Adam "Esdor" Ericson: One of the most important things for me is trying to be a good person

Adam @esdor Ericson a very familiar sight in the virtual hockey scene. In addition to playing, he streams content to Twitch and is an award winning commentator and esports personality.

Esdor was awarded the Svenska Spel Fair Player award to end the SCL tournament some months ago and although he sees that as a great honor, being eliminated from the tournament in the playoffs stings a bit.

"I think I partially got that award since I am so passionate and dedicated when it comes to NHL. I managed to somewhat hide my disappointment after being eliminated in the tournament one day before I did commentary in the playoffs."

As a recipient of such an award and as a public person in the scene, Esdor sees the importance of acting as a role model to his peers and younger players. His actions speak for themselves and the Katrineholm-native has been known to call out wrongdoing or bad behavior on Twitch for example.

"One of the most important things for me is trying to be a good person both online and in real-life interactions. If I see someone behaving bad in a Twitch chat for example I will call that person out. I think our community needs to treat each other better in general. I don't want to see homophobic or racial slurs in our community ever again and I think we need to accept everyone playing this game no matter where they are from or how they look. We could also be better at welcoming women to our community", Esdor continues.

His love for sports in general started way back at only three years old, when little Esdor took the ice for the first time picking up bandy in the footsteps of his father, who represented the Swedish junior national team and played at the domestic elite level for a few seasons in his prime. Bandy as a sport stuck with Esdor for much of his youth, until other sports, such as floorball ended up taking up most of his time. Aside from all the other sports, Esdor is passionate about football and has a special place in his heart for Liverpool FC - The Reds, as they're referred to colloquially. While hockey is a dear sport to him too, it's never reached the levels of football and there certainly isn't a club that could be compared to Liverpool in that sport.

"I have been a Liverpool fan since I was a little boy. It might sound boring but I started to support them since my dad cheered for them. Sadly I don't have a similar type of affection to any hockey team. I support Djurgården in Sweden but for me it's much more important that the football team does well than the hockey team. In the NHL, I'd say I support Washington Capitals but the love isn't similar when compared to that of Liverpool."

Having turned 30-years old just this week, Esdor has had a very long career in virtual hockey, and of course these years hold several great memories. We asked him for the memory he is most fond of.

"One of the most important ones is the Swedish NHL Championship in 2016 where I finished third. Some of the guys I met during that tournament are still some of my best friends in our community. I'm not sure if I would have ended up being where I am now if it wasn't for that tournament. Another memory is the eSHL. It was awesome to see so many real clubs from the SHL being involved in a great tournament that I was fortunate to commentate on. I really want the Swedish clubs to be more involved in virtual hockey in the future."

The virtual hockey scene has seen some good growth in recent years with new partners and players constantly flowing in. Many players have their issues with the game, but consistently return to playing it. Esdor sees the development having a positive direction and is especially excited for some potential Europe vs North America 6v6 games in the future.

"I hope that more people can make a living playing the game that we have a love and hate relationship with. Many people are complaining but still we keep on playing the game every year. One thing that I look forward to a lot is 6v6 games between European and North American teams. With enough sponsors and NHL teams involved I really hope we can see tournaments like that on a regular basis."

Johan @Zalaz Nilsson and @esdor are known as a dynamic duo doing commentary in Swedish, they were able to really shine during the inaugural SCL season.

The EA Sports NHL series holds a steady place as one of the highest selling console games in the Nordic countries and with that has up-and comers and future talents surfacing on a daily basis - at least you'd think so. We wanted some input from Esdor on what these hopeful youngsters should focus on in order to play up there with the greats of the game.

"You have to balance gaming with other things. Exercising is important and you need to do other things in life than just play NHL all day long. Don't forget to keep in touch with your friends outside of gaming, this is one thing I haven't been very good at lately. It's easy to forget about other stuff than the game and it's a thin line to balance between being dedicated and playing too much for your own good, but obviously if you want to be the greatest at something you also need to put in the hours. Also if you feel like you might lack skills there is other ways of making a career in virtual hockey. I am far from the best player but I think my personality and hard work has brought me a long way. Try to find your own way to make it in the scene."

When being asked about what kind of player he is on the ice, it comes as no surprise that he likes to be vocal in the party chat and helps out his teammates whenever possible.

"Right now I actually enjoy playing as a defender in 6v6 but back in my early days with Lavetten I played left wing or center. When I play EASHL I want to be the talkative guy in the party chat - I am very bad at being quiet. I always compliment my teammate scoring a nice goal or making a big save. I play 6v6 mainly for fun but of course I always want to win, it's also good for my commentary skills."

The interview with @esdor was capped off with a few shorter questions, but as we all know, he is not a man of few words and gave us some very interesting answers, here we go with some quicker ones:

Your job is to form a 6vs6 lineup of players who you think will raise their level competitively in the future - who do you pick?

G @MrAllsvenskan
"Erik Rotsenius which is his real name went from being a new player in NHL 20 to becoming one of the most interesting goalie prospects in less than a year. He played for Örebro in ECL 10 and for Djurgården in the SCL. In ECL 11 he did amazing as the goalie for Växjö with a 83.49 save percentage in the playoffs."

LD @Toneee9
"As LD I pick Toneee9 from Swiss team ZSC Lions. After three seasons in different Lite teams he decided to join Zürich. He has done great for his new team so far. He was one of the key factors to ZSC's great defense in the ECL Pro quarterfinals against Djurgården where they only let in two goals in 4 games."

RD @zNico
"My RD pick is going to be zNicops from Finnish Enigma. Nico has been a good 1v1 player for years but now he finally has made an impact in the 6v6-scene aswell. He played very well against Växjö in the quarterfinals. You can tell that his individual skill helped him in 6v6 too. Nico played for Kouvolan KooKoo in the eLiiga last season."

LW @Tacterz
"Tacterz has been seen as a very good young player for a while in the Swedish scene. He stepped down from Elite team Färjestad to get motivation and time on the ice instead of being a backup. He has done great for Björklöven in ECL Lite and is one of the key factors for Björklöven reaching the ECL Lite semifinals."

C @Tromi13
"The center Tromi13 is the assistant captain of Grenoble and one of their most important players. Like the other forwards on this list, he also played in the ECL Lite group 3 this season."

RW @Sagee95
"The GWC European Regionals finalist from 2019 has been in the 6v6 scene for a while now. He played two seasons in the Pro division before and is now looking for a promotion with Exerceo. Sagee averages more than 2 points per game in the playoffs and in the regular season he averaged more than 3 points per game."

You've been seen doing charity streams for the likes of Musikhjälpen occasionally - is that something close to heart for you and how did that thought come to mind?

"I feel that I want to do my best as a public person to make this world a better place. I have done many different types of charity streams over the years and it's something that I will keep on doing. Musikhjälpen is very good since you know where the money will go. They have different themes every year. Last year the slogan was "No human should be without health care". It's unreal that the whole event raised close to 4,5 million euros. I have also done multiple streams where I raised money for organisations that are fighting against cancer. That horrible disease is something that almost everyone experienced in some way."

As you've been a part of the scene for quite some time already, what do you think are the biggest changes that have happened over the years?

"In Sweden we have a lot more people trying to be good at this game. Both in 1v1 and in 6v6. When I started playing this game competitively the amount of good players in Sweden was nowhere near what it is today. Finland is so much ahead of us but it is nice to see good players from other countries like Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Slovakia and Latvia for example. Another thing that has changed is the interest from sponsors. I love to see that big companies are sponsoring NHL tournaments nowadays."