Joseph "Jos x 10" Olmstead is Your NHL 23 World Champion!

After a hard fought competitive season with a renewed format for the NHL 23 World Championships a Champion has been crowned at the Finals event in Nashville, Tennessee.

From the NHL All-Star Open  and the European Chel Showdown to the Finals of the NHL 23 World Championships in Nashville, Tennessee, it's been a season like never before in the NHL esports scene and players have had lots of action throughout the lifecycle of the game.

It was a toasty weekend in Music City, where the top four NHL 23 gamers in the world had gathered to battle for the World Championship for the first time since the pandemic put the world in restriction mode. Samuel @Canadiens 27 Landry (Cadcooks) from Sainte-Julie, Quebec and Joseph @Jos x 10 Olmstead from Troy, Michigan made their way to the Finals as the North American Champion and Runner-up respectively, whereas Erik @Eki Tammenpää from Helsinki, Finland and Teemu @temppanen Karvonen from Oulu, Finland caught a flight over to Nashville with corresponding titles on the European side of things. 

This season, the format of the Grand Finals was also improved based on player feedback and the event kicked off with a round robin, where all four players went up against each other. From the round robin, the #1 seeded player would clinch a direct spot in the Final and the #2 and #3 would go up against each others in a Semifinals matchup, with both of the latter being best-of-threes. 

After the initial round robin, Eki had managed to go 3-0 and thus clinch his spot in the Finals, whereas Jos and Temppanen were set to clash in the Semifinals. Cadcooks did not get his game going in the round robin and ended up being the odd man out. The Semifinals series between Jos and Temppanen was a wild show, where it was evident that the youngster, who made the trip by car from Michigan with his brother and good friend, started warming up. Jos really got in the groove and started converting on some of the plays he had been looking for earlier, and it seemed like Temppanen couldn't stop him - with that came a 2-0 Semifinals win and a spot to face Eki in the Finals. 

The Finals were seemingly more of the Jos show, where he caught fire early and grabbed a commanding lead of the first game, only to have Eki claw his way right back. While game 1 was fireworks all along between the young new talent and the one-time World Champion, game 2 was more of a defensive battle, where both gamers had their chances, but neither could find a way to convert quite like before. Eventually the Finals ended in a 2-0 sweep for Jos and with that - a new Champion was crowned.

Fresh after his Championship clinching win, Jos also provided a legendary quote showcasing just how confident he was going into the Finals: "To be honest, when I came here, I expected this. I'm happy to get it done and happy to have all my buddies around. Hats off to Eki, one of the best players in the world for a reason"

SportsGamer would like to congratulate Joseph @Jos x 10 Olmstead on this incredible feat!