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!

Hi NHLGamers,

We are ready for round 2 of the ECL 7 Lite playoffs! After a very quiet first round with nearly no upsets, as 30 out of 32 ended with the higher seed winning. The stage is set for another exciting week of playoff hockey and we are now into familiar territory with the best 32 teams of the Lite division that will have to do or die. We expect some upsets in this round, based on previous seasons, as some favourites will struggle and some underdogs will rise.

The games will be played best-of-7, meaning it takes four wins to make it into the next round.

Due to the EA server downtime pushing the regular season end and eventually causing the Playoff pairs in round 1 to be published quite late, we ended up allowing one extra day for the first round of the playoffs, thus pushing the rest of the rounds forward, meaning round 2 has to be finished by end of Monday the 19th of November.

Below are the pairs for round 2:

1. The Next Gen vs 43. Pink Panthers HC

2. Finnish Snipers vs 35. Rukoilevat Hinkkaajat

3. The Black Jacks vs 32. Lehmannen Badboyz

4. Mentula SKA vs 31. Puck Panthers

5. Clowns On Ice vs 29. Etelan Vetelat

6. Prowlers vs 28. Infinity

7. FarmiNaattori vs 27. Elämäm Kiekko

8. Supernatural vs 26. Suomen Sonnit

9. Rajatorpan Mafia vs 25. Finnish Hockey Legends

10. HokiDogit vs 24. Supremacy

11. We Kings vs 23. K A R H U T

12. SPARTANS vs 21. Poston Fruits

13. Freddie Mercury Institute vs 20. Blackdawgs

14. Inter Iceland vs 19. Kaukosen Luistin

15. Perttilan Kommandot vs 18. Dubnation Gaming

16. Kalamasu HT vs 17. Team France

Please let us know when these matchups are going to take place, which gives us a better chance to cover it on our Twitch channel.
Should you want your games to be covered in our live broadcasts, please provide us with the necessary information as early as possible before the games.

The 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,

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

1. FILADELPHIA (6-0-0) [=]

Third week in and for the first time we have a team ranked #1 for two consecutive weeks. FILA find themselves in this position by going unbeaten against, albeit for the most part weak opponents, Unlucky Boys, Sika & Almost Famous. Putting up a pretty tidy 4 GF/GP and 1.1 GA/GP, showcasing to all how much of a powerhouse these guys currently are, with little to suggest a potential slow down in the future.

All in all then, as well as taking into account their recent ESM 6s event win, I think few could argue otherwise that FILA are truly the hottest team around right now and, quite frankly, it would require a Herculean effort by the closest challengers Written In The Stars and Symphony to even come near to dislodging them from their perch. 

2. Written in the Stars (5-1-0) [=]

As the season trundles on we are beginning to bear witness to an all-out brawl for the top three positions in Elite with a clear division between FILA, Written, Symphony and the rest based off of the average points gained per game by each team, with Written currently sitting in the third spot with an average of 1.71. A total that historically would have put them 1^st in ECL 4, barely 2^nd in ECL 5 (being edged out by .02) and 2^nd again in ECL 6. Whilst Written did drop pivotal points to Symphony this week which could cost them dearly down the line if they want to make a challenge for the top spot, they nevertheless went about business as usual almost and defeated Butterfly Effect, as well as Falun Coal Miners quite resoundingly. Looking forward however their schedule appears to weaken up quite substantially with next week being made up of the floundering Team Frosty and similarly rudderless Sika, only Dynasty really pose a challenge so we’ll have to wait and see if @FlyerKungen's team can conjure up something to topple FILA.

3. Symphony (3-0-1) [+2]

Last week I asked people to wait one more week, just to see if Symphony was ‘for real’ and not just the result of a pretty weak schedule. Well, one week later and Symphony definitely seemed to have used their games against Written as the opportunity for a statement, besting SKY once in regulation before succumbing to them in OT in the next game. On one hand however, I still cannot shake the aspect of their schedule. Sure, they are currently the only unbeaten (in regulation) team remaining, yet they have almost exclusively played teams below them in the standings (and I mean well below them). In fact, if one was to peruse their upcoming schedule I don’t think they would be at fault for being a little surprised, or even slightly uneasy on behalf of SYM, since as far as schedule’s go this is going to be a rough one. FILADELPHIA, Northern Stars, Northern Ascendancy, Sjukstugan, Unlucky Boys, Dynasty & Almost Famous. Aside from the disappointing NOR & AF you would certainly be hard pressed to find a more difficult schedule from any team this season.  

4. Northern Stars (4-1-1) [+4]

“Hey look, Northern Stars are top 4”

“What year is it again? Is Obama still in his first term?”

Since ECL splintered off into three distinct, but not discrete, divisions in the advent of ECL 4 the predominantly Swedish team in the Northern Stars have had a very tough time finding their footing. In that inaugural season they finished 10^th (six points out from a playoff position), in the following season they clawed their way back into the post-season with a strong 7^th position, however in the subsequent season they seemingly lost a step, slipping one position back to 8^th, couple this with the midseason loss of @PleeMaker and the summer exodus of @tbnantti one could fairly reasonably assume that NOS were going to slide all the way back to that horrid ECL 4 season form again. Turns out though, who needs Finns anyway? Whilst NOS are certainly struggling to score, they are nevertheless grinding out very important wins in critical matchups, trading wins against NOR and UB, as well as defeating a Sjukstugan team that’s looking ‘cooler’ compared to previous weeks. As long as this ability to grind out these wins remains, then NOS could very easily find themselves in a top 4 spot for the first time in a very long time.

5. Butterfly Effect (5-3-0) [+4]

I think we’re going to have to hand out awards at the end of these articles, with one of them being named the “Most helter-skelter team known to man” for which FLY would be the only 'real' candidate by a mile. Just look at their position deltas thus far: +11, -8 & +4. At the very least it appears that they’re beginning to stabilise which is nice.

In fact, after last week’s frankly inactive showing FLY were exceptionally active this week, playing four teams from up and down the standings. Going up against high-flyers in Written, middle table players in Rusty & Gotham, as well bottom dwellers in Sika. The question that should be asked then is could Butterfly Effect have a better record to show than 5-3-0? Certainly. Should they? Probably not. Taking away their two losses against Written brings their recent record up to 5-1-0, a record that should precipitate some real fear into those who are jostling for purchase in and around 4^th ,5^th ,6^th & 7^th place as FLY have shown to be a very deadly adversary.

6. Sjukstugan (2-1-1) [-2]

Three weeks in and it would appear that the Swedish club are no longer sipping away at rarefied air and have instead begun to slowly descend back towards a more familiar position in the standings.

This week was made up only of ‘derbies’ for 112, going up against the other Swedish majority teams in Elite (NOR & NOS). Gaining only one point from potential 'standing' neighbours in NOS certainly stings, although besting NOR twice in regulation without giving up a single goal probably makes up this. All that can really be said about this week for Sjukstugan is that it was a decent showing, not great, but not bad either, and coming out with five out of a possible eight points goes a long way towards clinching their second consecutive Elite playoff appearance.

7. Dynasty (4-0-0) [-1]

After last week’s trials and tribulations, it would appear as though Dynasty have stabilised and become much more predictable. Despite this, they find themselves dropping a position due to a couple teams going on a much more impressive series of wins as Dynasty were gifted a quite frankly sub-par schedule this week. All things considered I don’t feel as though there is much more to say about this team outside of the fact that this season is shaping up to be fairly nominal, and that entry to the playoffs is practically assured if they maintain this path.

8. Unlucky Boys (1-2-1) [-5]

Coming in with one of the toughest schedules this week we find the aptly named Unlucky Boys. Gaining three points out of eight against two very tough opponents in FILA & NOS is certainly noteworthy, especially if you look to predict the final standings for Elite. I say this because UB, for the most part, have not faced especially great opponents thus far. Whilst they may have faced the teams aforementioned, they are still yet to go up against 112, DYN, FLY and SYM, a series of franchises that could, should, and perhaps will harper UB’s playoff push quite substantially; especially with Rusty Blades and Team Frosty nipping away at their heels. This is effectively the make or break half of the season, they have set themselves up in decent position, but not great, so UB are going to have to play exceptionally well to open up a gap between them and those wanting to depose them.

9. Rusty Blades (3-1-2) [+2]

Even now, just one week later, Rusty surely are ruing their loss to UB as they sit just two points behind them on the outside looking in towards a playoff berth. In fact, it seems as though the proverbial penny has dropped inside Rusty’s camp and the urgency of their play has been raised a notch with them recording a very respectable eight points out of a possible twelve, sure it wasn’t pretty and against fairly subpar opponents, nevertheless a point is a point and drawing closer to a playoff berth is all that they should be thinking about. Similar to UB before them however, Rusty is facing a somewhat bleak upcoming schedule as they are yet to face DYN, FILA, NOS and SKY.

Just half way through the season, that 1-0 loss (or 2-0 win, depending on who you ask) may prove to be unbelievably critical in deciding whether RB or UB make the playoffs, outside of the race for 1^st, this battle for 8th has the potential to be the most entertaining skirmish in all of Elite.

10. Falun Coal Miners (1-2-1) [+6]

Doubling their wins on the season (hey! It’s something!) we find a Falun team in their best form of the season thus far. Trading wins with Rusty was perhaps expected, if a little surprising, however taking Written in the Stars to overtime is something that I doubt anyone could have called, even those within the FCM team. Even though it was just a lone point that they gained, it’s a point that very few teams, if any at all, around them in the standings could have gained. Taking scalps like this from teams vastly higher in the standings cannot be underestimated in value, as it gives the team in question some room for error going forward. Such is a luxury that FCM have not been afforded this season, and on top of that their performance against SKY has allowed them to jump out of the bottom three for the first time this season, giving them some form of respite in the run-up to the conclusion of the regular season.

11. Gotham Knights (1-4-1) [-1]

Coming into this week Gotham Knights were facing a vast uphill battle to regain the spot in the playoffs that they held just two weeks prior. It would seem however that the genie has truly left the bottle and any magic left over has been spent as Gotham continued their descent into the nether regions of Elite. Getting smoked by Symphony no doubt stings but such an event should probably have been anticipated, even gaining only one point against FLY was perhaps even predictable and could be viewed as a ‘good result’, what is not acceptable however is dropping a game to playoff hopefuls Almost Famous. Even still, Gotham remains within a shot of the playoffs and at the very least assured safety, however the clock is ticking and, in truth, losing @Rimpe may have delivered the death blow already for their season.

12. Almost Famous (2-4-0) [+2]

Rising slightly from the doldrums of the standings we find an Almost Famous side who are effectively on autopilot right now. Two losses against FILA showcases the vast gap in skill between them and the top of the table, however trading wins against Rusty and Gotham exhibits a certain average quality; although such a quality may be on the way out with @SadaPoika leaving to join Unlucky Boys. Aside from that however I’m at a loss of what to say about these guys, as not everyone can make the playoffs and as it stands AF are ‘favourites’, if you can even call it that, to be one of those on the outside looking in once the dust has settled in a few weeks.

13. Northern Ascendancy (1-3-0) [-1]

Ten games, six points, eleven goals for, twenty against and not a single powerplay goal. The only thing working in favour for NOR is the fact that they’ve played the least games out of any team in Elite and that their overall defence is mediocre statistically. Despite this, there is still some hope if they can figure out their offensive troubles as this upcoming week could practically make or break their season, as they go up against the current 8^th placed team in the Unlucky Boys. It should be noted that besting UB twice in regulation is all but required if NOR wants to be serious about making the playoffs, slipping up even slightly and giving away points to a team in prime position to take 8^th place could be the ‘canary in the mine’ that draws the curtain on NOR’s season so soon.

14. Team Frosty (1-3-0) [-7]

Last week Dynasty were noted as being unpredictable, well that note has been passed on to Team Frosty for this week. Just one week removed from being solidly in playoff contention TF find themselves having missed a step, going 1-3-0, with two losses coming against Dynasty and one against a very weak Sika. Despite this, TF has loaded up and are almost certainly posturing towards making a run with the acquisition of @Totalii & @Nampa77, two players who will sure up their defence and offence respectively very nicely. 

This upcoming week is going to be interesting as they have ample opportunity to leapfrog competitors in the standings as they are slated to play Rusty Blades and Gotham Knights.

15. Sika (1-7-0) [-2]

16^th in all but name thanks to Radical’s disqualification. Bottom four offence, bottom three defence, the only statistic that paints Sika in a positive light is their league leading 58.8% faceoff rating. Even the return of the long-time member @imosi could only stem the haemorrhage for a few games before full blown systemic shock inevitably set in again. Playoffs are of course completely out of reach; however, safety is not necessarily off the cards. A solid performance against their remaining opponents (most of which are in and around them in the standings) could solidify their membership in Elite. It should also be mentioned that in all honesty, their 1-7-0 record this week is kind of admirable as they went up against a fairly tough set of opponents in FLY, FILA, DYN, then rounded it out with a playoff hopeful in Team Frosty in which they traded regulation wins. The panic button should have been pressed a long time ago but the window of safety, whilst shutting at a rapid pace, is nevertheless still open and within touching distance.

16. Radical (n/a) [-1]

⚰️ Rip ⚰️

*Rankings accurate as of 10/11/18

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!

Salut NHLGamers!

It's time for yet another Team of the Week,

For this season of ECL Pro, we'll have a running "Team of the Week"-segment. In other words, we'll be showcasing the best ECL Pro teams for both groups that week, but also a Top 6 lineup of individuals that excelled during said week. The articles will be released each Monday. Beware that we are only counting the stats for games played during each game week. This week our selection panel consisted of @Mannheimer1938 and @jahajaha93.

Group 1 - Team of the Week - 4

 
Synergy Hockey (6-0-0)

Is "hot" enough to describe this team right now? 6 games this week, 6 wins - and not against whoever, they won against the other top guns of group 1 when overcoming Speedy Bros Hockey, Wasps Gaming and EN HUND. Synergy is currently on a 12 game winning streak and has gained points in their last 14 matchups! They should be able to settle for the top spot in their group quite easily as we're going into the last week of the regular season.
 

Group 2 - Team of the Week - 4

Belizzi (6-2-0)

These guys have been great recently! They've stepped up their game when they needed it the most. Catching up from below the playoff line to a more or less certain spot is impressive while also breaking down teams like Resurrection and Raging Monkeys on their way there. They are really shaping up to be one of the dark horses this season, look out for them in the playoffs! 

Pro division - Players of the Week - 3 

@Panarinz - @Playmaker - @Windblad
 @LegendenKurtz_ - @AndreasLeafs
                         @DUNZA

@Panarinz (Style)

The assistant captain and leading scorer of Style managed to have himself a great week. Panarinz scored 10 goals and accumulated 4 assists on his left wing, having a total of three game winning goals among these snipes. Style is a team that after a tough start has heated up nicely, so look out for Panarinz and this group of guys in the weeks to come!

@Playmaker (Deadly Phantoms HC) 

27 points in 6 games - 3 points per game in the season so far (63 points in 21 games), Playmaker1010 is on another level right now as he's dominating the center land, tearing up opposing teams day in and day out. He is the leading offensive force for the Deadly Phantoms and surely brings it every time he laces up his skates but is also a key factor in the defense as he keeps the slot tight and makes it as hard as possible to score against his team.

@Windblad (Synergy Hockey)

Another center that has made it in this team of the week. Credit is due where credit is due, however. Scoring 11 points in 5 games doesn't tell us the whole story, but a +/- of 9 and a faceoff percentage of over 60 this week, it's very clear that this guy is well deserving of a spot on this roster. With his defense first kind of mindset, every team would be helped with him on the ice. 

@LegendenKurtz_ (Style)

Legenden has been one of the main reasons for Style going on an incredible run of form lately. 8 points and a +/- of 10 in 6 games is proof of just that. Even though he is a very defense minded defenseman, he is ranked in the top 5 for points by defensemen. Beware if you face him 1 on 1 with or without the puck, he can dangle you out to the parking lot.

@AndreasLeafs (Raging Monkeys)

A guy currently ranked number 1 in points for defensemen this season who also had a great week, who am I thinking of? AndreasLeafs of course! 8 points in the last 8 games and a +/- of 6. He isn't known for scoring goals, that's for sure. Instead this Norweigan defenseman knows how to set up his teammates. Will he be ranked 1st in the points by defensemen standings at the end of the season too? 

@DUNZA (Synergy Hockey)

Even with games remaining DUNZA himself has set a new ECL record! 11 shutouts so far in a single season is a remarkable stat, setting a new high for ECL goalies on any level. To be honest with you, he could've been featured every week. He has surely been a game changer this season and every stat I could mention here is proof of that. Let's just stick with his 11 shutouts, a GAA of 0.82 and a save percentage of nearly .90 is incredible.

That's all for now, ladies and gentlemen. If you want to be featured next week here's the recipe: work hard, play hard and do your best to make it happen! Be sure to tune in next week to see if you, your team or one of your teammates made it into our "Team of the Week".

Over and out, 

@Mannheimer1938

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 aimed for release 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

1. FILADELPHIA (5-0-1) [+3]

Not content with their 4th placed ranking last week FILADELPHIA set out to bolster their budding résumé by disposing of a who’s who from the top 6 of last weeks edition, taking Northern Ascendancy, Dynasty & Sjukstugan out to the woodshed, only dropping one point out of six in a game against Dynasty where they (FIL) perhaps should have won. Nevertheless, with such a dominant display against teams who were supposed to put up more of a fight one can only imagine that the SKY is the limit… or, indeed, is it?

2. Written in the Stars (5-0-0) [+4]

@vSilenttio quite aptly said recently in the ECL podcast that “SKY didn’t look like SKY”, in reference to their showing in the first week. Well, one can safely assume that the players in SKY have smashed this assertation. Dispatching of NOR in resounding fashion, then absolutely decimating an Almost Famous by a combined score of 10-2 and on top this, they defeated Dynasty 3 to 2 in OT to mark a week where you would struggle to find a single aspect that they faltered in. Similar to last weeks edition of this ranking however it should be mentioned that like Sjukstugan before them, if it wasn’t for FILADELPHIA going on a hot run then SKY could easily have been slotting in at #1 as opposed to #2. If anything, it speaks to the level of competition at the very top that such a thing can happen twice in a row.

3. Unlucky Boys (3-1-0) [+6]

Putting aside their lacklustre opening week Unlucky Boys find themselves in a more familiar position this time around, both here and in the Elite standings (latter being 7^th). As is often the case for me I am at a loss as to what exactly I should say about these guys. They’re just solid, sure their goal scoring is particularly frightening (and not in a good way) compared to teams around them, especially when combined with their goals against average (-1 differential). Nevertheless, they grind out their wins just as well as any other team in the league, as shown by them rounding out this week by toppling last week's #3 team in Gotham Knights in both games, as well as splitting with Rusty Blades.

4. Sjukstugan (2-1-1) [-2]

Sliding down to the #4 spot we find Sjukstugan, a team possibly playing at the highest level that they’ve ever played at in their entire history as a franchise. 8-1-1 overall, both losses (OT & reg.) coming against this week’s hottest team in FILADELPHIA, as well as @Hullued putting up a quite frankly ridiculous .911 save% signals that perhaps the Elite captains who participated in the voting section of the 16 in 16 may have underestimated the new look Swedish team a tad.  

5. Symphony (4-0-0) [=]

Eventually you’ll see me say that Symphony have had a tough week in terms of the schedule they were tasked with, today is not that day however as they went up against a bottom feeder of the division in Falun Coal Miners, then an underperforming Rusty Blades, disposing of both teams with four regulation wins (each with a goal differential of 2). Look for these guys to truly make a statement next week as they’re scheduled to play FILADELPHIA, Northern Stars, as well as Gotham Knights.

6. Dynasty (3-1-3) [+6]

Having played only two games last week all eyes were on Dynasty to see how they truly stacked up against Elite’s finest, and boy were they tested. Two wins against a visibly struggling team in Falun Coal Miners surely gave Dynasty the confidence to go toe-to-toe with FILADELPHIA the very next day, with both games being decided by a single goal. They then sort of crashed back to Earth with a disappointing single point in two games against Northern Stars, finally rounding out the week with a OTL + mystery game against Written. If a single word could be applied to Dynasty’s week, I think that unpredictable would be appropriate. 

7. Northern Stars (4-0-0) [+3]

Entering the top 8 for the first time this year we have Northern Stars, who seem to have consolidated their playoff aspirations after last week’s wobble, even if it was minute. The one negative I would note is that the issue still remains that their offence is particularly weak, especially compared to their contemporaries, however wins are wins and with such solid defence it’s somewhat tough to not win games. In addition to this, it should be noted that whilst Dynasty are incredibly unpredictable right now and it seems luck of the draw almost regarding how well they’ll play in any given game, they are not facing down the barrel of disbandment like Radical, as such NOS’s wins against this team will be rescinded according to the LA ruling posted today. (along with any games league-wide involving RAD).

8. Team Frosty (3-1-0) [+5]

Going from 16^th to 8^th in the space of a fortnight isn’t exactly a bad turnaround for those from Team Frosty. Especially so as one of the main criticisms I had about this team was their apparent lack of goal scoring support, an assertation that has been thoroughly smashed this past week with them potting ten goals in four games (a pace that would have them above the likes of FILADELPHIA & Dynasty). It should however be noted that eight of these goals came against the proverbial ‘whipping boy’ of Elite in the Falun Coal Miners and therefore there should still be some caution within the Frosty camp, nevertheless they can rest easy at the very least now that they have put some distance between them and the bottom of the league.

9. Butterfly Effect (1-1-0) [-8]

If last week we talked about the “no-man’s land of mediocracy” then this week the theme is the broadening of the gap between the playoff bound teams (8^th and above) and ‘the rest’ (9^th and below). Despite an extremely hot start last week which earned them a #1 ranking, Butterfly Effect has fluttered, or rather, crashed back to Earth due partly to inactivity, as well as dropping a potentially key two points to playoff spot rivals Team Frosty. Despite this however, it’s tough to really criticise FLY that heavily as they somewhat atoned for this loss by doing some clean up duty in the following game, dominating the time on attack 9:10 to 3:35 with a score line that was equally as impressive (4-0). In a sense then this ranking is more of a ‘decay’ than anything else really.

10. Gotham Knights (0-3-1) [-7]

If Butterfly Effect’s decline was motivated heavily by ‘decay’ then the same cannot be said for Gotham Knights. Since their 3-1-0 start just a week ago, Gotham has scored a miniscule two goals in four games, as well as allowing a not so great (but not bad mind you) ten over that same period. In fact, the only reason they’re ranked here and not lower is based on the level of the opponents that they have faced (112 & UB), other than that though this should just act as a ‘wakeup call’ to Gotham, reminding them that Elite can easily chew up and spit out a team resting on their laurels.

11. Rusty Blades (1-3-0) [-3]

I mentioned last week that whilst Rusty Blades should not be discouraged by their tumultuous start, they should however take notice of their goal scoring and try their best to get it going. Well, one week later and the case remains largely the same for this team. In fact, I could honestly copy and paste my account of them from last week because the similarities are striking. For instance, their GF/GP is still locked to a lone tally, their GA/GP is still hovering around the middle of the league at 1.88, and perhaps most importantly of all, they again played two strong teams in Unlucky Boys & Symphony. Eventually though some of Symphony’s luck on the schedule thus far will swap with Rusty’s apparent lack thereof and all will be well, until that point however I can’t really rank RB higher than this as much as I would perhaps like to.  

12. Northern Ascendancy (0-4-0) [-6]

As no one else was able to write NOR’s entry this week I’ll take up the mantle, although I’ll try to keep it snappy since it’s my team and biases are a thing. Right now, NOR are in a very delicate position, as while they may have gotten all four points last week, this time around they were practically steamrolled by Elite’s finest in SKY & FILA. Of course, bad starts are not always a death sentence, that said even now just six games in NOR are close to matching their last season total of five regulation losses which for intents and purposes isn’t exactly a great thing to think about.

13. SIKA (1-1-0) [+3]

Rome wasn’t built in a day, nor is a season won or lost providing that there’s some life shown. Compared with their last week SIKA was no where near as active, playing in only two games vs. the eight they were in before. Nevertheless, gaining two points goes a long way in the dogfight that is brewing for ECL 8 Elite security. It is also of important interest to note that @imosi is now back and is 0+3 in the two games that he has played. Whilst he’s maybe not a player that’s going to carry them to the playoffs, he certainly can be a massive factor in SIKA's ongoing survival battle.

14. Almost Famous (1-3-0) [-3]

A third of the way into the season and Almost Famous have put themselves in a very respectable position going forward, affording them the chance to make a run into the playoffs. That said, there are still questions to be asked of this roster, especially as six of their eight points thus far have come against teams that currently sit below them in the standings. Now of course, one may say that having 80% of all possible points against teams below you is not exactly a bad thing and I am inclined to agree. The problem is that the other two points have come from the team directly above them in the standings (Team Frosty). Therefore, what aF should be wary of is that this a trend that, while almost assuring safety for ECL 8, makes it quite difficult to put up a challenge for the playoffs if they can’t snatch points away from those above them in standings.

15. Radical (0-2-0) [-1] DSQ

For a team predicted to finish 3^rd in the regular season one could perhaps be mistaken for thinking these games would be a formality, however it would seem as though these games are anything but that as Radical have sputtered out of the gate, playing a meagre four games and recording a paltry point. It would also appear that there are some internal differences within the team as a couple of their players have left, putting Radical in a very precarious position going forward. 

16. Falun Coal Miners (0-5-1) [-1]

If the 16 in 16 report got Sjukstugan wrong, then it all but nailed the Falun Coal Miners. Twelve games into the season with a record of 1-9-2, an anaemic offence potting 11 over that period, as well as a leaky defence allowing a league high 43 earmark a team struggling desperately to stay afloat. The one saving grace is that they have had to go up against some very strong opponents recently in Symphony and Dynasty, although the fact that they gathered only one measly point against Team Frosty certainly puts a dampener on things.

*Rankings accurate as of 3/11/18

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!

Hi NHLGamers,

I'm so glad you've found your way here!

For this season of ECL Pro, we'll have a running "Team of the Week"-segment. In other words, we'll be showcasing the best ECL Pro teams for both groups that week, but also a Top 6 lineup of individuals that excelled during said week. The articles will be released each Monday (except this week). Beware that we are only counting the stats for games played during each game week.

Group 1 - Team of the Week - Week 3



Synergy

The top predators of group 1 had a perfect record (6-0-0) in their books for this week. Sure, it was against some bottom tier teams in their group but you still have to earn those points in this division. Against Free From Rodents Synergy even found their scoring touch without compromising their strength - defense. They won't win their games in a flashy manner but who cares if it really is true that offense wins games and defense wins championships?

Group 2 - Team of the Week - Week 3
 

Born With It

Mentioned as a "cold" team in last weeks ECL Talk, Born With It came out quite hot this week. 16 out of 20 possible points (8-2-0) versus mostly teams who are in the fight for the very same playoff spots were some very crucial matchups to win. They are currently ranked 4th in group 2 with a lot more games than their opponents but we believe this serves as a solid base for their playoff campaign. Let's see if this good week will be enough and how many points they can grab out of their last remaining games (Nordic Stars, The Visionaries, Bone Breakers).

Pro division - Players of the Week - 3

@Kookasi- @JaKurrii - @Tzon93
        @Veskku - @Ampuhaukka
                       @Jonitski

@Kookasi (Born With It)

14 goals and 8 assists in 10 games is pretty impressive. Kookasi showed that his player name (Darth Anger) isn't only the display of his teams start into the season. He is maybe hoping to channel his anger to leading his team into an important playoff run. This guy's game winning goals give Born With It some playoff hopes and we're sure that he'll be the first one to lead this team into their last remaining matchups.

@JaKurrii (Wasps Gaming) 

Wasps Gaming is on a mission and JaKurrii is a big factor why this is quite a successful season so far. After another strong week (7 wins, 1 loss) against good teams in their group their center helped a lot with 4 goals and 7 assists in this 8 games this week. His 56% faceoff percentage so far is a major key in controlling the game in all three zones. 

@Tzon93 (Speedy Bros Hockey)

This guy keeps scoring and seems determined to continue this run of form for a long time to come. He scored 8 goals in 6 games last week and kept providing for his team. He is now ranked at 1st in points during this Pro regular season, while still being reliable in the defensive zone with a +/- of 21. 

@Veskku (Born With It)

Veskku is the defensive leader for his team, playing all games and helping in the scoring department as much as he can. This week he added 5 goals and 5 assists in 10 games. It'll be interesting to see if he and his team will continue showcasing their "Born With It" talent or if their season will end like it started, which wasn't pretty.

@Ampuhaukka (Speedy Bros Hockey)

For a defensive defenseman he has racked up some points lately, with 7 points in his last 6 games and a +/- of 11 in said games. In the last game he also took 10 penalty minutes. Yeah you read that right, TEN! But that aside, he is getting the job done and you know what you get when putting him on the ice. 

@Jonitski (Cowabunga Hockey) 

The Goalie from Cowabunga Hockey is leading his team into the brighter lights in the group standings. With 4 wins, 2 shutouts and his 90% save percentage this week he stood tall in net and gave Cowabunga a chance to win each and every game.

That's all for now, ladies and gentlemen. If you want to be featured next week here's the recipe: work hard, play hard and do your best to make it happen! Be sure to tune in next week to see if you, your team or one of your teammates made it into our "Team of the Week".

Over and out, 

Pro Division Writing Team

@Mannheimer1938

@Panarinz

The League Administration would like to take this opportunity to remind all teams and players that the LA does not wish to ban any players or teams and would much rather help the team captains with any issues they might have, so that the team can continue their season despite any issues.

By contacting the Support/League Administration as soon as possible* when you run into issues you're unable to resolve yourself, you are not showing weakness - on the contrary, you are taking responsibility and show that you care about your team and are doing your best to get things resolved despite issues.

_{* This does not mean you shouldn't do your best to cooperate with the other team. We always appreciate captains that can be flexible with other teams and are able to agree to compromises and get things done without LA involvement.}

RADICAL DISQUALIFICATION

ECL Elite team Radical have been disqualified and removed from the ECL 7 tournament. On Wednesday the 31st of October the League Administration got information about team Radical folding. The team lost two key players and team captain @Tuukka.R (KingOfApes_) gave up, leaving the team's internal WhatsApp group. There didn't seem to be any big efforts to fix this situation and instead of the captains asking the League Administration for help, players seemed to be wanting to transfer to other teams. In the process, the assistant captaincy was changed a couple times without proper agreement and the responsibility remains with the original captains. While the main captain is the main leader and in this case was one main reason for the team folding, the assistants (in this case @Joukki (Joukki13) and @Penatski) are also expected to show leadership and responsibility for their team. 

As such, the team is disqualified and its captains will face the following disciplinary actions:

• KingOfApes_ (C): ban covering the end of ECL 7, and a 10 game suspension in ECL 8 in addition to a two season ban from being able to take a role of a captain/assistant captain during ECL 8 & 9.
• Joukki13 (A) & Penatski (A): ban covering the end of ECL 7, in addition to a season ban from being able to take a role of a captain/assistant captain during ECL 8.

The rest of the team are able to transfer to another team for the rest of the season and will receive no disciplinary action. The ECL Elite License will not be refunded and the prize pool remains untouched. All Radical games will be voided and the team will be removed from ECL 7.

While making its decision, the League Administration looked at and evaluated the following rules:

Quote

2.2
In order to be eligible for NHLGamer leagues/tournaments, teams must:

• Have a captain and 2 assistant captains
• Have a total of at least 8 players (ECL Pro and ECL Lite) / 7 players (ECL Elite)
• Use the same team name on NHLGamer.com and NHL 19
• Use unique numbers within a team (two players on the same team cannot use the same number at the same time)

Quote

13.3
Teams are allowed to release a player from their roster, provided this doesn’t violate the roster size rule. If a player is released or transferred to another team and thus the roster size is temporarily below the limit mentioned in 2.2, the team has 24 hours to invite a new player to the team to meet the rule again, otherwise it will be disqualified. Released players cannot go back to the team that released them and their next move is considered a transfer from the team that released them.

Quote

13.4
Team captains are not allowed to be transferred during a league/tournament. Team assistant captains are allowed to transfer in case the team captain agrees to a transfer. In case the team captain disagrees, an assistant captain is not allowed to be transferred to another team. This paragraph also applies if a team is not able to finish the tournament for whatever reason.

Quote

13.5
Regular players are allowed to transfer once per tournament from a team to another, unless the move would violate the roster size rule.

Quote

13.8
If a team is disqualified, its managers are banned from the league/tournament. The other roster players are free to transfer to another team, unless they were proven involved in the disqualification of their team, in which case they are also banned.

We received some feedback about the rules not being quite conclusive and partially inconsistent in some cases and we agree with the feedback, that we can clarify and unify the meaning of some potentially contradicting sections. In any case the intent of the rules is to hold the captains accountable for their team and the LA believes the ruling reflects that. We will be taking this valuable feedback into account and make adjustments to the ECL 8 rulebook.

- League Administration