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NHLGamers, First they were 32 on the starting line, now remains only two that are about to face each other in the first ever ECL Neo Finals, played on Tuesday January 21st, in a best-of-5 final series. NHLGamer will be hosting a live broadcast of the entire series on Twitch. The broadcast will be starting at 19:00 CET and @Tougie24 together with @Cyn will be our casters that night, this is one you will not want to miss! Both teams are coming from Group 1 of the Neo division. TanssiiTuhtienKansa finished first with a record of 11-2-3 and Olympia came in just behind with a record of 11-3-2. Points in the groupstage were distributed evenly: 5-2 TanssiiTuhtienKansa then 3-0 Olympia for two points each. We decided to ask some questions from the team Captains ahead of the matchup: Can you shortly present your team and its history? @Hagerstrom_99, Olympia: "Olympia was founded just a couple of weeks before ECL 9 started. I've been playing the game since forever, but never played ECL before because of lack of time. I've been on the leaderboards in HUT, I've been undefeated 50-0-0 and it was time to actually do something serious. I guess I wanted to prove myself that I can. Instead of going to a higher tier division I wanted to start in Neo with my own team for the first time. I recruited @SWE_KARLSSON16 and @Bloodymess at an early stage and from there we created what we have now." @Unrealhave, TanssiiTuhtienKansa: "We have a great group of close friends in TanssiiTuhtienKansa. We created the team in NHL19 but we mostly played without a goalkeeper and 3's. There has been some roster changes along time but the core hasn't changed. We started playing competitive games in IS Cup 4 and we all love it despite the fact that we played terrible. We started to develop after really creating our game system. There is still a lot of work to do but we are eager to learn new and our goal is to play Pro in ECL 11. We are not the typical six persons team which always plays with the same roster. There are nine important pieces in our team at the moment. We will for sure change things around for the finals as well." What about the group phase, was it close? @Hagerstrom_99, Olympia: "We never played together before, all of us are new to each other. @BeastBenn14 (C) and @Teamplayer (LD) came in later. So as a group i think we definitely grew closer. I think I grew a lot as person by leading a team as a Captain although I'm familiar with that from real life already. Hating to lose sometimes shifted focus to negative, which could be improved. I think the groupstage was just the start for us. Now we have adapted to a playstyle that works and made a lot of progress." @Unrealhave, TanssiiTuhtienKansa: "As you can see both finalists are from the same group, that was definitely not the easiest one. It was a close group and I think there were many good teams left out of the playoffs. After all I think it was great for us because the tight games are the ones which improve you the most." Same for the playoffs phase, how do you see your run so far? @Hagerstrom_99, Olympia: "Playoffs have really been a turning point, being seeded eighth into the playoffs we met in my opinion some of the toughest opponents. I think we only lost two games and I thought they were pretty ridiculous losses to be honest. Our goal was to reach the playoffs, we did. Then we took one step at a time and really wanted to play in the semifinals. Against Kuutamokiekko we knew it was going to be tough, @Tsikago is a skilled and a good guy, they have a lot of good players. We really played our best hockey and swept them 3-0 and here we are, in the finals in our first ever run." @Unrealhave, TanssiiTuhtienKansa: "The playoff phase is always tight because everyone who has gone that far has already shown their skill. We have had some bad games along the playoffs but we have proven that we can play great when it's our life on the line." What kind of games are you expecting during the finals? @Hagerstrom_99, Olympia: "Against TanssiiTuhtienKansa I expect a skilful round, to be honest some games I've just wished for the game to end so it's nice to get this challenge. Some play styles are just really weary to play against. TanssiiTuhtienKansa is a good team, they have skilful players, but so do we. I hope to see good offense, good defense and some nice goals scored from us of course!" @Unrealhave, TanssiiTuhtienKansa: "Olympia is a great team. They play pretty tight, they are skilled in the offensive zone on the ice and they also read game situations really good. We need to be ready for the game before the puck hits the ice and I think we also need to play a bit simpler than usually. I'm expecting tight games which include fast hockey and lots of goals." Explain why your team will be the first ECL Neo Champ? @Hagerstrom_99, Olympia: "Olympia has the best goaltending and top tier players, we have players who really can change a game on their own. I know if we play the way we can, it's going to be tough beating us. We're proud to be here, but we won't stop until we are named Champions. Expect us." @Unrealhave, TanssiiTuhtienKansa: "We are a team, not just a bunch of individuals and we all believe on our game system. I think the main reason for being in this position is that we are always willing to find solutions on problems. We always try to improve our play and never play games without thinking of what we can do better. Within the group of friends we have a great team spirit. We always have fun when we play and we stay in touch with each other on a daily basis so even though we take the game seriously it's always a great way to spend some time with friends, especially now when some of the guys have moved to different cities. We also have a great mix of different kind of players who bring different things to the table. We have always succeeded when we have needed it, so we are confident that will be the atmosphere in the finals as well." The road to the finals Olympia 2nd seed of Group 1 / 11-3-2 (8th seed in total) Biggest win: 13-1 (Varissuon Toverit) Biggest loss: 2-5 (TanssiiTuhtienKansa) 67 GF / 34 GA / 40 % PP / 193 hits 1st round Kulmalahengaus: 3-1 2nd round Eliel Kings: 3-1 3rd round Kuutamokiekko: 3-0 Team leaders 1. @Hagerstrom_99 85 pts (46+39) 2. @SWE_KARLSSON16: 63 pts (39+24) 3. @BeastBenn14: 39 pts (8+31) Goaltending @Bloodymess: 85 % / 2.14 GAA / 1 SO (Playoffs 80.85 % / 2.25 GAA / 1 SO) THE KEY POINT : A deadly powerplay with a 40% success rate. TanssiiTuhtienKansa 1st seed of Group 1 / 11-2-3 (4th seed in total) Biggest win : 6-0 (Mustangs) Biggest lost : 0-3 (Olympia) 62 GF / 44 GA / 17.65 % PP / 89 hits 1st round MAD Knogmackers: 3-0 2nd round EIS Force Hockey: 3-2 3rd round Seinajoki Noms: 3-2 Team leaders 1. @Unrealhave: 86 pts (35+51) 2. @Valtter1111 : 82 pts (45+37) 3. @Wilhooo13 : 36 pts (17+19) Goaltending @Juhned32: 84.96 % / 2.13 GAA / 1 SO (playoffs : 88.37 % / 1.36 GAA / 2 SO) @Häkä : 76.52 % / 3.38 GAA / 1 SO (playoffs : 86.49 % / 2.5 GAA) THE KEY POINT : Four overtime victories since the start of the contest A massive thanks to @Hagerstrom_99 and @Unrealhave for being available to answer all questions. Good luck in the finals! Remember to tune in to the broadcast on Tuesday! Who do you think will win?

NHLGamers, The ECL 9 Lite season has progressed all the way to the Semifinals in which we're seeing two very exciting matchups. All of the teams that are left have been storming through playoffs with just a few losses each so we can say that the competition is ramping up to a level where there will be no easy games. All of the teams that are left have secured promotions to ECL Pro for next season. Now all that remains is to determine the final marching order and crowning a champion. Without further ado, let's get into the details of our semi's. The ECL 9 Lite Semifinals are to be played between Friday, January 17th and Sunday, January 26th. Here are the matchups for the Semifinals of the ECL 9 Lite playoffs: (2.) Mockba vs. Sulkavan Sudet (7.) Mockba has defeated teams that were ranked 31st, 32nd and 19th and now Sulkavan Sudet will be their first true challenge. They had no problems against GREED, Carolus Icemen and Hokurit even though many of their games have been decided by small goal differences. Sulkavan Sudet haven't lost a game in the playoffs. They destroyed DEG eSports in the first round of the playoffs with goal differential of +18 but after that, WEREWOLVES HC and offensively skilled Rookie Mistakes were more of a challenge to them even though both series ended in a sweep. Sulkavan Sudet have the top 2 regular season scorers @Oxdoggi (78 points) and @Kemppane_ (75 points) in their lineup. Mockba isn't as offensively skilled, but their team play and ''quarterback'' defenseman @riihimaenharski is a winning combination. Will the offense of Sulkavan Sudet overpower the fact that they have only seen average goaltending so far this season? Is Mockba ready for their first real challenge? Can Mockba frustrate their opponent with their chemistry and play style? Find out in the semifinals! (3.) Riven Johdolla vs. Clumsy Penguins (4.) Riven Johdolla has been the biggest surprise this ECL Lite season as their fairly inexperienced lineup had a strong regular season and in the playoffs have battled their way into the semifinals. @Vattu__ is the purest goal scorer this season in Lite after coming second in regular season goals with 37 notches and leading playoff goal scoring with 27 goals to his name. He also leads playoff scoring with 40 points and has a shooting percentage of over 40% this season. Pro experienced Clumsy Penguins have lost only one game in the playoffs and have had no problems advancing to the semifinals beating Saucer Hockey, Sack Brothers and Company of Geeks. @Jugi9 is tied for most penalties (20min) in the playoffs with the rest of Clumsy Penguins getting only 12 penalty minutes combined, but penalties may not be a problem for Clumsy Penguins since Riven Johdolla has only scored 4 power play goals in the playoffs. Which will prevail - experience or confidence? Can @Vattu__ continue his scoring? Can @Jugi9 stay out of the box and find a way to help his team in other areas? Find out when the games start! Who are you rooting for to win it all? Leave a comment down below!