Niklas "UhNikke" Nieminen - The new kid on the block

This season, Niklas @uhNikke Nieminen had a career performance with his new team SAWO ESPORTS. Their run fell short of complete success in the quarterfinals recently, but we still decided that now is the time to take a look at the up-and coming goalie talent a bit closer.

Niklas @uhNikke Nieminen, who is only 20 years old, has been one of the biggest names of the current Elite season, as he truly had a career season this ECL. The youngster has taken some very big strides forward and ended up dominating the regular season in several statistical categories. The new kid on the block has left several superstars, like Casper @ICappeI Lundgren and Filip @Faze91- Azri in the dust.

"One of the enabling factors of my success was definitely the spirit in our team. I know a lot of the guys really well and the confidence level is very high. I spend a lot of time studying how other goalies play and draw inspiration from them into my own game. The team has been great to this point, but we can be even better. Personally, I didn't think I could be this good after the break I had, so I've even surprised myself", the young netminder goes over the success he had this season.

More and more young players are pushing for their own spot among the European Elite. Nieminen states that it isn't enough just to claim a place in the lineup, but you have to be prepared to continue developing after that, otherwise the next big talent will pass you soon enough. He sees that in the future Roots' Linus @Limu95 Christiansson and GOONS’ Arttu @laitineen64 Laitinen are some of the names to keep an eye on.

To get a better idea of the personality of the man of the hour, we asked the other players at SAWO Esports what kind of teammate and player Nieminen is like.

”As a player, Nikke is the most self-critical person I've ever encountered, no matter what happens, he always strives to do even better. In the party, Nikke isn't the loudest guy, but mainly focuses on stopping the pucks swung at him. I think he's a really relaxed and supportive teammate”, says SAWO winger Valtteri @Vattuyy Virtanen.

”Nikke is calm and is quite demanding for himself, he always tries to think about what he could do better and that's why Nikke is one of the best goalkeepers in Elite. Nikke has quite an elite skill to read the game that sometimes also helps the skaters out there”, Tomi @tombo_02 Laitinen praises his teammate.

Nieminen tells how he eventually became a goalkeeper in the early days of his competitive playing career: ”So I ended up playing goalie when I joined HokiDogs for ECL 6 Lite. Before that, I had never even touched the virtual pads. Previously I had played on defense in various groups.”

The Lohja, Finland native says that the first game in the NHL game series was NHL 13, after which the yearly iteration has been a must-have. It was only at a later stage that competitive gaming stepped in. He says that the games in the NHL franchise have been his favourites for a long time, but in his free time he also enjoys playing FIFA and CS:GO.

hREDS captain Perttu @Beniittto Kemppainen gets a shoutout as a player whose helped Nieminen progress along his career: "One of my best memories is definitely back when I got involved with hREDS, and how Perttu helped me become a better player while being a part of that team."

Nieminen says that he doesn't have any actual routines on the day of the game. He usually goes for a longer run and enjoys a gameday Red Bull. He notes that his absolute strengths as a player are calmness and perseverance. He tells me that always when on the ice, he tries to give it his all.

Nieminen's team TUNNEL VISION signed with SAWO ESPORTS just a few days before the season started. We asked the goalie how this change has affected the team.

”Moving to SAWO ESPORTS has been a good thing and I really enjoy the responsibility I'm being given. I've been able to develop as a goalkeeper with the increased playing time. While i was in the army, I was in a backup role for hREDS because I couldn't get the right to practice and play from the army. I was quite close to quitting for a while at that point, but I decided to venture into the free agent market and that's when @tombo_02 reached out to me. When I hear that @Vattuyy was also getting on board, the deal was signed”, Nieminen goes over some events of his career.

SAWO ESPORTS had a sensational regular season, securing the #2 spot into the postseason to everyones surprise. However, in the playoffs, Granit Gaming ended up being too much for them to handle, and their season ended in the Quarterfinals this past week. Despite their success, Nieminen still sees a lot to improve moving forward.

”From the goalkeepers point of view, our possession play and teamplay play has been very good in both directions. I expect that we will be able to continue in the same way and improve in all areas to become a more well-rounded team.”