EHC Kloten signs NHL esports squad hungry for success

The newest traditional hockey organization to sign their own NHL esports roster is EHC Kloten from the Swiss National League NLA. The club, hailing from Kloten in northern Switzerland in the canton of Zürich now joins the group of several other Swiss clubs that have entered the NHL esports scene looking for glory, with ZSC Esports leading the way in the European top 16. 

Formerly known as Gleumes Hockey Krefeld, the roster led by captain Manuel @ManU287 Engels is excited about their new opportunity and the development he's seen in the team over the past few seasons: "Two years ago I started the project Gleumes Hockey Krefeld with friends. In the last few months, I thought more and more about joining an ice hockey club as an eSports team. Through Kiwi @kiwison Meier, we then came to EHC Kloten and were able to take this important step. I am very happy about this cooperation and what can come out of it. We will establish ourselves in the ECL Lite division and then see what will be possible for us from there. The club has a great tradition and we will wear the colours and logo with pride".

Kiwi Meier, the assistant captain and driving force in the talks with EHC Kloten is feeling good about their new organization and is excited about expanding the community to fans of EHC Kloten, and also potentially discovering a few undiscovered talents along the way. 

Their participation in the eNationalleague was EHC Kloten's first venture into esports and their representative Guido Wanger, who was selected through club qualifiers has fared well and slotted in the top 100 consistently on the worldwide leaderboards. A 6v6 team will be the next step for the club, building on the momentum established on the 1v1 side of things. The traditional sports club wants to attract a younger audience and capitalise on the growing popularity of eSports. The goal is to foster a sense of community and engagement among the club's members and fans, creating a more vibrant and supportive environment for all the club's activities.

"For EHC Kloten, esports is a big project with a lot of potential that we want to use. We are happy that we were able to sign motivated and experienced players who represent the club and its values in the world of competitive gaming. We have been able to define initial goals and are looking forward to embarking on this mission together", Yanis Schälchli, Head of esports at EHC Kloten summarizes.

You can catch EHC Kloten eSports in action already tonight in a Swiss league rivalry matchup against HC Lugano eSports. The games will be streamed live at www.twitch.tv/ehc_kloten_esports with puckdrop at 22:00 CET!