ECL '22 Spring Elite Weekly: Frölunda's rotation paying dividends early

The first week of ECL '22 Spring Elite included several interesting storylines, such as how the revamped Frölunda roster would play together, would hREDS still have enough hunger after two consecutive titles and how Falun Coal Miners would fare in their comeback after several years away from the ice.

Already the opening night last Sunday featured two very tough matchups with teams that all had lots to prove in the early rounds. GOONS were predicted to have success already last season, but didn't quite get going despite their very talented roster. Perhaps now would be their time to realize all that potential? HAVU Gaming, on the other hand, have been in a spiral of steady decline over the past few tournaments and are looking to change that direction, but with the departure of long-time captain Tuukka @FlyerKungen Kuha, the task at hand does not look easy. Frölunda Hockey were also a team on many people's minds before the season due to their acquisition of the aforementioned FlyerKungen, but also due to them shuffling around their roster a bit, in the sense that Erik @Eki Tammenpää would take the center spot which we already saw him test out in the ECL '22 Winter Elite finals. Also, Joonas @Patzlaf Paatiala would be stepping down to the defenseman role alongside Aleksi @loimmu Loimuvirta. SAWO ESPORTS were one of the most sensational teams last season with their young and talented roster, and their emergence at #2 in the standings at the end of the regular season was a surprise to everyone, but the playoffs were a disappointment with a harsh first round exit. Could they bounce back and continue with the same determination?

Obviously, one night of action will hardly give us any actions, but some indication that most of these teams could all be on a good path this season. So, let's leave these questions lingering for GOONS, HAVU Gaming, Frölunda HC and SAWO ESPORTS to answer as the season progresses. After their respective first weeks of action, Frölunda are topping the tables with six consecutive victories and FlyerKungen making a grand contribution to their success with ten points in total. GOONS have snuck into second place, but with already eight games played, including some worrisome losses against JYP Jyväskylä and Stargazing. SAWO ESPORTS are at 9th after facing tough opposition in the first week and HAVU Gaming are at 13th after a difficult week, and the overhauled roster is struggling to stick together for a full 60 minutes, leading to unfortunate losses at times. 

Falun Coal Miners, the beloved hard workers have made a surprisingly successful return to the ECL ice after their long absence. Many predicted Falun to be able to challenge other teams simply due to the sheer experience on their roster, but questioned how ready they were for the season after completing the roster with short notice. Well, challenge they certainly have, and after losing out on points in their debut, they are now on a four game win streak, besting Conquer Gaming and IQUE along the way. The entire team has been hard at work, but Connor @MartindalexC Martindale seems to have been most effective with his pickaxe, now at nine points in total. 

Elsewhere, we've seen newcomers Stargazing making their debut at the Elite level in somewhat successful fashion. A first week with matchups against HAVU Gaming and GOONS didn't warrant for too many wins for the rookies, but they ended up splitting points in both matchups. Despite them hardly having any Elite experience from before in their ranks, they look very comfortable with the pace and as expected, could be challenging for a playoff spot if their form keeps from slumping further on. Currently, the duo Miikka @xColeslaww (Koleslaav_) Kolehmainen and Miro @Flopper71 (Flopperii) Heikkinen are doing most of the production, with 8 and 7 points respectively.

As far as individual effort goes, no one has been as effective as GOONS winger Arttu @laitineen64 (Laiitinen) Laitinen, who racked up 10+8=18 points in the first week for a #1 spot in the top scorers race. That is naturally helped out by having played already eight games, but GOONS are in fact the highest scoring team in the league at this point, together with hREDS at 2.75 goals per game. Frölunda HC's Paul @PleeMaker Arontie sits in second place with 7+5=12 points in his six games played, but has been the most eager to put pucks on net with 33 shots in total thus far. His shooting percentage tends to be just below 30% on average, so if he keeps this up you can expect a high scoring season yet again for the winger. 

The most physical player by far has been GOONS captain Kristian @kriketski17 Veijola, and we are not surprised, having watched him mow people down for several seasons already. The aggressive style seems to come with some drawbacks, though, as his team is struggling to keep the puck out of their own net. Overall, the best defensive squad in the first week has been Frölunda HC and the transition of their captain to the defensive spot seems to work out for them. Patzlaf had an excellent week at his LD spot and is putting up points while shutting down the opposing offense, immediately claiming a place in the discussion among the best defensemen in the league. While on that topic, we naturally still have to mention Kristian-Mikael @Nassustelija Katajisto, who is taking the lead in the HAVU defense alongside Oskari @SibeIius Grönroos, whom we are used to seeing strapping on the goalie pads. While the duo by no means were completely out of their element, they were bleeding a bit too much in the first week, something we're hoping to see improvement on as we move further in the season.

The early discussion of the best goalies in the league will revolve around familiar faces, mainly Casper @ICappeI Lundgren and Filip @Faze91- Azri, whom are both continuing their season with clean records and some shutouts each to their names. We'll have to wait a bit more to see if anyone can emerge to challenge these guys, maybe JYP Jyväskylä youngster Kasper @Kaz_zu Ramstedt or someone completely out of the blue?

With that, were done recapping last week, and will be moving on toward the broadcast of the night, which you'll see starting at 17:45 CEST over at our Twitch-channel, see you there!