ECL '24: Winter - Core Playoffs: Semifinals Preview

It's time for the ECL '24: Winter - Core Semifinals, and without further ado, let's jump into our Semifinal Preview!

Schedule

• Playoffs (BO7)
  • Semifinals: 23.-29.1.
  • Finals: 31.1.-1.2. *

* Dates are subject to change as broadcast productions are confirmed.
 

Semifinal Previews: Matchup 1

 SACK BROTHERS (2) vs  BushWhackers (12)

Between these two matchups, this one could be probably called some kind of a David vs Goliath matchup, although both teams have skilled individuals and good team chemistry.

Sack Brothers have a lot of experience from many seasons in ECL Lite, Pro, the Elite Qualifiers, and as a matter of fact, they won the ECL Lite 10 championship back in the day with some of the same players in their current lineup. 

On paper, Sack Brothers could have arguably the best roster in the Core division this season and that could indeed be the case since they finished the regular season as the #2 seed and have been going strong playoff run recording only 2 losses so far. Their expected starting goalie in this series @Janucek has been outstanding between the pipes with a save percentage of 92.41 and a GAA of 0.86 being #1 in both stats in the playoffs.

Speaking about stats-leading players, C/RW @Jjomppa has been one of the most point-producing players in Core, finishing #2 in the regular season (41G+53A=94P) and is leading the playoffs in points (37G+18A=55P) with a remarkable difference to other names on the top and making it even more impressive; in a significantly lower amount of games played than anyone else in the top 5. And if that's not enough to think about for BushWhackers, @snippystatue is currently #6 (22G+19A=41P) so they really have to figure something out to stop them from continuing point-bursting like that.

That being said, stopping firepower is something that BushWhackers managed to do, as their solid defense and @HiBaZiBa- finessed 3 shutouts in the Quarterfinals, where they defeated last season's Core champion HC Gaming (previously named French Eagles), whose every 3 starter forward is currently in the top 5 in playoff points. While Sack Brothers is the more experienced team and have mostly dominated their way to the semifinals, for most players in BushWhackers this has been the second or even first season in the ECL. For example, @BounTy JokerZ is having his debut season, yet finished #4 in regular season points (28G+64A=92P), and @Pensasmies finished his second regular season in a row as a top 2 in points for defensemen.

After just barely missing playoffs last Core season, rebranding the team, and the addition of @hifk_FANI as a versatile player rotating on different positions yet still #5 in defensemen points and @esdor bringing big energy in the roster they have been taking big steps at growing their team together and showing up with a solid 6 so far just at the times when they have been needing it the most. After beating the previously mentioned reigning champion in the rollercoaster series in game 7, also beating Lutunilkat in an entertaining thriller series in game 7 shutting off their deadliest weapon @Wpaanane in the series before that, they surely have every bit of confidence needed to take one extra win in the do-or-die moments. If this series needs a game 7 again, maybe this will be an advantage for BushWhackers?

Another interesting thing to follow is how former Pro teammates - hifk_fani vs @IKarkkiI & jjomppaa - from RCTIC will play against each other. Both sides would definitely love to take the final spot over familiar faces. Maybe it gives a different approach compared to their previous series in these playoffs as they might know what tricks the opponent has up their sleeves?  

Prediction:

@Pekedipeks: Sack Brothers 4-3

How to follow the series

Sack Brothers feed: https://twitch.tv/snippystatue

BushWhackers feed: https://twitch.tv/pensasmiess

Semifinal Previews: Matchup 2

 Mights (7) vs  Belissimo (9)

Mights was formed during the offseason and as a new squad had some ups and downs at the beginning of the regular season. They also had some mid-season roster changes but in the end got their puzzle pieces together and finished second in Group 1 with seed #7 into the playoffs.

Instead of having one top-scoring player, all of their three main forwards got points evenly throughout the regular season. Their defense has been solid with a brilliant PK% (92.45) in the regular season and @Madladcas making huge saves which also may have been the biggest key point of their playoff run. They have been playing with a convincing mentality when playing under pressure, being 1-3 down in the round 2 series against Rusty Bulls, yet managed to scramble their way to a game 7 win. And not only that, but manager another 7-game series win right after that in the quarterfinals against Aspyre Dragons.

On the other side of the ice to face this newly-formed defensive team is Belissimo - the team who have played together for a few seasons having made their debut as a team in the ECL 12 season. Will there be any kind of difference seen due to more experience playing as a squad? While Mights did not have any skaters as the top scorers in the regular season, Belissimo's d-men @SirSamul1 and @Pyllyhaiseva both were productive ending the regular season as #3 (16+25=41) and #6 (5+32 = 37) in defensemen points. 

When two possibly even lineups of similar playstyles meet, a goalie battle could be a big factor in deciding the outcome of the series, which I would also predict to be pretty even as Belissimo's goalie @Odexm also has been doing a great job in the playoffs being #4 in save percentage (82.99). Both teams' goalies have been doing a decent amount of work to achieve this with 16 & 17 games played in 3 rounds.

Prediction:

@Pekedipeks: Belissimo 4-3

@hifk_FANI: Belissimo 4-3

How to follow the series

Gotham Knights feed: https://twitch.tv/madladcas

ECL '24: Winter - SportsGamer Wraparound:
The Wraparound covers what's been happening in the ECL '24: Winter - Elite, Pro, Lite, Core & Neo Divisions. We also look at the results for the first two Leijonat eHockey tournaments and the excitement of the PlayStation Showdown.

ECL '24: Winter - Core Prize Pool:

Social media:

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 hashtags when possible: 

@SportsGamerGG
#ECL24Winter
#eHockey
#NHL24
#esports
#kouvolanlakritsi

Instagram:

When posting on Instagram, please make sure to tag the following accounts and hashtags when possible: 

@SportsGamerGG
#ECL24Winter
#eHockey
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#esports
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We wish all teams the best of luck!

PS: We are looking for writers:

If you are interested in contributing to making the ECL coverage better, please get in touch with @Kenu.