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100% agree. We were finding smaller teams and North American teams like 10x in a row last night. I have given EA this feedback as has many of the other Game Changers. That being said, the power is in the numbers, so if you agree with a feedback that has already been sent, feel free to like or post a comment to show your support to a certain opinion!

+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. 💪

Is there options to have just 6vs6 license? You cant just raise Prices if teams/players not want to play 1vs1 or 4vs4

We need the search opponents according to team size and region back. Has been hard to to play full 6v6 with low ping. That is what this whole scene is about.

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

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 !

The gameplay is actually best in years, it's not all about hustle anymore. Ofc there are always some tweaking, but the biggest problems right now are on the matchmaking side and extremely slow menus. They should fix these as priority. - Removing the room size: exact is the dumbest decision they've made since they completely removed eashl from nhl 15 back in the days. - Servers are messed up? Finnish vs Finnish team plays on the Swedish server? Happens all the time. - Grudge is a bit meh and it is very broken, it is always the center at least for us :D. - Timed onetees are very overpowered. - Stick lift need some adjustment, you can spam it quite a bit. - Inconsistent penalties as mentioned before. - Weird animations at the wrong time. We get a penalty and the replay shows the last goal. All in all it's impossible to give more feedback as searching for an opponent is a nightmare at the moment. We spend much more time in the menus than in-game.

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.

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.

I think a great feature on this website would be a list of free agents where a player can add their own xbox/psn id. Add a couple of required multi-choice questions like division / position / language / role (starter/backup), a single-choice like closest server, and a long free text field for additional information like availability and contact details. On top of that, show the divisions the player has played in the last few seasons from your own database. And while you're at it, create the same feature for teams looking for players too Heck, even add an 'Alert Me' setting when a team/player matches with your filters 💆 And ohhh baby when a free agent is signed, have it has a system-assisted process which automatically creates a forum post of a signing so we can all cheer on that! I think this would greatly reduce the time teams spend to find suitable players and vice versa. It would also give new players a better chance of being signed when their 'post' is displayed similar to the community legends.

Salary?

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.

EASHL gameplay feels great if not fantastic, most enjoyable its been in years IMHO. Seems goalies are having a rough go at it, but I'm sure they'll figure it out. As a skater, pretty much no complaints. At the same time, everything "around" the game is as bad as it ever has been. The online matchmaking, the slow menus, the myriad of bugs and glitches... all of it makes playing the game frustrating, for no other reason than it being difficult to actually get in a game. Side note: I would've loved to have been a fly on the wall in the meeting where they decided to remove the server matching/selection option for standard EASHL games.

Feedback: Game's broken

My question is how and why has this even happened? I mean it's a BASIC feature of a functional videogame and has been in the game for years. Seriously, do they not test out the matchmaking in any way prior to launch? This is actually terrible. Same with versus. Yeah you find opponents instantly, but it is always NA. No exception. Baffles my mind.

#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.

Our decision to place Oljefondet in a higher division in the warmup tournament than 'they want to play in' is due to us wanting to preserve and uphold the competitive integrity of the ECL. Oljefondet finished first in their ECL Neo group last season, progressing all the way to the semi finals, before losing to the eventual champion of ECL Neo (ECL Neo during this season had 50+ teams). Since then, Oljefondet has at the very least carried forward a roster of equal skill level to their previous season, and so we do not feel that ECL Neo would be an appropriate place for them to play, especially as ECL Neo is meant to be a place where players and teams wholly new to the game can play without matching up against opponents who are in a completely different skill bracket. This has been outlined in the past whenever the issue of competitive integrity regarding ECL Neo has come up and we have remained consistent when applying said principle. Furthermore, we would like to remind teams that ultimately playing in SportsGamer hosted tournaments is a privilege, not a right. Nobody has the right to play in ECL Neo just because they want to if they would then upset the skill balance within the division. Similarly, on the opposite end of the spectrum, no one has the right to play in ECL Elite just because they are nominally good but haven't earned the chance to play in the division. Therefore, while we appreciate that it is annoying to potentially get 'pushed' into a situation that isn't comfortable, please understand that we are doing this (and again, we have done so in the past with other teams who we deemed to not be an appropriate fit for ECL Neo) to promote competitiveness and push players, and teams, to be the very best that they can be - nothing more, nothing less. Finally, to close this post off, we would like to pay particular attention to a couple of Oljefondet's claims. One, the claim that this decision was last minute and 'not okay'. The decision meant that they were placed into a different division in the free-to-play warmup tournament, which is one month away from the start of the upcoming ECL. As such, while we appreciate the frustration from the decision coming so close to the start of the warmup tournament and will look to make more of an effort at being more proactive at releasing important information sooner in future. We also feel it's a good moment for a bit of perspective as ultimately the warmup tournament is an elective competition that no team is forced to sign up for, carries no sign-up fee, and is meant to be something for teams to use first and foremost as practice against similarly ranked opponents. Two, the claim that this move was motivated by money (license fees). While there is no denying finances and keeping SportsGamer going is important, as without some money being injected into the operations we wouldn’t be able to provide the level of tournament quality that we currently offer, the decision to move Oljefondet up a division was 100% based on maintaining competitive integrity. We have asked teams to move / change divisions in the past and a non-insignificant amount of them have been asked to drop down a division (and therefore pay a lower amount to SportsGamer), as such we feel that this argument put forth by Oljefondet is not a fair conclusion to arrive to. - LA

SportsGamer, pay this man! Quality content in both the written and the broadcasting format. Love to see it. *** Some feedback for @bMaJuH: I would've been interested to read a bit more about how personnel changes in the various teams impacted their performances this season. For example, Gotham Knights losing at least one key cog from their Pro run going into the Elite season. Vesa Pompa having a young rookie in their lineup and moving their captain from forward to D. Purification not having a couple of their older player/veterans from their Pro run in the lineup to steady the ship as things got tougher in the back half. Etc etc etc Other than that, enjoyable content once again.

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!

great opportunity to help grow the community and get your name noticed in the scene

Why are there predictions from an anonymous player? 😅

wow this article is informative and very well written! 🤩

Add: Hooking penalties are - despite the animation that a player is being hooked - not given At the same time Hooking/Slashing penalties are - despite no animation at all - given While doing the Michigan you can get tripped and slashed without any penalty given Win/Loss Record in HUT (before the Grudge Match animation and in the menu) is not correct

100% agree

I also cover the goalie gameplay in NHL 25. 1. I don't think positional play is as important this year. The puck goes into the goal rather than my goalie holding it. 2. the save animations are too slow. But you can't stop the faster shots with them. Because the players can now have more points on the wristshot and slapshot. 3. we can't react well on the break and have to make quick decisions. The shooter is much more manoeuvrable than the goalkeeper. 4. goalkeeper obstruction is just so random that every situation is actually a 50-50 chance that the goal will count or not. 5. the screen effect is too high. Even with 96 vision you get stupid goals. 6. if you want to react to a cross-crease pass and slide over to the other corner, you can get stuck in an animation and not react to the shot. 7. the exaggerated reaction to bad passes is a disaster. 8. the rebound control is also random. No matter if you have 80 or 92 you always get the same rubbish. 9. the same is with fivehole, it can't be that 78 feels exactly the same as 90 completely confusing. 10. i have the feeling that the right stick has a delay. But that's subjective, it may not be true. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Things I've seen, in general, about the defensive play. 1. the defenseman stands very well, sees the puck and still can't intercept it, so the forward behind him can slide it in. 2. the defender lies down on his stomach to prevent the pass, but it still goes under him. 3. it feels like the shooter can always shoot, regardless of whether the defender is there or not. I'm curious what else you can say about this. Best regards RPH_31

Hello i wanna say thank u EA😎 -no more quake arena on ICE , game speed is now so more realistic -no more stupid penalties all The time, now ITS pretty good balance -so called skill one timer req zero skill, so imo ITS basic one, only now u dont need trait for it so ITS kinda good - best will still be best n complaining doesn’t change it, but at least it’s so much more fun to play And thats most important thing about gaming -tack och hej your’s JohtajaTheGreat

Hey guys, Thanks for the feedback on the pricing adjustment. These adjustments are necessary for us to continue providing the quality tournament experience that we are all used to and to improve and grow the league, while also adapting to changing global economic factors. We understand that changes in pricing can be concerning, which is why we’re also introducing new modes and initiatives to bring even more value to the community. Our goal is to ensure the pricing adjustment reflects not only external factors but also enriches your experience with additional content. Your feedback is important to us, and we’ll consider it carefully as we plan future updates. --- Regarding the WECL, we are looking for people interested in helping bring it back. Feel free to reach out with a PM if you're interested.

Deadly Phantoms vs Almost Famous with finnish commentator twitch.tv/mkine First games today 21.30 EET

Thanks for the compliments @l-Furyan-l! I definitely agree that the personnel is something that I could've touched on more when looking back at it. I truly appreciate the feedback and I'm glad that you're enjoying the content!

Thanks for the corrections in the comments - they should now be reflected in the article. 🤝

@bMaJuH🐐🐐

@bMaJuH 🐐

Fucking hell, quality stuff @bMaJuH 🔥 Multi-talent!