ECL '25: Winter - Elite | Finals Preview

It has been three months since the start of the ECL '25: Winter season and now it all has come down to this, the Finals of the Elite division. Taking place live at Assembly, Mustaa Kultaa will be taking on Parasite in a mighty showdown between the two best teams ECL has seen this season. Three months ago these teams were starting their seasons in very different positions. Of course, we have all learned to know the strength and power of Parasite, a team that not only has seen it all but has also won it all, multiple times. After making some key additions they have only gotten better and have been the favorites long before the season even started. On the other side, Mustaa Kultaa came into the season as what many would've considered a dark horse to battle for playoff spots. After getting promoted to the Elite division, the team went through big changes in their lineup and those changes have really hit the spot. Will Parasite finish what everyone expected of them or will Mustaa Kultaa be able to pull off one of the biggest upsets we've seen in recent years?

The ECL '25: Winter - Elite Finals are played live at Assembly on Thursday 20th of February. Join us in Helsinki or watch the stream on twitch.tv/SportsGamerGG, starting at 18:00 CET.
 

 (3) Mustaa Kultaa 

Regular season 17-1-3-7, 56 points
Quarterfinals 4-1 vs The Black Jacks (6)
Semifinals 4-1 vs Tohtorit (2)

Predicted Lineup

Left Wing: Aaro @xAaro89x Aarvala (15+5=20)
Center: Eetu @Launonexx Launonen (8+10=18)
Right Wing: Alex @Allupekkaz Buntsel (A) (4+11=15)
Left Defender: J-J @NuariJamal Raatikainen (A) (3+9=12)
Right Defender: Mico @Miseee96 Pulli (0+12=12)
Goaltender: Veeti @LatveX Laitinen (8-1-1, 85%, 1.8 GAA, 1 SO)
 

Regular season

After successfully qualifying for the Elite divisions in the "fastest BO7 series we've ever witnessed" Mustaa Kultaa had a stormy offseason all the way until a few weeks before the season start. They ended up bringing back only two starting players from their Pro campaign in Allupekkaz and LatveX, with Launonexx also making a return to the team after a successful rookie season in Elite. They added a new defensive pairing in NuariJamal-_-, last season's point leader in Pro, and Misee96 from the Gotham Knights. Completing the team was xAaro89x, who has managed to take his game to a whole another level this campaign after looking for a home from a few different teams in the Elite division. The team had a very strong start to season losing only three games through nine matchups, and were leading the league for some time. From the last 10 games though they only managed to grab three wins, which saw them finishing the regular season in third place, tied in points with second place Tohtorit.
 

Playoffs

In the Quarterfinals they were challenged by The Black Jacks, who had been in a similar situation many times, hoping to finally make it through the first round. Mustaa Kultaa started the playoffs with a big 5-1 victory and made a comeback down from 0-3 to take it in overtime in game 2. They went into the deciding night with all the momentum on their side and The Black Jacks riddled with lineup changes could not change the series around. Mustaa Kultaa continued to the Semifinals with a convincing 4-1 series victory to face Tohtorit.

Tohtorit were coming from a strong first-round performance against Exen and had @Stammer70 put up what could be one of the best playoff series ever for a goalie. The first games were tight but Mustaa Kultaa seemed to always be a bit ahead, and most importantly were able to solve Stammer. Game two was one of the most exciting games we've seen this season. Being down 0-4 with 18 minutes on the clock, Mustaa Kultaa was able to pull of the unthinkable and took the game to overtime, where Launonexx gave them the 2-0 series lead with his hat trick goal. The second night started rough for Tohtorit and after scoring 3 goals on 4 shots in game 3, Mustaa Kultaa found themselves 3-0 up in the series and just one step away from the finals. Tohtorit put all they had into game 4 and managed to take it in the overtime, but that push seemed to be all they had as Mustaa Kultaa got off to a strong start in Game 5. Even though they controlled the gameplay, they found themselves down 1-2 in the last period, but they showed their resilience tying up the game. Only two seconds before the end xAaro89x was able to find the series winner which put them through to the finals.

Aaro has really managed to turn around his image as a weak playoff performer this season. He's leading the team with 15 goals, 4 of which are game-winners, in the playoffs and he's led the team through the first two rounds. Launone has been the unsung hero of this team with his 18 points and is crucial for this team's success. Allupekkaz has had some trouble finding the back of the net, but with 15 points he's still doing great. Misee96 and nuarijamal both have 12 points and form a strong backline with Latvex, who's elevated his game after a great regular season and is looking like one of the lead candidates for Rookie of the Season.

 (1) Parasite 

Regular season 24-3-0-1, 78 points
Quarterfinals 4-0 vs GOONS (8)
Semifinals 4-1 vs Voittamaton (4)

Predicted lineup

Left Wing: Valtteri @Vattuyy Virtanen (13+13=26)
Center: Perttu @Beniittto Kemppainen (C) (9+12=21)
Right Wing: Niklas @NikkeDangles Tukiainen (A) (12+14=26)
Left Defender: Tomi @txmbo999 Laitinen (0+10=10)
Right Defender: Teemu @Teemuyy Polttila (4+15=19)
Goaltender: Niklas @uhNikke Nieminen (88.14%, 1.75 GAA, 1 SO)

Regular season

Is this the best lineup we've ever seen put up on the ECL ice? There are very strong arguments to say that after how dominant their season has been. Adding the star players from Tunnel Vision in Vattuyy and txmbo999 this Parasite team has been the clear favorite to win the title and possibly dominate the scene seasons to come. They had a record-breaking season scoring 149 goals with an average well above 5 and Vattuyy broke the goalscoring record with 65 goals, even with the season cut out by two games. NikkeDangles, had a personal record in points with 96, finishing second in the league, and formed a deadly playmaking duo together with Beniittto. They lost only one game during the regular season and took the first seed with an impressive margin of 22 points. Their dominance did not stop to only offense, as they also allowed the least goals, had the best powerplay (46%), and were second on the penalty kill while also taking the least penalties. FINSeRe shared playing time in goal with their other new addition UhNikke and they both, not surprisingly, had a great regular season.

Playoffs

In the Quarterfinals they were faced against the number eight seed GOONS. In the first game, GOONS did a good job keeping the scoring down but in the end, it was not enough as Parasite dominated the game with the puck and took home a 2-1 win. Things did not get any easier after that with Parasite being able to find more and more opportunities to score. After some wild offensive games, Parasite swept the series. The 8-5 score from Game 4 tells the whole story from the series which did not really test the Parasite squad. In the Semifinals Parasite took their second loss of the season in Game 1 against Voittamaton, but they were able to tie the series after a shutout from UhNikke. Voittamaton had their chances in the third game of the series but did not get the result with Parasite taking the win in the overtime. After that,t it was all Parasite as they dominated games four (5-1) and five (7-1) and booked their ticket to the finals.

Their offensive trio Vattuyy, NikkeDangles, and Beniittto have continued from where they left off in the regular season and are taking up the top three spots in the playoffs. Teemuyy is even more dominant in the scoring for defensemen while Tombo has been handling more of the defensive duties. The goalie tandem has continued to share playing time and they will have two stars to choose from for the Finals series.

Points to watch

• Can Parasite be beaten? That has been an almost impossible task for any team this season and Mustaa Kultaa will now have the task of doing that on the big stage.
• Regular season matches between these teams went to Parasite 5-3 and 6-2. Mustaa Kultaa will need to do a much better job defensively if they want to have any chance of taking it home.
• Rookie Goalie vs a seasoned veteran. While LatveX has had a great Rookie season and has been even better in the playoffs, he will still be facing a highly accomplished veteran in UhNikke. Parasite will create lots of offense and LatveX will be put in the toughest test of his young career.
• LAN experience is all on the side of the Parasite but at the same time, it will be interesting and at the same time exciting to see how this young Mustaa Kultaa squad can handle the pressure.
• "Hockey is a momentum game" as Finnish coach Juhani Tamminen once said. The start of the series will be important, but especially Mustaa Kultaa will need to make the most out of it and get into that flow state. If Parasite do that, it can be a very quick one.
• Rumors flying around about the Mustaa Kultaa squad and possible transfers. It is definitely not the ideal way to prepare for the biggest matchup of their career but maybe a good performance in the Finals could change things around?
   

One thing is for sure, we're in for a hell of a show and we want everyone to join us, whether it is live at Assembly or on our live stream. Thursday, 20th of February 18.00 CET (19.00 local time in Finland).