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Once again the regular season comes to an end and the most exciting time of the year is upon us. I couldn't be more than happy with the teams that pushed through to the playoffs and once again proved this writer wrong. In this article, we’ll go through all the matchups in round 1, see what the teams have accomplished so far and then get into the predictions of each series. ECL Pro - Round 1 official scheduled dates*: Monday 27.5 Tuesday 28.5 Thursday 30.5 *Teams can agree to play games earlier, many series are expected to start early. Falun Coal Miners (1) vs Vizio (8) With the number one seed always comes big expectations. This year is no exception with Falun beating Deadly Phantoms and TIKI TALK for that number one seed and the “Presidents' trophy”, thus gaining home advantage for the entirety of the playoffs. With a record of 20-4-1-5 and 69 points, spearheading the Falun offense this season was @STRANDMANNEN11, relatively new to the scene and scoring 32 goals in his first season is impressive, to say the least. But with the bright playoffs lights, can he do it against a team that has played together for a long time, can @Artuzio and @Jetsu28 carry this team to round 2 after barely making the playoffs? Only time will tell. Predictions: @hifk_FANI: 4-0 Falun @yrjoo: 2-4 Vizio Deadly Phantoms (1) vs Cheeky Grinders (8) Phantoms boast quite a long history of making the playoffs, everybody knows how frustrating it is to play against this team, right? Many of us Nordic players blame the Central European servers for that, but the Phantoms' style of play has once again proven effective: they won their group and proved that server choice does not matter as much as some think, edging out a few teams who could have taken that spot. For the Phantoms their excellent defensive play stood out this season, boasting 1.67 goals allowed per game, with the goalie @RPH_31 taking a stand (SV% 84.38 and 1.79 GAA). This will be a good test for a Cheeky Grinders team that plays well against teams who are higher in the standings - they did indeed steal some points this season from difficult opponents, which is why they are in the playoffs right now. Let’s see how they match against an incredibly experienced playoff team. Predictions: @hifk_FANI: 4-2 DPH @yrjoo: 4-1 DPH TIKI TALK (2) vs Herlev Eagles (7) Someone could have maybe predicted this series at the start of the season, but maybe the other way? Herlev had a lot of ups and downs, and TIKI TALK had an impressive regular season. This should be an interesting series - both have lots of individual talent, @itspardytime, @NuariJamal, @vibholm10, and @Spearzz_, just to name a few. But as both teams look to advance to the next round, the team who can play the more compact defense will surely advance? Predictions: @hifk_FANI: 3-4 Herlev @yrjoo: 3-4 Herlev Finnish Roosters (2) vs Golden Sticks (7) The Finnish Roosters was definitely on my personal list of teams who deserved a mention in that “could’ve been” ECL Pro mid-season report that sadly never came to fruition. The team boasts a lot of players who have been around the scene for a while, and now they are entering the playoffs with momentum against a team that was assembled not long ago. This will be an interesting series to follow for a number of reasons, but the number one thing to look out for should definitely be the offense of Golden Sticks vs the defense of Finnish Roosters. Predictions: @hifk_FANI: 4-0 Roosters @yrjoo: 4-2 Roosters. POGGERS (3) vs NOVA (6) It's been an interesting story for both teams this season, with POGGERS having a slightly disappointing Pro regular season after being relegated and NOVA building on last season, improving their record. NOVA can only hope to beat a strong POGGERS team, who have played for a long time together and they certainly know how to win hockey games. As always the creative center @JaKurrii is a hard player to contain, with 67 points (23+44), playing with @Ghettomasi who had a great season, scoring an impressive 37 goals. Can NOVA's defense and recently acquired @PyroNiko cause an upset? Predictions: @hifk_FANI: 2-4 Nova @yrjoo: 4-2 Poggers RYHTIC (3) vs Södertälje SK (6) Both teams have had their fair share of games played in the Pro division, and now we’ll see who has more ice in their veins. With a tough season, Södertälje is looking to prove to everyone and themselves that they are better than most in this division. With the help of a couple of really great players, @amadee21 can really step up in the playoffs - a player to watch for this series! RYHTIC can surprise a lot of teams with their style of play, taking down far more skilled teams with great defense and @yrjoo always steps up in the playoffs. @JussinSisko has to be a top 3 goalie in Pro this season, with absolute monster saves, and keeping RYHTIC alive in a lot of games. Can Södertälje beat the defense of RYHTIC? Predictions: @hifk_FANI: 4-1 Ryhtic @yrjoo: Plays for Ryhtic Otukset (4) vs Mustaa Kultaa (5) For the first round of these playoffs, this matchup has to be the one to watch. Both teams have exceptional talent in their roster, and know the game in and out. This will be a battle of Offense vs Offense - expect a lot of goals to be scored. Mustaa Kultaa couldn't quite make Elite, and didn’t really have the regular season everyone expected, but playoffs are always a different beast. Can the king of the Lite division @Allupekkaz step up and show everyone he belongs in the Pro division - or even higher? Shoutout goes to the best goalie in the regular season @LatveX boasting a save percentage of 90%! Who knew you could even do that in an NHL video game It seems Otukset have always had roller-coaster-type seasons. Their game varies from day to day, which can be a dangerous thing in the playoffs. Will we see an improved Otukset in this series? You can always rely on @Hazard-laser when the games get tough, but will it be enough? Predictions: @hifk_FANI: 2-4 Mustaa Kultaa @yrjoo: 3-4 Mustaa Kultaa Almost Famous (4) vs Supernatural (5) This series could go either way - both teams have the ability to beat the other. Supernatural showed us that they know how to take faceoffs, with an impressive 55,63% faceoff percentage in the regular season, which could give them the edge in this series with @TackleControl in the faceoff circle. Making an impressive run in the Lite playoffs last ECL, Almost Famous now immediately made the playoffs in Pro with a good record. They can build on this momentum in these playoffs and go on a similar run this year. @Ikavalko will surely be the center of attention of the Supernatural defense. if you enjoy tight games, this will be the series for you. Predictions: @hifk_FANI: 4-2 Almost Famous @yrjoo: 2-4 Supernatural Who do you think will win each series? Are there any key points or factors that we may have not covered? Let us know in the comments! FOLLOW THE ECL PRO PLAYOFFS LIVE You can watch live coverage of the Pro Division playoffs on Twitch, YouTube and X. Coverage starts on Tuesday, May 28th.

The ECL '24: Spring - Core regular season has concluded and we are entering the most exciting time of the year. In this article, we’ll go through all the matchups in round 1, see what the teams have accomplished so far and then get into the predictions of each series. ECL '24: Spring - Core Playoffs Round 1 schedule: Tuesday 21.5 Thursday 23.5 Sunday 26.5 Prowlers (1) vs Free from Rodents (32) 1st seed vs 32nd seed matchup. It would be bold to say an upset could happen here, right? The Prowlers have been a quality squad and definitely deserve their seed. As is often the case with top teams, they had the regular season’s top scorer, @RHannu, with an impressive 20GP 43G+23A=63P, and goalie @Tizjeflen with the 2nd best save percentage at 89.29%. On the opposing team, Free from Rodents, there are no players dominating individual stats with flashy numbers, but they clearly have team spirit and defensive structure in their playstyle. Evidence of this is their penalty kill, one of the best in Core, at 93.94%. The Prowlers definitely need to sort that out, but Free from Rodents’ biggest problem might be their ability to score. Among the teams that qualified for the playoffs, they were the lowest-scoring team with 45 goals (compared to the Prowlers’ 78 GF). Since these teams were in the same group, let’s look at how the points were shared: 4-2 in favor of Free from Rodents. It will be interesting to see what happens in this Swedish matchup! Prediction: Prowlers 4-3 Armeijan Kuri (2) vs Hunters (31) Hunters started their season struggling with a 6-game losing streak but managed to battle their way into the playoffs. Armeijan Kuri maintained a stable performance all season long, which was enough for a pretty safe top seed in their group. When they lost, it was by a maximum of 2 goals. The most interesting stat about Armeijan Kuri is their faceoff wins, leading Core with 57.06%. Hunters can expect a lot of puck possession and maybe many set plays from faceoffs by their opponent if they can't handle that. Individual talent is pretty even between these teams, with Armeijan Kuri’s top scorer @MutainenMalik(18GP 23G+31A=54P) and Hunters’ @MyLittleTomi(20GP 29G+22A=51P). Prediction: Armeijan Kuri 4-2 Capetown Kings (3) vs Spartans eSport (30) These are two teams that are pretty recognizable from competing actively in recent seasons! A key point for this series is the best power play of the Core regular season: Capetown Kings with 32.65%. Spartans definitely can’t let them score on every third PP if they want to cause trouble. A big thanks for the Kings' efficient power play goes to @sambleri, who was not far from the division’s top scorer title, ranking 4th with 18GP 27G+31A=58P. Spartans didn’t have anyone close to that, so it will be interesting to see if anyone steps up to put the puck where they want it to be. Probably not an easy task when the opponent has @Acedi- between the pipes, who has been solid as a rock with the best GAA of the regular season at 1.5. Prediction: Capetown Kings 4-1 PANIC ON ICE (4) vs Huskies eSports (29) Our last pair of group winner vs 8th seed. Again, there's something too significant not to mention first: power plays and penalty kills. PANIC's crazy 91.43% PK vs Huskies' 7.14% PP. I know Huskies in the cold are like fish in water, but hey, looking at those numbers, I would expect nothing but North Pole level cold. The obvious choice for the most interesting player of this series is the top-scoring defenseman of the regular season, @Wpaanane, with 18GP 3G+31A=34P. Playing his second season in a row in Core after plenty of ECL Elite experience, he brings a lot of achievements from higher divisions. However, if the top guy has one bad game, how will the rest of the team react, and how would that affect their winning mentality? Regarding Huskies, the big question is the goalie situation. Three goalies have played an almost identical number of games with similar stats. So, who will play? This series is a Finnish team vs a German team, so with PANIC's home server advantage, there should be no surprises. Prediction: PANIC ON ICE 4-1 Darra Stars (5) vs Clowns On Ice (28) Another cross-server matchup, and in this series, I think it could play a bigger role than in others. These teams were also in the same group, so let’s look at their games: Darra Stars lead 5-1 in points with a 7-4 goal differential. Stars' top scorer @Aika_Suklaata was 3rd in points with 58. Darra Stars were the only team to have a perfect last 10 games in the regular season with a 10-0-0 record. Their top 3 scorers had more points than Clowns’ top scorer. I believe the server disadvantage for this Central server team is too big a mountain to climb. Prediction: Darra Stars 4-0 Wida (6) vs Knogmackers HC (27) In order for Knogmackers HC to solve Wida, they have to figure out the great defense and goaltending duo in @Mise13 (88.00%, 1.80 GAA, 1 shutout) and @P3ppu116 (86.44%, 1.60 GAA, 3 shutouts). Wida is going to have a hard time choosing who to put between the pipes! Players to watch: @nikitikitin 20GP 29G+30A=50 P @Molander13 20GP 23G+30A=53 P Prediction: 4-1 Lutunilkat (7) vs Wildcats Esport I (26) A team with maybe the most entertaining streams of ECL vs a classic French organization. And another cross-server series. I always consider that worth mentioning because, for example, if we take one random matchup vs another Finnish team from Wildcats: home game 2-3W, away game 0-8L. This shows that maintaining consistent effort between servers is one of the hardest things to do in this video game. When playing best of 7, this usually shows up even more. Lutunilkat’s top scorer @Pyssyh really lived up to his name and was top 5 in scoring for the regular season with 31G+27A=58P, while nobody from Wildcats was in the top 50. Wildcats' PP and PK are slightly better, but if Lutunilkat's captain stays out of the box, I don’t see that as a problem. Lutunilkat has produced consistently throughout their lineup, and Wildcats are having a tough time finding answers for that. Prediction: Lutunilkat 4-1 Saucer Hockey (8) vs Bare Knuckles Hockey (25) Saucer is bloodthirsty for these playoffs after last season’s disappointment. Their opponent, Bare Knuckles, is maybe the most physical team in Core this season with over 600 hits. Probably because of that playstyle, they had the most penalty minutes in their group, so they have to be careful. Top scorers @taikatomi and @Miggohell had almost the same amount of points, both scoring a little over 40 points. Prediction: Saucer Hockey 4-3 Koppibuutti (9) vs Taskubilis (24) Players to watch: @Adelyn10 87.61%, 1.91GAA, 5 shutouts @Jalitmane10 20GP 14G+20A=34P Prediction: Koppibuutti 4-0 Silver Sword Griffins (10) vs IceVikings (23) Silver Sword Griffins’ hearts were broken last Core season after they were the 1st seed in the playoffs but got swept in Round 2. So, I believe they are very bloodthirsty and motivated to show what they can do. SSG has a solid PK at 87.18% against IceVikings' 10.42% PP, which could mean SSG will play with high-risk, high-reward stick defense and hits because they trust they can shut down the opponent's ineffective power play. Players to watch are IceVikings' @bnkoXD (22GP 23G+16A=39P) and SSG's @martinssilins (20GP 23G+16A=39P). Prediction: Silver Sword Griffins 4-3 NAM3LESS (11) vs Pulp Odyssey (22) A matchup between two Finnish teams. On paper, Nam3less would be the clear favorite to win, but looking at the top 12 seeded teams, they have the worst power play at 11.63% against Pulp Odyssey’s solid PK at 89.74%, which raises some questions. Prediction: NAM3LESS 4-2 Calippo HC (12) vs EV Duisburg (21) A series of goalies. Player to watch in this series from Calippo: @SweMelle5041 with the best save% in the regular season (90.3%). From Duisburg: @MarvinJVfL1848 with the 4th best save% (88.47%). Prediction: Calippo 4-2 Koskenlaskijat (13) vs Nürnberg Nidhoggr (20) Out of all the series, this one might have the closest goal differential with Koskenlaskijat 67GF 53GA and Nürnberg 56GF 58GA. Top scorers and also picks for players to watch are @Duracellii (20GP 29G+16A=45P) and @ITA-Pizzabaecker (18GP 16G+14A=30P). Prediction: Koskenlaskijat 4-3 KohKae Esports (14) vs TRAINING GROUND (19) A high-shooting Czech team with over 400 shots taken in the regular season and an impressive 91.89% PK (now against KohKae’s 17.39% PP) are looking to have a great battle even with the server disadvantage. I feel like Training Ground has the typical Czech & Slovakian team-first mentality, especially in their own end. Expecting them to play high-risk in this series because of their great PK and a lot of shooting. But it could be that KohKae's greater ECL experience as a team could turn this series for them. Players to watch: @Joona41 (22GP 19G+32A=51P) 51P) and @MikyGBRo (22GP 25G+28A=53P). Prediction: TRAINING GROUND 4-3 Update: At the time of releasing the article, it turns out KohKae swept the series 4-0! Crazy Capricorns (15) vs Moscow Capitals (18) Players to watch: @Schuster060796 (20GP 22G+24A=46P) @AkimkaRUS (22GP 7G+27A=34P) Prediction: Crazy Capricorns 4-2 HC Lugano Academy (16) vs Aake Kallialan Laituri (18) Players to watch: @Tykylevits(20GP 16G+39A=55P) @I-THE_EAGLE-I (18GP 17G+27A=44P) Prediction: Aake Kallialan Laituri 4-3 Who do you think will win each series? Are there any key points or factors that we may have not covered? Let us know in the comments!