While eight teams made their way into the playoffs to fight for the ECL '24: Spring - Elite championship, eight other teams have seen their season come to an end, each wondering what went wrong and what could have been. We will take a look at each of these eight teams, why they missed the playoffs and where things stand as they each look towards the future. We will begin with the 16th ranked team in the standings and then work our way up.
16. 
Gotham Knights (25pts)
Why They Missed: Lack of Form All Season
After winning the ECL Pro Division championship over Renascor last season, Gotham Knights' time in the Elite Division has come to a quick close, finishing last in the standings and now likely being relegated back down to the Pro Division. Unfortunately, this team just never really found their footing in Elite this season. In their 30 games played, they only managed to collect standings points in 11 of those games and their longest win streak of the season was 2 games. That simply isn't a recipe for success. They did show some glimpses of potential this season, as out of their 9 total wins this season (including OT wins), four of them came against playoff teams. However, this league is all about being able to win consistently and unfortunately, Gotham Knights were never able to find their way there. We'll see what the future holds for this club and if they can find their way back into Elite in the future.
15. 
Renascor (31pts)
Why They Missed: Offensive Woes
Last season's Pro Division runner-ups earned promotion to Elite after making it through the qualifiers in April. Not many people expected much of this group in its first Elite season and unfortunately, they finished right around where many had predicted them to before the season. Though Rensacor did seem to find a little bit of rhythm later on in the season, they only won 4 of their first 19 games (including OT wins). This pretty much did them in when it came to being able to secure a Top 8 finish. The biggest reason for this was Renascor's offensive struggles this season. For starters, they had the lowest goals for per game of any team in the Elite Division at 1.67. They also had the fourth-lowest shots per game in the division at 12.1. The Elite division is a big step from the Pro Division and it's not easy to adjust. Now this team will get ready for their relegation series in a few weeks against the Pro Division runner-up, hoping to stay up in the ECL's top division next season.
14. 
Heimo (34pts)
Why They Missed: Not Being Able to String Together Wins
After finishing in no man's land last season at the 11th spot, Heimo unfortunately found themselves further down the Elite table and now have to go to a relegation series. What's wild is that last season they had 36 points, so it goes to show that the Division as a whole performed better this season when it came to accumulating points in the standings. Something that Heimo may have suffered from more than any other team this season in terms of their place in the standings. As for where this team fell short, they never really found that consistent form of winning that they needed. This Heimo team would get a win and then follow that up with two or three straight losses. In fact, this team only had two win streaks all season, and their longest winning streak lasted the minimum amount of games to be considered a streak, 2 games. It's just tough to make it in when you aren't able to find a consistent stretch of winning. Add that in with increased performance from the other teams that were outside the cutline and Heimo just happened to find themselves where they are. If they can keep their place in the division for next season, hopefully, they can take that same next step that their competitors did this season.
13. 
GOONS (34pts)
Why They Missed: Allowing Far Too Many Goals
It's unfortunate to see how things have trended for this team over the last few seasons. As weird as it seems, GOONS haven't qualified for the Elite Division playoffs since ECL '22: Spring, a season in which they made it to the semifinals. That was two years ago. Since that season, this team lost multiple critical pieces to that core due to transfers and has been trying to rebuild themselves since. And now, they are going to have to win a relegation series just to keep their spot in the division. The biggest reason GOONS find themselves outside of the playoffs again is due to the high amount of goals that they allowed, which ironically is the same thing that plagued this team last season. During the Winter season, GOONS allowed 3.5 goals per game, which ranked third-worst in the Division. This season they allowed 3.1 per game, which though an improvement, still ranked them as the second-worst in the league, only finishing ahead of Gotham Knights. Not only this, but just 8 of their 19 total losses this season were by one goal, and this includes overtime games. On a positive note, they were one of the division's better teams offensively this season with an average of 2.53 goals for per game, which ranked 6th in Elite. They also broke the ECL's record for hits in a regular season with 1163 (across all divisions), so they were also able to make some history despite missing the postseason. However, I have the feeling that this summer could be one with a lot of soul-searching for this GOONS team; especially with their future in the division now being uncertain.
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Polski Boys (36pts)
Why They Missed: Not Improving Offensively From Last Season
Polski Boys find themselves in no man's land for a second straight season and the biggest reason for this was their struggles on offense. Interestingly enough, this was exactly what held this team back last season. During their Winter campaign last season, which was their first in Elite, Polski Boys averaged just 2.03 goals for per game, which ranked as the 5th lowest in the division. They also struggled mightily on the power play last season, only converting on the man advantage 14.29% of the time, which was the lowest in the division. Despite having a season of Elite division experience under their belt and returning all six starters from last season's team, the Polski Boys' offense saw minimal improvements in the Spring. They averaged just 2.07 goals for per game which ranked 2nd lowest in the league, only ahead of Renascor. Their power play was also a weakness for them again this season, as their 16.22% on the power play was 4th lowest in the league. One positive thing to note is that they did seem to find some form late in the season, as they collected points in the standings in 8 of their last 10 games of the regular season, though they only surpassed the two-goal mark in 2 of those 10 games. As someone who has had the pleasure of covering this team's rise through the ECL ranks over a few seasons, the potential is there for Polski Boys to be a genuine threat in the Elite division, but that won't happen until they find a way to improve their play offensively. They have yet to find success there at this level, and until they do they're bound to be stuck in the middle of the pack.
11. 
Vesa Pompa (37pts)
Why They Missed: Losing Close in Regulation Games and Not Putting Together A Winning Run
Of the teams that didn't get into the Top 8, Vesa Pompa was probably the most surprising. After making the playoffs as a #6 seed and making it to the Elite semifinals last season, missing out on the playoffs altogether this season is a disappointing result for this group. Unfortunately, they just never really found the same form that they had in the Winter season and it ended up costing them dearly in the playoff race. For starters, Vesa Pompa lost valuable points in the standings in close games, as 8 of their 14 regulation losses were decided by one goal. Not only this, but they never were able to find a consistent winning run the way that they did last season. In their Winter campaign, they were able to make the playoffs off of the back of a 12-game points streak, a streak that saw them win 10 of those 12 games. This season, Vesa Pompa's longest points streak lasted just four games. It's unfortunate that this team will have to watch the playoffs from the sidelines this time around, as we've seen this group be able to make some magic happen in the postseason before. On the bright side, they didn't see themselves eliminated from playoff contention until the final day of the regular season, so this team was in the hunt throughout. Unfortunately, the factors that we've mentioned were just too much for Vesa Pompa to overcome in the end. A tough result for a high-quality squad.
10. 
Roots Gaming (42pts)
Why They Missed: Too Many Regulation Losses, Struggling Against Playoff Teams, and Not Finding Enough Offense
Before we talk about why Roots Gaming didn't make the playoffs, I want to spend some time talking about the vast improvements that this team made this season. I'll be honest, I think that this season could be considered a success for Roots Gaming, as they arguably improved more than any team in the league this season. Last season they finished 15th in the standings with just 24 points and had to win a relegation series just to maintain their place in the Elite Division. This season however saw a complete turnaround for this team. And the most impressive part about it? All six starters this season were on this team last season; with five of them starting 20+ games during that Winter campaign. Now that we've talked about the good though, we have to talk about why they missed out, and unfortunately, I couldn't pick just one reason to tell the full story. For starters, 14 of Roots Gaming's losses this season came in regulation, meaning that they lost out on potential points that they could've gained by pushing more games to overtime (they went 7-7 in regulation games this season). Second, they had a record of 3-13 against playoff teams and 11 of those losses were in regulation. Lastly, their offense just never really seemed to find itself. They tied with Heimo for the fourth-lowest goals for per game at 2.07. They also took the least amount of shots of any Elite division team at 353 (that's an average of just 11.8 shots per game). I promise you that I don't mean to pile on. This group has a ton to be proud of considering where they were in the standings just a season ago. However considering that they missed the playoff cutline by only 4 points, it feels like they could've made the postseason if they had been able to correct even just one of those three factors. Regardless, Roots Gaming should go into the offseason feeling good about their efforts. The question now is, can they build on it?
9. 
Purification (42pts)
Why They Missed: Their Second Half of the Season
Every team has aspirations of making it into the postseason before the season begins, which makes it even more crushing for the group that ends up finishing as the first team outside of the playoff cut line. However, let's give Purification their due credit. This was an impressive debut season in the Elite Division for this group and I don't doubt that they will be back in the playoff conversation in the future. After earning promotion by defeating POGGERS in its relegation series last season, Purification was a group that many people were interested in seeing make the jump to Elite, as they were dominant in the Pro Division and fell one win short of making it to the Finals. Early in the season, they looked like a team that would be well on their way to the playoffs and potentially even a Top 4 seed, winning 10 of their first 13 games this season. After this, things unfortunately fell apart. In their last 17 games of the season, Purification earned just 15 points in the standings. That stretch included a 7-game losing streak that saw them earn just 2 points and a 5-game losing streak that saw them earn zero points. During this stretch, they lost 10 games by one goal (including overtime losses) and had a 1-5 record against non-playoff teams, including two regulation losses to Gotham Knights and a regulation loss to Renascor on May 16 that eliminated them from playoff contention. I know that Purification is going to be disappointed that they aren't playing playoff hockey this season, especially considering that they looked like a lock during the first half of the season. However, I think that they also have a lot to look back on positively, as they've proven that they can truly compete at the Elite division level. This season will be valuable for them to learn from and will be something good to build on for the future. I'm excited to see where they go from here.
If you have any feedback or if there is anything that you feel that I missed, make sure to let me know in the comments!
If you want to learn more about the teams that did qualify for Elite division playoffs, you can check out my Quarterfinals playoff preview below.
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