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

Hi there NHLGamers!

Due to the ECL Lite regular season being extended due to the EA server downtime,  some discrepancies in game reports and after the weekend still taking it's toll on staff this announcement was slightly delayed. Nevertheless, we're here to announce the Round 1 Playoff matchups of ECL 7 Lite!

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 causing the Playoff pairs to be published quite late, we're allowing one extra day for the first round of the playoffs, meaning the round has to be finished by Monday the 12th of November.

Below are the pairs for round 1:

1. The Next Gen vs 64. Bombers Hockey

2. Finnish Snipers vs 63. Hockey Hooligans

3. The Black Jacks vs 62. HC Keskikalja

4. Mentula SKA vs 61. HC Finlandia

5. Clowns On Ice vs 60. Magic Mushrooms

6. Prowlers vs 59. KulmalaHengaus

7. FarmiNaattori vs 58. TEHOTTOMAT

8. Supernatural vs 57. HARDCORE NAPPIAIVOT

9. Rajatorpan Mafia vs 56. Unknown Ice Breakers

10. HokiDogit vs 55. HC Aurinko

11. We Kings vs 54. Red Devils HC

12. SPARTANS vs 53. Swedish Match HC

13. Freddie Mercury Institute vs 52. Stayhard Stallions

14. Inter Iceland vs 51. Melting Point

15. Perttilan Kommandot vs 50. Nearbird Fighters

16. Kalamasu HT vs 49. Niederrhein Canucks

17. Team France vs 48. Clusterpuck

18. Dubnation Gaming vs 47. SHECANGO

19. Kaukosen Luistin vs 46. Rising Phantoms HC

20. Blackdawgs vs 45. SKA

21. Poston Fruits vs 44. DEG eSports

22. HC Bidon vs 43. Pink Panthers HC

23. K A R H U T vs 42. Falcons

24. Supremacy vs 41. Cancun Pirates

25. Finnish Hockey Legends vs 40. Outrageous Falcons

26. Suomen Sonnit vs 39. Last Period

27. Elämäm Kiekko vs 38. TeQuila SunRise

28. Infinity vs 37. Bare Knuckley Hockey

29. Etelan Vetelat vs 36. Red Light Zone

30. Saucer Hockey vs 35. Rukoilevat Hinkkaajat

31. Puck Panthers vs 34. The Dudes

32. Lehmannen Badboyz vs 33. WESTEROS HC

Good luck to all of the teams!

NHLGamers,

Due to the downtime of the EA servers on Thursday 1st November 2018, it was not possible to play any scheduled games. Therefore League Administration has made a ruling to extend the Lite division regular season from the original November 2nd 2018 until Sunday 4th of November 23:59 CET. We ask all teams with games remaining to finish their games until this new deadline and report their games immediately so we can further process the results and prepare for the upcoming playoffs. If you are unable to find an agreement with your remaining opponent, please open a new support ticket to league administration.

The Lite playoffs will start on Monday, 5th November 2018.

- League Administration

Hello NHLGamers,

For this season of ECL Elite we will be releasing a recurring segment that will look to detail the ‘hottest’, ‘coldest’ and… ‘mildest’? teams in Elite over the past week. Each article in this series will be released on Mondays and will thusly be based on the days in between each power ranking iteration. In addition to this it should be noted that each ranking will invariably be in some way biased as it is, at the end of the day, a subjective list. Note: Each article will be based off of results starting from the Monday, all the way up to (& including) Friday. Ergo, any games played over the weekend will 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

‘Wild West’

Yes, that is a pun about Red Dead Redemption 2 being released recently, and yes, it is the last pun I will ever make. Nevertheless, I feel it’s a fitting description given how some teams have played 8 games whilst some have only played 2, consequently making the ranking of any team quite onerous. *Rankings accurate as of 27/10/18

1. Butterfly Effect (6-1-1) [+11]

Playing the most games in Elite thus far FLY have certainly sent a statement out that they’re here to play; despite being the last call up from Pro due to the folding of Monarchs. They’re ranked 1^st over the similarly impressive Sjukstugan due to them playing more games against 'better opponents', most notably one of them being the highly touted Dynasty.

2. Sjukstugan (6-0-0) [+5]

Despite what the ranking may suggest, being placed 2^nd here is not a case of playing second fiddle in any way. In fact, it’s tough to really differentiate the two teams so treat this pick as 1b rather than 2, especially when you consider the fact that four of 112’s wins came against the previous regular season ‘president’s’ winner in Written in the Stars, as well as a playoff hopeful and stalwart defensive team in Rusty Blades.

3. Gotham Knights (3-1-0) [+11]

Having the most points out of any other team on such a hard-opening schedule Gotham Knights have shown that they are here to play and don't need any games to get up to speed, dismantling Radical in regulation as well as OT, on top of defeating NOS in OT before falling to them in regulation.

4. FILADELPHIA (3-1-0) [-2]

Wins over a previously predicted playoff bound team in Northern Stars, as well as going toe to toe with FLY and coming out with 2pts mark a pretty good showing thus far by FILA. Their stock is carried quite heavily by their rinsing of NOS 7-1 however, so much so that without it they perhaps wouldn't find themselves so highly ranked here.

5. Symphony (4-0-0) [-1]

Are Symphony's wins against a pair of opponents who aren't the 'best'? Sure. Nevertheless, they've exhibited the ability to win and at any level that's something that simply cannot be understated. ^{(Plus, they sort of dominated all games bar one so there's that too.)}

6. Northern Ascendancy (2-0-0) [=]

What is there really to be said so far? Northern Ascendancy have played only two games, winning both of them in overtime as they "only did what they had to do" against Rusty Blades. A little birdie told me that Rusty had more to give in those games and that they perhaps should have earned more than just two points from NOR. I must say that when a veteran team like NOR takes home four points and you hear these "ifs" and "buts" after the games - it just doesn't surprise me anymore. Next up they are facing SKY, BAT and FILA so it's easier to get back to this team when they have dealt with more opponents. (Courtesy of @vSilenttio)

7. Written in the Stars (2-0-2) [-6]

Visible struggles against Sjukstugan mar an otherwise solid showing thus far, although one could argue that said struggles were overcome in a 8-0 victory versus the defensively orientated Unlucky Boys. Therefore, with such a varied level of play it's tough to place them anywhere other than 'mediocre'. 

8. Rusty Blades (0-1-3) [+1]

It's at this point we make our way into the 'no man's land' of mediocracy, don't take this as a diss by any means but that's kind of the way these rankings tend to go. That is not to say that Rusty have been bad per se, for instance their defence seems to be in form yet again sporting a 2 GA/GP which is historically a pretty decent level. With that said however, it's not like everything is rosy for Rusty as their offence has all but completely dried up (1 GF/GP) which could spell danger if it continues, although it should be mentioned that they've played two 'defensive' teams in NOR & 112 which can explain their apparent lack of goal scoring ability to some degree.

9. Unlucky Boys (3-3-0) [+1]

I can see it already... "why are UB 9th with 6pts but Rusty at 8th with 3pts?". Well, as I alluded to before in the introduction, points aren't everything. Sure, UB have 6pts but those came via a series of unconvincing one goal wins vs. pretty subpar opponents in Team Frosty & Sika, then they got smacked down by a resurgent Written. Still though, running at a pt/g average in elite is nothing to scoff at, especially as that is historically close to the playoff cut-off point (avg. 1.17 P/GP).

10. Northern Stars (1-1-2) [-2]

As we slip further and further down this list any issues plaguing these teams becomes less and less of a niggling problem and more of a systemic issue that poses a severe risk to derailing their chances of clinching a playoff spot. Of course this does not mean that NOS are in danger territory yet, especially as the point made about UB and maintaining a pt/g average applies here as well, just that there are some issues that perhaps could become larger problems unless tackled at some point, one of these perhaps being the fact that Chimera is currently averaging over double the amount of turnovers as his forward line mates whilst performing below their level points wise. Despite this they've played two very solid teams and come out of as a .500 team, so the panic button doesn't need to pressed just at this moment but if they want to solidify their playoff ambitions then Chimera is going to have to pull his play together. 

11. Almost Famous (3-3-0) [=]

If UB were rated at 9th because of their unconvincing wins and blow out losses, then Almost Famous are ranked even lower despite identical records due to a series of even more unstable and ever-changing performances by the newly promoted team. Opening up the season losing two straight to FLY stings, but it happens, winning the next two (albeit in close fashion) against FCM certainly atoned for their opening display, however splitting their games against TF (with one being a 4-1 loss) certainly puts a dampner on things and AF may rue these early missed points come later in the season. 

12. Dynasty (1-1-0) [-7]

Two points against a seemingly strong opponent in FLY yet here we are at 12th, what gives? I suppose it's a little bit like a 'chicken and the egg' situation, did Dynasty get two points because they played well? Or did FLY get three points (reg. W and OT W) because Dynasty played badly? Usually all that these 'hypotheticals' teach us is that context is key and in order to get context you need a certain amount of background information to make an informed decision, as Dynasty have only played FLY thus far I'm going to err on the side caution and simply say that they just weren't playing up to their usual standard and that's that.

13. Team Frosty (2-4-0) [+3]

This season is looking like it may be a bit of a rough one for Team Frosty. Opening up with two losses to Symphony surely wasn't part of the plan although I doubt many could have expected a different result. Going on to split games against AF & UB is again, nothing to scoff at of course, yet outside of their wins their offence has struggling exceptionally with them only potting 3 goals in 4 games. One could say that these type of stats are inherently cherry picked and to some degree I agree, since it seems intuitive that when you win you're going to perform better than when you loss, however if you're relying on random games where your offence 'explodes' then games down the stretch are going to get very frustrating very quickly when you desperately need to close out or get within reaching distance of an opponent, only to 'hope' that something happens eventually. Nevertheless, despite such a depressing outlook this type of play may be all that Team Frosty needs to stay afloat in Elite as long as their 'average-ish' defence holds steady.

14. Radical (0-1-1) [-12]

Similar to Dynasty it's especially tough to gauge exactly how good a team is when they've only played two games and had mixed results. In addition to this, it doesn't exactly leave much to be discerned from the 'noise' so to speak so... yea.

15. Falun Coal Miners (1-4-1) [=]

Has Kopparberget began to run dry? With a frankly pitiful 1.17 GF/GP (good for joint 5th worst) the Miners from Falun are looking up once again as underdogs after a series of poor results vs. teams that were predicted to finish quite close to them in the standings (Sika, Almost Famous & Butterfly Effect). On the one hand if you take away their losses from FLY (who look to be an early dark horse candidate this season) FCM's results don't seem too bad, however even with that in mind giving up points to teams that you are looking to displace in order to get into the playoffs is never a great strategy. 

16. SIKA (1-6-1) [-3]

Worst GF/GP, 4th worst GA/GP and three points out of a potential 16 makes for a start that the Finnish Swine were not exactly looking for. There's always time to work their way up the standings but even this early it may be a case of damage control and securing safety as opposed to lofty playoff aspirations.

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!

Hey NHLGamers,

here we are again, taking a look at last week of the Pro division as we'll try to highlight some special performances of teams and players. Please note that the stats include games played and reported during week 2 (22.10.-28.10.2018) only.

Group 1 - Team of the Week - 2

Cowabunga Hockey

Cowabunga Hockey only played one matchup in the first week but they got things running in this second week. They won 5 of their 8 matches and two losses came in overtime. Their defense was a key factor in clinching most of the points as they were able to get wins out of some tight games. Forwards @Tinkesakara, @Sokkelo__ and @Rapsu got their job done in both ends of the ice. Cowabunga is now placed 6th in their group but they'll try to rise in the upcoming week.

 

Group 2 - Team of the Week - 2

Deadly Phantoms HC

Deadly Phantoms HC had a tight schedule this week with 5 matchups and some double matchup nights in there too. They got 18 out of 20 points while their puck possession game was key to their offense clicking around @Playmaker. Their extraordinary offensive efforts lead to a current average of 3,88 goals for per game. @RPH_31 had an amazing run this week, allowing only 5 goals in 10 games and was able to record 4 shutouts during this timespan. Currently the Phantoms are leading group 2 and wouldn't want to lose that spot during next week.

Pro division - Players of the Week - 2

@Buffy - @Playmaker - @ProMinx24
        @SolenX86 - @xLVxRitchey
                      @RPH_31

@Buffy (Raging Monkeys) had a solid run of form in ECL terms this week! Scoring a goal per game (6 goals in 6 games) but more impressively, 17 points in said amount of games. 

@Playmaker (Deadly Phantoms) was very strong in the first week and continued his dominant performance in the second week. 22 points in 9 games with an incredible +/- rating of +20! These stats show us that he can put up the points needed for his team, but most importantly keep the opposing teams shots out of his own teams net. 

@ProMinx24 (Silver Sword Griffins) set up some goals in this time period. With 17 assists (and 26 points) in 8 games he showed that he is a playmaking beast. Should he look into changing names with the guy above? Maybe so. 

@SolenX86 (Bucketeers) is an offensive minded defensemen that can pick out great passes all around the ice. That's exactly what he showed us this week. He is already 3rd in points for defensemen and don't be surprised if he continues his good form. 

@xLVxRitchey (Silver Sword Griffins) showed us what a cornerstone he can be in the defensive zone. With 7 points in 8 games and a +/- of 21 he comes off as a solid defensive defenseman that can provide offense when needed. He plays with a defense first mindset. Also worth mentioning he amassed 27 takeaways in last weeks games.

@RPH_31 (Deadly Phantoms), man, what a run of form! Over 90% in saving percentage and 4 shutouts in 10 games. He's done everything his team can ask for. Even though his team has been playing great all around, he is one of the keys to their success so far. If you come up on a breakaway beware of his flashing glove!

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".

Credits to @Panarinz who co-wrote this article with me!

Hello, gamers!

Let's skip the storytelling part because nobody cares about ancient history, right?

ECL Talk rises from the ashes! Last time we tried the whole 'ECL Talk' thing we described it like this: "NHLGamer Presents: ECL Talk is our brand new broadcast program for the official ECL news, trades and other things that are associated with NHL gaming." This time, we're reintroducing the concept with more people working on it. Now we have a bunch of NHL gamers mostly from the ECL Staff doing the program for our very passionate NHL gamers out there in the community - you guys. Obviously it's a new chapter in NHLGamer's journalism production so we'll take this as a learning process. The more we can get community members to share their very own "NHL: On the Fly" kind of thing with us, the better content we can produce for you guys. Keep reading, the best parts are yet to come.

How, when, where?!

Each episode will first be streamed live on NHLGamer's Twitch channel and will be best experienced live, as you can comment and ask questions throughout. If you can't make it to the live broadcast, you'll be happy to know that each episode will be found later on Twitch and Spotify! We will also post a recap article from every episode, so you won't miss the most important things even if you don't have time to listen to the whole thing.

To keep everything in order, easy and simple - we're going to have the same base structure for every single ECL Talk episode. Let's take a peak at that:

Every episode will be split into five different sections. This way we can keep each episode easy and fun to listen to during live broadcast and especially when you're listening to one afterwards. As ECL Talk will work as a sort of an ECL recap from each division, our aim is to talk about everything that is happening in all of our three divisions, but as you probably know already - we have over 120 teams to cover in each episode, so some details might get forgotten. We'll try our best, that is guaranteed!

The sections for each episode will be something like this:

1. "Intro"
   Each episode will start with introducing our panelists and the main subjects of the broadcast - you know, the basics: how everyone is doing, how the ECL standings are looking right now and what we're going to talk about. Who knows - maybe there'll be some cat videos too?
    
2. "Marketplace"
   Confirmed transfers or free agent messages on the forums will be mentioned. We'll also have to discuss the most notable transfers; why did "player A" leave "team X" and what will their role be in their new team. 
    
3. "Hot & Cold"
   Hot & Cold is a team of the week kind of thing where the panelists will discuss the best players and teams of the past weeks, without forgetting the worst ones! Hot & Cold will also feature the coolest highlights from the recent ECL weeks. Use #ECLHighlights on Twitter to get your shiny plays onto ECL Talk's highlight reel. And just to be clear, we're talking about dazzling goals, big game-savers, glitches or something like that so please try to keep your highlights shorter than 30 seconds. The highlights might not be as enjoyable on Spotify.
    
4. "Watchlist"
   Each panelist will have their own watch list that they will talk about during an episode. Things like "how team X is doing", interesting match-ups, what will happen in the future and things like that. 
    
5. "This & that"
   General discussion on the latest subjects in our community: standings, stats, forums, social media, interviews, live Q&A and maybe some giveaways?

Our first episode will be airing on Sunday, 28th of October at 17 CET and is expected to end by 19 CET.

Hi NHLGamers,

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

For this season of ECL Pro, we will start up a "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 (excluding this article). Beware that we are only counting the stats for games played during each game week.

Group 1 - Team of the Week - 1

 Wasps Gaming

The Wasps had a great run of form recently, playing only 4 games last week they managed to snag all 8 points and all wins were in regulation time. Even though they are most known because of their offense, it's their defense that's won them all 4 games. They've only let in 3 goals in the games played, accumulating 2 shutouts along the way. An honorable mention in their offensive line is @JaKurrii who has been racking up some points in all four games. They also lie at the top of the table in group 1 and have a few of their players in the top 10 of points, assists and goals. This is why they're our team of the week for group 1.

Group 2 - Team of the Week - 1

 Checkmate

Checkmate have really started the season on the right track. They've won their first 6 games of the season against at least two teams with serious playoff ambitions of their own and in that making a clear statement that they were deserving of the Pro spot. Goalie duo @Lage and @Tomsuu (a_pantera) have both stood their ground and got shutouts, their defense has set up a blockade at the blue line - those are the facts that make us believe you will probably see Checkmate fighting for that first place spot in group 2 and succeding in doing so. Checkmate won't be sparking off offensive fireworks but instead rely on their defensive stability and strength on counter attacks, they're very good in those categories and will punish you as soon as they get the chance.

Pro division - Players of the Week - 1

@Tzon93 - @JaKurrii - @Tim_FlyersFan
            @puke85 - @gzell60
                       @DUNZA

@Tzon93 (Speedy Bros Hockey) is ranked 3rd under all goal scorers so far and is a significant factor in the good start of his team Speedy Bros Hockey. He's the classic fast paced winger all GM's would love to be able to flash on their left wing.

@JaKurrii (Wasps Gaming) is the key factor in the early success of Wasps Gaming. We all know how important a reliable, hard working and scoring center is. On top of all that, this guy can also win faceoffs (58%)! Let's see if he can continue his dominant performance in the face off circle and lead the Wasps lineup into more heated battles.

@Tim_FlyersFan (Deadly Phantoms HC) is a playmaking machine on the wing and he is used to scoring on command too. You should never lose track of him because he's going to make you pay from it real fast. He is speedy, he is filthy, he is dangerous without massive drawbacks on his defensive play. Look out for top cheese all day baby!

@puke85 (Wasps Gaming) lead his team Wasps Gaming to a very strong start and is a dominant force in the defense. He has recorded 6 points already in 4 games played (3 Goals, 3 Assists) with a +8 rating.

@gzell60 (Deadly Phantoms HC) is the go to guy if you want to have a playmaking defenseman who throws sauce on the tape all day. He makes plays in all three zones while quarterbacking his team throughout the whole game. Gzell can make forecheckers look almost nonexistent in the blink of an eye.

@DUNZA (Synergy Hockey) 4 games, 4 wins, 3 shutouts...do I need to say more? Can this guy be beaten? He's only facing around 8 shots per game but saved nearly all of them, is that even fair? Early Pro MVP candidate?

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".

Special thanks to @Mannheimer1938 who co-wrote this article with me. 

ECL Elite 16 in 16 is a season preview series we're implementing ahead of ECL 7. The idea was conceived by @chavelski, but due to time constraining the man himself, the project is now being carried out by the rest of our Elite writing team. The series will be released in 16 parts, one article for each team. The teams have been ranked by all team captains, and articles are being released in order from predicted last place finish to predicted champion of ECL 7. The objective of this series is to give an idea to the community of who is representing which team, added by a small insight into the team with an interview of the team captain.

Few teams hold the distinction that Written in the Stars are able to claim; playing in all ECL Elite seasons and making the playoffs throughout is certainly an impressive feat. Despite this continued regular season success, Written has run into some quite serendipitous matchups in the playoffs. In ECL 4 they faltered to Dynasty who would go on to make the finals and lose to Laser HT. ECL 5 was an improvement as they dispatched Dynasty in the 1st round, however they came unstuck against SJK (previously Laser HT) who went on to make the finals and lose to Aapon Taikasauva in a five game series. In both of these seasons Written finished in 4th place, so when they punched their ticket to the ECL 6 playoffs with a nigh on perfect record of 27-2-1 (30GP), it was beginning to look like it was finally ‘their’ year. However, fate is rarely so simple. After quashing Northern Stars’ run in convincing fashion in the 1st round, Written moved on and was knocked out by, you guessed it, the eventual runner up Northern Ascendancy.

IN:

Dominointi <-- SJK eSports
VesKuLiNe <-- SJK eSports
Hansulinho <-- SJK eSports
willekunq <-- Red Machine
topikeranen <-- Evolution
Bugimir <-- Military service

OUT:

ADETIKKI --> Symphony
joukki13 --> Radical
eissi83 --> Butterfly Effect
Totalii --> Radical 

Current Roster:

Forwards
Dominointi (A) @Dominointi
FlyerKungen (C) @FlyerKungen
Bugimir @Bugimir
topikeranen @topikeranen

Defensemen
jtorro1234 (A) @jtorro1233
willekunq @willekunq
JOHTAJAVIRTANEN @JOHTAJAVIRTANEN
VesKuLiNe @VesKuLiNe

Goaltenders
JANURI98 @JanneK.
Hansulinho @Hansulinho

With this is mind we’ll segue into our short but sweet interview with @FlyerKungen:

With such great regular season showings but post-season results that perhaps leave little to be desired, what changes have you made over this past off-season in an attempt to hopefully propel your team deeper into the playoffs, and what were the motives behind said moves? 

After a disappointing playoffs, we didn't have any plans to change things too much. When ADETIKKI made an early decision to leave us, we were forced to start looking for a new center. After hearing a rumor about the SJK eSports "re-building" thing, I immediately asked Dominointi if he is leaving SJK eSports and maybe interested to join us, and he was. He wanted me to start playing the center position, so he can play right wing for the first time in his career and it was a fine deal for me. That's why I played Summer Cup 3 as a center. Our next thing was when Bugimir called me and said, "My Army is almost over, I want to play Hockey again!". He has played here for ECL 3 & 5 and he is my good friend so that's why I wanted to take him back. Last four signings, VesKuLiNe, Hansulinho, willekunq and topikeranen wanted to join here after seeing our current team and we know all these guys very well from the past and each of them are great teammates. We also agreed that a bigger amount of players could be better for us now.

In continuation of the last question, are you done tooling with the team now or are you still looking for some extra pieces? 

Our team is now ready for the ECL 7 and we are not looking for players anymore.

With all of this in mind, what are your expectations for the upcoming season? And who do you think are the current favourites to win it all?

The Elite division seems to be tougher than never before. So many potential and skilled teams. Battle between playoff-spots will be fun to watch and it's very hard to predict which eight teams will be playing in playoffs. It's also hard to say who is the favourite to win it all but at least FILADELPHIA, Symphony & Dynasty will be tough teams to beat if you face them in playoffs.

Thanks for your answers FlyerKungen, good luck with the starting season!

You can follow Written In The Stars during the ECL Elite season and live at the eSM finals 3.11. at GameXpo.

ECL Elite 16 in 16 so far:
(Links to each team article)

1. Written In The Stars
2. FILADELPHIA
3. Radical
4. Symphony
5. Dynasty
6. Northern Ascendancy
7. Sjukstugan
8. Northern Stars
9. Unlucky Boys
10. Rusty Blades
11. Almost Famous
12. Butterfly Effect
13. SIKA
14. Gotham Knights
15. Falun Coal Miners
16. Team Frosty

So, NHLGamers.. The Elite season is on it's way and we've counted down to the very start with this 16 in 16 series! What do you think about the season that is around the corner? Who will be the top scorer? Who prevails as the champion? Let us know in the comments and stay tuned for more amazing action to come!

ECL Elite 16 in 16 is a season preview series we're implementing ahead of ECL 7. The idea was conceived by @chavelski, but due to time constraining the man himself, the project is now being carried out by the rest of our Elite writing team. The series will be released in 16 parts, one article for each team. The teams have been ranked by all team captains, and articles are being released in order from predicted last place finish to predicted champion of ECL 7. The objective of this series is to give an idea to the community of who is representing which team, added by a small insight into the team with an interview of the team captain.

The second to last part of our 16 in 16 focuses on a young team with experienced players who can be considered as some of the best in the business. This team is certainly one of the strongest contenders in ECL 7 Elite. It’s going to be the first Elite season for the team, but the players are no strangers to top tier competition. 

FILADELPHIA was created by @Patzlaf before the start of ECL 6, where they took a part in our Pro division. The team was then considered a new "super-team", as it was formed out of established and very skilled players, much alike what Patzlaf had done earlier with Carlsberg HC. FILADELPHIA had a dominant showing in the regular season, and were surely favourites going into the playoffs too, however they ended up hitting a brick wall called Monarchs in a 7-game final series.  FILA had a large player turnover after last season, but they made some of the biggest acquisitions of the offseason, signing not two, not three but FOUR ECL 6 Elite champions and young prodigy @PleeMaker.

IN

Zande95 <-- Radical (Ex Carlsberg HC)
PleeMaker <-- Gotham Knights
Finkonna <-- Radical (Ex Carlsberg HC)
Vatalisti <--  Radical (Ex Carlsberg HC)
Janzuh <--  Radical (Ex Carlsberg HC)

OUT

Swagx88 --> Gotham Knights
Hazard-laser --> Saints
xDoumi --> Radical (ex Carlsberg HC)
VsVs_58 --> Free Agent
ac_tiska --> Free Agent

 

Current Roster:

Forwards
Patzlaf (C) @Patzlaf
I_Eki_I (A) @Eki
PleeMaker @PleeMaker
mikaasi @mikaasi
FIN_Potilas @FIN_Potilas

Defensemen
vatalisti @vatalisti
Janzuh @Janzuh
oGBioLan @oGBioLan

Goaltenders
FinKonna (A) @FinKonna
Zande95 @sibeelius

I managed to get a hold of assistant captain @Eki for a short interview, the guy also known as "goat" kept it short and sweet:

What are your expectations going into the 7th season of ECL competition?

We expect nothing but to win ECL 7 Elite.

Do you guys have one player you'd like to showcase as a potential difference maker?

Yes, we have couple of them, but I think @vatalisti is going to be a game changing player. He is the best D-man in the game. 

Would you like to share your thoughts on the ECL Elite License?

It´s a step in the right direction. 

Who would you say are the favorites to take home ECL 7 Elite?

FILADELPHIA.

Who's the hidden gem in your team?

Patzlaf's new internet. 

Thank you for the interview Eki and good luck in the upcoming season season.

ECL Elite 16 in 16 so far:

1. _______________
2. FILADELPHIA
3. Radical
4. Symphony
5. Dynasty
6. Northern Ascendancy
7. Sjukstugan
8. Northern Stars
9. Unlucky Boys
10. Rusty Blades
11. Almost Famous
12. Butterfly Effect
13. SIKA
14. Gotham Knights
15. Falun Coal Miners
16. Team Frosty

Stay tuned for our 16 in 16 about the predicted #1 team of ECL 7 Elite, Written In The Stars! The article will be released over the weekend.

ECL Elite 16 in 16 is a season preview series we're implementing ahead of ECL 7. The idea was conceived by @chavelski, but due to time constraining the man himself, the project is now being carried out by the rest of our Elite writing team. The series will be released in 16 parts, one article for each team. The teams have been ranked by all team captains, and articles are being released in order from predicted last place finish to predicted champion of ECL 7. The objective of this series is to give an idea to the community of who is representing which team, added by a small insight into the team with an interview of the team captain.

As we all know by now, ECL 6 Pro-winning Monarchs decided to call it quits after a tough offseason. The team decided to join forces with the Elite established Sjukstugan. This put the NHLGamer League Administration in a tough spot and we were forced to promote a new team, which based on ECL 6 Pro playoff wins is Butterfly Effect.

The team formerly known as Red Machine have made some big changes to their roster over the summer, with only 3 members left from last season. Butterfly Effect has a rather successful ECL history already, as they won ECL Lite in their first campaign in ECL 5, after which they experienced a tough 2nd round exit in ECL 6 against the eventual Pro champions Monarchs, who we already briefly introduced in this article. With some of the new signings @Vilupoika, @After8 (will_yo7), @eissi83 (do I even need to go on!?) they will have a strong season ahead of them. A negative was losing some of their key players but on the other hand adding Elite quality and a cool new logo and name will make up for that.

IN

Vilupoika <-- Carlsberg HC (Now Radical)
will_yo7 <-- Unlucky Boys HC
eissi83 <-- Written In The Stars
Nassustelija <-- Shameful Knights
Crisu_Rottis <-- Evolution

OUT

erholtzi --> Gotham Knights
Mommi --> Wasps Gaming
kojowaa --> Wasps Gaming
willekunq --> Written In The Stars
JaKurrii --> Wasps Gaming
Chafak --> Almost Famous
Stylez-Hades --> Free Agent

Current roster:

Forwards
jergelii (C) @Jere Jortama
RutonMosse (A) @RutonMosse
Vilupoika @Vilupoika

Defensemen
Nassustelija (A) @Nassustelija
will_yo @After8
Crisu_Rottis @Crisu_rottis

Goaltenders
eissi83 @eissi83
Roisto999 @Roisto999

I managed to have a short chat with captain @Jere Jortama:

As a (very) fresh face in the upcoming Elite season how have you approached this past offseason? I.e. What were the main areas that you felt needed addressing after your last season in Pro?

We hoped all offseason long that we can get that elite spot, our team had a lot of changes in the roster leading up to this season. We wanted to get more active players in our team, since our roster last season didn't show the level of activity I desired. Our team has been grinding daily ever since NHL 19 was dropped.

In continuation of the last question, are you done tooling with the team now or are you still looking for some extra pieces? 

We made some good acquisitions and our roster is now ready for what ECL7 throws our way.

With all of this in mind, what are your expectations for the upcoming season? And who do you think are the current favourites to win it all?

Our expectations for the upcoming season are pretty high, I think that our team will surprise a lot of teams on the ice. I think Written In The Stars is a viable candidate to win ECL and if I had to name another one it's definitely FILADELPHIA.

Thanks for the quick chat jergelii and good luck in your inaugural Elite season!
 

ECL Elite 16 in 16 so far:

1. _______________
2. _______________
3. Radical
4. Symphony
5. Dynasty
6. Northern Ascendancy
7. Sjukstugan
8. Northern Stars
9. Unlucky Boys
10. Rusty Blades
11. Almost Famous
12. Butterfly Effect
13. SIKA
14. Gotham Knights
15. Falun Coal Miners
16. Team Frosty

Only two ways left we can go! Who will be #1?

ECL Elite 16 in 16 is a season preview series we're implementing ahead of ECL 7. The idea was conceived by @chavelski, but due to time constraining the man himself, the project is now being carried out by the rest of our Elite writing team. The series will be released in 16 parts, one article for each team. The teams have been ranked by all team captains, and articles are being released in order from predicted last place finish to predicted champion of ECL 7. The objective of this series is to give an idea to the community of who is representing which team, added by a small insight into the team with an interview of the team captain.

It seems like quite a few Elite teams have experienced a larger type of overhaul this offseason, right? Remains to be seen if that will affect the power rankings at all when the season starts. So far, the captain vote has been rather predictable, and next in our 16 in 16 series that has now been slightly prolonged - we're taking a look at a team that's been known to finish close to the top of the standings, they've also made some drastic changes over the summer, they're former Carlsberg HC now turned Radical. Radical, led by scoring powerhouse @Tuukka.R (KingOfApes_), experienced some devastating losses in the early summer as arguably the best defensive pairing in the game @Janzuh - @vatalisti headed to FILADELPHIA and scoring winger @Vilupoika joined Butterfly Effect. Admirably, Radical didn't rest on their laurels and got right to action. They made some high level acquisitions and the team includes some interesting comebacks, so they're surely a team to watch out for once the season gets going.
 

IN

Joukki13 <-- Written In The Stars
xDoumi <-- FILADELPHIA
F-B-I__A-N-D-Y_ <-- Break from NHL
s_W1ld_Rus <-- Break from NHL
Juizki <-- Evolution
MAYZIIX <-- Arctic

OUT

Vilupoika --> Butterfly Effect
vatalisti --> FILADELPHIA
Janzuh --> FILADELPHIA
Zande95 --> FILADELPHIA
FinKonna --> FILADELPHIA




Current roster:

Forwards
KingOfApes_ (C) @Tuukka.R
Joukki13 (A) @Joukki
Penatski (A) @Penatski

Defensemen
xDoumi @xDoumi
Terasniska @Pontus T
F-B-I__A_N-D-Y_ @Andy90
MAYZIIX @MAYZIIX

Goaltenders
s_W1ld_Rus @s_w1ld_rus
Juizki @Juizki



Interview with captain @Tuukka.R (KingOfApes_)

We've heard a lot of criticism about the new game, mostly the tuners and patches have got quite a negative reception. What do you guys think?

The game was brilliant before the patch, although the poke check was completely useless. I think the patch broke the game, though. I'm very much against taking away the toolbox for individual skill and domination on the ice. This year it seems like everyone has the chance to play a winning type of hockey. Worst NHL ever.

Alike many other Elite teams, Radical has experienced a well.. radical player turnover over the summer. At times there were speculation if the team will even continue. With this in mind, how has the team been able to prepare for ECL 7?

To be honest, the preparation hasn't been easy at all. First of all it wasn't even easy to put together a team after we had so many players jump ship after the season. We were close to calling it quits a few times, but now as we've managed to establish a core group again, it's been easier.

Radical experienced some significant losses (see: @Vilupoika and @vatalisti to name a few) during the summer. What kind of acquisitions have you made to make up for your losses? How will the roster changes affect your style of play for the upcoming season?

Well, in reality you can't talk about 'making up for our losses'. We lost the best d-pairing in the game and a top scoring left wing. How do we come back from that? Luckily we managed to get players like @Joukki, @xDoumi and @Andy90 (F-B-I__A-N-D-Y_) so I think our future is bright!

What kind of thoughts do you have about the ECL Elite license?

Definitely positive. Personally, I think it will increase interest towards the league. I'd like to extend a special thanks to @FlyerKungen for firing up the discussion! ❤️

We've got about a month of NHL19 behind us now, who's been yout toughest opponent so far? Why?

Frankly, almost every game has been like an ECL Final game 7. The new game has evened out the skill gap so much, it doesn't really matter who you're facing right now. It's going to be a difficult season.

Let's finish off with a short one, who do you think will be the top scorer of ECL Elite this season?

@PleeMaker surely has the skill set and strong linemates to win.

Thanks Ape, good luck with the upcoming season!
 

ECL Elite 16 in 16 so far:

1. _______________
2. _______________
3. Radical
4. Symphony
5. Dynasty
6. Northern Ascendancy
7. Sjukstugan
8. Northern Stars
9. Unlucky Boys
10. Rusty Blades
11. Almost Famous
12. _____________ (To be released)
13. SIKA
14. Gotham Knights
15. Falun Coal Miners
16. Team Frosty

Only two teams left to choose from, which way do you think it'll go?

*Article written by @Panarinz and @Mannheimer1938

Guten Tag and välkommen NHLGamers,

Man, how all of us were hyped up when the Beta was coming out - what a brilliant game NHL 19 would be! We had the feeling that nearly all virtual hockey cracks are purchasing the Legends and Ultimate Editions to lace up their skates in this beautiful masterpiece as soon as they can. We were not disappointed - a fresh new list of soundtracks, well, it was definitely needed as you are waiting in the dressing rooms for hours in case of the broken matchup screens, but hey, at least you can now play 3s alongside 6vs6! Who cares about clicking through five (5 - F I V E) menu screens after every disconnect or locker room error as long as you can see your fancy styled player coming into the scene over and over again.
There's much wrong with the product we have - but we don't want to talk about things that annoy us, so we'll rather change the subject to something that hypes us up - ECL IS BACK!

With over 120 teams registering we broke the record for registered teams again!

I, together with @Mannheimer1938 have today the pleasure to give you some insights from our second tier division. We'll discuss some changes made in the offseason and try to give you some thoughts about how the teams probably will perform. The Pro division is surely stacked with tons of talent, a fact that was displayed pretty well last season as all Pro teams won their promotion/relegation battles against the Elite teams. If you look into this bunch of teams, you will see everything the EASHL club scene has to offer: ECL 1 veterans, well-established teams, hungry promoted teams and promising start-ups. There will be some really tight matchups and everyone has to fight for every single point - there are no giveaways! With that being said; here is our little roundup and predictions: 

SPOILER ALERT - It's going to be fun to watch!

Group 1

Baltic Sea Eagles (Current 6vs6 record 64-37-11) - Captains: @Thounimeister, @Heksaa, @swe best sniper

After their 5th place finish in group 1, Baltic Sea Eagles had a pretty good start into the playoffs but had an end put to their run in the quarterfinals after five games against Almost Famous. They took some tough losses in their line-up as their top scorer of last season @vilperi90 left along with another starting lineup player. Currently it doesn't seem like they can handle the changes too well as their pre-season form is not too impressive. They've had some tough losses against both Elite and Pro opponents.

CLUB ONE (Current 6vs6 record 104-73-18) – Captains: @epelis, @Pursuitti, @makichuk

Former Penalty Box got a brand new look in the offseason by changing nearly everything – their name, their captain, their defense and offense! The four season veteran epelis, having some Elite experience under his belt is now in charge for the restart of this team and will try to lift the team up into the playoff race as their last season started with such hopes (6-3-1 record) but then the team had to go trough some hard times with more downs than ups. Finishing in no man’s land, (13th in Group 2) they are desperate to do it better this time. Their pre-season is likely similar to their last ECL season, but with more positives, they've won some and lost some to Pro and Lite caliber teams.

Cowabunga Hockey (Current 6vs6 record 68-45-6) - Captains: @Tinkesakara, @Sokkelo__, @Jonitski

Here we have a strong newcomer to the Pro division with almost the same exact squad as the one that took last seasons Lite silver medal. They added some depth and will continue playing their fast paced passing hockey. How this tactic will work in Pro we'll see. They've had a strong preseason with more ups than downs, winning against good teams and losing almost only against Pro and Elite teams. 

EN HUND (Current 6vs6 record 41-27-1) - Captains: @Lurkins, @Dooberi, @Hammaroid

The seasoned veterans had a pretty quiet off-season. Nearly all starters are still in the team, "only" their starting goaltender left. It seems that @Dooberi will try to flash his glove for most of the season but I guess they will split some starts around a few guys. They don't have that much of a record to show for (looking at games played), but the games they played are quite good as they were winning most of their games against Lite and Pro teams.

EV Duisburg (Current 6vs6 record 42-32-9) - Captains: @FoxGoalie, @GreatOne139, @ShawnMcNeil

Last seasons Lite champions Duisburg has a lot to prove this season. It still pains me (@Panarinz) to say it, but they deserved their gold (might have something to do with them knocking out my beloved Style in the semis). No question about it. With last seasons MVP and captain @FoxGoalie they have the best chance to stay in Pro out of all promoted teams. As I said both during and after the semifinals against EV Duisburg, "their goalie can't ****** concede a ******* goal". So Pro teams, take note. No big difference in their squad compared to last season and an alright preseason doesn't change my theories. EV Duisburg are here to stay.

Free From Rodents (Current 6vs6 record 7-6-0) - Captains: @Volano, @AndreasNo, @Guscharov

The last-minute sign up Free From Rodents will try to get another run at a playoff-spot as they were missing it last season with only one point behind Quality. Loosing three starters could potentially hurt the team and they have to be replaced appropriate. There nearly non existent pre-season is a hint of a very tough start as they have to deliver right from the start with nearly no playing time.

GHETTO FIREBIRDS (Current 6vs6 record 86-39-17) - Captains: @KepakkoFIN, @Vilze, @Sakkem

One of the first ever European teams to sign with an esports organisation gained promotion due to some open spots and their former quarterfinalist campaign in ECL 6 but I would in no way say that the Firebirds don't belong in Pro. They proved at the beginning of NHL 19 that they definitely belong in the mix of a playoff-contender with a sweet record and a very good record in their last 10. They won some matchups against the higher tier and can be a tough opponent for every Pro team out there. 

Murohoki (Current 6vs6 record 80-42-13) - Captains: @Malcowich, @jjonij, @MovaaN

What comes first? The chicken or the egg? ECL or Murohoki? In this case the answer is a little bit more clear as Murohoki only missed the starting season on NHLGamer but after that they were participating in every ECL season! Quite an effort for a team while many many teams are getting renamed, disbanded, created - is there any kind of receipt to their long time club history? I will bet that these guys will be in the talk of the playoff teams but let's see if they can build some more legacy - even a run at a promotion?
Currently bad form, almost only losses in their last 10 games. Before that slope, they won against top Pro and Elite teams.

Raccoon Rampage (Current 6vs6 record 51-24-5) - Captains: @Ojamoska, @Eemeli31, @VesqGame

Beware of the Raccoons! These scary guys with one of the nicest logos around here will be flashing their teeth hunting for scalps more than you are thinking. Their pre-season record is pretty impressive and they will immediately make their presence felt in the Pro division. Dark Horse maybe? Make sure to have them on your list of the playoff contenders.

Saints (Current 6vs6 record 96-76-23) - Captains: @Hazard-laser, @Pasi Modry, @Nakkertoni

The last but not least team to gain direct promotion from the Lite division because of the open Pro spots. The leader of this group of guys @Hazard-laser is a true veteran and has experience over all divisions and he will try to give his guys all the help he can in order to exceed expectations. Their pre-season displayed that the potential is there, as they were winning against Pro teams but also losing against some Lite teams. It could be the daily form which is the decicive factor in taking 2, 1 or 0 points.

Speedy Bros Hockey (Current 6vs6 record 78-49-14) - Captains: @Ampuhaukka, @Tzon93, @riihimaenharski

After an alright season finishing just out of the playoff spots in Pro, Speedy Bros have made a lot of changes to their squad, even though their core still remains. One very welcome addition is the return of @mir02k1, who is known to put up points against tough opponents. The form of Speedy Bros has been great as of late, winning games against a few Elite teams and they seemingly has a great strategy against top teams. That being said, they've still lost some games versus Lite and Pro teams too. You will probably see this team in the playoffs this season. Lets see how "Speedy" they can be during this season and if all stars are aligned they can do even more than go to the playoffs. 

Style (Current 6vs6 record 64-23-4) – Captains: @mayX-swe, @Panarinz, @LegendenKurtz_

The Swedish club gained promotion after a semi-final exit in 6 games against the later champion EV Duisburg and is thirsty to prove that they are Pro caliber right from the get go. With only a few off-season changeups the core of the team remained the same so there should be some chemistry in the early games of the season. The key factor will be if the addition of @Mrantonn as the new number 1 between the pipes will work out for them, he has experience as a starter after one full season with the Stayhard Stallions under his belt. Their pre-season so far is quite impressive, as they are winning most of their matchups against Pro and Lite teams, even winning some games against Elite teams such as the Rusty Blades.

Synergy Hockey (Current 6vs6 record 47-23-5) - Captains: @Windblad, @Supremski, @Egyptologen

All key players for Synergy will try to get another shot at a potential Elite promotion this season. As their chemistry seems to be quite good because of the nearly nonexistent changes, they are going strong in the preseason with a sweet L10 record (9-0-1) with a lot of goals scored in their last 7 wins. Even some Elite teams had to suffer some losses.

TIKI TALK (Current 6vs6 record 100-47-7) - Captains: @itspardytime, @Fuhrer Vuorio, @PCJP

After a dissapionting end to their season in ECL 6, the former Elite team will find strength and fight back! They have played in every single ECL season, but with a lot of changes in their squad on the way. Newly signed goaltender @PCJP might be key for this team during the regular season. We should see this team back in the playoffs for sure. How far they will go though, I can't tell. They've had a great preseason, only 2 losses in their last 20 games is a big statement. 

Unity (Current 6vs6 record 59-21-7) - Captains: @esskay, @Lainzndr, @Sampa88

The former MotherPuckers also gained a spot in the upcoming Pro season due to their quarterfinal campaign in ECL 6. As they are trusting most of their starters of the last Lite season, all they acquired was a new starting goaltender. Their pre-season record is pretty impressive so far, winning against all kinds of opponents day in and day out. Unity has a chance to not only be an underdog but also achieve some sweet unexpected victories and fight their way to the top of the group.

Wasps Gaming (Current 6vs6 record 62-29-5) – Captains: @Yoloberg, @Wickedtah69, @TheArska

Former Quality got a similar restart as CLUB ONE, where only the captains @Yoloberg and @Wickedtah69 stayed from their last season team. One of the reasons might be being signed by the esports organization WaspsGaming. The team finished 8th in their group and had to call it quits in the first round as they lost in 5 games to the later runner-up FILADELPHIA. The goal for this season should be to qualify as a higher seed into the playoffs in order to avoid the strongest teams in the first rounds. They have potential, which is clearly visible in their pre-season, as they are impressing with wins over a few Elite teams.

@Mannheimer1938s group 1 favourites to go far this season: 

Baltic Sea Eagles

Tiki Talk

Synergy Hockey

Underdogs:

Raccoon Rampage

Unity

Players to watch:

@FoxGoalie, Goaltender, EV Duisburg

The Lite-Playoff-MVP of ECL 6 will be the key factor for his team and it will be interesting to watch, if he could repeat such an outstanding performance. Is he capable of it? His defense is nearly unchanged and in our preseason matchups he's still very hard to beat. Keep your eyes on his ability to track the puck and you will have a guaranteed highlight on the defensive side of the game.

@swe best sniper, Defenseman, Baltic Sea Eagles

After one season with a lot of icetime for Arctic, IYouShallNotPassI is back for the Baltic Sea Eagles and he will try to continue on the same note as he was 5th in the scoring department for defenders in ECL 6. I believe he will be an important factor for BSE this season as good offense always starts with a nice breakout pass.

@itspardytime, Forward, TIKI TALK

Is there even a party without Pardy? The man, the myth, the legend. Did anyone see TIKI TALK play without him? He's a Day 1 veteran with a lot of experience and he never lost his scoring touch. With the general improvement of the team, Pardy will lead his crew to an outstanding season and will try to crack the top 5 in the scoring department. You can try to cover him, but he will find those small cracks and bust through any defense.

Group 2

Belizzi (Current 6vs6 record ?-?-?) - Captains: @iLLu_8, @Bellizzikunkku, @SikkiParkki

Bellizzi will start their 4th season in Pro as they managed to get into no man's land with the 11th place in group 2 of ECL 6. With most of their core players staying in the team, they should surely be some chemistry right from the get go. They will fight for their lives to stay in Pro another time and this should be their goal - but not without scrapping together some points from the "favourite" teams.
They had a rough pre-season with many losses and only 2 wins out of their last 13 games where they got handed some losses against all kinds of teams.

Bone Breakers (Current 6vs6 record 74-34-12) - Captains: @rotta__roteva, @PuukAesi, @Lupachuk

With a bottom finish in group 2 and almost the exact same squad as last season you will see a team that'll be fighting for their lives to stay put in Pro. With 4 seasons of ECL experience and great firing power on the offensive side of the game, they could be an underdog that surprises us this season. Their preseason is filled with both ups and downs, winning vs Elite teams and losing vs Pro and Lite teams.

Born With It (Current 6vs6 record 60-24-6) - Captains: @Takajeejee, @xSG8LFCx, @Jesse6115

This new founded team gained promotion due to the open spots of the Pro division and has to prove right from the beginning that they have the talent to keep up with the bigger clubs. @Kenu told us in the group lottery stream that some guys of this roster has the talent and skill as they are "born with it". Their pre-season record is good so far but they have a lot of losses against the teams they have to compete against now. It'll be interesting to watch if they can adapt their talent and stay in the Pro division.

Bucketeers (Current 6vs6 record 92-43-13) - Captains: @Carlsson-91, @SolenX86, @Daniel Gadd

Another Team that claimed a free spot during the registration process but those guys are far away from not deserving it. Personally I think these guys have a direct chance for a playoff spot if they continue to roll like in the pre-season as they were winning most of their matchups against Pro teams. Can they make the transition in real competition? Let us know what you think in the comment section!

Checkmate (Current 6vs6 record 82-31-8) - Captains: @TackleControl, @janbonator, @vilperi90

Checkmate, former Arctic lost their captain to the Falun Coal Miners and @TackleControl is now in charge for the basically new team. Their pre-season is not bad as they have wins and losses against Pro teams and some tight matchups with Elite teams but also some losses against current Lite teams. It'll be interesting to see if they can recreate their success of last season where they qualified for the playoffs. Potential underdog?

Deadly Phantoms HC (Current 6vs6 record 120-26-9) - Captains: @Mannheimer1938, @Rayman, @gzell60

The Phantoms have started NHL 19 in a wonderful way, currently ranked 3rd overall in EASHL (4th overall 6v6)! With that kind of stats, very few changes in the team from last season and great experience in their squad in mind these guys could be a contender for a semi-final place, or maybe even an Elite promotion after this season (you heard it here first!). The Phantoms are known for their solid defense and stability in tough games, plus they never seem to have a bad period. In their last 20 EASHL games their record is 19-0-1 (wins against Elite teams included). 

Le coq Sportif (Current 6vs6 record 14-4-1) - Captains: @Khemnos, @Nexhztah, @Isidor1891

After a great regular season, 2nd in group 2, former Alliance HT saw themselves going out of the playoffs in the 1st round vs Deadly Phantoms. Now that a new season is upon us, Le Coq Sportif will try to improve on last season's disappointing end. To do just that, they signed a few new players and let go of some of the old guys. With another season in Pro under their belt and many new interesting signings, they could surprise us during season 7.

Nordic Nosebleed (Current 6vs6 record 72-56-11) - Captains: @Cherry, @Lidaas79, @dgsson

Last seasons relegation survivors (winning against J P T J 4-0 in a relegation battle) would want to come out stronger into this season. They have added a few new names to their roster, see @Willander97 for example, a goal scoring forward that will certainly boost their offense. That was their weakness last season, having the least amount of scored goals in ECL Pro with 35 in 26 games. The current form in the preseason doesn't tell us much though, with both wins and losses against Pro teams and a small improvement seen in the last few days. Will they have to play a relegation series this season as well? You tell me in the comment section. 

Nordic Stars (Current 6vs6 record 41-21-6) - Captains: @Seahyena, @taemtaem, @Amigo

After being relegated from Elite (losing the relegation battle versus White Trash) the Stars have changed their lineup quite a bit. Adding @Pair4You will probably be the main factor in a possible promotion run back to Elite. Otherwise, they have the caliber of players needed already. Great experience and a group of good players will come into play when playing the decisive games of the season. Their form doesn't say much here, their preseason have gone alright, losses and wins against Pro teams. 

Pata Hellalla (Current 6vs6 record 56-42-12) – Captains: @kungenkurwa, @Tetrejev, @Laraque

The former Elite Team had to swallow their bad season as they were relegated but will try to turn things around this season with nearly the same roster. They will for sure be a team to talk about when it comes to playoff potential as they have the needed experience but it could probably be a rollercoaster kind of a season. Their pre-season gives us a hint with some tight games against all divisions and it could probably come down to the daily form.

Pohjoista Voimaa (120-98-22) - Captains: @nessron, @rjounila, @Johtava

Another Lite quarterfinalist will try to prove that their run last season is grounds for them being promoted. Nearly all of their starters will try to take the step into the higher tier and it seems to be an up and down season for them if we look at their preseason as they mostly losing against their new competition. It will be interesting to see if they will have a learning process or if they have to fight tooth and nail to stay in Pro.

Raging Monkeys (Current 6vs6 record 53-27-8) – Captains: @Buffy, @DaMan, @AndreasLeafs

The Raging Monkeys finished 8th in their group last season and were eliminated with a first round sweep against the later champion Monarchs. A few offseason changeups including a nearly whole new defensive squad shall turn out into a better playoff position. The potential to keep up with the best in the Pro division is definitely there, but let’s see if they can handle the loss of their former starting goaltender @Trollstivegen.

Resurrection (Current 6vs6 record 88-62-18) - Captains: @Veikkonator, @J0HTAJA, @Jiihooo86

Another new founded team, who got the chance to skip the Lite division as they were deemed to have potential to prove their skill at the Pro level. They have the talent and knowledge for sure as for example winger @Artuzio placed 6th in the NHL Gaming World Championship, but it isn't that easy to transfer versus skill to a high 6vs6 level. Their pre-season against Pro teams is filled with ups and downs, winning and losing. I guess these guys will adjust to a higher level as we go further into the season.

Sektion K (Current 6vs6 record 69-52-12) - Captains: @HambergD, @minokin, @nyllah

Sektion K lost three starters in the offseason, two of them were their most productive players in the points department and they also had to look for a new starter between the pipes. Referring to the preseason, they will have a hard time to stay in the Pro division as they won mostly against Lite teams but lost most of the matchups against other Pro teams. @Shift497 and @Freakmund will have their work cut out for them in net.

Silver Sword Griffins (Current 6vs6 record 67-46-6) – Captains: @Joshua Plattner, @ProMinx24, @xLVxRitchey

After a horrible season in the Elite division (Finished 16th), the name of the team itself remains the same, but the identity and players are quite different. @Joshua Plattner (Darth-SidiouzZ) is now in charge of the team and a lot of new blood came into the team. It'll be interesting to see if the new additions with mostly Lite experience can keep up with the pace in Pro, but it isn’t unthinkable if the workhorses from last season, which are still on the team, can lead the group to glory. Their pre-season displays that pretty well as they are hard to beat but have to create more chances in the offensive zone to be a playoff-type team.

The Visionaries (Current 6vs6 record 77-57-12) - Captains: @Mikka, @Heero, @EvgeniFlower

The halfway rebuild of the former Banterfield Battalion will try to recreate a very solid start, alike the one they had in ECL 6 (7-3-0) and to forget the terrible ending (2-8-0). Will the additions to the roster click with the old guys and can they build up a positive start for the new team? Seems to be a little bit tough as they haven't been in that great form so far, as they are losing against most of their Pro competition.

@Panarinzs favourites to do well in group 2:

Born with it

Deadly Phantoms HC

Nordic Stars

Underdogs:

Le coq Sportif

Resurrection

Players to watch:

@RaNtA, Goaltender, Nordic Stars

Mr Joe Labero (the magician) himself has the experience from both Elite and Pro games, he knows how to handle pressure. Watch him show his magic and make some jaw-dropping saves. 

@gzell60, Defenseman, Deadly Phantoms HC

The reliable defenseman Gzell60 showed what he's capable of last ECL with him leading Deadly Phantoms to a playoff spot. He can provide offense, but it's in the defensive zone he excels. You can find him at the top of the plus/minus ranking.

@edson, Forward, Born With It

Former top forward Edd138 has come back from a long break from ECL and would surely want to make an impact quickly. Watch out for his name in the scoring race!

 

There you have it! Our preview of all Pro teams for ECL 7 and some sprinkles on top! Special thanks to @Mannheimer1938 who co-wrote this article with me!

PS: @Panarinz wrote the Deadly Phantoms related text and @Mannheimer1938 wrote the one about Style. 

Thanks for tuning in and from all of us to all of you: have a very me... great ECL season (and good luck to all teams)!

Salute NHLGamers,

It's finally time for the 7th edition of the European Championship League, the best EASHL 6vs6 league there is (in our unbiased opinion)! This time we beat another record! Last year we had 108 teams, now it's up to 123. That's a BIG increase from last season and it seems to be the trend moving forward. Lets make sure we are as welcoming to new members as possible to make sure we continue on this path. 

ECL Lite and ECL Pro will start playing today, Monday 15th of October and ECL Elite will start a week later, on Monday 22nd of October. The schedules for all divisions are available through the menu both on the main page and here on the community side.

Without further ado, here's all you need to know:

ECL 7 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 7 can be found here: 

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 7 Elite

14 teams confirmed their participation for ECL 7:

• Almost Famous
• Dynasty
• Falun Coal Miners
• FILADELPHIA
• Gotham Knights
• Northern Ascendancy
• Northern Stars
• Radical
• Rusty Blades
• Sjukstugan
• Symphony
• Team Frosty
• Unlucky Boys HC
• Written In The Stars

As ECL Elite was missing two teams,  League Administration decided to promote two teams 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"

• SIKA (7 playoff wins)
• Butterfly Effect (previously known as Red Machine, 6 playoff wins)

We would like to congratulate Butterfly Effect and SIKA for making it to ECL Elite!

ECL 7 Pro

25 teams confirmed their participation for ECL 7:

• Baltic Sea Eagles
• Bellizzi
• Bone Breakers
• Butterfly Effect
• Checkmate
• CLUB ONE
• Cowabunga Hockey
• Deadly Phantoms
• EN HUND
• EV Duisburg
• Free From Rodents
• Le coq Sportif
• Murohoki
• Nordic Nosebleed
• Nordic Stars
• Pata Hellalla
• Raging Monkeys
• Sektion K
• SIKA
• Silver Sword Griffins
• Speedy Bros Hockey
• Style
• Synergy Hockey
• The Visionaries
• TIKI TALK
• Wasps Gaming

With Butterfly Effect and SIKA getting promoted to Elite, we now had 9 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 three teams fit the criteria:

• Ghetto Firebirds (QF)
• Pohjoista Voimaa (QF)
• Unity (QF)

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

For the 6 remaining spots, we were looking at teams who applied for ECL Pro in their ECL Lite registration. Based on the previously listed factors the League Administration decided to promote the following teams:

• Born With It
• Bucketeers
• Checkmate
• Raccoon Rampage
• Resurrection
• Saints 

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

ECL 7 Lite

The remaining 75 teams that applied for ECL Lite will play in ECL Lite this season.

ECL 7 Groups:

On Saturday evening we streamed the group lottery for our divisions in ECL 7. Below is the complete list of the teams participating this season and in which groups they will play. Due to Crusaders deciding to not participate at last minute and our staff being informed after the lottery, we had to make a balancing adjustment to even things up and this moved Infinity into group 5.

Here are your ECL 7 groups:

ECL 7 Lite - 8 Groups

ECL Lite will be played in eight groups consisting of 9-10 teams each. With 2 games against each opponent, this results in an 16-18 game regular season for each team in which the top 8 teams out of each conference will go to the playoffs (64 teams total).

Schedule: ECL Lite schedule

ECL 7 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 7 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

Thank you all for joining our stream on Saturday, if you missed it, you can see it here: 

Team management tools

All teams have been created, the team management tools on the main page (click on your username in the top right corner to access them) have been unlocked for the team captains. 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,
@Panarinz

ECL Elite 16 in 16 is a season preview series we're implementing ahead of ECL 7. The idea was conceived by @chavelski, but due to time constraining the man himself, the project is now being carried out by the rest of our Elite writing team. The series will be released in 16 parts, one article for each team. The teams have been ranked by all team captains, and articles are being released in order from predicted last place finish to predicted champion of ECL 7. The objective of this series is to give an idea to the community of who is representing which team, added by a small insight into the team with an interview of the team captain.

New name, new roster, new style, new captain… you get the picture. After winning ECL 4 there were perhaps mumblings about how likely Laser HT would be able to repeat such a feat, especially considering the quite frankly preposterous numbers that @Dominointi was able to put up (94pts in the regular season and 39pts in 17 for the playoffs). Obviously, there was some truth to the speculation as they made the finals for a second straight season but could only manage to win one game against a very dominant Aapon Taikasauva. They then went on to whimper out in 5 games to Dynasty in the first round of ECL 6. These lacklustre results paved the way for an exodus of players from SJK over the summer, leaving but 5 players behind. After the dust had settled, @indi969, @ICappeI, @Ilmari_30, @Selarit and @Lauri were faced with the daunting task of putting together a team that, at the very least, could compete in Elite. As such, unlike a lot of teams in Elite this season, Symphony has a quite uncommonly high player turnover, so with that in mind to help us gain an understanding of who has joined and left the team, we have contacted their captain indi969 and new addition @vSilenttio to give us a snapshot of how they are coming along in their preparation for ECL 7.
 

IN

ADETIKKI <-- Written In The Stars
Puantso <-- Dynasty
Tbnantti <-- Northern Stars
Entii112 <-- Nordic Stars
nylanderi <-- Break from NHL
vsilenttio <-- SIKA

OUT

Dominointi --> Written In The Stars
Hansulinho --> Written In The Stars
VesKuLiNe --> Written In The Stars
OriginalPumaz --> Dynasty
Leksa94 --> Dynasty

Current roster:

Forwards
ADETIKKI @ADETIKKI
indi969 (C) @indi969
Puantso (A) @Buantso
tbnantti @tbnantti

Defensemen
vSilenttio @vSilenttio
nylanderi @nylanderi
Ilmari_30 @Ilmari_30
Entii112 @entii112
Selarit @Selarit

Goaltenders
ICappeI (A) @ICappeI
Laurilion @Lauri

As the “old but new” team in elite (with plenty of top tier elite talent to boot) how are you approaching your debut season and what was the logic behind your offseason moves?

@indi969: I think we have a really good team at the moment, consisting of lots of old SJK players and lots of new guys also. I think we can go really far in this next tournament.

In continuation of the last question, are you done tooling with the team now or are you still looking for some extra pieces? If you are indeed finalised, what will your starting line-up look like?

@indi969: At the moment, I'm not 100% sure are we done yet and i don't know about the starting lineup. It'll remain to be seen! 

ECL Elite 16 in 16 is a season preview series we're implementing ahead of ECL 7. The idea was conceived by @chavelski, but due to time constraining the man himself, the project is now being carried out by the rest of our Elite writing team. The series will be released in 16 parts, one article for each team. The teams have been ranked by all team captains, and articles are being released in order from predicted last place finish to predicted champion of ECL 7. The objective of this series is to give an idea to the community of who is representing which team, added by a small insight into the team with an interview of the team captain.

Today we're taking a look at a team that has the skill, has the grit and has the vision to take it all home, they just haven't had the luck so far. The team that's next in line has found the way to stay at the top and be continuously successful, but despite that they haven't managed to win anything yet. You could say they've built a Dynasty around core players like@jumalpeku, @Snapster, @Tehh and @Sandr0hh. Might have given it away already, but yeah.. we'll be checking out Dynasty. Personally, I've been in the scene for a far shorter time than many of you other guys around, but I've always found Dynasty to be an annoyingly good opponent. Be it unorthodox breakout plays by @DieCutterMC or seeing the game ten steps ahead of the opposition like the tactician Ahola - they've always been one of the toughest teams to beat. They're not only really skilled players, but also seem like a great group of guys. I managed to get a hold of captain jumalpeku for an interview, which you can read at the end of this article.

IN

MukiMaisteri <-- Northern Ascendancy
OriginalPumaz <-- SJK eSports
Leksa94 <-- SJK eSports

OUT

Lukkolinho --> Break from NHL
Puantso --> Symphony

 

Current Roster:

Forwards
jumalpeku (C) @jumalpeku
MukiMaisteri @hpkfani
Filariou @Filariou
Leksa94 @Leksa94
TehhAhola @Tehh

Defensemen
DieCutterMC @DieCutterMC
Snapu48 (A) @Snapster
JParola @Jorma Parola

Goaltenders
Sandr0hhh (A) @Sandr0hh
OriginalPumaz @Hiiruh

Dynasty has been a difficult opponent based on some occasional games played against you guys on the offseason. How did the guys spend the summer and what kind of reception has the new game had among the Dynasty boys?

Your mind must be playing tricks on you! I'd say we're possibly the worst offseason team in all of Elite. I don't think we've had a single night where we've won two or more games in a row.

Most of our guys pretty much took the summer off from NHLGaming. Other teams might have kept practicing hard all summer, our guys were out chasing tail and gassing beers.

The new game has taken some getting used to. Feels like we've had to adjust our game a bit after every update as things we used to do didn't work all of a sudden. I think it's quite well known that we like to spend time in the penalty box and ath least that hasn't changed for the better with the new game. However, I think we all agree that NHL19 is a better version than the previous iteration.

You guys acquired notorious goal-scorer MukiMaisteri early on, did you guys make any other moves during the summer?

Our youngster @Buantso made a deal with @indi969 at his confirmation camp last summer, so we decided to honor their contract and ended up letting Puantso go. 

MukiMaisteri was acquired to fill the gap left by Puantso and I believe we hit the jackpot on this one. Luukkonen is probably the best goal scorer in the game, he's also a very competitive and vocal teammate. Exactly what we needed.

Other acquisitions we made were @Leksa94 and OriginalPumaz @Hiiruh. Leksa is an excellent all-rounder in the offensive end of the ice, he will certainly see some ECL time if he can hop off Fortnite every once in a while. 

@Lukkoukko(Lukkolinho) decided to take a step back so we needed another goaltender. That's where OriginalPumaz stepped in and we're happy to have such an experienced and trustworthy guy behind our defenders. I think we still have the best goalie tandem in the league.

How do you guys feel about the ECL Elite license?

Of course we're happy about it. To start off, we were wondering if we're going to be active enough for it to pay off for us. However, I think this might have been the incentive needed for us to start taking it more seriously and get excited again. The license fee isn't bad and the return is decent, I'd surely like to have that in my wallet.

We're moving in the right direction and props to @Kenu & the rest of the staff for that.

Several sources have mentioned ECL Elite being tougher than ever this season. Which teams have been your toughest opponents and who do you think has potential for a surprise?

SIKA is probably the only team we haven't managed to win in the preseason so I'd call them our toughest opponent. It's no joke, the SIKA roster right now seems so much better than before. I think they could also provide one of the potential upsets this season.

Finally, are there any players in the league you would like to highlight for the upcoming season?

Not on our team, that's for sure. I'd say keep your eyes on @vSilenttio.

Thanks jumalpeku! Good luck for Dynasty with the upcoming season.

ECL Elite 16 in 16 so far:

1. _______________
2. _______________
3. _______________
4. _______________
5. Dynasty
6. Northern Ascendancy
7. Sjukstugan
8. Northern Stars
9. Unlucky Boys
10. Rusty Blades
11. Almost Famous
12. _____________ (To be released)
13. SIKA
14. Gotham Knights
15. Falun Coal Miners
16. Team Frosty

 The options are running out! Who do you think is number four?

ECL Elite 16 in 16 is a season preview series we're implementing ahead of ECL 7. The idea was conceived by @chavelski, but due to time constraining the man himself, the project is now being carried out by the rest of our Elite writing team. The series will be released in 16 parts, one article for each team. The teams have been ranked by all team captains, and articles are being released in order from predicted last place finish to predicted champion of ECL 7. The objective of this series is to give an idea to the community of who is representing which team, added by a small insight into the team with an interview of the team captain.

Salute, gamers!

Riddle me this: I am partly Scandinavian, Nordic and Western European while not actually being any of them entirely. I'm old but young, well respected but not the most liked one, very successful but still slightly underrated. What I am?

The lads in Northern Ascendancy got to stamp another finale performance on their resume as they fought their way to the ECL 6 finals last spring. After a strong regular season (19-5-6) NOR showed why they've been at the top for so many seasons now. On the first round of the playoffs they faced the hungry Elite debutants in Unlucky Boys. UB led the series a few times as they won the first two games, and after couple more games they were so close beating NOR as UB had the matchball in Game 6. However, "Because it's the Cup" - MukiMaisteri scored the game winning goal 38 seconds before overtime and the game ended 1-0 for NOR. He didn't stop there as the veteran winger scored four goals in Game 7 and NOR went ahead to the second round to face the big bad regular season champions, Written in the Stars.

Four one goal games, three overtimes, 37,5 minutes time on attack for the losing side and 25,5 minutes for the winning team. NOR surprised most of the community by beating "Written" 4-1 in games. There's some Ascendance for you. In the ECL 6 finals NOR faced Carlsberg HC and couldn't repeat their trick, as CAR dominated the finals with a game result of 4-1. We saw three tight one goal games and only 14 goals combined in the whole series so hats off for both teams - it wasn't walk in the park to win the championship even though the numbers might tell a different story.

IN

s_a_k_i_s95 <-- Break from NHL

OUT

MukiMaisteri --> Dynasty

 

Current roster:

Forwards
Anrh17 @anrh17
MartindalexC (C) @MartindalexC
Foppatofflan (A) @Foppatofflan
s_a_k_i_s95 @jeppiz18
x27ScottieN27x @ScottieN27

Defensemen
eyebiz @eyebiz
Haldeem @Haldeem

Goaltenders
Poliskontroll @poliskontroll

The one and only British captain of our NHL gaming scene continues in his role as he leads his ship towards the ECL Elite finals once again. What does the Englishman @MartindalexC think about his team & their future?
 

With another season and long a playoff run behind - how does life and the new game taste for Northern Ascendancy? To me it looks like you guys have continued with your usual strategy - being annoyingly good in two way hockey.

Hmm, where should I start? I suppose the game is probably a good one to tackle first. Especially since, well, truth be told we think the game is pretty much complete and utter garbage, although that hasn’t exactly been a secret of ours. Just the way that games can easily be decided on random drops that evade a bunch of people really rubs us the wrong way. Regarding strategy though we’re still rolling with old faithful so to speak, although compared to years past we are seeing more time on attack which is something we’re not exactly accustomed to shall we say? So, we’ll just have to see how that dynamic plays out.

As a veteran member of our NHL gaming scene, how do you see "the new era" after playing tons of games in the old gen era? Licenses are being paid, new teams and players are becoming more familiar to the scene - you know, lots of stuff has changed and evolved - what do you think about all this? 

Honestly, I’m mostly ambivalent to it all. I suppose the idea of making money off of playing this game is exceptionally enticing to some people but for the most part I play this game because I like it, despite all of its faults, plus lord knows I’ve got nothing else to do :joy:. In addition to this, you could say I have a pretty pessimistic view of this game ever becoming an ‘esport’ (see here for evidence #204505317: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVRZxEhBJFg) and that kind of feeds into my ambivalence, or even vice versa. Nevertheless, I’ll do my best to support Kenu and the site as best I can but I’m not gonna push the boat out so to speak.

By the way, where did Martindale's career start from? It's been a joyfyl ride for sure!

I'm a little fuzzy on the precise date but I think it was the very start of NHL 13 when NOR was 'founded' officially under that banner. Before that me, Poliskontroll, Juizki and Tacklecontrol played mostly 4s in NHL 12 under a different team name, and prior to that it was just me and Polis in NHL 11 under, yet again, a different name. In terms of tournaments I've played in 8 across both NHLGamer and Consolehockey under NOR, with 1 season where the team was named Unknown (but the franchise underneath remained the same I guess).

What kind of checklist did you set for this summer? Is there any new fresh blood in NOR, or was there any lazy employees so to speak to get rid of in order to make your team an even scarier cup contender for ECL7?

Is it corny to say that we wanted to get better (who doesn’t after all)? As for acquisitions, the team is practically the same except for -Mukimaisteri, although hopefully there’s a decent chance we’ll be adding someone to the roster, perhaps before this article even comes out. Regarding making the team an “even scarier cup contender” I believe that self-reflection is more important than blind faith, and I personally feel that we went to the finals last year because a couple key players amped up their game at critical times, for instance Poliskontroll really exhibited how good of a goalie he is when we played Written and Carlsberg, meanwhile Eyebiz played nigh on flawlessly when he came in mid-way through the Unlucky Boys series. Having players that can elevate their game is perhaps a consistent element that all winning teams have in their repertoire, however getting hot at the right time does not mean you can replicate it without fail, so we’ve been trying to get back to our basics and strengthen them, so that we don’t have to rely on players getting ‘hot’ to win.

What Elite teams have been the most fun to face so far - and the word "fun" here can mean anything between easy to hard - you decide!

I suppose Dynasty have been involved in some of the more entertaining games that we’ve played but apart from that I’m not sure. Our games against Written have been a tad underwhelming but it’s ‘fun’ playing a team with an abundance of skill since you know you’ll truly be tested, I know for instance that Flyerkungen has completely decimated me in faceoffs every time I’ve gone against him.

I'd like to ask the same question that NOS was asked in their 16 in 16 - How much do you guys have left in the tank? For example, one of the best players of all time, Foppatofflan, is surely not getting any younger!

I think, like most things, it’s a matter of perception and how you approach things. It’s easy to dismiss others skill as luck, or their emergence as your downfall. Me personally? I feel I can be better and perhaps that I should be since if we (NOR) want to win we’ll need a full team playing well, as I don’t think it’s possible nowadays for a player to ‘hard carry’ a team like you could on old gen. Besides, at the end of the day it’s not like I’m 50 years old, I’m maybe not going to pick things up as quickly or as easily as I could 7 years ago but as far as I’m concerned it should barely be a discernible difference since your brain doesn’t just start degrading once you’re past 20, 30, or even 40 years of age. In summary though, if we keep putting in hours each and every game and learn from any mistakes, then I feel (barring anything major) that there’s no real reason to expect a rapid decrease in skill.

Huge thanks for your extensive answers, MartindalexC! See you on the ice and good luck on another long playoff push to NOR!

ECL Elite 16 in 16 so far:

1. _______________
2. _______________
3. _______________
4. _______________
5. _______________
6. Northern Ascendancy
7. Sjukstugan
8. Northern Stars
9. Unlucky Boys
10. Rusty Blades
11. Almost Famous
12. _____________ (To be released)
13. SIKA
14. Gotham Knights
15. Falun Coal Miners
16. Team Frosty

We've got only five teams left to pick from for the next article.. Who would you think is going to finish 5th?

ECL Elite 16 in 16 is a season preview series we're implementing ahead of ECL 7. The idea was conceived by @chavelski, but due to time constraining the man himself, the project is now being carried out by the rest of our Elite writing team. The series will be released in 16 parts, one article for each team. The teams have been ranked by all team captains, and articles are being released in order from predicted last place finish to predicted champion of ECL 7. The objective of this series is to give an idea to the community of who is representing which team, added by a small insight into the team with an interview of the team captain.

Sjukstugan, Carlsberg (now Radical), Kattiautomaatti, Silver Sword Griffins, Unlucky Boys, Evolution, Falun Coal Miners, Pata Hellalla, Monarchs, Filadelphia, Almost Famous, White Trash (now Team Frosty), Rusty Blades, Nordic Stars, & Gotham Knights. What do all of these teams have in common? The more astute of those reading will undoubtedly already know, but for those not always keeping up to date with the to-and-fros of Elite, the list details each and every team that has been promoted to the highest division over the past three seasons. Of said teams only five have remained in Elite after their initial inclusion, four have made the playoffs at least once, and only one has progressed past the first round and won the division title. What this shows is the true difference in skill between Pro and Elite, and that getting promoted does not mean that you can rest on your laurels or that your job as a captain or as a team is done, as in order to stay up and be competitive every game you need to constantly improve and identify areas that need practice. Sjukstugan is a team that perfectly embodies this concept due to their consistent results. As such, to hopefully key us in on how Sjukstugan are approaching their third season in Elite we would like to introduce 112s captain @Bjono who has answered some questions for us at the end of this article, enjoy!

IN

I-Maise-I <-- Break from NHL
Tacterz <-- Monarchs
Edhoolm97 <-- Monarchs
PajenC32 <-- Monarchs
juniorzalaz <-- Monarchs
IFKPEKING2k15 <-- Monarchs

OUT

Patovic_ --> Stories will be told, banners will be raised - a legend retires
JaikenK --> N/A
Nampa77 --> Almost Famous
 

Current Roster:

Forwards
IbjonoI @Bjono
PajenC32 @pajenc
Tacterz @Tacterz
juniorzalaz @Zalaz
Edhoolm97 @Edhoolm97
Norpee @Norpee

Defensemen
Klingen45 @Klingen45
Gustafsson7 @Gustafsson7
I-Maise-I 

Goaltenders
I-Pippo-I @Pippo
IFKPEKING2k15 @IsakTuvesson
Hullued @Hullued

ECL Elite 16 in 16 is a season preview series we're implementing ahead of ECL 7. The idea was conceived by @chavelski, but due to time constraining the man himself, the project is now being carried out by the rest of our Elite writing team. The series will be released in 16 parts, one article for each team. The teams have been ranked by all team captains, and articles are being released in order from predicted last place finish to predicted champion of ECL 7. The objective of this series is to give an idea to the community of who is representing which team, added by a small insight into the team with an interview of the team captain.

What's up my NHL gaming friends and foes?

This time in our 16 in 16, we're talking about Swedes - those beautiful, blonde haired people who seem to be talented at everything they do. You know, they're almost like Finns but instead of being grumpy, anti-social, pale and generally weird - Swedes are happy, social and tanned people who are mostly easy to like.

Does that sound even close to Northern Stars - perhaps the most victorious Swedish EASHL club in history? At least for me they have always been easy to like - and even though I haven't heard anyone else than their captain talk out loud during the last eight years, they surely seem like happy bunch of good guys! Their ECL 6 was solid once again as they fought their way to the playoffs after an intense battle between them (8th with 35pts) and Evolution (9th with 30pts). While NOS ended their regular season with the record of 5-3-2 (12pts), Evolution failed to challenge NOS for the 8th spot as they ended their ECL 6 with the record of 3-5-2 (8pts). The problem is, when you enter the Elite playoffs from the last possible place, you will more likely than not meet the best team of the regular season and that's what Written In The Stars undisputedly were after losing only three games in a 30-game regular season. Written knocked out NOS from the playoffs after beating them 4-1 in a series where every game except the fifth were one goal games.

However, another NHL game is here once again and ECL Elite seems to get tougher season after season. This entails more work for the "old guys" in a team alike the Northern Stars. 

IN

KattenJansson <-- Quality
MZK-Trophyhunter <-- Quality
ma0niii <-- "retirement"
mullweiser <-- Break from NHL

OUT

Tbnantti --> Symphony
MajLeN-Gaming --> N/A
Kibenibe --> N/A

Current roster:

Forwards
cHIIMEERa (C) @cHIIMEERa
Floor17 (A) @Floor17
KattenJansson97 @KattenJansson97
mullweiser @Mullweiser

Defensemen
ma0niii (A) @ma0niii
Rullstolskalas_ @Rullstolskalas

Goaltenders
MZK-Trophyhunter @Mike Zigan
I_BUM3R_I @BUM3R

*Correct PSN of #92 at right defenseman is ma0niii.

I had the pleasure of interviewing captain & founder @cHIIMEERa:

As one of the oldest ECL teams out there, how have the Northern Stars prepared for the upcoming ECL7? With the amount of games under your belt you must be taking it a bit easier than most guys out there - have you been playing at all during the last months? At least I've seen some shiny logos being made by you!

You are right, we took the summer off. I think it has to do with for how long we have been playing together. Back in the days, like in NHL 09-11, I'm pretty sure we were still going strong well into the summer months, but the motivation to grind games in the off season is not there anymore. As long as we are putting in the hours when the new game drops I don't think we'll put ourselves at a disadvantage by being inactive during the summer.

I'd say your roster has remained very close to unchanged, right? Is that the secret behind the everlasting success of the Northern Stars? I believe it's a long lost skill to gel with guys and keep grinding together for more than just a couple of months. 

I think there are many different reasons why the team has mostly remained the same all these years. The two strongest reasons have to be our prior success on the Xbox 360 and our Swedish nationality. As some people know, Northern Stars won a bunch of EHL titles on the 360. As we haven't been able to win anything on the PS4 yet, I guess we're still hoping to win one more title with this team. Also with the community having an abundance of Finnish teams I would say it's easier for the Finns make roster changes and create new teams left and right.

We are doing some changes to our roster compared to the previous ECL. Antti (@tbnantti) left the team and @KattenJansson97 replaces him. With Antti being as skilled as he his, it's obviously hard to replace him with a player with same skill set, but Katten is offensively talented and we are happy that he wanted to join the team. With the release of NHL 19 we have been working hard to find set plays in the offensive zone so we can repeatedly and continuously get to the dangerous areas. At this moment it's looking promising and we are optimistically looking forward to ECL 7.

On the defensive side of things, @kibenibe decided that he wanted to go back to being a forward in a new team, which resulted in the RD-spot being open and @ma0niii making a comeback. No real explanation needed here. People that have been in the scene for a while definitely know who ma0niii is. Goalie-wise we are seeing some changes. Törna aka @MajLeN-Gaming/Mr Magic (who the F knows what his PSN is, honestly) has moved overseas and we brought back Mike aka MZK-Trophyhunter (@Mike Zigan).

We have experimented with @Floor17 on center and @cHIIMEERa on the right flank in EASHL. That doesn't mean that we are planning on doing that in ECL, but don't be surprised if that is the outcome. Whatever works best in EASHL the upcoming weeks will determine our starting roster. It's also worth noting is that thanks to EA we haven't been able to use @BUM3R at all due to the dressing room errors, but we plan on using both Bumer and Mike in ECL.

It's been a few years since you guys won the European championship the last time. I'm gonna be blunt and ask how much do you think there's left in you? Is it already time for those "one more year" chants inside your team or do you still see yourself as one of the best contenders for the championship now and for years to come?

I slightly touched on the subject above, but to dive a bit deeper I think that if we were to win ECL 7 I wouldn't be surprised to see us call it quits, once and for all. That is sort of keeping us going. The motivation to win another European championship. It has been a great run, but at this moment we are taking it a tournament at a time. We don't have any long term goals so it's hard to predict the future of our team. Who knows, maybe Northern Stars don't play in ECL 8? Maybe we are still chasing that title two years from now? 

Lastly - who do you see as the biggest threats for you this season due to their style of play - are those the same teams that could be the biggest championship contenders this season as well? What advice would you give to teams that might struggle this season?

Because of the dressing room errors we haven't been able play many of the ECL Elite teams yet so it's hard to say who will be competing for the ECL 7 title. All we can do is look at the rosters and their past accomplishments. A safe assumption is that the best teams from NHL 18 will be just as good this year. All we can say is that ECL Elite is only getting tougher for each iteration. There are no bad teams and that is going to make the standings real interesting.

As for any team that might be running into a slump mid-season, I would say that at least give yourself the chance to win the game. Play tight defense and put the puck on net. It may sound cliché, but it works to some extent - even in Elite.

It's been a pleasure and huge thanks to cHIIMEERa for the extensive answers and insight of a veteran player. Good luck for the upcoming season to the team!

ECL Elite 16 in 16 so far:

1. _______________
2. _______________
3. _______________
4. _______________
5. _______________
6. _______________
7. _______________
8. Northern Stars
9. Unlucky Boys
10. Rusty Blades
11. Almost Famous
12. _____________ (To be released)
13. SIKA
14. Gotham Knights
15. Falun Coal Miners
16. Team Frosty

Tomorrow we'll take a look at another Swedish team, who made a lot of changes during the offseason. We're excited to share it with you, can you guess who's up?

ECL Elite 16 in 16 is a season preview series we're implementing ahead of ECL 7. The idea was conceived by @chavelski, but due to time constraining the man himself, the project is now being carried out by the rest of our Elite writing team. The series will be released in 16 parts, one article for each team. The teams have been ranked by all team captains, and articles are being released in order from predicted last place finish to predicted champion of ECL 7. The objective of this series is to give an idea to the community of who is representing which team, added by a small insight into the team with an interview of the team captain.

Perhaps one of the more non-descript teams in Elite, Unlucky Boys HC are rare in that they do not seem to do anything fancy or step on anyone’s toes, instead they just go about and do their thing without making much of a racket so to speak. Do not dismiss their quiet nature as weakness however, as they harbour a team that perhaps works together more efficiently than any other team in Elite. This is exhibited quite nicely by their results in Pro and Elite over the years that they have been active. In ECL 4 (Pro) they finished mid table in a strong group which Carlsberg, Sjukstugan & Rusty Blades all called home before they moved up to Elite. In ECL 5 (Pro) UB upped their play after not clinching promotion to Elite in the previous season and stamped their ticket to the playoffs with a very strong 52pts in 30 games; ultimately achieving automatic promotion to Elite for the next season. Finally, in a rare feat for newly promoted team, they made the playoffs in Elite (ECL 6) and even went to a game 7 before ultimately falling to Northern Ascendancy. Throughout all of these seasons their captain @anhel_kuru was in and around the top point scorer for his team. With no signs of slowing down being seen throughout their roster one can only imagine what the ceiling is for Unlucky Boys HC, so with that in mind then we’ll switch over to the interview part of this report and see what thoughts their captain has about their run to elite, as well as what the future holds for them.
 

IN

Crimson_XX <-- TIKI TALK

Sweaty__99 <-- Gotham Knights

Viltzup <-- Club de Caballeros

OUT

Will_yo7 --> Butterfly Effect

Ramboviking88 --> Monarchs/Free Agent

 

Current roster:

Forwards
Anhel_Kuru (C) @Anhel
Crimson_xX @Crimson
re_Wenger (A) @Wenger
Sweaty__99 @Sweaty__99
jm__98__ @JimBoo

Defensemen
Jugeh_ (A) @Jugeh_
Friilander @Frilander

Goaltenders
Danielcadabra @Danielcadabra
Viltzup @Viltzup
 

ECL Elite 16 in 16 is a season preview series we're implementing ahead of ECL 7. The idea was conceived by @chavelski, but due to time constraining the man himself, the project is now being carried out by the rest of our Elite writing team. The series will be released in 16 parts, one article for each team. The teams have been ranked by all team captains, and articles are being released in order from predicted last place finish to predicted champion of ECL 7. The objective of this series is to give an idea to the community of who is representing which team, added by a small insight into the team with an interview of the team captain.

 

Hello, gamers!

As October is now here, I think it's time for all of us to shake the rust off and get prepared for ECL7. Get it? Rust? Rusty Blades? No? I'll get my coat.

Rusty Blades are known as one of the grittiest teams of ECL Elite. Atleast that's how they stepped into the Elite division a few seasons ago in ECL5 when they surprised pretty much everybody by ending the season with a good record of 15-11-4, leaving teams like MUKIMIEHET, Kattiautomaatti, Sjukstugan, Silver Sword Griffins and Nordic Nightmare behind them. The Blades scored only 2.00 goals per game during that season, but still they found their way to the playoffs. Not bad for a debut Elite season. What happened for them in ECL6, though? Were the few overtime losses the difference? The Blades scored a few goals more than they scored in ECL5 and even conceded fewer goals but still, the separation to 8th placed Northern Stars, was seven points. Harsh. Once again, a fact which proves that ECL Elite really is an elite level virtual hockey league.

 

IN

ktewjh <--Gotham Knights

Migo_boo99 <-- Shameful Knights

OUT 

Kikiukko --> Almost Famous

Epelis --> Club One

Wuorio --> Tiki Talk

 

Current roster:

Forwards
Lamsa @Lamsa
koojiikoojii (A) @koojiikoojii
Migo_boo99 @Migo_boo

Defensemen
Tanski87 (C) @Tanski87
kinnune @kinnun3
ktewjh @Janikka

Goaltenders
Supreex (A) @Supreex

I managed to snag an interview with team captain & founder @Tanski87 for this piece, let's get to it:

Last time Rusty Blades played competitive hockey on NHLGamer was on the 2nd of April, so that's about five months ago. Still from what I've seen and heard it seems like you guys managed to keep practicing all summer long. What has Rusty Blades been doing all this time - any new signings or losses perhaps? Is there any rust left for ECL7 after a long, hard working offseason?

We just love to play this video game together. We have a nice group who are fun to play with. That is why we play so much and often. 
There was a couple of changes during the long offseason. First we lost @Fuhrer Vuorio to Tiki Talk. @epelis kinda took original member Wuorios LW spot during the season and Wuorio thought it was his time to find some new wind. Good luck to Tiki Talk and thanks for your time with us. We later lost the well seasoned Epelis while we tried @imosi on our roster. That didn't work out sadly, but we acquired a talented youngster in @Migo_boo to fill the empty spot. @kikiukko went to Almost Famous to get some more ice time at his main position RD.

I'd say NHL19 will probably be the best game in the history for NHL gaming, as the game itself seems a little bit better once again and money will be involved on the highest level as well. How does all this new stuff feel for you guys - NHL19's gameplay and the ECL license? 

It's really nice that the game is going forward and this community is growing. We've seen a lot of growth with this as some esports organisations have already backed up a few teams and a few individual players have signed legit contracts.

Rusty Blades has been known as a hard competing, never waivering team that plays a simple and some might say ugly game. What is your direction from now on - any new game plans? Will the Rusty Blades compete in the upcoming ECL7 playoffs and if so, with what teams?

A simple and ugly game does not keep you in Elite. I think we have something more. As a team we are hard as nails and we do not do drama, no matter how hard it gets. We keep it together. This season I believe we will be better than ever. I have high faith in these guys.

Thanks for your time Tanski! Hope you can shake off the rust and compete hard this year!

Stay tuned for more ECL Elite 16 in 16 later today, as we take a look at a fringe playoff team, who has been fighting it out in Elite for some time now. Can you guess who was predicted to finish next in line?

ECL Elite 16 in 16 is a season preview series we're implementing ahead of ECL 7. The idea was conceived by @chavelski, but due to time constraining the man himself, the project is now being carried out by the rest of our Elite writing team. The series will be released in 16 parts, one article for each team. The teams have been ranked by all team captains, and articles are being released in order from predicted last place finish to predicted champion of ECL 7. The objective of this series is to give an idea to the community of who is representing which team, added by a small insight into the team with an interview of the team captain.

Hi there, NHLGamers!

Almost Famous is next in line for our 16 in 16 series as the team was voted to finish 11th by the captains in the division. It is their inaugural season in Elite, but despite that, the roster doesn't consist of complete rookies at this level. They have a few players who possess some experience of playing in Elite. One of these is captain @Aze, who I'll have a short discussion with at the end of this article.

Almost Famous is quite a young team, as the team only has two seasons under their belt. Despite this, they have already accomplished a great feat, being the first ever ECL team to gain promotion in consecutive seasons, progressing through the divisions framework from Lite to Elite. The team was played it's first season in ECL 4, but didn't start to reach it's form as we know it until ECL 5, when the project aF really took off. MUKIMIEHET (RIP) disbanded and captain Aze took control of the team, which had originally been his brainchild already in the early spring of 2017. Unofficially, the team has maintained their core throughout their short history, as captain @Aze, although seeing things through in MUKIMIEHET still ran things in a background role during their first season in Lite.

IN

SepiDN <-- Evolution
kikiukko <-- Rusty Blades
SadaPoika <-- Evolution
Chafak <-- Free Agent
Nampa77 <-- Sjukstugan

OUT

DevilFish14 --> Break from NHL
Realpulunen --> Etelan Vetelat
Rimpe37 --> Gotham Knights

Current Roster:

Forwards
Ikavalko (A) @Ikavalko
SadaPoika @SadaPoika
Chafak @Chafak
Nampa77 @Nampa77

Defensemen
AzeStiNE (C) @Aze
jahajaha93 (A) @jahajaha93
kikiukko @kikiukko

Goaltenders
Vaporik @Vaporik
SepiDN @SepiDN
taiguri9 @kasper.kampe

What do you expect from ECL 7?

I'm hoping for a lot of tight games during the season. If the preseason is anything to judge from, that is what we'll see too. There's been a number of transfers and several new teams in the division, so it'll be exciting to see who will make the biggest impact.

Who would you name as a key player from your team?

Well, goalies are never too overrated so I could say our goalie trio @SepiDN, @Vaporik and @kasper.kampe will be the ones we either live by or die by this season. There will be tough games for sure, so you will need a good goalie in order to give you a chance to win everyday.

What are your thoughts on the ECL Elite license?

I think it's a step in the right direction, so yes, it's brilliant. I don't think it's a sustainable solution as it is but a fine middle-ground for now.
 

Talk a bit about the moves Almost Famous made during the summer and recently.

We ended up having quite a lot of turnover as SadaPoika and Nampa77 joined our offense, kikiukko joined our defense and we brought in Elite proven goaltender SepiDN. We needed additions to our offense, depth for defense and a goalie who adds more activity in net and has shown ability to play at the Elite level. They have fit in very well, great players and great guys. 

Who would you say is a favorite to win it all in ECL 7?

FILADELPHIA and Written. Both teams have top versus players in their teams, so it'll be interesting to see which mode they will invest in more, 1v1 or 6v6.
I believe FILA made some amazing acquisitions in the offseason and is arguably the strongest team on paper. Written also made some moves and will undoubtedly perform at the top-level as expected.

Who'd you say is the "Hidden Gem" in Almost Famous?

@Ikavalko is one of the most entertaining players in the scene and has a lot of potential. It'll be nice to see how he will utilise it all and perform in Elite. 

Thanks Aze for your time and good luck to Almost Famous for the next season!

 

Our second Sunday article will be taking a look at a team that's trying to shake off the rust accumulated over the summer, can you guess who we're talking about?

What's up, gamers?

Do you know that feeling when you have missed something you used to do some time ago, but for certain reasons you haven't been doing that thing for a long time. It can be writing articles for NHLGamer, it can be some old hobby, listening to some childhood favourite band or you know - playing virtual hockey on the very highest level in ECL Elite. I happen to know a few guys who can certainly agree with me on this one. I used to be one of them for a long, long time. Can you guess who I'm talking about?

SIKA - one of the oldest competitive EASHL teams in Europe is back in ECL Elite! Very few teams can say that they've been out there for almost 10 years, but SIKA is truly one of those teams. Obviously their roster has changed during that long 10-year road but hey - how many teams actually manage to keep their core players and team itself together for that long? They've seen lots of ups and downs, different players, friends and brothers, leagues and tournaments during that long road. Personally, I can say that it takes a lot from you. It was like a family, and to be honest, it still feels like one. *Wiping a tear* In ECL6, SIKA played in the Pro division. Their regular season was solid as they finished with a record of 22-6-1. Arctic was SIKA's first round opponent in a series that SIKA managed to win in six games. In Round 2 they lost a thrilling 7-game battle to White Trash where the winner was decided in overtime after SIKA failed to convert their two powerplays before conceding the season ending goal in double overtime. However, anything can happen in life and due to some off-season transfers and teams disbanding, SIKA managed to find a backdoor entrance to Elite.

IN
 
Rankaisija <-- Old Farts
MrNipsuli <-- Free Agents
 
OUT
 
imosi1 --> Break from NHL
vSilenttio --> Symphony

Current Roster:

Forwards
yrjoo (A) @yrjoo
Albatrooss @Albatross
Naikou88 @Naikou88

Defensemen
MCH_98 (A) @MCH_98
MrNipsuli- @MrNipsuli
Rankaisija_ @Ranksu

Goaltenders
SpiderRoyal (C) @SpiderRoyal
RingDaKing30 @Ylijumala

Alright, lets get to business. I had the honor of interviewing my long time friend and former teammate - the man, the myth, the old but gold in its true meaning: @SpiderRoyal

Shall we start with an easy one - how are you and the lads? What does SIKA think about the new NHL-game? 
 
Me and the lads are doing just fine, thanks for asking! Ready to go after a nice warm summer, quality time with our families and a needed break from the hockey scene. 
 
We all purchased the pre-order version of the new NHL 19, so we've been grinding the new game from day one and we like the game a lot. Not sure about the new patch, but more games are needed before jumping to conclusions. The game feels fresh, for me at least. Can't wait for the new season to begin!
 
 

It's been over a year now since SIKA was last seen in ECL Elite. What kind of thoughts does the comeback bring to you personally? Is it time for some changes in the schedules and work ethic maybe?
 
Yes, finally SIKA is back! SIKA in my opinion is an Elite team and finally we're back where we belong. Still I'm haunted by the fact that we got relegated after a season of many disasters, and even more shocked that we couldn't get back up to Elite, as we're always shooting ourselves in the foot in the playoffs. Getting promoted isn't easy even if you have a very solid team.
 
For me personally getting back to Elite is a huge boost, not that I wouldn't be motivated playing in Pro, but playing in the Elite this upcoming season brings an extra flavor to the dish! As the founder of SIKA I'm in it for the ups and the downs. Being on the bright side of things this time makes me very happy and hungry for success.
 
Schedule wise of course we have to play even more and prioritize that 6's is the #1 game mode for us if we want to gain success. Less HUT and FUT, that's for sure We all have pretty similar schedules as to when we can play, so that won't be an issue. The work ethic definitely needs to be stepped up a notch. We are discussing learning our style, studying opponents, how to play in different situations, minimizing the differential between the good day and the bad days...all that comes with when you take a step up in the work ethic aspect of the game. 

SIKA has seen a lot during the recent years so obviously terms, such as "rebuilding" or "re-tooling" are not new for you. With dozens of seasons and offseasons behind, how did the team do this time around - could you tell me about how well you accomplished your goals set this offseason?
 
The terms "rebuilding" and "re-tooling" aren't new to us at all. That might very well be the reason we fell off our course for the past 2-3 seasons. Too many new faces who weren't loyal after all and not having that solid #1 lineup to go with. The offseason started with a couple of bangs! vSilenttio, our captain and GM, went to play with Symphony. imosi1 retired. So you could say that we were in a little bit of a shock at the beginning of the offseason. Losing two of our full breed SIKA's was a pity, but we understood why they left. Saying that, losing two of our brothers might be actually the best thing that could have happened to us. We all stepped up a lot, everyone got more involved in team matters and the atmosphere is more united and relaxed than maybe ever before. Everyone has their own role now and the workload is spread very evenly. We're all a part of rejuvenating SIKA.
 
Two new signings needed to be done after vSilenttio and imosi1 left. Rankaisija and MrNipsuli- came to the rescue. Rankaisija being a highly skilled veteran defender, "a leader" if you will and MrNipsuli- being something of a "gods gift". Especially MrNipsuli- has surprised us all, not often you find an Elite defender from the 1vs1-scene lingering around among the free agents. I'd also like to shoutout MCH_98 for elevating his game to a totally new level! The growth of MCH_98 skill-wise after vSilenttio left the defense has been mindboggling. The forwards are now locked in their own positions and they get to play their own favorite position. Forwards: Albatrooss, Yrjoo and Naikou88 have all been in SIKA for a while now so they are no strangers to each other. Not forgetting the goalies: Me[insert old guy joke here] and RingDaKing30 sharing the playtime 50-50 and LOCKING UP!  So to sum it up: Offseason went way better than expected
 

From there it's easy to jump to one of the most exciting subjects. ECL7, Elite division, it's license and the season in itself. What is SIKA planning to do in the next three months?
 
We aim to get better everyday and show everyone why I earlier stated that SIKA belongs to ECL Elite. SIKA has never been shy to show games to the viewers and we'll stream EASHL and ECL on a daily basis. Everyone can come see us grow as a team and see why we believe in ourselves so much!
 
The license for this upcoming season is huge! This is exactly what we as a community needed and SIKA supports it all the way.
 

Finally, the last burning question - will SIKA play in the ECL7 playoffs? And how do you see the other teams out there - what teams do you see as the biggest championship contenders?
 
Our minimum goal is the playoffs, our dream is to win it all! Why play if you don't believe in yourself?! Of course we are aware of the reality, but there is no reason we can't achieve the biggest price if everything clicks. Also I think almost any team in the Elite can win it all, if everything goes as planned. I'm hopeless optimist I know
 
Soooo many good teams in Elite, but if I had to say top-3 teams and I couldn't name ourselves, I'd say:
 
FILADELPHIA because of Eki "The Champ", PleeMaker (wrap-arounds me to death every year), Zande95... Are you kidding me?!
 
Written in the Stars: Favorite status every year. Now with Dominointi and Hansu... Lord have mercy!
 
Dynasty: Gets better every year!

Thanks for your time, SpiderRoyal. Good luck for the upcoming season!

Unfortunately we received some sad news coming from the Monarchs camp last night - Monarchs will not be participating in ECL 7, as the team will be folding. Some of the Monarchs players will transfer to Sjukstugan and represent them in ECL 7. More news regarding this once Sjukstugan is up! In tomorrow's ECL Elite 16 in 16, we will be looking at another team that made a rapid climb through the divisional ladder.

ECL Elite 16 in 16 is a season preview series we're implementing ahead of ECL 7. The idea was conceived by @chavelski, but due to time constraining the man himself, the project is now being carried out by the rest of our Elite writing team. The series will be released in 16 parts, one article for each team. The teams have been ranked by all team captains, and articles are being released in order from predicted last place finish to predicted champion of ECL 7. The objective of this series is to give an idea to the community of who is representing which team, added by a small insight into the team with an interview of the team captain.

In the third part of our 16 in 16 series we are going to take a look at a team that's been along for quite a while already. During the three seasons of ECL divisions, this team has already suffered one relegation and had the joy of one promotion. You could say it's been a rollercoaster. The team under our close investigative eye is Gotham Knights.

Gotham Knights hasn't always been around as it is currently. The team started off as Refuse To Lose when EASHL made the transition to the new gen consoles in NHL 16. Refuse To Lose competed without any mentionable accomplishments until the summer of 2017, when @ReDMisTi, and @Kefleri decided to join forces and create Gotham Knights as we know it. ReDMisTi brought @Hanssonni and @MKivinen95 with him from RTL and the team recruited some new faces to bolster their ranks. Since the beginning, Gotham has wanted to prove that they can compete at the Elite level. It's something that will be even more of a theme now in NHL 19, as the team goes into their first consecutive season at the top tier. 

IN

Nieppii <-- Sypperstaars
erholtzi <-- Red Machine
swagx88 <-- FILADELPHIA

OUT

PleeMaker --> FILADELPHIA
Serg1vratar --> Free Agent
ktewjh --> Rusty Blades
jyrkkis_ --> Team Frosty
EemilK02 --> Raccoon Rampage
Sweaty__99 --> Unlucky Boys

Current roster:

Forwards
ReDMisTi (C) @ReDMisTi
Kefleri @Kefleri
Hanssonni (A) @Hanssonni
Puteli88 @puteli88

Defensemen
Mkivinen95 @MKivinen95
Nieppii @Nieppii

Goaltenders
swagx88 @swagx88
erholtzi @Erholtzi

After this introduction of the team, I'd like to get into some questions to team captain and former teammate of mine, @ReDMisTi:

What are your expectations going into the 7th season of ECL competition?

Our expectations are that we can play a good season. We're trying to keep the playing level high and minimizing the amount of bad days. Staying in Elite is an absolute minimum, but reaching the playoffs is our goal.

Do you guys have one player you'd like to showcase as a potential difference maker?

I can’t name just one key player, we will play as a team and therefore every player is a big part of our success.

Would you like to share your thoughts on the ECL Elite License?

I guess the idea is good for sure. Remains to be seen who will pay up and who won't.

Can you talk a little bit about the moves Gotham made during the summer?

We had a few players leave, and a few players joined so it’s going to be interesting to see what kind of impact the transfers have on our game and the league. I guess we still play the same kind of hockey we did last season.

Who would you say are the favorites to take home ECL 7 Elite?

FILADELPHIA has easily been our toughest opponent for now, I’m surprised if they are not in finals.

Do you have a "Hidden Gem" in your team?

Yes, @Nieppii is one of the best versus players in Europe and now he wants to be one of the best 6vs6 defensemen too. We're talking about a really skilled player and he can easily become one of the best D's after a bunch of training and facing the worlds best players in ECL Elite.

Are you going to play offensive or defensive hockey?

Hard question, a good defense is the key for sure, so we want to defend hard but at the same time keep the puck as much as possible. We don't want to be just a counter attack team. We're staying versatile, so I'd say we're 50/50.

Thank you for your interview and good luck with the new season!

Ranked to finish 13th by our ECL Elite captains and making a comeback to the Elite level, we'll have an exciting one for you guys tomorrow. You'll be given the pleasure of seeing two long-time NHLGamers having a chat about the upcoming season and the return of a dearly missed writer. Check back tomorrow evening for more of the goodness we've called ECL Elite 16 in 16!

ECL Elite 16 in 16 is a season preview series we're implementing ahead of ECL 7. The idea was conceived by @chavelski, but due to time constraining the man himself, the project is now being carried out by the rest of our Elite writing team. The series will be released in 16 parts, one article for each team. The teams have been ranked by all team captains, and articles are being released in order from predicted last place finish to predicted champion of ECL 7. The objective of this series is to give an idea to the community of who is representing which team, added by a small insight into the team with an interview of the team captain.

In the second edition of our 16 in 16 it's time to take a look at a team that's been around from the very start of ECL as we know it. This team is a close-knit group of friends and and even brothers. They are the ones who dug coal together. I'm talking about your favorite Swedish pickaxe wielding warriors - Falun Coal Miners. When it comes to ECL, Falun has pretty much seen it all. The team has battled through hard times in Lite, grinded it out in Pro and proven their skill in Elite. They're still missing one thing, though - a playoff run at the highest level. Now as they're starting their second season in Elite, the Miners are sure hungry for more success. The team has made some promising acquisitions during the offseason, but as we know, the players brought in won't be the strength of Falun - their strength lies in the chemistry built over time.

IN

BiggestEight <-- Arctic
Aschebas4hor <-- EV Duisburg
Panserhagen <-- Bucketeers

OUT

iscojr94 --> Break from NHL
IFKPEKING2k15 --> Monarchs
minokin --> Sektion K

 

Current roster:

Forwards
PatzyDrake
BiggestEight
Pentsaa (A)
Berger-I88I
Panserhagen

Defensemen
The_Alpha_Furyan (C)
LastMandalorian (A)
Meeertz

Goaltenders
Onecorner95
Aschebas4hor

For the interview part, I managed to get a hold of assistant captain and founding member @LastMandalorian. Enjoy the extensive answers and great insight provided by him:

Let's start off light. How did the summer treat you guys? You played some NHL with the boys, did you come up with anything else?
 
Summer was good! Personally I was able to enjoy my first paid vacation, so I could really lean back and charge my batteries. As far as team activities goes, FCM actually ended up winning the OEHL tournament early in the summer - our first 6v6 title so far! We also put a lot of hours into FIFA 18 Pro Clubs after the game went on sale during the World Cup. Joining forces with some boys from Synergy Hockey on our created squad "FC Miners", we were able to get some good 11v11 sessions together. Also, some guys from our team that hang out regularly outside of gaming went to Spain together for vacation.

I know Falun has a nice background to it and there have been a bunch of brotherly ties and close friendships within the team. Can you give me a condensed version of how the team has grown and what the road has been like to come this far? 

Well, the Coal Miners were originally founded by me, my brother and a bunch of his classmates from University. We were all studying in Falun - a former mining city - at the time... hence the name. In the early days, only me and my brother had any experience at all from 6v6 league play, but through the years we've all grown to become experienced "veterans". As the level of play, commitment and seriousness has increased, some of the founding members have retired from their lineup spots (which is okay, we all have our own level of dedication) but we've picked up some really good signings along the way to fill out those spots, most of whom we met during the different Summer Cups.

But the major part of the team still consists of IRL friends. @PatzyDrake, me, @Meeertz, @iscojr94 and @The_Alpha_Furyan were all there right from the very start, @Onecorner95 - a former bandmate of mine - joined just a few weeks into the first season and last seasons signing, @Berger l88l, is a childhood friend of mine. 

As we made the transition to the divisions system after ECL 3, Falun started off in ECL Lite, with a less successful season. You weren't a part of the team then, but as a founding member, did you have any concerns that it might be the end of your beloved club?

After a tough ECL 3, both me and my brother felt we wanted a new challenge. I remember that specific season was an extra long one and it really took a toll on those of us who handled the captaining - keeping everyone motivated and getting people to every game. Right then and there, I think we were all kind of exhausted and it felt like different levels of dedication amongst the guys had begun to appear - it seemed like we wanted different things out of the game. So, joining Sjukstugan (112) for ECL 4 Pro was a mixture of relieving ourselves of the responsibilities of the captaincy and stepping up to a higher level of competition. Everyone on FCM were very understanding. Me and Alpha were both really, really happy when the guys decided to carry on without us in Lite though, and I know my brother followed most - if not all - of their games through Twitch, filling in as an "assistant coach" of sorts during that season. 
 

What was the thought process like when you rejoined FCM after a short stint in Sjukstugan?

It was a mixture of me wanting to switch back to the skater position (I spent ECL's 3 and 4 playing goalie) and us finding that passion/energy for doing our own thing again. Reaching the Pro finals with Sjukstugan really energized us to try and do the same thing on our own terms. It also helped motivate us that Falun was, at the time, actually set to fold and not continue for ECL 5 - we had a streak to keep alive! Most of the FCM player group had already signed with other teams closing in on the start of ECL 5, but they didn't need much convincing to come back. It was a genuine feeling of "getting the old band back together". It created a really strong spirit in the team that season in Pro, and I think it is what has helped us get this far. 

You guys had a difficult start to you first Elite season, as you went on a bit of a losing streak. Did some frustration set in or did you guys know you were going to turn it around? What will you change going into your second season at the top tier?

I think the biggest reason for the 1-9-0 losing streak at the start of ECL 6 was the tough schedule: our five first opponents were considered top teams. But I would be lying if I said it didn't affect us. After a solid pre-season (probably our best one so far) I think we considered ourselves to be better than our results ended up showing. So we decided to make changes. Major changes.

Core players switched positions, Berger-I88I (a former point-scoring dynamo from the EHL days) was brought in and our upcoming schedule showed teams projected to be more on our level. It worked out! Berger-I88I ended up playing most of the remainder of the season: scoring 13 goals in 14 games. PatzyDrake found another level in his game stepping up as our new #1 centerman and me and my brother could make the most of our chemistry playing together on the main defensive pairing. This year I think we are just overall more prepared for the level of competition. First season was about learning and surviving, this season is about taking the next step. We have high ambitions going in. 
 

 Lastly, did you guys have any transfers happen in the offseason? In that case, who left and who joined?

This offseason has seen quite some movement, especially for us. 

@minokin left to go back to his old team of IRL friends (Sektion K), backup goalie @IsakTuvesson(IFKPEKING2k15) went back to Monarchs and co-founding member @iscojr94 decided to hang up the skates (at least for now). 

But we're really excited for the pickups we've made. BiggestEight (@selänne8), a guy me and my brother played with during the EHL, is one of the purest goal scorers in this scene, IMO. He's been in the top tier of goal scoring for the Pro division multiple times and I'm really excited about what he could do at the Elite level - especially since we already built some chemistry together this summer in the OEHL. Other than "Bigi", we've recently brought in a reliable Norwegian all-round player in @Panserhagen from our OEHL finals opponent Bucketeers and an experienced German goaltender in Aschebas4hor (@Asche)  - both of whom has fit in nicely with the team.
 
Thanks to the duo @LastMandalorian and @The_Alpha_Furyan for taking the time to answer my questions! Good luck to FCM in the upcoming season, see you out on the ice!
 

Tomorrow we'll be taking a look at another team going into their second consecutive Elite season. It's a team that had a large player turnover this summer, so we'll be in for something exciting and fresh to watch this upcoming ECL season. Can you guess which team is up next?

ECL Elite 16 in 16 is a season preview series we're implementing ahead of ECL 7. The idea was conceived by @chavelski, but due to time constraining the man himself, the project is now being carried out by the rest of our Elite writing team. The series will be released in 16 parts, one article for each team. The teams have been ranked by all team captains, and articles are being released in order from predicted last place finish to predicted champion of ECL 7. The objective of this series is to give an idea to the community of who is representing which team, added by a small insight into the team with an interview of the team captain.

We're starting off our 16 in 16 with a team that is new to competing at the highest tier. The team has been battling and establishing themselves in the Pro division for a few seasons now, and after a successful campaign in ECL 6, they managed to gain promotion. I'm of course talking about the former White Trash, now turned Team Frosty as the NHL team signed a deal with an esports organization bearing the same name (We'll address this in a later article, no worries!). This is a squad that has been grinding it out for several seasons now under the lead of captain @Zip player. Some of the men alongside him have changed, but the strive for success has remained relentless. The team didn't get a lot of confidence from the captains, being predicted to place last in Elite at the end of ECL 7. They surely have a steep hill to climb, but if the form they have shown in some of their preseason games continue, I believe these guys could surprise. 

IN

KenuFHR <-- Monte Carlo
Obagol <-- Arctic
Chaostive <-- Ea Logic
xXSinCosTanXx <-- Nordic Stars
IiSvampI <-- Monarchs
Jyrkkis_ <-- Gotham Knights

OUT

Kaltsone --> N/A
rGinnu --> N/A
plymalkin --> N/A
pro-m99 --> Military Service

Current roster:

Forwards
ZipPlayer (C)
Kaneyh
KenuFHR
Chaostive
Toukoo01

Defensemen
TheFakiiR1 (A)
jyrkkis_
IiSvampI
xXSinCosTanXx

Goalies
Mehiiss (A)
Jahuuu88
Obagol

Interview with captain @Zip player:

The team experienced something of a makeover during the summer, what are the underlying reasons and how would you describe the Team Frosty we'll see on the opening night of ECL 7?

I suppose that statement is true. In my opinion, the main reason is that we advanced to the very highest level in the ECL. When doing so, a team needs to comply with the level of play in the highest tier. Some of our older players are less active nowadays so we decided to take action immediately. The goal was to renew the team while maintaining the old foundation.

On the opening night of ECL 7, you'll see a Team Frosty that trusts their process and we hope to bring our very best to the ice each and every night! 

Talk a bit about the aggressive recruiting process you guys had going during the summer. Was it a conscious decision to try out so many players?

We wanted to be vocal and catch the attention of players. We saw a lot of players along the course of the summer and at some point even our own players were confused about the situation as we were constantly bringing in new guys. I'd say it was our conscious decision to try players who were interested and now I think we have a good group of guys put together.

How do you expect your starting lineup to look?

I'd like to emphasize that we play as a team. I wouldn't want to speculate on the starting lineup yet, but we're going by the principle that the players who can help the team will play and of course activity will be rewarded. Each of our players have different strengths and one of our main objectives were to build a versatile team that can adapt to any situation.

ECL 7 will be the first season with an actual prize pool. What are your thoughts on this?

I'm really excited about the growth of the community, both in-game and back office developments have been very positive lately. It would certainly be something, if we one day could have anything even close to a professional  league. I believe that money will increase the competitiveness, but currently we aren't talking big numbers so no one will be getting rich yet! It is good for the community regardless.

For my final question, I'd like to ask you for a prediction of ECL 7 in the eyes of Team Frosty. What do you think?

I'm notoriously bad at predictions, but I'll set some objectives for us. Our first and most important objective is surely to maintain our spot in the Elite division. We'll do everything we can to prove that we belong. Our dream is to make the playoffs on our first season. The road will most likely be long and difficult, but we're up for the challenge!

Big thanks to ZipPlayer for his short interview and the best of luck to Team Frosty in their first Elite season!

Stay tuned for our next article in the series, in which we showcase a team coming from a very different situation, but according to our Elite captains, are fighting for the same positions as Team Frosty!