Niklas "NikkeDangles" Tukiainen: My mom is very supportive of my gaming, and I'm lucky to have her

This time, we had the chance to discuss the beginnings, highlights and future of NikkeDangles' career so far. Despite his young age, the hREDS winger has become one of the brightest stars in the scene.

Niklas @NikkeDangles Tukiainen has at a very young age risen among the brightest of stars in competitive NHL. Success has also been achieved, most recently the Finnish Championship bronze medal in 1v1 and the Finnish Championship silver medal in 6v6.

Tukiainen admits that although NHL has always been his number one game, he has still enjoyed quite a lot of Fortnite and considers himself decent at it: "The first NHL was NHL 09 and since then I've played all the NHL games. Gaming became a bit more serious when I switched over from Xbox to PS4 at the start of NHL 18. In addition to NHL, I also play a lot of Fortnite, where I'm also good. However, NHL will always be my number one game. I live with my mom, and she's very supportive of my gaming, and I'm lucky to have her. She always watches the streams of all my important games."

The young star also says that he has always looked up at superstar Erik @Eki Tammenpää, especially when he himself was unable to participate in international tournaments.

"When I couldn't participate in international tournaments myself, I looked up to Eki, especially after his World Championship title. I still look up to him, he makes very good content while streaming and his Youtube content is great too. Also his consistent tournament success is something to admire. He really knows what he's doing."

Tukiainen says his best memory of the game is the first LAN event where he was able to play against top players in the qualifiers.

"One of my fondest memories from the beginning of my competitive career is when I got through to the LAN event and got to play the best players in Finland. From the beginning of NHL 19, I realized that I could play at the top level, but it took me a while to get the tournament success. I also remember that helpless feeling of not being able to take the next steps towards success, but you just have to be able to grind, things are going to go your way at some point as long as you don't give up."

He says that the 1v1 game mode is comfortable to play, since you're able to control every position and the flow of the game better, while in 6v6 you can only do so much from your own spot.

Tukiainen says that on important gamedays he makes sure that he has slept enough, eaten well and taken a little walk before getting games started. Listening to good music also helps to prepare for important moments.

"When it's an important gameday, I make sure to have a good nights sleep, eat well, and stay hydrated. I also like to go for a walk before the games and listen to a lot of music to get in a good vibe."

Most recently, hREDS surprised the reigning Champion FILADELPHIA on the European grand stage when they swept the finals 3-0.

"The best memory I have so far is definitely out ECL 12 victory. After our loss some time ago in the FCL Finals, i really began to understand the trick we pulled back then and began to appreciate the championship more."

No team has ever managed to win consecutive ECL titles. hREDS will set out for the coming season to snap that streak.

"The goal is just to win the ECL and be the first team to win the ECL back to back. If we want to do that we have to train a lot more than during the last ECL, because all teams are going to play a lot more at the beginning of the new version (of the game) than during the last ECL because many teams had little motivation to train due to the summertime."

The youngster is already a role model for many players of the future. We asked him to give some tips to those players who may be dreaming of a competitive gaming career in virtual hockey.

"You have to train a lot, especially every time a new game comes out because you need to get caught up with the new stuff. Regularity is always really important to me because since I feel like even a 1-2 day break can impact your gameplay negatively, that's why i try to play at least a little bit every day. Then if you really want to do well in tournaments, I recommend looking over your own game afterwards and trying to figure out what went wrong and what you could develop in the future."

Finally, we asked who he'd like to switch places with if give the opportunity to do so: "If I had to switch places with someone, it would probably be with Tuukka @Tuukka.R(KingOfApes) Röpelinen because I'm used to playing forward and personally I'd like to play on defense at some point in my 6vs6 career."