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The first McSavid Goalie School is over and I would like to thank everyone that applied to it. There were applications ranging from ECL Elite to Neo and some North American applicants as well, but in order to not overwhelm myself, I set the first school to focus on only three goalies - one from ECL Pro, one from ECL Lite, and one from ECL Core. That leads me to congratulate @TheSpeedo, @Bystrom_33, and @wobfighter and also thank them for trying out this adventure. Also, a big thank you to @MyLittleRevvy for volunteering to assist me in this - he has been a big help! Our main focus in our communication was to try and raise the bar, individually, for the participants. Since they were experienced already we didn't need to go into the basics, we could focus on how to make a play in certain situations instead. Whether that may be 1v1, 2v1, or what to focus on, in a faceoff. We created some video tutorials that the guys could watch and ask about the thought process. We had them clip goals that they conceded and had a discussion on how that situation could have been handled differently. In the end, all three goalies contributed to taking their respective teams to the playoffs with Speedo ending up being one of the best goalies in all of the ECL Pro division. All three goalies felt an improvement in their game and it will be interesting to see their stats (hopefully) improve even more from ECL '24: Winter to ECL '24: Spring season. Here's what the goalies themself had to say about their experience and how their stats measured up vs the previous season: TheSpeedo: "From my own experience at the goalie school. From the first day, I felt welcome and also felt how McDavid really wanted to help goalies develop, learn new things, and take that famous next step. I have gained a lot of new tools and a new perspective in my own game. The experience was unique and I recommend it to every goalie if you are open to new information and training. A very big thank you to McDavid and Revv who made this possible." Bystrom_33: "I feel very lucky to be one of the 3 goalies that were given this opportunity. The things that I learned most and will take with me in the future are that you need to have a big portion of patience, and also learned much from McSavid in 1vs1 situations on breakaways, and don't trust too much on your own defensive players which I did a little too much before resulting that I was a little too aggressive on the puck holder " shooter". This was a great experience and I want to give big thanks to you all guys, and also I want to send big luck to the other goalkeepers from the school to and I wish you all the best in the future with your career as a goalie. wobfighter: "After a 2-year break coming back to a different NHL title, I applied for the goalie school and got accepted. McSavid and Reev both worked individually with you and your goalie play, sharing their experiences and how they dealt with certain situations on the ice. With small adjustments, my play improved a lot over a short time. All participants and coaches are supportive throughout the process. I can recommend the goalie school to everyone - here you get a lot of experience from a competitive standpoint: you can work on the fundamentals, how to improve your game, how to set a good routine and practice habits. Thank you Mcsavid and Reev for the opportunity to work with you, you guys are awesome." For the ECL '24: Spring season I have joined The Black Jacks in ECL Elite, but the goalie school will hopefully return during the summer break if any more goalies are interested. I would also like to thank SportsGamer for letting me host this goalie school, it has been a fun and educating experience!

Gamers, As the ECL '24: Winter - Pro season comes to an end, we got to see some incredible storylines and some fierce newcomers. We saw an epic championship series with Gotham Knights taking Renascor to 7 games, and to make an incredible final series even more incredible, we got to enjoy a Game 7 overtime where both teams had their chances to win it all. In the end, @Borjendahlen scored a backdoor goal from a good setup. With their Championship, not only does Gotham Knights secure the largest share of the 5500€ prize pool, but also manage to gain promotion to the European Top 16 for their ECL '24 Winter campaign. The Gotham Knights displayed exceptional skill and teamwork throughout the season, securing their championship victory, their strategic plays and individual performances were commendable, showcasing their dominance in the second-best tier of ECL, now taking them to the highest level. The team’s dedication and coordination were key factors in their success, solidifying their position as a force to be reckoned with even next season in Elite. Hopefully, all other teams can take a look at how Gotham Knights got to where they are and take notes for next season! We asked the captain of the newly crowned champions, @ReDMisTi, a few questions - check out what he had to say! What was the feeling like in the party when you scored that G7 overtime goal? “The group absolutely blew up! We had a feeling we were going to win the game so when we finally did score we all had a lot to cheer for” How are you going to prepare for next season in Elite? “By the looks of it, we’ll play FCL (=eHockey SM 2024) and a few planned friendlies against some Elite teams, but before we start anything we’ll take a hard-earned break from playing” How can other teams prepare for their season to have a shot at gaining promotion to Elite like you did? “Well you must have good team spirit and build from that, play against similar skilled and better opponents, play casual games, and see what works and what doesn’t, a good example is Gifu, who made it to the semifinals.” Who surprised you the most during the season? “This is an easy one, @Sundstroom from GIFU Hockey and @Nester4343 from Nova, Sundstrom stood on his head against us and stole some wins for them in the playoffs, Elite talent no doubt. Nester was really difficult to contain, they took 2 wins from us in the regular season, and almost upset Purification in the playoffs. Special mention goes to @riegel29 from GIFU Hockey and @antonlule from Björklöven.” Gotham Knights road to the championship: #1 seed from Group 2 with the record 21-3-2-4 Round 1: vs VALCO (16) 4-0 Quarterfinals: vs Herlev Eagles (11) 4-0 Semifinals: vs GIFU Hockey (7) 4-2 Finals: vs Renascor (4) 4-3 The winning roster: GOALTENDERS 🇫🇮 #22 Juha @jubex0r Kettunen 🇸🇪 #27 Philip @Discokryckan Johansson DEFENSEMEN 🇫🇮 #63 Ilmari @iilmarii Töyrylä 🇫🇮 #85 Toni @Borjendahlen Karjaluoto FORWARDS 🇫🇮 #15 Joni @ReDMisTi Kaikkonen (C) 🇫🇮 #37 Timi @Rimpe Rimpeläinen (A) 🇫🇮 #64 Mikko @Ristimaki12 Ristimäki 🇫🇮 #88 Jere @keranee Keränen (A) On behalf of the entire SportsGamer community, we congratulate the Champions and extend a warm thank you to all participants!