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. 

Hello NHLGamers!

Welcome to our season preview for the ECL 8 Lite Division! We are back with short notice but that didn't seem to slow anyone down as we are very happy to announce that we have 81 (!) teams that will battle for the ultimate goal of Lite championship this season! For ECL 8, we are also happy to announce our new ECL Lite Writing team consisting of @Tonimo92, @Willander97 and @CzE Toni! As you guys surely are aware of the Lite division is a bit tricky to anticipate when new teams that we don't know much about enter the ECL stage. However, we in the ECL Lite Writing Team are very excited to give you guys our opinions and expectations about the teams going into ECL 8 Lite.

Without further ado, let us present to you our ECL 8 Lite Season Preview:

We have evaluated the expected top 2 teams of each group, additionally we highlight players to watch from each group with the following forma: 2 forwards, 1 defenseman, 1 goaltender. Enjoy!

Group 1:

Players to watch:

FORWARDS

Klassikko_, Perttilan Kommandot, ECL 7 Lite stats: 26+22=48

Markogirl87, Elämäm Kiekko, ECL 7 Lite stats: 23+25=48

DEFENSEMAN

MrNipsuli-, FarmiNaattori, ECL 7 Elite stats: 2+11=13

GOALTENDER

lordjami, FarmiNaattori, ECL 7 Lite SV%: 86.95

 Club Savage

Club Savage is a team full of ECL veterans lead by @Slash Lander (Teemu_Underdawg). Many of their players possess pro level experience, but most of them seem to have been on a downward trend lately. Forward @Jusa had 29 points last season in Pro division and is expected to be a dominant force in Lite. Ig Club Savage can get back to their old form, they will surely strive in Lite.

 Elämäm Kiekko

Elämäm Kiekko lost some major core players such as @Ankkalasvegas, @Valmuri, @Samzoni and @Tonezki-_-89, who all moved over to a club that makes it's comeback - Old Farts. Despite all that, Elämäm Kiekko is a good virtual hockey team since they have acquired players that will help them - one of them being @AzByCxx who scored 38 points in ECL 6 pro for OG Royals, so there is some evident skill in his game. If championships were won by the team that has the best social media , Elämäm Kiekko would dominate the field.

Group 2:

Players to watch:

FORWARDS

Ankkalasvegas, Old Farts, ECL 7 Lite stats: 22+29=51

apetttaja, Old Farts, ECL 7 Lite stats: 23+25=48

DEFENSEMAN

Nonnipojke, Suomen Sonnit, ECL 7 Lite stats: 2+18=20

GOALTENDER

kuglach, Atomic Hamsters HC, ECL 7 Lite SV%: 80,00

 Old Farts

Old Farts is making a comeback. @Ankkalasvegas is leading the team to fight for a spot in the Pro division, where they played in ECL 6. The duo of captain Ankka and winger @apettaja is expected to be one of the highest scoring pars in Lite this season. Several Old Farts players represented Elämäm Kiekko last season, and it is interesting to see what happens if they face each other in the playoffs.

 Suomen Sonnit

Suomen Sonnit won their group in ECL 6 and finished third in their group in ECL 7, it should be almost a certainty that they will be at the top of their group again. Two times in a row the team that beat them in the playoffs has advanced to pro. Suomen Sonnit has a core that has played together a for a long time.

Group 3:

Players to watch:

FORWARDS

JaromirSniper68, Dynamic, ECL 6 Elite stats: 11+15=26 (Played only two games in ECL 7)

rrr41rrr, Blackdawgs, ECL 7 Lite stats: 24+20=44

DEFENSEMAN

Tonimo92, Kaukosen Luistin, ECL 7 Lite stats: 2+14=16

GOALTENDER

Randomjanne, Dynamic, ECL 7 Lite SV%: 80,95

 Dynamic

A team with this many individual skilled players will go far in Lite. Take @Basstian23(JaromirSniper68) for example. A player of his caliber should nothing less than dominate this league in points and Dynamic should be at the top of the table by the end of the season.

 Vesa Pompa HC

Vesa Pompa HC should be considered Lehmannen Badboyz 2.0. The roster is the very same as for ECL 7 for the most part. Last season they lost to the eventual champions The Black Jacks in the second round but it was in overtime of game seven. The team had a decent regular season but if they can play at the same level in the next playoffs, they will surprise many. The biggest question mark is their new untested goaltender @peppeztvshow.

Group 4:

Players to watch:

FORWARDS

Jerax13, Dystopia, ECL 7 Lite stats: 27+30=57

Willander97, Western Express, ECL 7 Pro stats: 15+25=40

DEFENSEMAN

BasiBurminen, Cheers Hockey, ECL 7 Pro stats: 2+9=11

GOALTENDER

timpelo303, Dystopia, ECL 7 Lite SV%: 85,33

 Finnish Hockey Legends

FHL ended the ECL 7 season with a top 4 spot in group 6. With almost the same roster as last season, these guys will keep their chemistry going into this season too. The only change is @suomenstamkos moving away from the goaltender spot. If new goalies @suitsukemestari and @vvesa93 can do their job they are a team to look out for.

 Me Carvoset

A team that has some serious potential to play in the PRO division come ECL 9. @Juanzaar who is the team captain recently left the Xbox family to join our PS Community and he and his linemates have the chemistry to knock big teams out. With solid goaltending from @Roman (McCormick_Kenny) they will be hard to beat.

Group 5:

Players to watch:

FORWARDS

Terrorsenkoi91i, N0 Name, ECL 7 Pro stats: 2+5=7

Rullathor1991, Prowlers, ECL 7 Lite stats: 18+42=60

DEFENSEMAN

jiipee_40, Poston Fruits, ECL 7 Lite stats: 10+23=33

GOALTENDER

Trollstivegen, Mighty French Roosters, ECL 7 Lite SV%: 86,80

 N0 Name

This recently founded team has a lot of Pro level experience and if they find the chemistry, they could be a cup contender for Lite. Team captain @Isidor1891 (TerrorsenkoI91I) has been a scoring force in the past, but can he find the same touch after not so good last season in Le Coq Sportif?

 Prowlers

Prowlers showed that they are a good team last season when they finished first in group 4 but they didn’t quite have what it takes in the Playoffs losing 4-0 to Infinity in the second round. Now when they have added offensive fire power in @Toobbiiee (Vesterberg89) who scored 10+20 in 15 games for Stayhard Stallions last season I think that they have a good chance in the Playoffs.

Group 6:

Players to watch:

FORWARDS

Johtava, The Everblades, ECL 7 Pro stats: 19+12=31

Hbnzo, We Kings, ECL 7 Lite stats: 25+34=59

DEFENSEMAN

pelimies80, We Kings, ECL 7 Lite stats: 5+19=24

GOALTENDER

D3NK4N95, Korpens Finest, ECL 6 Lite SV%: 89,74

 EV Füssen eSports

Former Inter Iceland has experienced some major departures since last season most notable being former captain @Gregson91. However they have replaced most departures with other pro level players alike @Daniel huggler (lx_RKO_xl), the winger from Silver Sword Griffins. EV Füssen eSports should be one of the strongest Lite teams in ECL 8.

 The Everblades

The majority of The Everblades players spent last season in Pohjoista Voimaa at the pro level. POH nearly made the playoffs in Pro but now their core players have formed a new team and are going for a fresh start in Lite. Their defensive style is tough for every team but their offensive production is not guaranteed. If @Johtava can keep the scoring touch he had last season in Pro, they can be a cup contender.

It'll certainly be yet another exciting season with more participants than ever! We answered your call of getting more games to ECL Lite and hopefully this time around we're bringing you the best season yet. As we now also have a designated ECL Lite Writing Team, you will receive better Lite articles and more content regarding the division in general.

See you on the ice!

ECL Lite Writing Team,

@Tonimo92, @Willander97 and @CzE Toni

Hi there NHLGamers,

The time has come for the 8th iteration of the European Championship League to kick off, the best EASHL 6vs6 league there is (in our unbiased opinion)! This time we beat the registered teams record AGAIN! We've increased the amount of teams in consecutive seasons from 108 teams to 123 and now 129. That's another increase from last season and it's great to see growth happening once again. Let's make sure we are as welcoming to new members as possible to make sure we continue on this path. 

The season for all divisions kicks off tomorrow on Monday 7th of January, however we would like captains to attempt respecting the suggested gamedays as follows:

Elite: Monday, Wednesday, Thursday
Pro: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday
Lite: Tuesday, Wednesday, Sunday

The schedules for all divisions are available through the menu both on the main page and here on the community side.

Now let's get into all you need to know:

ECL 8 Rules

As usual, we have fine-tuned our ruleset, so we suggest you give them a good read before the season start! The rules for ECL 8 are still being fine-tuned and will be released tomorrow afternoon (Monday, January 7th, 2019).

League Administration

All league related verdicts will be decided by the League Administration. To open up a case, visit the new Support section on the forums.

Please note: before contacting League Administration, teams are expected to solve issues they might have on their own. Familiarize yourself with our rules first, as they include lots of guidance for different issues. League Administration is always to be used as the last resort to solve any disagreements.

In which division can I find each team?

ECL 8 Elite

15 teams confirmed their participation for ECL 8:

• AIK Hockey
• Almost Famous
• Bucketeers
• Butterfly Effect
• Deadly Phantoms HC
• Dynasty
• FILADELPHIA
• Northern Stars
• Resurrection
• Rusty Blades
• Symphony
• Synergy Hockey
• Team Frosty
• Unlucky Boys HC
• Written In The Stars

As ECL Elite was missing a team, League Administration decided to promote a team according to rule 4.3, "Similarly, if the number of open spots in ECL Elite exceeds the number of promotions from ECL Pro, these additional spots will be filled with additional teams from ECL Pro according to the following factors from the previous season: Playoff wins". The promotion was offered to Speedy Bros Hockey, who according to the previously stated rule were next in line, but they declined. POGGERS also decided to stay in ECL Pro. Therefore the promotion goes to the next best ECL7 Pro performer:

• HC Wildcard (Previously known as CLUB ONE)

We would like to congratulate HC Wildcard for making it to ECL Elite!

ECL 8 Pro

25 teams confirmed their participation for ECL 8:

• Bellizzi
• Bone Breakers
• Born With It
• Checkmate
• Cowabunga Hockey
• EV Duisburg
• GHETTO FIREBIRDS
• Gotham Knights
• Mentula SKA
• Murohoki
• Nordic Stars
• Pata Hellalla
• POGGERS
• Raccoon Rampage
• Reality Check HC
• SIKA
• Silver Sword Griffins
• Speedy Bros Hockey
• Style
• Supernatural
• The Black Jacks
• The Next Gen
• Tiffen
• TIKI TALK
• Virtual Horizons eSports

With HC Wildcard getting promoted to Elite, we now had 7 open spots in ECL Pro. 

According to the rule 4.2, "...If the number of open spots in ECL Pro exceeds the number of promotions from ECL Lite, e.g. due to ECL Pro teams disbanding, these additional spots will be filled with teams that applied during the sign-up phase according to the following factors:

Priority for ECL Lite quarter-finalists from the previous season, Franchise history, Roster composition, EASHL record"

First of all we looked at the Lite quarter-finalists from last season, which also had said "Yes" to apply for a Pro spot in their registration. These two teams fit the criteria:

• Freddie Mercury Institute (QF)
• SPARTANS (QF)

These two teams will play in Pro this season, congrats!

For the 5 remaining spots, we were looking at teams who applied for ECL Pro in their ECL Lite registration. Based on the previously listed factors the ECL Staff decided to promote the following teams:

• Black Horse
• Clowns On Ice
• God Tier
• Horror Hockey
• Rajatorpan Mafia

Congrats to these teams as well, you will all play in Pro this season!

ECL 8 Lite

The remaining 81 teams that applied for ECL Lite will play in ECL Lite this season.

ECL 8 Groups:

Below is the complete list of the teams participating this season and in which groups they will play. 

Here are your ECL 8 groups:

ECL 8 Lite - 6 Groups

ECL Lite will be played in six groups consisting of 13-14 teams each. With 2 games against each opponent, this results in an 24-26 game regular season for each team in which the top 8 teams out of every group will go to the playoffs (48 teams total).

Schedule: ECL Lite schedule

ECL 8 Pro - 2 Groups

ECL Pro will be played in two groups consisting of 16 teams each. With two games against each opponent, this results in a 30 game regular season for each team in which the top 8 teams out of each group will go to the playoffs (16 teams total).

Schedule: ECL Pro schedule

ECL 8 Elite - 1 Group

As usual, ECL Elite will be played in one group, where the teams face each other twice per opponent. This will result in a 30 game regular season for each team in which the top 8 teams go to the playoffs.

Schedule: ECL Elite schedule

Team management tools

All teams have been created, the team management tools on the main page have been unlocked for the team captains (click on your username in the top right corner to access them). All players need to be invited to the team rosters ahead of your first game. Please note that all invited players need to accept the invitation (there will be a popup alert on the main page for them) before they show up on the team roster and can start playing!

In case you have further questions, feel free to use the comment section below this article.

We hope everyone has a great ECL and good luck to all teams!

On behalf of the ECL staff,
@jahajaha93

What’s up NHLGamers,

We’re in the last days of downtime before a new season and teams are gearing up for battle come January 7th and the first puckdrop of ECL 8. One team that has certainly been busy in the last months is Sjukstugan, who has decided to join forces with AIK Hockey to create a new NHL gaming franchise.
 

"It is with great pleasure we welcome the prestigious AIK Hockey organisation to NHLGamer and ECL Elite.” -NHLGamer founder Kenneth Lehtinen on AIK Hockey joining ECL

AIK Hockey will be obtaining the ECL 8 Elite spot of the long-lived Swedish juggernaut Sjukstugan, as the traditional sports club is making a grand exploration into the esports world. The Swedish club is one of the most followed European sports franchises and is certainly eager to take on this new challenge. Their hockey club is the second club worldwide to venture into NHL gaming.

- The growth of such esports as basketball, football or F1 hasn’t gone unnoticed. The NHL has already made indications that clubs are going to invest in NHL esports in the near future. We view this as an opportunity to step into an uncharted territory with massive potential. It’s nice to be the first Swedish player in this field but it’ll be important to have this step on our competition, states Sevve Saberi from AIK Hockey.

- AIK as an organisation is the epitome of passion, professionality and innovativity and we’re convinced that these exact traits will also be the trademark of their team in ECL Elite. I was welcomed to visit the AIK offices during the negotiation phase and was struck by their attitude and drive for this project, says NHLGamer founder @Kenu.

The eighth iteration of ECL kicks off in just a few days and the addition of AIK Hockey to our NHLGamer ranks is definitely a welcomed boost to start the season. Competition in all our division is expected to be ramping up as the stakes will only be increasing from now on. Last season, Sjukstugan finished in 5th place after being eliminated in the quarter finals against Dynasty. Now rebranded as AIK Hockey, captain @Bjono says the team is more motivated than ever:

- As soon as we heard about their interest, it was full throttle from there! We have an outstanding opportunity in a growing esports environment like NHL gaming. Our entire team is extremely thrilled about this. We’re all even happier about the team being AIK, as they’re one of the biggest clubs in Sweden.

Both Kenu and Bjono are praising the level of involvement and drive from AIK’s side, which really tells a lot about the organisation. When asked if the players were AIK fans prior to the acquisition, the team captain has a humble response:

- Our goaltender @Pippo is a hardcore fan! We were all extremely happy to have caught the attention of one of the biggest clubs in Sweden. Hopefully this is only the start and many more will follow.

What’s the outlook for AIK Hockey like in ECL 8?

- With the involvement of AIK, we’re more motivated than ever! The team has been working relentlessly and even focusing more on the tactical aspects of the game. We’ll be entering the new season well prepared and ready to put forth the best effort possible. Our long-term goal is obviously to bring the title to our side of the Baltic Sea, says captain Bjono.

AIK will enter ECL 8 with a very similar roster as their one for last season. The only change is in the goaltending department, where they have dropped the extremely skilled @Hullued, but added an equally competent @ICappeI. The main purpose of the move seems to have been going for an all-Swedish team identity.
 

AIK

AIK is a Swedish sports club based in Solna. The club was founded in 1891 and is one of the oldest and most prestigious clubs in Sweden. AIK is also known by the nickname Gnaget - Rodents. The nickname rumours to have been given in the 1920s, when the teams black jerseys were so worn out that they resembled a grey rat colour.

The ice hockey department of AIK has seen tremendous success during their long history. Currently the club competes at the second highest tier HockeyAllsvenskan, where they are in 2nd place a bit past the halfway point of the season.

You can read AIK's own story here: https://www.aikhockey.se/artikel/nwziajqhw-1bbi1/aik-blir-forst-i-sverige-att-starta-ett-e-hockeylag

Hi there NHLGamers,

Another season on the books and another champion to boot. To some, this season will be a period that will oft be reminisced about (particularly amongst those playing for FILA), whereas for others it will be the source of great ire. Regardless of which side of the fence you are on, we welcome you to ECL 7 Elite's season review... we hope you enjoy! 

1.  FILADELPHIA - Regular season record 23-4-1 (Playoff wins 12)

Half way through the year and FILADELPHIA have been the epitome of domination; winning every single tournament that they have entered thus far. In fact, there is almost nothing to say that would mean much in the grand scheme of things, as it would effectively result in me penning a paragraph that would be singing their praises than an actual review. With that in mind then, for brevity I will state FILA's playoff record below, as quite frankly, it speaks for itself. 

12-3

2.  Symphony - Regular season record 22-3-3 (Playoff wins 10)

Coming into this season as newly(ish) formed team one perhaps could have been forgiven for expecting them to take a season or two to get their feet under them before making a splash so to speak. Symphony obviously missed the memo and stormed towards a finals appearance, losing to FILADELPHIA (2-4) after besting Northern Stars (4-1) in the first round, as well as Written in the Stars (4-0) in the second. 

3.  Written In The Stars - Regular season record 20-4-4 (Playoff wins 4)

Another season is over, and we have another season where Written made the top 4, but have very little to show for it really. Despite the disappointment undoubtedly shared by among on Written, they should feel as though that they're in a good spot going forward to mount a challenge for ECL 8, given the fact that they have now made the semifinals for three consecutive seasons. Additionally, @FlyerKungen appears to have transitioned to C flawlessly, only being beaten in points by fellow teammate in @Dominointi, as well as FILAs MVP @PleeMaker.  

4.  Dynasty - Regular season record 18-4-6 (Playoff wins 4)

A slow start characterised a season where Dynasty were good, but not outstanding. Such a distinction may be alluring for some, but for those trying to challenge for the top spot each season, it is almost a curse as much as it's a blessing. The acquisition of @hpkfani at the very least proved to be pivotal as he once again exhibited his ability to set the tone of a team's offence - especially in the playoffs where goals are oh-so difficult to come by. Despite this however, they ended up getting knocked out in the semifinals to the eventual champion in FILADELPHIA. 

5.  Sjukstugan - Regular season record 18-6-4 (Playoff wins 2)

112 went on an impressive hot streak to start off the season, overcoming strong opponents such as Written In The Stars and taking the division by storm with their disciplined defensive routine and an exciting offensive trio with one of the leagues most exciting talents in @Tacterz. Their form somewhat dropped off towards the tail end of the regular season, but they still managed to finish 5th and put forth the best regular season in team history. Round 1 of the playoffs came knocking with Dynasty ahead. The traditionally well-performing Finns were too strong this time around, overcoming 112 with a series score of 4-2.

6.  Butterfly Effect - Regular season record 17-10-1 (Playoff wins 1)

After gaining promotion due to Evolution folding, these guys set out to prove they sure belong at the Elite level. Securing possibly the biggest offseason signing (@Vilupoika) ahead of ECL 7 was certainly a pivotal effort to kickstart FLY's run at the highest tier. The team came out swinging, claiming the #1 spot in the power rankings already in the first week of competition. A strong regular season proved that their good start wasn't just a quick run of form, but they were a serious contender. In the first playoff round Butterfly Effect faced 'big brother' Written In The Stars, who sent them packing 4-1.

7.  Northern Stars - Regular season record 14-8-6 (Playoff wins 1)

Another strong season was exhibited by NOS for ECL 7, where they made the playoffs for the 3rd straight season. Granted, their route into the playoffs was potentially more 'touch-and-go' than seasons past, as they were never able to really put distance between them and the all-out battle for 8th place between NOR, UB, RB & TF. NOS eventually fell to Symphony in the first round in 5 games, so like most teams in Elite, there are still improvements to be made if they want to move up the table and potentially challenge for a title.

8.  Northern Ascendancy  - Regular season record 14-10-4 (Playoff wins 1)

After a disastrous start, NOR were able to rescue their season in a last ditch effort. The veteran team went on a streak of 9-2-1 to finish after starting with an abysmal 5-8-3. Due to their low ranked berth they consequently drew FILA in the 1st round and inevitably fell in 5 games, signifying the end of an all round pretty forgettable season by NOR. 

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

9.  Unlucky Boys - Regular season record 14-11-3

After proving themselves as more than a nuisance in the playoffs last season one perhaps was expecting more of a showing by UB, who more than anything seemed to truly live up to their name this time round as they narrowly lost out on a playoff berth by a lone point. The demise of UB this season was definitely one of the weakest finishing few rounds of a season we've seen in a while.

10.  Rusty Blades - Regular season record 10-12-6

Compared with a lot of Elite teams from this season RB were somewhat consistent (although not exceptionally so), the aggravating thing for those from the RB side no doubt is the belief that if they just happened to play slightly better, earlier on in the season, as well as had a stronger finish,  they would have made the playoffs instead of finding themselves on the outside looking in for the second straight season. 

11.  Team Frosty - Regular season record 11-14-3

ECL 7 was the debut season for Team Frosty (formerly known as White Trash), if we look at it from such an angle we can surely say that they did a good job for the first time around. One of their strengths this past season was their goaltending, as @Mehiiss got 9 wins in 21 games with 82,4 SV%. Good goaltending isn't always enough to win you games, though. Offensively, Frosty seemed to do fine, as their leading scorer @Zip player managed to snag 39 points in 28 games. The problem seemed to have been in team defense however, a goal differential of -22 didn't earn them a playoff record this season.

12.  Almost Famous - Regular season record 11-15-2

Almost Famous were a debutant team this past season, possessing some definite potential with up-and-coming players such as centerman @Ikavalko. Even though they had some roster fluctuation during the season with two of their key players (@SadaPoika -> Unlucky Boys, @Nampa77 -> Team Frosty) leaving, aF managed to make some great signings such as having @Rimpe return from a stint in Gotham Knights and acquiring the very skilled goaltender @s_w1ld_rus. The season went pretty much as expected for the newcomer, some decent games but the consistency wasn't there to have some success yet.

13.  Gotham Knights - Regular season record 9-13-6

After ECL 6 Gotham Knights did something of a rebuild by making plenty of signings to take the next step. On paper, Gotham had a playoff capable roster, but something went wrong, even though @swagx88 stood tall, stopping 85% of shots faced. The season ended in relegation games. There were a lot of expectations on @Nieppii who had his first season in Elite and he did rather well offensively with 12 points in 23 games as a defenseman, but he needs to get better in his own zone. The cornerstone of the team for ECL 7 were their older players, @ReDMisTi in offense and the defensive leader @MKivinen95, though. After a difficult season, Gotham was relegated to Pro following a relegation series loss against Bucketeers.

14.  SIKA - Regular season record 5-19-4

What goes up, must invariably, come back down. Such is beginning to be tradition for SIKA at this point as they find themselves being demoted to Pro after a singular season in Elite for the second time (first one being ECL 4). For SIKA however, this time most likely has more of a sting to it, as they finished joint last (tied with FCM) with a measly 14 points over 28 games. Whether SIKA and captain @SpiderRoyal are able to replicate history and fight back into Elite is yet to be seen, but at the very least, this shows the level of play that Elite often demands and that getting promoted into it is only but half the battle. 

15.  Falun Coal Miners - Regular season record 4-18-6

RIP Kopparberget ⚰️ 

After a very solid opening season in Elite where they finished with 28pts in 30 games, it seemed as though that if Falun was able to make a couple choice free agent acquisitions and boost their offence, they could have very easily made the leap to the playoffs for ECL 7. Unfortunately, to say that that was not the case is perhaps a bit of an understatement. Their gf/g output dropped from 1.70 to 1.36, and their ga/g ballooned out to 3.68 from 2.27 just the season before. The cause of this is of course heavily debatable and exceptionally difficult to reduce down to a single player / reason, that said, it seems as though it was large dose of unluckiness as all of FCMs players appeared to have off-years simultaneously.

16.  Radical - Disqualified 

Disappointment.

That word alone describes Radical's season more accurately than any other. Not only was it a disappointment for the players of Radical, but it was also a disappointment for the spectators of Elite, as they were robbed of an extra 30 games at the very least and plays by some of the very best players at the most.

🏆
AWARDS

Playoff MVP: @PleeMaker

Most Points: @Dominointi, Written in the Stars, 26 Goals, 33 Assists, 59 Points in 28 games
Most Goals: @Vilupoika, Butterfly Effect, 28 Goals, 21 Assists, 49 Points in 28 games
Most Assists: @Eki, FILADELPHIA, 13 Goals, 37 Assists, 50 Points in 24 games
Most Hits by a Forward: @hpkfani, Dynasty, 160 Hits in 26 games
Best +/-: @jtorro1233, Written In The Stars, +49 in 26 games

Most Points by a Defenseman: @jtorro1233, Written in the Stars, 11 Goals, 20 Assists, 31 Points in 26 games
Most Goals by a Defenseman: @jtorro1233, Written in the Stars, 11 Goals, 20 Assists, 31 Points in 26 games
Most Assists by a Defenseman: @vatalisti, FILADELPHIA, 5 Goals, 22 Assists, 27 Points in 22 games
Most Hits by a Defenseman: @FakiiR1, Team Frosty, 144 Hits in 20 games

TOP 3'S OF ECL 6 ELITE

Top 3 Forwards Regular Season:

1. @Dominointi, Written in the Stars, 26 Goals, 33 Assists, 59 Points in 28 games
2. @PleeMaker, FILADELPHIA, 25 Goals, 30 Assists, 55 Points in 28 games
3. @FlyerKungen, Written in the Stars, 24 Goals, 30 Assists, 54 Points in 28 games

Top 3 Defenders Regular Season:

1. @jtorro1233, Written in the Stars, 11 Goals, 20 Assists, 31 Points in 26 games
2. @vatalisti, FILADELPHIA, 5 Goals, 22 Assists, 27 Points in 22 games
3. @Ilmari_30, Symphony, 4 Goals, 19 Assists, 23 Points in 28 games

Top 3 Goaltenders Regular Season:

1. @Hullued, Sjukstugan, 18 Wins, 89.02%, 1.33 GAA, 8 SO in 27 games
2. @poliskontroll, Northern Ascendancy, 14 Wins, 84.51%, 1.71 GAA, 6 SO in 28 games
3. @Mike Zigan, Northern Stars, 14 Wins, 84.32%, 1.60 GAA, 7 SO in 28 games

Top 3 Forwards Playoffs:

1. @PleeMaker, FILADELPHIA, 10 Goals, 19 Assists, 29 Points in 15 games
2. @Eki, FILADELPHIA, 9 Goals, 14 Assists, 23 Points in 15 games
3. @tbnantti, Symphony, 10 Goals, 12 Assists, 22 Points in 15 games

Top 3 Defender Playoffs:

1. @vSilenttio, Symphony, 2 Goals, 14 Assists, 16 Points in 15 games
2. @Ilmari_30, Symphony, 2 Goals, 7 Assists, 9 Points in 15 games
3. @vatalisti, FILADELPHIA, 1 Goals, 8 Assists, 9 Points in 15 games

Top 3 Goaltenders Playoffs:

1. @Zande95, FILADELPHIA, 11 Wins, 86.59%, 1.00 GAA, 5 SO in 13 games
2. @ICappeI, Symphony, 9 Wins, 89.18%, 1.23 GAA, 4 SO in 13 games
3. @Hansulinho, Written in the Stars, 4 Wins, 88.15%, 1.00 GAA, 3 SO in 9 games

We'll also be showcasing our controversial 'Top 6' of the season for Elite! What this means is a selection of six players in a starting lineup, that have showed exceptional skill and played a good season. Please note that all selections are subjective and they are made by community members who have been keeping an eye on ECL 7 Elite, in this case your Elite writing team. Hopefully we'll generate some discussion with this again:

@PleeMaker (FILADELPHIA) - @FlyerKungen (Written in the Stars) - @Eki (FILADELPHIA)
@vSilenttio (Symphony) - @vatalisti (FILADELPHIA)
@ICappeI (Symphony)

That's all she wrote for ECL 7, Gamers! The Elite Season Review will put a cap on ECL 7 and we'll be turning out heads into next week with a new season starting January 7th. Thanks again to all of you for being a part of this community and stay tuned for greater things to come!

ECL Elite Writing Team

@MartindalexC & @Serg1vratar

Hello NHLGamers, 

After another great season with a bit of this and that is done! ECL 8 Pro sure included everything you could've imagined,  and we've now arrived at what we call the end review. We had an exciting starting point to the season, as five teams were promoted at the end of ECL 6, leaving a lot of space in the division to be filled up. Some teams also folded in the offseason, freeing up even more. The Pro division experienced something of a cleanse, bringing in tons of new talent such as Raccoon Rampage or Bucketeers who were immediately looking to make an impact, some teams surely did that too!

In this review of the season, we'll be taking a brief look at the top eight teams of the season. All of these teams did an outstanding job and we even saw some great surprises among these teams. Without further ado, let's get to it:

Top 8 teams of ECL 7 Pro:

 
Deadly Phantoms HC - The champions of ECL 7 Pro had an incredible season. In all honesty, they couldn't have done it better. 1st in the group stage and capping off by winning the playoffs. Their players were topping almost all categories and positions, whilst still focusing on getting the wins, a feat in which they succeeded. After a tough 1st round in the playoffs vs Saints (4-3) they bounced back extremely well and got through the next rounds with only 3 losses in 3 rounds. It'll be great to follow this team in Elite next season and I think they could surprise and make the playoffs. Their record 27-3-0 was a proof of all that. 

 
Synergy Hockey - or shall we call them @DUNZA Hockeywall? It was all about their defense and brickwall DUNZA in net to lead them to a record of 22-6-2 with only 34 goals against in 30 games. After losing the final two games of the regular season against their direct rival Cowabunga Hockey, they finished 2nd but were able to go for a long playoff run which ended in the finals. Synergy experienced an unfortunate loss at the hands of DPH but still secured an Elite spot for the next season.

 
Bucketeers - The buckets had a season that could only be described as excellent and a massive upset. Due to the low amount of registered Pro teams they got called up to the big leagues and showed us all that they truly belong there. The semi-finalists won their promotion battle and now Elite is looming in the horizon. Their center @Demski13 stepped up big time in the playoffs and led them to a promotion. He was also ranked 2nd in points during the playoffs. 

 
Resurrection - Another semi-finalist that clinched promotion to Elite. After a tough end to the regular season with 3 wins in their last 10 games, Resurrection resurrected from the dead and got by both TIKI TALK and Speedy Bros Hockey in the 1st respective 2nd round. One of the difference makers was their goaltender @Jiihooo86 with 3 shutouts and over 82 in save% during the playoffs. 

 
Speedy Bros Hockey - Even if they came just one win short of the semi's, Speedy Bros Hockey still had a remarkable season and have the capability to play in even higher divisions, read Elite. They scored the most goals out of any team in group 1 and 2nd after Phantoms in the whole division. 

 
Wasps Gaming - The 2nd highest scoring team in group 1 had a great regular season finishing with the same point score as Synergy, the runners up this season. With a stunning start in the 1st round of the playoffs beating Belizzi 4-1, the Wasps were set for success when they were matched up against 8th seeded Bucketeers. Unfortunately for Wasps, Bucketeers came out swinging and had a run to remember, ending the season for Wasps Gaming. 

 
CLUB ONE - Maybe on of the biggest upsets this season was the victory of CLUB ONE against 3rd playoff seed Checkmate. Not only did they come out on top during this series but they did it in a dominant manner, 4-1. Synergy ended up being too much for them and their season ended in the 2nd round vs said team. A big reason for their success was goalscorer @makichuk, with 39 regular season goals and 6 in the playoffs he showed his importance for the team.

 
Pata Hellalla - After just and about clinching a playoff spot in group 2, Pata showed real strength and experience in the playoffs. Getting by the 2nd seeded Cowabunga Hockey 4-0 in the first round. Yes, you read me right - FOUR to ZERO. Not bad for the last seeded team. Unfortunately for Pata, the later champions were waiting in round 2 leading to a rather one-sided series, being sent home with a score of 4-0.

Promotions to Elite:

Deadly Phantoms HC

Synergy Hockey

Bucketeers

Resurrection

Relegations to Lite:

Free From Rodents

Nordic Nosebleed

Sektion K

Unity

As last seasons recap, this seasons will also be in form of an official NHLGamer ranking.

The ECL 7 Pro division ranking (Sorted by playoff wins, P/G and relegation faceoff wins):

1.  Deadly Phantoms HC (Group 1) - 16 Playoff wins, regular season record -- 27-3-0

2.  Synergy Hockey (Group 1) - 13 Playoff wins,  regular season record -- 22-6-2

3.  Bucketeers (Group 2) - 10 Playoff wins, 4 promotion faceoff wins, regular season record -- 19-8-3

4.  Resurrection (Group 2) - 9 Playoff wins, 4 promotion faceoff wins, regular season record -- 21-5-4

5.  Speedy Bros Hockey (Group 1) - 7 Playoff wins, regular season record -- 21-8-1

6.  Wasps Gaming (Group 1) - 6 Playoff wins, regular season record -- 21-5-4

7.  CLUB ONE (Group 1) - 5 Playoff wins, regular season record -- 17-10-3

8.  Pata Hellalla (Group 2) - 4 Playoff wins, regular season record -- 14-10-6

9.  Saints (Group 1) - 3 Playoff wins, regular season record -- 16-10-4

10.  EN HUND (Group 1) - 2 Playoff wins, regular season record -- 17-9-4

11.  TIKI TALK (Group 1) - 2 Playoff wins, regular season record -- 18-11-1

12.  Checkmate (Group 2) - 1 Playoff win, regular season record -- 23-6-1

13.  Bellizzi (Group 2) - 1 Playoff win, regular season record -- 16-10-4

14.  Cowabunga Hockey (Group 1) - 0 Playoff wins, regular season record -- 23-4-3

15.  Raging Monkeys (Group 2) - 0 Playoff wins, regular season record -- 19-8-3

16.  Born With It (Group 2) - 0 Playoff wins, regular season record -- 17-12-1

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

17.  Raccoon Rampage (Group 1) Regular season record -- 16-11-3

18.  GHETTO FIREBIRDS (Group 1) Regular season record -- 14-10-6

19.  The Visionaries (Group 2) Regular season record -- 14-11-5

20.  Style (Group 1) Regular season record -- 14-12-4

21.  Pohjoista Voimaa (Group 2) Regular season record -- 14-12-4

22.  Baltic Sea Eagles (Group 1) Regular season record -- 14-12-4

23.  Silver Sword Griffins (Group 2) Regular season record -- 13-15-2

24.  Le Coq Sportif (Group 2) Regular season record -- 9-11-10

25.  Nordic Stars (Group 2) - 4 Relegation faceoff wins, regular season record -- 11-14-5

26.  Bone Breakers (Group 2) - 4 Relegation faceoff wins, regular season record -- 10-14-5

27.  Murohoki (Group 1) - 4 Relegation faceoff wins, regular season record -- 8-14-8

28.  EV Duisburg (Group 1) - 4 Relegation faceoff wins, regular season record -- 9-17-4

29.  Unity (Group 1) - 3 Relegation faceoff wins, regular season record -- 9-18-3

30.  Sektion K (Group 2) - 1 Relegation faceoff win, regular season record -- 5-19-6

31.  Nordic Nosebleed (Group 2) - 0 Relegation faceoff wins, regular season record -- 5-19-6

32.  Free From Rodents (Group 1) - 0 Relegation faceoff wins, regular season record -- 1-29-0

AWARDS
 

Playoff MVP: @Rayman (The_Rayman80)

Most Points: @Tzon93, 53 Goals, 47 Assists, 100 Points in 41 games
Most Goals: @Rayman, 62 Goals, 27 Assists, 89 Points in 45 games
Most Assists: @Playmaker, 33 Goals, 63 Assists, 96 Points in 45 games
Most Hits by a Forward: @vilperi90, 224 Hits in 35 games 
Best +/-: @Tim_FlyersFan & @Playmaker, +67 in 34 & 45 games

Most Points by a Defenseman: @Mannheimer1938, 11 Goals, 46 Assists, 57 Points in 41 games
Most Goals by a Defenseman: @Mannheimer1938, 11 Goals, 46 Assists, 57 Points in 41 games
Most Assist by a Defenseman: @Mannheimer1938, 11 Goals,  46 Assists, 57 Points in 41 games
Most Hits by a Defenseman: @Speedy104 (speedcell104), 278 Hits in 35 Games

TOP 3'S OF ECL 7 PRO

Top 3 Forwards Regular Season:

1. @Playmaker, 26 Goals, 53 Assists, 79 Points in 25 games
2. @Tzon93, 38 Goals, 37 Assists, 75 Points in 30 games
3. @Tim_FlyersFan, 27 Goals, 40 Assists, 67 Points in 19 games

Top 3 Defenders Regular Season:

1. @AndreasLeafs, 5 Goals, 31 Assists, 36 Points in 30 games
2. @oo-joyst1ck-oo, 2 Goals, 31 Assists, 33 Points in 30 games
3. @SolenX86, 4 Goals, 26 Assists, 30 Points in 27 games

Top 3 Goaltenders Regular Season:

1. @RPH_31, 25 Wins, 88.60 %, 1.00 GAA, 9 SO in 27 games
2. @Jonitski, 23 Wins, 89.52 %, 1.10 GAA, 8 SO in 30 games
3. @DUNZA, 21 Wins, 86.19 %, 1.13 GAA, 12 SO in 29 games

Top 3 Forwards Playoffs:

1. @Rayman, 23 Goals, 12 Assists, 35 Points in 22 games
2. @Demski13, 13 Goals, 17 Assists, 30 Points in 17 games
3. @Isindar, 10 Goals, 18 Assists, 28 Points in 19 games

Top 3 Defender Playoffs:

1. @Mannheimer1938, 2 Goals, 19 Assists, 21 Points in 21 games
2. @riihimaenharski,  0 Goals, 15 Assists, 15 Points in 11 games
3. @Supremski, 2 Goals, 9 Assists, 11 Points in 17 games

Top 3 Goaltenders Playoffs:
1. @RPH_31, 16 Wins, 84.44 %, 1.59 GAA, 6 SO in 22 games
2. @DUNZA, 13 Wins, 88.34 %, 1.00 GAA, 7 SO in 19 games
3. @Vampyrgurkan, 10 Wins, 84.07 %, 1.47 GAA, 1 SO in 17 games

The controversial 'Top 6' of the season is making a comeback! What this means is a selection of six players in a starting lineup, that have showed exceptional skill and played a good season. Please note that all selections are subjective and they are made by community members who have been keeping an eye on ECL 7 Pro, in this case your Pro writing team. Without further ado, here's the top 6 of our Pro division in ECL 7:

                      @Tzon93 (Speedy Bros Hockey) - @Playmaker (Deadly Phantoms) - @Rayman (Deadly Phantoms)
                                            @Mannheimer1938 (Deadly Phantoms) - @Supremski (Synergy Hockey)
                                                                                     @DUNZA (Synergy Hockey)

There you have it, Gamers. With this review, we're happy to wrap up ECL 7 Pro and turn our looks towards what season 8 brings our way. We'd like to extend a massive thanks to all participants, see you next season!

Pro Writing Team

@Panarinz & @Mannheimer1938

Editor

@jahajaha93

Hey NHLGamers,

ECL 7 was the biggest season for our community yet! That's both in terms of registered teams, players and the newly introduced price pool. Once again, we were treated to some incredibly exciting action as skillful teams and players went head-to-head in all three divisions. We'll be kicking off our look in the rearview mirror with this season review of ECL 7 Lite, which included a total of 73 teams divided into eight groups.

Group 1:

The Black Jacks 

The eventual champions surely had a season to remember! This Swiss-based team went into their second ECL season with one goal in mind only: promotion. Their offensive trio of @Krinke-@Original-SnuS-@Freeman7187 was unstoppable and proved incredible dominance all season long as the fast-paced passing ice hockey seems to have been absolute poison to the opposing teams. With their promotion it'll be interesting to see if they'll be sticking together to continue on the same note in the Pro division. Arguably, their breakout game and defense will need to step up in order to compete on the next level.

The Black Jacks managed to string together a row of excellent performances all season long, seeding 3rd into the playoffs and being in the driver seat through most of their playoff matchups too. Their second round opponent Lehmannen Badboyz proved to be a difficult obstacle to overcome though, as the series went into game 7 and nail-biting overtime before captain @Original-SnuS sent the Badboyz packing. All in all, the performance put up by TBJ this season was nothing short of perfection, as they absolutely crushed the whole division and put forth a very convincing run to the championship.

Mentula SKA

Mentula SKA was a team that a bit surprisingly battled their way to a promotion spot. They're in their third season of ECL competition already without any mentionable prior success. However, this season was one to take note of. The team has managed to stick together for a few seasons and seemed to find some consistency this year. Also the acquisition of their top scorer and rookie @Meiccimoi seemed to have been a key factor in their success.

Group 2:

The Next Gen

Newly established TnG was an interesting team all season due to their roster including lots and lots of 1vs1 talent and some young, potential players. Their talent seems to have translated well into 6vs6 play as the team managed to pave their way through to the finals, where they suffered a tough 4-2 series loss at the hands of The Black Jacks.

Rajatorpan Mafia

Rajatorpan Mafia put up a respectable fight this season, finishing 2nd in their group and going on until round 3 in the playoffs before being eliminated by Dubnation Gaming. The team has an extremely strong defensive game, showcased by their 0,94 GA/GP in the groupstage. Lack of firepower ended up being their demise in the playoffs.

Group 3:

We Kings

We Kings consist of some veteran players who are making a very welcome comeback into the scene and being rather successful in doing so. The team went undefeated for a large part of the group stage, falling just short of a perfect run in the closing rounds. Captain @Hbnzo and everyone's favourite tactician @pelimies80 were the most important building blocks in the success of the team this season.

SPARTANS

Newly formed SPARTANS had a strong showing in ECL 7, managing to pave their way into the quarter finals where they fell one win short against Supernatural. When watching this team, don't miss LD @Drunkendefender, who accounted for 1/4 of the teams total goals in the regular season and led his team in scoring in the playoffs. Talk about an offensive defenseman!

Group 4:

Prowlers

Swedish team Prowlers did good in the groupstage, but ended up falling short in a disappointing round 3 exit against the lower seeded Infinity. In fact, Prowlers were on fire offensively and managed to seed 6th into the playoffs while scoring a total of 71 goals. Their top scorer of the regular season was @RullAthor1991, who amassed 60 points in 18 games.


Farminaattori

Farminaattori is a new acquaintance for me, personally. The team is rumoured to play a fast paced hockey, the kind some might call straight up wild. Their game seemed to work out fine in the group stage, pushing them into the playoffs at 7th seed, a push which ended rather quick in the second round at the hands of community sweethearts Elämäm Kiekko.

Group 5:

Dubnation Gaming

Dubnation is a team full of young potential players. They don't play a flashy game, but it is effective in securing points. You could say they have a more mature playstyle than you'd expect from a new Lite team. Despite not scoring a tremendous amount of goals, the team managed to do very well throughout the season, which didn't end until the quarter finals when they came up against the eventual champions The Black Jacks.

K A R H U T

The roster of K A R H U T include some veteran names such as @Ubula (RuttuBerse), the team was placed in an arguably easy group 5, which they handled very well, ultimately seeding into the playoffs at 23rd. Winger @Jii1984 led the team from the front all the way into the 3rd playoff round, where they were knocked out by Supernatural.

Group 6:

Clowns On Ice

I think we can call Clowns On Ice a veteran team by now. They're a common sight on the ice and have managed to string together a few good seasons recently, making the playoffs of ECL Pro last season. However, the team lost captain @Tim_FlyersFan in the offseason and decided to step back a bit. They must feel rather dissappointed about the outcome though, as a convincing groupstage wasn't enough, they fell short in the playoffs against Supremacy in the 3rd round.


Poston Fruits

Led by veteran Lite player @Jobeyz, Poston Fruits were making their inaugural appearance in the ECL and did so on a successful note. Although being eliminated in the second round by SPARTANS must sting, we'll be hoping for a comeback in ECL 8.

Group 7:

Supernatural

Supernatural is a team consisting of several experienced players who haven't really managed to find a home for themselves in an established team. We were surely aware that this was a skilled group of guys, but I must say they put up a far better performance than I expected. The team seeded 8th into the playoffs and kept their level of play high in the playoffs, eventually faltering in the semifinals against The Next Gen.

Supremacy

Former Soldiers of Odens consists of some very skilled and potential players who seem to be playing the game rather casually. I know the skill level and potential is there to see some success in ECL games too and they started showing signs of that in ECL 7. Supremacy finished 3rd in their group, seeding 24th into the playoffs, but took their minor underdog status and ran with it all the way to the quarter-finals, where they didn't manage to surprise The Next Gen.

Group 8:

Rukoilevat Hinkkaajat

Hinkkaajat has been grinding it out in Lite for some seasons already, often having a decent group stage campaign but quickly running into trouble in the playoffs. This season showed some promise as they were able to win their first two playoff matchups, but ended up falling short against The Next Gen in round 3.

Finnish Snipers

Finnish Snipers looked great in the groupstage and through the first round of the playoffs, as they dominated group 8 and seeded 2nd into the playoffs. Hockey Hooligans was no match in the first round but groupstage opponent Rukoilevat Hinkkaajat sent them home in round 2.

Under the radar:


Freddie Mercury Institute

FMI is a tough team to play due to their tight defensive trap, but they've had trouble converting in the offensive zone. This season they ended up in a quite tough group together with the likes of We Kings and SPARTANS, eventually finishing 3rd in the group and seeding into the playoffs at 13th. The team managed to make their way into the quarter finals, where they suffered a devastating loss against Mentula SKA.

AWARDS
 

Playoff MVP: @Original-SnuS

Most Points: @Original-SnuS, The Black Jacks, 37 Goals, 53 Assists, 90 Points in 18 games
Most Goals: @Original-SnuS, The Black Jacks, 37 Goals, 53 Assists, 90 Points in 18 games
Most Assists: @Original-SnuS, The Black Jacks, 37 Goals, 53 Assists, 90 Points in 18 games
Most Hits by a Forward: @Enerfity, Finnish Snipers, 142 Hits in 16 games 
Best +/-: @Freeman7187, The Black Jacks, +62 in 18 games

Most Points by a Defenseman: @Drunkendefender, SPARTANS, 13 Goals, 25 Assists, 38 Points in 16 games
Most Goals by a Defenseman: @Drunkendefender, SPARTANS, 13 Goals, 25 Assists, 38 Points in 16 games
Most Assist by a Defenseman: @Drunkendefender, SPARTANS, 13 Goals, 25 Assists, 38 Points in 16 games
Most Hits by a Defenseman: @kenamo28, Outrageous Falcons, 92 Hits in 24 Games

TOP 3'S OF ECL 7 LITE

Top 3 Forwards Regular Season:

1. @Original-SnuS, The Black Jacks, 37 Goals, 53 Assists, 90 Points in 18 games
2. @Freeman7187, The Black Jacks, 37 Goals, 36 Assists, 73 Points in 18 games
3. @Krinke , The Black Jacks, 27 Goals, 37 Assists, 64 Points in 14 games

Top 3 Defenders Regular Season:

1. @Drunkendefender, SPARTANS, 13 Goals, 25 Assists, 38 Points in 16 games
2. @Koppipelaaja, The Next Gen, 3 Goals, 25 Assists, 28 Points in 16 games
3. @pelimies80, We Kings, 5 Goals, 19 Assists, 24 Points in 14 games

Top 3 Goaltenders Regular Season:

1. @ramseyy2, The Next Gen, 16 Wins, 87,36%, 1,27 GAA, 5 SO in 18 games
2. @PeeloJombb, Mentula SKA, 15 Wins, 87,50%, 1,22 GAA, 4 SO in 18 games
3. @mythThor, Prowlers, 15 Wins, 86,34%, 1,55 GAA, 2 SO in 16 games

Top 3 Forwards Playoffs:

1. @Original-SnuS, The Black Jacks, 39 Goals, 48 Assists, 87 Points in 32 games
2. @Krinke, The Black Jacks, 42 Goals, 42 Assists, 84 Points in 32 games
3. @Freeman7187, The Black Jacks, 36 Goals, 39 Assists, 75 Points in 32 games

Top 3 Defender Playoffs:

1. @Drunkendefender, SPARTANS, 18 Goals, 31 Assists, 49 Points in 21 games
2. @Koppipelaaja, The Next Gen, 6 Goals, 21 Assists, 27 Points in 32 games
3. @burban26, The Black Jacks, 3 Goals, 22 Assists, 25 Points in 16 games

Top 3 Goaltenders Playoffs:
1. @ramseyy2, The Next Gen, 22 Wins, 89,78%, 1,50 GAA, 9 SO in 32 games
2. @PeeloJombb, Mentula SKA, 17 Wins, 83,68%, 1,70 GAA, 3 SO in 27 games
3. @afc_Tschitsch, The Black Jacks, 15 Wins, 84,91%, 1,94 GAA, 3 SO in 18 games

The controversial 'Top 6' of the season is making a comeback! What this means is a selection of six players in a starting lineup, that have showed exceptional skill and played a good season. Please note that all selections are subjective and they are made by community members who have been keeping an eye on ECL 7 Lite. Without further ado, here's the top 6 of our Lite division in ECL 7:

@Krinke (The Black Jacks) - @Original-SnuS (The Black Jacks) - @Freeman7187 (The Black Jacks)
@Drunkendefender (SPARTANS) - @Koppipelaaja (The Next Gen)
@ramseyy2 (The Next Gen)

The NHLGamer staff congratulates The Black Jacks for winning the Lite division and furthermore The Next Gen, Mentula SKA and Supernatural for their promotions to the Pro division.
We want to thank all participating teams for their efforts and hope you all enjoyed the season! If you have any suggestions on how we could improve our website, please let us know by contacting any staff member.

The recaps of our other divisions will be published soon, so keep your eyes peeled!

Hey NHLGamers, 

FILADELPHIA have been crowned as this season's Elite champion by besting Symphony 4 games to 2. As such, NHLGamer would like to congratulate each and every player from FILA for putting on a masterclass en route to their title. Additionally, we would also like to thank everyone that participated across all divisions this ECL for making each game as memorable as the last. 

If you missed out on any of the games from the finals then you can check out our Twitch channel where all games will be available to watch. 

https://www.twitch.tv/nhlgamer/videos

The game by game results for the series are as follows:

Game 1: Symphony - FILADELPHIA 2:1 (OT)

Game 2: FILADELPHIA - Symphony 3:2

Game 3: Symphony - FILADELPHIA 4:2

Game 4: FILADELPHIA - Symphony 2:0

Game 5: Symphony - FILADELPHIA 1:2 (OT)

Game 6: FILADELPHIA - Symphony 2:1 (2nd OT)

FILADELPHIA's championship roster:

GOALTENDERS

#8 M. Paasikontu @FinKonna

#88 O. Grönroos @Zande95

DEFENSEMEN

#7 J. Jäte @vatalisti

#71 -. Hoosii @oGBioLan

#82 M. Nyqi @Janzuh

FORWARDS

#10 M. Heikkilä @mikaasi

#24 J. Heirala @FIN_Potilas

#25 E. Tammenpää @Eki

#44 P. Arontie @PleeMaker

#86 J. Paatiala @Patzlaf

FILADELPHIA's road to the trophy: 

Regular season: 23-4-1 (1st)

Quarterfinals: 4:1 vs. Northern Ascendancy

Semifinals: 4:0 vs. Dynasty

Finals: 4:2 vs. Symphony

Once again, NHLGamer would like to extend a warm thank you to all participants and every single member of this great community! We've completed yet another successful season of ECL hockey and the next season is creeping up on us quick! Enjoy your holidays and get ready to step on the virtual ice again early 2019!

Your NHLGamer Staff

Hey NHLGamers,

The ECL 7 Lite Final has now been played and we have a winner! 

In their second ECL season, The Black Jacks set an objective that was very clear - promotion. Very well, they certainly had a season to remember and succeeded in accomplishing their goals set. Their offense dominated the Lite division all season long, finishing 1st, 2nd and 3rd in the top scorers department by amassing 246 points between their three top forwards @julmi21 (Original-SnuS), @Freeman7187 and @Krinke. The trio continued their scoring in the playoffs, being one of the decisive factors for the success of TBJ this season. They marched on convincingly through almost every playoff matchup, the only team to really surprise them was Lehmannen Badboyz, who took their round 2 series into game 7 overtime. Captain Original-SnuS bailed TBJ out with arguably the most important goal of the season to push them forward, ultimately all the way.

If you missed any of the action, you can check the games out on Twitch.

These are the results of the final series:

Game 1: The Next Gen vs The Black Jacks 6-7

Game 2: The Black Jacks vs The Next Gen 2-1

Game 3: The Next Gen vs The Black Jacks 3-2

Game 4: The Black Jacks vs The Next Gen 2-3

Game 5: The Next Gen vs The Black Jacks 1-2

Game 6: The Black Jacks vs The Next Gen 2-1

The Black Jacks - Championship roster:

GOALTENDERS

#22 @afc_Tschitsch

#30 @NHLDennis86

DEFENSEMEN

#7 @Cami_7

#66 @Bille1990

#77 @Tornado.hr

#88 @burban26

FORWARDS

#6 @Krinke

#13 @Freeman7187

#15 @Tron1x90

#16 @RudY51

#21 @julmi21 (Original-SnuS)

TBJ's road to the cup:

16-2-0 during the regular season, seeding 3rd into the playoffs.
24-5-3 in the playoffs.

Round 1: 4-0 VS HC Keskikalja

Round 2: 4-3 VS Lehmannen Badboyz

Round 3: 4-0 VS Infinity

Quarterfinals: 4-2 VS Dubnation Gaming

Semifinals: 4-1 VS Mentula SKA

Finals: 4-2 VS The Next Gen

Congratulations to TBJ on behalf of the whole NHLGamer staff!

Thanks for tuning in NHLGamers! Be on the lookout for the season recap article, up soon.

Your NHLGamer Editor

jahajaha93

Hey NHLGamers,

ECL 7 is nearing its end as we only have some final games left to play. These are of course the most exciting games of the season and I highly recommend all of you to tune in for the games on our Twitch channel.

This article is a small informative post for you ahead of ECL 8.

Let's start off by confirming that ECL 8 will start on January 7th, 2019. All divisions will have the same kick-off date. The seasons will be finished late February to early March. With this article we also launch the signups for ECL 8!

If you don't know what I'm talking about by now, here's a briefing of what ECL is; ECL is a competitive EA Sports NHL League. Games are played in the EASHL game mode in a 6vs6 manner. Since ECL 4, we have implemented a divisions framework with Lite being entry level without restrictions, Pro being our mid-level and Elite holding the best 16 teams in Europe. A season in each division consists of a group stage/regular season and playoffs.  

Here is the ECL framework for season 8 and other details we can confirm:

• Regional restrictions: ECL is a European tournament format, however we do not necessarily exclude North American or Russian players. North American players are not allowed to host matches / be captain in the lineup, which means all games need to take place on European servers. This also applies to Russian players - please evaluate your previous connection experience against some of the teams participating in the ECL, especially if you live in eastern parts of your country (which likely connects you to US West servers). In case of severe connection issues, we reserve the right to exclude teams or players.
• 6 vs. 6 tournament: ECL is played 6 vs. 6 only, using the EASHL Challenge Club game mode in NHL 19.
• Individual requirements: Each player needs to have an account at NHLGamer.com and create his personal player card.
• Roster requirements: Teams in ECL Elite need to have at least 7 players to sign up. Teams in ECL Pro and ECL Lite need to have at least 8 players to sign up. The roster cap is 14 players.
• ECL Elite license: Teams in ECL Elite will be required to pay for an ECL Elite license in order to play for the prize pool (more details to follow).
• Sign-up period: Signups open now. Registrations are open until Wednesday 2.1.2019, 23:59 CET.
• ECL 8 Kick-off: ECL Lite, Pro and Elite are set to begin on Monday 7th of January. 
• The return of the All-star Weekend: The ECL Elite All-star Weekend will return for season 8. Details will be announced later (please feel free to discuss your ideas).
• ECL Elite live final: The ECL Elite Final of season 8 will be played at a live event between the 1st and 3rd of March, 2019 (more details to follow).
• Rules: The ECL 8 ruleset will follow the same foundation as in season 7. We will fine-tune the rules a little bit, but more information is to follow. Meanwhile, you can find the ECL 7 rules here.
• Gamedays: In order to allow fans to better enjoy the action of the different divisions, we are suggesting the following:
  • ECL Elite default game days: MON, WED, THU
  • ECL Pro default game days: MON, WED, SUN
  • ECL Lite default game days: MON, TUE, SUN

Where and how to sign up?

Gather a team and register your team in one of the threads linked below. As stated, the entry level is ECL Lite.

 Elite

Teams Eligible: All teams NOT relegated from ECL 7 Elite, the finalists of ECL 7 Pro, teams who won ECL 7 Elite relegation faceoffs.

 Pro

Teams Eligible: All teams NOT relegated or promoted from ECL 7 Pro, all semi-finalists of ECL 7 Lite, teams who won ECL 7 Pro relegation faceoffs.

 Lite

Teams Eligible: All teams who are not eligible for an Elite or Pro spot.

We're hoping for feedback on what you want from season 8 as there is still time for adjustments, so don't be shy to give us your thoughts in the comment section below. Also ask questions, we'll answer as best we can!

Stay tuned for more information coming soon!

The end of the line.

That's where we've come. Season 7 of ECL Elite consisted of 15 teams in total, fighting tooth and nail for each and every point available. The regular season was tougher than ever - no, that isn't an overstatement. We were treated to exciting matchups all the way to the end as the last regular season matchups were decisive for the outcome of the regular season winner, as well as regulation matchups and the very last few available playoff spots.

Your ECL 7 Elite Final matchup:

(1)  FILADELPHIA - Symphony  (2)

In competitive matchups, FILADELPHIA and Symphony have gone head-to-head a total of six times within the last few months, game wins being tied at 3-3 as it stands currently. FILA managed to overcome SYM in two games during the Finnish Championship Semifinals, but it's worth noting that SYM has swapped centerman @ADETIKKI for @tbnantti since. Their more recent ECL games ended 2-0 and 3-2 in favor of SYM, meaning FILA is yet to win against Symphony 2.0.

@Eki and @PleeMaker of the FILA lineup have a big weekend behind them, with some tight 1vs1 games in the Finnish Championships that eventually had the pair meet in the Finals, where Eki was able to come out on top and win the title. We'll see if the wear of grinding live games for a day straight is still taking its toll as the big ECL games start tonight. It's an interesting game FILA plays, as their tasks are rather nicely divided on the ice. They have a more defensive defenseman in @Janzuh, who controls the pace of the game at appropriate times whereas his partner @vatalisti is the more offensive part we get to see more of on the breakout. Wingers Eki and Plee link up beautifully while "Mr. Selke" @Patzlaf hangs back and provides danger coming in the second wave. @Zande95 has been the brick wall we are used to seeing in net. 

Symphony's gone through an intriguing development during the season. They went from being just a shell of the former SJK eSports to an Finnish Championship (IS Cup 3) bronze medalist to an ECL Finalist. Some would call that a decent development curve, which is exactly what I'm doing in this preview. Their opponent is absolutely stacked to the gills with talent, but so is Symphony. Goaltender @ICappeI has been dominating the competition, setting a new Elite regular season record of 8 shutouts in 10 games. I don't regard their defense with @vSilenttio and @Ilmari_30 as balanced as FILA's counterpart, but the duo has still proven that they can swing against the best of them. @tbnantti at center seems to be what the doctor ordered for Symphony as the team has consistently improved since his addition. 

A few interesting notes stat-wise are that Symphony is the more physical team of the two, with especially Puantso and vSilenttio leading the way in that department. The explanation for this might be that FILA is controlling the puck more in most of their matchups. FILA seems to shoot slightly more than Symphony, as the shots for differential is 110 to 92 in favor of FILA in the playoffs so far. 

This is really a tough battle that can go either way and neither team winning would be an upset. FILA has, however managed to build quite the winning culture both as a team and for their individual players and head into the series as the favorite. 

Our prediction: FILADELHPIA wins 4-2

FILADELPHIA starting lineup evaluated by @ICappeI

LW @PleeMaker 9GP, 7+12=19

FILADELPHIA's best player. Always a threat when he has the puck.

C @Patzlaf 9GP, 7+5=12

Mr. Selke. Great two-way player.

RW @Eki 9GP, 6+10=16

Also a great two-way player, who’s linking up good with Plee.

LD @Janzuh 9GP, 0+3=3

Their most experienced guy. A calm player who doesn’t do a lot of mistakes.

RD @vatalisti 9GP, 1+5=6

The best offensive d-man in the game. Will be interesting to see if he can handle Hans Moleman. (Puantso)  

G @sibeelius 7GP, 7W, 91.89 SV%, 0.42 GAA, 4 SO

Amazing G! Looking forward to play against him. I think that both of us is going to face our most difficult challenge of the season in this series.

Vatalisti scored the decisive goal of the Finnish Championship 6vs6 finals. (Picture courtesy of Mika Tuononen)

Symphony starting lineup evaluated by @Eki

LW @Buantso 9GP, 6+8=14

The best player in symphony and one of the best players in the game . You can see he was born in a hockey family 🙂

C  @tbnantti 9GP, 7+10=17

Symphony started playing better as soon as Antti started playing. Is that a coincidence? I don't think so. 

RW @indi969 9GP, 7+4=11

Solid two way forward. Very easy player to play with. 

LD   @vSilenttio 9GP, 0+11=11

Good sense of humor. 

RD @Ilmari_30 9GP, 2+5=7

Very good offensive defenseman, one of the best in the game. But could improve defensively. 

G  @ICappeI 7GP, 7W, 94.44 SV%, 0.57 GAA, 4 SO

The 2nd best goalie in the game. Haven't really been tested this year so I'm interested to see how he does in the Finals.

Symphony finished 3rd in the Finnish Championships and have a chance to go all the way in ECL 7. (Picture courtesy of Mika Tuononen)

How to watch the finals?

All of the ECL Elite Finals will be broadcasted with English commentary on our Twitch channel, which can be found at twitch.tv/NHLGamer, be sure to join us for the action!

Schedule for the finals:
Game 1: Monday, 17th of December 20:30 CET Symphony vs FILADELPHIA
Game 2: Monday, 17th of December 21:00 CET FILADELPHIA vs Symphony
Game 3: Tuesday, 18th of December 20:30 CET Symphony vs FILADELPHIA
Game 4: Tuesday, 18th of December 21:00 CET FILADELPHIA vs Symphony
Game 5: Thursday, 20th of December 20:30 CET Symphony vs FILADELPHIA
Game 6: Thursday, 20th of December 21:00 CET FILADELPHIA vs Symphony
Game 7: Thursday, 20th of December 21:30 CET Symphony vs FILADELPHIA

Tonight's matchups for games 1 & 2

What are your expectations for the games? Let us know your thoughts below!

Hey NHLGamers,

The ECL 7 Pro Final has now been played and we have a winner! 

After a long season with a total of 52 games played, we're able to crown Deadly Phantoms HC the champions of ECL 7 Pro! DPH had an excellent playoff run, where they were able to overcome adversity and power on until the end. They really made a statement in the finals by dominating opponent Synergy Hockey. The final series were expected to be very tightly contested as both teams play a very conservative game, leaving very little to chance and defending well. Synergy had a tough time figuring out the German defense and fell short this time. Both teams are promoted directly to ECL Elite for season 8. Congratulations to the teams!

If you missed any of the action, you can check the games out on DPH's twitch channel.

These are the results of the final series:

Game 1: Synergy Hockey @ Deadly Phantoms | 2-1 OT

Game 2: Deadly Phantoms @ Synergy Hockey | 3-2 OT

Game 3: Synergy Hockey @ Deadly Phantoms | 2-3 OT

Game 4: Deadly Phantoms @ Synergy Hockey | 1-0

Game 5: Synergy Hockey @ Deadly Phantoms | 1-2

Deadly Phantoms HC - Championship roster:

GOALTENDERS
#30 @RPH_31

DEFENSEMEN
#23 @gzell60

#27 @Mannheimer1938

#40 @willywonkaaa

#83 @steveERC

#90 @Jeason99

FORWARDS
#11 @neymar92ftrio2

#13 @Rayman (The_Rayman80)

#16 @Tim_FlyersFan

#87 @Daniel Thenextone (XxTHENEXTONE89xX)

#96 @Playmaker (Playmaker1010)

DPH's road to the cup:

27-3-0 during the regular season, seeding 1st into the playoffs.
16-4-2 in the playoffs.

Round 1: 4-3 VS Saints

Quarterfinals: 4-0 VS Pata Hellalla

Semifinals: 4-2 VS Bucketeers

Finals: 4-1 VS Synergy Hockey

Thanks for tuning in NHLGamers! Be on the lookout for the season recap article, up soon.

Pro Writing Team

@Panarinz & @jahajaha93

73 teams down, two remain standing. 

It's been a wild ECL 7 in 'The Jungle' formally known as ECL Lite. As we know, the Lite regular season is probably not as tightly contested as in our other divisions simply due to the fact that a vast majority of teams will make the playoffs. The playoffs, however, are an absolute free-for-all. With 64 teams making the playoffs, we've now weeded through five rounds in order to make it to the finals, that's a lot of games right there. Number one seed The Next Gen has played a total of 25 playoff games so far and the opposing number 3 seed The Black Jacks have fought through a total of 26 playoff battles. 
 

Here's what our ECL 7 Lite Final matchup looks like:

(1)  The Next Gen vs The Black Jacks  (3)

As previously stated, both teams have fought a long way to make it to the final. There's still a lot of hockey left to play, so let's hope their tanks don't run empty and there is some hunger left to claim the very top spot of ECL 7 Lite.

Seeding first into the playoffs, we have the favourite from Finland, The Next Gen. The offensively strong team started off with a 'bang', sweeping Bombers Hockey in the first round. After this, they've ran through their opponents at a rather steady pace (Pink Panthers HC 4-2, Rukoilevat Hinkkaajat 4-0, Supremacy 4-2 and Supernatural 4-2). You could see that the opponents were getting tougher as the games went on, but the playoff favourites still managed to engine their way on. By advancing to the semifinals The Next Gen gets to enjoy a promotion to ECL Pro for season 8.

On the opposing side is a team from small Switzerland, The Black Jacks. TBJ has had a similar playoff run as their final opponents, but they ended up with a close scare in round 2 against Lehmannen Badboyz. Their round 2 went into overtime of game seven until captain and center @julmi21 (Original-SnuS) scored the decisive goal. This is the complete run of TBJ: HC Keskikalja 4-0, Lehmannen Badboyz 4-3, Infinity 4-0, Dubnation Gaming, 4-2, Mentula SKA 4-1. Alike their final opponents, TBJ has secured promotion to ECL Pro for season 8 by advancing to the semifinals.

It'll be interesting to see these teams go at it, as we without a doubt have two highly skilled opponents going head-to-head. The Next Gen packs a massive amount of individual skill and holds several young and potential players, whereas The Black Jacks are probably more reliant on their routine and some set plays in their game. Both teams like to use their center as a target player to set up their game, so it'll be a battle of who can execute said strategy better. My personal opinion is that TnG has a slight advantage in skill level but TBJ is a more coherent unit. Margins are small and I expect a tightly contested series. My prediction is TnG in 7.

Head-to-head

The Next Gen          The Black Jacks
C NikkeDangles          C Original-SnuS
LW Ninjawiq          LW Krinke
RW thounidinho          RW Freeman7187
LD koppipelaaja          LD Bille1990
RD lambu89          RD Cami__7
G ramseyyy2          G Afc_Tschitsch

TOP SCORER
Thounidinho (25GP, 22+23=45) vs Krinke (26GP, 34+39=73)

GOALTENDERS
Ramseyy2 (25GP, 19W, 91.75 SV%, 1.24 GAA) vs Afc_Tschitsch (12GP, 11W, 87.57 SV%, 1.66 GAA)

Schedule for the finals:

Game 1: Wednesday, 12th of December 20:15 CET The Next Gen vs The Black Jacks 6-7
Game 2: Wednesday, 12th of December 20:45 CET The Black Jacks vs The Next Gen 2-3
Game 3: Wednesday, 12th of December 21:15 CET The Next Gen vs The Black Jacks 3-2
Game 4: Wednesday, 12th of December 21:45 CET The Black Jacks vs The Next Gen 2-1
Game 5: Monday, 17th of December 20:15 CET The Next Gen vs The Black Jacks
Game 6: Monday, 17th of December 20:45 CET The Black Jacks vs The Next Gen
Game 7: Monday, 17th of December 21:15 CET The Next Gen vs The Black Jacks

The games will be streamed on: twitch.tv/gameturniertv and twitch.tv/tbj_hockey unless otherwise informed.

Good luck in the finals for both teams!

Thank you to @julmi21 for reaching out and assisting with this article. All opinions are my own.

Your NHLGamer Editor

Hello NHLGamers, 

It's 'final-ly' time for the Pro Finals! After yet another exciting season full of interesting events and lots of surprises, the time to crown a winner is nigh. The playoffs have certainly left us gasping for air at times, with surprises like ECL 6 Lite silver-medalist Cowabunga winning their group, seeding in second place into the playoffs only to be eliminated in the first round by 16th seed Pata Hellalla. Bucketeers, another newly promoted team also seemed to find their stride this season, pushing far into the playoffs and reaching the semifinals for a shot to make Elite through a relegation battle. Our final two isn't maybe the most predictable matchup, but certainly two well-rounded teams that have been strong performers all season long.

Here's how our final matchup stacks up:

(1)  Deadly Phantoms HC vs Synergy Hockey  (4)

In this iteration of the ECL Pro Finals, we'll have a somewhat rare sighting as neither finalist is Finnish. I even believe neither team has any Finnish colour in their roster. Refreshing, to say the least!

After a great semi-final round against Bucketeers in a thrilling and even series, the deadliest of Phantoms have yet again stated their claim for an Elite spot and are looking to get that big trophy as well. They've been one of the great storylines this postseason, as they've had to overcome adversity not many teams in the community has faced. From having their play style under scrutiny in the first round to switching up the lineup throughout the playoffs, they have prevailed every time. 

Synergy Hockey has really gone back to their roots and found the strong play we're so used to seeing from the veteran Swedes. They're a strong defensive unit that doesn't put on a show on the ice, but is tremendously effective at everything they do. The team has had everything go their way this season, starting all the way from the back end, where the marvelled @DUNZA has been taunting forwards on a nightly basis. Synergy has had a rather convincing playoff run so far, as they've dropped only two games in the three series played so far. Prediction: Deadly Phantoms HC in 7.

Head-to-head:

TOP SCORER
The_Rayman80 (17GP, 17+11=28) vs Isindar (14GP, 9+13=22)

GOALTENDERS
RPH_31 (17GP, 12W, 83.81 SV%, 1.64 GAA) vs DUNZA (14GP, 12W, 91.00 SV%, 0.64 GAA)

 

Schedule for the finals:

Game 1: Monday, 10th of December 21:00 CET Deadly Phantoms HC vs Synergy Hockey (1-2 OT)
Game 2: Monday, 10th of December 21:30 CET Synergy Hockey vs Deadly Phantoms HC (2-3 OT)
Game 3: Thursday, 13th of December TBA Deadly Phantoms HC vs Synergy Hockey 
Game 4: Thursday, 13th of December TBA Synergy Hockey vs Deadly Phantoms HC
Game 5: Thursday, 13th of December TBA Deadly Phantoms HC vs Synergy Hockey 
Game 6: Thursday, 13th of December TBA Synergy Hockey vs Deadly Phantoms HC
Game 7: Thursday, 13th of December TBA Deadly Phantoms HC vs Synergy Hockey 

That's all for now gamers and as always, be sure to check out our twitch channel for streams on these games and from our other leagues, that's got some exciting playoff action for yall. 

PS: Stay on the lookout for our ECL 7 Pro Season Recap article, it might be posted sooner than you think...

Pro Writing Team

@jahajaha93 & @Panarinz

After some external difficulties and other issues, we've been able to compete the ECL7 Elite Quarter Finals with four extremely skilled teams advancing. Interestingly enough, we're also 4/4 for IS Cup 3: 6vs6 finalists in the Semi's of ECL 7. It'll be interesting to see how these games turn out this time around, as matchups are slightly different and some minor changes might have happened within the teams.

As usual, the series are played with a best-of-7 system, meaning the first team to reach four wins advances to the next round. The Semifinal round has to be finished by Thursday December 13th, 2018.

These are the matchups for the second round of our ECL 7 Elite Playoffs:

(1)  FILADELPHIA vs. Dynasty  (4)

Courtesy of @jahajaha93

Neither of these teams had a straight path to the semi-finals. FILADELPHIA in the sense that they had to battle through some server issues and a scheduling debacle, which again heated up things on the community side a bit. Dynasty in the sense that they clashed with Sjukstugan, the early Swedish sensation, who were now making their second Elite playoff showing, hungry to prove they could go far.

This matchup wouldn't seem all too interesting if the teams we would take it back a month to the IS Cup, as Dynasty had a tough time competing at the Final event whereas FILADELPHIA went on to take it all home. Tables have turned, however. It's amazing how a little bit of time can work magic on the play of any said team. Dynasty has improved tremendously with the season progressing and are now looking to really challenge the IS Cup champions. One notable change Dynasty has made as of late is keeping @Leksa94 at center instead of @Tehh, as we're used to seeing. It would seem as if their decision is paying dividends as Leksa is a more offensive-minded player, with a slightly higher faceoff skill too - if we are to trust the stats. FILADELPHIA, on the other hand has been firing on all cylinders all season long. The team seems to have a relentless drive for success. Their first round opponent Northern Ascendancy didn't give up easy although the series ended 4-1, all but the last game were one goal games. FILA will surely look to play @Zande95 in net as he is yet to let in a goal during the playoffs. Possible Elite top-6 goaltender this season? 

Personally, I'm expecting FILADELPHIA to take the lead and never look back in this series. Although Dynasty is more than a capable team, they are simply up against a stronger force right now. I'll be more than happy to admit I'm wrong as that would set up an amazing success story for DYN, however, my prediction is FILA in 5.

(2)  Symphony vs. Written In The Stars  (3) 

Courtesy of @MartindalexC

Both competitors are coming off of similarly impressive routs of their previous opponents in Northern Stars & Butterfly Effect respectively. Symphony holds a slight edge given that they beat their opponent by over two goals in all but one of their wins, whereas Written only managed to do that very same feat two times.

On the face of it then one would imagine that this series should be a close affair, with that said however some cracks have started to appear for the Written side. They may have beaten Butterfly Effect extremely convincingly to start the series (4-1 & 5-0 wins), yet their play degraded quite heavily as the series went on, as shown by them whimpering through to the second round off the back of two 1-0 wins, as well as being bested 3-1 by FLY. Such a drop off of goals as the series progressed is certainly a large red flag, especially as Butterfly Effect almost punished them for it. If FLY were almost able to make them look foolish then Written are in for one hell of a rude awakening as Symphony are assuredly better than Butterfly Effect, both defensively and offensively. The latter point is of great importance as we will now truly see what impact @Totalii's absence will have on the somewhat ‘untested’ Written back end.

Regarding the actual prediction however I feel that this series has real potential to be an absolute bloodbath, on the other hand I can conceivably see Written getting ‘manhandled’ by Symphony in a bunch of 3-1-ish affairs if Written does not manage to restart their offence in time. Therefore, I’m going to play it somewhat safe and go with Symphony in 6 games, although as I’ve said before I feel as though this series, more than any other, has the potential to go absolutely ‘hay-wire’ at any second.

So, what do you guys think? Agree with our predictions? Give us your thoughts below! Also, remember to stay tuned for upcoming playoffs broadcasts on our Twitch-channel!

See you on the ice,
ECL Elite Writing Team

Hello NHLGamers,

For this past regular season of ECL Elite we have been releasing a recurring segment that looked to detail the ‘hottest’, ‘coldest’ and… ‘mildest’? teams in Elite over each week. The logic behind these rankings was / 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 admittably has been some bias that has crept in from time to time. 

First off I would like to apologise for this article being, well, late. Given how many teams played on the final day of the season and with the playoffs starting the very next day I felt it that it was perhaps not the greatest idea to push this out, on top of this I was still deciding what form this article should take on exactly. Despite this I still have ranked the team's based on their performance from the past week although this time the rankings will be sans the write-ups coupling them. If you just want to see these rankings and don't mind missing out on some grade 'A' statistical analysis then you can just skip to the end of the article where the familiar list will be shown. 

Previous rankings:

Week 0 (16in16)

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

Anyway, with that out of the way we may as well get into it. This article will be attempting to deal with the quantative nature of these rankings, effectively trying to make sense of the 'noise' so to speak, as well as try to pinpoint any trends that may have occured. As such, this 'edition' is almost the complete opposite to articles from weeks prior.

*Note: As Radical were disqualified part of the way through the season they will be represented on the three charts immediately below, however, past that point they will be omitted. 

'Welcome to the Noise'

Figure 1. All teams that participated in ECL 7 Elite (including Radical) are shown above, plotting each team's respective ranking through week 1 to 5, with the additional inclusion of the week '0' which is otherwise known as the 16in16 series. Generally speaking there is not much to take away from this, although if you squint especially hard you can see that there was a slight period mid way through the season (wks 2-4) where there was some form of normality, that said this was quickly dashed by the tumultuous 5th week. 

Playoff bound teams (Average ranking: 5.65)

Figure 2. In this we find all non-playoff teams have been eliminated so that we can see how each playoff team found their way into the 'promised land'. There are two notable trends here, one being NORs rather last second climb (at the cost of Unlucky Boys), as well as SYMs unparalleled consistency where they found themselves never dropping below the 5th spot each week. 

Teams that missed the playoffs (Average ranking: 11.35)

Figure 3. Here we find that all of the playoff teams have been omitted and instead we have the 'rest' of elite. Regarding trends that can be seen there are at least three. Firstly, we have the collapse of Unlucky Boys (as alluded to in the past graph), as well as the similarly (but not as extreme) collapse of Rusty Blades. Finally, mention should be made of SIKA never reaching higher than 12th spot on any of the weekly rankings, perhaps underlining the forgetable season that they had. 

Most 'consistent' teams

Figure 4. In this graph we have 5 teams selected based on them being the most consistent teams throughout the table. It is worth mentioning here how it is somewhat interesting how a clear division emerged between these consistent teams, signaling perhaps the difference between those at the very top of elite and those propping it up at the bottom. 

Most 'erratic' teams

Figure 5. Personally, this is my favourite entry in this article. Just looking at NORs line go from 13th to 3rd in two weeks imbues me with an indescribable feeling of amusement and anguish. Additionally, I have tried somewhat to sort of dismiss week 0 throughout this and instead have attempted to go off weeks 1-5 almost exclusively, that said I could not help myself but factor '0' into this one just because of Butterfly Effect and their 'twin peaked' line. 

Largest overall climbs

Figure 6. Who doesn't love a good feel good story? Probably Almost Famous as despite them going on a pretty impressive run, moving up from 14th in week 2 to 6th in week 5, they found themselves 8pts shy of a playoff berth. Aside from NOR who I have already talked about in previous graphs we have the only remaining team here in Dynasty, who went on an overall incline where large steps forward were mixed in with a couple 'missteps'. Nevertheless DYNs ascent from 12th to 1st in 3 weeks is mightily impressive, even if they immediately dropped off to 4th the following week. 

Largest demises

Figure 7. I sort of feel bad for ragging on these two teams so hard but I just had to isolate them and exhibit this in all it's glory. Outside of week 5 one would not be wrong in feeling that both of these teams were on course for a playoff berth, and a comfortable one at that for UB. Well, even slipping up for just a lone week can seriously danger, if not outright kill, a playoff challenge and RB / UB are the two newest teams to feel the sting of such an event. Each team managed to only pick up 5pts out of a possible 16pts in the final week. In fact, if UB had just managed to record a single extra point from somewhere would have clinched them a playoff spot over NOR. 

Additional notes:

Of the 8 teams predicted to make the playoffs in the 16in16 series, 7 made the playoffs, with the only team that ECL captains failed to accurately judge being the ever-surprising Butterfly Effect. 

The biggest change in position (across weeks 1-5, excluding 0's effects) was a -11, exhibited by Unlucky Boys in week 5. Comparatively, the largest uptick in position was found to have been +7, shared by Northern Ascendancy as well as Filadelphia in week 5. 

Week 5 Ranking

1. Symphony (8-1-1) [+1]

2. Filadelphia (9-1-0) [+7]

3. Northern Ascendancy (9-2-1) [+7]

4. Dynasty (7-2-0) [-3]

5. Written in the Stars (8-1-1) [+1]

6. Almost Famous (3-4-1) [+5]

7. Sjukstugan (6-3-1) [-3]

8. Northern Stars (5-4-1) [+4]

9. Gotham Knights (3-3-4) [-2]

10. Butterfly Effect (4-6-0) [-2]

11. Team Frosty (2-5-3) [+2]

12. Sika (1-2-3) [+3]

13. Rusty Blades (2-5-1) [-8]

14. Unlucky Boys (2-5-1) [-11]

15. Falun Coal Miners (1-6-1) [-1]

16. Radical (disq) [=]

And with that we are done for this season, I would like to say thank you to all of those who have read this series over the past few weeks. Are there any trends you feel that I've missed? If so, please write below and I'll update the post if I feel that it is worth mentioning!

Salut NHLGamers, 

After a thrilling round 2 featuring at least one major upset as 5th seed Wasps Gaming was knocked out by 8th seed Bucketeers, we're now at the semi finals in Pro! All of the remaining four teams will stand a chance for promotion, either directly or through a relegation faceoff against SIKA or Gotham Knights.

Here are your matchups for the Pro Semi-Finals:

(1)  Deadly Phantoms HC vs Bucketeers  (8)

Preview courtesy of @Panarinz

After a controversial 1st round that at last ended 4-3 to the Phantoms, they swept Pata Hellalla in the 2nd round and made it clear that they are going for that Elite spot and maybe even a Pro win. Here we have a pretty defensive series. Phantoms are known for their solid defense, as they very rarely concede more than a goal against. The same can almost be said about The Buckets as well. Solid defense with strong goaltending make them a hard team to score against. Some might call them an underdog this series. But don't let that fool you, as they know how to win tough games which they very well proved in the second round against Wasps Gaming.

However, in my humble opinion, this series will be decided by the Phantoms x-factor. They have incredible offensive firepower in their lineup and I won't leave out top regular season point and assist man @Playmaker and top goal scorer @Rayman, who both showed that they can win games on their own, even though it's a team game. One that shouldn't be underestimated is @Demski13 in the Bucketeers lineup, though (2nd in points during the playoffs). He's really put up points left, right and center during the playoffs. Definitely a decisive factor to look out for on the Bucketeers side.
 

(4)  Synergy Hockey vs Resurrection  (6)

Preview courtesy of @jahajaha93

This is a great matchup in a sense that there are many fundamental differences between these teams. The Swedish Synergy, being a very experienced and defense reliant team facing off against the Finnish Resurrection, who mostly consist of young, very individually skilled players who are hungry to prove their capabilities in the 6vs6-scene. 

Synergy had a convincing regular season and have continued on the same path in the playoffs, dropping only one game out of their total nine so far. As per usual, @DUNZA in net has been as solid as ever amassing six shutouts in the process of outclassing the opposition. On the other hand, the team has struggled a bit offensively, managing to net under 2 goals per game in the offensive zone. Arguably, that isn't too much of a worry if you let in none. 

The slight underdog in this series is Resurrection, their lineup features one of the more effective offensive trios in @Artuzio, @J0HTAJA and @xKeskitalo, who so far have combined for 30 goals in 13 playoff games. It'll remain to bee seen wether the more experienced Johtaja can guide his young wingers to the path of victory.

That'll be all for now, gamers. We sure have some exciting games ahead and they won't be over anytime soon. Be sure to follow our twitch channel for our broadcasts on these matchups and keep following these exciting matches on our website.

Your Pro Writing Team,

@Panarinz & @jahajaha93

Dear NHLGamers, 

We would like to address the events that took place a little over a week ago, starting on Thursday the 22nd of November, where ECL Pro team Deadly Phantoms got called a "puck ragging team" and some of our members advised other teams not to play matches against them, insisting that this tactic should be forbidden. It escalated during the weekend and we had several personal attacks towards the members of Deadly Phantoms. This is something that we cannot see past nor accept in our community. 

These events have caused the League Administration to act and make decisions about this kind of behaviour.

• First of all, everyone that has contributed with insults and broken our code of conduct (3.1, about mutual respect between our members) have been issued with a severe warning. 
• User @FinKonna has been issued a 2 week forum ban from NHLGamer.com, due to posting a thread on our site where urged every team that matches up against the Deadly Phantoms to avoid playing them. The ban does not affect the members ability to participate in the ECL Elite playoffs.

We, the LA, do NOT accept this kind of behavior from anyone and we will be adjusting our rules and community guidelines to make it even clearer that this sort of behavior will not be tolerated. 

We also need to point out that while it was mostly Deadly Phantoms members taking the heat, the situation should have been handled differently by certain Deadly Phantoms members as well.

To conclude, the LA would like to remind everyone that it is perfectly fine to start a discussion about something that you think breaks the rules or the so-called gentleman's rules, but the discussion should always be with a community building and constructive angle and not as a tool to attack another team. Please always consider what you write and how other people could interpret it. We are aware that there are plenty of people in our community that write their messages tongue-in-cheek and with little seriousness, but at the end of the day, you are responsible for your own writing and how your writing can be interpreted, so please think for a bit, before pressing that submit button.

- League Administration

Did we ever see some Excitement in round 3!? Two game sevens and a thrilling finish to both of those series. With round 3 being over, we're moving on to weeding out the teams that will have a shot at promotion to Pro for ECL 8. The quarter finals of ECL 7 Lite are to be played between Tuesday, November 27th 2018 and Monday, December 3rd 2018. As you know, the series are played in a best-of-7 format, meaning 4 wins are required to advance to the semi-finals.

Here are your matchups for the ECL 7 Lite Quarter Finals:

(1) The Next Gen vs. Supremacy (24)

(3) The Black Jacks vs. Dubnation Gaming (18) 

(4) Mentula SKA vs. Freddie Mercury Institute (13) 

(8) Supernatural vs. SPARTANS (12) 

Broadcast

So far, we've had a lot of good action go down on our Twitch channel. Should you want your games to be covered in our live broadcasts, please inform @Kenu about it as early as possible before the games.

Necessary broadcast information includes:

• Date
• Time
• Line-ups for both teams (including correct spelling of PSN ID’s and player numbers)
• Captain/player interviews are a plus!
   

Some series are already up and running, so please make sure to check our site regularly on info about the matchups and possible streams!

You may have noticed the lack of articles around ECL Lite and we would love your help with writing some. Please contact me if you want to help!

What's up NHLGamers,

28 games later, right? That's where we stand now compared to where we started off in mid-October. As always, there's been no shortage of action and interesting events during the regular season in Elite. Unfortunately, we saw a team fold this season, nothing you'd want to see on the very highest level but sometimes our minds don't think alike and conflicts prevail. This time around, we were treated to suspense all the way to the end, as no playoff matchups were solidified prior to the last round. Also, a tight battle was being fought over the last playoff spot, as Northern Stars needed a mede 2 points from their matchup against Rusty blades to overtake Unlucky Boys for the final spot. The outcome sure was unlucky for the Boys, as Northern Stars rose to the occasion and clinched a spot in the playoffs.

With all this being said, the ECL 7 Elite Playoffs start today, Tuesday November 27th of November 2018. Teams are allowed to start scheduling games immediately and the games of the first round have to be finished by Tuesday December 4th, 2018. As you guys know, the series are played with a best-of-7 system, meaning the first team to reach four wins advances to the next round.

As we had one team fold this season, only the team placed 15th will face automatic relegation. This season, Falun Coal Miners is the team that is facing relegation. On top of that, we have two relegation battles that will commence once the Pro playoffs have been played. The ECL 7 Elite teams heading into these battles are SIKA (14th) and Gotham Knights (13th). 

These are the matchups for the first round of our ECL 7 Elite Playoffs:

(1)  FILADELPHIA vs. Northern Ascendancy  (8)

Courtesy of @vSilenttio

The Finnish Champions of FILADELPHIA surely weren't joking when they stated in their 16 in 16 that they'd be the team that is going to take home all of ECL 7 Elite. We know it's only the regular season but so far, so good. Of course they had their own problems during the regular season just like every other team out there but when it comes to FILA, these guys know how to handle those situations and how to move on, being even better going further. Stat-wise FILA's players were on at their best when the games mattered the most. Four out of their five opening roster guys were in the scoring top 20 after 28 games - and the remaining guy who's not there is @Janzuh, who is known as one of the best D-men of the whole next gen era. You could say no wonder things went well for these guys. The main offensive trio of @PleeMaker, @Patzlaf and @Eki was dominant as they scored 55 goals together which sounds pretty crazy when you compare it to other Elite teams who made the playoffs - teams such as Northern Stars (40GF), Northern Ascendancy (53GF) and Sjukstugan (58GF). So their offense is fine, their defensive pairing is perhaps the best in all of Europe and they have two top goaltenders who can bail them out if they end up being in a tough spot.

On the opposing side we have ECL 6 Elite's finalists Northern Ascendancy. They didn't have the easiest road to the playoffs, that's for sure. The team had a really slow start as they managed to win only 3 out of their first ten outings. Granted, their schedule was on the more difficult end. With one win less they would have placed 9th in the final standings and thusly falling short of a playoff spot. After somewhat surprisingly losing a few games against non-playoff teams such as Unlucky Boys and Almost Famous and having a rather shaky vide to their game, the veterans in NOR found a way to make the playoffs. Experience is the key word I believe. At one point they even started rotating their roster for some reason, D-men playing offense and vice versa. 

FILADELPHIA simply has to be the team coming out on top in this series. I predict a series score of 4-1.

(2)  Symphony vs. Northern Stars  (7)

Courtesy of @jahajaha93

This matchup is going to be something of a Finland-Sweden battle. As far as I know, at least all NOS skaters are Swedish and SYM on the other hand is all Finnish except for netminder and assistant captain @ICappeI, who managed to set an ECL Elite record by amassing 8 shutouts in just 10 games in the regular season.

Symphony has had a great season so far. Despite losing @ADETIKKI after a disappointing third place finish in IS Cup 3 6vs6, the team managed to bounce back and find an even better run of form towards the end of the season. SYM quickly patched up the hole left by ADETIKKI, as @tbnantti joined. Antti is an experienced player, whose importance for his team this season couldn't be stressed enough. He immediately commanded the centerman position and has been a good force to build the teams play around for the remainder of the season. We'll have to hope he can keep up his good form going into the playoffs. I would dare to say that the strength of Symphony lies in their offense. Antti at center is a good balancing factor to the offensively talented winger duo @indi969 and @Buantso, they are also getting some good secondary scoring from down low as @Ilmari_30 chips in on the offensive side quite often.

The underdog in this series is without a doubt Northern Stars. Not by a massive margin, though. The Swedes have been playing a solid game for the whole season, while being able to go toe-to-toe with the best of teams in the Elite division. However, they have suffered some surprising losses against Team Frosty and Falun Coal Miners to name a few. One worrying factor for the Stars in this matchup has to be the fact that they are facing one of the hottest goaltenders in the ECL right now, and they haven't directly had an easy time putting the puck in the net so far. 40 goals scored during the regular season is by far the least out of all playoff teams. Experience is the strength of this team though, and hopefully they will utilize that in order to overcome their opponent in tight matchups.

All in all, I think this might be an interesting matchup to keep your eyes on, although there's a risk of it being over rather early in the series. Unless NOS manages to completely shut down Symphony and score a few goals here and there, I predict a 4-0 sweep for Symphony.

(3)  Written In The Stars vs. Butterfly Effect  (6)

Courtesy of @Serg1vratar

Written In The Stars has one of the best offensive lines in the entire league, a feat easily exhibited by the sheer quantity of goals this team scores - 89 for a goals per game average of 3,18, stats in which they are topping the Elite division. two out of their three main forwards made their way intp the top 3 scorers of the regular season, as @Dominointi amassed 59 points for 1st place and Flyerkungen put up 54 points for 3rd place. Talking about SKY, you can't simply forget the weapons they are packing in terms of offensive defensemen, as @jtorro1233 has been terrorising the Elite division from his point for several seasons now. Torro took a long step and ran away from FILADELPHIA's @vatalisti in the race for most points by a defenseman in the regular season with 31 points in 26 games. No ECL team could win without a sufficient backstop, though. SKY has two elite level goalies in @JanneK. and @Hansulinho.

Butterfly Effect has had a great start in ECL Elite and one of the game changers for them is definitely @Vilupoika who has 49 points in 28 games. Pair him up with a talent like @RutonMosse (42 points in 24 games) and good things will happen. @JimBoo (jm__98__) joined FLY a bit into the current season and while not topping the scoring boards, he has made his way into the top 3 within his team. There's been some talk about FLY being the minor affiliate of Written, and that surely sets a nice rivalry tone for this matchup, as David is making a stance against Goliath. We could also look to the rosters to find a rivalry, as @eissi83 was a SKY netminder last season, but will now try to take on his old teammates and prove what he is capable of.

During the regular season bouts, Written In The Stars won both games  (2:1, 6:1). I predict a 4-2 series win for SKY.

(4)  Dynasty  vs. Sjukstugan  (5)

Courtesy of @MartindalexC

Making up the fourth and final matchup in Elite we have Dynasty & Sjukstugan, the only series where, in my honest opinion, both teams 'realistically' have a chance of winning. Both have similar GF/GP (2.25 vs. 2.07) and GA/GP (1.32 vs. 1.39) averages with Dynasty edging out Sjukstugan in both, albeit slightly. Both have 18 wins on the season. And both are coming into the playoffs with fairly decent L10 records (6-2-2 vs. 6-3-1).

Therefore, with such similar statistics one should perhaps expect a frugal affair where most, if not all, games in this series are decided by one goal. Especially so with the knowledge that teams tend to play even more conservative once the playoffs come around, so at the very least this series should offer up a level of parity between the two opponents that potentially won’t be seen elsewhere. Regarding who could break this ‘inevitable’ deadlock my votes of confidence are directed towards Dynasty’s dynamic winger in @hpkfani, as well as Sjukstugan’s playmaking head-honcho in @Tacterz, these two alone has exhibited the ability to change any given game more so than any other player on their respective rosters.

On the other hand, a factor that should not be disqualified is the familiarity of this scenario that each team has, or rather, the disparity between them. Dynasty have been through this many a time before, with them reaching the Elite playoffs every single season thus far. Sjukstugan however are entering largely unchartered territory as only three players (one of which being a goalie) are making their return to the Elite playoffs from last season’s first round exit, the rest are new to this situation and one must wonder how impactful those ‘early series jitters’ will be, and more importantly, whether it will cost them the chance of progressing.

In summary then, despite both teams seemingly being a pretty decent match I have to seriously question whether Sjukstugan can carry their play into the playoffs, especially as recently they have faltered against some fairly subpar opponents. Ergo, I feel that Dynasty should best Sjukstugan four games to two. Whilst 112 may cobble together two wins I simply don’t see Dynasty dropping the four games required for a Sjukstugan advancement, nevertheless despite this all games should be very close and this series will certainly be entertaining to watch.

There you have it, gamers. Let the first round begin! Let us know in the comments section if you agree with our predictions and opinions about the teams.

See you on the ice,
ECL Elite Writing Team
 

Hey NHLGamers,

The first round of the ECL 7 Pro Playoffs sure offered some drama! We're in for a treat as the playoffs continue with round 2 starting Monday November 26th, 2018 and goes on until Sunday December 2nd, 2018. As before, series are played with a best-of-7 format, meaning that four wins are required to advance to the semifinals. Also worth noting is that from this point on, teams are seeded based on PPG from the group stage.

Without further ado, here are your ECL 7 Pro Playoff matchups for round 2:
 

(1)  Deadly Phantoms HC vs Pata Hellalla  (16)

Oh boy, did we ever se an exciting series in the first round between Deadly Phantoms and Saints! The first three games were a little slow, ending in DPH victories after which we saw a gigantic uproar and a lot of controversy regarding their play style, which was discussed widely in our community. Things got rather nasty, but let's leave it at that here. DPH lost the next three and the decisive game 7 was played Sunday night. The Phantoms seemed to have overcome their demons and advanced to round 2. The decisive effort in round 1 for DPH was seen by LW @Rayman (The_Rayman80), who managed to get on the board in each of the 7 games played so far. Skating up against the Phantoms, we have an underdog by a large margin - Pata Hellalla. This is surely the series to watch in the second round, as Pata Hellalla definitely isn't a team to toy around with. Pata managed to send group 1 winner Cowabunga Hockey packing for vacation to end the first round. All in all, this series has a nice storyline to it. DPH, who have faced the cold shoulder of (some of) the community, going up against the very likeable underdog PTH. We'll have to wait and see if the Phantoms can overcome adversity and harness it to their strength or if Pata will send yet another top seed packing.

(4)  Synergy Hockey vs CLUB ONE  (12)

Synergy is surely having a bounce-back season after a disappointing ECL 6. These guys have successfully regrouped and let no questions arise in the first round as they completely shut down their opponent Born With It, a team with serious playoff aspirations of their own. Goaltender @DUNZA has been standing on his head all season long and there is no reason to doubt him going forth to the second round. CLUB ONE on the other hand has had quite a fluctuant season as they haven't really strung together series of victories, but still managed to stay well above .500. The team managed to cause an upset in the first round, by outclassing 4th seed Checkmate in a series ending 4-1. Centerman and captain @epelis is leading his team into what they hope is a long playoff run.

(5)  Wasps Gaming vs Bucketeers  (8)

This will be a tough and grindy series. Mark my words. After quite a surprising season from the Bucketeers, we know better than to underestimate them! Definitely  keep your focus on sniper @Daniel Gadd (demski13), with 6 goals in 6 games so far in the playoffs. Watch out for their goalies too, doesn't matter who's in the net, no easy way to score will be found. In Wasps, we have a well experienced side who knows how to win tough matchups. Lots of Pro experience in their squad. Worth a mention is @JaKurrii, who's had a great season, making his way onto our Team of the Week several times during the regular season and is expected to continue his strong outings in the playoffs.

(6)  Resurrection vs Speedy Bros Hockey  (7)

As a newly established team, Resurrection has managed to pave their way quite far into the big games. With a mix of you talent like @xKeskitalo and @Nikmes7 combine with prime leadership in @J0HTAJA and @Jiihooo86 has proven to be a good recipe for these boys so far. Having a dominant winger in @Artuzio isn't a bad addition to top it off. Resurrection managed to overcome a strong TIKI TALK with a series score of 4-2 in the first round. SBH on the other hand has already established themselves in the pro division. They haven't had any mentionable success so far and their regular season was on the average side. They have a hard-hitting defense and a very prominent scoring duo in @Tzon93 and @mir02k1 on their wings, so let's see if they'll be able to get it done in this series.

There are some exciting times ahead, and games are only going to get tougher from this point on! Check our site and social media for any broadcasts coming up in the next few days.

Until next time,

@jahajaha93 & @Panarinz

Hello NHLGamers,

For this season of ECL Elite we are releasing a recurring segment that looks to detail the ‘hottest’, ‘coldest’ and… ‘mildest’? teams in Elite over the past week. Each article in this series will be released on Mondays (in this case as early as possible) 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 be 'missed', although if the results are significant enough they will be mentioned in the following next week's article. 

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, therefore I will do my best to elucidate the reasoning behind why 'X team' deserves to be ranked at 'Y'. 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 0 (16in16)

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

1. Dynasty (3-0-1) [+6]

Rising to the summit of Elite this week we have Dynasty, although I feel as though I should clarify straight off the bat that whilst Dynasty’s rise is quite obviously down to them playing well, it is also quite considerably down to the rest of Elite going on some sort of grand rock paper scissors adventure. In fact, truth be told, Dynasty at the #1 spot is perhaps the only position this week that I can completely be sure of. They find themselves in such a position based on a nigh on flawless record of 3-0-1 against last week’s #2 team in Written, as well as this week’s #3 team in the Unlucky Boys. They may not have played that much but their general record is impressive and realistically (barring any actual miracles) there should be no reason that Dynasty are not able finish in the top 4 once again in Elite.

They may not be the most flashiest of teams but fundamentally they are strong and their record up to this point illustrates that quite well.  

2. Symphony (5-2-1) [+1]

34 points, 20 games played, 2 wins against last week’s hottest team solidify Symphony’s slight rise this time around. With an overall points per game average of 1.7 and a three point gap between them and Written in second place signify the gap that is beginning to form at the summit of Elite, although all is not rosy for Symphony, as they gained only one point against Sjukstugan, then dropped a game in regulation to Unlucky Boys. Sure, these aforementioned teams are quite strong (4 & 3 in these rankings respectively), however these are teams that Symphony may very well meet down the line in the playoffs, as such there should be some feeling of apprehension going forward although it shouldn’t be that intense of a feeling; more of a niggling annoyance than full blown panic.

3. Unlucky Boys (5-2-1) [+5]

With a meteoric rise from 8^th to 3^rd we find the Unlucky Boys who came out of a very gruelling schedule this week (FILA, NOR, DYN & SYM) with an extremely solid record of 5-2-1. Remove NOR and the record is not as impressive as it falls to 3-2-1, however picking up ~58% of all points available against some of the very strongest that Elite has to offer is something that should garner some serious attention, especially with the playoffs approaching very quickly.

4. Sjukstugan (2-1-1) [+2]

(7), 2, 4, 6 and 4. These are the positions that Sjukstugan has held throughout these power rankings from week 1 to the current week 4, with the 16 in 16 ranking shown in parentheses. Outside of their brief foray below the top 4 of Elite, Sjukstugan have managed to put together one of the single most consistent runs throughout the entirety of Elite this season, at least compared to those in the top half of the table. With that mind however, if there was any week out of the four covered so far where Sjukstugan looked at their weakest it would most likely be this one, despite them moving up two positions from last week. This is due in part to the somewhat inconsistent play exhibited by 112, as they transitioned from disposing of Symphony efficiently, to dropping both games against UB just two days later. It should also be noted that 112 would have been ranked lower than 4^th this week, but due to the rest of Elite deciding to go a little insane and have everyone beat everybody it's particularly tough to punish Sjukstugan that much. 

5. Rusty Blades (4-2-0) [+4]

It’s at this point where the rankings become… interesting shall we say? It’s even somewhat tempting to lump teams placed 5^th through 11^th into one category and call it a day. Nevertheless, I’ll try to discern some patterns from the noise although I apologise in advance if I don’t mention too much because for real; I don’t even know where to begin with this.

Starting off this descent into madness we have Rusty who find themselves on the playoff side of Elite for the first time in these rankings (sans 16 in 16). That said, despite such a high ranking there are some serious missteps made by this team that need mentioning. As impressive as their wins against Written are, they still dropped two regulation losses to basement dwellers in SIKA and the ever-sputtering Team Frosty. With that in mind then it’s tough to really place these guys higher than 5^th as the consistency is simply not visible, at least not to the same extent that DYN, SYM, UB & 112 have exhibited.

6. Written in the Stars (3-2-1) [-4]

Should the players for Written be worried about dropping two games to a team currently outside of the playoffs? Sort of? They didn’t score that much (only four goals in the two games) although they had plenty of zone time. Should they be annoyed that they dropped points that may have ruined their chance of clinching the top playoff spot? Hell yes they should. Just losing these two games and only picking up a lone point has sent them crashing down to three points behind Symphony with the same amount of games played between them, with FILADELPHIA nipping away at their ankles in 3^rd place. Of course, it needs stating that the season still has a week (or so) to go before all the ‘chips are down’ so to speak and based off of how this week went expecting any of the top teams to slip up is something that is almost a certainty at this point.

7. Gotham Knights (4-2-0) [+4]

Alright, I’ve made it this far, but I seriously don’t think I can make it any further. As I stare at the teams from 7 to 13 I can’t help but imagine the order being completely different with NOS being higher due to them having a relatively hard schedule, or FILA / FLY due to them not playing all that often and facing (currently) playoff bound opponents, or NOR for showing some life even if it’s all too late, or Gotham for taking down most of their opponents somewhat convincingly, or AF for going on a pretty reasonable 2-1-1, or TF for picking up 75% of all possible points this week. Honestly, you can make an argument for and against every team in this bracket moving up and down from where they are currently ranked. As for Gotham at least, they find themselves moving up to 7th thanks in part to a pretty resoundingly strong week points wise, that said their wins came against some pretty woeful teams (NOR & FCM) and their losses came at the hands of a middling Team Frosty so realistically this week isn't that impressive but it at least opens up the door for them to make a last ditch run towards the playoffs - although the window is closing fast. 

8. Butterfly Effect (1-1-0) [-3]

I almost feel bad for moving down a team so much for going 50% against a very strong side from last week’s rankings in NOS. Even so, something has to give and with a bunch of teams going on a tear since last week a demotion was in order for the side that once found themselves on top just a few short weeks ago.

9. FILADELPHIA (0-2-0) [-8]

As was said previously regarding Butterfly Effect, the determining factor of this team’s fall from grace is quite simply inactivity and ‘rank’ decay. Sure, losing two games to Symphony stings but in the grand scheme of things does it really change FILADELPHIA's chances of making the playoffs? Not a chance. And realistically, making the playoffs is really all that matters, as clinching a higher playoff position certainly helps, it is not however the be all and end all.

10. Northern Ascendancy (2-1-3) [+3]

Too little, too late. On the surface of things, one may be mistaken for assuming that a record of 2-1-3 shows that NOR may finally be waking up from their slumber and are on the road to putting together a playoff push, well, that’s why there’s also another adage for this very scenario, You can never tell a book by its cover. Taking down AF with two wins surely makes life easier for the NOR side, however dropping two games in OT to UB and failing to pick up more than one point against the cellar dwellers in Gotham puts a serious dark mark on NOR going forward. Despite this there is still a mathematical chance that they make the playoffs, although the disconnect between reality and this ‘fact’ is certainly not lost on anyone.

11. Almost Famous (2-1-1) [+1]

It’s at this point where I genuinely run out of things to say for the following three teams. For Almost Famous it feels as though that they’ve been the mid to low table answer to Sjukstugan’s consistency, with them constantly being ranking in and around this 11^th spot. Then again, just like NOR, AF are still within a shot mathematically although the road towards the promised land is even more unlikely than NOR’s, as they are going to have to go toe to toe against some exceptionally tough opponents in Symphony and Unlucky Boys.

12. Northern Stars (2-4-2) [-8]

Moving on to NOS we have slightly more to talk about simply due to the fact that they played four different opponents this week, unfortunately for NOS they performed fairly poorly, only amassing 6 out of a possible 16pts. Despite these quite horrid results NOS still commands 8^th place in the league standings and are relatively safe from most challengers unless they drop several games. Such an event is somewhat unlikely, however with that said it should be noted that the path towards the playoffs is often fraught with drama, and with so many close challengers in TF, AF, RB & even to a degree NOR there is certainly the chance of something memorable occurring.

13. Team Frosty (3-1-0) [+1]

Rounding out the completely nonsensical mismatch of teams from 7-13 we have Team Frosty who have shown quite nicely the impact that newly acquired players can have, as @Nampa77 & @Totalii have thrust the once rudderless team into something with a purpose, and perhaps most importantly of all, the means to accomplish that goal. This is exhibited by Frosty churning out a generally impressive 6 out of 8pts, although the main criticism of this record is that it came against an overall fairly weak set of opponents (Rusty & Gotham), nonetheless, points are points and at the end of the season all that matters is how many you have so I don’t imagine TF are really that bothered all things considered.

14. Falun Coal Miners (1-2-1) [-4]

Despite a reasonably strong showing last week Falun have fallen back down to the lower end of Elite once again thanks to a very underwhelming set of games against Gotham where they only managed to scrape together a lone point, although besting NOS in OT certainly raised the spirits of the FCM side as it is currently one of their three wins on the season thus far. Even though the season is close to being finalised, FCM cannot afford to become complacent. Although their motivation has been all but wicked away, one slip up could easily cause them to fall even lower in the standings into the automatic relegation zone.

15. SIKA (1-3-0) [=]

Another week, another series of wasted chances by SIKA to pull themselves out of the gutter that is 15^th place in the league. Sure, they had a decently difficult schedule with them going up against Written and Rusty, but when you’re in a hole as deep as the one SIKA finds themselves in these sorts of aspects are no longer of any importance and just serve to mask the true reality that only picking up 2 out of a possible 8pts is going to barely help at all. At this point however, they do have something to hold out on and that’s the chance that they can leapfrog FCM so that they are no longer in the automatically relegation zone, that said even that prospect relies on FCM dropping games which could obviously backfire if they decide to go on a run. 

16. Radical (n/a) [=]

⚰️ Rip ⚰️

*Rankings accurate as of 17/11/18

That's it for this weeks Power Ranking, we'll be getting back to you in a weeks time and take a look at which teams have made a climb and who possibly hasn't. Until next time, gamers! 

Do you agree with our ranking? You can create your own in the comments below!

Hello NHLGamers

An exciting week with Lite round 2 is over and it's time for round 3 of the ECL 7 Lite playoffs! There are 16 teams left and only 6 of them were seeded top 10 into the playoffs, so we've seen some big upsets in round 2. In round 1 we saw only 2 out of 32 underdogs that went on to round 2. With some tight matchups in the second round, six teams with a lower seed ended up as winners. Five out of sixteen matchups went to game 7 and we should expect another exciting round and maybe even tighter series overall from now on.

The games will be played in a best-of-7 manner, meaning it takes four wins to advance onto the next round.

Round 3 has to be finished by Monday the 26th of November 23:59 CET.

Matchups for round 3:

(1) The Next Gen vs. Rukoilevat Hinkkaajat (35)

(3) The Black Jacks vs. Infinity (28)

(4) Mentula SKA vs. Elämäm Kiekko (27)

(5) Clowns On Ice vs. Supremacy (24)

(8) Supernatural vs. K A R H U T (23)

(9) Rajatorpan Mafia vs. Dubnation Gaming (18)

(12) SPARTANS vs. Kalamasu HT (16)

(13) Freddie Mercury Institute vs. Inter Iceland (14)

Broadcast

We covered some good matchups in the second round on our Twitch channel. Should you want your games to be covered in our live broadcasts, please inform @Kenu about it as early as possible before the games.

Necessary broadcast information includes:

• Date
• Time
• Line-ups for both teams (including correct spelling of PSN ID’s and player numbers)
• Captain/player interviews are a plus!

We wish all the teams the best of luck - have fun out there!

Hello NHLGamers,

Another regular season has come and gone - in what most people would say a very exciting way. In group 1 the final two matchups were decisive for the group outcome. 6-7 teams were fighting for a mere two playoff spots and to add to the excitement, most of them were facing off against each other! Dare I say, the tightest Pro season as of yet. 

To finish off this thrilling end to the regular season, we've done a little "best of the regular season" segment. We'll also update you on what happened during this particular season and what you have to look forward to for the playoffs. 

Upset of the season:

Cowabunga Hockey (23-4-3)

They won group 1! The newly promoted ECL 6 Lite silver medalists have made quite a statement this season. Their defense has been remarkable with mainly @Makeaxl and @Eeduu standing tall in their own zone. Only letting in 34 goals in 30 games and having a powerplay percentage of almost 25 % is a great combo, which has proven to be effective this season for Cowabunga. The real MVP on this team is @Jonitski though. 89.5 in save percentage and a GAA of 1.1 tells the whole story. Jonitski also did play every minute this season, keeping the other goalie (former Pro experienced) @Pettersson12 on the bench. Will we see a similar story this season as we did in ECL 6, as Almost Famous and Red Machine (now Butterfly Effect) were promoted to Elite in the debut Pro season? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

Underperformer of the season:

Free From Rodents (1-29-0)

Here we had a well experienced Pro team, who have surely had some justified playoff aspirations in recent seasons. This time, they did'nt live up to expectations. Finishing dead last in group 1 and only gathering 2 points in 30 games is a terrible disappointment to end the season for FFR. 1,37 goals per game while conceding 4,64 each game – ouch, they were really no force on the ice this season. It isn't over just yet, however! They have a relegation battle to approach, a chance to redeem themselves. They will certainly be regarded as an underdog in this series as they have to take on the Elite experienced Nordic Stars.

Players of the season:

@Tzon93 - @Playmaker - @Tim_FlyersFan
           @SolenX86 - @AndreasLeafs
                        @DUNZA

@Tzon93 (Speedy Bros Hockey)

The left wing of Speedy Bros Hockey put on quite a show this season as he finished 2^nd in the points leaderboards with 75 points (38 goals and 37 assists). With a shot percentage of 40% you always have to be aware where he is on the ice as he can score in every situation (5 PPG, 3 SHG). There is no doubt that he will be one key factors in his teams playoff run.

@Playmaker (Deadly Phantoms HC)

The center of Deadly Phantoms HC was on a completely different level in the Pro division of ECL 7. He nearly broke his own scoring record record of 83 points in a season but had 5 games less this time and fell just short. Leading the points department with 79 points (26 goals, 53 assists) is not all too usual for a centerman. His defensive skills and high faceoff percentage (57,7%) makes him a threat all over the ice. Can he lead his team to the glory of a promotion?

@Tim_FlyersFan (Deadly Phantoms HC)

This Deadly Phantoms HC right wing had to prove that he is ready to fit into a new team after he spent all his career representing the Clowns on Ice so far. 19 games, 27 goals, 40 assists with a total of 67 points (3. Ranked skater) proves that he fit in just fine with DPH. "Timbot" can score day in and day out and is hard to stop in the offensive zone. His creativity gives this clicking Phantoms offense a whole new dimension and scoring touch.

@SolenX86 (Bucketeers)

Consistency. That's the key word right here. Solen provided for his team week after week. He also achieved top 3 placements in points and assists for d-men. A plus 38 stands for a very decent defender who makes his team better and gives them a chance to win every game. He may not destroy anyone with devastating hits, but his positional play is a skill well mastered.

@AndreasLeafs (Raging Monkeys)

You want a decent defender who gets his job done, impeding the progress of opposing forwards while putting up some solid numbers on the board. AndreasLeafs should be you pick in that case. The assistant captain of Raging Monkeys is a workhorse who doesn't possess the flashiest play style and won’t get that much attention, but nevertheless makes his team better and always stands up for his teammates.

@DUNZA (Synergy Hockey)

12 shutouts in a season – new record! If Synergy Hockey wouldn’t have had a sloppy end to their regular season, he would easily have gotten some other records this season too. 86,19 save percentage, 1,13 goals against average, DUNZA was nearly unstoppable this season - if that's something you can say about a goalie, he's tha one stopping people, right? Sure, he didn’t have to face a lot of shots during most of the games, but he was there when he was needed. Make sure you follow him during the playoffs, if he can add some more clean sheets.

Honorable mentions:

@RPH_31 (Deadly Phantoms HC)

The Austrian played an outstanding season for the Deadly Phantoms HC. It isn’t easy to be concentrated all the time if your team spends most of the game in the offensive zone, but RPH stopped nearly all of the chances he had to face (88,60 save percentage) as he was a great backstop for his team and gave them a chance to win tight matchups. 9 shutouts and a 1.00 goals against average displayed how good he's been this season.

@Jonitski (Cowabunga Hockey)

Another goalie on this list? Well, if you near in on a .90 save percentage (89,52%) in 30 games, 8 shutouts during this campaign and only conceded 1,1 goal per game, it’s very hard to not highlight him. Jonitski was outstanding in Cowabunga Hockey’s playoff push with 8 straight wins, 3 shutouts and only 7 goals against. Keep him in mind for the MVP race later on.

@mir02k1 (Speedy Bros Hockey)

This guy is the reason Speedy Bros scored the most goals of group 1. Why are we naming this though as he “only” finished 8th in the points department (60P, 28G, 32A), 15 points behind his linemate tzon93? Maybe he wouldn't be as good on his own, but having two dangerous wingers is very important in building a successful squad. The defense can’t focus on only one scary guy because if they give either one a bit too much space, it'll turn out costly.

@Mannheimer1938 (Deadly Phantoms HC)

He only played 17 games this season, but anyway lead the +/- category for defensemen and climbed to top 5 in both goals and points for defensemen. He had a +/- of 45, scored 7 goals and assisted 21 times in 17 games, record? Even though Phantoms had an incredible season and all players in their team did great, Mannheimer still deserves a shoutout! 

That's all for now ladies and gents, but make sure to check our website now and then for our playoff previews, and a bit of this and that. 

Signing off for now, 

Pro Division Writing Team

@Mannheimer1938

@Panarinz

Hi NHLGamers,

the regular season of the Pro division is over and without further ado we start the first round of the ECL Pro Playoffs tomorrow, Monday 19th of November 2018. The first eight teams of both groups qualified for the playoffs with the goal of winning ECL Pro and having the shot of getting promoted to our highest tier division - ECL Elite! The teams will be cross-seeded so that e.g. the 1st placed team of group 1 will be playing against the 8th placed team in group 2 and so on. Starting from the second round, all teams will be seeded based on PPG and the other tie-breakers, where necessary. Every series will be played best-of-7, i.e. a team has to take four wins to advance to the next round. Teams have 7 days to finish the series, so the first round will take place starting Monday and ending Sunday, 25th of November 2018 23:59 CET.

As there were no teams which got disqualified or folded, we will continue with four relegation battles with places 13 to 16 of both groups fighting for their right to play again in the Pro division next season. The relegation battles will also be cross-seeded between the groups and it takes 4 wins to close the series. The relegation battles will also take place from Monday, 19th November 2018 until Sunday, 25th November 2018 23:59 CET.

These are the pairings for the first round of the playoffs:

• Pata Hellalla (G2 #8) vs Cowabunga Hockey (G1 #1) 
•  Born With It (G2 #7) vs 2. Synergy Hockey (G1 #2) 
• Belizzi (G2 #6) vs Wasps Gaming (G1 #3) 
•  Raging Monkeys (G2 #5) vs Speedy Bros Hockey (G1 #4) 
• EN HUND (G1 #5) vs Bucketeers (G2 #4) 
•  TIKI TALK (G1 #6) vs Resurrection (G2 #3) 
•  CLUB ONE (G1 #7) vs Checkmate (G2 #2) 
• Saints (G1 #8) vs Deadly Phantoms HC (G2 #1) 

These are the pairings for the relegation battles:

•  Nordic Nosebleed (G2 #16) vs Murohoki (G1 #13) 
•  Sektion K (G2 #15) vs 14. EV Duisburg (G1 #14) 
•  Free From Rodents (G1 #16) vs Nordic Stars (G2 #13) 
•  Unity (G1 #15)  vs Bone Breakers (G2 #14) 

Teams that ended their season in no-mans-land (Places 9-12) will stay in Pro for the next season. The teams are:

 Racoon Rampage
 GHETTO FIREBIRDS
Baltic Sea Eagles
 Style
 The Visionaries
 Pohjoista Voimaa
 Silver Sword Griffins
 Le Coq Sportif

We would 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!