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SportsGamers, The first week of ECL '23 Spring Elite action is in the books and at the moment, most teams have got their first three matchups in the books. Tohtorit, ZSC Esports and Roots Gaming are the few exceptions, with only one matchup in their rearview, so they'll surely be looking to pick up the pace and play more intensively in the coming weeks. We had several very interesting clashes early on in the season already, as we got to enjoy matchups between four of the contender favorites already in the season opener!  Nordic Stars were one of the most exciting teams to watch out for heading into the season, and interestingly enough they had a very tough start to their season, facing off against all of the preview's top three teams in the first week. While the Stars managed to challenge the top contenders in every game, they didn't quite come away with as many points as they would have wanted, and the result was only one win against hREDS and no points gathered against Tunnel Vision or Frölunda HC. It's clear as day that it is the Tuukka @Tuukka.R Röpelinen (KingOfApes) show in Nordic Stars now, as the right defenseman leads the team in both possession time and points after the first eight games of the season. The team also made an interesting acquisition at the end of the first week, when they picked up Väinö @Pikkardz Pikkarainen from GOONS to shuffle their offensive arsenal a bit.  Heimo is the team topping the tables after the first week of action, and deservedly so. The outfit seems to have picked up right where they left off in the Winter season and are intent on making another great Playoff push. Their first three matchups have been against teams that they should definitely be able to compete against, and with five wins out of those three games, they'll be happy to move on in good form. At the moment, Heimo is statistically the most solid squad in the division. Wade @Wpaanane Paananen seems to be on a hot streak and slots in at third in scoring throughout the league.  Now, a team we can't ignore are the rookies in Leksands IF. Their forward core of Robert @Robban kaudern Kaudern (I-Kaudo-I), Linus @Bror1326 Nidalen (I-Bror-I) and Philip @Philip Deemus Deemus (PHDeemus) have been picking their opponents apart early on in the season and as a result of scoring explosions against both Örebro Hockey and Reality Check HC, they've been able to push their way into #1, #2 and #4 in the scoring standings at the moment. This team scores a lot and have been able to win games as a result, but they'll certainly be looking to tighten up their defense moving forward. It is doubtful they'll keep up the pace of four goals for per game, but they'll do their best! The Swedish outfit Färjestad BK had a difficult Winter season and made some changes to their roster in the offseason due to long-time center Christoffer @I-Maise-I Berntsson retiring and while they do look good on paper, their changes haven't yielded results on the ice yet. Tough losses against both hREDS and Heimo will definitely spur the team to push even harder in week two. Wingers Anton @antoniomannen004 Svensander and Henrik @Eken45jr Eklund have been cold to start the season. Transfers It's a somewhat rare occasion to see some movement at the Elite level after the start of the season, but some transfers have come to knowledge in the past week or so, we'll also be recapping possible movement in these reports. Here are the transfers that have come to light since last week: Teemu @tkantola Kantola -  Otukset (ECL Pro) -->  GOONS Tuomas @Tumpp1A Aaltonen -  Otukset (ECL Pro) -->  GOONS Väinö @Pikkardz Pikkarainen -  GOONS -->  Nordic Stars Joel @jtorro-_- Tourunen - Free Agent -->  Mayhems Standings - Week 1 1. Heimo +7 2. hREDS - 3. Leksands IF +12 4. Frölunda HC -1 5. Redhawks Esport +8 6. Reality Check HC - 7. JYP Jyväskylä -2 8. Tunnel Vision -7 9. Mayhems +3 10. Nordic Stars -6 11. Örebro Hockey +3 12. ZSC Esports -2 13. Tohtorit +3 14. GOONS -7 15. Roots Gaming -4 16. Färjestad BK -7    

SportsGamers, Last week the GCL 9 season had it's final games in the form of the GCL 9 1v1 Finals between #2 seed Kevin @Keuschemisch Berg and #3 seed Sven @Original-SnuS Julmi. These are two highly skilled players, and what adds so much to the matchup is their great friendship off the ice too. Both represent the ZSC Esports organization, and with substantial domestic success already in their back pockets, both certainly wanted to clinch the 1v1 Championship too. Eventually, the best-of-five series required four games to be finished, as Keuschemisch managed to best his good friend with a 3-1 series score. All games were a good back and forth, but the Champion really utilized his scoring chances very effectively.  Keuschemisch's road to the Championship: Regular Season record: 14-0-0 (#2 seed) Round 1: vs @schmiedli_68 3-0 Quarterfinals: vs @ProfaneKiss 3-2 Semifinals: vs @riegel29 3-0 Finals: vs @Original-SnuS 3-1 SportsGamer congratulates Kevin on his Championship and extends a warm thank you to all participants!

SportsGamers, Today it's time to get the action going also in the Core division, the fourth tier of European NHL esports competition. We've got 32 teams divided into two groups all eager to  push for the next level in their competitive careers. Several returning teams have strengthened their ranks in the offseason either through new recruits or simply grinding hard at their game and trusting that one more season of experience could be the difference maker for them.  ECL '23 Spring Core Schedule Registration period: 18.3.-20.4.2023 Regular Season: 25.4.- 24.5. RO32: 30.5.-4.6. RO16: 6.-11.6. Quarterfinals: 13.-18.6. Semifinals: 20.-25.6. Finals: 27.-29.6.* Group 1  Nordic Nosebleed No doubt about the fact that Nordic Nosebleed is one of the more experienced squads in the ECL Core division, with several players including captains @Cherry and @Lidaas79 having started their careers already before the divisional framework was included into the ECL. Nordic Nosebleed have established themselves first and foremost as a strong devensive team, which should do them lots of good this season. A tough team to beat.   North Sawo Lions A returning team that did extremely well in the group stage of the Winter season, but didn't get their game going against HC Pustertal eSports in the first round of the Playoffs. One more season of experience should have done these guys good and captain @Liimatainenn is expected to lead the team from the front once again.   Ambri eSports Another returning squad, who struggled a bit last Core season, barely making the Playoffs out of the Group stage. However, they've done lots of great work in the offseason and managed to claim the GCL Division 2 Championship just a few weeks ago. Ambri eSports could end up being one of those sneaky good teams that flies under the radar.   HC Palosaari After some time away from the ECL ice sheet, HC Palosaari makes a return in a fusion with the former Karmadillos. In that fusion, they receive a fair amount of experience into their roster in the form of @JanEerikBanan and @Moneygunx along with several other HC Palosaari alumni, who had been with Karmadillos for some time. We're expecting this squad to challenge for the top spots in their group. Group 2  Lutunilkat The beloved Lutunilkat brand have had a tough few seasons in the Lite division and are now droppong down a level in order to find their game again. Lutunilkat is a team that likes to have fun on the ice and might just need to see some success in order to find joy in what they do.   EV Duisburg EV Duisburg is one of those brands that has been around for countless years at various levels of ECL competition, at their best, they had a stint of two seasons in ECL Pro but have since dropped down a few levels. Captain @GreatOne139 has been with the team through thick and thin and is a true heart-and-soul player for this squad.   Pirates eSports This mainly French outfit is very familiar from previous ECL seasons and while they haven't seen substantial success, they should be a tough team to crack in any game this upcoming season. We're expecting the pirates to Yarr hard, and maybe we'll see a pirate rivalry between these guys and HC Palosaari in the Playoffs?    KohKae Esports A few seasons of Lite experience and a decent eHSM performance in the rearview makes us expect that KohKae Esports could be on the brink of a good Playoff push this season. Who will take over the top scoring role, as @Ylijumala96 has made the move to Nelos Kentta?

SportsGamers, We're in for an unusually tight season in the Lite division and a quick look at the groups show that very few teams manage to really stand out from the pack this time. As the season progresses, there will naturally be some outliers but this time around, that will mainly come from finding form along they way and running with it. It's truly going to be anyone's game this Spring season. This season preview will aim to highlight three interesting teams and three interesting players from each of the four groups in the division. We'll be revisiting the preview in our mid-season report, where we'll be able to see if any of our predictions have held up to the test of time. ECL '23 Spring Lite Schedule Regular Season: 25.4.-24.5. RO32: 30.5.-4.6. RO16: 6.-11.6. Quarterfinals: 13.-18.6. Semifinals: 20.-25.6. Finals: 27.-29.6. Group 1 Written by @OGjahajaha Duesseldorfer EG eSports The former DEG eSports are entering their eighth straight season in the Lite division and while they’ve been grinding away for such a long time already, success has managed to avoid them. Last season, they were eliminated by the top seed Six Sticks Misfits in the second round of the Playoffs, but things are looking on the up for DEG, and this might be the season they thrive. NOSTREETSPORTS This highly experienced team holds lots of individual talent and looks very balanced on every position. They should be able to dominate competition in possession, which will most likely translate to scoring if they are able to convert on their opportunities. Should be right up there with the best of them in terms of title contention. Dark Wild This is a roster that took the ice for the first time in the eHockey Finnish Championships and had some struggles early on, but could be an interesting story to follow if they’re able to develop along the season. Dark Wild also has a very deep roster with some ability to rotate positions and players in the starting lineup if required. Players to watch: @Fire_019, Duesseldorfer EG eSports @Kaapo13, Technical Disaster @lordkomar91, HC KOROBKA Group 2 Written by @OGjahajaha Lions Academy After making the Lite Playoffs last season and being a dangerous squad to be on the lookout for, Lions Academy lost their top scorer SnipeLVCelly among quite a few other players in the offseason and are now entering their next campaign with yet another deep roster with several possibilities. Quite notably, they’ve added Burban and FightLocke3 from the Elite squad ZSC Lions to mind the net, which certainly gives the entire team a big boost. Could be a sneaky squad that makes it really hard for their opponents to score. Sodertalje SK An experienced squad that could be a fringe Pro team when they’re on their game. Sodertalje SK have had tremendous difficulty scoring in the SCL, and they’ll definitely be hoping that those troubles would be in the rearview heading into the ECL. The leadership group needs to get the team going and forwards need to produce. Cheeky Grinders A sneaky Championship contender, maybe? Cheeky Grinders finished ECL ‘23 Winter by claiming the ECL Core title and are coming into the Lite division off of an eHSM campaign they’ll definitely want to improve on. The Grinders struggled greatly on special teams on both ends of the ice and were a bit too undisciplined for their own good. This team has the potential to be great if they put their minds to it and get down to the grind, as their name would suggest. Players to watch: @Fightlocke3, Lions Academy @Hockeyulle, Sodertalje SK @vepdsssss (Werppi), Ultimatum Group 3 Supernatural Definitely one of the favorites coming up for this season. Team with a lot of experience from the higher divisions and the expectations are high for this team to make it far in the playoffs. Team is well balanced on all fronts and the experience of players should be a weapon for this team moving forward. They should be able to control the play in most of their matchups and if they can perform they should win the group. Strong contender. Mustaa Kultaa Dark horse of this division. Team with lots of individual skill and potential that needs to perform well as a team to succeed. Young and hungry would be the best words to describe this team. A lack of experience could be the thing that haunts this team moving forward. If they can get their teamplay going and find the right playstyle for them, they could be a solid contender. This could be a story to follow this season. Ghost After not making the playoffs last season, the team has made some new exciting additions to their roster on the attacking front. This team has potential to do good in this division, but if the new additions do not perform the team could easily do the same as last season and miss the playoffs. These things will make this team interesting to watch next season. Players to watch: @Eiteam, Supernatural @Valosaari92, Rahinage @Velttola, Mustaa Kultaa Group 4 Skelleftea AIK After an unfortunate end to last season losing in the first round against Herforder Ice Dragons they have a chance to redeem themselves this season and go far. Since last season they have lost some key players so we will have to see if the new players can perform on the level needed for the team to make it to the playoffs once again. Skelleftea is known for their fast counterattacks and have been effective on the scoring chances they get. If they get their game going with the new lineup they could be a solid contender PunaKala Punakala has been a solid team in Lite for quite many seasons in a row and this season could be their chance to finally make it far in the playoffs. They have a solid defense, but the offense has to really step it up this season if they wish to be successful. If the team is able to develop during the season this could prove to be a great season for the team. xBOTS This team has a lot of individual talent and after a successful eHockey Finnish Championships, the team looks to be very balanced and well built together. This is definitely a puck possession team, but they have to be more efficient with their scoring chances. Especially the addition of IOLL1 could be a factor that makes the offence more efficient and therefore could make the team a force to be reckoned with. This team has a quite passive play style and has struggled against teams that play a solid trap. If they can improve on their zone entries they truly have potential to be great. Solid defense and having a lot of possession are keys for this team to succeed. A solid contender. Players to watch: @I0LL1, xBOTS @Clumpyindiana79, Armada Hockey @andreaskakan, Mora IK