Hi NHLGamers, 

The quarterfinals brought us a whole bunch of more upsets, as did the previous rounds. The first seeded team of The Next Gen got swept, Elite experienced teams like SIKA and Gotham Knights got sent to improving their golfing skills as well. We congratulate TIKI TALK, Checkmate, POGGERS and Black Horse for their guaranteed shot at an Elite spot for ECL 9.

The ECL 8 Pro Semifinals will be played between Monday, 25th of February and Sunday, 3rd of March 2019.

Here are the matchups for the ECL 8 Pro Semi-finals:

(2)  TIKI TALK vs. Black Horse  (13)

Is it TIKI TALK's year? Will they finally make their way back to Elite in ECL 9? After a disappointing end to their ECL 7 season, TIKI TALK have finally shown their true potential in the 8th iteration of the European Championship League. They don't want to waste any more time in their quest to advance back to the highest tier division - two sweeps against Bellizzi and SIKA, you can call that impressive for sure. The teams iconic captain @itspardytime rules this team and the division playoffs so far by scoring 38 points (20 goals, 18 assists) in 8 games. TIKI TALK have been running with their top lineup for all games so far and we believe this won't change as you don't change a winning team, right? @Thewix93 (4 goals and 13 assists) and @PCJP (89,47 SV% and 1,00 GAA) are the defensive anchors which this highly potential offense need at the back end.

Black Horse started the season as their name would imply and surpassed all expectations completely. While they struggled a little bit at the end of the season, which cost them a higher seed for the playoffs, they didn't hesitate to show their skill right at the start of the playoffs against the big guns. They eliminated the 4th seed Silver Sword Griffins in 6 games while burying the top seed The Next Gen in only 4. Is TIKI TALK next in the line on their way to winning it all? Their defense is the key to their success - while they don't win their games with style, they are hard to score against and will make you pay for your mistakes. While former top goaltender @Hullued now is showing that he can be a top center and leads the team in that role in all three zones of the ice, the defensive pair of @Miika (Since2009-) and @Exel56 do an outstanding job and @villamies95 in net is a real stud in his debut season!

Pure offensive skill vs a brickwall, who's gonna stand tall when this series has been played?

Our bet is on TIKI TALK in 6 games, but expect some really tight battles!

(5) Checkmate vs. POGGERS  (9)

Checkmates situation is very familiar to the one TIKI TALK finds themselves in - they also had a disappointing outcome to the ECL 7 playoffs with a first round exit. Now they are back in business again. While in the regular season they played with quite a big roster, we get that familiar top 6 line up in the playoffs. This roster consists of guys who were able to beat Speedy Bros Hockey and Mentula SKA in 5, respective 6 games. Alike Black Horse, Checkmate is a defensive minded team built around the captain @TackleControl. They established this play style during last season as well, but what is different this year? Maybe the addition of the Elite experienced @Tuukka.R was the missing puzzle piece for their final success. Can they hold on to their strong defense and make it to the finals?

Once a Wasp, now a frog - the evolution goes on, but they started with Quality right from the beginning! After defeating Raccoon Rampage and Gotham Knights in 5, respective 6 games, the team around the leader @Yoloberg will make sure to give the best fight they have to offer. The addition of veteran @Chafak helped them to go far in the playoffs. Look out for their offensive trio as they like to throw some extra sauce on their passes and might surprise you coming out of the gates. They are also quite good defensively and will make sure that their top 6 guys are on the ice to win them this series.

It will be interesting to see which team is going to be the active part with more puck possession. We're expecting both teams to have to dig deep in their playbook if they want to advance to the finals.

We believe it will be Checkmate coming out as a finalist, but it will take the full distance of 7 games!

Results from the relegation matchups:

(G1 #14)  Clowns On Ice vs. Pata Hellalla  (G2 #15) 2-4

At last we would like to wish all ECL 8 Pro semi-finalists good luck in these series and would also like to give a big congrats to Pata Hellalla for staying in Pro! 

Signing off for now,

ECL Pro Writing Team
@Mannheimer1938 & @Panarinz

Hello NHLGamers,

We are a few weeks in to the ECL 8 Lite Playoffs and have now reached round 3. We've had the opportunity to watch a bunch of exciting games in the first two rounds and a some of the matchups have taken surprising turns!

Round 3 of the ECL 8 Lite playoffs is to be played between Thursday, 21st of February and Wednesday, 27th of February.

From now on we'll be polling Lite captains for the outcome of upcoming playoff series. We did just that for the 3rd round and below the matchups you can see our calculated result presented.

Here are the matchups for round 3 of the ECL 8 Lite playoffs:

(1.)  Prowlers vs. Poston Fruits  (36.)

Prowlers 55%

(3.)  Dystopia vs. Western Express  (31.)

Dystopia 91%

(5.)  Blackdawgs vs. LammasLauma  (28.)

Blackdawgs 64%

(11.)  We Kings vs. Beast Hockey  (27.)

We Kings 73%

(12.)  Saucer Hockey vs. FarmiNaattori  (26.)

FarmiNaattori 91%

(14.)  Oton Letkutemppu vs. Me Carvoset  (25.)

Me Carvoset 55%

(16.)  Cheers Hockey vs. Reaperr  (22.)

Reaperr 55%

(18.)  Chatbox vs. Vesa Pompa HC  (20.)

Vesa Pompa HC 70%
 

There you have it, guys! We're excited for the upcoming round and expect to see some tight games.
Who do you think will advance? 
As always, play hard and fair out there, see you on the ice!

ECL Lite Writing Team,
@Willander97 & @Tonimo92

All of us surely appreciate the progress our beloved NHLGamer platform has made recently. Especially this year, with all the changes in ECL Elite. Before the eighth season of the toughest and most prestigious EASHL 6vs6 league in Europe kicked off, founder and owner @Kenu proudly presented the collaboration with Elisa Viihde, the leading online entertainment service in Finland, and Dr. Oetker, a massive and well-known international food corporation. ECL is slowly morphing into a more well-organized and reported league which should bring a lot of fun to all parties involved. However, even a league with these standards can’t exist without the players and with this series it’s time to get to know them. Now it’s time to get to know the ECL’s Elite.



In the first ever iteration of this series, @Lamsa will be in the starring role. The Rusty Blades winger is a true NHL veteran. As he never represented any other team competitively, the first steps of the Rusty Blades are still fresh memories! Counting the ongoing season, Lamsa has appeared in 188 ECL regular season games for RB so far – not counting playoffs and the IS Cup. Actually, Lamsa, @Tanski87 and @Supreex are the only three players left from the original season in ECL3 and they’re still going strong.

A lot of things have changed since the founding days of the club. In their inaugural season the team had a large roster so the level of play basically changed every night. Personally, Lamsa started with NHL 96 and jumped into EASHL sometime around 2008 or 09. He prefers playing on the Right Wing and using a Sniper build, but he’s playing with a physical edge too. Lamsas all-time favorite build was the Hitting Sniper, which he still misses dearly. When asked about his biggest strengths the wise Finn just replied: "I can score ugly goals for days.“

Last season (ECL 7), the (skate)blades were too rusty. The team finished in tenth place and missed the playoffs. The offseason wasn't spent resting on their laurels though, as captain @Tanski87 took to the free agent market. The team added two high-end forwards in @MartindalexC and @Foppatofflan as well as defenseman @The_Alpha_Furyan. The new additions fit in nearly perfectly. RB managed to cap off their ECL 8 regular season with a great surge into the playoffs, finishing at 6th place, which means they will be going up against Symphony in the first round of the playoffs.

Lamsa can’t say enough good things about the teams new acquisitions. "It’s really, really nice to play with these guys. They are all really good and skillful players – I still can’t believe that we got those guys on our roster.“ The Sedin twins (thats how Lamsa calls his two new linemates) were locked down after a quick tryout period and the new defenseman The_Alpha_Furyan already had some existing chemistry with Lamsa after a Summer Cup stint together.

Personally, Lamsa is enjoying this really successful season. His regular season totals add up to 44 points, out of which 28 are goals. This puts Lamsa at a tie for 5th best goal scorer in the regular season of ECL 8 Elite, not too shabby! All in all, the goal-scoring Finn seems to be a relaxed and level-headed person. His PSN-ID is actually his last name, just without those dots above the letters. That’s not creative, but it suits him real well.

Heading into the playoffs, the Rusty Blades are at a familiar spot as a minor underdog going up against a tremendously strong Symphony. Their opponents seem to have found a form that is close to unstoppable, so it'll be crucial for RB to get back on track and focus on the things they are good at - the basics and go forth from there. One thing is for sure: Lamsa and the Rusty Blades are prepared. And they are not going down without putting up a fight.

ECL Elite Writer
@Tim_FlyersFan

NHLGamers!

One round down and already we have had a couple upsets with Dynasty (5) and Rusty Blades (6) besting Deadly Phantoms HC (4) and Symphony (3) respectively. In fact, this marks the first time in two playoff seasons where a higher seed was knocked out in the first round, and the first time since the inaugural season that more than one fell. Proving, quite illustratively, that at the very top of the ECL structure the parity amongst teams is very strong, and that trying to make any predictions as to how the teams will finish can only be described as a ‘fool’s game’. Nevertheless, we will try to outline our thoughts regarding each team in the coming matchups for your viewing pleasure.

The ECL 8 Elite semi-finals are going to be played on Monday 18th of February, Tuesday 19th of February, Thursday 21st of February and Sunday 24th of February. Please see a full schedule at the end of this post.
 

These are the matchups for the ECL 8 Elite Semifinals:

(1)  Written In The Stars vs. Rusty Blades  (6)

The setup for this series is very much similar to that of the previous matchups of these teams. Written In The Stars is expected to control the pace of the play with their strong puck possession play and impressive passing whereas Rusty Blades is expected to rely on counter attacking and converting their chances efficiently. SKY won both regular season games with scores of 3-0 and 4-2 respectively. @Dominointi and @Buantso were the most prevalent players in those games, so a suggestion would be to keep your eyes on those two in this series. Rusty Blades will look to rely on the duo of @Foppatofflan and @MartindalexC, but undoubtedly they will need some secondary scoring and a whole lot of good fortune if they are going to see the series swaying their way.

Written in the Stars (Regular season record 26-3-1)

Written In The Stars have played an outstanding season so far and their playoff start has been nothing less than that. SKY dominated the eighth seed Northern Stars in the quarterfinals and advanced with a series score of 4-0. SKY wasn't really tested in that first matchup and the aggregate score of 16-3 speaks volumes of how dominant they were. Their scoring has been clicking well so far with 4 GF/GP and the team will surely look to stay on that path. All five of their players pose a threat in the offensive zone, which translates to an endless amount of opportunities when creating chances up front. The teams defense hasn't really been tested yet and we'll be expecting Rusty Blades to put forth some dangerous pushes. @willekunq and @Nassustelija will need to stay alert.

Leading point scorer (F): @FlyerKungen & @Dominointi // 72pts (31+41) & (29+43) in 30 games

Leading point scorer (D): @willekunq // 30pts (8+22) in 30 games

Most winningest goalie: @Hansulinho // 86.36 SV% & 0.75 GAA in 16 games

Rusty Blades (Regular season record 15-10-5)

The Blades had an impressive showing in the first round where they bested a strong Symphony. RB went into their first matchup with a clear underdog status and will be doing the same in the semi-finals. Symphony had made their quarterfinal matchup 2-0 before Rusty Blades decided to bounce back with four consecutive wins including two shutouts by @Supreex along the way. They've only scored two goals per game so far, but as long as they keep up the solid play in their own zone and Supreex stays hot they have every chance to steal some wins in this series. Beating SKY is never easy, but we've seen that it won't be out of the question. Rusty Blades need to find the holes that are there and run with it.

Leading point scorer (F): @MartindalexC // 45pts (26+19) in 30 games

Leading point scorer (D): @The_Alpha_Furyan // 22pts (2+20) in 30 games

Most winningest goalie: @Supreex // 79.93 SV% & 1.96 GAA in 30 games

Prediction: Written In The Stars wins 4-1

(2)  FILADELPHIA vs. Dynasty  (5)

Similar to the series outlined previously, this one between FILADELPHIA and Dynasty has a clear favourite / underdog division between the two teams. Not only because of FILAs pedigree over the past year (not least the fact that they are the current reigning champions) but also due to Dynasty having looked somewhat out of sorts at times in the 1^st round, something that should, and in all likelihood will, get punished by a FILA team looking to become the first team in ECL Elite history to win two tournaments on the trot.  

FILADELPHIA (Regular season record 23-6-1)

Despite an early stumble by FILADELPHIA against Butterfly Effect, they find themselves in the second round after performing the biggest beatdown from the first round, as they disposed of FLY in 5 games with a goal differential of +19 (the next closest was Written with +14). Even with this in mind however there are still some question marks going forward, specifically whether their defence can hold up against the pressure that Dynasty will invariably apply over the course of the coming series. It should be noted however that whilst this may become an issue, FILAs offence seems to be almost as effective as ever right now and should the series turn into a back and forth affair, then the advantage largely rests with FILA as opposed to Dynasty who are quite a bit less offensively inclined.

Leading point scorer (F): @PleeMaker // 60pts (23+37) in 30 games

Leading point scorer (D): @jtorro1233 // 21pts (6+15) in 28 games

Most winningest goalie: @FinKonna // 86.66 SV% & 1.00 GAA in 14 games

Dynasty (Regular season record 18-10-2)

Emerging from an all-out brawl in the first round we find Dynasty, who are probably counting their lucky stars that they were able to beat out the Elite entrants Deadly Phantoms HC in 7 games, with all games bar one being decided by a single goal. In fact, to illustrate how much of a struggle Dynasty had against the German side, they enter the final four on the back of a measly +2 goal differential (the lowest out of the four remaining teams). Despite this, there is perhaps some hope for an upset to be staged by the DYN side, as they seemingly came alive after dropping game 1 & 2 to DPH, going on to win four out of the next five games. Of course, waiting until game 3 to start playing may just about work in the 1^st round against playoff rookies DPH, but against the tested FILA such a start would all but seal their fate. So, realistically if DYN are to come out on top in this matchup they will need to carry over as much momentum as they can and not afford FILA the chance to become comfortable, otherwise their time may very well be numbered.

Leading point scorer (F): @hpkfani // 48pts (30+18) in 30 games

Leading point scorer (D): @Haldeem  // 14pts (3+11) in 18 games

Most winningest goalie: @Sandr0hh // 85.28 SV% & 1.70 GAA in 20 games

Prediction: FILADELPHIA wins 4-1.

ECL 8 Elite Semi-Finals Schedule:

Monday, 18th of February
19:30 CET FILADELPHIA - Dynasty (Game 1 & 2)
21:00 CET Written In The Stars - Rusty Blades (Game 1 & 2)

Tuesday, 19th of February
19:30 CET FILADELPHIA - Dynasty (Game 3-5)

Thursday, 21st of February
20:00 CET Written In The Stars - Rusty Blades (Game 3 & 4)
21:00 CET FILADELPHIA - Dynasty (Game 6 & 7)

Sunday, 24th of February
20:00 CET Written In The Stars - Rusty Blades (Game 5-7)

All games will be broadcasted at Elisa Viihde. International broadcasts will be announced on social media.

Signing off for now,

ECL Elite Writing Team
@MartindalexC & @jahajaha93

Hi NHLGamers, 

After an exciting 1st round of the playoffs we now have 8 teams that will be facing off in the quarter finals. From this point on, it is also worth noting that teams will be seeded according to P/G.

The ECL 8 Pro Quarterfinals will be played between Monday, 18th of February and Sunday, 24th of February 2019.

Here are the matchups for the ECL 8 Pro Semi-finals:

Previews release later today.

(1)  The Next Gen vs. Black Horse  (13)
An incredibly strong TnG is in for their toughest challenge yet. Despite their dominant offense and a strong possession game, they had a tough time overcoming GHETTO FIREBIRDS in the first round. We'll need to see improvement if they want to move on from this matchup against Black Horse, who overcame their first round opponent Silver Sword Griffins in outstanding fashion. The Black Horse offense built around former Elite goaltended turned center @Hullued has been clicking and we expect that to continue. 

(2)  TIKI TALK vs. SIKA  (11)

TIKI has found their stride as they are playing some fast-paced, effective hockey once again! It may not be pretty, but the bottom line is it gets the job done. Captain @itspardytime is surely the heart and soul of the team and if he can keep the ranks together playing as the good unit they have been so far, they'll have their way in this series. Their opponent SIKA is a scrappy team that's trying to find their way back to performing at the top level but aren't quite as far along the way as TIKI currently. The expectation is for them to have a tough time in this series, but if their defense is solid enough, there's a chance for an upset.

(3)  Gotham Knights vs. POGGERS  (9)

Gotham overcame their first round opponent SPARTANS convincingly with a series score of 4-1. They're a strong all-round team and a tight-knit bunch that is eager to bounce back after a tough last season at the highest level. @ReDMisTi and @selänne8 (BiggestEight) have been their most dangerous offensive weapons, so POGGERS need to keep them in check. On the other side we see a highly skilled and multitalented team, who consist of somne proven players. Their offensive trio of @Chafak, @Yoloberg and @JaKurrii is among the best in the league. It is notable that POGGERS won both head-to-head games in the regular season.

(5) Checkmate vs. Mentula SKA  (6)

In the first round, Checkmate crushed all doubt that chemistry wasn't there for them. @Tuukka.R lead them in scoring while the team performed well defensively in an excellent effort besting Speedy Bros Hockey 4-1. On the other side we have Mentula SKA, who have put forth an outstanding effort after being one of the last teams gaining promotion after a Lite campaign in ECL 7. Keep your eyes on duo @Hanssonni and @JiiPee87.

Results from the relegation matchups:

(G1 #13)  EV Duisburg vs. Bone Breakers  (G2 #16) 1-4

(G2 #13)  Cowabunga Hockey vs. Murohoki  (G1 #16) 4-1

(G1 #14)  Clowns On Ice vs. Pata Hellalla  (G2 #15) 0-0 (Still to be played)

(G2 #14)  Freddie Mercury Institute vs. Tiffen  (G1 #15) 4-0

We wish all teams good luck in the quarterfinals and also a big congrats for staying in Pro: Bone Breakers, Cowabunga Hockey and Freddie Mercury Institute!

Signing off for now,

ECL Pro Writer
@Panarinz

NHLGamers!

We're rolling on with the ECL 8 Lite Playoffs and now we've come along to the second round, where also the top 16 seeded teams get to jump in on the action. At this point, the 32 best teams of ECL 8 Lite remain to battle for Pro division spots in ECL 9. The second round of the playoffs will start today on Thursday, February 14th, 2019 and end on Wednesday, February 20th, 2019.

According to section 5.6.1 of the ECL 8 Rulebook, the ECL 8 Lite Playoffs will be played as follows:
In ECL Lite, the top 8 teams from each of the 6 groups will make the playoffs. For each group the top 2 teams will have a bye round and advance directly to round 2. All remaining teams will be seeded according to the tiebreakers mentioned in 11.3. The top 4 teams of these seeded ones will also advance directly round 2. This leaves 32 teams playing in round 1, where the top seed plays the 32nd seed, 2nd seed will play 31st etc. The winning teams will be merged with the bye teams and play the 2nd round, making a total of 32 teams competing in round 2.

Tiebreakers (ECL 8 Rulebook 11.3):

• Wins (including OT-wins)
• Head-to-head record (points in mutual games)
• Goal difference (across all games played)
• Scored goals (across all games played)

After the first round, all remaining teams are again re-seeded.

Every series are played in a best of seven manner and the higher seeded team will play the first game at home. (10.7.2 ECL Rules).


Here are the matchups for round 2 of the ECL 8 Lite Playoffs:

(2.) Old Farts vs. Poston Fruits (36.)

(3.) Dystopia vs. SKA Hokurit (35.)

(5.) Blackdawgs vs. Club Savage (33.)

(6.) Last Period vs. Western Express (31.)

(7.) Perttilan Kommandot vs. LammasLauma (28.)

(8.) Nearbird Fighters vs. Beast Hockey (27.)

(9.) Elamam Kiekko vs. Farminaattori (26.)

(10.) Puck Panthers vs. Me Carvoset (25.)

(11.) We Kings vs. EV Fuessen eSports (24.)

(12.) Saucer Hockey vs. Kaukosen Luistin (23.)

(13.) The Dudes vs. Reaperr (22.)

(14.) Oton Letkutemppu vs. Finnish Hockey Legends (21.)

(15.) N0 Name vs. Vesa Pompa HC (20.)

(16.) Cheers Hockey vs. Suomen Sonnit (19.)

(17.) Mighty French Roosters vs. Chatbox (18.)

League Administration rulings in Round 1:

Dynamic

Due to the team not being able to put 6 players on the ice for the rest of this season, they will be disqualified. This result in the best seeded team from the regular season (Prowlers) moving on to the 3rd round of the playoffs. (You can read more about the events that led to this here.)
 

Suomen Sonnit vs Stayhard Stallions:

LA got the information about Suomen Sonnit goaltender (cyberg-kzn) switching traits during a disconnected game and the new one that followed. This is not allowed according to rule 11.11 Player Disconnects

Quote

Additionally, players must not change positions or builds (including traits / specializations, height or weight) used between disconnected games.

This will result in a 1 game ban for the goaltender (cyberg-kzn) and it will be served during their first game in Round 2. The trait switching was only reported 3 days after the game was reported and the score of the game will stand.

Atomic Hamsters vs Mighty French Roosters:

In this case Atomic Hamsters had several games with connection issues and decided to not play the final games of the series on Wednesday. This day was also the deadline for the 1st round of the playoffs. Roosters were still available and wanted to finish the series on this night. LA member Hennisch, who is a member of Atomic Hamsters, was excluded in all discussions and voting related to the decision in order to come to an unbiased view of the situation.

According to rule 11.9 Connection Issues 

Quote

Teams can leave a game before the 2-minute mark of the first period if they experience significant lag, a player had disconnected during those 2 minutes, or if other glitches appear. If this occurs, the game should of course be started again, with a different host if the team experiencing the lag asks for it. This process can only be used 2 times for a given game. On the 3rd attempt the game must be played regardless of lag for either team.

This rule wasn't followed in this case, Hamsters continued to play their games past the 2 minute mark even though connection issues had appeared. In the end, this resulted in 1 walk over win to Mighty French Roosters, which resulted in their team going to the 2nd round. 

Play hard and fair out there, see you on the ice!

Your NHLGamer Editor,
@jahajaha93

The end of the season has kept the League Administration (LA) very busy. Below you will find the descriptions of all the recent cases that LA has handled.

We apologise for the slow public communication regarding these matters and are working on processes that will make it quicker to get the information out.

To make the LA process clearer for the users, but also for LA itself - based on community feedback - we will now follow the following procedures during LA cases* that are sent in:

1. LA lets the teams in question know that we're working on the case.
2. LA decides a verdict on the cases internally.
3. LA informs the teams and the community of the result simultaneously.

^{* Not all cases that are sent in to LA are serious enough to be solved by LA, but will be solved by Support.}

Additionally, we want to address appropriate and inappropriate reactions towards a decision. If you disagree or in any other way question LA's decisions, you are of course allowed to voice your opinion and discuss the topic with fellow NHLGamers, but it needs to be in a mature and constructive way that is rewarding for the community. 

In order to reduce inappropriate behaviour, LA has the right to suspend users who:

• Bully or publicly shame LA members (because of a decision or otherwise)

This is all according to rule 4 (code of conduct)

Below are the League Administration cases that have been recently solved:

1) Walkovers agreed by teams mostly among themselves.

• Savo Bears handed WO’s to Polarbears HC
• Redline Bandits handed WO’s to HC Slapshot
• Midnight Owls handed WO’s to Puck Panthers
• Blueline Bandits handed WO's to Saucer Hockey
• The Everblades vs. Czech Infamous. Points split as per team agreement.
• KulmalaHengaus vs. Western Dynasty. Points split as per team agreement.
  • LA would like to point out that all teams should finish their season fully, no matter if they have a chance to make the playoffs or not.
• DEG eSports gave one WO to Korpens Finest
  • Short simplified summary: DEG were allowed to scored a goal while their own player was frozen, as Korpens Finest were expecting DEG to clear the puck. LA asked the teams to continue the game from the point of when the freeze happened, but DEG said they don't have the time to play that game.

2) Walkovers to Saucer Hockey over Dynamic

LA awarded Saucer Hockey WO's to over Dynamic as one of the Dynamic players didn't show up for game time and they were unable to replace him.

3) Disqualifications in ECL Lite:

• Devils in Disguise
• Grey Werewolves
• Men of Mysteries
  • While we're always against quitting, we applaud the captain of Men of Mysteries for contacting both LA and all teams that they were still to play that were going to be affected by Men of Mysteries being disqualified. A big reason behind the team quitting was their goalie's PS4 breaking.

4) Style vs Reality Check HC - Unability to play regular season matchup

League Administration has decided to award Style with two walkover wins (5:0) over Reality Check HC. The ruling is based on all information which LA had on their hands when preparing the decision. Besides that, LA member Panarinz, who is a member of Style, was excluded in all discussions and voting related to the decision in order to come to an unbiased view of the situation.

After analyzing all available content, the decision was made based on the following facts:

Quote

Rule 10.2.1. Postponing within Timeframe

Style was taking the active role trying to set up the games to get them played. Looking over all of the communication available to LA, Reality Check HC was in almost all communications only reactive rather than proactive. In addition, Reality Check HC several times made a comment that they are reluctant to play during the beta tuner period. This is not a valid reason to postpone and refuse playing games. Especially as this was the only date where both teams could have played the game based on common availability.

Both teams had several ongoing conversations for scheduling the games, in most cases being proactively initiated by Style. In some of those Reality Check HC didn’t respond to the actual suggestions, but rather suggested game days and times that had already been mentioned as non-functional in the previous message. Reality Check HC also failed to ask LA for help until it was too late, despite LA contacting them earlier to ask if they are able to handle the scheduling.

LA analyzed the whole communication in depth and built a complete overview to come to a decision.

A full disclosure of the communication can be made publicly available if requested by both teams.

4) Team Dynamic internal issues

League Administration (LA) was contacted to clear up a dispute between the captain, assistant captains and other members of the team Dynamic.
One Assistant was claiming the he wants to overtake the team with its current record from the captain Balkanrocket and that he has a lot of support within the team. LA got insights in the case by reaching out to both main guys in this dispute and got provided different angles of this case.

Quote

5.8 Team Ownership
The captain is considered to be owner of a team, its name and the divisional spot. Teams can switch their primary captaincy in the off-season only.

As it stands in point 5.8. of the rulebook, teams can't switch their primary captaincy during the season. As there was an ongoing dispute inside the team which got heated up every time BalkanRocket and JaromirSniper had different opinions, we had to make a decision what will be the further steps to clear this dispute.

As also written in point 5.8 of the rulebook, the captain is considered the owner of the team. This captain is BalkanRocket and therefore he is the guy which is allowed to make the final decisions for the team and be responsible for it. LA has formed the opinion that if JaromirSniper will still continue as a member of the team, this dispute will never end and therefore decided that BalkanRocket has the right to drop him off the roster. After he made this decision, we removed JaromirSniper from the roster. BalkanRocket promised us, that he have enough guys ready to play and support him as the captain, that Dynamic will be finishing the season. BalkanRocket has to name two new alternate captains and has to finish the season. If he's not be able to do it, we have to disqualify team Dynamic and he will receive a GM ban for further tournaments (the amount has still to be decided).
Furthermore JaromirSniper has to be aware that he has no right to detract the team of finishing its season. 

5) Dynasty vs Deadly Phantoms HC - Fight between gzell60 and jumalpeku

The League Administration (LA) has reviewed the case opened by Dynasty regarding the fighting incident in the game between Dynasty and Deadly Phantoms HC. LA member Mannheimer1938, who is a member of Deadly Phantoms HC, was excluded in all discussions and voting related to the decision in order to come to an unbiased view of the situation.

LA came to the conclusion that there will not be a ban for the player gzell60, nevertheless he was given a warning.

The reasoning is as follows:

From the video footage it is pretty obvious that gzell60 tries to initiate a slash towards the Dynasty player but has no intention to actually accept the fight, which was initiated by the Dynasty player shooting the puck into the net late after the whistle. Unfortunately this slashing leads to immediately accepting the fight, which can be seen in the footage as well. This was taken into account to issue a warning only as LA considers this an accidentally accepted fight.

Nevertheless we are going to make changes to our rules in the future (not now) that will consider the following aspects:

• Actions that are leading to a fighting challenge will be disallowed as well as the fighting itself, including:
  • Challenging a player to fight after the whistle
  • Slashing players after the whistle
  • Late shots on goal which bring the fighting challenge up

Therefore we asked both teams to NOT perform any of the above mentioned actions for the remainder of this series. We also would like to point out that any further infraction of this rule will lead to a 1 game ban.

LA would also ask the community for feedback on whether or not you would like us to forbid some of the mentioned actions that cause penalty instigations:

Quote

• Actions that are leading to a fighting challenge will be disallowed as well as the fighting itself, including:
  • Challenging a player to fight after the whistle
  • Slashing players after the whistle
  • Late shots after the whistle

Respectfully,

The League Administration

Edit: Please note, the changes to the fighting rules have not been made and we are asking you - the community - for feedback on how you would like to see the rules on fighting.

Hi NHLGamers,

We are back with a small look into the fith and last week of the Pro division regular season. This season we are doing a player of the week segment, to highlight an individual and his team because of their success during said week. We will also do a small interview with our nominee and try to get to know the person better and get some insights of the team and the league in question.

Without further ado we would like to present you our fourth Player Of The Week: 

PSN-ID: iLLu_8
Team: Bellizzi
Position: Left Defenseman (original Center)
Games played this week: 6 (vs Cowabunga Hockey, Pata Hellalla and Racoon Rampage)
Goals: 1
Assists: 5
Points: 6
+/-: 2

To cap off the week, @Panarinz had a short chat with the man of the hour:

After a terrific week for your team, with 5 wins in 6 games you are now playoff bound! How does that feel?

- It feels really good! We already felt playoffs were out of our range. But here we are!

You played center for your team in a tough start for your team, but ended the season as a LD, why did you change your position and what do you think the change resulted in?

- The start of the season was really hard for us. We felt like we needed more skill to our offense so we decided to try this kind of move. We're glad it worked well for us.

With 6 points in 6 games this week, you clearly helped your team get that final playoff spot. What would you say was the reason for this weeks success? 

- Our defense was really solid with the most entertaining goalie of the league Matti ”the cat” (@Proffa- ) leading the way. We were able to take advantage of our opportunities in the offensive zone.

Will we see an upset in the first round of the playoffs when your team is facing the mighty #1 seed TIKI TALK?

- All the pressure is on their team. If our gameplan works and we get them to play our kind of game I think we will have a chance.

And finally, which team will win ECL 8 Pro?

- Bellizzi

Signing off for now,

ECL Pro writing team
@Panarinz & @Mannheimer1938

NHLGamers!

So, now the big games start. We've weeded out the haves from the have nots and what we're left with is eight teams who definitely have what it takes to be the very best. Prior to the season, there were some concerns about thew level of play in Elite being inflated as we saw a lot of up-and-down movement with some teams folding. 30 games later I think it's safe to say that was not the case. If not for a few exceptions ECL 8 Elite has definitely been a league where each and every team could beat any opponent. 

The primary game days for the ECL 8 Elite Quarterfinals are: Monday 11th of February, Wednesday 13th of February and Thursday 14th of February. These game days are to be prioritised in scheduling. Please communicate in the captains chat in order to ensure we have matchups in place for broadcasts.

These are the matchups for the ECL 8 Elite Quarterfinals:

(1)  Written In The Stars vs. Northern Stars  (8)

As is often the case when the 1^st seed faces the 8^th seed in Elite it is rather unlikely to see an upset playing out. This series is no different in that in order for NOS to come out victorious, they will need an absolutely herculean effort from all players up and down their line-up, whereas for SKY they could in all likelihood ‘mail it in’ so to speak and still win each game quite decisively. The only saving grace for NOS is that they were one of the very few that were able to actually deal a blow to SKY this season in a 2-1 OT win a couple weeks back, whether this is something they can recreate however is up in the air.

Written in the Stars (Regular season record 26-3-1)

Familiar territory once again for Written in the Stars as they find themselves rolling into the playoffs with the number 1 seed for the second time in three seasons, and as one of hottest teams at the moment (8-2-0). Up to this point, SKY have completely manhandled almost everyone that they have played, establishing a record of 26-3-1 which goes down as the second best season in ECL Elite history (second only to SKYs own high water mark of 55pts in ECL 6), despite this, the most impressive part of their play is not their total points per se, instead more that they are just straight demolishing other teams. No other team in ECL history has finished a season with a goal differential of, or higher than, +74, not only does this speak to SKYs ability to score at will, but it underpins their growth defensively in that they now have a defence they can rely on it seems. To put into context how much of a beat down SKY has been dishing out, the next closest goal differential all time is +54. Of course, despite this there are still some doubts surrounding the team as their tendency to ‘choke’ once the playoffs roll around has been well documented in the past, sure the roster has changed quite considerably over the seasons but will the proverbial monkey-on-the-back remain? Only time will tell.

Leading point scorer (F): @FlyerKungen & @Dominointi // 72pts (31+41) & (29+43) in 30 games

Leading point scorer (D): @willekunq // 30pts (8+22) in 30 games

Most winningest goalie: @Hansulinho // 86.36 SV% & 0.75 GAA in 16 games.  

Northern Stars (Regular season record 12-9-9)

Someone had to draw the shortest straw, and that team just happened to be Northern Stars. That said, I do not imagine that they mind too much given the amount of adversity they have had to overcome to find themselves in this situation. Not only did they start the season to the tune of 3-6-5, but they also lost their stalwart forward in @Floor17 to illness. Despite this underwhelming start and turn of bad fortune, NOS have managed to fight tooth and nail to secure their 4^th straight playoff appearance in Elite thanks in part to @cHIIMEERa catalysing the offense (having a hand in 76% of all goals scored by the team), as well as rookie acquisition @Nieppii slotting in rather nicely as the starting RW. Looking beyond this however, it would perhaps almost require a ‘Cinderella’ type of run / miracle for NOS to depose Written. Such an event would be fitting of its moniker, but even in the most outlandish scenario imaginable, I still do not see NOS besting SKY four times over the course of seven games.

Leading point scorer (F): @cHIIMEERa // 37pts (21+16) in 29 games

Leading point scorer (D): @ma0niii // 18pts (2+16) in 27 games

Most winningest goalie: @MajLeN-Gaming // 86.11 SV% & 1.50 GAA in 10 games. 

Prediction: Written in the Stars, 4-1
 

(2)  FILADELPHIA vs. Butterfly Effect  (7)

We continue our trip through all the first round matchups with a banger. This matchup seems like a great one, where both teams boast great offensive upside and impressive goaltending. Both regular season bouts were won by FILA (2:3 & 2:0).
 

FILADELPHIA (Regular season record 23-6-1)

The question on everyone's minds must surely be how well FILA will defend their title. It certainly won't be an easy task as already the first round opponent could surprise them. One of FILA's strengths this season has been their offense, which looks exactly the same as last season. @PleeMaker boasts an impressive total of 60 points, with @Eki and @Patzlaf not trailing far behind. If these guys go confident into the matchup, they will be hard to stop. On defense, they also have two offensively talented but also responsible players, @Janzuh and @jtorro1233 combine for 41 points in the regular season. @FinKonna had one of the strongest seasons in the league stats-wise, but we expect @Zande95 to step up in the big games.

Leading point scorer (F): @PleeMaker // 60pts (23+37) in 30 games

Leading point scorer (D): @jtorro1233 // 21pts (6+15) in 28 games

Most winningest goalie: @FinKonna // 86.66 SV% & 1.00 GAA in 14 games.  

Butterfly Effect (Regular season record 15-10-5)

FLY had a fluctuant season with some stretches of wins and losses. They made a nice push towards the end of the season and seem to have found some form as of late, so we expect them to be nearing their peak in time for the playoffs. @Joukki leads the team in scoring with 39 points amassed but he will need some secondary scoring if the team wants to advance. The team has been good defensively and we expect @JanneK. to show up big for his team in the playoffs.

Leading point scorer (F): @Joukki // 39pts (24+15) in 30 games

Leading point scorer (D): @Crisu_rottis // 10pts (0+10) in 30 games

Most winningest goalie: @JanneK. // 77.50 SV% & 2.25 GAA in 30 games. 

Prediction: FILADELPHIA win 4-2.

(3)  Symphony vs. Rusty Blades  (6)

This should be a rather even matchup and what's interesting is that the styles of these teams should matchup rather well against each other. Symphony is a clear puck possession team whereas Rusty Blades likes to counter and utilise quick passing plays. We also see two of the best goaltenders in the scene go at it as @swagx88 has stood tall in net for SYM and we are all very aware of how good @Supreex has been for RB for years now. 

Symphony (Regular season record 21-5-4)

Things for Symphony are kicking well, as expected. There wasn't too much roster turnover in the offseason as the team basically switched a goalie as @swagx88 replaced @ICappeI and up front @RutonMosse replaced @Buantso on the left wing. Let me tell you these changes have worked out for them! An already strong team got even better and both new players have possessed leading roles in their run so far this season. An extremely important factor in Symphony's success has also been their centerman @tbnantti, who seems to have hit his peak this season. The experienced center likes to hold on to the puck and seems to do close to impossible things with it every time it lays at his tape. To start of the season, SYM looked a bit shaky, experiencing a loss against AIK and a double loss against Butterfly Effect but at the same time stealing points from regular season winner Written In The Stars. They seem to have found their stride towards the end of the season though, closing out the last ten games with a record of 9-0-1.

Leading point scorer (F): @RutonMosse // 51pts (26+25) in 30 games

Leading point scorer (D): @Ilmari_30 // 22pts (9+14) in 30 games

Most winningest goalie: @swagx88 // 80.76 SV% & 1.42 GAA in 14 games.  

Rusty Blades (Regular season record 15-10-5)

Rusty Blades experienced something of a facelift over the offseason and oh boy has it been refreshing to see! Previously, "you get what you see" would have described RB quite perfectly. Everyone knew what they were about and sometimes they were effective with it, sometimes not. Well, this time around they added a few quality players to their lineup who definitely have taken the team to the next level. The duo @Foppatofflan-@MartindalexC from the former Northern Ascendancy definitely brings a whole new element to their offense and the addition of @The_Alpha_Furyan on LD has turned out in their favour too. All in all, the Rusty Blades 2.0 we're seeing this season is a team you could very well see go all the way if they manage to find consistency, something that has been difficult for them as of late.

Leading point scorer (F): @MartindalexC // 45pts (26+19) in 30 games

Leading point scorer (D): @The_Alpha_Furyan // 22pts (2+20) in 30 games

Most winningest goalie: @Supreex // 79.93 SV% & 1.96 GAA in 30 games. 

Prediction: Symphony wins, 4-2

(4)  Deadly Phantoms HC vs. Dynasty  (5)

This matchup offers up the best chance of the series going the distance and being decided in game 7, in fact the stats alone dictate as much (2.03 vs. 2.07 GF/A & 1.53 vs. 2.00 GA/A respectively). Despite the slight stats advantage towards DPH, I still think that Dynasty hold the edge based on their experience in Elite at this stage, as well as their roster finally resembling full strength as of late.   

Deadly Phantoms HC (Regular season record 18-9-3)

Heading into this season DPH already had amassed quite a reputation before playing a single game, in fact I would go as far to say that out of all teams in Elite, they are one of the most identifiable teams quite simply because of their style of play and their ‘community presence’. Whether that is a good or a bad thing is up for debate of course, nevertheless this reputation invariably led to some teams and players no doubt making it their sole mission this season to not lose to Deadly Phantoms HC. Well, seen as DPH clinched ‘home ice advantage’ for the 1^st round, it would appear as though that the German team can, at the very least, be competitive in Elite, and at the most, be good at it. Heading up this team offensively we have the duo of @Tim_FlyersFan & @Playmaker who appear to have adjusted to the step up from Pro to Elite very nicely, with each of their seasons being their first in Elite. Defensively however is where DPHs ‘true’ strengths lie, as through 30 games they conceded the 3^rd fewest amount of goals in the division with a stifling 1.53 GAA. As far as quick comparisons go then it would seem as though this series cannot be better balanced, however it should be said that as the playoffs roll in, the goals typically dry up thanks to a myriad of reasons, one of those being anxiety. Such a problem is often not a factor for veterans of the playoffs for Elite, yet for a ‘new’ team it is certainly something that could come into play in some form or another and drag down their performance.

Leading point scorer (F): @Tim_FlyersFan // 47pts (14+33) in 30 games

Leading point scorer (D): @gzell60 // 17pts (1+16) in 28 games

Most winningest goalie: @RPH_31 // 83.48 SV% & 1.42 GAA in 26 games.  

Dynasty (Regular season record 18-10-2)

Stop the presses! Dynasty finished a season without clinching the 4^th spot, or by recording around 42pts. Truly the end times are nigh! That aside, this season was once again a case of same old same old for those in DYN. Sure, they started a little slow, sure they had a bit of a wobble in the later part of the season, sure they perhaps did not look that impressive, yet here we are, in the playoffs again. In fact, their road to the playoffs could potentially be explained simply by the absolute ****show that went on regarding rotations over the season. Their most played goalie @Sandr0hh played 4 games as a skater (splitting it evenly between offence & defence), 6 players played as a skater, 5 players played as a defender and only one player actually played in 30 games (@hpkfani). Such a rotation is especially unusual considering most team rotate out one player at most really. Of course, none of this matters in the grand scheme of things going forward as I find it somewhat unlikely that such an arrangement it will continue into the playoffs. In fact, it may even serve to lull DPH into a false sense of security if DYN are able to come out swinging with their full roster clicking at a rate far above their season averages, which are admittedly astoundingly average going into this series. For instance out of the 8 playoff bound teams, Dynasty ranks dead last in GAA (granted by .03%) and 5^th in GFA.

Leading point scorer (F): @hpkfani // 48pts (30+18) in 30 games

Leading point scorer (D): @Haldeem  // 14pts (3+11) in 18 games

Most winningest goalie: @Sandr0hh // 85.28 SV% & 1.70 GAA in 20 games. 

Prediction: Dynasty, 4-2

Stay tuned for announcements about the games on our social media channels, playoff matchups will be broadcasted at Elisa Viihde as usual.
We'll also have international broadcasts for you as best as we can. These will also be announced on social media.

As always, play hard and see you guys out on the ice!

ECL Elite Writing Team
@MartindalexC, @Serg1vratar and @jahajaha93

NHLGamers!

Yet another Pro season is in the books. We had some exciting times and now 30 games later the deserving playoff goers have been weeded out from the rest. Tomorrow we'll be kicking off the fight for the ultimate goal for any of these remaining teams - promotion to ECL Elite! We'll also have some quality relegation battles up for you guys. As no teams folded or were disqualified, the teams placed 13th to 16th in each group will battle against each other for the right to play in ECL 9 Pro.

The ECL Pro Playoffs Round 1 is to be played between Monday 11th of February and Sunday, 17th of February.

Without further ado, here are your ECL 8 Pro Playoffs Round 1 matchups:

(G1 #1)  TIKI TALK vs. Bellizzi  (G2 #8)
Both teams in this series are very experienced. TIKI TALK has started to find beck their winning ways after a bit of a struggle for the past few seasons. Bellizzi on the other hand has been a Pro competitor for a long time already, but they always seem to get stuck in the masses along the low middle of the table. It'll be interesting to see if they can match up to TIKI, who have found some convincing form lately.

(G2 #1)  The Next Gen vs. GHETTO FIREBIRDS  (G1 #8)
The Next Gen is a team whose talent cannot be understated. They have versus powerhouse @kriketski17 centering a line with @Thounii and @NikkeDangles on the flanks and boy have they been dangerous! @oGBioLan will play a crucial part in their playoff run as their most experienced ECL player. Opposing them is GHETTO FIREBIRDS, who are making a strong push back into the top of the Pro division after missing the playoffs last season. Going into the post season as an eighth place seed won't be easy but they should be able to put up a decent fight.

(G1 #2)  Gotham Knights vs. SPARTANS  (G2 #7)

Gotham Knights showed us what it takes to be one of the top teams in Pro. Their centerman @ReDMisTi finished the season with 36 points and was a valuable asset for the team all season. On the other side we have Spartans, who got the chance to play in the Pro division and they really made it count. With @rize1988 leading the team in points alongside the fabled @Drunkendefender on defense they managed to finish in seventh place in their group. This series is going to be a tight one but a Gotham win 4-2 is our prediction.

(G2 #2)  Born With It vs. SIKA  (G1 #7)
The battle of the veterans! Born With It has had a great season so far and most of it can probably be attributed to being one of the more experienced teams in the league. SIKA is better known as a team and the same could be said for them. We'll expect to see a scoring onslaught as neither teams have been all too convincing in their own end.

(G1 #3)  Checkmate vs. Speedy Bros Hockey  (G2 #6)
This is going to be a tough series to call. Checkmate has a stacked roster, featuring former Elite All-Star @Tuukka.R and long-time SIKA forward @Naikou88 to name a few. They seem to be rotating their roster quite much though - do they have chemistry? Their opponent Speedy Bros Hockey declined an Elite promotion during the offseason in order to improve their game for another season in Pro. We'll be waiting to see if all that practice pays off as they go head to head with their toughest opponent yet in this series.

(G2 #3)  Mentula SKA vs. Rajatorpan Mafia  (G1 #6)
Two teams that are playing their first Pro season face each other in the first round of the playoffs. Rajatorpan Mafias power play won't get many chances as Mentula SKA play a clean game where they had the least amount of penalties and third least hits in the regular season. Rajatorpan can challenge any team with their consistent play, they got at least a point from every opponent in the regular season. Additionally they had nine games that were decided in overtime. Mentula SKA has a core that has played together for four consecutive ECL seasons and the addition of ECL veteran Hanssonni makes them favorites in the series.

(G1 #4)  Silver Sword Griffins vs. Black Horse  (G2 #5)
SSG is one of the older ECL teams, they are in fact closing in on the 300 game mark as a franchise and that's something most teams could only dream of right now. They've gone through some rough times but lately it seems they've found their stride a bit. Maybe this is the season they will take the step back up to the highest level? Black Horse is their opponent. They're a new team that's built around the former Shameful Knights core of @Hullued, @Exel56 and @Tapparafan to name a few. They aren't total newcomers either so to speak. The interesting thing about them is the former top goaltended Hullued making the switch to the forward position and dominating at that too - 54 points in 28 games isn't too shabby for a guy who used to stop pucks more than shoot them.

(G2 #4)  Raccoon Rampage vs. POGGERS  (G1 #5)
This series is going to be an even one. POGGERS is the more experienced team, but Raccoon Rampage is a team full of young, hungry players who have successfully been building a decent buzz around themselves recently. Both teams are very responsible defensively and have great goaltending, but the prediction here would be that it all boils down to who can be more effective up front. The Poggers duo of @JaKurrii and @Chafak are something to keep an eye on.

Relegation matchups:

(G1 #13)  EV Duisburg vs. Bone Breakers  (G2 #16)

(G2 #13)  Cowabunga Hockey vs. Murohoki  (G1 #16)

(G1 #14)  Clowns On Ice vs. Pata Hellalla  (G2 #15)

(G2 #14)  Freddie Mercury Institute vs. Tiffen  (G1 #15)

We'd like to take this opportunity to thank all teams for participation, it was fun to watch and follow your games. Good luck for all teams with the further rounds and battles, good luck and most important - have fun!

ECL Writers,
@Tonimo92, @Willander97 and @jahajaha93

NHLGamers,

The final week of the regular season is here and a lot of important games have been played in the hunt for a playoff spot. The ECL Lite Writing Team sat down and discussed the weight of the players who took their team on their shoulders and helped them reach a top 8 spot. This week we have chosen a player that did just that. @Lidaas79 showed the way when Nordic Nosebleed secured their playoff spot scoring 5 goals and setting up 8 more against second placed Cheers Hockey and HC Finlandia who finished ninth, a mere point shy of the playoffs.
 

PSN-ID: Lidaas_79
Team:  Nordic Nosebleed
Position: Right Winger
Games played this week: 4 (HC Finlandia, Cheers Hockey)
Goals: 5
Assists: 8
Points: 13
+/-: 5

Congratulations on being named the Player of the week! How are you feeling about that?

- Wow it came as a surprise, fun to get the award.

Your team was relegated to Lite last season. What have you changed this season?

- It was a tough season last ECL but now it feels like we have found the right way. We are underdogs in the playoffs so we'll see how far it carries us.

What is behind your and your teams great form against tough opponents in the last week of the regular season?

- We started to get the team together and work well for each other, the defensive game works very well right now.

If you have to pick a player from the Lite division and add him or her to you roster, who would it be and why?

- I have all the players I need in my team right now. 😃

Last question. How far will you guys make it in the playoffs?

- We aim high and hope to reach a semifinal.

Thanks for your time Lidaas_79 and good luck for your team in the playoffs!
 

ECL Lite Writing Team
@Tonimo92 & @Willander97

NHLGamers!

The ECL 8 Lite Playoffs are finally here and we have got some very strong teams that will battle each other for a Pro spot. From each group the teams that finished top 8 will make the playoffs. The first round of the playoffs will start today on Thursday, February 7th, 2019 and end on Wednesday, February 13th, 2019.

According to section 5.6.1 of the ECL 8 Rulebook, the first round of the ECL 8 Lite Playoffs will be played as follows:
In ECL Lite, the top 8 teams from each of the 6 groups will make the playoffs. For each group the top 2 teams will have a bye round and advance directly to round 2. All remaining teams will be seeded according to the tiebreakers mentioned in 11.3. The top 4 teams of these seeded ones will also advance directly round 2. This leaves 32 teams playing in round 1, where the top seed plays the 32nd seed, 2nd seed will play 31st etc. The winning teams will be merged with the bye teams and play the 2nd round, making a total of 32 teams competing in round 2.

Tiebreakers (ECL 8 Rulebook 11.3):

• Wins (including OT-wins)
• Head-to-head record (points in mutual games)
• Goal difference (across all games played)
• Scored goals (across all games played)

After the first round, all remaining teams are again re-seeded.

Every series are played in best of seven games and the highest seeded team will play the first game at home. (10.7.2 ECL Rules).


Here are the matchups for round 1 of the ECL 8 Lite Playoffs:

(17.) Mighty French Roosters vs. Atomic Hamsters HC (48.)

(18.) Chatbox vs. Uncle Dens (47.)

(19.) Suomen Sonnit vs. Stayhard Stallions (46.)

(20.) Vesa Pompa HC vs. Niederrhein Canucks (45.)

(21.) Finnish Hockey Legends vs. Pink Panthers HC (44.)

(22.) Reaperr vs. K A R H U T (43.)

(23.) Kaukosen Luistin vs. Korpens Finest (42.)

(24.) EV Fuessen eSports vs. Campo De Juego (41.)

(25.) Me Carvoset vs. UnderRated Lekstuga (40.)

(26.) Farminaattorit vs. Kouvola Screaming Eagles (39.)

(27.) Beast Hockey vs. Polarbears HC (38.)

(28.) LammasLauma vs. Red Devils HC (37.)

(29.) North Pole Huskies vs. Poston Fruits (36.)

(30.) SKA vs. SKA Hokurit (35.)

(31.) Western Express vs. Rusty Bulls (34.)

(32.) Nordic Nosebleed vs. Club Savage (33.)


Play hard and fair out there, see you on the ice!

ECL Lite Writing Team,
@Tonimo92 & @Willander97

Many games have been played this past week. Passes have been made and goals have been scored and it is time for us to reveal our POTW. This week we have chosen @Klassikko_ of Perttilan Kommandot. The finnish defensman had 3 goals combined with 10 assist in 6 games and a spectacular +/- of +25!
 

PSN-ID: Klassikko_
Team:  Perttilan Kommandot
Position: Right Defenseman
Games played this week: 6 (North Pole Huskies, Scrubs of Sweden, FarmiNaattori)
Goals: 3
Assists: 10
Points: 13
+/-: 25

@Willander97 had a chance to catch up with the man in such great form lately.

Congratulations on being named the Player of the week! How are you feeling about that?

-  Thank you. I have to say that I wasn't expecting it so I feel very surprised.

In the past you have been playing as a forward, what made you start playing as a defender?

-  We have many players who played last season in Perttilan Kommandot also. One defender wanted to try to play forward this season and I was interested in playing defense.

Perttilan Kommandot is currently leading leading their group in Lite with a record of 20-3-1. What makes your team so good?

-  Like many other teams we also try to play as a team as good as we can. Every guy participates in defense as well as in offense. We also have a team captain (Jarmonen) who knows how to boost up the team before the games. He also possesses great tactical vision which helps us to win tight games.

If you have to pick a player from the Lite division and add him or her to you roster, who would it be and why?

-  There are many good players in lite but I have to say @ahonaattori from The Dudes. This guy makes everything for his team so he would be a good addition for Kommandot also.

Last question. How far will you guys make it in the playoffs?

-  We will go as far as we deserve. Hopefully we can use the marketplace which our captain has already booked to celebrate our rise to ECL Pro.

Thanks for your time Klassikko_ and we wish all the best for PeKo and yourself in the postseason!

ECL Lite Writing Team
@Willander97 & @Tonimo92

Hello NHLGamers,

For this season of ECL Elite we are tweaking the recurring segment that looks to detail the ‘hottest’, ‘coldest’ and… ‘mildest’? teams in Elite over the past week. There will be more of an emphasis towards the quantitative approach, so expect more graphs and fewer walls of text. Each article in this series will be released on Mondays and will thusly be based on the days in between each power ranking iteration. In addition to this it should be noted that each ranking will invariably be in some way biased as it is, at the end of the day, a subjective list. Note: Each article will be based off of results starting from the Monday, all the way up to (& including) Friday. Ergo, any games played over the weekend will generally end up being a week 'late' so to speak. 

The logic behind the ranking is admittedly a sort of internal subjective ranking that weighs up results, opposition 'strength' as well as thoughts on the general play during some games. As such a ranking is not 100% quantifiable in nature there will be some bias that creeps in. One thing I would like to make abundantly clear however is that points are not the be all and end all within these rankings; for instance, just because 3 teams have the same record does not mean they won't be ranked wildly differently, as the context behind said results are of great importance and simply cannot be understated. 

Previous rankings:

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

-

1. FILADELPHIA (4-0-0) [+2]

2. Symphony (7-0-1) [+6]

3. Deadly Phantoms HC (3-1-0) [+3]

4. Rusty Blades (4-2-2) [-2]

5. Dynasty (3-3-0) [=]

6. Team Frosty (3-5-0) [-2]

7. Butterfly Effect (5-0-1) [+2]

8. Northern Stars (3-2-3) [+2]

9. AIK Hockey (2-1-1) [+5]

10. Almost Famous (5-3-0) [+3]

11. Bucketeers (3-3-0) [=]

12. Written in the Stars (0-0-0) [-11]

13. Unlucky Boys (1-3-0) [-6]

14. HC Wildcard (0-6-0) [+1]

15. Synergy Hockey (1-2-1) [+1]

16. Resurrection (0-4-0) [-4]

Standings Timeline

*The "playoff cut-off point", as well as the "relegation zone" lines are rough estimations of where the respective areas of Elite will fall once the regular season has been wrapped up. So, in other words, if a team is able to get over the green line, they 'should' stand a very good chance of making the playoffs, whilst if a team cannot make it past the red line, then there is a good chance that they will have to fight a relegation battle in order to assure their Elite spot for next season. 

Analysis

As we enter the home stretch of the season it appears as though the ‘blocks’ outlined last week have remained somewhat, albeit with some notable differences. For instance, Symphony have moved up into the upper bracket off the back of a very strong surge as of late, consequently joining the likes of Written in the Stars, Dynasty, FILADELPHIA & Rusty Blades.

Regarding the final playoff spots however we find some stark development. For instance, despite a week to forget from Team Frosty, they still remain within the group of 4 (Butterfly Effect, Deadly Phantoms HC, Almost Famous) who harbour the best shot at clinching a berth. Time is running out for Frosty however, as they are sitting on the cusp of 8^th/9^th thanks to a great performance over this past week by DPH who are now nipping away at their heels. If any of these teams fail to find traction and cannot gain any more points from the remaining games on their schedules then they may be in for a rude awakening as, whilst the group has thinned slightly with Synergy effectively being out of contention now, the pace of the teams trailing them cannot be written off. AIK Hockey, Northern Stars, Unlucky Boys, Resurrection & even Bucketeers all have had a noticeable uptick as of late and could conceivably put on a late push, of course some are more likely than others (e.g. AIK still have a couple games in hand compared to most), nevertheless, all of this just makes for perhaps a more interesting end to the season than years past.

Projection

The section looks to, well, project where a team will finish based off of all the games they have played thus far. 

--

And with that, we can now conclude the fourth edition of ECL 8 Elite's power rankings. Hopefully next week we will see the stratification continue so that we can pick out any further trends with ease. 

ECL Elite Writer 

@MartindalexC

Hi NHLGamers,

We are back with a small look into the fourth week of the Pro division. This season we are doing a player of the week segment, to highlight an individual and his team because of their success during said week. We will also do a small interview with our nominee and try to get to know the person better and get some insights of the team and the league in question.

Without further ado we would like to present you our fourth Player Of The Week: 

PSN-ID: itspardytime
Team: TIKI TALK
Position: Right Wing
Games played this week: 6 (vs God Tier, The Black Jacks and Checkmate)
Goals: 10 (33 total, ranked 2nd)
Assists: 12 (35 total, ranked 3rd)
Points: 22 (68 total, ranked 1st)
+/-: 36 (26 total, ranked 6th)

To cap off the week, @Panarinz had a short chat with the man of the hour:

A good week for your team and especially for yourself, with 23 points in 6 games! What do you think was the biggest reason for your success this week?

- Recently we've talked a lot in our team about game strategy. Lately we've succeeded to improve our game level in both ECL and regular EASHL games. Also we decided to try some changes to our lineup, chemistry with Temex on LW was once again fantastic and we played the best hockey as a team so far. It's easy to score when all players deliver the same gameplan.

What is your aim for this season? as a team and you personally.

- The most important thing is to play high quality hockey and at the same time have fun. I think we have all the chances to go far in the playoffs and also you might see us back in Elite next season. Personally I try my best to cause chaos in our opponents defence.

How did you come up with your PSN ID?

- "Pardy" is close to my own last name. I wanted to create an account which is also fun and includes that Pardy commentary name. Itspardytime is my own wordplay but sometimes I miss my old Lautaset, some oldschool players might remember that PSN ID. :D

What is the best player build in this version of the game for a winger? 

- It depends on the gamestyle of the team. All player types have own advantages and disadvantages. At the moment I use a pretty small sniper, that fits best for me.

What is your strengths as a player?

- I think I have decent hockey sense and  I hate losing. Maybe you should ask that from the opposing defenders or goalies.

Which team will win ECL 8 Pro? 

- There are many great teams but I think we have a pretty good chance to win Pro, so TIKI TALK.

We thank Pardy for taking the time to sit down with us for this interview. Remember, if you want to be featured next week,  work hard and help your team to success!

Signing off for now,

ECL Pro writing team
@Panarinz & @Mannheimer1938

Art by Efraim Larsson. Photos courtesy of Tölzer Löwen.

You might think the life of a pro hockey player (any pro athlete for that matter) is awesome and all glamour. The reality can be quite different.

Ben says he’s just a regular guy who happens to have some talent in hockey. It hasn’t always been that way though. There’s been a massive change in mentality and thought process to get to the point he is at today.

Most of you have probably never heard of Ben Meisner and frankly it’s no surprise. The now 28-year old German-Canadian goaltender spent most of his junior career in smaller minor teams in his home province of Nova Scotia before moving away from home as a teenager to pursue his lifelong dream of becoming a professional hockey player. The first years of his professional career was spent around the ECHL after which he headed over to Europe for a change of scenery.

Name: Ben Meisner
Date of birth: June 20th, 1990
Place of birth: Halifax, NS, CAN
Nationality: Canada/Germany














When talking to Ben he seems like a really down-to-earth guy who is really outspoken and passionate about what he has to say. A first impression wouldn’t give away his troubled past and deep scars. In an article Ben wrote for The Players Tribune, he states that his story is “about a kid who loved hockey so much that he forgot to love himself”. Those might be some confusing words to hear for an average Joe, but it was a gruesome reality for Ben and what ultimately almost led to the end of his life.

Let us backtrack a little bit to get you guys up to speed. To kick off the interview with Ben, the very first question I asked was about his gaming habits and to my surprise I learned that he had never even touched a video game. That’s refreshing, right? Ben grew up on a farm in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada spending most if not all of his free time as a kid shooting pucks alone in their driveway or out fishing. His main aspiration in life was to be a pro hockey player. Quite early on, Ben was signed up for a local hockey team and he progressed rather quickly - he was obsessed with becoming the best player he could possibly be. Ben’s words really paint the picture of a generic happy Canadian upbringing:

“Growing up, I had both my parents at all my games pretty much always so that was awesome.”

It isn’t all that unusual for young players in Canada and the US to move around looking for development opportunities in their junior careers, and Ben was no different. Before kicking off his college career he played at two different boarding schools in Ontario, Canada and just outside of Boston, Massachusetts in the US. It’s a competitive environment where thousands of kids chase the best opportunities and try to make their dreams come true.

“It’s definitely a tough choice to make and you’ve got to be ready for it and go into it with your eyes open.”- Ben about moving away from home to pursue a hockey career at a young age.

Playing team sports in a competitive environment is tough as it is, but being a teenager trying to figure yourself out far away from home surely adds its own spice to the mix. While the experience can be a valuable life lesson, it is also extremely scary and a difficult situation to be in as the youngins are pretty much left to their own devices. It was at a rather young age that Ben realised he might have some issues. He struggled fitting in with the team, having a hard time communicating and finding friends in a new environment. At first, the issues were chalked up to “goalie weirdness”, but as years went by and Ben moved around to different teams, the severity of the problem started coming to light. Social awkwardness led to bullying, which in turn led to anxiety, depression and OCD, the effects were many. Being anxious, tired, depressed and scared all at the same time while being a pro hockey goaltender in a league like the ECHL, in which teams can pretty much release a player at a moments notice is certainly leading down a destructive path. Especially when all you’ve done for your whole life was play hockey and nothing else.

“I grew up playing hockey outside. Every day I was out shooting pucks, I was skating…I lived and breathed hockey. It’s all I ever knew and all I ever wanted to do. There was a fear of losing that. If one day hockey wasn’t there, I wouldn’t know who I was. I didn’t think I had any other skills and I didn’t think I brought anything to the table as a person.”

The OCD kicked in and the anxiety levels skyrocketed, Ben as quoted from The Players Tribune:

“I knew that there were 98 professional teams in North America … so there were exactly 196 jobs for goalies. I’d always come back to the fact that in North America alone there are usually around 320 free agent goalies from D-I, D-III, Canadian colleges, SPHL, AHL, ECHL and the NHL, fighting for what amounts to only a few open spots at any one time. I had nothing against any of those guys, but in my mind they became my enemies. And lots of times it seemed like I could actually feel them breathing down my neck. All 320 of them.”

Ultimately, things got very bad. Ben was stuck in a vicious cycle where he couldn’t speak up of the fear of being released from his contract and not receiving proper help due to constantly relocating and being occupied by doing the thing that he loved - playing hockey. Doing so in a severely compromised mental state made his numbers drop, while also inflicting even more damage on his already bad psyche. All of this culminated in Ben almost taking his own life. (For this story, please ready Bens article at The Players Tribune.)

Step by step, things got better. Ben reached out for help and found out it wasn’t the end of his career, but in fact the start of something new and better - a healthier life and a new found passion for helping others. The extremely important factor with mental issues is time. These issues have to be handled with urgency and professional sports organisations are now also starting to realise that. For example, several NHL teams have hired personnel to help their players deal with potential issues. With the stigma around mental health in sports slowly being lifted, more athletes have also come forth about some issues they have had or are still having, among some of those former NHL players Daniel Carcillo and Nick Boynton. Taking off with the release of his Players Tribune article, Ben has also started advocating for mental health awareness and is actively pursuing that opportunity to give back and get the word out there. Now Ben is working together with a whole bunch of different people (for example the aforementioned Carcillo) and organisations in order to further mental health awareness. Mental health issues are a widespread, although a not widely talked about problem worldwide. Just about anyone can find themselves in a tough situation where they will have to handle some type of mental problems, it could be just one traumatic life event or concussion away. Preemptive care is one of the best tools to tackle mental issues and Ben together with a whole company of other people strongly advocate for it. For young athletes out there that feel something might be wrong, Ben has an important pointer that cannot be stressed enough:

“The number one thing is don’t wait. If you’re having an issue at a young age and parents or you yourself recognise it, please reach out. I knew I had these issues early on and I let it go until I was in my twenties so we’re talking over a decade. That really put me in a big hole and made my issues harder to handle and harder to hide - when you dig yourself a hole that deep, it takes a long time to fill back in.”
 

Esports are no different from traditional sports in the sense that the environment is high-pressure. The straight-up physical requirements of the athletes might not meet the traditional standards but what is often talked about is the mental aspects of players. Quite often a player or a team is analysed based on their mental strength - "they don't have the winning mentality" is a cliché we're all familiar with. De-stressing activities or taking time off are often overlooked in pro sports, perhaps even more so in esports. The pace and player turnover is at such a high level that even a short vacation could set a top player back, and believe me - there are kids out there trying to take that spot! The result of this equation is players spending very close to all of their waking time at their screens - the very same screens that are the portal to Reddit and various other forums where their every single move, play and game is being scrutinised. Having an outlet and de-stressing is tremendously important, the physical capabilities of an athlete are also tremendously important in esports. Healthy bodies often promote healthy minds and the other way around, so remember to take care of yourselves out there!

If you happen to find yourself out and about, here are some events that Ben will be attending as a speaker:

The Global Goaltending Retreat - May 27th - 31st, Breckenridge, Colorado, US
The Worth Living Conference - May 31st, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

Make sure to follow Ben on Twitter for more info about upcoming events he will be attending.
 

“My legacy may not be left hanging in the rafters or written on trophies, but I want to people to recognize me as a guy who tried to make the game we all love more enjoyable for the people playing it.”

If you or someone you know are going through a tough time, please don't hesitate to reach out for help.
Here's some contact info to get you started:

Finland: Suomen Mielenterveysseura - Kriisipuhelin   010 195 202
Sweden: 1177 Vårdguiden - Hjälplinjen   0771-22 00 60
Germany: Telefonseelsorge   0800 111 0 111 
UK: Samaritans   116 123
France: Suicide Écoute   01 45 39 40 00
Russia: sravni.ru   8 (800) 333-44-34

Take care and keep on playing!

Your NHLGamer Editor,
Janne @jahajaha93 Tarvonen

Hi NHLGamers,

We are back with a small look into the third week of the Pro division. This season we are doing a player of the week segment, to highlight an individual and his team because of their success during said week. We will also do a small interview with our nominee and try to get to know the person better and get some insights of the team and the league in question.

Without further ado we would like to present you our third Player Of The Week: 

PSN-ID: Hassu85
Team:  POGGERS
Position: Goaltender
Games played this week: 6 (vs God Tier, Silver Sword Griffins, Clowns On Ice)
Shots faced: 56
Goals against: 5
Save percentage: 91,07%
Shutouts: 3

Our writer @Panarinz was sent out to get a few comments from this weeks main man:

A good week for your team and especially for yourself, with 3 shutouts in 6 games! What do you think was the reason for your success this week?

- Hard to tell. Our roster had a lot of changes from the past season. We also didn’t train almost at all before the season, but now the game has started to fall into it’s place. We have rock solid defense, and what can you expect if you have @JaKurrii as a mastermind of the offense and @Chafak and @Yoloberg as wingers? 

What is your aim for this season? as a team and you personally.

- If I can help the team even a little bit, we will win the whole thing.

How did you come up with your PSN ID?

- In my hometown everyone calls me Hassu, even my parents. 

What is the best player build in this version of the game for goaltenders? 

- When NHL 19 came out, I chose one build right away and I have sticked with it. It’s a secret. 

What is your strengths as a goalie? 

- I think I can read the game pretty well. I usually know what the next happen now.

Which team will win ECL 8 Pro? 

- Poggers or Checkmate.

If you want to be featured next week, remember to work hard and help your team to success!

Signing off for now,

ECL Pro writing team
@Panarinz & @Mannheimer1938

Additional art by @CzE Toni

Gamers!

Another week has come to an end and it is time that we reveal the third ECL 8 Lite Player Of The Week. This past week has been great for many players but we have decided that @Jassoonsunlasso has earned the award.

PSN-ID: Jassoonsunlasso
Team:  Me Carvoset
Position: Center
Games played this week: 6 (SKA from Neva, Campo De Juego, Western Express)
Goals: 17
Assists: 16
Points: 40
+/-: 25

We gave the main man a call and asked him a few questions.

Congratulations on being named POTW this week! What are your feelings about that?

- Surprised and happy because we have secured a playoff spot!

You have played 6 games this Week and scored 33 points (17+16). What is the key for you to score goals consistently?

- About the goals.. i don't know? Every pass is a missed goal opportunity? Being in the right spot at the right time? Good passes from forwards and defensemen make it happen.

You guys have been playing good so far this season. Why?

- We've been having fun in chat during games, that's why I guess! Cap @Juanzaar switched me from RD to C in the middle of the season and after that I think our teamplay has gone to another level! Last but not least our Angry goalie Tepazor who has been sick for the last 3 weeks (IRL sick lol) is the right man between the posts!

If you have to name one player in Lite that you would want to have in your team, who would it be and why?

- This question is hard! Maybe @Pagemz because his shooting is 7.5% as F! We could help him to get it up! But i have to choose @Bantubox from Saucer Hockey. He's almost as good of a trash talker as me! We have so much fun when we are in the same party! All day every day!
 

Once again we would like to congratulate Jassoonsunlasso on this award and we wish him good luck in the future.

Until next time!

@Willander97

Hello NHLGamers,

For this season of ECL Elite we are tweaking the recurring segment that looks to detail the ‘hottest’, ‘coldest’ and… ‘mildest’? teams in Elite over the past week. There will be more of an emphasis towards the quantitative approach, so expect more graphs and fewer walls of text. Each article in this series will be released on Mondays and will thusly be based on the days in between each power ranking iteration. In addition to this it should be noted that each ranking will invariably be in some way biased as it is, at the end of the day, a subjective list. Note: Each article will be based off of results starting from the Monday, all the way up to (& including) Friday. Ergo, any games played over the weekend will generally end up being a week 'late' so to speak. 

The logic behind the ranking is admittedly a sort of internal subjective ranking that weighs up results, opposition 'strength' as well as thoughts on the general play during some games. As such a ranking is not 100% quantifiable in nature there will be some bias that creeps in. One thing I would like to make abundantly clear however is that points are not the be all and end all within these rankings; for instance, just because 3 teams have the same record does not mean they won't be ranked wildly differently, as the context behind said results are of great importance and simply cannot be understated. 

Previous rankings:

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

-

1. Written in the Stars (6-1-1) [=]

2. Rusty Blades (5-0-1) [+5]

3. FILADELPHIA (6-2-0) [+1]

4. Team Frosty (3-3-0) [+4]

5. Dynasty (5-2-1) [=]

6. Deadly Phantoms HC (4-4-0) [-3]

7. Unlucky Boys (6-2-0) [+5]

8. Symphony (2-2-2) [+1]

9. Butterfly Effect (4-5-1) [-3]

10. Northern Stars (2-1-1) [+3]

11. Bucketeers (3-2-1) [+3]

12. Resurrection (4-4-0) [+3]

13. Almost Famous (1-3-0) [-11]

14. AIK Hockey (2-6-2) [-4]

15. HC Wildcard (0-3-1) [+1]

16. Synergy Hockey (1-4-1) [-5]

Standings Timeline

*The "playoff cut-off point", as well as the "relegation zone" lines are rough estimations of where the respective areas of Elite will fall once the regular season has been wrapped up. So, in other words, if a team is able to get over the green line, they 'should' stand a very good chance of making the playoffs, whilst if a team cannot make it past the red line, then there is a good chance that they will have to fight a relegation battle in order to assure their Elite spot for next season. 

Analysis

Whilst Northern Stars and Unlucky Boys were able to stave off a full-blown cardiac arrest, HC Wildcard have not been as fortunate and as such are requiring a strong finish to not end up being the team propping up the rest of the standings once all things are said and done in little over two weeks time. 

Written had a momentary wobble thanks to Symphony and Northern Stars, nevertheless their challenge for the number one spot is almost as solitary as it comes. That said, it is technically possible of course that they don't end up rolling into the playoffs with the number one seed in tow, although at this late stage of the season it would require something akin to a biblical miracle. 

One trend of note is that it appears as though we are beginning to see a few 'divisions' within Elite. Outside of Written, who may as well have set up their own space program at this point, we have the next best 'top 3' involving FILADELPHIA, Dynasty and Rusty Blades. These teams harbour the best chance of anyone catching Written, on top of this they are the only teams who have a points per game average substantially above the playoff 'guaranteeing' level of 1.07. Moving on to the next 'block' we have the teams who currently round out the remaining playoff positions. Namely, Symphony, Deadly Phantoms HC, Team Frosty and Almost Famous. Unlike the block that precedes it, this fringe playoff group have not been afforded the same level of security as the 'top 4' simply based on the fact that if they slip up, even momentarily, they can very easily fall into the group hot on their heels. A group that, quite frankly, can only be described as an all-out brawl, as we have all the remaining teams in Elite (minus HC Wildcard) all within spitting distance of 8th place, even Synergy (who currently sit at a measly 12pts through 16 games) if they happen to go on a run and win ~4 in a row. Finally, of course, we come to the lowly HC Wildcard who, admittedly, started out very well, but have since appeared to sputter out and become almost comatose. Unlike Synergy, who still remain in contention mathematically, if HCW were able to win every remaining game on their schedule (a tough ask at that with their opponents being SYM, TF, DPH, RB & DYN) they would only finish with 29 pts, which  would result in an exceptionally low likelihood of them making the playoffs, so while it is not impossible per se, for all intents and purposes it may as well be. 

Projection

The section looks to, well, project where a team will finish based off of all the games they have played thus far. 

--

And with that, we can now conclude the third edition of ECL 8 Elite's power rankings. Hopefully next week we will see the stratification continue so that we can pick out any further trends with ease. 

ECL Elite Writer 

@MartindalexC

NHLGamers,

We're reminding you that tonight, January 24th at 23:59:59 CET is the deadline for transfers in ECL 8 Pro and Elite.
 

14.1 Transfer Deadline
The deadline for transfers is set to 23:59 CE(S)T, on the following days:
• ECL Elite: 24.1.2019
• ECL Pro: 24.1.2019
• ECL Lite: 22.1.2019

If you're a player still looking for a team or a team still looking to add to your roster, please head to the Free Agents section or the Clubs Looking For Players section on our forum.

Please post any last minute transfers in the comments section below!

Hi NHLGamers,

We are back with a small look into the second week into the Pro division. This season we are doing a player of the week segment, to highlight an individual and his team because of their success during said week. We will also do a small interview with our nominee and try to get to know the person better and get some insights of the team and the league in question.

Without further ado we would like to present you our second Player Of The Week: 

PSN-ID: NikkeDangles
Team:  The Next Gen
Position: Right Wing
Games played this week: 6 (vs Style, Bone Breakers and Pata Hellalla)
Goals: 8 (18 total, ranked 1st)
Assists: 9 (15 total, ranked 5th)
Points: 17 (33 total, ranked 1st)
+/-: 8 (26 total, ranked 1st)


Our writer @Panarinz met with Nikke and after a good conversation this was the result:

Another great week for your team, your form has been outstanding as of late. What do you think is the reason for your success this season? 

- I think we have a great team and it’s very easy to play with them.

What is your aim for this season? As a team and you personally.

- As a team we are aiming for a deep playoff run and I’m going to do my best to play as well as I can.

How did you come up with your PSN ID?

- My friends call me Nikke and I like to do dirty dangles so that is why my PSN is NikkeDangles.

 What is the best player build in this version of the game, in your opinion?

- I like to use the two-way forward, because it’s really fast, has decent balance and good deking.

What is your strengths as a player?

- My strengths as a player are controlling the puck and making surprising, hard-to-read passes.

Finally, which team will win ECL 8 Pro? 

- The Next Gen.

Signing off for now,

ECL Pro writing team
@Panarinz & @Mannheimer1938

Hello NHLGamers,

For this season of ECL Elite we are tweaking the recurring segment that looks to detail the ‘hottest’, ‘coldest’ and… ‘mildest’? teams in Elite over the past week. There will be more of an emphasis towards the quantitative approach, so expect more graphs and fewer walls of text. Each article in this series will be released on Mondays and will thusly be based on the days in between each power ranking iteration. In addition to this it should be noted that each ranking will invariably be in some way biased as it is, at the end of the day, a subjective list. Note: Each article will be based off of results starting from the Monday, all the way up to (& including) Friday. Ergo, any games played over the weekend will generally end up being a week 'late' so to speak. 

The logic behind the ranking is admittedly a sort of internal subjective ranking that weighs up results, opposition 'strength' as well as thoughts on the general play during some games. As such a ranking is not 100% quantifiable in nature there will be some bias that creeps in. One thing I would like to make abundantly clear however is that points are not the be all and end all within these rankings; for instance, just because 3 teams have the same record does not mean they won't be ranked wildly differently, as the context behind said results are of great importance and simply cannot be understated. 

Previous rankings:

Week 1

Week 2

-

1. Written in the Stars (8-0-0)

2. Almost Famous (7-1-0)

3. Deadly Phantoms HC (3-2-1)

4. FILADELPHIA (6-3-1)

5. Dynasty (6-2-0)

6. Butterfly Effect (2-2-0)

7. Rusty Blades (3-1-0)

8. Team Frosty (3-2-1)

9. Symphony (4-0-0)

10. AIK Hockey (1-4-1)

11. Synergy Hockey (3-3-0)

12. Unlucky Boys HC (1-5-0)

13. Northern Stars (1-4-3)

14. Bucketeers (1-3-0)

15. Resurrection (2-3-1)

16. HC Wildcard (1-9-0)

Standings Timeline

*The "playoff cut-off point", as well as the "relegation zone" lines are rough estimations of where the respective areas of Elite will fall once the regular season has been wrapped up. So, in other words, if a team is able to get over the green line, they 'should' stand a very good chance of making the playoffs, whilst if a team cannot make it past the red line, then there is a good chance that they will have to fight a relegation battle in order to assure their Elite spot for next season. 

Analysis

Two weeks in and we are beginning to see some stratification at long last. I suppose, the elephant in the room would be Written just straight curb-stomping everyone and, well, what is there to say really? In fact, to summarise how ridiculous their start has been, if they decided to fall off the rails (relatively) and merely finished the season at a sedentary 1PT/G pace, they would end up with the same amount of points as they did last season. 

As for the mortals, aF has gone on a pretty strong run recently (7-1-0), potentially going a long way towards punching their first playoff berth in Elite. In addition to this, Dynasty have undergone a resurgence of sorts, climbing into the upper echelons after a fairly dismal first week. Joining them are Team Frosty and FILA who trail just behind them. 

On the flip side however, we can quite plainly see that HC Wildcard, Northern Stars & Unlucky Boys have flatlined with no recourse in sight. It is of course early, with us being ~1/3 of the way into the season for the most part, nevertheless, going on extended losing streaks at any time in the season can be especially deadly for playoff ambitions, especially with Elite looking like everyone can beat everyone (sans Written) for some inane reason. 

Projection

Missing from last week due to time constraints were a pair of 'features', namely a projection and a prediction. The projection looks to, well, project where a team will finish based off of all the games they have played thus far. 

Prediction (Missing from last week)

The second feature that was absent was a prediction of where the teams will fall once the dust has settled at the end of this season. Unlike the projection, the data used to assign points in the graphic below did not come from this ongoing season, instead it came from collating previous season results for each team (if possible), as well as some user bias to bring it all together. Think of this as similar to the 16 in 16  baseline (Week 0) we used in ECL 7.

--

And with that, we can now conclude the second edition of ECL 8 Elite's power rankings. Hopefully next week we will see the stratification continue so that we can pick out any further trends with ease. 

ECL Elite Writer

@MartindalexC

Welcome to the second edition of the ECL 8 Lite: Player Of The Week! We've had another week go by and JaromirSniper68 has continued to put up the same kind of numbers (40 points) as in the first week, but he wasn’t the player we chose this time. Our player of the week doesn’t score points but instead slows down the opposing teams point production by keeping his own net clear of pucks. The goalie we are talking about is @buzee_ from Last Period.

PSN-ID: buzee_
Team:  Last Period
Position: Goalie
Games played this week: 8 (vs Old Farts, Russian Lightning, Devils in Disguise and Night hunters)
Record: 7-0-1
Saves: 71
Goals against: 7
SV%: 91,0
Shutouts: 4

I was itching to get a hold of the outstanding goaltender for a few questions. Turns out buzee_ had taken a well deserved trip to warm Dubai, but still took the time to give us a few takes.

You have been awarded this weeks Player of the week award. How do you feel about that?

- It feels great, didn’t expect that at all. We had good games with the team and they deserve the recognition as much as I do.

Describe yourself as a goalie.

- Me as a goalie, that’s a tough one.. I guess I just try to play as simple as I can and the positioning is very important. Best games are those where opposition doesn’t have many chances because we defend the right areas. I'd say a lot of communication is the key.

What kind of shots are the hardest to stop?

- Couldn't really tell you that, but let’s say breakaways.

Is there a shooter that is particularly hard to face?

- We’ve had some good players in our group but can’t really recall any names.
 

Thank you to buzee_ for answering these questions. Let's hope he can keep up this good form and help his team steal some important points for a successful run in ECL 8 Lite.

Until next time!

On behalf of the ECL Lite Writing Team,

@Tonimo92

Rulebook Update

We ask all players to familiarize themselves with the rules, especially the captains of the teams. Team captains must be aware of the entire ruleset, as it includes a lot of important guidance that stays relevant throughout the entire season. Regular players on the other hand should be aware of member registration requirements, etiquette, fair play and game rules.

Latest update 13.1.2019:

Lainaa

• Correction of typos and formatting
• update of section 1.1
• section 14.9 added, content taken from section 15.6
• Section 5.6 updated

As a reminder, here's an overview of the adjustments compared to ECL 7:

Lainaa

• 2.5 Accounts in same household: Players are required to inform a member of the administration immediately if there are multiple players on the same IP address
• 3.4 Withdrawing a registration: In order to cancel a team registration, the captain must edit the post AND contact LA via support
• 5.4 ECL Elite Playoffs: The lowest ranked regular season Elite team will be relegated whilst positions 13, 14 & 15 will play the ECL Pro runner up and semi-finalists
• 5.5 ECL Pro Playoffs: ECL Pro promotion structure
• 5.7 ECL Elite Inactive Status: ECL Elite team inactivity application
• 7.2 Sticking to rules: LA must now provide both parties involved in a decision with a written response explaining how they came to their decision.
• 7.3 Penalty Definition: If possible, previous cases pertaining to a decision will be cited (i.e. precedents).
• 7.4 Majority Vote: General information about the LA decision making process
• 7.6 LA Members: Added a new member to the LA team
• 9.2.2 Goalies Leaving the Crease: Goalies are not allowed to leave their crease to interfere with an opposing player
• 10.3 Sticking to Schedule: Information re-scheduling of games and including LA
• 10.8 Late Game Appearances: If a team is more than 15 minutes late to a game without any notice, the opposing team must contact LA asap with proof
• 11.3 Tie-Breaking Rules: Clarification added: Tie breakers "Goal difference" & "Scored goals"
• 11.4.1 Jersey Colors: Required colors for jerseys updated
• 11.4.2 Jersey Numbers: The numbers on the back of a team's jerseys must be as visible as possible
• 11.6.1.1 Goal post color: The goal post must be the default red color
• 11.7 Pausing: Removed superfluous rule: Pausing before the opening puck drop
• 11.8 Fighting: Fighting is now banned in Elite & Pro. As for Lite, please read this rule in full
• 11.9 Connection Issues: Leaving a game before 2 minutes and general issues that can arise from it Page 7 of 25
• 11.11 Player Disconnects: It is now illegal to change any part of your build in between disconnected games. There are also some other changes that should be looked over: disconnects outside of the 2-minute mark
• 12.1 Match Reporting: Either team can report either game now
• 12.2 Submission Deadline: Game reports should ideally be submitted within 24hrs of game completion, if you have any issues please contact support
• 13.1.4 Streaming Information: Important information on broadcasting / streaming and general rules to follow
• 14.9 Transfer Decline Possibility: Transfers are now subject to scrutiny by LA. As such, they can be declined retroactively, and games may potentially be nullified
• 15.9 Disqualification: Definition now includes “disbandment”

League Administration Rulings

NHLGamers League Administration (LA) team was informed about two rule violations in the ECL Pro Match Murohoki against Gotham Knights. The following two violations have been observed:

1. Gotham Knights used a non-default goal post color. According to rule 11.6.1.1 this is not allowed: 

“Goal posts must be the default red colour. This is due to colour blindness concerns where individuals would not be able to see the goal if it was a specific colour.”

It is clearly visible from the Twitch clip that Gotham Knights played their home game with non-red goal posts. This is an infraction of the above mentioned rule, as another colour than the default red is used. Gotham Knights need to change the goal post color immediately for upcoming games. For now LA has decided to issue a warning to Gotham Knights, a repeated violation may result in point loss.

2. Goalie left the crease intentionally and interfered a skater from the opposing team. According to rule 9.2.2 this is not allowed. 

"In reference to 9.1 (specifically “Do not exploit game mechanics or bugs to put your opponent at a disadvantage.”), goalies are not allowed to leave their crease in an attempt to interfere with a skater from the opposing team.”

Rules prohibit the goalie to leave their crease to interfere skaters of the opponent. The Twitch clip shows that Gotham Knights goalie Kefleri intentionally prevents Murohoki’s skater to be the first guy touching the puck. 

LA has decided to hand a two game suspension to the player. Kefleri will be suspended from Gotham Knights next scheduled matches against Nordic Stars. In case the player will be playing those games, the two game suspension will be taken over to the next two games and the games against the Nordic Stars will be ruled as wins for Nordic Stars irrespective of the actual result.

The Penalty has been carried out 14.1.2019 games against Nordic Stars.

-----

NHLGamers League Administration (LA) team was informed about rule violation in the ECL Elite Match Written In The Stars against HC Wildcard. The following violations have been observed:

1. Goalie left the crease intentionally and interfered a skater from the opposing team. According to rule 9.2.2 this is not allowed.

"In reference to 9.1 (specifically “Do not exploit game mechanics or bugs to put your opponent at a disadvantage.”), goalies are not allowed to leave their crease in an attempt to interfere with a skater from the opposing team.”

Rules prohibit the goalie to leave their crease to interfere skaters of the opponent. The Twitch clip shows that HC Wildcard's goalie sumskoy26 intentionally prevents Written In The Stars skater to be the first guy touching the puck.

LA has decided to hand a two game suspension to the player. Sumskoy26 will be suspended from HC Wildcard next scheduled matches against Almost Famous (LA consider behind fallen games as next). In case the player will be playing those games, the two game suspension will be taken over to the next two games and the games against the Almost Famous will be ruled as wins for Almost Famous irrespective of the actual result. 

Due to the sumskoy26's transfer, LA considers that the penalty has been carried out, because he was not in the HC Wildcard's roster following four games.

- League Administration

Hello NHLGamers,

For this season of ECL Elite we are tweaking the recurring segment that looks to detail the ‘hottest’, ‘coldest’ and… ‘mildest’? teams in Elite over the past week. There will be more of an emphasis towards the quantitative approach, so expect more graphs and fewer walls of text. Each article in this series will be released on Mondays and will thusly be based on the days in between each power ranking iteration. In addition to this it should be noted that each ranking will invariably be in some way biased as it is, at the end of the day, a subjective list. Note: Each article will be based off of results starting from the Monday, all the way up to (& including) Friday. Ergo, any games played over the weekend will generally end up being a week 'late' so to speak. 

The logic behind the ranking is admittedly a sort of internal subjective ranking that weighs up results, opposition 'strength' as well as thoughts on the general play during some games. As such a ranking is not 100% quantifiable in nature there will be some bias that creeps in. One thing I would like to make abundantly clear however is that points are not the be all and end all within these rankings; for instance, just because 3 teams have the same record does not mean they won't be ranked wildly differently, as the context behind said results are of great importance and simply cannot be understated. 

1. Written in the Stars (6-0-0)

2. AIK Hockey (3-1-0)

3. Unlucky Boys (3-2-1)

4. Team Frosty (3-1-0)

5. Butterfly Effect (2-1-1)

6. Bucketeers (3-3-2)

7. Symphony (3-3-0)

8. Deadly Phantoms HC (2-1-1)

9. Resurrection (3-1-2)

10. HC Wildcard (3-3-0)

11. Northern Stars (2-2-2)

12. Dynasty (1-1-0)

13. Synergy Hockey (1-2-1)

14. Rusty Blades (2-2-2)

15. Almost Famous (1-3-0)

16. FILADELPHIA (0-0-0)

Standings Timeline

*The "playoff cut-off point", as well as the "relegation zone" lines are rough estimations of where the respective areas of Elite will fall once the regular season has been wrapped up. So, in other words, if a team is able to get over the green line, they 'should' stand a very good chance of making the playoffs, whilst if a team cannot make it past the red line, then there is a good chance that they will have to fight a relegation battle in order to assure their Elite spot for next season. 

Analysis

Anyway, on to the mess. As I'm sure you can see, this early into the season teams have not been afforded the chance to really differentiate themselves from each other, as such it is generally pretty tough to spot many teams as they overlap with each other. That said, there are some things we can pick out. Namely, Written In The Stars are already the only team still unbeaten in regulation (sans FILA who are yet to play at all), quite an anticlimactic feat given that most teams have only played 4-6 games. Additionally, we can see that Bucketeers have clearly dispelled any notion that they would not be ready for Elite, as they have stormed out of the block and posted a very respectable point per game average over 8 games. Sure, at that pace they're unlikely to make the playoffs, however it certainly offers up the opportunity for them to make a run at a playoff berth, a position I'm sure that they're more than happy to be in right now. 

As far as slow starts go though, there seems to be quite a heavily amount of parity at the moment as all teams (who have played), already have at least a win on the board. If we have to name and shame however, the most anaemic start would go to Almost Famous who are currently 1-3-0, not great, but even this would put them on pace for 15pts which is should be alarming for those from the AF side, yet they've played just 4 games, so do not read too much into this at the very moment. 

-

With that all of this in mind, we are now finished for the first edition of ECL 8 Elite's power rankings. Next time we'll have a projection and a (belated) prediction of how the standings will fall once the dust has settled, as well as (hopefully) more trends to discuss. 

ECL Elite Writer
@MartindalexC

Hi NHLGamers,

We are back with a small look into the first week into the Pro division. Last season we ran a team of the week segment, but this season we are mixing it up a bit as we now try to highlight one player, whose week was outstanding. In addition to this, we will make also a small interview with our nominee and try to get to know him better and maybe get some insights of the team or some kind of a trash talk.

Without further ado we would like to present you our first Player Of The Week: @kriketski17

PSN-ID: kriketsi17
Team:  The Next Gen
Position: Center
Games played this week: 6 (vs Speedy Bros Hockey, Black Horse and Raccoon Rampage)
Goals: 8
Assists: 10
Points: 18
+/-: 13

Our writer @Panarinz was sent out to get a few comments from this weeks main man:

Hi @kriketski17, 

Lets start of with a recap of the first week. How do you think the start of ECL 8 has been for you personally and for your team The Next Gen?

- We had a good week but personally I can still bring a lot more to the table.

What is goal for this season, both team and individual? 

- To win the Pro title and personally I want to be the best forward in Pro.

How did you come up with your PSN ID kriketsi17?

- Cant remember anymore 

 In your opinion, what is the best player build in this version of the game?

- It depends on what kind of player you are. In attack I prefer using a two way forward or a power forward. On defense, the grinder and two way defenseman are my go-to's.

What is your biggest strength as a player?

- My understanding of the game.

Finally, the question everyone wants an answer to: Which team will win ECL 8 Pro?

- Hopefully us or Gotham Knights.

We thank Kriketsi17 for his answers and wish him and his team the best of luck for the rest of the season!

It will be interesting to see if Kriketsi17 can continue that success and lead his team through the next weeks. We all know how a center has to be that game-changer in all three zones.
Did we get the pick right, which other players would have deserved to get mentioned here? Let us know in the comment section!

Signing off for now,

ECL Pro writing team
@Panarinz and @Mannheimer1938

NHLGamers,

A week has been played in the ECL Lite division and we in the ECL Lite Writing Team have decided to choose a player of the week, making it a weekly thing. This weeks player has shown a lot of individual skill and managed to rack up a total of 40 points in just 6 games during the first week of competition in ECL 8 Lite. The guy we’re talking about is @Basstian23 (JaromirSniper68) and down below you can see his stats this past week.

PSN-ID: JaromirSniper68
Team:  Dynamic
Position: Center
Games played this week: 6 (vs HC Slapshot, Slapshot Club Germany and Niederrhein Canucks)
Goals: 15
Assists: 25
Points: 40
+/-: 19

I sat down with JaromirSniper68 and asked him a few questions:

You have been awarded this weeks Player of the week award. How do you feel about that?

- I’m very happy. I would like to thank my teammates. Without them, this wouldn't have happened.

Describe yourself as a player.

- I would say that I’m a skilled two way player who sees the ice very well. I consider myself more of a passer. I'd rather pass for an open net for my teammate than take the shot.

Why does it work out so well for you?

- It’s about my teammates. They’re making it easy for me to score and to get assists. To be honest though, the opponents so far haven’t been the best and I have so much more to show.

A BIG thank you to JaromirSniper68 who took the time and answered our questions. As the season moves on and the opponents get tougher, it'll be exciting to follow the progress of JaromirSniper68. It'll remain to be seen if Dynamic can stay in form and the man himself can keep scoring.

Until next time!
 

On behalf of the ECL Lite Writing Team,

@Willander97

Hey NHLGamers!

Welcome to our ECL 8 Elite season preview, and let us start off by stating this is going to be one to remember! Our Prize pool is now 10 000€, which makes ECL the biggest 6vs6 tournament worldwide both measured in team amount, player amount and prize pool by far! We're happy to have all of you back for another season of this greatness. In the last few days we've dropped some exciting news on you guys, such as the involvement of AIK Hockey into ECL and our new partnership with Dr. Oetker Rustica and Elisa Viihde. Now, let's not keep you guys waiting any more than we have and get into the team run downs.

AIK Hockey

New Swedish pride AIK Hockey enters with a bang as they were announced just before the start of the season. Not many changes have happened over the offseason, as the former Sjukstugan look to continue their strong efforts with the same lineup as in ECL 7. The most notable change is in the goaltending department, where @ICappeI is replacing @Hullued in a switch-up that turns AIK into an all-Swedish team. Both netminders are some of the very best the league has to offer, so the decisive factor here is the flag on their passport. A player to keep your eyes on this season is @Tacterz. The young and tremendously skilled winger was a welcomed addition to the teams offense in ECL7 and is only expected to improve from here on.

Almost Famous

Almost Famous were, well - famous for their offensive style of hockey in their previous seasons, but last season there were some serious problems. Troubles to score called for somewhat of a re-build. This season will be better for them, because their team leaders gained experience from ECL7 in Elite and bringing in fresh blood from Cowabunga Hockey (Pro) who are hungry to prove everyone tthat they can compete at the Elite level. Players added were G @Jonitski, LD @Makeaxl and RW @Sokkelo__. All of these players are in for their first season at the Elite level. Let's not forget that aF lost their defensive leader @Aze to Team Frosty, this might take it's toll but the new addition Make seems to possess some talent as he put up 24p in 30 games in ECL 7 Pro.

Bucketeers

As one of the five new teams in Elite for this coming season the emergent Swedish team should have some level of familiarity in the opponents that they will be playing. Of course, if they want to make a statement and assure themselves of Elite level play for longer than just one season, then they will have to take the next step in their startlingly fast rise through the ECL structure (Lite in ECL 6, Pro in 7 and now Elite in 8 ) and move outside their comfort zone in order to grind out the invariably close games that often characterise Elite. Regarding where the Bucketeers are predicted to finish, personally I think they will most likely end up somewhere around 10^th - 14^th place, simply based on the fact that there a lot of unknowns in some of these new teams. As long as the Bucketeers are able to stay above .500 against these aforementioned teams, they should be in a decent enough spot.

Butterfly Effect

It's gonna be really interesting to see how FLY plays this season, since they've underwent a major roster shake-up. The team formerly known as Red Machine gained Elite promotion before ECL 7 due to the folding of Evolution. In their inaugural season in Europes best division, the team put on quite an impressive showing. After clinching the sixth seed they made the playoffs, in which they lost in five games to big-time contender Written in the Stars.
From last years team only three players stayed: Captain @jergelii, @Crisu_rottis and @Roisto999. These good-looking insects lost their most dangerous players in @Vilupoika and @RutonMosse. It's up to the newly acquired duo of @xDoumi and joukki13 (@Joukki) to replace some of the lost offensive capacities. They also acquired veteran defenseman @Totalii which should give them more quality and flexibility on the blue line. With the addition of Goalie @JanneK.(JANURI98) their GAA shouldn't be a problem anyway. Expect these guys to give their all and fight for one of the higher spots in the Elite standing.

Deadly Phantoms HC

DPH managed to claim the ECL 7 Pro title in stunning fashion after a very tough season facing some adversity early on in the playoffs. This is surely the season for redemption as the team will now compete at the highest tier. Their roster underwent no changed but a small downscaling as they now look for all of their players to take the step to the next level. It'll certainly be interesting to see how these guys will find their form and how they stack up against some of the more established teams. DPH could very well surprise, but an expected finish would be around 8th-12th.

Dynasty

The temptation when faced with adversity is to change too much (or even too little), with the consequence being that you take a step backwards. After x seasons in Elite, along with x trips to the playoffs and x semi final appearances, one would certainly expect some growing irritation that they have been so close, for so long, with little to show for it. Regardless of this, Dynasty are coming into the season having made probably the least changes to their roster amongst the teams of Elite, in fact the only changes appear to be the loss of @Filariou and the pick up of familiar face @Haldeem. All in all, barring a massive shift, Dynasty should easily clinch a playoff berth by finishing somewhere around 4^th place (+/-: 1), beyond that however, your guess is as good as mine.

FILADELPHIA

All they do is win - no matter what. That seems to be the case with Finnish juggernaut FILADELPHIA. In their first season in the Elite division they immediately clinched the top seed for the playoffs after finishing with a record of 23-4-1. In the playoffs FILA kept on torching their opponents and ultimately finished with an incredible postseason record of 12-3. In the finals they had to battle though, beating Symphony in six games. I_Eki_I (@Eki) scored the championship-clinching goal in double overtime while teammate  @PleeMaker grabbed the Playoff-MVP trophy after racking up 29 points in 15 playoff-games. Taking a look at FILADELPHIAs roster for ECL 8, they were able to keep their most impactful players and added top-tier defenseman @jtorro1233 from rival SKY. Captain @Patzlaf will still be flanked by the aforementioned and highly skilled wingers Eki and PleeMaker with @mikaasi providing the much needed forward-depth. The defensive-trio of @Janzuh, jtorro1234 and @vatalisti is arguably the best in the game. Both goalies, Zande95 (@sibeelius) and @FinKonna, are well-experienced guys and know how to handle pressure. It's hard to find any flaws in the star-studded finnish roster. The question is: Do they have what it takes to to build a dynasty (no pun intended) and become the first ever consecutive champion?

HC Wildcard

HC WILDCARD aka veterans squad. They appeared in ELITE filling the spot of Northern Ascendancy after a few interesting turns of events but they surely can pose a difficult opponent on any given night. Even though it’s their first season in ELITE they boast a squad with lots of experience. They signed the notorious Kinnunen brothers as known from Rusty Blades, @kinnun3 came from there, but @kikiukko came from Almost Famous where he had a short stint. Let's also not forget the recent addition of experienced offensive threat @Nampa77, who pent last season in aF with kiki. These signings increase their chances to stay put in Elite, but it surely won't be an easy fight. 

Northern Stars

Much of the same is the modus operandi for this storied team. After another playoff appearance (and quit exit) NOS were faced with a similar question that Dynasty have been tasked with answering, in essence, what is the next step? Dynasty attempted to remedy the situation by picking up a new defender, whilst NOS appear to have done the same with the acquisition of @Nieppii, after that however the similarities drop off for the most part. This is due in part from NOS apparently going nuclear and trying out a, let’s just say, unorthodox lineup with @ma0niii (long time RD) playing C and Chimera being moved over to RW. Whether this pays off is yet to be seen, but at the very least this change (if they stick to it of course) should give them some new looks offensively, as Chimera will be allowed to take more risks given that he won’t have as much defensive responsibility to deal with. As for where I think they’ll finish, I’m going to say 8^th place, not because I necessarily think they’ll end up there (they could easily finish one spot higher for instance) but rather I want the ‘yo-yo’ from them to continue since they’ve finished in 7^th, 8^th and 7^th for the last three ECL seasons now.

Resurrection

It's name reflects it's programme. The team formerly known as Monte Carlo will now participate in ECL Elite - just a couple months after applying for ECL Lite. Yep, you read that right. Captain @Jiihooo86 and his squad put together a decent first season in the Pro division. He was the biggest difference maker himself, recording 3 shutouts and a save percentage of 82,38% during the playoffs. After losing 7 of their last 10 games in the regular season, they definitely resurrected in the postseason before losing to Synergy Hockey in the semifinals. They bounced back (again) from some bone-headed plays (bad one, I know) and defeated SIKA in the relegation series. The offensive line of @Artuzio, johtaja699 (@J0HTAJA) and @xKeskitalo was pretty much clicking constantly. The same can't be said for the defense though. Even though @Nikmes7 had a strong regular season, the team barely got any production from the blue line in the playoffs. The majority of the team felt a change was necessary, leading to @Veikkonator getting replaced by the rugged defenseman TheFakiiR1(@FakiiR1). It will be interesting to see if the new D-pairing will be able to hold their own against some of the best forwards in the game. Jiihooo might need to play out of his mind on a daily basis if Resurrection wants to compete.

Rusty Blades

Rusty Blades made one of the most interesting acquisitions of the off-season when they managed to secure the services of the former NOR duo @MartindalexC and @Foppatofflan. On top of this, they added @The_Alpha_Furyan to bolster their ranks in defense. The preseason games of Rusty have showed some promise as it seems they have kept their identity of playing a simple game, but the new additions have added some speed and offensive ability that wasn't there before. The combination of the two have turned into a dangerous mix that could quickly turn the opposing teams night into a bad one. Rusty could very well see their best season yet, as they should now finish in the top 8.

Symphony

This season they start as runner-ups of ECL 7 where they lost to FILADEPHIA in game six of the finals. The main story going on now is, will they be able to take the last step towards becoming the Champ? Could very well be, because they have made some great updates to their squad recently, even though they lost some of their leaders they got an equal trade for them. For example they lost top goalie @ICappeI, who went AIK Hockey, but they stole another great G from Gotham Knights in @swagx88. They also added the talented @RutonMosse from Butterfly Effect, who is now walking in his brothers footsteps and finally looking to overshadow the older one. A great point is that SYM managed to hold on to their amazing defensive trio @entii112, @vSilenttio and  @Ilmari_30. Expect these guys to be contenders again.

Synergy Hockey

Joining Elite as one of the two automatic promotions from Pro due to a finals appearance we have the Swedish side of Synergy. As far as similarities go with Synergy and the Bucketeers, well, both are Swedish and that’s about it. Of the newly promoted teams, no other has the same amount of Elite experience as Synergy. For instance, their projected starting line-up (sans goalie) contains three players who have each played two full seasons in Elite previously (@Normark, @Supremski & @Egyptologen), so there should not be that big of an issue of players not being sufficiently prepared for the level of Elite, mentally speaking of course. All things considered then, I think that SYN, as well as DPH, probably have the best chance of making a claim towards a playoff position out of the new teams. Although, I think if either of them do end up doing as much, it will not be by a large margin. Ergo, I can see Synergy finishing being a fringe team on the ‘outside looking in’ so to speak, somewhere around 9^th - 10^th place.

Team Frosty

@Vilupoika, @Penatski and @Aze. That's a trio that when added to any team in the league would certainly provide a welcomed boost! After a tough first Elite season, captain @Zip player was a man on a mission for their return in ECL 8. He made the biggest and most spoken-of signings of the off-season and didn't waste any time in getting his team going for ECL 8. The preseason has been a bit up and down for Frosty, but we expect the experienced lineup to get it together come the first puckdrop. Aze will be their defensive leader, but it'll remain to be seen if @After8 (will_yo7) will manage to fill the shoes of a consistent performer at the Elite level. TF will be a playoff team.

Unlucky Boys HC

The veteran team built around Anhel_Kuru (@Anhel) missed last season's playoffs by a lone point. Yeah, that's rough. Not as rough as being Cody Parkey (NFL reference) these days, but still. That bad break should solely ignite some new desire to get back to the postseason, especially because they completely kept their core. One of their biggest struggles last year was their lack of offense. UB only scored 40 goals in 28 games, despite having a decent powerplay. It will be interesting to see if they can make the right adjustments without really changing anything significant in their roster. Expect the horseshoes in the playoff hunt once again.

Written In The Stars

Written is always a contender, but they never fail to provide a let down come playoffs. For 3 seasons straight away they are among the best regular season teams, but they are always coming short of being the best in Europe. Last season they already reached the semi-finals, where they lost to Symphony 1-4. They lost some good players like @jtorro1233, who went to FILA, @Bugimir who announced his retirement, @JOHTAJAVIRTANEN who turned his talents to FIFA Pro clubs, and one of the best goalies in the scene: @JanneK. to Butterfly Effect. SKY needed to quickly make up for their losses, which seemed not to be a problem at all. The team signed @Buantso from Symphony and @Nassustelija from Butterfly Effect in quick succession. To help out in net@poliskontroll from Northern Ascendancy was added. Follow this team during the current season, because their time to win should be due.

Well, there you go, gamers. We're happy to have brought you yet another preview for yet another season. Some teams change, some remain the same. We'll see who the champion turns out to be! Don't forget to tune in to our broadcasts this season on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays in Finnish at Elisa Viihde Sport or  the Elisa Viihde Twitch-channel. Broadcasts will also be available in English or without commentary at the NHLGamer Twitch-channel.

Signing off for now,

Your ECL Elite Writing Team
@MartindalexC, @Serg1vratar and @Tim_FlyersFan

Guten Tag and välkommen NHLGamers,

We'd like to welcome you to another exciting ECL Pro division season! It's only three weeks ago that we saw the grand finale of ECL 7, but here we are again, the short waiting is over and we are hyped to see the road to Elite starting over again. Can the promoted teams make a direct impact? Are the relegated former Elite teams capable of a bounce back season? Time will tell but here are some teams, that should be watched and followed for sure:

Teams to watch - Group 1

 Checkmate
Checkmate had an impressive ECL 7 - the defensive minded team were hard to beat last season and didn't hesitate on the chances they got. 47 Points (23-6-1) were good for the second place in Group 2, so the pressure was high on the team for a decent playoff run. Unfortunately their offense struggled a lot in the elimination to CLUB ONE in 5 games, as they got shut out three times. They have kind of a rebuild as they lost three of their starters where two of them were their top scorers. It will be interesting to see if they can handle this situation with fresh blood for another playoff campaign.

 Gotham Knights
After a disappointing season in ECL 7's Elite, the Gotham Knights are back into the Pro division where they don't plan to stay for long. They were one point shy of no-mans land so the relegation was quite unlucky. Nevertheless they didn't fall apart as many relegated teams - most of the guys stuck together to prove that they are better than what they showed last season. Their one and only goal for this team should be an instant Elite promotion, and with the addition of another Elite experienced player in @selänne8 this time, for good.

 SIKA
SIKA was a late promotion to Elite before ECL 7, but many of us thought they will handle the higher division pretty well as they were very strong in the pre-season. Well, 23 losses later we now are aware that maybe they couldn't handle the pressure properly. Alike Gotham Knights, SIKA will also try to bounce back in the Pro division of ECL 8. Therefore SIKA decided to turn back the clocks and rebuild together with former members of EN HUND (SIKA members from way back). It will be fun to watch how the hounds and pigs will hunt together for points.

Underdog

 The Black Jacks
The ECL 7 champion of the Lite division will try to make a direct impact in uncharted territory. Their brutal offense will still be the key factor in their game and they will score some goals, but it will be interesting to see if they can handle the more defensive powerhouses and find some new ways to get the puck to the back of the net. Without any noticeable additions, these Swiss guys are trusting their core players to step up into the new level of competition.

Teams to watch - Group 2

 Speedy Bros Hockey
The Speedy Bros had a decent playoff run after finishing 4th in Group 1 of ECL 7. They were even next in line to get an Elite promotion but after they lost their starting center just at the doorstep of the season, they stepped down to this and will try another run in Pro. By adding @LastMandalorian they get a player with Elite experience and the top scorer of ECL 7 @Tzon93 will try to have another outstanding season to get his team back for another deep playoff run and maybe a chance for a direct promotion.

 Cowabunga Hockey
After a disappointing playoff campaign, Cowabunga got swept by Pata Hellalla in round 1, Cowabunga will try to repeat a nearly perfect regular season (finished 1st in Group 1) and guess who's back? Their former ECL 6 top scorer @Fin_torspo90! Will he be the final piece in the puzzle for success? They surely have a lot of fresh faces in their line-up, can @Tinkesakara get his team together for another exciting season?

 Born With It
After struggling at the beginning of ECL 7, Born With It showed their talent at the end of the season were they had an incredible playoff push. Most of their starters stayed together and they added with @FIN_Potilas to bring some leadership to the squad! They will be in the mix for the Pro title for sure. Born With it have learned from their mistakes of last season and come back stronger than ever motivated as can be.

Underdog

 The Next Gen
The runner-up of ECL 7 Lite is ready for another great season and taking the next step. The key factors of their success are still there and they added some Elite/Pro experienced players on their way to avoid hanging around the relegation talk, instead they will aim for a high seed and a deep playoff run. These young guns know what's have to be done to be successful.

Players to watch - group 1:

Forward - Gotham Knights - @selänne8 (BiggestEight)
In a struggling Falun last season in Elite, the big(gest) 8 still managed to put up some points and help his team in the way he does best, score and assist. With another type of opposition in games that can be more open, he will surely get back on his typical ECL Pro form, where in, earlier years, he has put up almost 250 points in 101 games. 

Defender - Gotham Knights - @eyebiz
Yet another player from Gotham is joining our players to watch list, but for good reason. The defender has played 4 seasons in Elite, including a final in ECL 6 with Northern Ascendancy, talk about experience! He will bring that solidness to Gothams defense and can help them on their way back to Elite. 

Goaltender - Nordic Stars - @Tomsuu (a_pantera)
There were a few candidates for this spot, as there are some great goaltenders in group 1! With that being said, a_pantera can be that game changer Nordic Stars need. He joins after a solid season in Checkmate, 84 SV% and 1.75 GAA in 16 games shows what he's capable of. 

Players to watch - group 2:

Forward - Speedy Bros Hockey - @Tzon93
His stats speak for themselves. In ECL 7 he was the top scorer, counting both regular season playoff scoring. He reached the 100 point mark and scored goals from seemingly everywhere on the ice. I'd be shocked if Tzon wouldn't make our "Top 6 of the season" after this season as well as leading his team to a long playoff run. 

Defender - The Next Gen - @oGBioLan
Former Elite winner and Pro silver medalist joins the newcomer and will provide that stability at the back end that every new team would love to have. oG has the ability of a top defenseman in NHL 19 and if he sees more icetime than last season, only 6 games with FILADELPHIA, I would already predict a ECL 8 Pro "Norris" season from him. 

Goaltender - Born With It - @Masapunda (octobussy)
The guy with the great PSN had an incredible season in ECL 7, over 85 in SV%, a GAA of 1.80 and 7 shutouts during the regular season. If it wasn't for the toughest of competition he would've made the top 3 goaltenders list. Maybe he could snag that award this season? Wouldn't surprise me.

For your reference, here are again the Groups of the ECL 8 Pro division:

That's all for now NHLGamers, be sure to follow our teams during their streams on Twitch and hopefully this season will turn even better as season 7!

Signing off for now, 

ECL Pro Writing Team
@Panarinz & @Mannheimer1938

Erik "@Eki" Tammenpää of FILADELPHIA is the cover gamer for ECL 8.

The toughest, most prestigious EASHL 6v6 league in Europe is back – bigger than ever.
 

Founder and owner Kenneth Lehtinen and the NHLGamer organization is proud to present, in association with Elisa, the 8th edition of the European Championship League – ECL 8, presented by Dr. Oetker Rustica.

NHLGamer, Elisa Viihde and Dr. Oetker partner up to produce the 8th instalment in the popular and successful ECL franchise, expanding and enhancing the tournament in a number of ways.

The collaboration between NHLGamer and Elisa Viihde will bring increased visibility to the tournament as it enables ECL games to be broadcast on the multimedia platform Elisa Viihde. This development will see the quality of our already-beloved ECL broadcasts make a tremendous leap forward. Starting the second week of January, Elisa Viihde will broadcast three games from the ECL top division, Elite, every week nationally in Finland. These broadcasts will feature Arttu Hämäläinen (of IS Cup fame) and NHLGamer’s very own Jani Hetta in the booth, calling the play and guiding the viewers through the most high-skill, high-pressure situations virtual ice hockey has to offer.

ECL 8 Elite will be broadcasted in Finnish starting Wednesday, 9th of January through Elisa Viihde Sport or through the Elisa Viihde Twitch-channel.
Broadcasts will also be available in English or without commentary at the NHLGamer Twitch-channel.

Our new sponsorship agreement with German-based international food corporation Dr. Oetker will allow ECL 8 Elite to feature an unprecedented price pool of 10 000 EUR as it makes its grand return on January 7th. The prize pool of ECL 8 Elite will be divided as follows:

• #1. ECL 8 Elite Champion: 7 000 €
• #2. ECL 8 Elite Runner-up: 2 000 €
• #3.-4. ECL 8 Elite Semifinal losers: 500 €

The ECL 8 Elite Finals will be played on Friday 1st of March at the LanTrek event in Tampere, Finland and can be enjoyed live at the venue or through the above mentioned broadcasts. 

We are proud to also announce that our cover gamer for ECL 8 is the multi-champion Erik "@Eki" Tammenpää. During 2018 Eki has won the NHL Gaming World Championship in 1vs1 NHL 18, the 2018 Finnish Championship in 6vs6 NHL 19, the 2018 Finnish Championship in 1vs1 NHL 19 and the 2018 European Championship in 6vs6 NHL 19 in the ECL 7 season. As such, we believe nothing to be as fitting as Eki and his team FILADELPHIA being featured in our ECL 8 art.

NHLGamer

For those of you who don't know us all that well, NHLGamer continuously strives to offer the best experience for any and all gamers who have come to enjoy the competitiveness of playing the EA SPORTS series of NHL games. Our greatest accomplishment, The European Championship League is a league where all the best European NHL gamers create teams and compete against each other in the game mode EASHL (EA SPORTS Hockey League - 6vs6) for the title of Best EASHL Team in Europe.

Today, over 5000 website members also visit NHLGamer for all the latest NHL and gaming related news and exclusive content such as developer interviews and early gameplay impressions of upcoming titles.

While proud of our achievements and the success we‘ve had in creating and maintaining such a great community of talented gamers, we're only getting started. Our long-term goals include growing the community to host even larger leagues with larger prize pools and working together with EA SPORTS and gaming-focused organizations, to ultimately establish a platform for professional players at the cutting edge of Esports.

Ultimately, we believe that if you want to be one of the best players in the world - you practice, chat and play with the pros.

Elisa Viihde

Elisa Viihde is the leading online entertainment service in Finland. On Elisa Viihde you can find a wide selection of series, movies and a whole lot of exclusive sports for your viewing pleasure. The service also includes a range of TV-channels and a movie rental library.

Dr. Oetker

The massive international food corporation has been operating on the Finnish market for over 20 years now, being one of the major players in their business. Their most known products include the Rustica pizza, a wide variety of baking products and breakfast cereals.