ECL 11 Pro: Season Recap

NHLGamers,

Another successful ECL Pro season is now behind and what a season it was for the top teams of the division as every one of the top four teams managed to earn the promotion to the Elite division for next season. On behalf of NHLGamer I want to congratulate Enigma, GOONS, Tunnel Vision and ZSC Esports for your success and good luck for next season in the highest division in Europe!

It’s clear that the Pro division is heading in the right direction and with help of former Elite players, top teams in the league have found a way to close the gap between the two highest divisions. I like to believe this trend will continue in the future as well, especially now when so many Elite teams were relegated from the highest tier.

Enigma was crowned champions after a tight 3-4 series win in the finals against GOONS. Before that we saw great team and individual achievements and to recap it all over we decided to make a little review of the season and award some teams and players for their success in the season.

Regular season

At the beginning of the season we already had some vision of the favorites and playoff candidates of both groups. Especially Enigma, Tunnel Vision, Frosty Kiekko-Vantaa and Leksands IF were touted to be favorites and tough to beat in their respective groups. Teams such as GOONS, Pata Hellalla and Herlev Eagles were expected to be stronger which turned out to be a correct prediction. The beginning of the season was really hard for two of the biggest favourites of the competition, Enigma and Tunnel Vision both faced several losses in the first rounds and were in light trouble early on. A couple of teams such as Djurgarden Hockey and Inter Iceland started the season really strong while teams like Alliance HT, We Kings and TIKI TALK had some serious troubles from the very beginning of the season and couldn’t really find a way out of the mud at any point.

While the regular season was moving toward its end, the competition favorites were able to turn the tides and started beating their opponents night after night. It was also great to see that none of the teams that were promoted from Lite division had any major difficulties playing at the Pro level and especially Sack Brothers managed to overcome their somewhat low expectations and turn that into a playoff spot! Other teams that were able to complete a massive upgrade from last season were Inter Iceland, Djurgarden Hockey, Pata Hellalla, Rookie Mistakes, Herlev Eagles and Company of Geeks and they were all rewarded with a spot in the playoffs. On the other side especially TIKI TALK, Kaupallinen Yhteistyo, RPEAT Esports and Leksands IF had a really disappointing seasons and they need to work some things out to find their way back to glory.

GOONS won group 2 and was the best team of the regular season with an impressive 25-4-1 record. Tunnel Vision was first in group 1 with a 20-5-5 record and was seeded as the second team for the playoffs. Inter Iceland and Djurgarden Hockey were able to finish their great regular season in 2nd spot of their groups while future champions Enigma and one of the most improved teams in Herlev Eagles were the 3rd placing teams of their groups. As always in the last rounds of the regular season, the best battles are found near the playoff line where especially Nordic Stars in group 2 were able to secure the playoff spot with only a points differential to Finnish Roosters. In group 1, Sack Brothers did an excellent job taking the last playoff spot just above strong teams such as Leksands IF and Kiekko-Espoo Esports.

Best teams of the ECL 11 Pro regular season:

GOONS (25-4-1)
Tunnel Vision (20-5-5)
Inter Iceland (21-7-2)

The most positive surprises of the ECL 11 Pro regular season:

Inter Iceland (21-7-2)
Djurgården Hockey (20-7-3)
Herlev Eagles (20-7-3)

Biggest disappointments of the ECL 11 Pro regular season:

TIKI TALK (8-14-8)
We Kings (8-18-4)
Alliance HT (6-18-6)

Best powerplay of the ECL 11 Pro regular season:

Vaxjo Lakers, 46,34 %
Rookie Mistakes, 35,59 %
Djurgården Hockey 34,21 %

Best penalty kill of the ECL 11 Pro regular season:

Tunnel Vision 91,3 %
HV71, 90,63 %
Blackdawgs, 89,36 %

Top player stats of the ECL 11 Pro regular season (Attackers):

@Kattenj, (33+41=74) in 30 games, Vaxjo Lakers
@Stefan_397, (35+36=71) in 30 games, Inter Iceland
@vibholm10, (44+26=70) in 30 games, Herlev Eagles

Top player stats of the ECL 11 Pro regular season (Defenders):

@Supremski, (7+33=40) in 30 games, Leksands IF
@JOHTAJAVIRTANEN (10+29=39) in 30 games, Pata Hellalla
@Patsberg_ (13+24=37) in 30 games, Rookie Mistakes

Best goalkeepers of the ECL 11 Pro regular season:

@SanteriAK47, (240 svs, 83.33 save %, 1.6 GAA, 6 SO, 25 W) in 30 games, GOONS
@PLA77NER, (280 svs, 80,23 save %, 2.3 GAA, 4 SO, 21 W) in 30 games, Inter Iceland
@Vaporik, (196 svs, 82,7 save%, 1,86 GG, 3 SO 14 W) in 22 games, RCTIC

Playoffs

Personally I love the first round of the playoffs since it’s where the biggest surprises of the season usually happen. This time there weren't many, though. One of the few upsets was when Rookie Mistakes were able to beat Herlev Eagles in round one with the score 2-4 and the great strength that Vaxjo Lakers were able to show against Frosty Kiekko-Vantaa in the series that turned to Lakers favor with dominantly 4-1. RCTIC, who was playing their first season in Pro did an excellent job and won Inter Iceland 2-4. Other than those couple of pairs, there wasn’t much to out of the ordinary business. Teams that were destined for success advanced to the quarterfinals without any major troubles.

Quarterfinals turned out to be anything other than tight. The top four teams of the season GOONS, Tunnel Vision, ZSC Esports and Enigma showed no mercy for their opponents and marched to the semifinals with series, 4-0, 4-0, 0-4 and 4-1. Especially ZSC Esports showed their true potential at this point and put forth a great performance against Djurgarden Hockey who were having almost a perfect season until they met the Swiss lions. It was now clear that all of these four teams were going to have a real shot in the Elite relegation series to be promoted to Elite division for the next season.

It was the semifinals where GOONS faced their first losses of the playoffs, however it didn’t stop them advancing to the finals after a 4-2 series win against ZSC Esports. Even though GOONS had been perfect for the whole season, ZSC Esports put up a real fight and in the end the win didn’t come easily. In the other pair, Enigma and Tunnel Vision faced each other in a series that were expected to be super tight and there wasn't a clear favorite to win the series. Both teams had excellent quarterfinals series behind them but Enigma showed real character by beating Tunnel Vision with the score 2-4. This was the moment when the odds of Enigma winning the title increased enormously. Many thought GOONS were still unstoppable and they could win the finals in similar manner that they’ve won the previous series, but Enigma came well prepared and focused for the finals.

GOONS were perhaps the better team at the beginning of the finals but in the end there was no question about the winners of the cup. Enigma was able to take advantage of their last season's experience and overcome their finals opponents this time. With a great team performance Enigma kept GOONS out of good scoring positions and converted on their chances with a high success rate. The season eventually ended in finals game seven and Enigma are now the champions of ECL 11 Pro.

Season awards

ECL 11 Pro Champions:

Enigma

Best left winger of ECL 11 Pro:

Best center of ECL 11 Pro:

Best right winger of ECL 11 Pro:

Best left defender of ECL 11 Pro:

Best right defender of ECL 11 Pro:

Best goalkeeper of ECL 11 Pro:

All-Stars lineup of ECL 11 Pro:

@pikkuroger 1605016082562_1605016076647_0_.archivetemplogo_20201110-134846.png - @laitineen64 - @kriketski17

@Makeaxl - @zNico

@SanteriAK47 1605016082562_1605016076647_0_.archivetemplogo_20201110-134846.png

Rookie of the year in ECL 11 Pro:

We want to thank everyone who took a part in ECL 11 Pro. Once again congratulations to the promoted teams and especially champions Enigma. Now it’s time for teams to start preparing for the new season. The bottom teams of Pro will also take part in the new qualification series which should make the competition even tighter and more exciting than ever before. We have already seen some big moves in the transfer market and can’t wait to see more hidden gems and big names doing great things in the next season. Enjoy your off-season, see you on the ice everyone!