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Finland completes a successful title defense in the 2023 IIHF eWorld Championship and seals a second onsecutive Championship on the virtual ice. After a thrilling comeback in the Semifinals, Canada was no match for the Finns in the Finals. The second consecutive IIHF eWorld Championships in the revamped format has concluded and with that, Finland has now hoisted the trophy for the second consecutive year. This season, Erik @Eki Tammenpää and Jesse @JesseL2002 Linden represented the Finnish Leijonat and proved excellent teamwork throughout the tournament as both players had their times to shine. In the Finals, team Finland managed to beat Canada, represented by Justin @Regs84 Reguly and Samuel @Canadiens 27 (CadCooks) Landry. As the 2022 Finals were some of the most thrilling action we've got to witness in NHL esports history, these Finals were decided with a wider margin. However, the Finns were in a pickle in the Semifinals against USA Hockey and barely squeezed through with an incredible comeback completed by Eki in game 4 of the series. How did it feel to play today, especially getting used to high ping games? @Eki: "I'd say it felt rather easy to play today 'cause we got used to the ping a bit yesterday in the Semifinals." @JesseL2002: "As Eki said, we had some time to get used to it yesterday and today it felt really smooth and did't go into the red zone at all." Eki, you played some tight games against Regs today, what are your thoughts on his game? "I've said it in previous interviews, and I've played Regs a few times in high stakes games before. He is definitely the best player I've played on the international stage and just levels ahead of the competition. Although they played with a worse team in the Finals, it felt like he had the advantage at times." Jesse, you managed to dominate your games today right from the get-go, what happened? "I don't even know, goals happened, that's for sure. The first game was definitely pretty good, and I managed to set a good tone for the day. I hadn't scouted my opponent and just went into the games with a clean slate. I felt like i had control of the games all along and although my opponent tied it at 3-3 at one point, I just kept scoring and everything seemed to go my way." @Eki: "About Jesse, I have to say he's been a great teammate throughout the tournament and afforded me to play without pressure in the Finals, in the Quarterfinals I also felt a bit off my game and he was excellent then also." Once again, congratulations to both Jesse and Eki for their Championship! 🏆

SportsGamers, After an intense series against Frölunda HC, we've crowned Tunnel Vision the ECL '23 Winter Elite Champions at Assembly. The young squad hoisted their first ever ECL trophy and are now in for another challenge against Entourage in the inaugural World Finals Saturday evening.  Tunnel Vision's road to the championship: #1 seed from with the record 27-0-3 Quarterfinals: vs JANO (8) 4-1 Semifinals: vs JYP Jyväskylä (5) 4-2 Finals: vs Frölunda HC (3)  The winning roster: GOALTENDERS #7 Niklas @uhNikke Nieminen #86 Oskari @SibeIius Grönroos DEFENSEMEN #24 Veeti @Wenger Paloneva #65 Tomi @tombo_02 Laitinen FORWARDS #9 Arttu @laitineen64 Laitinen #37 Valtteri @Vattuyy Virtanen #67 Aleksi @MozjaTG Kähkönen   We managed to reach out to the Tunnel Vision goalie Niklas @uhNikke Nieminen amidst all the celebration: You're the Champions after an imcredibly tough series against Frölunda HC, how does the win make you feel? "It was a good series, and I have a massive respect for the fight that Frölunda put up against us. We had a good chance that we managed to capitalize on in Game 7, which ended up being the decisive factor. Feels great!" The series was a back-and-forth affair throughout, why do you think that is? "That's a thing I was wondering about during play also, I think we just weren't able to stick to our game after a win and lacked a bit of consistency." How do you turn around from here and start prepping for tomorrow? "I don't think we'll spend that much time prepping. We've done our groundwork and scouted Entourage ahead of time and will be riding today's flow with a new focus." On behalf of the entire SportsGamer community, we congratulate the Champions and extend a warm thank you to all participants!