Erno "egoapina" Parkkonen - "Having fun is a guarantee regardless of our results"

The 22-year-old Erno @egoapina Parkkonen is a multitalent, as his selection of competitive games includes both NHL and FIFA. Hockey is a big part of his life, and he's been playing the sport for several years at a reasonably high level.

Erno Parkkonen is very well known on virtual football grounds, but not necessarily so well known for virtual hockey. 

"As a kid I spent a lot of time with NHL all the way until NHL 15 when the  EASHL-mode disappeared on next gen. Joakim @Joukki Nyholm is one of the guys I played with and really liked 6v6 mainly cause of getting bored with playing HUT alone. After NHL, I've played FIFA and got some success by accident and just stayed on that path. I still buy NHL every year and really enjoy the game as hockey is very close to my heart."

Parkkonen has a rather peculiar PSN-ID that stands out from the mass, at least for the Finnish-speaking. When asked about the origin story, he attributes that to his big brother:

"I remember creating my user together with my big brother, all the names I suggested were taken so we went back to the drawing board. After a bit of thinking, my brother suggested egoapina - ego monkey. We had some laughs about it, but my brother thought it described me as a person to a tee. I haven't changed it later since people know that name by now."


Parkkonen represented FC Honka in the recent eFutisliiga on FIFA together with Grilli Tulille teammate Jesper @jjesu3 Hietarinne.

By playing both NHL and FIFA competitively, Parkkonen has grown very familiar with the scenes of both those games. Naturally we asked him for a comparison. 

"In FIFA, I'd say everything is bigger, so to speak. Their 1v1 format has gone worldwide and the prize money is bigger with far more tournaments to play in. The 11v11-format is comparable to the 6v6-games in NHL, but it's far more geographically widespread and you'll find more players of various nationalities on your own squad, which I find interesting and fun. At it's current stage, I think FIFA is better than NHL competitively and despite it not being perfect either, it has way less uncontrollable factors than NHL. I think in Finland the 6v6 LAN events have been great steps towards developing the scene and I don't think that'll realistically happen anytime soon in FIFA."

It can be said that Parkkonen knows the FIFA scene like the backs of his palms and that there are a few things from that environment that the NHL scene could learn from.

"In order to grow, I think we need more competitive tournaments. At the current stage it's not realistic for players to sustain a professional status without added revenue streams such as streaming or other work."

During his junior years, Parkkonen has played ice hockey for Kiekko-Espoo, where he also got to play a few mens games. We asked him if he feels that playing hockey has helped with virtual ice hockey, or the other way around.

"All the same elements apply to virtual hockey, of course they must be applied according to the meta of the game. Especially in the 6v6 format, communication and the movement of players off the puck is really important if the team wants to succeed. Playing as a unit is emphasized in the defensive, neutral and offensive zones, as no one can carry their team alone. I'd also say that puck control and controlled breakout plays are more prevalent in virtual hockey due to dump-and-chase hockey not being as effective. Set plays and special teams formations are discussed just like in traditional hockey. When it comes to skills I've learned and used in both it's definitely the eye for the game combined with a certain kind of niftiness in scoring situations."

"On our trip up North, we had a PlayStation on the bus and as we had our teams NHL-tournament, i ended up going up against the coach at some point. In the heat of the game he told me "Now I know why you're always looking for that extra pass", so I guess that might be something I've taken away from the console game."

#11 for Kiekko-Espoo always likes to look for that extra pass. Picture by Riku Eskelinen.

Parkkonen has been away from virtual hockey for a while. He notes that virtual hockey is a good change for competitive FIFA.

"I'm taking a break from competitive FIFA for the summer Competitive FIFA will now take a break for the summer. I was asked to play ECL Pro, which was my original plan, but that team ended up folding. When I was contacted by Grilli Tulille I immediately knew that was the right decision. The group of guys I know from before and having fun is a guarantee regardless of our results."

The Grilli Tulille team includes people familiar to Parkkonen. He feels that the team has a great deal of potential.

"I knew I could bring experience and new strategies in order to develop the style of play. As I said, I was really happy to join Grilli since I know the guys from before and having fun is a guarantee with this group. There's a lot of potential, which I hope we'll be able to realize over the course of the season."

Parkkonen has been in good form during the early part of the season and we asked how to keep this good vibe in the coming games.

"I've always been a pass first player. As long as we play well as a unit and Jesper @jjesu3 Hietarinne is ready on the far post we should be able to keep things going!"

You can follow egoapina and Grilli Tulille on their playoff hunt in Group 3 of the Lite division, where the team is currently outside of playoff positions but with some games still left to go, they are looking for a strong finish to their regular season run.