ECL '22 Winter Elite Finals Preview - The classic becomes a trilogy

After a couple of months we have finally arrived at terminus of the Winter season - only two teams remain. This season has again offered us some big surprises and exciting moments. It's been a grind throughout, but we're now seeing the new ECL El Clasico get a Finals trilogy, when hREDS and Frölunda HC will clash for the third time in a row. We will see what the future holds for us, but it's also interesting that the winner of this series will be the first one to claim their ticket to the June Grand Finals. If one team manages to win both the ECL Winter and Spring seasons, they will automatically be crowned the Grand Champions. 

Tune in for the ECL '22 Winter Elite Finals this weekend! The broadcast will start at 19:30 CET on both Friday and Thursday. You'll find us at www.twitch.tv/SportsGamerGG with Cody "Tougie" Tougas and Paul "Cyn" Anderson in the booth to call the action!



 

 hREDS (1) vs  Frölunda HC (3)
TOP SCORER 

Niklas @NikkeDangles Tukiainen 9 GP, 7+10=17 vs Paul @PleeMaker Arontie 9 GP, 7+8=15 

GOALTENDER 

Filip @Faze91- Azri 9 GP, 8W, 80,28 SV%, 1.56 GAA, 2 SO vs  Casper @ICappeI Lundgren 9 GP, 8W, 83,33 SV%, 1.22 GAA, 1 SO  

REGULAR SEASON RECORD 

25-2-3 vs 22-5-3 

REGULAR SEASON SERIES 

0-1, 4-5OT 

After winning the regular season and dominating all player statistics, the red beasts are looking for their second consecutive ECL Elite title, this time not YET crowning them the European Champions, but earning them a spot in the Grand Finals, awaiting in June. In the semifinals, hREDS were able to stop Granit Gamings dream for their first final spot in the highest league of Europe by besting the Swedish group 4-1. Like the whole season also in those games every guy from red and black jerseys had their shining moments and proved that there are no missing pieces to the puzzle that is this team. hREDS made their Elite debut in ECL 10, and since then, every season they have managed to get into the semifinals. This season, hREDS got to start with the same lineup as last season. The main changes they made after the ECL 11 season were on the left side where they got Aaro @xDoumi Ruuhinen and Vili @Vilupoika Häkkinen to boost their squad. Especially the latter one of these two has been able to find a new level to his game in hREDS. There's also some history of player movement betwee the two finalist teams, as Teemu @Teemuyy Polttila played for hREDS in ECL 10 and 11, but left for Frölunda HC after his tenure there. Last season, he made his debut in the new jersey and he's had time to make both good and bad memories in this squad - first losing to his old team in the ECL 12 Finals, after which they made up for that with a FCL 2021 Finals win in the rematch. 

This regular season was the most difficult in a long time - if not ever - for Frölunda HC. Despite that, the multiple European champion was able to secure the third seed and go into the playoffs just behind SAWO ESPORTS and their final rivals hREDS. By the numbers, it looks like the playoffs have been a cakewalk for Frölunda, but especially the sweep against HAVU Gaming looked like a way tighter series than the result would suggest. Their semifinals opponent Färjestad BK was familiar for the Indians because it was actually the third time in four seasons those teams went head-to-head in the semifinals. The record from those games is a miserable story for Färjestad BK as Frölunda has a 12-2 stranglehold on that rivalry series. Frölunda has been a dynasty over the last few years and there's no denying that. Since ECL 7, they have three ECL titles and they've appeared in the finals every season. However, even this group hasn't been able to get two championships in a row. Their offensive trio has stuck together throughout the years, which definitely gives them the edge of superior chemistry, and it's easier to trust the guy next to you when having all that experience together. Defensively, they've seen some changes like mentioned earlier, but Aleksi @loimmu Loimuvirta has been a lock down low since ECL 7, with one season of absence in ECL 8. @loimmu centerman Joonas @PatzlafPaatiala also have some memories together with a few hREDS players way back from the days with Carlsberg HC.

All ECL seasons combined, Frölunda and hREDS have clashed eight times in the regular season. The record is 6-2 in favor of Frölunda including this seasons wins in both games in the season series. A strange coincidence between these two is that both ECL Finals and the FCL finals have ended in a sweep in either way. Every one of these series have been expected to be really tight but it seems that in every series the first win has started a snowball effect and the winner has gained the momentum. We will see which way this series starts to go but maybe now it's time for us to see a longer series than four games. Two very skilled teams are going up against each other again but right now it feels like hREDS has a slight advantage on their side.

Prediction: hREDS will become the first team to win back-to-back ECL Elite champion titles with a 4-2 series win. 


Read more: ECL '22 Winter Elite Finals: "You haven't seen the best of us yet" - with Paul @PleeMaker Arontie from Frölunda HC

Read more: ECL '22 Winter Elite Finals: "We have some aces up our sleeves" - with Tuukka @Tuukka.R Röpelinen (KingOfApes_) from hREDS