Returning top-four veterans flying new colours, newcomers making it past the first round of the playoffs for the first time, at least one completely new team guaranteed to be in the finals... welcome to the ECL ’25 Winter edition of the Elite Semifinals.
First off, let’s congratulate GOONS, EXEN, The Black Jacks and Mythix on successful campaigns, even though they fell short in the Quarterfinals. Making the Elite playoffs is never not a herculean achievement and these teams and their players should feel a sense of pride in their performance this season.
Now, let’s get into the first matchup – one between old rivals.
(1) Parasite vs (4) Voittamaton 
We’ll hold off on proclaiming anything definitive, but for all intents and purposes this matchup is likely to contain the majority of players in the starting lineup for Team Finland at the upcoming SportsGamer World Cup. With the rule in place of “two starters per team, maximum” we’ll obviously see some diversity of roster, but with the skill, experience and winning pedigree featured among these players, it would come as no surprise if four out of the six starters came from Parasite and Voittamaton.
Getting into the matchup itself, it's hard to overlook the fact that Parasite are the clear favourites – having completed a historically great regular season (27-1-0), including 6-2 and 2-0 wins over Voittamaton, followed by a 4-0-sweep against first-round opponent GOONS.
There are no weaknesses on the Parasite roster.
From the unparalleled goal-scoring of @Vattuyy (Elite-record 65 goals in the regular season, 6 goals in 4 playoff games), to the playmaking abilities of @NikkeDangles (league-leading 58 assists in the regular season) to the overall two-way abilities of captain and team heartbeat @Beniittto, the forward line is second to none. Combine that with the defensive lineup of @Teemuyy (Elite-record 64 points in the regular season) and @tomboo-_- (Elite-record 46 assists in the regular season) and goaltending duo @FINSeRe and @uhNikke – both playoff-hardened Elite champions – and it's not a secret why most are picking this team to win.
On the other side, we find a whole lot of experience. And to quote Captain Rex from Star Wars: Clone Wars (2008): “In my book, experience outranks everything.”
To offer a retort; does it, though? Because while no one can argue with the experience of the multiple Elite titles won by @Eki, @Patzlaf, @FlyerKungen and @Hansulinho, it has indeed been a while since they found themselves at the top of the ECL mountain.
Even so, the team – then known as ‘Straikers’ – did push eventual ECL ’24: Spring Champions Tunnel Vision to seven games in the semifinals last spring, with a roster that contained 4/6 players from the current lineup: Eki, FlyerKungen, @temppanen and Hansulinho.
But it is in the two “new” additions to the team we find the Voittamaton X-Factors for this matchup.
The two-way play and playoff pedigree of Patzlaf, the captain’s captain of the ECL scene and long-time running mate to Eki, was sorely missed for Straikers last season. Here is a player who just seems wired to raise his game the bigger the stakes are. And if Voittamaton are to pull off the upset in this series, the team needs “Game 7 of the Finals”-level play from Patzlaf, right from the first puck drop.
@J-_-Jamaltheman actually played in ECL Lite in the spring but made his grand return to the Elite scene this winter – and successfully so. While the defender's point totals (34 points during the regular season) are impressive, he also seems to have brought a wave of unpredictability and fun to the team – often being celebrated in the team party for his creative plays at key times. At least judging from the behind-the-scenes content Eki has been posting at the SportsGamer forums.
We won’t offer any series predictions in this preview, but let’s just say Voittamaton needs a lot of things to go right if they are to knock off this generational Parasite roster.
Next up, we have the battle between two comparatively “new” teams...
(2) Tohtorit vs (3) Mustaa Kultaa 
Had someone predicted a Tohtorit – Mustaa Kultaa semifinal matchup going into the ECL season – with one of these teams being guaranteed to become first-time finalists – we’re not sure they would’ve gotten much backing from the rest of the community.
That’s not to say these two teams aren’t filled with great players in their own right, it’s just that the odds were quite long for this particular matchup going into the season.
Tohtorit were coming off a disappointing playoff appearance in ECL ’24: Spring, having been swept in the first round after finishing 4th overall in the regular season. Even so, the team opted to stay together – a rare occurrence in the ECL competitive scene – and fielded the exact same roster going into ECL ’25: Winter. The gambit, or lack of a gambit, ended up a huge success with Tohtorit improving their regular season result and finishing second in the league behind Parasite. More importantly, they improved upon their playoff performance by decisively ousting EXEN by a 4-1-series score in the first round of the playoffs.
The team has had plenty of heroes during their run this season, including leading point- and goal-scorer (in both the regular season and the playoffs) @profiilipakki and the always calm @Kkarkass who has led the team in terms of puck possession both the in regular season and in the playoffs. But we’d be remiss if we didn’t highlight goaltender @Stammer70. Not only did this netminder lead the regular season in terms of save percentage (86,0) while making the most saves (350) out of any goalie in the league, he’s taken his game to a whole new level in the playoffs.
Through the five games he’s played so far, Stammer is rocking a save percentage of 96,49 (!), with a goals against average of 0,40 and three shutouts.
If there was such a thing as an ECL “Vezina Trophy”, Stammer would’ve already had that locked up. Not to mention he’d be a worthy Hart Trophy candidate, even with the historic Parasite run. Now, “all Stammer needs to do” is lead his team to the Elite Finals and he’ll have a good shot at the Conn Smythe Trophy as well.
Standing in the way of that are Elite newcomers Mustaa Kultaa.
One of the youngest and most promising teams in Elite, “MK” has truly had a Cinderella run thus far this season. Going from a promotion in the spring (by way of a 4-0 sweep against GOONS), to a shocking 3rd-place finish in their first Elite regular season, to eliminating The Black Jacks in the first round... nothing seems to faze this team.
The only two players who are currently starters for the team that filled the same role in Pro last spring, are playmaking forward @Allupekkaz and goaltender @LatveX. But the players coming in, @xAaro89x, @Launonexx, @Miseee96and @NuariJamal, seem to have immediately gelled with the team and created an environment where the group collectively fears no one and nothing.
Keep an extra eye out for left wing xAaro89x, who finished second in the regular season when it comes to goals (40), and is currently tied with teammate launonexx for the playoff lead (7) in that same category.
Goaltender LatveX also seems to have found an extra gear for the playoffs, going from an 81,51 save percentage in the regular season to an 87,84 percentage in the playoffs.
As for who’s going to come out on top in this battle between two distinctly separate team-building philosophies – keeping a roster together and honing chemistry vs. recruiting the “right” new players – we’ll just have to tune in to SportsGamer Twitch to find out.
Semifinals Broadcast Schedule
Want to watch it all unfold for yourself? Then make sure to tune into our live coverage of EVERY GAME of the Elite Division playoffs on Twitch, YouTube and X.
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Sunday, January 19th, 2025
- Matchup 1: Voittamaton (#4) vs Parasite (#1) | Games 1-2 | ⚠️ 19:00 CET
- Matchup 2: Mustaa Kultaa (#3) vs Tohtorit (#2) | Games 1-2 | ⚠️ ~20:35 CET
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Monday, January 20th, 2025
- Matchup: Voittamattomat (#4) vs Parasite (#1) | Games 3-7 | ⚠️ 19:30 CET
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Wednesday, January 22nd, 2025
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Matchup: Mustaa Kultaa (#3) vs Tohtorit (#2) | Games 3-7 | ⚠️ 19:30 CET
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Matchup: Mustaa Kultaa (#3) vs Tohtorit (#2) | Games 3-7 | ⚠️ 19:30 CET
Action kicks off today, Sunday, January 19th with the matchups between both semifinal matchups. Be sure to tune in at 19:00 CET!
So who do you think will punch their ticket into the semifinals? Let us know your thoughts and predictions in the comments?
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