Leaderboard

+1. This has been going on for a while now - I honestly can't remember the last time SG actually followed their own rules. Imagine giving teams just three days to secure the super early bird price, while those same teams have been waiting nine months to receive their prize money instead of the promised 90 days. At this point, it's pretty obvious that SG is using new entry fees to cover overdue prize money from previous seasons. We've been pretty lenient about this, but yeah... the "give & go" cycle with licenses and prize money is crystal clear. That said, I'm happy to stand corrected if there's any factual explanation that proves otherwise - this is just my take based on my own experience. We've consistently been a top 4 team (prize placement) and the same thing keeps happening over and over again. Of course, I've had some private discussions with SG and have some understanding of the situation. But what really interests me is how you plan to improve this process moving forward so this doesn't keep happening? Wouldn't it make sense to either revise or remove the 90-day payout rule if it's not something you can realistically commit to? And for clarify, This isn't a hate message or an attack - I’m just a tired, disappointed and concerned customer. Looking forward to an answer. SINCERELY Tuukka

Thanks, great compromise that should somewhat satisfy everyone! Also great that the decision is coming so early not one week before. 💪

I heard somewhere that long posts are good regardless of the arguments, so I'm back. Also I'm unfortunately still a defender so don't try to think I'm a goal hungry forward. Sounds pretty fucking OP to me. Would even perfectly explain the ridiculousness of the saves goalies have been making in NHL 26. Right now there is a huge problem of goal scoring opportunities being really inconsistent or even consistent in being saved by goalies regardless how they're playing the situations. For example, you have a two on one attack, pass for a one timer in the slot, thats going in maybe 20% time even if the goalie is sucking his own thumb in the net. Personally I think that if there is plenty of open net it should be a goal almost every time. So even Finsere said it, increasing skill ceiling is what an aspiring competitive game should do. In regard of attributes, in HUT in a similar situation, you can green time that one timer with blue 1T trait with 90 shooting abilities and goalies without traits make that save more than they should. So it definitely is possible in CHEL if you actually make the save. Also personally I think if goalies are able to save everything if positioned well, thats game breaking. So you should be able to straight up challenge the goalie from a good scoring positions with pretty high percentages. Especially you should be able to score almost everytime when the goalie is out of position. Means that bad defending is punished more -> it is rewarding to try and build good chances. Right now it really isn't rewarding at all to make 5 instant passes leading to an open net chance just to be saved by a goalie looking at someone beautiful in the crowd. -> Just shoot or just force passes and let luck take the wheel bingbangboom 1-0 letsgo fun game. Also because Sere threw out some numbers without any thought, red sponge gives you +75% controlled save ability. And if three traits active at the same time you could get more than +50% reaction time, +25% save accuracy, +25% save ability. And these numbers are actually available now, not like his 50% reaction reduction which nobody uses because it still isn't in the game in CHEL. Everybody is now using 15% reduction. And he is using elite sponge instead of using elite post to post, what I guess he has by the level of his CHEL dude and his words in the other post. This one might the furthest reach I have seen in a while. So just because on average there are more goals per game -> there are less undeserved saves. I'm not saying you are wrong, I didnt play at the start of NHL 24 and was still trying to open up my monitor during spring 24. But this argument just makes no sense. For example, more goals could mean that defenses are playing worse -> more chances -> more undeserved saves. Or did you look at the shot totals, shooting percentages. From what I have been talking, 100% of people have agreed with me that in 26 there are more bullshit saves than in 25. Maybe its just me and lack #luck. I like these bans and like the fact that you are making decisions on your own without trying to please everyone. Personally I don't have anything against the demographic way on these but also think that's not going to lead to the best results. My only question is after all these bans, what is the reason to not ban everything. What do the remaining traits give that makes them good for the game. There aren't that many of them so we can go one by one. Second wind: wtf even is this, nobody has ever even entertained such an absurd idea. "So okay what if we make it that when you have no stamina you actually have stamina even full stamina"... I want what that guy is having. Is next a teleport for defenders so if a forward gets a breakaway you can teleport to save the situation. Warrior: Probably going to be on many builds. Makes you harder to hit in a game where it is really easy dodge hits and bumps already if you are playing with your thumbs and not your feet. You stand up after a hit really fast, dont lose any energy. Quick pick: Helps once in while if you are positioning yourself like a blind donkey, if you are actually playing where you should be, activates once every other night so just useless and really random. Stick em up: Everybody and their mothers are crying about pokes with or without it, usually because they are too good but now because they are too bad. My personal free advice to this is L2P. (just a joke, even if I'm the most arrogant guy around.) But seriously its the same as last year, it helps a bit but you can just play without it and you'll be completely fine. Born leader: … Just a cool idea but actually absolutely nothing in real competitive gameplay where there aren't shots and hits flying everywhere. Shooting traits: Personally I like these just keep these (but only golden, more belove), more ways to punish actual bad defending and not just score by throwing the puck on the net, towards the net, in front of the net, play some pinball, bingbongbang and LETSGO 1-0(just repeat the same joke until it's funny). I understand this is never going to happen because the level of defending in this scene already causes 10 goals a game but if you wanted a competitive game, this is the way. Maybe the level of defending would even go up cause mistakes would actually be punished. just trust me bro Ankle breaker: Touch right stick, defender maybe falls. I think this sounds good. Said nobody ever. Passing traits: There are so many automatic saucers that if you want to pass the puck, there's no way you are going to use these. Just adds randomness without any reasonable benefits. Goalie traits: Already went through this in the first paragraphs. So maybe it's time for #banthemall, I would say at least ban all elite(red) traits and maybe even the blue(all-star) ones. For example red beauty backhand gives you 100% power and accuracy which is just hilariously OP. For me just allowing golden shooting traits (or even blue ones)would lead to most competitive and rewarding game. You couldnt score any ridiculous goals with just them but if the defense is breaking you can actually punish it without goalie traits saving everything. You could say this is bullshit for goalies but it's even more bullshit for goalies to work your ass off to make great saves and keep up with the play and position well, just to see opponents goalie listening to payphone playing with a blindfold saving everything. As for gamer, I think you guys should try to be more active about messaging elite teams to try and test out different ways of doing things. Like this week #banthemall, next week just golden traits or without the red ones. So we would actually have some real info of how the game feels with different "settings". We could do it ourselves but I might not be the most liked guy around for good reasons so I just can't bother because I think elite teams are too lazy to test stuff out by themselves.

Since multiple series were played prior to when this was posted, here's an updated look at the odds for each team, as well as some of the things that changed since the original article. NOTABLE CHANGES: - EXEN have virtually locked up a playoff spot, and have also increased their chances of finishing Top 4 by 13% after its sweep of Mustaa Kultaa on Sunday. - Mustaa Kultaa's odds at a Top 4 finish dipped from over 95% to 72.98%. The was due to collecting 0 points against EXEN. - Last Dance now have a 92.5% chance to clinch the #1 seed. - Mythix (47.2%) and Parasite (33.8%) are the favorites to finish 2nd. Mustaa Kultaa still has a 12.4% chance and EXEN holds a 1.3% chance, though this is unlikely. - Heimo's playoff chances improved the most on Sunday, going from over 61% to 88.61% due to earning 6 points against Vapor. - vNexs' playoff chances increased by roughly 15% despite not playing on Sunday. - SSK ESPORTS' playoff chances have increased to over 85% after earning 3 points against Mythix. A few more wins should likely lock them in. - Tohtorit's playoff chances saw the biggest drop, going from 67.68% to 5.25% after not collecting a point in their series vs Last Dance. - GOONS are officially eliminated from playoff contention after collecting 0 points in its last four games of the season. They are also virtually a lock to play a relegation playoff series barring a collapse from one of teams behind them in the standings. - Blackbirds are virtually eliminated from playoff contention. Though they are still mathematically alive, it will take winning out along with many favorable results to end the season. The projections have them likely to play in a relegation playoff series. - NOVA's playoff chances have slightly increased due to results around them. Their chances of being automatically relegated have also decreased to nearly 0%. They did not play on Sunday and still have 14 games to play. - Vapor and ONSE Esports are likely the only teams remaining who can still be automatically relegated. Vapor collected 2 points in its four games played, while ONSE did not play on Sunday.

Well maybe then use this huge letdown as a fuel to win Lite or something and you’ll get mentioned, if validation from others is what you desire.

Hello Sportsgamer! It seems a bit stressful to close the registration already on March 21st? Further. It also seems in combination of “Super early bird” and “early bird” to be a quick way to get license money to cover the payout of old won prize money? I heard through one person that Tunnel Vision who won ECL Spring in NHL 24 was promised to get their prize money for that tournament on April 14th. And it's nice to be promised something that you have rightfully earned. But aren't you breaking your own rules in connection with this? In your rulebook it says the following (see attached picture): Winnings will be paid within 90 days. Since this is in a rulebook, how do you handle such a thing that there are still missing payments (according to rumors) from a tournament that was settled in NHL 24. And with that said, is the money on the way even for those who won ECL Winter this year? I'm just curious how you handle such matters, and why it became so stressful with a very short sign-up period? Looking forward to an answer. SINCERELY Mattias

Your schedule for these tournaments are absurd, what is the point in these? People have other life than this game, 70% of these ”wildcard” teams are playing also FCL and have no time to play games. Add some time to FCL since there is nothing to play for so people can play their games without giving walkovers

This is something a 9 year old would cheat about in street hockey. C'mon now. :DDD Top 1 dumbest ways to recieve a multi tournament ban. Regarding the recent LA decisions and suspensions as of late, great job LA! Fuck around and find out is a real thing.

Finally Janikka got his justice, now he can go to sleep at night without having to think about those who doubted him! "Never give up when you know you are right. Believe in yourself and you will reach your full potential" #JusticeForJani

Community vote would've been the best way to decide these right?

Hi everyone, and thank you for raising these valid concerns. For some additional context—especially for those of you newer to SportsGamer (formerly NHLGamer)—we’ve proudly paid out over 300 000 € in prize money since 2015, either directly or through our partners. Taking care of our commitments to the community is something we’ve always taken seriously. That said, we fully acknowledge that in recent times, some payments have been delayed, and in a few cases, significantly longer than we would ever want. We’ve communicated directly with the impacted individuals regarding timelines, but we understand this affects trust across the board. For that, we apologize. Why are payments delayed? The biggest factor relates to discussions with tax authorities regarding the correct license tax rate during the last three years. Here’s the practical impact: Players have been billed at 10%, but tax authorities have collected 24%, and now 25,5% (the VAT was raised in Finland from 24 -> 25,5% in September 2024). This discrepancy has resulted in a significant shortfall in our budget for prize payments and operations. On top of this, the global financial climate has made sponsorships and partnerships harder to secure, adding additional strain on our timelines. What are we doing about it? This situation is not acceptable, and we’re taking steps internally to address it: We’re working towards clearing the backlog of delayed payments. We’re reassessing processes to prevent this from happening again. We’re committed to open communication—even when the news isn’t ideal. It’s important to stress: Every winner will be paid. We’ve never left payments unpaid, and that will not change. We want to be transparent: while we are working hard to resolve the current issues, some delays may continue in the short term. However, it’s important to emphasize that we have always honored our prize commitments, and every player who has earned prize money will be paid—no exceptions. That’s a promise we stand by. On the 90-day rule I hear the suggestion to remove or revise the 90-day payout rule. You’re right—we haven’t consistently met that target recently. But the 90-day commitment remains our goal, and we include it in our rulebook to hold ourselves accountable. Removing it might make things easier for us, but we believe it would only weaken your position as our community. On registration deadlines The Super Early Bird (SEB), Early Bird (EB), and Regular registration phases serve a few key purposes, including: Encourage teams to engage earlier, which helps us plan the season better/earlier. Offer teams better value for committing early. Give our staff time to process registrations and licenses more evenly, rather than scrambling at the last minute. We understand that early deadlines can feel stressful. Our goal is to balance accessibility with sustainability, so the league can continue to grow and provide opportunities for everyone. In closing, we appreciate everyone who has raised concerns—whether here or in private conversations. These discussions help us improve. We ask for your continued patience as we navigate this situation, and we promise to keep communicating openly along the way. Kind regards, Kenneth

I have really enjoyed the all ability ban in fcl and would have hoped for it in the ECL as well, but this is still good progress toward balanced and better gameplay, good job !

Ban them all, make a shitty game even a little bit better. - Variety on making builds (or at least they wont look the same as they have for the past 4 years). --> cant rock with 70ish wrist shot and quick release if you want to score - Eliminates some of the most ridiculous types of animations that help you retrieve the puck or get in a better position caused by traits, which cant be expected by the opposition --> game becomes less "rng" (more competitive), more realistic - there aint 6 superhumans running around the ice playing their own game --> team game, playing together matters, again more realistic For sure, this will result in a few "ea goals" as you have to find new ways to score instead of trusting the old traits which names have just been changed. Well they are bound to happen each year, as so many things before even getting to a scoring opportunity are caused by some random code (puck pickups, pass receptions...). One would most likely state that banning all traits will cause all teams to collapse in front of the net, well what changes? Teams are already doing that. As much of I hope ban them all which actually made those domestic leagues the most enjoyable part of the year, at least ban the warrior trait. Game loses all meaning when you hit skater having it, and they actually recover from the ground faster than you do from that animation -> breaks the game

where is goalie ability bans? 🤔

Updated odds after Monday's games: NOTABLE CHANGES: - Polski Boys were the biggest winners on Monday, as they saw their playoff odds jump from 18.74% to 69.79%. They collected 10 out of a possible 12 points in their series against The Black Jacks and Blackbirds - vNexs saw their playoff odds decrease from a comfortable 87.85% to 54.98% after Monday's results, the biggest drop of any team in the hunt. This was due to earning just 1 point in their series with EXEN, while Polski Boys earned 10 and now own an 8-point advantage in the standings. Though vNexs still have 8 games to play, having matchups with Last Dance, Mythix and SSK ESPORTS likely didn't help their cause in the simulations. - EXEN's odds to finish Top 4 increased from 17% to 64.2%. This was due EXEN earning 5 out of 6 points vs vNexs, combined with Mustaa Kultaa collecting none. - Mustaa Kultaa's odds of a Top 4 finish dropped from 72.98% to 31.90% after earning 0 points vs Parasite. They also are effectively out of the running to finish any better than 4th. To do so they would have to collect all 12 possible points while either Mythix goes pointless or Parasite collects no more than 2 points in their remaining games. - Last Dance now have a 97.96% chance to clinch the #1 seed due to Mythix collecting just 3 points in their series vs The Black Jacks. - Tohtorit's playoff hopes increased despite not playing on Monday, going from 5.25% to 21.24%. This was mainly due to losses from vNexs and NOVA . - Mythix and Parasite have full control of the battle for the #2 seed (assuming that the #1 seed holds on), with Mythix holding a 52.24% chance and Parasite having a 45% chance. These two still have a series to play, which could very well decide who ends up with that seed. Mythix has a 4 point advantage, while Parasite has 2 games in hand. - NOVA's playoff hopes declined after Monday's results, going from 13.28% to 4.56%. Though their already slim playoff hopes now seem to be hanging on by a thread, they still look likely to avoid a relegation playoff with a 79.68% of finishing 9th-12th in the standings. - Blackbirds' odds at avoiding a relegation playoff increased after Monday, jumping from 26.11% to 44.20% This was mainly due to multiple losses from The Black Jacks and NOVA. Blackbirds earned 1 point on Monday vs Polski Boys and have one series remaining against Last Dance. - Vapor was a big winner on Monday, as their odds of being automatically relegated decreased from a near certain 95.71%, to a more hopeful 67.19%. This was due to ONSE Esports collecting 0 points in its series vs NOVA on Monday. The two teams are separated by 2 points and each have 4 games remaining. ONSE Esports' chances of automatic relegation increased from 4.24% to 22.63% due to their two regulation losses against NOVA.

Everything I have previously said about the Xfactors in EASHL still stand: they don’t work as intended in EASHL. They were added to the game to differentiate superstar players in other game modes. Having them in competitive 6v6 makes absolutely zero sense.

Wait if all these are banned, how aren't second wind and ankle breaker? 🤔 They seem pretty broken to me, not even saying they're too good but they lead to very inconsistent situations...

I have a suggestion worth thinking about. Articles like the week 1&2 recap (maybe even this article) get old in a day or so and kind of lose their purpose. Is it really worth the time and effort it takes to write just for all of it to fade in the dust? We also have the wraparound episodes that have many overlaps with articles such as this one. But if this is the way the seasons are to be covered, the wraparounds and articles should be more in support of each other. Maybe it would be better to just fully focus on the preview and season recap + playoffs to get deeper coverage of all the teams. I remember a time when every team had at least a couple of paragraphs written about themselves in a preview. Those articles were always such a pleasure to read. Don't get me wrong, I really appreciate the time and effort these articles take from its writers, but with a couple of fixes they could offer us so much more.

That goalie abilities have not been banned is absolutely ridiculous, but i guess thats what happens when goalies cry about how unfair life is every game, even tho they experience biggest handicap out there.. It is easy to point out everytime a close quarter or one tee glitches through the goalie, but no one bats an eye when a goalie is completely on the other side of the net but still saves the puck, we mark it down as "wow great save" i think that is ridiculous. I played without abilities last year for like a month against other teams without it and goalscoring went up, cause bad goalies got punished And dont come at me with this bs "close quarters goes through the goalie" "and you cant claim that those saves are because of abilities" Nah i cant but you cant prove to me that the shot wasnt just a lucky bounce and was impossible to go in without close quarters cause you dont have a time machine to go back in time take of the ability and shoot in that exact same spot with exact same timing. Goalies have biggest handicap in this game and get treated like spoiled kids Would be happy to discuss this topic with adults and not crybaby goalies trying to be funny or are just pissed off Come with valid points and we can discuss

Agree, after these bans which are totally fine to me, bigger builds are maybe going to be new meta because of higher speed and balance + power so why there needs to be perk which help avoiding bigger "normal" hits. And if the meaning after these bans was make people to use different style of builds, now its going to be like everyone is using elite warrior. That should be banned including gold, blue and elite versions.

I have a few words regarding the schedule and how quickly games start after the ECL information release. This is not an ideal situation, especially for teams playing in other Sportsgamer leagues at the same time. We are not the only ones with many games already scheduled for this week. Now, we have to find room for several important ECL qualifier games on the same game days as FCL. It’s still unclear how many more games might be added. I hope everyone can play their qualifiers without issues, but I know many teams will struggle to align their schedules with such short notice. Just feels wrong timing to start ECL with few days notice and while FCL group stage is still running hot.

" still active top players and know how the game works." A player who “understands” how a game works cannot possibly need golden abilities. And we have seen that in FCL, where it is obviously possible for the best players to score goals anyway. This is not about “understanding” but is obviously only about what you think is FUN and how you WANT it to be. I think everyone is fairly familiar with how the game works, you don't have to be the “best” to have that ability. There is no logic in such a claim. If you're the best at something, it's just a sign that you're the best at managing HOW things work. Everyone understands how to kick a ball forward, but everyone is differently good at putting it into practice. Then that sportsgamer did not take into account the vote on the draft server where the top players had to vote on it - this, on the other hand, perhaps sportsgamer should respond to. Especially for the 2 highest divisions. This will of course create a larger skill gap, which should be exactly what the top teams should want. Just like the good teams now dominate in the FCL.

Well done! Good communication. Hopefully the conversation about this next time isnt so childish to start with

Sorry but now i have to criticize a little.. Not trying to be rude. What you wrote about our team (Panic On Ice) are completely wrong Teme and Flaazi are not even part of the team anymore, maybe little fact and roster check before writing this article especially if you dont know a thing about Core division.

Thats the nice idea but unfortunately we have seen it like that doesnt work. So many under level teams has used wrong password. There should be some kind of report system like teams are able to report teams and their players who are using wrong password, first they will get warning from that and if that happens again then whole team and players would be banned for next Sportsgamer tournament

Moderator note: The below has been translated with ChatGPT to make it available to more readers. You can find the original text in Finnish in the Spoiler section below. It’s too complicated to explain properly in English, so I’ll just explain it in Finnish terms. But here’s how I’ve understood goalie perks, and what’s been tested in the “Between the Pipes” server (the world’s largest goalie server with about 2,250 members): there are 3 out of 5 perks that activate on every save — Sponge, Dialed In, and Recharge. Since only one perk can visually appear on the screen at a time, what you see is the goalie’s highest currently active perk. In practice, that’s usually either the red Sponge or Dialed In, since most goalies have one of those unlocked. If a goalie has both active, Sponge has priority to be displayed on screen, but Dialed In also activates in the background. The same goes for blue and gold goalie perks — they activate in the background even if they don’t show on screen, especially Recharge. Because there are so few red perks available for goalies, practically every goalie uses either red Dialed In or Sponge. But that’s just because there aren’t many options — not because those perks are necessarily overpowered. Most players haven’t grinded the season pass far enough to unlock red Post to Post, which is considered meta in North America and gives a significant boost to lateral saves. So even though those perks activate on every save, it doesn’t mean the save happened because of that perk. When Sponge activates, it just indicates that the save was a “controlled” one — meaning the goalie covered the puck quickly or handled the rebound well. When Dialed In activates, it simply means the game has temporarily boosted the goalie’s save ability by 6%. The same logic applies to skaters: even if you score with a wrist shot and Quick Release activates, that doesn’t mean the perk caused the goal — it just means it triggered. You could shoot into an empty net and Quick Release would still activate, but the goal obviously wasn’t because of it. In other words, banning Sponge alone wouldn’t eliminate those “undeserved” saves — it would just lead to more of EA’s nonsense goals. Sponge isn’t even close to the best goalie perk in HUT, in my opinion. The current Sponge is the same as in NHL 24 and 25, just slightly stronger. And as I calculated earlier, NHL 26 is nothing compared to NHL 24, where goalies were making completely undeserved saves left and right — which is clearly reflected in the goals-per-game average. Even though there were fewer of those undeserved saves in NHL 25, they still happened all the time, and it’s never been about perks — it’s the game engine. If there really were a magic fix for it, believe me, I’d be all in. But I think people will be disappointed if they expect that banning red Sponge will suddenly stop those undeserved saves.

@hifk_FANI🐐

Holy shit. @bMaJuH 🐐

Ok, in this regard, I would like to put such a cat on the table as the goalkeeper's passes. Why can't they be stats for goalkeepers. Now the situation is such that when the pass cannot be scored for the goalkeeper, the situation creates an opportunity to give the pass to another player. In these situations, the point should of course be given to the CPU. However, the situation creates an opportunity where a good-hearted goalkeeper might gift a point to his own player in the roster. I'll use Martin Brodeur as an example: 2goals + 45 assists in his career. There are no bots in the nhl!

What a stupid thing to do really))))

Nova has the clearlly best right side in the entire pro and probaply best winger pair. biggest contender.

Great ability bans!

Ban them all. The most competetive and fun way to play the game.

Koitappa wäänäne päästä kentälle välillä

So, when do we get more information about these two new formats - ECL Cup & ECL 4v4? 👁️‍🗨️👁️‍🗨️

This is the kind of analytics many of us expect for lower divisions as well. Great job. ⭐

Please apply to join the writing team if you can contribute to the articles:

#ez4hokurit

Thanks for the feedback Gents. I'll have to agree it's not an ideal scenario for scheduling and your feedback is noted. We'll keep an eye on the number of signups for the Wildcards, Pro Qualifiers, and Pro & Elite sign-ups, as ultimately, these factors decide how many games will have to be played. For the Wildcard battles, there are often not enough eligible teams to need an actual Wildcard battle round, whereas for the actual Pro Qualifiers, sometimes, it takes just a couple of rounds, and sometimes, we need 5. This will ultimately decide how much time and urgency there is to play the qualifiers, and we can adjust accordingly. Edit: Also, for context, unfortunately, the planned schedule for the FCL got delayed due to unforeseen circumstances, which is causing this potential collision course with the previously planned ECL schedule. We've looked at options to adjust the ECL, but want to stick to the original plan as best as we can due to the SG World Cup & IIHF break and wanting the season not to go too far into the summer. That being said we are looking at adding some leeway into the ECL regular season end date.

Minor correction, Otukset's loss was actually game 2 . Games get reported nonchronologically way too often, so I recommend using the schedule page to see the results in the right order (still not foolproof, but more so than the team page). Enjoyed the article though, keep up the good work

Somewhat agree with this. First of all I gotta say I know first hand how much effort these articles need to be this well together put, and I appreciate all the work you writers put in as volunteers, solely for the love of the game ❤️ But as Migu said, the articles & Wraparound episodes could maybe be honed to complement each other a bit better, with these in-(regular)season articles perhaps focusing even more on the big picture, or megatrends within the league if I may use a semi disgusting term Meanwhile still maintaining an easily digestible & interesting format. So in short I guess what I’m trying to suggest is that these reg. szn articles could be relatively short & sweet big picture type overviews/reports, that would bring a distinctly different angle than the Wraparound episodes which are already decent weekly recaps. I do think these are worth keeping, but I’d try to tune the format. The size of Pro brings a lot of challenges & time constraints in itself, so I do get that it’s a tall order – just trying to give some broad food for thought. It’s great that there’s a good amount of content now, but turning overlapping parts into complementary ones would improve the quality even more! E: Gotta say I love the addition of ”important games coming up”! Exactly the type of thing I think could be more in focus in these articles.

Since it's a summer cup, we're keeping a pretty relaxed pace We'll aim for around 2 match days per week. The whole cup should be finished by early September. The exact schedule will depend a bit on how many teams sign up, but that's the general plan for both the regular season and the playoffs.

Thats some serious work right here. Thx a lot. Very fun to read and be a part of too.

Updated odds after Tuesday's games: NOTABLE CHANGES: - Tohtorit have been one of the biggest winners these past two days. After leaving Sunday's games with just a 5.25% chance to make the playoffs, they now have a 37.03% chance to do so after earning 5 points vs Parasite on Tuesday. Their final two games of the season vs Heimo will likely decide their playoff fate, as they can have as high as a 73.42% chance or as low as a 3.19% chance depending on the results. These games will be broadcasted live on Wednesday on the SportsGamerGG broadcast. - Heimo saw their playoff odds decrease from 91.59% to 72.84%. This was due to earning just 1 point vs EXEN, as well as Tohtorit's wins over Parasite. Though their playoff odds are still higher than other contenders such as vNexs, SSK ESPORTS and Polski Boys, earning points in their remaining six games against Tohtorit, SSK ESPORTS and NOVA will be crucial. - Mythix's odds to earn the #2 seed have jumped from 52.24% to 79.88% due Parasite earning just 1 point in its series vs Tohtorit. Mythix can officially clinch the #2 seed with at least 5 points against Parasite on Wednesday and won't have worse than a 72.35% if they can secure at least 2 points. - Parasite's odds of being the #2 seed dropped from 45% to 20.33%. They will need to collect at least 5 points in their series vs Mythix on Wednesday to have a favorable chance at the #2 seed, as doing so would give them 83.7% odds to clinch it. Anything less gives them no better than a 27.62% chance. This series will also be broadcasted live by SportsGamerGG. - Mustaa Kultaa now have just a 10.46% chance at earning a Top 4 seed after Tuesday's results. This is due to Mustaa Kultaa earning 3 points vs Vapor, while EXEN earned 5 points in its series vs Heimo. Mustaa Kultaa entered the week with a 95.97% chance to finish in the Top 4. - EXEN now have an 87.97% chance of clinching a Top 4 seed due to the results mentioned above. They can clinch the #4 seed by earning 7 points in their last 4 games. They also have an outside chance of earning the #3 seed (0.74%), but it would take Parasite earning less than 4 points in their last 4 games. - SSK ESPORTS saw their playoff odds drop from 81.14% to 65.87% after earning just 2 points vs vNexs. They still control their own destiny with 8 games remaining, but they have less room for error now. Their remaining games are against Last Dance, Heimo, NOVA and Vapor. Simulations estimate that they will need to earn 13-15 points to safely qualify (depending on outside results). - GOONS' chances of avoiding a relegation playoff slightly increased. In the past two days, their odds of playing in a relegation series have gone from 99.96% to 87.18%. They will need Blackbirds, The Black Jacks and/or NOVA to drop points for their chances to improve. - Blackbirds, The Black Jacks and NOVA are the three teams competing to avoid a relegation playoff. NOVA and TBJ are heavily favored at over 70% odds due to games in hand and scheduling. Blackbirds will need to earn at least 3 points in their final series vs Last Dance to improve their current odds, which have dropped from 44.20% to 35.64%. The Black Jacks have four games remaining vs EXEN and ONSE Esports. NOVA still have 10 games left to play, all against teams currently clinched or in the playoff hunt. - Vapor saw their odds of being automatically relegated increase from 67.19% to 73.30%. They trail ONSE Esports by 2 points in the standings and both teams have two games remaining. Vapor will play against SSK ESPORTS, while ONSE Esports will play against The Black Jacks. Though NOVA could still be automatically relegated, they would need to earn less than 3 points in their final 10 games to do so. This has just a 0.07% chance of happening.

Great article! But a correction regarding the text about us. "They're 5-5-0 in their last 10 games, and they've only earned maximum points in one series all season" I think we won both games against HEIMO as well. (6-0, 4-1) This stuff is incredibly fun to read about!

Always enjoy reading these. Good job @bMaJuH & @Mozjayh!

In my opinion, this decision was a step in the right direction and a solid compromise between different viewpoints. I would have personally left the silver Stick 'Em Up and Truculence abilities available. I have a small concern that this change might actually lead to even more passive defending than ban on all X-Factor abilities would. My reasoning: One-timers will once again become very high-probability scoring chances, as will close-range shots with the Close Quarters trait. At the same time, taking away the most effective defensive tools for pressuring puck carrier may leave the best option as simply falling back into a defensive structure, trying to intercept passes to one-timers, and keeping opponents away from the net to prevent Close Quarters goals. I hope my concerns turn out to be wrong and that other defensive abilities provide alternative ways to pressure puck carrier, or that the "pressure system" ensures pressuring the puck carrier remains viable. The good thing is that now there are only two ability slots available, so if you want to pick a defensive ability, you can’t take both 1T and CQ boosts. I’m happy with this decision! 👍

twitch.tv/otuksetnhl

What's the point with this kind of cheat? It's so useless, damn!!!

Good luck to all the teams!