In Round 2 of the ECL '22 Spring Lite Playoffs, it's time for new success stories to be made and for old start to polish up and shine again! We've got several exciting matchups on tap, and here are some comments about them to follow.
Structure & Prize Pool
Lainaa5.7 ECL Lite Playoffs
In ECL Lite, 8 out of 16 teams from each group will make the playoffs, in which they will be seeded against all playoff-bound teams in ECL Lite from best to worst according to the system detailed below, as well as with the general tiebreakers mentioned in 11.3.
• Group winners are seeded #1-4
• Group runners-up #5-8
• Teams that finished 3rd #9-12
• Teams that finished 4th #13-16
• Teams that finished 5th #17-20
• Teams that finished 6th #21-24
• Teams that finished 7th #25-28
• Teams that finish 8th #29-32
The winner of ECL Lite will be instantly promoted, along with the runner up, and the bronze-game winning team. Teams finishing from 4th to 9th in the playoffs will be placed in the Pro – Lite qualifier for the ensuing ECL season. Teams that finish 15th and 16th in their group will be directly relegated to Core, whilst teams that finish 13th and 14th will find themselves competing in the Lite – Core qualifier for the ensuing ECL season to secure their position in Lite.
Schedule
Lainaa10.6.3 ECL Lite
Playoff Schedule
• Round-of-32: 08.05 – 12.05 (BO7)
• Round-of-16: 15.05 – 25.05 (BO7)
• Quarterfinals: 30.05 – 02.06 (BO7)
• Semifinals: 05.06 – 08.06 (BO7)
• Finals: 15.06 – 16.06 (BO7)
Well, my first round predictions were kind of hit and miss. Let’s discuss those a little bit later. First congratulations to all teams who managed to advance to the second round. Some first round games were tight, whereas other not so much. Especially all matchups that went to game seven. Those nervous moments end with great celebrations or big disappointments. Eventually always the best team continues.
So let’s talk about my predictions. My first round predictions were a bit short, and let's see how they went:
Arkham Asylum - Frölunda HC Academy 
Prediction: 4-1 to Arkham Asylum
Result: 4-3 to Arkham Asylum
Knowing Arkham pretty well I was convinced that they had recovered from last season’s disappointing first round exit and would come back stronger, but Frölunda showed that seed doesn’t matter and put up one hell of a fight. When the seventh game had 10 minutes of play time left, Frölunda were up 3-1 and this writer had cold and sweaty hands. Arkham’s experienced squad still showed why they are the top squad. They tied the game in regulation and an overtime winner from @Hj_projekti (Jorgeniii) sealed the deal.
Prediction: 4-0 to Tadpole
Result: 4-2 to Tadpole
What a series Pata Hellalla managed to turn this into. Even though Tadpole controlled the games @L1ttle_Pony93 (Supermaaario) with the great defence from Pata made the series tighter. Despite the experienced squad the former Pro team still couldn’t find the path to the next round. @Janne Hietala (Hiatala_) held his ground and @ROUHEEE scored those big goals to put them through to the next round.
Prediction: 4-2 to Destiny
Result: 4-1 to Destiny
Almost. Tight games between two good teams. Destiny was in the drivers seat for the entire series. Timrå IK defended well and was able to shut down Destiny’s scoring chances. It seems biased that I always praise goalies but @Mesimaki really played well and gave every chance for his team to win. Destiny calmed their game in game five and that calmness gave them more time to look for opportunities to score. They also held their defensive ground well and minimized Timrå's chances.
Prediction: 4-1 to Spirit
Result: 4-0 to Spirit
Almost got this, but no. Spirit showed no mercy. Well the first game ended in overtime and in terms of the result, was the closest. When looking at the stats though Spirit had the control. @Jiihooo86 almost could handle the little pressure I gave him on the first preview but you cannot win alone. Spirit, on the other hand, looked like a really solid team throughout the series. Only allowing three goals shows good team defence and a solid goalie. And @Toivonen_ continued his regular season Spirit into the playoffs.
Synergy Hockey - Neptune Hockey 
Prediction: 4-0 to Synergy Hockey
Result: 4-0 to Synergy Hockey
I’m never wrong. More than once. Okay let’s take a look at the only series I predicted right. Synergy Hockey is full of old Pro and Elite players so this wasn’t really a surprise. Standard to expectations, and that's not to sayNeptune Hockey isn't also a great team. It's your first season in the Lite division and getting eliminated in the first round is no shame, ask the Arkham Asylum guys how that feels. Synergy Hockey’s experienced squad walked off to the next round as expected.
Round 2
Now, let’s discuss about the next round. Some very interesting teams managed to move on. Teams like the Carolus Icemen are one of them. A Swedish based team with some British reinforcements, and at the same time the British National team is on a visit in Finland to play in the Ice Hockey World Championship.
But now to the part that everyone has been waiting for. Round 2 predictions. I will go through every pair this time and add some comments if I feel it's needed. Remember to discuss, argue and prove me wrong.
Prediction: 4-1 to Arkham Asylum
Comment: Even though Valco came through in the first round, Arkham is an opponent on an entirely different level.
Prediction: 4-3 to Tadpole
Comment: Server advantage, but NGU could still challenge Tadpole like Pata Helalla did in the past round.
Prediction: 4-2 to Södertälje SK
Comment: Destiny played very well against Timrå but Södertälje is definitely a step up in the level of opponent. This is going to be an interesting watch. Fast-paced hockey against tough defense first mentality.
Prediction: 4-1 to Project X
Comment: Golden close quarters may not be enough in round two.
Prediction: 4-3 to ?
Comment: This can go either way, but I'll predict it's in a game seven.
Prediction: 4-1 to Spirit
Comment: Do your magic @Toivonen_.
IK Oskarshamn - Carolus Icemen 
Prediction: 4-0 to IK Oskarshamn
Comment: Sorry Carolus, I kinda fancy you, but I don’t see you going through this stage.
Free From Rodents - Synergy Hockey
Prediction: 4-1 to Synergy Hockey
Comment: No comment read above
Bold assumptions. Go play.
Socials
Here's an update to the social media instructions. Our sponsors this season are Kouvolan Lakritsi, St Hockey & Wilhelm.
Twitter:
When posting tweets of your lineups, matchups, recaps, clips, articles - or any other content you might want to create - please make sure to tag the following accounts and hashtag:
@SportsGamerGG
#ECL22Spring
#NHL22
#esports
#kouvolanlakritsi
#MukanaWilhelm
Instagram:
When posting on Instagram, please make sure to tag the following accounts and hashtag:
@SportsGamerGG
#ECL22Spring
#NHL22
#esports
#kouvolanlakritsi
#MukanaWilhelm
Note: It is very helpful and critical for us to succeed in getting our partners tagged, so they get the necessary mentions and interaction to validate their participation in the future. That being said, it is understandable that there may be circumstances due to your other partners where you are unable to tag competition etc. Your support is appreciated.
As there are quite a few hashtags by now, especially from a Twitter perspective with limited characters, we recommend using at least #ECL22Spring in the text part of the tweet and leave the sponsor tags for the end. If you need to cut out tags, remove #esports and #NHL22. For Instagram this shouldn't be an issue.
Recommended Comments
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.