Hello NHLGamers,

I want to start this post off right by giving credit to @OxtreeLAT for once again creating some spectacular art. Keep doing what you are doing sir, the staff (and the community) are all glad to have you onboard! Make sure to give Ox some love in the comment section if you appreciate the visuals.

Anyway, getting back to the matter at hand: the ECL 3 playoffs. It's time for Round 4 - the Semi-Finals! 

I can't imagine anyone in the community has missed out on the great matchups that have been going on but on the off chance that you did, here is the quick recap; 

Laser HT beat Northern Ascendancy 4-2
Finnish Roosters beat Written In The Stars 4-0
Aapon Taikasauva beat MUKIMIEHET 4-3
X Factor beat SIKA 4-1
 

With Nordic Blizzard and MUKIMIEHET not part of the Final Four this means we will have a completely new champion for ECL 3. Anyway, without further delay, we present to you the playoff pairings for Round 4 (coupled with a preview/prediction from @vSilenttio and myself) - scheduled to be played 18/1 to 24/1;

Laser HT - Finnish Roosters

Preview, by vSilenttio

Before I say anything specific on this series - I must say that this match-up feels like the Finals already. It's like the final showdown before the ultimate final super showdown - or something like that. LHT has been great since the beginning and you could say the same from FR as both teams have been dominating whole season three since day one. FR had little bit tougher regular season thanks to Group 1's teams being slightly more "Elite" if you could say so - oh wait, I can.

What else we can predict than Game 7 finish? LHT has super offensive line-up which all starts from one of the best, if not the best, european center there is - Dominointi. Same goes for FR as tbnantti leads his squad from the center of the ice. What I'm saying is that one of the biggest factors in this series will be the battle between their centers. Both can do pretty much everything on the ice, Dominointi being maybe more defensive where Antti plays more offensively. Obviously they need help from their wingers to win this battle. Antti has one defensive winger in johtaja699, and one over-the-top offensive juggernaut wonder-kid in Plee. Dominointi then again has pretty much same kind of situation in LHT as Patzlaf in the left wing is their superman winger (originally center) and Hansulinho is literally the Patrick Kane of their team as his offensive awareness is just something out of this world. If FR can take Hansu out, LHT might think of replacing him with more defensive and disciplined but still super-skilled players like Leksa94 or Hittihermu.

How about the defense or their goalies? I see FR's FinKonna being the best goalie of this whole tournament and his effort will perhaps be the one thing that can take FR to the finals over LHT. I'm not saying LHT has bad goalie in Hiirulainen as he was one of the best goalies in NHL14 but still - FR has the edge in goalies. Defensively then again, LHT has more offensive D-men and that is the spot to hit for FR. Vatalisti and no matter who with him (either DieCutterMC or willekunq) will be the more offensive pairing here compared to FR's solid two-way machine ktwejh and JParola combined together. I need to say that of course no one plays as an individuals here but that is more than obvious when you play hockey on this level - just need to say it out loud here. Both side's D-men are capable of making that one play that decides the one goal game's result - will be interesting to see that which side is the better one to support their team offensively AND defensively.

I want Game 7 - and I think that most of the community see LHT as "better" team here but after seeing both team in these playoffs and time before all this - I'm going to say that it's Finnish Roosters who advances to the finals beating Laser in Game 7.

LHT-FR 3-4.

Aapon Taikasauva - X Factor 

Preview, by The_Alpha_Furyan

There is no shortage of star players in either series here and for this one, the regular season masters Aapon Taikasauva (fronted by joukki13, Puantso, indi969, jtorro123, puke85 and Zande95) faces an X Factor team (led by captain Nylanderi and his playoff squad Penatski, KingOfApes_, Vilupoika, F-B-I__A-N-D-Y_ and Danielcadabra) that has continually gotten better ever since the start of NHL 17.

Having been eliminated by Aapon, I know first hand what they can bring to a playoff matchup. When needed, they can balance their offence to include their defensive players as well and take some pressure of their top line. This also creates difficulties for the opposing team in shutting them down as you can't just take away that joukki13 one-timer on the right side and call it a day. However, featuring both the top goal scorer and top assist maker this season, you can never underestimate Aapons forwards. This will be the big challenge for Nylanderi and FBI Andy on X Factors blueline.

Speaking of X Factor, they continue to impress as a team. From being one of the "potential top teams" at the start of the season they have devoloped into a force to be reckoned with and a proven contender. As a team, they play a similarly creative offensive style as Aapon - meaning this series has the potential to blow up a bit and be somewhat higher scoring than what we've seen in the playoffs thus far.

To me, this one will come down to goaltending with the matchup between Danielcadabra and Zande95. If either one falters and fails to live up to the expectations they've set through their terrific playoff runs so far, that could decide the entire series. Seeing as both teams forwards are like sharks - if they smell blood in the water they will attack again and again - I wouldn't want to be in either goalies shoes for this series.

Ultimately, I got to give this tone to Aapon as their offense if just too overwhelming to shut down over a lengthy playoff series.

4-2 series win, Aapon Taikasauva.

Both pairs start their games tonight - as XF-Aapo goes live on 20:00CET and LHT-FR start their games on 21:00CET. Find their streams on NHLGamer's front page or in the chatbox later tonight!

That's all from us right now, dont forget to subscribe to our various social media channels to show your support;

Twitter: https://twitter.com/nhlgamercom
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NHLGamer/
Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/nhlgamertwitch
PS4: Search for community: "NHL Gamer"

On behalf of the NHLGamer staff,

The_Alpha_Furyan & vSilenttio

Hello NHLGamers,

As some of you may have noticed, Round 3 of the ECL 3 playoffs kicked off last night with some great battles. For those of you who did miss it, here are the playoff pairings (the ECL 3 "Final Eight" teams) for Round 3 - scheduled to be played 11/1 to 17/1;

Laser HT - Northern Ascendancy

Written In The Stars - Finnish Roosters

Aapon Taikasauva - MUKIMIEHET

X Factor - SIKA

I'm sure all of us in the community are looking forward to some great battles here and as evidenced by the teams respective Twitch streams yesterday - the quality of play is top notch! Also, be sure to be on the lookout for a lengthy ECL 3 Finals Preview produced by myself and new NHLGamer Staff member @vSilenttio - featuring game analysis, some quotes from the captains and a prediction for who will be our next ECL champion.

Finally, if all goes well we are looking into the possibility of producing a game broadcast from the Official NHLGamer Twitch Channel during the ECL Finals.

Is this something you would like to see? Perhaps with a preview show? Some cat videos from @Kenu? Let us know in the comment section! We want your feedback.

As always, later skaters //

The_Alpha_Furyan

Hey NHL Gamers,

As most of you probably have noticed, there's been some controversy between the teams Synergy Hockey and Silver Sword Griffins. We will start this post off by laying down the information and staff ruling in this case and finish off with the round 2 matchups.

The NHL Gamers staff was approached yesterday (3.1.)  with Synergy Hockey (from here on SYN) asking what to do, when it's the last day and Silver Sword Griffins (from here on SSG) can't play. We instructed that the games need to be played yesterday. SYN was available to play, while SSG replied to them "I told you yesterday that we can't. We don't have to play with a suboptimal roster just because you couldn't play at all last two weeks" and adding "We could've finished yesterday but see Pelle I think it was who called it a night at 10pm. And now we have to adapt to that?".

Here are the bullet points that we gathered from talking to both teams:

• The teams were supposed to play their first games on the 20th of December. SSG cancelled at the last minute due to "problems with personal relationship between our RW and G".
• SYN had before these games communicated to SSG that they can't play until the 2nd of January due to Christmas and New Years plans. 
• As the games on the 20th were cancelled, SYN was able to offer another opportunity to play on the 22nd of January, where they played (according to their description) with a non-optimal line-up, in order to get the series started. SSG won both of the two games that were played. Series 0-2.
• The second batch of games were to be played, as agreed, on the 2nd of January.  SYN asked before the games "How many games today (at most). 3?", to which SSG replied "yeah, something like that". SYN won the first game, SSG won the second game (making the series 1-3), after which SYN asked "One more?" and SSG replied "yeah".
• After the third game of the evening (SYN won and made the series 2-3), SSG asks "can you keep playing?", but SYN says that they can't and asks if SSG can play the next day. It is also explained that one of their players has already went to sleep. 13 minutes later, at 22:07 Swedish time, SSG says that they can't play on Wednesday, which is the last day of the first round.
• Neither teams are directly asking for WO's, but as time has run out and we're past the extra allocated day, we can not continue to give out more time for the series.

The criteria on which we made our decision:

• We do not believe either team to have purposefully ended up in this situation.
• SYN was unavailable to play for a lot of evenings, however they did communicate this very clearly and were available to play on 4 occasions (20th, 22nd, 2nd and 3rd). SSG says they were ready to play on all default days.
• SSG didn't at any point contact the staff about any issues with the series. Only after being asked to play on the last day (3rd of Jan), they started communicating with the staff. Their explanation is that SYN was largely unavailable and that they are to be blamed for the situation.
• SSG claims they thought the 2nd of Jan was the correct date, as communicated earlier (before adding the extra day). Their point is valid about the clarity of the staff's communication and it is noted, but doesn't validate their unclear communication.
• As mentioned above, SSG made a comment about not agreeing to play with a "suboptimal" roster on the last day of the playoffs. They later commented to the staff that this was said out of frustration and wasn't accurate, and that they actually didn't have the appropriate amount of players to play.
• SSG did not communicate to SYN on time that they won't be able to continue the series on Tuesday. They only communicated this after some of SYN had left after the games on Monday. SYN asked up front how many games will be played and "one more" and not at any point was it mentioned that the series will have to be finished on Monday.

After hearing both sides and investigating this case thoroughly - we have made the tough decision that Synergy Hockey advances to the second round of playoffs with WO's against the Silver Sword Griffins. We would like to remind everyone that the staff works as a team and there are votes on the difficult matters. The vote in this case was not unanimous, but this decision was supported by the majority.

Walkovers at this stage are unfortunate but all teams need to be aware of the deadlines and due to the extra time already allocated, for the greater good, the NHLGamer Staff is forced to make this decision so the second round can start as promised.

We've done our best to describe above, that we do believe both teams have made mistakes in this series. With better communication, these issues could've been avoided. The staff would've been happy to step in and do our best to help at an earlier stage. Bringing things up on the last possible day is not the approach that we want to encourage.  

Below are the second round pairings. Second round of playoffs is to be played 4. - 10.1.

Laser HT - TIKI TALK
Aapon Taikasauva - Fat Cats
Northern Stars - Northern Ascendancy
Written in the Stars - Nordic Nightmare
Synergy Hockey - Mukimiehet
X Factor - Dynasty
SIKA - Nordic Lightning
Finnish Roosters - Nordic Blizzard

The schedule and playoff tree will reflect this as soon as possible. In the mean time, feel free to start playing.

Respectfully,

The NHLGamer Staff

Hello NHLGamers,

The regular season is at an end and the ECL 3 playoffs loom large. Who will be the last team standing this time and join the ranks of Nordic Blizzard and MUKIMIEHET as ECL Champions? It all starts in this Round-of-16 where the 32 best teams on the European side of EASHL do battle in grueling Best of-7 series.

As I've stated in previous articles, I do love a good preview/review/prediction/analysis when it comes to EASHL so this is an article I've been looking forward to writing. To create a more nuanced approach, I've enlisted the help of SIKA Captain and Truth of Hockey podcast host, @vSilenttio. If you haven't gotten around to checking out the podcast yet, make sure to do so. I have no idea what is being said as the podcast is broadcast in Finnish, but from what I've been told, it's a fun ride with lots of opinions, controversy and analysis.

Also, please note that these are just supposed to be fun, speculative predictions from two members of the community. These predictions do not in any way reflect the official opinion of the NHLGamer staff or the website as a whole.

The predictions were written yesterday, before the start of the playoffs, without discussing the series' with each other beforehand.

Anyway, without further ado, presenting... the ECL 3 Playoff Preview:

Northern Stars - Free From Rodents

Alpha:
To me, this series is pretty much a lock. Northern Stars had an incredibly impressive regular season (better than I thought they would have even), have crazy chemistry built up over almost a decade of playing together, plus one of the best goalies in the league right now in MZK-TrophyHunter. Free From Rodents made the playoffs by winning 10 games less than they lost (atleast in the final standings, not counting the deleted teams). It is impressive for this team to have made the playoffs amongst many tough teams in Group 2, but sadly for them I predict their journey ends here. 

4-0 NOS.

Silenttio:
One of the best teams from ECL 3's regular season faces team that I personally never thought that could make it to the playoffs. Journey to the finals begins easily here for NOS, as they win this series.

4-0 Northern Stars.

Written In The Stars - Nordic Nosebleed

Alpha:
Same case here as the series above really. I believe the offensive firepower of the Bugimir - ADETIKKI - FlyerKungen line will be too much to handle for Nordic Nosebleed. Written In The Stars had the 2nd most goals for in Group 1 and NNB allowed the 5th most goals in Group 2... I think this one could be a bloodbath.

4-0 series win for Written In The Stars.

Silenttio:
Written is still Written here, as they have their top forwards still in the game with them. Their forwards combined together are one of the most skilled and dangerous trio offensively in the whole Europe. You dont wanna give space to those guys. NNB started well this season, but something happened as in my view their status dropped from surprising challenger, to team that almost didn't even make the playoffs.

4-0 SKY.

X Factor vs. Kattiautomaatti

Alpha:
This is an interesting one. X Factor certainly were impressive during the regular season but Kattiautomaatti is a decent team that I think has another gear. If Kenu manages to take a break from sipping on banana-flavored cocktails - maybe Katti can pull off an upset. X Factor does have very good chemistry though and will most likely take it, not without a fight though.

Final prediction, 4-1 X Factor.

Silenttio:
Oh boy, oh boy. Kids of new era facing the old, legendary Xbox team which used to go far in playoffs - not even long ago. X Factor is a Top 3-team on my list. Huge skill, huge awareness of the game, and lots of games under their belts. I'm afraid that this series will turn ugly after first couple tighter games. Katti has good players, for sure. I'm just not quite sure if are they playing? After tbnantti went to Finnish Roosters, Katti haven't been the same. They have the top Finnish defensemen of the Xbox Era out there in Slaivonen and Sumppi, good chemistry between the wingers but I gotta ask; Who is their leader? Or brick wall goalie? Haven't seen none of these two guys in months - that will be the key differencemaker in this series. Also, I gotta' say that I've heard that Katti has stood up well recently in the EASHL games. Lets hope so.

4-2, X Factor

Finnish Roosters - Alliance HT

Alpha:
The Roosters were always good (they certainly showed me that personally - eliminating the Coal Miners 4-0 in the ECL 2 playoffs' first round) but the addition of tbnantti really pushed them into "Top Team-territory". With tbnantti setting up the always dangerous sniper pleemaker, the Roosters have one of the most dangerous 1-2 punches in the league. However, Alliance have certainly impressed me. As one of the few russian teams in the league, I didn't know what to expect but they've proven their mettle through this tough regular season by downing some big teams. As I said, impressive.

Still, 4-2 Roosters.

Silenttio:
Just like Nordic Nosebleed, Alliance started well as they were one of the best teams of Group 2 in October and November. What happened? All I can say is that they know how to play D, they have a very impressive goalie but guess they haven't found their chemistry in the offensive zone yet. On to FR then - one of the best teams right now. In my honest opinion, they have Europe's best goalie and a Top-5 offense as well. These guys know how to score goals! You turn your back for them for one second and they will score - just like that. I would like to see AHT challenging FR with their defense but after thinking about it - no chances.

4-1, FR.

Nordic Blizzard - Murohoki

Alpha:
Murohoki perplexes me. In the EASHL games I've played against them, they've crushed my team 7-0 one game with impenetrable defense and quick zone exists, only for the next game a few days later to end with us winning 5-1. This could of course have to do with different lineups, or it could have to do with the fact that muro has a very high "top level" as a team... If that is the case, they need to make sure they're firing at that level all playoffs long to be a challenge for Nordic Blizzard. NBz, former champs of ECL 1, delivered a solid regular season and will be looking to once again conquer the crown. Lots of talent and routine in this team and when the stakes are high - this should be the deciding factor.

4-1 Blizzard.

Silenttio:
Uhm, I gotta admit that I haven't seen these teams play much recently but on the paper - should be all Blizzard here. Muro lost their best player to Nordic Lightning, and that is big kick to the nuts for Muro when the game gets tougher. Even one win for Muro would be surprise here but not impossible. Still, Blizzard should take this home easy with routine effort.

4-0, Blizzard.

Dynasty - Knight Aces HC

Alpha:
One of the very top defensive squads of the league (Dynasty) versus a fast, dynamic, agressive team like Knight Aces is a fun matchup. The expression "Offense wins games, defense wins championships" seems appropriate here, even if I don't always subscribe to that theory. If the Aces can get their offense going they have a shot here but thats easier said than done with Haldeem and Snapu patrolling the blueline (like they did every game of the regular season). However, I just got this feeling and I think we might have the first upset of the playoffs here. I'm gonna go out on a limb and say;

4-3 Knight Aces HC.

Silenttio:
Not even long ago, I liked Dy... excuse me - I played there. If some finnish team is built for playoffs, it's Dynasty without a doubt. What they have is defensive line-up with touch of smooth skill and great goaltending as they have not only one, but two top goalies. I'm too lazy to check stats as I write this but didn't Dynasty have one of the best GAA on ECL 3? Sums up their team pretty good. Knight Aces HC is smart and fast team. They dont maybe play the most beautiful hockey there is but hey, who cares? Shoot, skate and hit - oh and little bit good luck and Knight Aces might have chance to make this series one of the best in round 1. Just because Aces stole 3pts from SIKA in the regular season, I'll go with....

4-3 Dynasty.

Refuse to Lose - TIKI TALK

Alpha:
Refuse To Lose will have to shut down TIKI TALK captain and leading scorer, itspardytime, in this series to be successfull. If they can do that though, they should be able to advance past this round. RTLs first line of ShaneC27 - RedMisti - Hanssoni has been dynamic and really carried the team while their defenders have focused on defending and shut quite a few teams down. However, rumors say that Hanssoni might miss the first round of the playoffs... Lets see who comes out on top, TIKI TALKs fast transition attack or Refuse To Loses puck possession game in the offensive zone.

4-2 RTL.

Silenttio:
Very interesting match-up again, I'm thinking about Game 7 already! Both teams have offensive upsides in the game - then again I'm not so sure about their defenses as units. If RtL controls the cherry picking TIKI forwards, they should be fine here. Hard to say which team will take this as I see it very even match-up on the paper. Game 7 decision here but for who? I'll go with RtL.

4-3, Refuse to Lose

Fat Cats - Inter Iceland

Alpha:
I really like Inter Iceland for this one. I know very little of them but what I have seen when playing them is a team that could surprise greatly. Fat Cats is a good, disciplined team but somehow I just got a strange feeling for this one.

4-2, Inter Iceland.

Silenttio:
If the date would be somewhere in October, I'd go all in with Inter Iceland but damn that Fat Cats has improved during this season. I really like their team and see them as one of the dark horses of these playoffs. Many have spoke about them being aggressive, playoffs-looking team and I have nothing against that. Inter Iceland -  I see them as other version of Nordic Nosebleed - started well but long season has done its job for these guys as well. Even though I prefer Fat Cats here, I wouldn't be surprised if we see another long, tight series here.

4-2 Fat Cats.

White Trash - Northern Ascendancy

Alpha:
White Trash is a good team - they proved that by positioning themselves well in Group 1 - but will not be a match for the skilled playoff performers of Northern Ascendancy, IMO.

4-1, Northern Ascendancy

Silenttio:
Have to say that WT is full of question marks to me. I only know couple skilled players from there and that's it. Have also heard that they've been annoying opponent to play against so there is that. NOR, on the other hand, is full of experience and that's something you cant just underestimate. Foppatofflan is the ultimate forward, one of the best ever, and I think that this is going to be his show. NOR didn't play that good regular season when you look at their roster but that team is built for playoffs and we're going to see that in this series.

4-1, Northern Ascendancy.

Warriors of Kongo - Nordic Nightmare

Alpha:
Warriors of Kongo had a good performance in the games I played against them, so I am high on their chances in this series. However, Nordic Nightmare was one of my predicted top teams before the start of the tournament and I stand by that - despite their somewhat uneven regular season (by their standards). NN steps up and wins this one

4-2 NN.

Silenttio:
Warriors of Kongo has surprised everyone. Going from low tier team to dangerous mid-level team is something we dont see happen that often. Nordic Nightmare had problems during the regular season keeping their level after great start. However I see them as better team here, and by playing his with routine they shouldn't have any problems. Suutu_jo is their leader off and on the ice, and he will be the difference maker in this one and make things easier for NN.

4-1, NN.

HC Checkmate - MUKIMIEHET

Alpha:
Another former champion in MUKIMIEHET looking to reclaim the ECL title, up against surprise team HC Checkmate with ECL Summer Cup leading scorer Selanne8. On paper, this looks like a MUKI win. They have the experience, they have the skill, they have the passion. However, Checkmate have proven resilient, overcoming many teams towards the end of the season to secure good playoff positioning. I expect MUKI to struggle more than they think this series.

4-3, MUKIMIHET.

Silenttio:
One of the least interesting pairs in first round as I dont see anything in CM that could even try to turn this series. Muki is solid, experienced, skilled... well, everything. Plus they have two elite goaltenders so, yeah... this one will be:

4-0, Muki.

Sjukstugan - Nordic Lightning

Alpha:
THE series of Round 1 - I know for sure I will be watching this and I am sure I'm not alone in thinking that. Two of the best Swedish teams out there do battle! It's a bit of a shame that it had to happen as soon as Round 1, but what a matchup it creates. The speed and skill of NL versus the toughness and defense of 112... look for this one to go 7. In the end I think it will come down to a battle of wills between the two captains, Bjono and JaromirSniper68. Sniper is the stronger offensive performer but the leadership and iron will of Bjono cannot be underestimated. Still, I will go with...

4-3, Nordic Lightning.

Silenttio:
Then we have the biggest pair of first round as two traditional swedish teams face eachothers in big rivalry series. Huge match-up to start with. 112 has the defense where NL has the offense. If you want to watch just one series in the first round, watch this. Goalies have big roles as well here, and I see 112's robbin974 winning this series for them. C'mon boys, show us some love.

4-3, Sjukstugan.

Rynnäkköviikset vs. SIKA

Alpha:
SIKA has impressed me during ECL 3 - it seems like their game is finally firing on all cylinders, both offense and defense, which should make them a dangerous contender in these playoffs. Rynnä had a strong start to the season but faltered a bit towards the end. Still, they are a skilled team with the capability to surprise.

4-1 SIKA.

Silenttio:
First two games have been played while I'm writing this, and the series is 1-1. Earlier I guessed that this will be 4-2 for us, SIKA, and I still do believe so. We have our problems in starting our engines and it did happen tonight again so no surprises here personally. Rynnäkköviikset play fast and simple, and that it all you need to know about them. Their goalie is underestimated, as I see juha96 as their best player who can turn this series for them.

4-2, SIKA.

Silver Sword Griffins - Synergy

Alpha:
Tough series to predict containing two very tactically skilled teams. Every player from both squads understand the game extensively and we will likely see two teams that are very well-prepared, having scouted their opponents before game time. Synergy is another team that has impressed me this season - they have always been good but I'm not sure I would have pegged them to finish 3rd in the very competitive Group 2. This gives me confidence they could turn in their best playoff performance yet and go far this tournament.

4-2, Synergy.

Silenttio:
Oh boy, oh boy. SSG got Synergy with their last minute walkover situation and I have strong feeling this might turn ugly. Synergy has turned better and better, week by week. SSG has one-timers, Synergy has the whole package. Not gonna say more than this.

4-1, Synergy.

Falun Coal Miners - Aapon Taikasauva

Alpha:
They say that hope is the last thing to leave you before you die, and maybe thats true here as well. Regardless, I wouldn't be much of a captain if I didn't atleast believe in my teams ability to win so I will ruffle some feathers here and predict another upset. One that will consist of a 7-game series where Aapon wins one game 6-2, we win next 1-0 in OT and on it goes like that until FCM's #1 Defensive defenseman, Meeertz, scores on a shot from the point in Game 7 OT.

4-3, FCM.

Silenttio:
This is pretty much like NOS vs. FFR, even though FCM has better upside to turn this series to game 7 showdown. These guys have playoffs experience from earlier years, and by defending Aapo's super offensive gameplan well, who knows if we have biggest surprise in this series? Then again, we're talking about Aapo. They have Joukki, they have Puantso, they have Indi. Tough, tough boys to defend against one time per night and I can just imagine what FCM D has in their minds facing Aapo for several games in a row (Note from Alpha: Nightmares...). However, Aapo's D-men are their weakspot but gladly they have elite goalie between the pipes. So yeah, might turn ugly again. I'm very excited to see Aapo's playoff journey and this will be good test for them.

4-1, Aapon Taikasauva.

No Guts No Glory - Laser HT

Alpha:
Laser is, to me, without a doubt the best team in this tournament and the world right now. I predicted them to win the entire tournament before it started and I stand by that. Regardless of lineup, Laser is a force to be reckoned with and unless No Guts pull off a miracle here - this will be the first step of a long playoff journey for Dominointi and crew.

4-0 LHT.

Silenttio:
No glory here for NG2, for sure. Laser is definitely in the overall Top 3 of on-going season and they will handle this series, even with their lefties. Good luck, NG2...

4-0, Laser HT.

Pheeew... That's all from us, for now. Feel free to leave any and all feedback in the comment section below. Let us have it!

Good luck in the playoffs to all teams and have fun out there.

// The_Alpha_Furyan & vSilenttio

Hey NHL Gamers,

The playoffs are here! It’s time to look at our last batch of rulings during the end of the regular season.

Again, we do apologise for taking more than a week to process some of the decisions. As mentioned previously, we aim to streamline this process to be more efficient in the future. In fact, we are looking for more staff members that are able to contribute to our website. If you feel you have what it takes to bring some value to our website – feel free to send me a PM and tell me what you bring to the table.

This installment of NHL Gamer Staff rulings covers the following topics:

1. Walkover requests
   a.     HC Checkmate – Silver Sword Griffins
   b.     Fat Cats – Silver Sword Griffins
   c.     No Guts No Glory – Nordic Blizzard
   d.     AK47 – Nordic Nosebleeds
   e.     Nordic Nosebleeds – Bare Knuckles Hockey
   f.      No Guts No Glory – La Suède
   g.     Northern Ascendancy – Terrific Tigers
   h.     Nordic Blizzard – HC Soittorasia
    
2. The case of the glitched player: Silver Sword Griffins – Finnish Roosters
3. Missing game stats

1.     Walkover requests

Boy, oh boy did we have a lot of walkover requests. I will mention that the below cases have been simplified for the reading (and writing) pleasure and may give more of a black and white picture of the case than the reality of things.
 

1a.     Northern Ascendancy – Terrific Tigers

Terrific Tigers weren’t responding to communication from Northern Ascendancy and even staff thought the Terrific Tigers had left the league, until we got a response at the last minute.

Northern Ascendancy was awarded the walkover wins.

1b.     Nordic Blizzard – HC Soittorasia

The teams were communicating actively in order to get the games going, but as HC Soittorasia failed to get their full 6 on ice despite several attempts, they eventually decided to hand out the walkovers to Nordic Blizzard.

1c.     No Guts No Glory – Nordic Blizzard

No Guts No Glory asked about the possibility to get walk over wins due to issues with agreeing on a functional date to play vs Nordic Blizzard. Both teams were communicating actively, but what worked for the other, didn’t work for the other team.

The NHLGamer staff didn’t see a reason to award either team with WO’s, as both have been active and Nordic Blizzard had been available to play on the default date. Instead, we gave the teams an extra day to play the games. Sadly, No Guts No Glory was unable to play on that day and decided to give walkover wins to Nordic Blizzard.

1d.     AK47 – Nordic Nosebleeds

A member of Nordic Nosebleeds was having problems with his internet connection during the last day of regular season and despite several attempts they weren’t able to get the full 6 men on ice. Nordic Nosebleeds suggested playing with 5 against AK47’s 6, but AK47 refused, as it is against the rules. Nordic Nosebleeds handed AK47 the walkover wins.
 

1e.     Nordic Nosebleeds – Bare Knuckles Hockey

This one is pretty much a carbon copy for what we have ruled on before. Neither team had communicated with each other before the default game date and time and 9 minutes before the default game time Nordic Nosebleeds approached Bare Knuckles Hockey asking if they are ready to play.

See "On the matter of the games that were scheduled between Rusty Blades and Refuse To Lose (October 27th)" in Staff Rulings, Part 2 for the previous ruling:

While we do agree that Bare Knuckles Hockey didn’t do their part, we want to remind everyone, that we will not accept walk over requests of game times that are simply based on assumption. That is not to say that the schedule isn’t to be honored, but if you plan to play on the scheduled day and time, please let your opponent know. If not, also let them know.

After their mistake, Bare Knuckles Hockey asked Nordic Nosebleeds to play on another day, but according to BKH, they were told they can’t play for two weeks.

Due to these circumstances, we allowed the teams the extra day to battle it off on the ice. Nordic Nosebleeds immediately refused this decision, so we had no other option than to give the walkover wins to Bare Knuckles Hockey.

1f.      No Guts No Glory – La Suède

We were told that La Suède can’t play and they will give the walk overs to No Guts No Glory. We approached La Suède to confirm and made sure both teams understood a) what an important matchup this is for the overall standings and b) that we can allow them one extra day to finish this matchup. La Suède informed us that they can’t play, so we had no other option but to honor the walkover requests.

1g.     HC Checkmate – Silver Sword Griffins

These two teams had been trying to find a matching game time for quite a while (with HC Checkmate being more available) and they finally did. Sadly, about an hour before the first match was supposed to take place, the Silver Sword Griffins informed HC Checkmate that one of their players had been banned from PSN and that they are looking for a solution. Despite their best efforts, and after confirming that this was a console ban and not a profile ban, SSG was unable to get 6 men on the ice.

Both teams were actively communicating in this case and SSG was trying their best to offer alternative game times for the match, but they did not work for HC Checkmate. Also, the fact that HC Checkmate had cancelled job shifts and important hobbies to be available for this game time made the cancellation extra hard for them.

As both teams were active and the cancellation of the games last minute was unintentional, we wanted to offer the teams the possibility to play on the extra day. Sadly, HC Checkmate couldn’t make it at such short notice. The staff, however, had to rule in HC Checkmates favour in this case, as they had been the more available team and were not responsible for the original games not being played, so the walkover wins were given to HC Checkmate.

1h.     Fat Cats – Silver Sword Griffins

The games between Fat Cats and Silver Sword Griffins were to take place after the above game. These games were cancelled due to the same circumstances as that game. This game was even more late due to problems agreeing on scheduling and Fat Cats had been the more available party.
As with the above case, we tried giving the teams the option of settling the games on the ice, but Fat Cats were unable to make it on such short notice. Again, as in the above case, Fat Cats had been the more active and available team, so we awarded them with the walkover wins.
 

2.     The case of the glitched player: Silver Sword Griffins – Finnish Roosters

This case has been discussed widely throughout the community in the last few days and as far as we know, the teams have put this behind them, so please feel free to comment your opinion on the matter itself, but let's not attack either team over it.

As this case is quite extensive and @ProMinx24 from Silver Sword Grinnis wrote his thoughts about the case in quite a well formulated manner (including also one of the Finnish Roosters in the PM thread), I have decided to embed his view of the case, the opponents reply and our verdict.
 

Please note that the quotes are released as both teams were ok with this being public. PM's in general are treated as personal communication and are not shared under normal circumstances.

Let's start off with the quote from SSG:

Quote

Hello,

Before I start my dispute, I want to mention that the purpose of this matter isn't about who's getting the damn points, but rather about enforcing a thing called "fairplay" and "sportsmanship-like" behavior in this community, which I though it had... and I was wrong. Now, let me fill you in on what exactly happened and then I'll say what I have to say about this. So it was last 6 minutes in the 3rd, score was 2:2 and we were killing a penalty and what happened was as soon as the puck was dropped, our LW (as seen in the captured footage linked bellow) got stuck in a single animation (skating forward along the boards frozen, leaving him completely paralyzed)... where FR then did proceed to ignore the fact we're made to play by EA with 2-man short and scored a goal that put them ahead with 4:37 left on the clock. Afterwards the game froze (most likely due to our LW) and we quit the match.

Now, before anything I say, obviously we understand that there isn't such a rule when it comes to "in-game sportsmanship", but then again I would understand why it isn't there - because it's a must-have feature that should be required upon joining the league, not needing for "ruled enforcement". What is seen from the footage is pure unsportsmanlike behavior, with complete evidence of unfair game's bug/glitch abuse to gain advantage.

Now as evidently as it is, their cover up is 'we didn't notice'... excuse me but they must be blind then! Jesus, 10.3 seconds were the time after the face-off when we managed to clear the puck out behind their goal, and note that LW's just right there skating into the boards right bloody next to them... 25.8 seconds was the full time since when the issue happened to their scored goal! And you tell me, they didn't notice. Unbelievable! We offered them nicely to respectfully cancel their goal and play remaining 5 minutes with them having full 2 minute power-play to play. They said that the goal must stand.

After all, this whole competition is about fair, competitive 6 vs 6 gameplay and we feel that it's against these principles as we are punished unfairly due to an in-game bug. We understand that if this was a random match-made game - water under the bridge. But this is a competitive tournament where actual people can have the final say on these issues and something like this can be fixed and is preventable. We feel that this falls under the "Code of conduct" article of the rules as sportsmanship is part of "treating each other with respect". As such, based on the rule "Members are free to question rules and appeal decisions made by NHL Gamer staff, but are required to do so in a constructive and respectful manner.", we'd like for you to look into this matter. Such game exploitation shouldn't be allowed.

We request this to be upon decision further announced to public as it is a serious matter in my opinion and must be know to everyone... which I'm sure is a good enough of a way for enforcing this issue. I will add @tbnantti here only to make this dispute in even numbers and he can say his thoughts on this.

Regardless of your decision, we're still willing to play out the remaining 5 minutes of this game.

Kind Regards,

SSG.

 

Video footage recorded by us for this matter... their angle can also be seen as one of their members streamed these games (no voice chat), both linked bellow:

https://www.twitch.tv/finnish_roosters/v/107668839

The reply from FR:

Quote

Hey!

I'll add the FR statement here as well! We're willing to play the rest of the game at 3-2 starting from the time the goal was scored. 

Thanks,

Antti

 

There was some irrelevant posts in-between, and below you have the staff verdict:
 

Quote

I'm going to keep this rather short and on point so you guys can agree on how to finalize this game.

First of all, thank you @ProMinx24 for putting in the effort of elaborating on the issue in an informative, clear and respectful way. What went on in the chat after the incident by both teams was not up to this caliber, sadly. Please think before you insult or provoke other community members on the in the future. This goes for all community members, but I'm sure we can all agree some were definitely just writing to provoke. Future communication with clear intent to only provoke can result in suspensions.

Anyways, having looked into the matter at hand, we can see that SSG suffered a clear negative effect from one of their players being frozen and skating into the FR zone and into the boards. We feel that this should have been noticed by the FR team as it was going on for quite a long time and the puck actually went near this player while it's quite obvious that player wouldn't be in that offside position under normal circumstances.

Due to one player being out of the play due to this glitch, this resulted in a 5 on 3 and eventually a goal. We understand both sides of the debate.

In the end, it is really irrelevant if FR noticed this or not. Our point: FR got the advantage from it and scored. If FR's sportsmanlike decision would've been to cause a stoppage if they've noticed this (as has been claimed) - then their decision might as well have been to agree to ignore the goal, as it was caused by this issue. This is the reason for causing the stoppage in the first place, right - not to get an unfair advantage?

 

That being said, FR are correct about the rules not really touching on issues like this, which is perhaps a bit of an oversight on our end. We will introduce a rule in the future that doesn't dictate exactly everything that can go wrong, but will allow the staff to make decisions on a case by case basis.

 

The NHLGamer Staff recommendation is for the game to continue at 2-2. Let the clock run until the last 6 minutes in the 1st period and have SSG take the penalty. Then play that period as if it was the 3rd. If no goals are scored, the 2nd period will be treated as OT.   

The current rules do give FR the right to continue the game 3-2 lead, with..let's say 5 minutes on the clock (as you don't have the full last minute) and FR may choose to do so.

From a fair play perspective, I'm sure we can all agree that SSG suffered an unfair disadvantage and the 2-2 with a full PP would be the sportsmanlike approach. So, to conclude, as you can see, this is more of a moral dilemma that we leave for FR to make their call on.

No matter the decision made by FR, we will publish the ruling with the other cases that are being decided on atm.

 

Kind regards,

Kenneth

In the end, Finnish Roosters wanted to continue the game from the 3-2 FR lead and chose not to follow our recommendation.

As far as I understood, after some debate, the teams agreed to play the entire 1st period (as the 3rd period) starting from the 3-2 lead. No further goals were scored and FR won the game.

As you can see in the quote, the staff is planning to introduce some changes to the rules. The question of course is, where do you draw the line - where should we step in and where not? There's a good discussion going on at the moment about how community users think these sort of issues should be handled:

It's a very good topic to discuss and we hope to hear as many of our members voicing their opinions about the topic.

3.     Missing game stats

There are quite an amount of games still missing stats. In some cases, it is the staff’s fault for not fixing issues that have been reported. But in cases where it hasn’t been reported and a game is missing stats, please fix it immediately. If you need assistance, please let the staff know.

Failure to comply with adding stats for every game may (after warning) lead to team diqualification.

We thank all the teams for their efforts in making the long regular season successful and wish the playoff teams good luck! 

On behalf of the NHL Gamer staff,

Hello NHLGamers,

Going to keep it short and sweet for now by presenting the ECL 3 Playoff Pairings for Round 1.

A playoff tree will be up tomorrow to provide you all with a visual guide for how the playoffs are progressing.

Also, @Kenu will have further details for you regarding how the final weeks of the regular season shook out in a post tomorrow (including information on cases and rulings) but for now the staff would like to thank all the participants of this enormous tournament for giving it your all. Words were said, frustrations vented but above all - great hockey was played. 

That final ingredient is only going to get better in the coming weeks so without further ado, here are the teams battling for the ECL 3 Trophy:

(Group 1 teams left, Group 2 teams right)

Northern Stars - Free From Rodents
Written In The Stars - Nordic Nosebleed
X Factor - Kattiautomatti
Finnish Roosters - Alliance HT
Nordic Blizzard - murohoki
Dynasty - Knight Aces HC
Refuse To Lose - TIKI TALK
Fat Cats - Inter Iceland
White Trash - Northern Ascendancy
Warriors of Kongo - Nordic Nightmare
HC Checkmate - MUKIMIEHET
sjukstugan - Nordic Lightning
Rynnäkköviikset - SIKA
Silver Sword Griffins - Synergy Hockey
Falun Coal Miners - Aapon Taikasauva
No Guts No Glory - Laser HT

Be sure to tune in tomorrow for more great (hopefully not mediocre) stuff when me and @vSilenttio will be predicting the playoffs in a Playoff Preview post. 

Lots of great action to look forward to in other words, even besides the games.

Good luck in the playoffs.

// NHLGamer Staff

Hey NHL Gamers,

Just a short heads-up before the longer write-up tomorrow, where we'll give you some details on our rulings, changes to rules etc.

Due to the big amount of WO requests and other issues that have been producing quite an amount of work on our end and our continuous efforts to settle the games on the ice, we have decided to add one extra day to finish of the regular season. Thus the final day to finish the regular season games is Monday the 19th of December.

This is also a great opportunity to check that your team has reported all stats for all games. We have currently gone through all reports for mistakes in reporting, except for a few on page 17 in the appropriate thread. Should there be some issues that you haven't reported yet and are unable to solve on your own, or something we have overlooked (anything before page 17), please write a message in said thread.

Playoffs will start on Tuesday the 20th of December. 

On behalf of the NHLGamer staff,

Hello NHLGamers,

With just one week left before the start of the ECL 3 Playoffs, we have a few more administrative matters to announce. As some of you may have noticed in the community chat, the staff reached out to a number of teams that had been unresponsive in the last few weeks. They were given one more day to respond and state their intentions before being removed from the tournament. One team, Terrific Tigers, wanted to remain but three others did not (or did not respond at all). 

The teams in question are the following:
Origins (Group 1)
Bone Breakers (Group 2)
Ice Bros (Group 2)

Like before, this means that the Captains and Assistant Captains of these teams will not be allowed any further participation in ECL 3, as per the rules. As the Transfer Deadline has passed, no other team members are allowed to participate in the rest of the tournament.

The above teams will be completely removed from the ECL 3 database with all their games and stats wiped clean. One or two minor statistical errors are currently displaying for Group 2 (some of the teams that were removed earlier in the tournament accidentally popped back up) but rest assured that @Kenu is on top of it and that the standings should display correctly later today.

We would like to remind all teams that the absolute last day to finish your regular season games are Sunday, December 18th as the playoffs start Monday, December 19th.

We expect all remaining teams to finish out their seasons.

On a final note, look for a playoff preview on monday as I will be enlisting the help of @vSilenttio to predict the outcomes and potential surprises of the ECL 3 Playoffs!
 

On behalf of the NHLGamer Staff,
The_Alpha_Furyan

Hello NHLGamers,

This will be a rather short post but we just wanted to get the message out to you all before the start of the playoffs. 

First of all, a number of teams that have been unresponsive in the last few weeks have received messages giving them a window to 23:59 CET tonight to state their intentions on whether to finish their season or not. We will have more news for you regarding this in the coming days.

Anyway, it is soon time to move into the playoffs for this third European Championship League season and below you will find the playoff structure

First round - Group A vs Group B 
A1 vs. B16
A2 vs. B15
A3 vs. B14
A4 vs. B13
A5 vs. B12
A6 vs. B11
A7 vs. B10
A8 vs. B9
A9 vs. B8
A10 vs. B7
A11 vs. B6
A12 vs. B5
A13 vs. B4
A14 vs. B3
A15 vs. B2
A16 vs. B1

The games will, as per usual, be played best-out-of-7.

The last day of the regular season schedule is Wednesday December 14th. In an ideal world, all teams would be done with their games by then and we could start the playoffs on December 15th. We are ready to do this, should the regular season be completely finished by then. Most likely though, there will be games remaining on the schedule so we are looking at a Playoff start date of December 19th.

This takes us awfully close to Christmas and the usual stress that comes with that. Therefore, we are making the First Round two weeks long - December 19th to January 2nd (2017). This should help all teams to have those seven games in the first round done by then. The following four rounds will be just one week each, leaving us with a winner crowned for ECL 3 before Februaruy 1st. 

Round 2 and onwards
Moving forward, the teams will be reseeded based on regular season points per game after each round to ensure the regular season standings continue to hold merit.

The time allotted for every round in the playoffs (after the first round) is one week and the default scheduled days are Monday, Wednesday and Thursday. Sunday should not be used for scheduling - only as a last resort to get the games played. This will allow us to have everything set up and for the next round to start on time.

Kind regards,

The NHLGamer Staff

Hello NHLGamers,

First of all, we would like to thank you all for the tremendous amount of reactions, thoughts and comments on the proposed Division system. Mondays post is already our most commented news story on the website and among the most viewed ones as well. Keep dishing out the feedback and know that we are reading all comments and suggestions closely.

Anyway, back to the matter at hand.

Please note that today (7/12-2016) is the final day for transfers during ECL 3, meaning all potential "trades" and free agent signings need to be made before midnight tonight.

If you want, feel free to post your confirmed deadline moves in this thread so that the community can follow the activity:

Confirmed ECL 3 Transfers/Trades/Free Agent signings (2016-12-07)

Good luck in your signing efforts Captains and make sure to throw an additional look at the rulebook below to make sure all transfers are legit.

 

Transfers
"The rules in this section only apply during a league/tournament.

The deadline for transfers is set to 23:59 GMT, 7 days before the end of the regular season.

Teams are allowed to recruit free agent members of NHL Gamer up until the trade-deadline. Both the player and team must mutually agree to being picked up from the free agents.

Teams are allowed to release a player from their roster, provided this doesn’t violate the roster minimum rule. 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 to their new team.

Team captains and assistants are not allowed to transfer during a league/tournament.

Regular players are allowed to transfer once per tournament from a team to another, unless the move would put their initial team under the 8-player limit.

Players are not allowed to transfer to a team they had previously left during a league/tournament.

Teams may add up to 3 transferred players for the duration of the league/tournament.

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. "



// NHLGamer Staff

Hello NHLGamers,

It’s been rumored, it’s been talked about… we even hinted at it earlier during the season but tonight we are finally making the official announcement: moving forward after ECL 3, the European Championship League will take on a skill and merit-based divisional format. This is your post to find out everything about this new system and the next step in Online Competitive EASHL gaming before it is launched in ECL 4.

Divisions
First thing’s first, the divisions. The idea behind creating these divisions will be expanded upon in the text but the short version is this:

We are continually working to improve the site, the leagues and the overall NHLGamer experience for everyone. Some might say this development process is moving too slow and does not reach far enough, some might say the website is expanding in ways that it should not. The community is special in many ways, not just because parts of it has stayed together for years (including previous websites, the community is now more than half a decade old) but also because it is continually expanding. NHLGamer has almost doubled its membership in less than a year while still maintaining its core, which is all of you in the community.

It creates a tough balancing act when trying to create a fun place for EASHL rookies that want to experience the thrill of playing competitively for the first time while trying to give the hardened tournament veterans what they want, which is the best tournament possible where the stakes are high and winner takes all.

Still, in an attempt to achieve this, we will be creating a divisions system where the hope is that teams will be better matched against each other – something we hope will lead to tighter games, more fun for everyone involved all the while creating a stronger foundation for the tournament to stand on. Our hope is also that more teams will be inclined to stay together and build longer lasting franchises.

We’ve structured this post so that we should be able to answer as many of your questions as possible by getting to them one by one – a FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) if you will. This FAQ will be available for future reference when the actual division based leagues come around.

Despite this, if you feel something is unclear or just plain weird, feel free to sound off in the comment section with questions like: “Well, what if this happens..?” and we will do our best and elaborate.

Let’s get to it:

Q: How many divisions will there be?
The short answer is 3 – a total of 3 separate divisions. The longer answer is that we set off to create an environment where all the top teams face off in the prestigious ECL Elite, up and coming franchises battle with veteran teams in the competitive ECL Pro and all newly entered or learning teams start off in ECL Amateur to hone their skills.

This prevents teams with years of experience and chemistry from numerous EASHL competitions,  from facing off with teams new to the site who are just learning what it takes to play EASHL at the ECL level.

Q: How many teams will there be in each division?
We are looking at a total of 16 teams for ECL Elite, 16 teams for ECL Pro and, depending on the amount of registrations, 16-24 (or more) teams in ECL Amateur.

The goal is to keep ECL Elite and ECL Pro consistently the same size (16 teams each), which means if teams completely drop out of the division system or inactive teams return (read on), there will be balancing measures - meaning increased amounts of promotions or relegations. During extraordinary circumstances, ECL Pro can deviate from its 16-team baseline but ECL Elite has a hard cap of 16 teams. This part, much like inactive teams, is specified further down in the text.

In case ECL Amateur sees an extraordinary amount of registrations, the staff will then decide if the division can be split up into two “conferences” (like ECL 3) or if registrations will have to be closed for the tournament in question. As a rule of thumb, we always do our best to include all registered teams in our leagues, as long as it’s reasonable.

Q: How many games will there be in a season?
The amount of games will, as per usual, be 2 games against each opponent – meaning 30 games (15 opponents) each season for ECL Elite & ECL Pro and somewhere around the same for ECL Amateur depending on the amount of teams.

This ensures lean, hard-fought seasons with what we hope is the perfect amount of games – you get a sense of both the regular season grind while at the same time reaching the playoff threshold in just 5 short weeks: this by playing 3 opponents per week, just like during the last few seasons.

Q: How will promotion and relegation work?
First off, we will have promotions and relegations. Having closed divisions is not something we are considering at the moment so we are going with the European hockey model where teams can be both promoted and relegated in the different divisions.

For ECL Elite:

• 8 out of 16 teams will make the ECL Elite Playoffs where the Top 8 teams start off in quarterfinals, then proceed to semi-finals and finally the ECL Finals where the league winner will be crowned.
• The teams that finish #15 and 16 in ECL Elite will instantly be relegated and play in ECL Pro the following season. Teams that finish #13 and 14 will not be instantly relegated, but will have to play two teams (one each) from ECL Pro in a Best of 7- ECL Relegation/Promotion Round.
• Teams that finish in places 9-12 will not play in the playoffs nor be subject to relegation.
• In summary, this means a minimum of 2 and a maximum of 4 teams are relegated each season. It also means 10 out of 16 teams will see some form of post-season play and ensure that every team will be fighting all season, either to make the playoffs or avoid elimination.

For ECL Pro:

• 8 out of 16 teams will make the ECL Pro Playoffs where the Top 8 teams start off in quarterfinals, then proceed to semi-finals and finally the ECL Pro Finals where the league winner will be crowned.
• The top two teams (finalists) of ECL Pro are instantly promoted and will play the season after in ECL Elite.
• The teams finishing in spots #3 and 4 (the losers of the semi-final round) will then move on to face teams #13 and 14 (one each) from ECL Elite in the Relegation/Promotion Round (7 games).
• As far as relegations go, teams that finish #15 and 16 will be instantly relegated to ECL Amateur for the following season. Teams that finish #13 and 14 will follow the same model mentioned earlier and play two teams from ECL Amateur (one each) in a best-out-of 7 battle.
• In summary, this means 10 out of 16 teams in ECL Pro sees some form of post-season play.

For ECL Amateur:

• 8 out of 16 teams (depending on the size of the division) will make the ECL Amateur Playoffs where the Top 8 teams start off in quarterfinals, then proceed to semi-finals and finally the ECL Amateur Finals where the league winner will be crowned.
• The top two teams (finalists) of ECL Amateur are instantly promoted and will play the next season in ECL Pro.
• The teams that finish in spots #3 and 4 will then move on to face teams #13 and 14 from ECL Pro in the Relegation/Promotion Round (7 games).
• In summary, this means a total of 4 teams in ECL Amateur will be given the chance to advance to ECL Pro, something that we hope will be a welcome addition for all our new members looking to make their way up.

Q: What teams will play where when the Divisional system starts up in ECL Season 4?
We said before ECL 3 that the new format (bigger conferences, more games) was mainly for two reasons; 1. To try out the format and see what the benefits and disadvantages were and 2. To make sure all teams truly got the opportunity to distinguish themselves over a long season before we introduced divisions.

Therefore, the teams that finish this long, grinding regular season in the Top 4 in each of the ECL 3 conferences will have guaranteed spots in ECL Elite, locking up the first 8 spots.

The next 8 spots will be decided by the ECL 3 playoffs. This gives the remaining 24 playoff-bound teams (seeds 5-16) a chance to – outside of battling for the title in our biggest tournament yet – use the playoffs to get their hands on the final 8 spots.

The deciding factor will be wins. Out of the 24 teams who make the playoffs but are not directly qualified for ECL Elite, the 8 who manages to collect the most playoff wins will be the ones to claim the final spots. In a situation where two or more teams have the same amount of playoff wins, the regular season rank will act as a tie-breaker. The third tie-breaker is PPG in the playoffs and the fourth is PPG in the regular season.

This naturally means the 8 teams who aren’t directly qualified to ECL Elite and make it the farthest in the playoffs are the final 8 to be added to the top division.

This could theoretically mean that, if there is an upset and a #16 seed beats a #1 seed right away in the first round – they could both be playing in ECL Elite the following season.

The teams that made the playoffs in ECL 3, but didn’t make the cut for ECL Elite, will start ECL Season 4 in ECL Pro.

Teams that do not qualify for the ECL 3 playoffs will start in ECL Amateur next season.

Q: Can a team pause/be inactive for a season?

In ECL Elite and ECL Pro, teams can apply to “pause” for one season (in ECL Amateur this is not necessary). This turns them into an inactive team, and they will not participate during that season. They cannot be promoted nor relegated. An inactive team is however expected to play during the following season, otherwise they will lose their current divisional spot. A need for a longer inactivity would have to be brought up with the NHLGamer staff and will be handled on a case-by-case basis.

To fulfill the inactive status, the team needs to keep at least their captain and one assistant captain, as well as 2 other players (for a total of 4) on the inactive roster – these players are not allowed to participate with another team in said season, where the team is marked as inactive. Special cases where, for example, 6-7 players outside of the captaincy squad cannot play and will stay inactive but the Captain wants to play for another team and still keep the divisional spot will be handled on an individual basis by the staff.

If an inactive team is not able to keep the amount of necessary players on the inactive roster (4), they will lose their inactive status and drop to division 3 for the next season.

Q: What if teams split up? Who keeps the divisional spot?

On NHLGamer, just like in real life, drama is to be expected. Sometimes it even finds its way into individual teams. But if teams split up, who keeps the spot?

The staff will look at each individual case but, as a rule of thumb, the captain is considered the owner of the team.

If a team has disagreements where, for example, the captain has lost the faith of his teammates and kicked most of them – he will have to explain his case to the staff. If both assistant captains and at least 3 other members that played for the team the season before applies ownership of the team, they will have a strong case to claim the team (however not the name of the team, unless agreed on with the captain). If a team is completely dismantled, they will not keep their spot in the division.

Q: What about newly created teams that consist of established ECL players from several different teams? Do they have to start in ECL Amateur?

To have highly skilled, established, experienced EASHL players form a new team only to play in ECL Amateur and be unevenly matched with completely new teams goes against what we’re trying to accomplish with this system. That said, we are aiming to create an environment where longevity, stability and consistency are some of the key factors moving forward. What follows is an attempt to balance these mindsets.

Let us use a team from this season as an example; Laser HT. Laser, for those of you who don’t know, has been an established franchise in EASHL tournaments for years.

Yet, they had not played in either ECL season 1 nor 2, but the players that today form Laser had. Many of them had even been a part of teams that made the finals, even won the tournaments. Now, ECL 3 was not based on divisions but if it had been – like in the future – Laser could have applied for Exceptional Team Status.

This term is drawn from the OHL (Ontario Hockey League) where certain special players (lately John Tavares, Aaron Ekblad and Connor McDavid) have been granted Exceptional Player Status where they were allowed to “skip” one year of waiting to be drafted and were approved to be drafted to the OHL at age 15 instead of age 16.

Similarly, new teams can apply for Exceptional Team Status in the ECL where they will be allowed to skip ECL Amateur and start in ECL Pro. At this point, new teams cannot apply directly for ECL Elite as it would undermine the idea of working your way up the divisions and staying there based on ECL results.

Anyway, back to Laser. Had Laser applied the Staff would have granted them this status due to a few factors;

• Longevity and reputation (Several top tournament finishes in their history, always considered a top team when participating)
• Quality of players (most, if not all, players on the current Laser squad have been leading members and top point producers of teams that finished in the top-4 of both previous tournaments)
• EASHL 6vs6 ranking (they are ranked in the Top-10 of all European teams)

When deciding Exceptional status, there will always be a subjective factor involved but bullet points like the ones in the example above will form the basis of any decision made on whether to grant exceptional status or not.

Finally, the term “exceptional status” is there for a reason. These applications will only be granted under very special circumstances.

Q: Will there be an ECL Season 5? Will it be played during NHL 17? When will the leagues start for NHL 18?

The below are subject to change, but provide an overlook of our plans and what our suggestions are for

the upcoming leagues:

NHL 17:

• ECL Season 3 ends by 29.1.2017
• ECL Season 4 starts 13.2.2017 and ends 2.4.2017
• ECL Season 5 starts 24.4.2017 and ends 18.6.2017
• Summer Cup specifics to be determined. (This is a draft-type league)

NHL 18: releases 14.9.2017 (estimate)

• ECL Season 6 starts 16.10.2017 and ends 10.12.2017
• ECL Season 7 starts 8.1.2018 and ends 4.3.2018
• ECL Season 8 starts 2.4.2018 and ends 27.5.2018
• Summer Cup specifics to be determined. (This is a draft-type league)

Q: Are you guys out of your minds? This concept/detail x will never work!

First of all, this is a proposition that we have set up for the community and we look forward to hearing your feedback. While we have a strong belief in that the plans we propose will be a good step for the community, we don’t blindly believe our plans to be perfect (nor that there is a perfect one-solution-fits-all solution) and we are open to discuss the subject as a whole or the smaller details as long as the discussion and feedback is constructive and respectful. Please elaborate on your own ideas.

Verbally attacking the staff, or other community members will not be tolerated and may lead to disciplinary actions.

That is all for now. Please feel free to share any and all thoughts you might have in the comment section below.

On behalf of the NHLGamer.com Staff,

Hey NHL Gamers,

We hope you're as excited as we are about talking about the plans for divisions, which will be introduced in ECL Season 4. We will be releasing a news story tomorrow - Monday the 5th of December, at 21 CET - where we cover our proposed division system in as much detail and covering as many of the frequently asked questions as possible.

Can't wait to let the cat out of the bag and get your feedback about our future plans. Until then - good luck on the ice!

On behalf of the NHLGamer.com staff,

Hey NHL Gamers,

It’s once again time to take a look at some of the discliplinary actions and requests that have been sitting on the staff’s table for a while. Apologies to the parties that have had to wait for a ruling for a while – we aim to streamline this process to be more efficient in the future. In fact, we are looking for more staff members that are able to contribute to our website. If you feel you have what it takes to bring some value to our website – feel free to send me a PM and tell me what you bring to the table.

This installment of NHL Gamer Staff rulings covers the following topics:

1. Teams that have left the league
2. Trades
   • a. Trade deadline
   • b. The requests for captains to be allowed to be traded
   • c. Trading of players that have already been on two teams this season
3. Walkover requests
   • a. Mpire - Silver Sword Griffins
   • b. Murohoki - Terrific Tigers
4. Amount of games played
   • a. Too many games played
   • b. Too few games played

1. Teams that have left the league

Sadly, we have to add to the list of teams that have decided to leave the league. At least four new teams have decided to leave and that brings our total up to seven. It is important to remember, that in order to keep the league active and all teams active despite their success, we need to discipline the teams that decide to leave.

That being said, we’re always interested in hearing why a team choses to leave, so we can – if within our power – do something to prevent this from happening in the future.

The below team have decided to leave ECL Season 3:

• Ganja Bonanzas (Group 1)
  • We’ve been unable to get a confirmation from the captains, but this seems to be the case. We will edit and take action once we get the confirmation.
     
• Rising Phantoms (Group 1)
  • Among other issues, the team has been suffering from connection problems, making the gaming experience far from enjoyable and this is why the team has decided to leave.
     
• BraZZers (Group 2)
  • We’ve just received news that the ”team broke and cannot play anymore”.
    
• HC Solhem (Group 2)
  • The short explanation that we’ve received is that players have left and the team can’t continue in the league.
     
• VC Hockey (Group 2)
  • This is a team that has had its issues throughout the season, but the captains worked hard to keep things going and it was looking like they would pull through. The final blow was, though, when an unknown team (outside the ECL, apparently) recruited two of the VC Hockey players, leaving the team below an active roster of eight players.

2. Trades
a. Trade deadline

The trade deadline is Wednesday the 7th of December and we will allow trades to be done until 23:59 GMT on the 7th. Please remember that the standard rules for trades apply (including the ones discussed below). The trade deadline is also the deadline for aquiring free agents – in other words, no player movement is allowed after the deadline.

b. The requests for captains to be allowed to be traded

There has been a handful of questions and requests about being allowed to being traded as a captain (this includes assistant captains as well). The rules are very clear about this, but as always, we took the time to look at the raised question together with the staff, as there were some valid points brought up by the players in question that escalated the issue.

The reasoning behind this rule is to make sure the players that take the captain role of a team are committed enough to finish the season with the team, as the captains are often the driving force of a functioning team and making everything click. Even an active group of people can struggle, if you remove the person in charge of organizing the schedules.

The NHL Gamer staff stands behind this rule and its core idea, which is why we have decided to make no exception to it.

One of the issues brought up is the ability to make a team member a captain or assistant captain on the website without this being accepted by the user. While we strongly believe that every user should be informed about the rules and therefore aware of the captains’ responsibilities, we see this as an opportunity to improve our website and you can look forward to users being prompted to accept the captain position in the coming seasons.

c. Trading of players that have already been on two teams during season

This is a very rare issue, but we’ve had a case where an active player has changed teams at an early stage during the ECL 3 season and wishes to be traded again. As the above discussed case, this is also something that is clearly defined in the rules.

While we symphathize with the player in question, the rule is in place to prevent team hopping during a season. We do not suggest that there is anything fishy with the players request, but we want to underline that we wish for players not to switch teams lightly and this is why we are sticking with the rulebook on this.

3. Walkover requests

This is an area where we want to thank the majority of teams for excellent communication – both when communicating their possible issues with agreeing on scheduled games and with negotiating with the fellow captains. There has been some true sportsmanship there – thank you!

However, there will always be some cases that don’t go as smoothly for one reason or another. I’m happy to say that one of the problems that was supposed to be listed below was actually solved by the teams on their own and the games have now been played.
 

a. Mpire - Silver Sword Griffins
In this matchup, it’s Mpire who have requested the walkover wins. The reason is that SSG has asked to reschedule the default date and then rescheduled that date as well.

SSG offered a good explanation for why the rescheduled date didn’t end up working. SSG has also been very active at offering new dates and based on their explanation, Mpire has been slow to reply to these and eventually came to request WO’s instead of agreeing on a new date. SSG has in fact offered to play the games against Mpire on any date they wish to play. We think this is more than a reasonable offer and ask for the teams to finish the battle on the ice.
 

b. Murohoki - Terrific Tigers

Terrific Tigers were unable to get their goalie online and had other games (in another league) scheduled for later. They offered the WO’s themselves, so in this case the staff has chosen not to interfere, while we of course prefer to see the games played.

4. Amount of games played

a. Too many games played

In order to keep the league as even and interesting as possible, we have added restrictions to the re-scheduling of games in the rulebook. We have noticed that not all teams have followed this rule as strictly as others and in the process has slightly more played games than other teams. As a benchmark, we used 36-38 games at this stage.

That being said, the total amount of  played games for each team that is over is still reasonably even – with game amounts that can be expected to be played within a week. At this stage, we will not punish teams that have played some extra games, as the outcome at this stage is within the parameters that we designed the rule for in the first place.

While it’s of course important to follow the rules under all circumstances, the staff would prefer too many games played opposed to too few. However, we ask teams to still respect this rule and the below listed mentality:

o   Prioritize the default scheduled games first.

o   Don’t race to finish the regular season just because you have nothing better to do. If half of your team is unavailable for the upcoming week – that is a better excuse.

o   When playing games earlier than your default schedule, always target the nearest opponents – we want the majority of teams to finish the regular season on the same date.

b. Too few games played

On the other side of the spectrum, are teams that are behind on their schedule. We want to give the teams a chance to redeem themselves and catch up, as I’m sure we can all agree we don’t want any more teams dropping out.

We kindly ask that the below listed teams contact the NHL Gamer Staff with an update on their situation; are there any problems? Do you need help? Are you committed to finishing the season? Please send a PM here on the community forums to @Kenu, @Lurkins, @The_Alpha_Furyan, @gzell60 and @Ranksu. Thank you.

Bone Breakers – Group 2 – 25 games played

Free From Rodents – Group 2 – 29 games played

ICE BROS – Group 2 – 28 games played

EN HUND – Group 2 – 28 games played

(The teams leaving and thus having their games nullified might be the reason for the low amount of games played, and if that is the case, that is a valid excuse,)

So there you have it! A whole lot of things have been on the staff desk and honestly, the above is just the tip of the ice berg. We’d like to reiterate that we’re very happy about the initiative that many teams have taken in the past few weeks to handle issues on their own. This is much appreciated and the way we want the community to develop.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. Hopefully we can make it shorter next time.

On behalf of the NHL Gamer staff,

Hello NHLGamers,

We hope the cold Fall weather is treating you all well and that you are enjoying as much hockey as possible, both real and virtual.

What is new in ECL Season 3? Well, we’re past the halfway point of the season and this is where things are really starting to heat up. The playoff race is on and many teams are currently battling for playoff position already.

Sadly, not all teams have made it this far. It is with regret that we here at NHLGamer are announcing that a total of 3 ECL teams have officially thrown in the towel and removed themselves from the tournament.

The teams in question are the following:
Ice K1ngs (Never participated)
Los Bombers (Group 1, 16GP)
Destined For Greatness (Group 2, 16GP)

What this means is that the Captains and Assistant Captains of these teams will not be allowed any further participation in ECL 3, as per the rules. Other members of these teams are to be considered available as Free Agents up until the final week of the regular season, again per the rules.

Furthermore, in the interest of fairness, the above teams will be completely removed from the ECL 3 database with all their games and stats wiped clean. This means that the teams that have already played their games versus the removed teams will have their results and stats removed for these particular games. We understand it is not a perfect solution and that team/personal stats are important, but it is the only way to make sure the process works fairly and that no team gets “extra” points for being one of the first teams to play a team that ended up leaving the tournament.

@Kenu has already removed the games played, the results and the standings points involved and will begin to remove the individual stats in the coming days.

As this is the finishing stretch of the regular season, we ask all teams to make every effort to stay on schedule as best they can the whole way through.

On a final note, look for a post regarding DIVISIONS in the near future. This concerns all teams (regardless if you make the playoffs as the #1 seed or finish last in your group) and should bring about an exciting future for the competitive EASHL community in Europe!

// NHLGamer Staff

Hello NHLGamers,

We are roughly halfway through this ECL season, the third of its kind, and it is time to take a look at some of the bigger moments of the season so far. We've had some surprising teams, some disciplinary cases and some expected domination from the bigger "franchise teams". All in all, it's been a solid month of virtual hockey and with half the season to go - there is a lot more good stuff coming up.

But first, let's take a look at the first half.

The expected
If you would have told me before the season started that some of the top teams at the head of both groups would have been Written In The Stars, Northern Stars, Finnish Roosters, Aapon Taikasauva, SIKA, LASER - I would have said "What else is new?". These franchises - and I do say franchises because they have made names for themselves by consistently staying together and winning games - are known to many in the community at this point. Known just as much for their high scoring as their stingy defenses, these top teams have lived up to every expectation placed upon them before the start of the season.

Even among all these expected success stories, one team in particular has to be considered the strongest starter thus far. I am of course talking about Aapon Taikasauva. With a record of 24-0-0 with 71 points through their first 24 games, they are the only team yet to have been defeated in the entire league. Having only failed to aquire the full 3 points in a single game (How did you manage that, Bone Breakers? Impressive!) this team has to be considered the halfway "champions" of the ECL. Besides from their lofty team totals, Aapon boasts some of the best individual stats as well. Currently in possession of places 1, 2, 3 in the scoring race - Aapons first line of indi969, joukki13 and Puantso have combined for over 300 points so far. Finally, with #1 goalie Zande95 sporting a 85% save percentage and a 1.14 GAA, this team is currently on a run for the record books, both individually and as a team. Can they close out the season without losing? Time till tell.


The surprises
Part of the group usually labeled as "Mid tier", quite a few teams have strived to prove themselves and to take that final step into Top Team territory. Nowhere has this been more evident this season than with two teams (one from each group); Nordic Lightning and Refuse To Lose. These teams were both considered good before the tournament started, but I am not sure anybody expected them to be this good. Refuse To Lose currently resides at #2 in Group 1 while Nordic Lightning comes in at #7 in Group 2.

On another note, late arrival Northern Ascendancy (with new signing/Summer Cup playoff MVP Fopptofflan and Captain MartindalexC leading the way together) has also been a pleasant surprise coming in at #4 in Group 2 with a record of 19-4-1. That said, many people (including myself in the preview) knew success follows this team as they have proven they know how to make good signings to bolster the team at just the right time.

The most shocking surprise though, is new team Alliance HT. Coming into the season this team were an unknown commodity on the NHLGamer site but with an impressive #8 rank in Group 2, look for this Russian team to try and maintain momentum going into the second half of the season.

However, the most charming surprise thus far has to be Elämäm Kiekko. This rookie team came into ECL with no previous experience and as with any completely new team, it has certainly been a rude awakening at times. Through it all they have maintained an incredibly positive attitude, gaining quite a few fans and friends in the community along the ride, and after finally holding their first lead and winning their first games, this team is on an upward trajectory. Look for them to improve even more in the second half of the season.


The stats
Finally we get to one of my favorite parts, the stats! I've included the Top 5 in quite a few categories here so for now, enjoy:

TEAM
Most goals scored
1. Aapon Taikasauva, 163
2. Written In The Stars, 131
3. Finnish Roosters, 129
4. Nordic Nightmare, 113
5. Nordic Lightning, 104

Least goals allowed
1. Dynasty, 27
2. Silver Sword Griffins, 30
3. Northern Stars, 34
4. Alliance HT, 35
5. X Factor, 36

Most hits
1. Rusty Blades, 453
2. HC ParempiTarjous, 458
3. Fat Cats, 408
4. HC Soittorasia, 402
5. Nordic Lightning, 401

Most PIMs
1. HC Soittorasia, 245
2. HC ParempiTarjous, 200
3. La Suede, 142
4. Rusty Blades, 137
5. Nordic Lightning, 137

INDIVIDUAL
Most goals
1. joukki13, 58 (Aapon Taikasauva)
2. PleeMaker, 58 (Finnish Roosters)
3. indi969, 49 (Aapon Taikasauva)
4. Bugimir, 46 (Written In The Stars)
5. FlyerKungen, 46 (Written In The Stars)

Most assists
1. Puantso, 80 (Aapon Taikasauva)
2. indi696, 61 (Aapon Taikasauva)
3. joukki13, 57 (Aapon Taikasauva)
4. Penatski, 56 (X Factor)
5. tbnantti, 55 (Finnish Roosters)

Most points
1. Puantso, 115 (Aapon Taikasauva)
2. joukki13, 115 (Aapon Taikasauva)
3. indi696, 110 (Aapon Taikasauva)
4. Bugimir, 98 (Written In The stars)
5. tbnantti, 96 (Finnish Roosters)

Most hits
1. Tanski87, 188 (Rusty Blades)
2. PleeMaker, 125 (Finnish Roosters)
3. Rankaisija_, 111 (Fat Cats)
4. PatzyDrake, 110 (Falun Coal Miners)
5. Resnais2012, 107 (Silver Sword Griffins)

Most points by defender (at least 75% games on D)
1. JParola, 49 (Finnish Roosters)
2. SadaPoika, 41 (Written In The Stars)
3. jtorro123, 35 (Aapon Taikasauva)
4. Totalii, 34 (Written In The Stars)
5. Gustafsson7, 34 (Sjukstugan)

Most wins by a goalie
1. Lankreeni, 19 (Written In The Stars)
2. FinKonna, 18 (Finnish Roosters)
3. SpiderRoyal, 17 (SIKA)
4. s_w1ld_RUS, 15 (Alliance HT)
5. DUNZA, 15 (Synergy Hockey)

Best save percentage (at least 50% of teams games played)
1. a_pantera, 85.71 % (TIKI TALK)
2. hanzy91, 85.71% (Silver Sword Griffins)
3. loncelot84, 85.12% (Northern Stars)
4. Zande95, 85.04% (Aapon Taikasauva)
5. RingDaKing30, 82.37% (BraZZers)

Best Goals Against Average (at least 50% of teams games played)
1. Zande95, 1.14 (Aapon Taikasauva)
2. hanzy91, 1.35 (Silver Sword Griffins)
3. loncelot84 1.50 (Northern Stars)
4. Lukkolinho, 1.58 (Dynasty)
5. DUNZA, 1.68 (Synergy Hockey)



As always... later skaters //

The_Alpha_Furyan

Hey NHLGamers,

You are getting two news stories tonight, albeit one of them shorter.

We, Kenu primarliy, are receving many PMs with various questions and reports on matters regarding ECL 3. This is good, we encourage constructive communication and we do need reports of what goes on.

However....

Game reports - mistakes
The reporting of mistakes made in the game reports are getting better but always remember two things - be as precise as possible and always include a link of what game you are talking about. This helps tremendously with troubleshooting and fixing. Links, gentlemen, links.

PMs
Furthermore, any PMs with requests for walkovers, reports concerning rule violations and things of the sort will not be read if written in any other language than English. The staff is fluent in Finnish, Swedish, German and Profanity (haha) but will not respond to these matters unless communicated so that all can understand. Therefore, it is important that any and all communication to the staff is in English AND that it goes to Kenu, Lurkins, gzell60, Ranksu and The_Alpha_Furyan in the same message. 

This keeps us from having to translate messages around and shortens the time it takes for us to get back to you.

We are aware that English is not everyones first language and we have the utmost respect for that. It does not have to be a perfectly written message and we will of course help as much as we can if there are language difficulties.

That is all for tonight.

Ps. I will try and write something a bit more fun this week - like a "Mid-Season Review" but this is ONLY possible if we are not overloaded with disciplinary matters to attend to. So again, please try and work with each other moving forward. 

On behalf of the NHLGamer staff,
The_Alpha_Furyan

Hey NHL Gamers,

Another week, another disciplinary post. We would like to once again remind all teams and captains to try and work with each other as much as possible and use the rules combined with a heavy dose of common sense. We understand sometimes rules are simply broken and some situations cannot be resolved… but again, it would be much appreciated if every team and captaincy squad could make that extra effort to not only respect the rules, but also respect their opponents. This is especially true for the scheduling of games.

Set a standard of professionalism and your opponent will learn from you.

Anyway, let us get to the rulings.

On the matter of incorrect arena configuration for Warriors of Kongo vs. HC Checkmate (Scheduled for October 13th)

You might remember this case from last weeks post, if not read about the situation here. Turns out Warriors of Kongo were not able to play at the time that was agreed upon as the replacement game time.

Rule #6 of the NHLGamer rulebook states that: ”If a team is more than 15 minutes late to a game, the opposing team has the right to request a walk-over win. These requests will be looked at by the NHL Gamer staff.”

Warriors of Kongo did not show up to play on the agreed upon replacement game time, therefore the staff has come to the following conclusion:

- Both teams accepted the ruling of a re-scheduled game. HC Checkmate were ready at the correct time. Warriors of Kongo were not.

The staff rules that HC Checkmate is awarded a walkover win for the game in question.

On the matter of TIKI TALK not showing up for the games vs. HC Marilyn (Scheduled for October 26th)

The staff was made aware that TIKI TALK were not available at the scheduled time for the games against HC Marilyn on October 26th. TIKI TALK did communicate that they would not be able to play on the default game time the day before (the 25th) at around 7 in the evening, and instead suggested that same day at 9 as a replacement time. Naturally, HC Marilyn had some difficulties rallying the troops on just a two hour notice and were unable to play. HC Marilyn then suggested multiple different time for the teams to play that TIKI TALK were unable to comply with. TIKI TALKs suggestion in return was that they would play at an unspecified time the following week and that “there would be time to play, no worries”.

Rule #6 of the NHLGamer rulebook states that: ”If a team is more than 15 minutes late to a game, the opposing team has the right to request a walk-over win. These requests will be looked at by the NHL Gamer staff.”

Now, it is to be made clear that HC Marilyn has NOT requested a walkover win, but instead turned to the staff for further advice on the situation. On that basis, the staff has come to the following conclusions:

- HC Marilyn were available at the default scheduled game date and time, TIKI TALK was not.

- TIKI TALK did communicate that they would not be able to play at the default game time and did produce an alternative, albeit a very difficult one for HC Marilyn

- HC Marilyn is to be considered having gone to greater lengths than TIKI TALK in their attempts to schedule the games

Based on the above mentioned information, the staff rules that these games will be played during the following 7 days - meaning no walkover losses are to be handed out to TIKI TALK. That said, TIKI TALK showed a lack of respect for both their opponent and the default game day in not making a greater effort to be available on time. The default game time is to be considered the offical time to play and is to be respected. The staff furthermore rules that TIKI TALK is to be considered warned for their conduct and will be subject to harsher punishment if similar situations occur where they do not make an effort in regards to the game scheduling.

Finally, the games are to be scheduled by HC Marilyn the following 7 days, at a reasonable time. Failure from TIKI TALK to respect this, will result in further discipline. Attempts from HC Marilyn to book games where they ”know” TIKI TALK are not available (like when they already have games) will not be accepted.

On the matter of the delay of Origins vs. No Guts No Glory (Originally scheduled for October 12th)

The staff was made aware of difficulties in the booking of games between Origins and No Guts No Glory. Issues first arose when No Guts No Glory were unable to play at the default scheduled game day. Both teams did decide on a replacement date though and things appeared to be fine. On that day though (the 21st), the PSN network was completely down - something we here at NHLGamer.com cannot influence. From here, the stories vary with regards to who was available to play and when.

These teams are now missing the deadline by quite a bit but considering the circumstances, the staff rules that a date for these games needs to be decided within 24 hours. This date needs to be in the next 7 days and it needs to be communicated to the staff by message. If a game has not been scheduled within 24 hours, the staff will set a game time that both teams will have no choice but to accept. If one team is not available at this time, this team will be given walkover losses.

Both captains have now received messages regarding this.

On the matter of the games that were scheduled between Rusty Blades and Refuse To Lose (October 27th)

The staff was made aware by both captains of these respective squads that a situation had arisen between these two teams on the default scheduled game day. The teams did not have any communication at all before the default game time (which in itself is highly unusual and is not to be recommended) at 20 CET. Rusty Blades at this time were available in the dressing room and made Refuse To Lose aware of this fact. Refuse To Lose had taken the lack of communication as an indication that the games would not happen that day and were not ready at 20 CET. RLT then indicated they could make some calls and have players ready at 21.15 CET at the very latest and did produce a lineup at that time but Rusty Blades had gone to great lengths to be ready at 20 CET (calling in players that were sick) and did not accept this, instead opting to request walkover wins.

Rule #6 of the NHLGamer rulebook states that: ”If a team is more than 15 minutes late to a game, the opposing team has the right to request a walk-over win. These requests will be looked at by the NHL Gamer staff.”

After plenty of discussion, numerous screenshots and various other communication – the staff has come to the following conclusions:

- First of all, both teams are to take a long hard look at themselves in the mirror with regards to communication. Even though it is not part of the official rulebook, it is still custom in the ECL world to atleast contact your opponents before you have games scheduled. The fact that this did not happen here is highly unusual and should be improved upon in the future. If nothing else, to keep us from having to settle matters like this that could have been decided by a quick message here at NHLGamer or even the PSN Network. Bad all around.

- That said, Rusty Blades were ready in the dressing room at the appointed time (with sick players even!) and Refuse To Lose were not.

- Refuse To Lose did adapt quickly to the situation and could produce a lineup within roughly an hour. Rusty Blades claimed to have been exhausted from waiting in the dressing room for 45 minutes and opted to play “relaxing” 6v6 club games with their ECL roster for the rest of the night, instead of having to re-apply focus more than one hour after they were first ready.

Based on all this information, the staff rules that these games shall be played within the 7 days. This means that, just like in the earlier case with TIKI and Marilyn, WO wins are not to be handed out. Both teams are to be considered negligent in regards to communication. However, Rusty Blades did produce a lineup at the appointed time and is therefore cleared of any wrongdoing within the boundaries of the rulebook. Refuse To Lose, like TIKI TALK, is given a warning with regards to scheduling where any further matter involving them and games unattended could result in heavier discipline.

Rusty Blades should be commended for being ready on time but should also be reminded that we are all in the company of fellow NHL Gamers here. Refuse To Lose did show a lack of respect in this situation but Rusty Blades had the opportunity to pay this back by applying sportsmanship and chose not to. If the case had been that they were simply unavailable that would have been one thing, but as they kept on playing regular EASHL games with the same lineup that would have been used for ECL, that is another thing entirely.

Finally, Rusty Blades are to decide when the game is played during the following 7 days, at a reasonable time for both teams. Failure from Refuse To Lose to respect this, will result in further discipline. Attempts from Rusty Blades to book games where they ”know” Refuse To Lose are not available (like when they already have games) will not be accepted.

Individual warnings

An individual warning is handed out to @Viiktor, captain of Kattiautomatti, for making his team leave their game against Muruhoki when one of Kattiautomattis players were dropped. This decision is to be made by the opposing team, Murohoki in this case, per the rulebook.

Additional Info - Game Reports (as of 2016-10-31)

Finally, the following games need to be reported immediately as they are well outside of the 24-hour reporting rule. Continued negligence will result in warnings and/or possible bans.

(Bone Breakers)
http://nhlgamer.com/match.php?matchID=1622 (October 19th) – 2^ND REMINDER. FIX IT!
http://nhlgamer.com/match.php?matchID=1770 (October 26^th)

(ICE BROS)
http://nhlgamer.com/match.php?matchID=1723 (October 24^th)
http://nhlgamer.com/match.php?matchID=1729 (October 24^th)

(HC Checkmate)
http://nhlgamer.com/match.php?matchID=1798 (October 26^th)

(Knight Aces HC)
http://nhlgamer.com/match.php?matchID=1819 (October 27^th)
http://nhlgamer.com/match.php?matchID=1825 (October 27^th)

(Los Bombers)
http://nhlgamer.com/match.php?matchID=1534 (October 14th) – 2^ND REMINDER. FIX IT!
http://nhlgamer.com/match.php?matchID=1535 (October 14th) – 2^ND REMINDER. FIX IT!
http://nhlgamer.com/match.php?matchID=1686 (October 21^st)
http://nhlgamer.com/match.php?matchID=1829 (October 27^th)
http://nhlgamer.com/match.php?matchID=1830 (October 27^th)

(Mpire)
http://nhlgamer.com/match.php?matchID=1820 (October 27^th)

(Nordic Lightning)
http://nhlgamer.com/match.php?matchID=1814 (October 27^th)
http://nhlgamer.com/match.php?matchID=1813 (October 27^th)

(Nordic Nightmare)
http://nhlgamer.com/match.php?matchID=1718 (October 24 ^th)

(Sektion K)
http://nhlgamer.com/match.php?matchID=1840 (October 28^th)
http://nhlgamer.com/match.php?matchID=1841 (October 28^th)

(TIKI TALK)
http://nhlgamer.com/match.php?matchID=1818 (October 27^th)
http://nhlgamer.com/match.php?matchID=1818 (October 27^th)
http://nhlgamer.com/match.php?matchID=1832 (October 27^th) 
 

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,
The NHLGamer Staff

Hey NHL Gamers,

What a great start to the season it has been! Almost all the registered teams are active and playing and we’ve had well over 300 games reported already. This is without a doubt our biggest, most intense tournament yet.

Sadly, no tournament is perfect and we’ve already had a few disciplinary cases. In the interest of transparency, here are our rulings on the matters we’ve dealt with so far.

On the matter of the only team yet to participate in the tournament, Ice K1ngs

- As the staff has not received any form of communication from the Ice K1ngs team and they have not played any games or responded to requests for games – they are hereby to be considered disqualified from ECL 3. This means the tournament now have 58 teams – 29 for each group.

 

On the matter of incorrect arena configuration for Warriors of Kongo vs. HC Checkmate (Scheduled for October 13th)

The staff was made aware by representatives of HC Checkmate that they experienced visual impairment during their away game vs. Warriors of Kongo. Kongo had not removed their home arena ”intro gate” which is currently something that is causing difficulties seeing part of the defensive zone for the opposing team from certain visual settings, like ”Classic” for example.

Rule #7 of the NHLGamer rulebook stats that: ”The home team is responsible for making sure that no intro ceremony gates or other unlockable rooftop elements are blocking the away team's camera view. We recommend to turn off any of these items completely. If the away team can prove blocked sight in form of screenshots or video, the home team will receive an automatic walkover loss for said game.”

Warriors of Kongo did not comply with this rule, as it was written in the rulebook.

HC Checkmate made the decision to quit the game at the score of 2-2, as soon as they noticed the visual impairment.

After collecting information from HC Checkmate (in the form of pictures of the intro gate) the staff have come to the following conclusions:

-       - The amount of visual impairment in this case is minor, less so then expected by the staff when writing this rule. Therefore, it will be modified. It is important to note however, that these intro gates and other ”start of the game”-presentations that are then hung from the rafters has no place in the ECL and we remind all teams yet again to REMOVE all of these arena settings.

-       - Warriors of Kongo showed negligence in not being aware of this new addition to the rulebook.

-      -  HC Checkmate made the right decision to quit the game.

The staff rules that Warriors of Kongo are to be considered warned. Any further indication of an intro gate being used by Kongo will result in more severe punishment (walkover losses) and repeated offenses are grounds for a tournament ban. Furthermore, the ruling is that the game in question will have to be played again, from scratch, starting at a score of 0-0.

The staff applauds HC Checkmate for following the staff suggestion of replaying the game instead of demanding a WO.

As mentioned above, the rule will be modified to reflect the actual effect the intro gate has on the game. It does impair the vision and is a distraction for the opposing team, but not neccessarily to the degree that immediate walkover losses are a reasonable consequence.

Therefore, the modified rule will most likely feature some form of wording that gives the exposed team (the team that experiences the visual impairment) a right to replay the game from scratch if communicated immediately when the obstruction is noticed.

On the matter of incorrect roster for Falun Coal Miners in the games vs. Elämäm Kiekko (Scheduled for October 13th)

It was brought to the staffs attention by the captain of Elämäm Kiekko that, when trying to report the teams completed games against Falun Coal Miners, some of that teams players who participated in the game were missing from the official website roster. Therefore, Elämäm were unable to report the games.

Rule #5 of the NHLGamer rulebook states that ”Teams are only allowed to use players listed in their roster on NHLGamer.com”.

Falun did not comply with this rule, as it was intended in the rulebook.

When asked about the situation, the Coal Miner captain stated that it was his belief that the rule in question was referring to the roster listed in the ECL Roster Registration thread and that, since both players missing from the intended game report was indeed listed on the registration roster since September, the team was in full compliance with the rules. The players in question were both on the official website roster within 24 hours of the games.

After collecting information from both teams (the images provided by Elämäm combined with statements from Falun representatives) the staff have come to the following conclusions:

-       -  The rule was always intended to refer to the Official website roster (wherein the players accept invites to their teams from the captains) and not the registration roster. The rule isn’t as clearly worded as it could be and does invite a certain confusion about which roster is referred to. This is something that will be corrected on our side moving forward, with this case serving as the catalyst for the change.

-        -  It is the judgement of the staff that the captain of the Coal Miners acted without ill intent and did not seek to gain any advantages to his team by not having the players on the official website roster on time. Nevertheless, he is to be considered neglient for not applying ”common sense” and having his teams players on the reportable roster on time.

-        -  The situation that occured did not have any effect on the outcome of the teams actual games

Therefore, the staff rules that the results of both games will stand (the teams are now free to upload their stats) but the captain of the Falun Coal Miners – The_Alpha_Furyan – will receive an individual punishment for neglient behaviour in regards to rule #5.

This punishment will consist of a 1-game suspension wherein the captain is forced to miss his teams next game during the regular season.

Furthermore, the rule in question will be re-written to more emphatically state that the roster intended in Rule #5 is indeed the official website roster to avoid any confusion.
 

On the matter of Ice Bros not showing up for the games vs. Nordic Nosebleed (Scheduled for October 19th)

The staff was contacted by the captain of Nordic Nosebleed who reported that Ice Bros had not shown up at all for their scheduled games. These games had been scheduled and confirmed by both teams.

Rule #6 of the NHLGamer rulebook states that: ”If a team is more than 15 minutes late to a game, the opposing team has the right to request a walk-over win. These requests will be looked at by the NHL Gamer staff.”

After being provided with screenshots of the conversation between the two teams, the staff has come to the following conclusions:

-       -  Ice Bros did not provide any explanation for not showing up at all. If a teammate has some form of real life situation to deal with, the team is expected to have a back-up ready to step in. This is part of the reason all teams are required to have atleast 8 members.

-       -  Ice Bros did not communicate that they would not be able to participate until less than an hour before the scheduled puck drop.

Therefore, the staff rules that Nordic Nosebleed are to be given two automatic walkover wins for the games scheduled, just as Ice Bros will receive two walkover losses.

On the matter of X Factor showing up late for the games vs. Origins (Scheduled for October 19th)

The staff was made aware by both teams that an issue arose between X Factor and Origins when they were scheduled to play their games at 21.00 on October 19th. One player from X Factor was late and arrived at around 21.14 – 21.17 (timestamps vary in the respective teams versions of the events). Origins at this point decided to only play the second game of the two games planned and request a walkover win for the first.

Rule #6 of the NHLGamer rulebook (as mentioned earlier) states that: ”If a team is more than 15 minutes late to a game, the opposing team has the right to request a walk-over win. These requests will be looked at by the NHL Gamer staff.”

After several in-depth conversations with both teams and a myriad of screenshots and video evidence from both teams, the staff has come to the following conclusions.

-        - X Factor were late. Just because the rulebook states that there is a 15 minute grace period, does not means that teams should routinely use this to be 1-15 minutes late and not apologize to the other team. The appointed game time is the start time, anything after that is late.

-        -  Origins were within their rights to request a walkover win, per the rules.

-        -   X Factor did provide a reasonable explanation for their late player and did contact Origins to ask them for an additional 5 minutes to the 15 minute grace period as they knew their player could make that time. The player did show up in that 5-minute window.

-         - The second game scheduled was played on that same night, meaning both teams were available for a period of time that evening.

The staff rules as follows: X Factor are given a warning and are to be considered on probabtion. If the team shows up late again during the tournament, the opposing team (if requested) will be given a walkover win, without exceptions. We will re-iterate what was said in the case of Ice Bros vs. Nordic Noseblees; ”if a teammate has some form of real life situation to deal with, the team is expected to have a back-up ready to step in. This is part of the reason all teams are required to have atleast 8 members.”. X Factor should have had additional players ready.

That said, the game will not be ruled a walkover loss to X Factor as this was an extremely marginal case where both sides made their case through video and images that both differed by mere minutes. The first game between Origins and X Factor will be played and is to be scheduled as soon as possible between the teams respective captains.

To summarize, X Factor showed poor sportsmanship by being late and Origins could have shown better sportsmanship by allowing the X Factor player the additional 5 minute grace. They were however, as stated, within their rights to request a walkover win. This will not be the case this time but as mentioned: a punishment for X Factor is doled out for being late.

Summary

If there is a common thread running through these rulings it is that we want the games to be decided on the ice as much as possible. The rules are extensive and do provide the backbone and structure for this entire tournament but they are not perfect or infallible. Therefore, the staff reviews each case individually – taking several long hours out of us that we would like to focus on improving the site for you guys.

An additional individual warning is handed out to pulverapa, captain of HC Solhem. By continuously, and deliberately, misreporting the ”3 stars” function – you are creating a situation where these games arent being ”saved” correctly in the NHLGamer database. Refrain from doing this in the future or further discipline will be considered.

Additional Info - Game Reports

Finally, the following games need to be reported immediately as they are well outside of the 24-hour reporting rule. Continued neglience will result in warnings and/or possible bans.

(Alliance HT)
http://nhlgamer.com/match.php?matchID=1632 (October 19th)
http://nhlgamer.com/match.php?matchID=1633 (October 19th)

(Bone Breakers)
http://nhlgamer.com/match.php?matchID=1622 (October 19th)

(HC Marilyn)
http://nhlgamer.com/match.php?matchID=1389 (October 10th)
http://nhlgamer.com/match.php?matchID=1646 (October 19th)
http://nhlgamer.com/match.php?matchID=1647 (October 19th)
http://nhlgamer.com/match.php?matchID=1675 (October 20th)
http://nhlgamer.com/match.php?matchID=1676 (October 20th)

(HC Soittorasia)
http://nhlgamer.com/match.php?matchID=1409 (October 10th)
http://nhlgamer.com/match.php?matchID=1524 (October 13th)
http://nhlgamer.com/match.php?matchID=1528 (October 13th)
http://nhlgamer.com/match.php?matchID=1667 (October 20th)
http://nhlgamer.com/match.php?matchID=1668 (October 20th)
http://nhlgamer.com/match.php?matchID=1678 (October 20th)
http://nhlgamer.com/match.php?matchID=1680 (October 20th)

(HC Checkmate)
http://nhlgamer.com/match.php?matchID=1491 (October 12th)

(Infinity)
http://nhlgamer.com/match.php?matchID=1670 (October 20th)
http://nhlgamer.com/match.php?matchID=1672 (October 20th)

(Los Bombers)
http://nhlgamer.com/match.php?matchID=1534 (October 14th)
http://nhlgamer.com/match.php?matchID=1535 (October 14th)

(Rising Phantoms HC)
http://nhlgamer.com/match.php?matchID=1594 (October 18th)

(Vodoo People)
http://nhlgamer.com/match.php?matchID=1667 (October 20th)

(VC Hockey)
http://nhlgamer.com/match.php?matchID=1598 (October 18th)

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,
The NHLGamer Staff

Hey NHLGamers,

Did everyone have time to check out the ECL 3 launch stream yesterday? If not, check it out here.

Last night's broadcast was one hell of a way to kick off a season! Nearly 250 viewers on Twitch and almost the same amount of people browsing the forums. Congratulations to @Kenu and @Lurkins on a great show with some fun surprises and thank you all for joining us on the stream and in the chat box.

So, ECL 3. The third and biggest (so far!) edition of the European Championship League of EASHL gaming. This tournament will of course take place on the NHL 17 platform which I know you all have gotten quite familiar with.

New format

The new format, with two large groups (conferences) instead of many smaller ones, has spurred on some great discussion in the comment section with some members doubtful and some members loving the design. As always, we here at NHLGamer value your opinions and the feedback you provide us with – we read it all and try to reply as often as we can. For now, know that your voices have been heard (both praise and doubts!) and will be taken into consideration going forward.

That being said, the conference system for ECL 3 serves two important purposes. One, it provides NHL gamers with the most complete and extensive EASHL tournament this website has ever provided. The regular season will now “feel” more like an actual NHL season with teams going on hot streaks and breaking out of slumps on a weekly basis. Two, this tougher regular season ensures that it truly is the top teams that emerge and make the playoffs. Some of these teams will then make up what will become Division 1 of the ECL – the top division in our new division system. Once the Divisional system kicks in (from ECL 4 and forward) there will be relegations and promotions on a tournament-to-tournament basis, ensuring that teams that stay together to build franchises and create legacies are the ones who will reign supreme. New teams will of course be welcomed with open arms here at NHLGamer.com but will now have to earn their place and work their way up in the world’s most competitive online hockey gaming tournament.

The exact plans for the divisional system are currently safely stored in the NHLGamer vaults but will be presented further during the tournament by our very own @gzell60. For now, if you have any questions about our plans – fire away in the comment section so we know exactly what you are curious about when we present our plan. Let the games begin!

Predictions

Two tough groups. Two very, very tough groups.

In group 1, you’ve got ECL 1 champions Nordic Blizzard, EASHL top ranked Dynasty, X Factor and Written In the Stars. Combine that with experienced, hard hitting teams like Sjukstugan and Silver Sword Griffins and you’ve got quite the nest of vipers. And that’s not even mentioning old Xbox behemoths Northern Stars who dominated the 360 scene for a long time and have a tendency to step up their game once the big tournaments roll around…

With lots of new teams coming in as well, there is really no telling how this group will end up but my prediction for the Top-3 of this group will be
1. X Factor
2. Written In The Stars
3. Nordic Blizzard
 

The teams of Group 1
Dynasty
Elämäm Kiekko
Falun Coal Miners
Fat Cats
Finnish Roosters
Ganja Bonanzas
HC Checkmate
HC ParempiTarjous
HC Soittorasia
Ice K1ngs
Infinity
La Suedé
Los Bombers
Mpire
No Guts No Glory
Nordic Blizzard
Northern Stars
Origins
Refuse To Lose
Rising Phantoms HC
Rusty Blades
Rynnäkköviikset
Sektion K
Silver Sword Griffins
Sjukstugan
Voodoo People
Warriors of Kongo
White Trash
Written In The Stars
X Factor

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

On to group 2, where the currently #1 ranked team in the world, Laser HT, resides. Made up of players from various top teams, this legendary Xbox team has been resurrected for ECL 3 and they would have to be considered favourites for the championship win at this point in the tournament. That’s not all though, group 2 also features the highest ranked Swedish team Synergy Hockey, ECL 2 champions MUKIMIEHET, insanely skilled Nordic Nightmare, team play masters Nordic Lightning with late addition and potential underdog, Northern Ascendancy – featuring ECL Summer Cup Playoff MVP, @Foppatofflan.

My prediction for the Top-3 of group 2 then becomes
1. Laser HT
2. Nordic Nightmare
3. Northern Ascendancy

The teams of Group 2
Aapon Taikasauva
AK-47
Alliance HT
Bare Knuckles Hockey
Bone Breakers
BraZZers
Destined for Greatness
Drop Zone
EN HUND
Free From Rodents
HC Marilyn
HC Solhem
ICE BROS
Inter Iceland
Kattiautomaatti
Knight Aces HC
Laser HT
Lunatic Lions
MUKIMIEHET
Murohoki
Nordic Lightning
Nordic Nightmare
Nordic Nosebleed
Northern Ascendancy
SIKA
Synergy Hockey
Terrific Tigers
TIKI TALK
VC Hockey
 

This truly will be a tournament for the ages and in my opinion, our best one yet. From all of us here at the NHLGamer staff – good luck and may the odds ever be in your favour.

Yes. I went there.

Later skaters //

The_Alpha_Furyan

Hello NHLGamers,

It's time for ECL Season 3 and here is how the regular season will work: 

Regular season

Teams have officially been created by Kenu so to all you Captains, get out there and start adding your players! Barring any sudden setbacks, the start of ECL Season 3 will be on Monday, October 10th - aligning quite well with the start of the actual NHL regular season.

With almost 60 teams signed up, we are creating a longer regular season with two separate groups, or "conferences" - each containing roughly 30 teams. These teams will then play each other twice (within the conference) for a full regular season of about 54-58 games - depending on the exact number of teams that end up actually playing. 

Groups will be pre-seeded without a lottery to make sure both groups are even. However, we will seed teams into different clusters which will then be "drawn" on a Live Stream on the websites Twitch channel, look for it this Sunday (9/10).

Playoffs

The first 16 teams in both groups advance to the playoffs. In the first round, both groups will play against each other (A1-B16, A2-B15…). Afterwards, it’s strongest against weakest team (according to our regular season tiebreakers).

There are a few more surprises coming Sunday in regards to the playoffs and one more thing. At this point I will just say the word "Divisions" and let you speculate a bit on your own...

Hope this was enough to whet your appetites for now and until Sunday and on behalf of the entire NHLGamer staff:

Welcome to ECL 3!

Later skaters // The_Alpha_Furyan

Hey NHLGamers,

As the days are growing colder and we move closer to fall, every hockey fan knows what’s coming - days and nights filled with the greatest sport on earth, be it SHL, SM-Liiga, KHL, NHL or even online gaming in the EASHL. With the release of NHL 17 and the 2016 World Cup right around the corner, hockey has never been hotter.

Here at NHLGamer.com we are looking forward to the next installment in the European Championship League (ECL 3 – see thread here) – the premier league for NHL online EASHL gaming – and we hope you guys are excited as well. But before we turn the page in the tournament book and open up a new chapter, it’s time to close an older one first. I am talking specifically about NHL 16 and the ECL tournaments played on it.

ECL 1
ECL 1 was a resounding success, lifted by the fact that the whole community that had previously been divided on different sides of the console pond, so to speak, were finally re-united on the PS4. This led to ECL 1 being one of the most competitive tournaments in european EASHL history, with newcomers battling old foes and ”Xbox teams” clashing with ”PS teams” for a long, gruesome regular season followed by an intense playoffs where Nordic Blizzard eventually stood tall. You can check out our summary of ECL 1, here.

ECL 2
ECL 2 followed up on the success of ECL 1 with a tighter, more focused schedule due to ECL 1 having been kicked off late in the NHL season, around christmas. From the start, having another tournament on the NHL 16 platform wasn’t a guarantee but community demand made sure no more than a month passed between tournaments. For this tournament, rivalries had started to set in and some top teams were disbanded with players migrating to new hunting grounds. In the end, ECL 2 was an exciting way to finish off the season and Mukimiehet were crowned as winners. You can read about ECL 2, here.

ECL Summer Cup
Which brings us to the ECL Summer Cup. Not part of the regular ECL lineup and once again inspired by community demand and some very creative and interesting ideas (special shout-out to the community members who took initiative, you know who you are), the ECL Summer Cup was a totally new format which began in the middle of the summer with a fantasy draft and ended just before the release of NHL 17. The idea was to give NHL gamers a chance to make friends on different teams and also some incentive to keep their EASHL skills sharp during what is usually a slow time for hockey gaming, the summer. While I can’t speak for everyone, I think most people had a blast during this tournament. I know I did – all the way from getting drafted to playing with some entirely new teammates to our teams eventual demise in the second round of the playoffs.

As ECL 1 & 2 have already had their separate book closings with news stories of their own, announcing the winners and thanking everyone for their participation – this will be the closing of the book of the ECL Summer Cup.

A total of 14 teams entered, who were then split into two groups of 7. Of these 7 teams, 4 from each group would go on to make the playoffs. The quarter- and semifinals were each played in a best of-3 format to make sure the tournament would be played on time, followed by a best of-7 finals.

In the end, we were left with somewhat of an upset! The #4 seed from Group 1, Team pelimies80, made the playoffs by a hair and then went on to defeat Mirage (Quarter), Mighty 8 Balls (Semi) and lastly Hupimunat in the finals.

Congratulations to Team pelimies80!

I’ll leave you with the words of team captain, @pelimies80:

Thank you for Hupimunat very tight and interesting Final series. I think it was good at our best player Foppatofflan play regular season only couple games. He saves his all energy in the playoffs and we get the result what we want. That guy is outstanding player. When the game is tight you need that kind of difference maker in your team to turn the game. Thanks to my whole team to make this possible. And thank you other teams and nhlgamer admins to make this possible at we can play this kind of tournament in the summer too. WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS AND NOW IT IS THE TIME TO CELEBRATE!!! SEE YOU IN NHL17

 

Missing games

Next order of business is once again reminding all the captains that there are still some unreported games for the Summer Cup, both regular season and playoffs. Now, while we know we here at the NHLGamer staff dropped the ball on a few occasions (the website being down for an extended period of time, not getting all the proper information out on time and not having a proper playoff tree in place) we still require you captains to fulfill your obligations and report the remaining games. We are only human, and we know you are too, so this isn’t intended to place blame – instead we have taken the time to list all the games that remain unreported, to make it easier on you to find them.

Regular season
@debi_85
http://nhlgamer.com/match.php?matchID=1289

@FINSeRe
http://nhlgamer.com/match.php?matchID=1348  
http://nhlgamer.com/match.php?matchID=1349  
http://nhlgamer.com/match.php?matchID=1341  
http://nhlgamer.com/match.php?matchID=1342

@mir02k1
http://nhlgamer.com/match.php?matchID=1362

Playoffs
@debi_85
http://nhlgamer.com/match.php?matchID=1351 
http://nhlgamer.com/match.php?matchID=1356  
http://nhlgamer.com/match.php?matchID=1355

@FINSeRe
http://nhlgamer.com/match.php?matchID=1361  
http://nhlgamer.com/match.php?matchID=1360  
http://nhlgamer.com/match.php?matchID=1359

@Joonas Paatiala
http://nhlgamer.com/match.php?matchID=1357
http://nhlgamer.com/match.php?matchID=1358 
http://nhlgamer.com/match.php?matchID=1372  
http://nhlgamer.com/match.php?matchID=1374
http://nhlgamer.com/match.php?matchID=1375

Awards
Last but not least, awards. The most highely coveted individual award, the ECL Summer Cup playoff MVP, will be given to @Foppatofflan. This first round draft pick didnt show up for more than a few games in the regular season but made up for it in the playoffs. With 10+18 for 28 points in 13 games AND with the endorsement of the captain of his Summer Cup winning Team pelimies80, this one was a no-brainer. Congratulations Foppatofflan!

While I’m sad to report that my personal dream of having judgement-based awards for the rest of the Summer Cup has been put on ice for now (only about half of the 14 captains gave me a list of who they thought was worthy of each of the trophies suggested in THIS earlier post), I am proud to once again present the regular season stat-based awards for the ECL Summer Cup – but also a compilation of stats retroactively for ECL 1 & 2.

Enjoy and see you on the ice in NHL 17 for ECL 3!

(If I haven't tagged a player, it's because I couldn't find that player on the community side - probably due to having a different name there than his player card/gamertag)

ECL 1:
Most Points - @Joukki with 55 goals and 36 assists for a whopping 91 points in 22 games. A margin of 17 points down to the next best skater Puantso - impressive.
Most Goals - @Joukki again with 55 goals in 22 games – with 8 PPG, 0 SHG and 5 GWG.
Most Assists - Puantso with 49 assists in just 20 games played.
Most Points by a Defenseman - @Chrisbernt with 10+30 = 40 in 24 games played. Chris did play around 6-8 games as forward but with over 75% of his games as a defender, he still qualifies!
Best Plus/Minus - @Joukki just edges out his teammate @vatalisti with +61 to vatas +59. Great work by Carlsberg HC
Best Save % - For this award we set a limit of atleast 50% of the teams games played, meaning atleast 12 games out of 24. Just qualifiying is OveikkoO of team Kattiautomatti with 85.08 % in 12 games.
Most Wins by a Goalie - @vepe- wins this one with 19 wins in 22 games played. A good awards season for Carlsberg HC.

ECL 2:
Most Points - @Tapparafan from Nordic Stars swoops this award up with 28 goals and 11 assists for 39 points in 10 games. Great work!
Most Goals - Mr. @Tapparafan collects this one as well with the above mentioned 28 goals in 10 games – this with 8 PPG, 1 SHG and 5 GWG.
Most Assists - @Basstian23 ties @FlyerKungen with 20 assists each – these two gentlemen will split the trophy!
Most Points by a Defenseman - @vatalisti wins this one with 5+16 for 21 points in 9 games.
Best Plus/Minus - Another season, another win for @Joukki with +30. This season he has to share it with teammates @vatalisti and KingOfApes_ who also finished the season with +30.
Best Save % - @OxtreeLAT wins this one with a magnificent 89.74% save percentage in 10 games. Could this be the record to beat for future ECL tournaments?
Most Wins by a Goalie - A three-way tie between the above mentioned @OxtreeLAT, @FINSeRe and @poliskontroll who each ended the season with 8 wins in 10 games.

ECL SC:
Most Points - @selänne8 with 14 goals and 20 assists for a total of 34 points in 12 games. Very impressive, congratulations to you Finnish Flash!
Most Goals - @plee999 with a staggering 17 goals in just 10 games played. Well done!
Most Assists - @selänne8 again with 20 assists in 12 games. Quite the playmaker!
Most Points by a Defenseman - @The_Alpha_Furyan with 4 goals and 17 assists for 21 points in 10 games. Playing on a great team helps, thank you teammates!
Best Plus/Minus - @Joonas Paatiala with +17 in 10 games. Tied with Plee but he already won the goals award so, this one is for Patzlaf.
Best Save % - @juha96 with 73.38 % in 12 games. Was awarded to @FINSeRe earlier but with just 6 games reported for his team, this moves to juha96.
Most Wins by a Goalie - @OxtreeLAT with 8 wins in 12 games. A winning percentage over 70% while playing all the teams games? The definition of reliable!

Comments, as always, are much appreciated!

On behalf of the NHLGamer Staff,

The_Alpha_Furyan

DRAFT REVIEW – by The_Alpha_Furyan

When I first started discussing with the NHLGamer staff about contributing to the site, I knew I wanted to write and I also knew this was exactly the kind of texts I wanted to produce. I've always been a self-proclaimed stats- and prospects buff, with a fascination for everything from scouting reports to the drafting process to discussing different stats to gaining an interest in the modern "advanced stats". Combine that with my interest in writing and I knew we could be on to something! Anyway, without further ado, here is my first contribution to NHLGamera as a very loose member of the talented website staff.

I'm going to start off this draft review by looking backwards, to the Mock Draft I posted in the days leading up to the draft. Let's take a look at those rankings (you can view that topic in the forums here: http://nhlgamer.com/community/topic/309-mock-1st-round-for-summer-cup-draft/) :


1. Dominointi (Forward)
2. Joukki13 (Forward) 
3. OxTreeLAT (Goalie)
4. imosi1 (Forward)
5. poliskontroll (Goalie)
6. bjono (Forward)
7. Egyptologen (Defenseman)
8. FinKonna (Goalie)
9. Hanssoni (Forward)
10. plee999 (Forward)
11. tbantti (Forward)
12. SadaPoika (Forward)
13. Pelle3000 (Forward)
14. Chafak (Forward)


In total I predicted 10 Forwards, 3 Goalies and 1 Defenseman for the first round. Now, lets compare that with how the actual first round turned out:


1. imosi1 (Forward)
2. vatalisti (Defenseman)
3. Dominointi (Forward)
4. joukki13 (Forward)
5. Foppatofflan (Forward)
6. bjono (Forward)
7. plee999 (Forward)
8. Chafak (Forward)
9. SadaPoika (Forward)
10. OxTreeLAT (Goalie)
11. tbnantti (Forward)
12. TehhAhola (Forward)
13. Tapparfan- (Forward)
14. wickedtah69 (Forward)


For those keeping score at home, that is a total of 12 Forwards, 1 Goalie and 1 Defenseman - suggesting the team captains prioritized getting those high-scoring forwards as soon as possible. Now, while I had counted on this being a factor in the first round, I also thought goalies would be a higher priority than they were. Interesting how that turns out sometimes! Finally, the results of the mock draft had 9 out of the 14 players I predicted actually being picked in the first round with bjono at #6 an tbnantti at #11 being perfect matches. The remaining 5 were all picked in the first three rounds so all in all, I consider the mock draft a success and encourage others to join me in the mock drafting for the next Summer Cup!

Moving on, let's take a look at the players that were picked:

#1 Overall - imosi1
# in mock draft - 4
Pick made by - vSilenttio
Previous Teams - SIKA, Finnish Roosters
ECL Stats - Regular season: 32GP, 31G 38A = 69P.  Playoffs: 31GP, 15G 26A = 41P.
Scouting - When I suggested imosi1 might go as early as #4 he wanted to know if I had consumed mushrooms. Turns out he was right to doubt me as he ended up going first overall. Captain vSilenttio probably knows full well what imosi1 brings to a team seeing as they've played together quite a lot through the years. For those of you who don't know imosi1 I can tell you that this #1 pick brings a high level of skill and two-way responsibility to his team. If asked to perform as the teams sniper, he does. If asked to shut down the oppositions top forwards, he does. If asked to create plays, he does. As someone in the draft sheet said - "this guy does it all!".

#2 Overall - vatalisti
# in mock draft - N/A
Pick made by - Billy44205
Previous Teams - Carlsberg HC, Victorious Secrets HC
ECL Stats - Regular season: 29GP, 7G 48A = 55P.  Playoffs: 52GP, 14G 48A = 62P.
Scouting - The only defenseman picked in the first round, vatalisti should provide a solid base for Billy44205 to organize his team around. A solid two-way, pass first defenseman (who can also play center), vatalisti has proven his worth in the two previous ECL tournaments with Carlsberg and VSH. Look no further than the fact that this defender has 29 games in the regular season to 55 in the playoffs to know that he is a proven playoff warrior who will be looking to take his team to a third straight appearance in the finals.

#3 Overall - Dominointi
# in mock draft - 1
Pick made by - mir021k
Previous Teams - Nordic Blizzard
ECL Stats - Regular season: 26GP, 41G 42A = 83P.  Playoffs: 26GP, 31G 41A = 72P.
Scouting - The first overall pick in the mock draft fell to 3rd here but it was still an expected early pick for Dominointi. This number one center for the one-time ECL champions Nordic Blizzard is an incredibly skilled point-producing center who besides putting up goals and assists in droves, still finds the time to be ranked #1 in the world in Online Vs. for NHL 16. If one were to describe this players style, it would be "dominant" - not unlike the name he has chosen for himself. Look for mir021k's team to lean heavily on Dominointi to gain success in this tournament.

#4 Overall - joukki13
# in mock draft - 2
Pick made by - debi_85 
Previous Teams - Carlsberg HC, Victorious Secrets HC
ECL Stats - Regular season: 31GP, 71G 55A = 126P.  Playoffs: 50GP, 57G 62A = 119P.
Scouting - In my opinion, the best and purest sniper in this draft. joukki13 has, just like vatalisti, been a part of two straight ECL finals without yet having a trophy to his name - something that has to be frustrating for this goal-scoring LW. His skill in scoring goals is only matched by his undying love for The Walking Dead character Rick Grimes. Look for joukki to once again be in the top-10 for goal scoring when the Summer Cup is over and who knows? Maybe another final is in the cards for mr. Grimes...

#5 Overall - Foppatofflan
# in mock draft - N/A
Pick made by - pelimies80 
Previous Teams - Bombers Hockey
ECL Stats - Regular season: 21GP, 20G 24A = 48P.  Playoffs: 5GP, 0G 6A = 6P.
Scouting - Looking at his ECL stats, taking Foppatofflan as the #5 overall pick seems like a misstep. For those who are aware of what this creative forward has accomplished in the past, it's not as much of a surprise. However absent from ECL Season 2, Foppatofflan is still a known commodity in what used to be the Xbox360 community. Famous for his unorthodox playing style where no one can ever predict if he will pull a triple deke, go for the behind-the-back pass or simply take the puck to the net and deke the goalie out of his jock. For those who didn't know him before, I suspect he will open a lot of eyes this Summer Cup.

#6 Overall - |bjono|
# in mock draft - 6
Pick made by - LastMandalorian
Previous Teams - Sjukstugan
ECL Stats - Regular season: 34GP, 38G 50A = 88P.  Playoffs: 27GP, 21G 28A = 49P.
Scouting - Exactly as predicted, bjono went as #6! All kidding aside, this is a very solid pick to build a team around. Having been around as the captain and leader of Sjukstugan for as long as I can remember, this forward is a consistent point producer who besides never missing a game is also defensively responsible and, just like all of Sjukstugans players, a talented hitter. Will probably be paired up with regular teammate pnordetun in what is looking like one of the tournaments strongest forward corps.

#7 Overall - PleeMaker
# in mock draft - 10
Pick made by - Patzlaf
Previous Teams - Carlsberg HC, Northern Stars, Finnish Roosters
ECL Stats - Regular season: 25GP, 44G 41A = 85P.  Playoffs: 35GP, 34G 24A = 58P.
Scouting - A controversial figure in the community, much can be said about PleeMaker. However, what cannot be denied is his skill on the ice. Having racked up over a goal per game in both the ECL regular seasons and playoffs, PleeMaker is seemingly most comfortable on one of the wings where he can use his feared one-timer to terrorize goalies. Combining his talent for goal scoring and point producing with high-skilled center (and captain) Patzlaf seems like a receipe for success. Don't be surprised if one, or both, of these players end up high on the Summer Cup stat charts for goals and points.

#8 Overall - Chafak
# in mock draft - 14
Pick made by - Basstian223
Previous Teams - Aapon Taikasauva
ECL Stats - Regular season: 34GP, 53G 45A = 98P.  Playoffs: 25GP, 32G 24A = 56P.
Scouting - Chafak is somewhat of a new aquaintance for me but his stat line suggests a solid point producer who's been a consistent force to be reckoned with for home team Aapon Taikasauva. Playing exclusively on LW, this point producing winger will fit right in with captain Basstian223 who exclusively makes his home on RW. Regardless of who will be playing C between these two gentlemen, expect that C to enjoy two talented wingers who will score goals and rack up assists like no tomorrow. Chafak has also been at the top of the point rankings for both ECL seasons - suggesting consistency is one of his strengths.

#9 Overall - SadaPoika
# in mock draft - 12
Pick made by - KingOfApes_
Previous Teams - The Unstoppable Warriors, Victorious Secrets HC
ECL Stats - Regular season: 29GP, 38G 31A = 69P.  Playoffs: 30GP, 16G 20A = 36P.
Scouting - Another new aquaintance for me, SadaPoikas stats dont lie. He seems to favor goal scoring just as much as passing judging by his point totals. Having started his ECL career with TUW and falling short in the playoffs, he moved to VSH where he - together with joukki13 and draft captain KingOfApes - took his team all the way to the finals. Seemingly a big fan of NHL'er Steven Stamkos, look for SadaPoika to try and deliver some thunder and Lightning together with old teammate KingOfApes in this newly created team. 

#10 Overall - OxtreeLAT
# in mock draft - 3
Pick made by - selänne8
Previous Teams - Silver Sword Griffins
ECL Stats - Season 1: 11-6-2, 76.07 %, 2.63 GAA, 1 shutout. Season 2: 9-4-2, 86.06%, 1.13 GAA, 7 shutouts.
Scouting - The first and only goalie to be picked in the first round, OxtreeLAT was my first goalie pick in the mock draft as well. Having delivered solid stats in ECL 1, he absolutely exploded in ECL 2 - putting up staggering numbers bested by no other goalie. Some would say playing behind the defensively oriented SSG squad might have boosted his stats, but for anyone who has faced OxtreeLAT (or seen him play) they know he's as much a factor in that teams defensive prowess as their skaters. Overall one of the best goaltenders in the EASHL community and will look to lead his team to the promised land for this Summer Cup.

#11 Overall - tbnantti
# in mock draft - 11
Pick made by - FINSeRe
Previous Teams - Kattiautomatti
ECL Stats - Regular season: 24GP, 37G 40A = 77P.  Playoffs: 31GP, 33G 33A = 66P.
Scouting - Another one of my patented "Perfect Picks", tbnantti went #11 as predicted. This is a very solid pick for a team to build their offense around and a remarkably consistant point producer in both the regular season and the playoffs. One peek at tbnanttis stats and you are instantly struck by how evenly distributed his point totals are between goals and assists. Mostly a center from what I've seen, tbnantti has been around in the community for a long time and his team Kattiautomatti (seriously tough to spell and I probably still got it wrong) was previously known as Budcats and Blades of Steel.

#12 Overall - TehhAhola
# in mock draft - N/A
Pick made by - Juizki
Previous Teams - Finnish Roosters
ECL Stats - Regular season: 18GP, 14G 34A = 48P.  Playoffs: 8GP, 3G 11A = 66P.
Scouting - As we get into the later picks for round 1, my knowledge decreases. I admit to not knowing very much by TehhAhola (he wasn't on my radar when I put together the mock draft) except that his stats for ECL 1 - he did not participate in ECL 2 - were very impressive, particularly during the regular season. Being back in the community now and having been honored with the #12 overall pick, you can bet that TehhAhola will be hungry to prove Juizki right in picking him this early.

#13 Overall - Tapparafan-
# in mock draft - N/A
Pick made by - DieCutterMC
Previous Teams - Nordic Stars
ECL Stats - Regular season: 32GP, 51G 37A = 88P.  Playoffs: 11GP, 14G 5A = 19P.
Scouting - I struggled for a long time with putting Tapparafan- in my predicted first round and he got cut just at the last minute. One look at the goal scoring skill of this LW/C and you can see why I struggled with my selection. Having been a leading presence on Nordic Stars, Tapparafan- will be expected to shoulder a heavy offensive burden for DieCutterMCs team as well - a challenge he will probably be more than up for. A very solid late first round pick that will pay dividends for his team in this tournament.

#14 Overall - wickedtah69
# in mock draft - N/A
Pick made by - juha96
Previous Teams - Infinity
ECL Stats - Regular season: 10GP, 12G 10A = 22P.  Playoffs: N/A.
Scouting - One of the biggest surprises this draft, wickedtah69 rounds out this preview of the first 14 picks. Having solid stats for Infinity in the 10 ECL games he has played, he is somewhat of a mystery to me. Has he played together frequently with juha96? Is he, like Foppatofflan, another "legend" from previous PS3/Xbox360 community that just hasn't had the time to play many games in the previous ECL tournaments? An exciting mystery that will have to prove himself in this Summer Cup!


Finally, I'd like to conclude this draft review by listing my biggest surprises of the draft:

- Goalies not being picked sooner. I thought for sure the captains would go for goalies in the first two rounds.
- wickedtah69 going in the first round. Prove me wrong, mystery man!
- ProMinx24 not being picked until the 4th round. Mr. Darzins is an insanely talented player who would've been a solid second round pick!

Please leave your thoughts and voice your agreements/disagreements (or point out factual errors) to the post in the comment section so we can get some discussion going - that's what makes it all worth it.


 

Later skaters //
The_Alpha_Furyan

Hey Everyone and thank you on my and the staff's behalf for joining our draft stream last night in such great numbers!

We have now randomized the groups using the same algorithm as in the first two ECL seasons and the groups are now done and official: 

Group 1:
Team Billy44205
Team DieCutterMC
Team juha96
Team Juizki
Team mir021k
Team pelimies80
Team selänne8


Group 2:
Team Basstian23
Team debi_85
Team FINSeRe
Team LastMandalorian
Team Patzlaf
Team Tuukka.R
Team vSilenttio
 

The schedule has also now been created and posted. You can find it here: http://nhlgamer.com/schedule.php?leagueID=16.

As announced earlier in the rules, four games (two opponents) are expected to be played during each game week. We have scheduled them for Monday and Wednesday, but those days are there just for scheduling purposes and teams may agree to play any day they want (within the rules). We have left the week of the NHL 17 Beta without games and the last week of games is scheduled on the 8th of August. That being said, the teams can decide to play at a quicker pace and if all teams do that, we can start the playoffs earlier.

On behalf of the NHL Gamer staff,

Hello everyone,

I just came back from a late dinner after spending around 5 hours on Twitch with all of you. First of all I want to thank all of you who decided to tune in - we had around 140 viewers at one point, more than we have followers on our channel. People even accused us of viewbotting (a term that describes faking the number of views on your channel to make it seem like you are a famous streamer) multiple times, which made it quite clear that our community is really going strong, and that we as a whole are on to something pretty great.

If you want to see all of it again, you can view the archived version of the stream here: https://secure.twitch.tv/nhlgamertwitch/v/77259439

When we started the Draft ECL / Summer Cup project 4 weeks ago (that's when I opened up the initial thread in our staff forum), I was not entirely convinced about this format. History taught us that summer time is usually a devastating time to play NHL, as the community slowly parts from the current edition and eagerly awaits a new iteration in September. I had a feeling though that this kind of tournament is exactly the kind of thing that works best during this time - giving you the ability to join the community, get to know new people and just have fun outside of the usual environment we are caught in for the first ~6 months with every new NHL game.

After we opened up registrations on June 19th, the feedback was overwhelming. I expected no more than 50-60 registrations, but you actually doubled that number. A big shoutout to all of you pioneers out there, who decided to join us on this journey towards this completely new format within the European NHL community! I am also convinced that this will not be the last time we will pull off this kind of tournament, and I fully believe we can increase the number of registrations once again.

Fast forward to when registrations were locked: The hardest part now was to set up the whole draft procedure. This is the point where I want to thank all of our captains, I think we could not have chosen them any better. All of them were very active after we initially contacted them, making it very easy to find a time where all of them would be able to participate. Just imagine if one or two decided to just not show up on draft day? Yikes, this could have endangered the tournament as a whole, due to the remaining time we have until NHL 17.

On Friday, @Kenu and @Lurkins met each other somewhere in southern Finland and built the whole draft tool which you saw in action today. Even though there were a few hiccups during the stream, I really think they made it a pleasure for everyone: An easy-to-use website to make your picks, and a real-time site for everyone else to follow the action closely. And while I think that @Kenu and me are certainly not the most experienced streamers on this planet (yet), I hope we were able to entertain you during the 4-5 hours we spent together.

Our newest staff member @The_Alpha_Furyan will go into detail about today's 1st round picks tomorrow, so definitely check out his news then!

For now I want to leave you with the final team rosters (schedule etc. will follow tomorrow), and say one last thank you to every single member of this awesome community. It really is a pleasure to keep on building this whole project with all of you, I enjoy every single minute of it.

Now please share your thoughts on today's draft in the comments below, especially:

Do you want to have official streams more frequently?
How did we perform on the moderation side?
How did we perform on the technical side (stream setup/design etc.)?

Please tell us, we are curious!

- gzell60

Hey NHL Gamers,

it's been 7 weeks since the start of ECL Season 2 on PS4, and first things first: MUKIMIEHET won the cup!

Congratulations go out to you guys, but we also want to thank Victorious Secret HC for making the final such a close one. We would also like to thank all participating teams for their dedication which made this second season such a smooth one after all.

RECAP

Before we headed into this season, you were very clear about what you expected from us. The main thing was the overall length of the tournament and scheduling in general, as many of you didn't feel like continuing with the game during summer time. We focused on this a lot, and tried to interact with you more than we used to and especially earlier than we did during last season. That was also the main reason why we decided to seed 48 teams into 8 groups: Not only were we able to keep the regular season as short as 10 games, but due to the fact that 4 teams per group were able to advance to the playoffs, we believe that newcomers received a fair chance to establish their reputation.

This effect was also visible after the regular season was done: While established teams like UKnighted HC, No Guts No Glory and The Unstoppable Warriors didn't make the playoffs, some of the recently joined teams suddenly appeared in the playoff tree (Fat Cats, Rising Force, HC iceTigers, Freaky Friday, Helter Skelter, HC Shameful Knights).

Another point I want to talk about is the rulebook. All in all, this season was a pleasant surprise in my eyes. While there were lots of discussions during our first season, and also controversy about staff decisions, it was almost like the complete opposite this time. Let me say this right away: While we might have tweaked a few things from the administration side, it was you, the players, who made this happen. Compared to the end of last year, everyone of you did a great job in supporting the platform and each other, and it was only rarely necessary to contact staff members about any problems. We appreciate this a lot, as it allows us to spend our limited time on other aspects of the website. Thank you very much!

However, there was one case where staff intervention was needed: TIKI TALK vs. Nordic Lightning during the playoffs. I don't want to go into detail again, but please note that we pay attention to any shortcomings like we did last season. And while it may have been a tricky and also frustrating situation, these cases are always important to lead us forward. At this stage we already have a solid foundation, but certain aspects like scheduling need another overhaul to ensure that the rulebook allows for competitive gameplay and at the same time keeps our personal lifes in mind and intact.

Let me use this opportunity to remind you of our feedback tool once again. We already received some valuable input, and we believe there are many more people who would like to tell us about their opinions:

WHAT'S NEXT?

We were very intrigued by the Summer Cup discussion which took place during the last 2 months. We always got the impression that NHL during summer time is a dead place, but seeing how carefully this initiative was driven by our fellow community members (without any staff influence) and how many people already left their vote on this topic, we decided to hear you and kick off another tournament during the next few months until mid-August. Mid-August is usually the time when EA Sports releases a demo version for the next NHL game, and we don't want to interfere with that. On top of that, I can already reveal that this next tournament will not be part of NHLGamer's ECL tournaments. This time we aim for open schedules and we want to give all of our members (whether they be veterans or juniors) a chance to get connected. Stay tuned, there will be another announcement with all the details very soon!

On behalf of the NHLGamer Staff,

- gzell60

Hey NHL Gamers,

Season 2 is nearing it's end, as the finals will be starting this Monday!

MUKIMIEHET and Victorious Secret HC will be playing for the cup, and soon we will know who follows Nordic Blizzard to call themselves ECL Champions on PS4. Watch the forums in the next few days to see what time the games start and on which channel they will be streamed.

Let me use of this opportunity and remind everyone of you of the Summer Cup discussion which is currently ongoing on the community side:

We already received interesting input from you, and if you feel like playing another season with NHL 16 then please raise your voice! Aside from the 6vs6 tournaments, we are also discussing other ideas for our future. I believe there is lots of interesting stuff in our minds, and we will share it with you when the time has come (which, of course, may take a while!).

For now, a big thank you for all your support.

On behalf of the NHLGamer staff,

- gzell60

Hey NHL Gamers,

with Synergy Hockey and Finnish Roosters having finished their series tonight, the semi-final is complete, and below you can find the match-ups:

Groups 1-4
Kattiautomaatti - Victorious Secret HC

Groups 5-8
MUKIMIEHET - Finnish Roosters

As we announced on the forums, Kattiautomaatti and Victorious Secret HC were already allowed to start their series today. This means the alloted time for their games is until Sunday, while MUKIMIEHET and Finnish Roosters are allowed to make use of the following Monday in case it is needed. Of course, we hope to return to schedule again, and kick off the finals in time.

On behalf of the NHL Gamer Staff,

- gzell60

Hey everyone,

thanks to all teams who were able to finish their series in time. Unfortunately, there was a lot of controversy around the Nordic Lightning vs. TIKI TALK match-up, which is why we were only able to publish this announcement today. Some background:

Nordic Lightning told their opponent, they would not be able to play any game during the weekend, and consistently asked TIKI TALK to finish the series until Thursday. TIKI TALK on the other hand were only able to start the series on Thursday, because they decided to watch Finnish World Cup games on Monday and Wednesday. On Thursday, 6 games were played - and the series was tied at 3. After game 6, TIKI TALK decided to quit for the night. We have evidence, that this was due to the team not being confident to be able to win the last game.

In the end, we decided to make a decision according to the rulebook (#6 "Scheduling"):
"Teams are allowed to re-schedule any of their games. Both teams involved must agree to the re-scheduled game date and time before the game date and time are made official. If there is no agreement of re-scheduling, the default date and time stands. Teams are not allowed to ignore requests for re-scheduling and must respond to the requests as quickly as possible."

We think that TIKI TALK failed to act according to this part of the rule, and on top, were willing to risk a delay of the whole tournament by suddenly quitting on Thursday after game 6. This is why we will hand out a walkover win to Nordic Lightning, to win the series 4:3.

Important reminder: If you have scheduling issues like these in the future, open up a private message with both team captains and NHLGamer admins/mods AS SOON AS YOU SEE THESE ISSUES COMING UP. It helps us to avoid these conflicts in the future. Also remember: Any threats against admins/mods to reinforce your opinion are not acceptable and will certainly not help in finding a solution together.

Below you can find the new match-ups for the next playoff round:

Groups 1-4
Nordic Lightning - Victorious Secret HC
Kattiautomaatti - Nordic Nightmare

Groups 5-8
MUKIMIEHET - Aapon Taikasauva
Synergy Hockey - Finnish Roosters

The time allotted for every round in the playoffs is one week and the default scheduled days are Monday, Wednesday and Thursday. Sunday should not be used for scheduling - only as a last resort to get the games played. This will allow us to have everything set up and for the next round to start on time.

On behalf of the NHL Gamer Staff,

- gzell60

Hey everyone,

thanks for finishing the 2nd round of our Season 2 playoffs last week! Unfortunately, we had to give out walkover wins to Silver Sword Griffins, as their opponent was not ready to play anymore. We know that this kind of situation during the playoffs is always a little unsettling, but we will try to find a way to prevent this from happening in the future.

Below you can find the new match-ups for the next playoff round:

Groups 1-4
Nordic Lightning - TIKI TALK
Kattiautomaatti - Dynasty
Sjukstugan - Victorious Secret HC
Nordic Blizzard - Nordic Nightmare

Groups 5-8
MUKIMIEHET - murohoki
Helter Skelter - Aapon Taikasauva
Silver Sword Griffins - Finnish Roosters
Infinity - Synergy Hockey

As we already announced ahead of the last round, groups 1 to 4 and groups 5 to 8 will be mixed and reseeded according to our regular season tie-breakers. In this case we had to apply wins as well as goal difference on top of the point-per-game average, to make out the correct pairs.

The time allotted for every round in the playoffs is one week and the default scheduled days are Monday, Wednesday and Thursday. Sunday should not be used for scheduling - only as a last resort to get the games played. This will allow us to have everything set up and for the next round to start on time.

On behalf of the NHL Gamer Staff,

- gzell60

Hey Everyone,

We'd like to thank you for getting the regular season done in a timely matter! Unfortunately we didn't get through even this short regular season without a dropout and thus handing out WO's, but for the most part, things have been going really smoothly.

It's time to move into the second ECL Season Playoffs and below you will find the Playoff pairs:

Group 1 vs Group 2
Nordic Lightning - Nordic Hockey Tigers
Dynasty - Ace Holes HC
Sjukstugan - ORIGINS
Kattiautomaatti - Beniserna

Group 3 vs Group 4
Nordic Nightmare - Rising Force
Victorious Secret HC - SIKA
Refuse To Lose - TIKI TALK
Nordic Blizzard - Fat Cats

Group 5 vs Group 6
Synergy Hockey - Freaky Friday
Aapon Taikasauva - Nordic Stars
Infinity - Written In The Stars
Silver Sword Griffins - HC IceTigers

Group 7 vs Group 8
Helter Skelter - Rising Phantoms HC
Finnish Roosters - Falun Coal Miners
HC Shameful Knights - Murohoki
MUKIMIEHET - Northern Stars

The games will be played best-out-of-7 and groups 1-4 will be on the left hand side of the playoff tree and 5-8 on the right side. In the second round the teams will be reseeded based on points per game, however groups 1-4 and 5-8 won't mix until the finals.

The time allotted for every round in the playoffs is one week and the default scheduled days are Monday, Wednesday and Thursday. Sunday should not be used for scheduling - only as a last resort to get the games played. This will allow us to have everything set up and for the next round to start on time.

There are a few statistical mistakes currently displaying on the page that will be fixed shortly. The actual standings have been taken into consideration while creating the above pairs. 

On behalf of the NHL Gamer Staff,