ECL 11 Elite: Weekly Recap - Week 1 - ECL

NHLGamers,

We're underway with perhaps (as always) the most exciting ECL Elite season yet. The first week held three broadcast nights and a bunch of interesting matchups outside that and we're really happy with the turnout in the streams. Our teams surely did not disappoint as we saw a bit of everything over the course of the first week- some games proved to be scoring battles and others were a bit tighter, we even saw a goal of the season candidate in the first week when Joona @jm98II Muona of YMCA Esports put his hands on display in this beauty of a goal:

The incredible moves on display unfortunately posterized hREDS defenseman Tuukka @Tuukka.R Röpelinen, who will without a doubt be bouncing back and has been seen starting some minor Twitter beef with Gotham Knights defenceman Timi @Rimpe Rimpeläinen - the two will be going head to head already tonight in an exciting hREDS - Gotham matchup.

We were also treated to some of the bigger goals we've seen in a while, when newly signed HAVU Gaming goaltender Oskari @sibeelius Grönroos was pulled for the extra skater at the end of their matchup against JYP Jyvaskyla. The long-time netminder managed to snag a massive goal against his former team to tie up the game, what a performance!

To move on from the ridiculous goals that were on display this past week, we've also got to discuss the standings situation, despite it not being worth looking into too much after only a few rounds have passed by. After the first week we've got SJ Gaming and Vesa Pompa HC topping the table, albeit with two games in hand on the rest of the pack. Teams that are at the bottom of the standings still without their first win are Team LEISURE and SAWO ESPORTS, who will be going into the second week of action with some pressure of notching that first W soon enough. SAWO will be showcased in an NHLGamer broadcast against Gotham Knights on Wednesday, maybe that will be their chance? Other interesting matchups scheduled for the upcoming week are the Swedish rivalry Farjestad - Vesa Pompa, which will be broadcasted tonight and Thursday night's Finnish esports org clash between KOVA Esports and SJ Gaming.

Transfers
It's a somewhat rare occasion to see some movement at the Elite level after the start of the season, but some transfers have come to knowledge in the past week or so, we'll also be recapping possible movement in these reports. Here are the transfers that have come to light since the ECL 11 Elite season preview:

HAVU Gaming
OUT Topi @topikeranen Keränen, TuTo Esports

After being in a backup role with Written In The Stars/HAVU Gaming since ECL 7, @topikeranen made the decision to move on to a playing role with Lite team TuTo Esports. He is taking a massive role in the club and will definitely be making an impact, which he already has in his first six games of the season. His departure will not affect the competitiveness of HAVU Gaming in any way.

SJ Gaming
IN Eemil @Eemil Koski, Tunnel Vision
IN Samu @Ojamoska Ojamo, Enigma

SJ Gaming have secured their much needed second starting defenseman in what seems to have been a package deal when signing @Eemil to play a huge role in their defense and @Ojamoska to a potential backup job at the center position, both of former Raccoon Rampage fame. The move significantly strengthens the defensive core of SJ Gaming, but might throw balance on the offensive side off if they need to work @Ojamoska into their seemingly clear plans in that department.

Power Rankings

Making a return this season will be the Elite: Power Rankings, provided by @MartindalexC. As always, the rankings are generated by weighting a team's results with the level of opposition that was faced, i.e. a team that went 4-0-0 against teams at the very bottom of Elite may very well be ranked below a team that went 0-4-0 against Elite's very finest. Due to time constraints, the first edition of these rankings will be pretty bare, and thus missing any additional writing that looks to elucidate the minutiae of what went into each respective ranking. The base ranking used for the first week is the ECL 11 Elite Preview. So without further ado, let's have a look at how teams fared over this first week:

1. HAVU Gaming (4-0-0) [+2]

2. FILADELPHIA (3-0-1) [=]