Hello, eHockey fans and players! It's finally the moment we've been waiting for: The start of the ECL '25 Winter regular season! In this article, let's take a look at 12 interesting teams and/or biggest favorites to win it all. Who are potential candidates to fight for an ECL Pro promotion this season? And of course, let's pick some of the players to watch closer from every group in the middle division of our five tiers of the European Championship League, ECL Lite.
Group 1
Last season this team couldn't make their way into the Lite playoffs. Now it looks like they have something good brewing because they won the ECL '25: Pre-Season - Lite & Core tournament with an explosive performance! First, they topped their group with a solid 12-0-0-2 record but after that, they swept themselves all the way to victory winning every series 2-0, two of their players being top two in playoff points. That's already a very impressive progression compared to last season! Surely they are full of confidence because of this so it definitely would not be a shock to see these guys make a deep playoff run this season!
Player to watch: Hydeee_24
After not getting into Pro through the Qualifier even though they came close, a lot depends on how they recover from that disappointment. They are still capable of achieving a good result in Lite like they did last season by going to the top 8 and being one win away from the semifinals. They have an organized and fairly physical playbook, in the Pro Qualifier, they recorded the most hits by far compared to others.
Player to watch: MrXbox79
There is always an extra factor of interest towards teams affiliated with traditional ice hockey clubs. However, this team has also proven that they can play organized and well-structured team play. They had a nice playoff run last season in Lite going into the quarterfinals and losing there against the team that went to the finals. After that they got knocked out from the ECL Pro Qualifier in Stage 1 only with a small margin, since if their one overtime loss had turned into a win it would've been enough to make it into Stage 2. Being that close surely only gives them more hunger to achieve a Pro spot for the Spring season!
Player to watch: MEAZZA1704
Group 2
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It has been a few seasons since we last saw this team, back in ECL '23: Spring - Pro. Now they are back led by their captain, one of the most recognizable names in ECL Lite this season - 2023 IIHF eWorld Champion JesseL2002. But there are actually a few players who represented Project X's previous roster. One of them is Torvelajr__ who has a very realistic chance to be one of the top if not the best goalies of this division. This team definitely has experience, individual skills, and probably also some kind of reunion spirit. If they get a smooth and consistent flow going through the season, they surely have a great chance for the championship.
Player to watch: JesseL2002
KohKae earned a straight promotion to Lite by being champions of ECL '24: Spring - Core. It's always fascinating to follow champion teams and see if they can continue the success from the lower division when moving up a tier. Obviously, it's hard to think of a better foundation for a new season than winning the previous one - especially when the team's roster has stayed almost identical. khassu-- - who had a clutch performance in their championship run being #1 in playoffs of both GAA (1.19) and save% (90.31) - stays as their starting goalie. Can he keep up that form? KohKae's defensive pair stays the same: Eashl_kalle and LihaPoni90, who both were top-scoring defensemen of the Core playoffs last season.
Player to watch: khassu--
HC Pustertal, consisting mostly of Finnish players, represents the Italian hockey club as their official eSports squad. Hullued - who was an Elite goalie in Renascor last season, including one playoff series played - seems to play center now, but this isn't new business for him. Hullued has played roughly 50% of his career as a skater and 50% as a goalie in many different tiers and leagues and he seems to be like a Swiss army knife; any position and performance is solid. Pustertal's current goalie Kibk_RuZaKuZa had a great last season in Lite with Mights so it will be interesting to see if we will see the same kind of work between the pipes again. The also versatile Ollizhki27 is the definition of an experienced player. He has played ECL ever since ECL Season 1 in 2015, including ECL Pro and also different national leagues.
Player to watch: Hullued
This club from Germany made its ECL debut already in ECL 12 and has been playing in different divisions since then. Most recently they played a few seasons in Pro and even though they never managed to make their way into playoffs there, I believe that experience playing against tough Pro opponents will be very useful in Lite. wobfighter saved 87.27% of the shots he faced in the Pro Qualifiers, which sounds decent considering they lost half of their games. I see him as a potential candidate for the top goalie of the Lite season. Eisbaren's expected top point scorer is none other than KenuFHR, who is a dangerous and sneaky forward if the opponent leaves him unguarded. My minimum prediction would be to see this team in the top 16.
Player to watch: KenuFHR
Group 3
Hopfensmoothie HC is a Swiss team with some players who have Elite and Pro experience, such as originaL-SnuS from the top Central European team The Black Jacks / ZSC Lions. This is actually the former team for many other players on this HHC roster. Just like SnuS was for TBJ, he is also the captain of this HHC team and has been the leader on ice by being their top scorer both in the regular season and the playoffs last season in ECL Lite. I_Alex28_I was also one of their key players in the playoffs by scoring 12 points in 15 games played. He also made an impressive 44 points in 12 games played recently in the Lite & Core Pre-Season, where Hopfensmoothie showed that their members are still in strong form by finishing #1in their group with a 9-3-1-1 record. Hopfensmoothie made their way to the Lite quarterfinals last season and thus were entitled to take part in the Pro qualifier and surely could've been able to make a good result there. The team, however, decided to stay in Lite. They are definitely one of the teams capable of winning the championship this season.
Player to watch: originaL-SnuS
Sunne IK is another team that missed the Lite playoffs last season but seems to have been leveling up their game exponentially. Their record was a very solid 11-1-1-1 in the Pre-Season, where they were also the top-scoring team with 96 goals, which is not a surprising number when looking at regular season and playoffs top scorers that are both full of Sunne guys. The big question is: Is Sunne able to keep that firepower since two of those top scorers apparently are not playing for this team anymore? After that in playoffs, they continued their good form, losing only three games, out of which two in the BO3 finals against Puck Over Glass. Comparing their current roster to last season's roster, it seems like they have kept their team core pretty patiently but they also made some moves like the signing of benjamint737 who should be a great goalie for Lite level with his Elite and Pro experience.
Player to watch: benjamint737
Team with loads of Pro and even some Elite experience, so definitely any team playing against them should expect an opponent who is not shaking in tight situations and has trust in their team play because they are familiar with each other. In fact Jugi9, Tanski87, armoton-kaulin, Kozeec, and Jesse6115 all played previously in Supernatural so I guess this is kind of a rebranded team from that.
Player to watch: Kozeec
Group 4
Kikkakirja went through the Pre-Season regular season with an 11-0-1-2 record and after that ran into the semifinals. Their game style actually seems to live up to their name (translation Deke Book/Trick Book) but still not at the cost of defending since only two teams had fewer goals against them compared to Kikkakirja's 28 goals allowed. Their RD Kahvinpapu already has some ECL Pro experience and has been doing a good job as an offensive d-men. Their captain PyroNiko__ also played Pro last season with N0VA, even though he didn't play many games he was efficient in those with over 2 PPG.
Player to watch: PyroNiko__
TED is already starting the 6th ECL season together. Solid Lite team season after season, this time they were also close to making it into Pro through the qualifiers but fell short in the last round. They still have familiar faces from their previous rosters, like key players Kaapo13 and wrlster who have both always been creating good results in Lite individually. It wouldn't be a surprise if Technical Disaster could reach the top of this division sooner or later.
Player to watch: Kaapo13
Swedish team VBO STARS got a taste of gold medals a few months ago when they won the championship of SEC 16. While it was not the same exact roster as now, this team might actually be the team with most former Elite players this season in Lite; I-Bror-I, eBasstian, and Kattenj all played in the highest tier not too long ago, but none in the latest season, so will be interesting to see how their experience will carry on for this season in ECL Lite.
Player to watch: I-Bror-I
Another Swedish team! One of the three ECL teams of Södertälje SK. Despite their name "Prospects", this team is not just a group of young guns. There are also many experienced players on this team - in fact, I would say players a little bit over the average age of ECL players. This mixed with some of their younger players could have a lot of potential if they find chemistry! Players like Viktorhall and HambergD who have many seasons played in Pro and sveti- could be great leaders in the group even in Elite, as well as experienced r4mme-0 who played Pre-Season for the dominant #1 seed team before signing with SSK.
Player to watch: Viktorhall
We want your clips!
Did you make an incredible play or have a funny blooper? Share your best moments on social media using the hashtag #ECL25Clips and get a chance to be featured in our broadcasts.
Social media
Please tag @SportsGamerGG and use the hashtag #ECL25Winter when posting on social media. You can also use the hashtags #KouvolanLakritsi #eHockey.
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Season schedule
Regular Season duration:
17.11-19.12.2024
Estimated finals date:
Below is the estimated date for the Finals (BO7) to be approximately played. We reserve the right to changes in schedule.
- ECL Lite Finals 4.-5.2.2025
Good luck to all the teams as they hit the virtual ice. Have fun and let the games begin!
Players mentioned in this article:
@Hydeee_24@MrXbox79@Meazza1704@JesseL2002@Torvelajr__@khassu--@Eashl_kalle@LihaPoni90@Hullued@Kibk_RuZaKuZa@Ollizhki@wobfighter@Kenu@benjamint737@Kozeec@Jugi9@Tanski87@armoton-kaulin@Kahvinpapu@PyroNiko@Kaapo13@wrlster@Kattenj@eBasstian@svetidaje@Viktorhall@HambergD@r4mme@Original-SnuS@I_Alex28_I
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