, 83,76 SV%, 1.46 GAA, 2 SO vs Justin @Rampage l79l Horn 15 GP, 12 W, 81,44 SV%, 2.07 GAA, 2 SO REGULAR SEASON RECORD 20-1-1 vs 17-0-3 Ahead of the big games we reached out to Entourage owner and captain Lucas @hxndry Hendry, who is heading into the Finals in good spirits, very confident in his own team. Can you go over your history with Scary Hours and how your most recent games have gone? Entourage has been around since 2019 and this team is a new roster built in May. We've played a bunch against the guys in Scary Hours under different names through the years but the latest competitive games probably date back to the Semifinals in Caps Gaming 2022, where the series ended 3-1 for Scary Hours. We've done a lot of work since then and are confident we can take them this time. We were actually scheduled to play them last Wednesday, but decided to pull a strategic forfeit to not show them any of our game ahead of the NACL Finals. What would you say is the essence of success for Entourage? I'd say we have a bunch of talent obviously. The entire roster is Top 3 in North America on their respective positions, we practice a lot and scrim a couple of times a week on top of the tournaments going on. A big thing is that we can handle the inevitable losses and learn from them. The mindset of just being the best and not settling for anything else is really the driving force. Is there any specific player that has been particularly important for you guys during the NACL '23 Winter season? Honestly I'd say our D-pair @Doughty x i8i and @Dumoulin65. They really are are the backbone of our team and just levels ahead of everyone else on their positions. They're able to effortlessly control the whole defense and jump in on the offense with the skill they have back there. Join us tonight for the Finals series at twitch.tv/SportsGamerGG! We'll be going live at 7:30PM ET with NHL 23 X-Factor Edition Xbox Game Code giveaways after every game!

SportsGamers, Now with only four teams remaining in the Pro division we're down to the very best around. These teams will need only eight more wins to claim the trophy and gain direct promotion to the European top 16! Schedule RO16: 19.-24.1.2023 Quarterfinals: 26.-31.1.2023 Semifinals: 5.-7.2.2023 Finals: 12.-14.2.2023 (4) Örebro Hockey vs (8) Tohtorit What a road both of these teams have had on their way to the Semifinals. Örebro looked like they could even have been on the way to the top seed at times, but took some time in finding their consistency. They have dispatched Memento in the first round, after which RCTIC put up a real good fight in the Quarterfinals, but the red and white prevailed. Örebro are have seen a good development throughout the season, as their main guy in the regular season was @Rimpe, who actually now sits at last in scoring within the team. This means that they've been able to find the second wave on a consistent basis when their top guy has been marked. Watch for @ripKeisari to finally open his scoring these Playoffs! Tohtorit are a squad that have had somewhat of a turbulent season. The high-skill roster barely made the Playoffs in an exciting race for those final spots and while we'e even heard rumblings of the team calling it quits at some point, that hasn't been evident in any way on their actions on the ice. The 8th seed haven't made their road to this stage easy, but they'll certainly be warmed up for any challenge that Örebro might throw at them. As the stakes get higher, we are really seeing winger @Harlowi- come into his own and stepping up for his team. When these teams clashed in the regular season, both games were won by Örebro, in a 4-5 OT win and 1-0 win. Prediction: 4-3, Örebro (6) Nemesis vs (7) Leksands IF Neither one of these teams have had an easy way through the Playoffs thus far. However, both have now taken down these rather excellent opponents in surprisingly easy manner. Nemesis came into the 2nd round off of a dominant showing against HanaaHC, after which they dismantled Djurgården Hockey in similar fashion. Leksands IF, on the other hand, have now taken down IK Oskarshamn and Golden Nights without any real issue and shown that they are able to play on both the counter-attack and in control of the game, whichever style the situation calls for. The offensive power that Leksands IF holds is unmatched in the Playoffs at the moment, as all three of their forwards slot into the top 5 in Playoff scoring. That is exactly why Nemesis will be relying on experienced goaltender @Viltzup to keep up his stellar play, maintaining his league leading save percentage. Prediction: 2-4, Leksands IF.

SportsGamers, We're down to the top four teams in the ECL '23 Winter Elite division and with that, these teams are only eight wins away from a title, and a spot in the inaugural World Finals! This round will offer some highly exciting action and a classic between hREDS and Frölunda HC. which one of these teams will be the first to claim a spot in the Finals? Schedule Quarterfinals: 25.1-1.2.2023 Semifinals: 5-8.2.2023 Finals: 24.2.2023 (Live in Helsinki) Tunnel Vision  (1)  vs JYP Jyväskylä  (5) TOP SCORER Arttu @laitineen64 Laitinen 5 GP, 5+6=11 vs Santeri @indi969 Pendolin 5 GP, 5+4=9 GOALTENDER Niklas @uhNikke Nieminen 5 GP, 4 W, 80,43 SV%, 1.8 GAA, 1 SO vs Kasper @Kaz_zu Ramstedt 5 GP, 4 W, 84,48 SV%, 1.8 GAA, 2 SO REGULAR SEASON RECORD 27-0-3 vs 18-9-3 REGULAR SEASON SERIES 7-2, 7-3 When these two teams clashed in the regular season, the story was very lopsided, and Tunnel Vision managed to have their way with JYP in two high-scoring victories. While it seemed like JYP has struggled a bit with defensive collapses throughout the regular season, they've really tightened things up in the Playoffs and managed to wear out Reality Check HC in the Quarterfinals. Tunnel Vision also had no issue overcoming JANO in their Quarterfinals matchup. Thus far, neither of these teams have been forced to flex all of their muscles, and we can expect the pace to pick up even more moving forward, but Tunnel Vision will more than likely be better accustomed to the kind of hockey that it will take to win this series, and they'll be able to play on the chemistry of their core and ride the hot blade that Arttu @laitineen64 Laitinen has been having all season long. Kasper @Kaz_zu Ramstedt was excellent for JYP in their Quarterfinals matchup and even secured some wins for the club with massive saves in the dying seconds of the game, whereas Niklas @uhNikke Nieminen still has some room to improve for Tunnel Vision.  Prediction: 4-1, Tunnel Vision.   hREDS  (2) vs Frölunda HC  (3) TOP SCORER (Playoffs) Niklas @NikkeDangles Tukiainen 4 GP, 2+5=7 vs Tuukka @FlyerKungen Kuha 4 GP, 4+7=11 GOALTENDER (Playoffs) Filip @Faze91- Azri 4 GP, 4 W, 92,31 SV%, 0.75 GAA, 2 SO vs Casper @ICappeI Lundgren 4 GP, 4 W, 94,39 SV%, 0.5 GAA, 3 SO REGULAR SEASON RECORD 24-4-2 vs 22-4-4 REGULAR SEASON SERIES 1-3, 3-2 We're in for a real treat in these Semifinals as hREDS and Frölunda HC are about to clash. These are two greats of the game and while in recent years, hREDS have been the torchbearers on the big stages, Frölunda HC have never stopped their grind, and this season they are looking better than ever on the prowl for another big title. Is this the time they'll be able to trample that hREDS dynasty? A look in the crease reveals two real legends of the position, but interestingly enough, neither Casper @ICappeI Lundgren or Filip @Faze91- Azri managed to quite reach their top level in the regular season. However, they've both made a really quick turnaround and picked up their game in impressive fashion. With three shutouts in four games played and a high-flying 94,29 SV%, Cappe is tough to beat for the best goalie in the Playoffs at this moment, but Faze will certainly look to give him a run for his money.  Statistically, this will be one of those series that could very well end up going all the way, and split points in the regular season indicate something in that direction too. Both of these teams know each other very well, so expect to see tight checking and a bit of a slower start to the series.  Prediction: 4-3, hREDS.   Join us for the first Semifinals gameday TONIGHT at Twitch.tv/SportsGamerGG! Both series will see their start, and we'll really be able to see in which direction these matchups start moving.