Welcome to the jubilee 10th season of the German Championship League!

SportsGamers,

the 10th iteration of the German Championship League is about to start. To celebrate our Anniversary Season we wanted to look back on the past nine seasons. Who was involved in the GCL, which players dominated the scene and who finally crowned themselves Champions of the "DACH-region". Many players and teams joined and left the virtual hockey stage during the years as it all started back in NHL18 - when it all began as the GEL in the inaugural season. We especially want to thank @Hennisch and @Franky__2768 who paved the way for German NHL Esports and made all those seasons possible, with all their effort they put in as the years and NHL titles passed by! In Season 2 the newly named GCL joined NHLGamer (now SportsGamer) where the DACH-Championship is still played to this day. Let's not waste any further time and jump straight into the past nine GCL Seasons - feel free to share your memories with us in the comments down below!

GEL:  Inter Iceland vs.  Clowns On Ice

Back in autumn of 2017 is where it all started. The inaugural season of DACH eHockey action was organized on a separate platform. A big thank you to @Hennisch, @LosTypos, @GreatOne139 and @Franky__2768 who were indispensable with all their enthusiasm to build a competetive platform for NHL18 6v6 hockey in Germany, Austria and Switzerland! The GEL kicked off on October 27th 2017 as 11 teams participated in Season 1. Many of those teams are still active nowadays, with the well-known juggernauts Deadly Phantoms, Clowns on Ice, EV Duisburg and the legendary Inter Iceland. After various tournaments in the past it was safe to say that all of those four teams were the favourites on the GEL title. Inter Iceland, who should spend several seasons in ECL Pro led by their Captain Joshua @Hasek-39-- Plattner, paved their way to the final against the Clowns On Ice. Two highly skilled teams matched up in the finals as Inter crowned themselves champions with a 4:2 serieswin around ECL Season 1 veteran Alex @IDangledYouOut Wagner. Stefan @Stefan_397 Hämmerle was one of the dominating players in that year as he gained the topscoring title in the regular season and playoffs. Hämmerle is still to this date one of the most skilled Forwards the German community has to offer. A place among the Top-10-All-time-Scorers on SportsGamer.gg underlines the skillset of the Bavarian Left wing!
 

GCL2:  Deadly Phantoms HC vs.  The Black Jacks

Over the course of NHL18 the German EASHL League was implemented on NHLGamer. Rebranded as the GCL the second season kicked off in March 2018. 15 Teams joined the league as the dominating era of the Deadly Phantoms started. Winning 26 out of the 28 regular season games brought them #1 overall seed, only falling short against EV Duisburg and the Puck Panthers, led by Reto @Swiss Moger Dubacher. Swiss outfit The Black Jacks joined the German powerhouse at the top of the table with 22 wins. The Swiss managed to build a very dominant squad around Sven @Original-SnuS Julmi who led his team with 65 points in 18 Games! Trinidad Tobago joined the two dominant forces in the semifinals - a squad full of non-DACH players which was later prohibited as the licenseplayer rule was implemented just one season later. A dominating finals performance by the Deadly Phantoms was crowned with a 4:3OT Win in Game 5 against The Black Jacks. Stefan @Rayman Mieth was the leagues MVP as he scored stunning 90 points in 22 regular season games and superthroned his performance in the postseason with 40 points in just 13 games!

GCL3:   Deadly Phantoms HC vs.  Silver Sword Griffins

Right after the release of NHL19 the third GCL season started! 14 Teams in one group. Top 8 made it to the playoffs. Just as in the previous season the Deadly Phantoms should sit on top - a picture that the DACH community had to get used to for several seasons in a row! 25-1-0 and a whopping 187 goals scored underlines the dominance of DPH! A great squad formed by Frank @Franky__2768 Münch as he got Tim @Timasy Heß from their competitors Clowns On Ice into the team. Among the dominating teams in the league the well-known faces were joined by a new squad: The Silver Sword Griffins. A team consisting out of a big core that later formed back to Inter Iceland such as Stefan @Charly Braun and Much @Much1979 Ramu! The Griffins added some Latvian Skillset to their roster which is still known nowadays especially from their performances in the RCL and WECL! Steffen @Seibertus94 Leuchtenberger and Daniel @DangerBrooklyn Göpfert joined the GCL as DEG eSports. The first official eSports Team from the DEL which is still competing in today's ECL and GCL! Especially @DangerBrooklyn was and still is feared for his dangerous deflections in front of the net. In the finals DPH clashed with the German-Latvian Silver Sword Griffins which is one of the most intense and tight finals in GCL history. Game 7 was needed to crown the new DACH-Champion as Superstar @Timasy scored the OT GWG to clinch the second straight title after a cheeky assist by his Center Simon @PlaymakerSJ Junker.

GCL4:  Deadly Phantoms HC vs.  The Black Jacks

In the 4th iteration of the GCL we have seen 18 teams participating. Divided in two groups, Top 5 of each group made the playoffs including a Best-Of-3 Preplayoff Round for the first time! With EV Füssen Esports a second official Esports Team from Germany joined the competetive eHockey scene in the GCL and what a start it should be for the Bavarian boys. Stefan @Stefan_397 Hämmerle continued his dominating individual performances with 88 points in 16 games which guaranteed Füssen rank 1, right in front of their Swiss counterpart The Black Jacks! The Deadly Phantoms repeated their perfect regular season and grabbed overall seed #1 with a record of 16-0. Felix @ProfaneKiss Kiss joined DPH after many succesful seasons with Clowns on Ice and had immediate impact on their game. Nowadays the Austrian playmaker still belongs to the most skilled players in the community and highlights his skillset with many impressive seasons on ECL Elite and Pro Level! One of the biggest newcomers in that season were the Eisbären Regensburg who improved from a 2-24-0 record in the previous season to 9-7-0 and a spot in the Preplayoffs against the Niederrhein Canucks. Stefan @Toews19 Schoierer led the squad on and off the ice. 48 points in 16 games meant a spot among the best scores of the league and simultaneously the best scorer who did not play for one of the Top 4 Teams in GCL4! The Polarbears swept the Canucks in Round 1 but eventually fell short to DPH in the Quarterfinals. With Werewolves HC a new hot team on the block made their way to the Playoffs. Bastian @ali-kn Wolf, Waldemar @Wowa_1995 Kern and Max @Toneee9 Tonitz built an impressive and highly skilled trio. Unfortunately their rather succesful debutseason ended with a Game 7 Loss to The Black Jacks in the Quarterfinals. For the second time in GCL history we should see a finals clash between the "Eidgenossen" and the Deadly Phantoms. In contrast to GCL2 the series was very tight and the Swiss squad seemed to close the gap towards DPH more and more with each season. But just as last season the Phantoms kept the upper hand as the series went to 7 games yet again. Simon @PlaymakerSJ Junker decided the Championship in Overtime as he scored the 2:1 OT GWG. Cornerstone for this seasons success was Patrick @RPH_31 Braun with an impressive 89.01% Savepercentage during the Regular Season and Playoffs!

GCL5:  BRAYCE Phantoms vs.  Shooting Stars

In GCL5 we have seen quite a few changes and exciting developments in the DACH-Community. The Black Jacks signed a contract with the NLA powerhouse from Zürich and became the official Esports Team of ZSC Lions! The Eisbären Regensburg rebranded as EBR Esports Official and signed a contract with the Oberliga Team from Regensburg, Bavaria. Aswell as the Deadly Phantoms HC signing with BRAYCE and joining the league as the BRAYCE Phantoms! At the same time the German Championship League was divided into two divisions. While eleven Teams participated in Division 1, fourteen squads competed in Division 2 to gain promotion to the highest tier. The legendary Clowns On Ice eventually gained promotion, thanks to an exciting 4:3 final against UKnighted HC, a team consisting of many ECL1 veterans such as Dave @Asche Schäfer and Marko @Nr-0847 Reza. As already teasered in the previous paragraphs the new BRAYCE Phantoms continued their phenomenal dominance and secured seed #1 with a record of 18-1-1. The Shooting Stars (previously EV Füssen Esports), ZSC Lions and EBR Esports Official formed the Top 4 in this season. EV Duisburg could not compensate the departure of Defenseman Niklas @xXPsykoSkillsXx Schmitz who joined the Phantoms right at the start of NHL20 - a record of 2-15-3 was not enough to secure a spot for Division 1 in GCL6, meaning they were the first team to get relegated into Division 2. Stephan @Krinke Krinke, a player who is competing in NHL since day one, was able to carry the Augsburg Panther to the Playoffs. Unfortunately the Bavarians fell short to ZSC Lions and got swept in the Quarterfinals in GCL5. While the BRAYCE Phantoms secured their 4th consecutive finals appearance, the Lions got steamtrained by the Shooting Stars in the Semifinals. A 4-0 sweep was a very surprising result back then considering the ECL Pro performances by the Swiss outfit. Tim @Timasy Heß was the MVP in the regular season and the playoffs as he led the Phantoms to a dominant and well deserved 4:0 Finals victory against the underdogs of the Shooting Stars. Four consecutive GCL Championships for the Phantoms already. Is there any possibility to stop their dominance?

GCL6:  BRAYCE Phantoms vs.  ZSC Esports

The 6th GCL took yet another all-time-high as 37 teams competed in two Divisions. We have not seen any changes in Division 1 as 12 teams participated and the Top 8 once again made the postseason. The number of Division 2 teams increased to 25 teams where the Red Light Jokers grabbed the title and promotion to the highest tier in GCL hockey as they beat the KSE Teutons in five games. Herzog @HerzogMagnus Magnus  put one of the most impressive Division 2 performances on the virtual ice as he scored 181 points in 40 games (Regular Season + Playoffs) - unfortunately for him it was not enough to win the Championship but their finals appearance still meant promotion to Division 1 in the following GCL7! For the first time the GCL Cup was played, too. A format well-known from real life sports, especially Football such as the DFB-Pokal or FA Cup, all teams across both Divisions participated in a Best-Of 1 Knockout Tournament. Inter Iceland crowned themselves first GCL Cup Champs with a 5:2 victory against ZSC Esports in the Final. The previously mentioned Werewolves HC signed a deal with the Oberliga Team ECDC Memmingen Indians and paved their way to their second semifinals appearance. But again they fell short in 6 games - this time to the dominant BRAYCE Phantoms. The regular season was a wild ride as we have seen many new players mix the league up. Kevin @Keuschemisch Berg scored 49 points in 22 games and helped his team EBR Esports Official to grab overall seed #2 with a record of 18-4-0. The squad around captain Jonas @kandykills Fleischmann continued their strong form as they beat the Central Hockey Canucks in the Quarterfinals in 6 games. Patrick @Pathen-21- Hendrix and Matteo @DiMatteo70 Guenther played an impressive season for the Canucks from the lower Rhine Valley but the Polarbears from Bavaria seemed to be too strong in the postseason. Another squad worth mentioning was EIS FORCE Hockey. Shooting stars Nico @Nicoli2311 Schubert and Patrick @Paddyy1903 Steinmüller helped the young rookies to sneak on overall seed #6 and forced game 7 in the Quarterfinals against ZSC Esports. In the end the Swiss outfit maintained their role as the favourites on another GCL Finals appearance but the young guns from EIS FORCE Hockey mixed Division 1 up as no team ever before! In the end we should see a final between the Phantoms and the virtual Lions from Zürich for a third time in six seasons. After the first night it seemed that the momentum has shifted as ZSC Esports got a 2-0 serieslead against titleholders from BRAYCE. But on night two the Phantoms striked back. A few tactical adjustments changed the whole gameplay as they won four straight to secure their 5th consecutive GCL Championship!

GCL7:  ZSC Esports vs.  Team LEISURE

Due to the pandemic GCL7 set another record as 49 teams registered to play in the DACH Championship. To prevent bigger skillgaps in the divisions the League Adminstration decided to divide the league into three Divisions! AM United won the first Championship in Division 3 as they beat the DEL2 Squad of EC Bad Nauheim Esports with a stunning sweep. The Division 2 Finals went to seven games as Deggendorfer SC Esports managed to beat Swiss counterpart SCB Esports as the lowest seed in the playoff bracket. An impressive run by the Bavarians around Assistant-Captain Johannes @Johannes.Helmbrecht Helmbrecht who later that year won the Silvermedal in the German 1v1 Championship eDEL! At the start of NHL21 many changes took place as ECDC Memmingen Esports signed a deal with the German Esports Organization PENTA. Kevin @Kevinator-373 Würterle and Dominik @Domi_PENTA Rühl led the squad on and off the ice which unfortunately ended in yet another semifinal loss to ZSC Esports. Good comfort should follow later as they won the GCL Cup in a thrilling Overtime Win against Team LEISURE (previously BRAYCE Phantoms) as Akin @DaMan Isik scored a cheeky shortside snipe to win their first title! The Swiss Lions managed to kick the Phantoms off the "regular season" throne as they secured #1 seed with a record of 24-1-1. Max @Toneee9 Tonitz joined the team from Memmingen and had a massive impact on their game which eventually led to the promotion to ECL Elite, too! Captain Sven @Original-SnuS Julmi grabbed the virtual Hart Trophy scoring 79 points in 24 games. Especially the chemistry with his wingers Alex @IDangledYouOut Wagner and Claudio @Freeman7187 Salamoni is what made ZSC so dangerous in that season! But was it enough to finally get their hands on that GCL Trophy? We will find out later! The BRAYCE Phantoms signed a deal with Team LEISURE. Instead of Black-Red-White the record champs swapped their colours to a more conservative Blue-Gold and had to compensate the departure of Tim @Timasy Heß who joined YMCA Esports in ECL Elite and later that season ZSC Esports - which is still to date one of the most surprising transfers in GCL History! EBR Esports Official changed their colours, too, as they rebranded as noRex Gaming. Overall seed #4 and another Quarterfinals win against the Central Hockey Canucks meant their second consecutive semifinals appearance. But it should not be enough to beat Team LEISURE as they fell short in 6 games. Worth mentioning is the performance of their Finnish Licenseplayer Mikka @Stigi Heinonkoski who scored 33 goals in 24 regular season games - the most goals of all GCL Players in that season. So, for the second straight year we should see another Finals clash between ZSC Esports and Team LEISURE. But this time the outcome was different to what we have seen in the previous seasons. The virtual Lions swept the 5-time defending Champion in icecold fashion and secured their first GCL Championship in their 4th final! Reto @afc_Tschitsch Ulrich had an incredible postseason run as he recorded 6 shutouts in 12 games. One of the most dominating Playoffruns we have seen so far!

GCL8:  ZSC Esports vs.  Deadly Phantoms

 In the 8th iteration of the GCL we have seen a remodelling of the league structure due to the fact that only one DACH Championship was played in NHL22. On top the GCL 1v1 was played for the first time, too! 80 players took part in the first Online VS DACH Championship on SportsGamer! In the end the Austrian Max @Toneee9 Tonitz became the inaugural champ as he beat Kevin @Kevinator-373 Würterle in a tight final. But back to 6s action! 47 teams competed in one division which was split into four groups. Back to the roots the Deadly Phantoms once again secured seed #1 in the postseason with a record of 22-0-0 in their group. Kevin @Keuschemisch Berg joined the ECL Elite juggernaut ZSC Esports from noRex Gaming together with his teammate Christian @Fightlocke3 Schubert. Christian @GERxVillain Ungeheuer who developed to one of the best Defenseman in the German scene followed his two former noRex members after spending one season with the Phantoms in ECL'22 Spring Pro! noRex Gaming reset their roster as the young and very talented winger Damien @xCocii Baynes brought in Roope @pikkuroger Bergström who eventually scored 95 points in 14 games and secured a spot among the Top 10 scorers of GCL8! Another very young and ambitious Esports Team joined the league as the formerly Nürnberg Niddhoggr signed a deal with the DEL squad Nürnberg Ice Tigers. Especially Luca @cpt_dirtyDangler Knoll and Lennart @Lennart Hansen Hansen are two players who should be on everyones mind for the near future! The Franconian Ice Tigers paved their way straight to the quarterfinals but fell short to Team NGU (previously named PENTA) in five games. Team NGU, Deadly Phantoms and ZSC Esports were joined by a new highly effective team named Hyperion (previously named KSE Teutons). Veteran Stefan @Rayman Mieth had more than impressive numbers in GCL8 and always seemed to be in the right spot especially in the combination with young gun Paul @Pauner08 Weingart. In the semifinals Hyperion was defeated by ZSC Esports in five games who claimed their third consecutive GCL final. On the other hand the Deadly Phantoms swept Team NGU - Aleksi @MozjaTG Kähkonen joined on loan from ECL Elite Squad Tunnel Vision and had big impact on DPHs success. They left the underdogs no chance as we should see the same two teams clashing in the final round for the 5th time in eight seasons. Alexander @BloodyLP Blattmann casted the finals and it was more exciting than ever. After session one the Lions took the 2:1 serieslead against the Phantoms with two clear victories and finished the job on the second night as they secured the title in six games. Sven @Original-SnuS Julmi decided game 6 in Overtime and became the hero to bring the title to Zürich, Switzerland for the second straight year. To top things off ZSC Esports secured the first GCL double that night, too, as they beat Hyperion in the GCL Cup Final 3:2. Was this the final end of the Phantoms dominance?

GCL9:  ZSC Esports vs.  Deadly Phantoms

Last season started right after ECL'23 Winter was finished! Just as in GCL8 the 1v1 Championship was played, too. In the end Kevin @Keuschemisch Berg crowned himself GCL9 1v1 Champ with a 3:1 Finals win against his ZSC teammate Sven @Original-SnuS Julmi! The League Administration decided to reset the league structure into two divisions as 16 teams, split into two groups, competed in Division 1 as the Top 4 of each group made the playoffs. 32 Squads participated and fought for promotion in Division 2. We witnessed the first Swiss Final between Ambri eSports and EHC Olten eSports as Ambri grabbed the Division 2 crown and secured the Division 2 Championship in five games. Kris @iWeeb22 Webdano had an incredible season with 111 points in 32 games (Regular Season + Playoffs). Worth mentioning that the Swiss outfit managed to gain promotion as the lowest seed just as Deggendorfer SC Esports a few seasons ago, too. In the GCL Cup ZSC Esports defended their title in Overtime against - who else - than the Deadly Phantoms. Chris @GERxVillain Ungeheuer decided the Final in Overtime after being down by one goal in the last minute in regular time. Worth mentioning is the performance of Division 2 Squad Old Dirty Primates. The Primates advanced to the Quarterfinals of the Cup and were beaten by the Schlittschuhclub Bern but showed their qualities in this competition. The best finish by a Division 2 team in the GCL Cup to date! The Deadly Phantoms melted with former squad Hyperion to form a new strong roster as longterm Captain Frank @Franky__2768 Münch took a step back and players like Maximilian @gzell60 Käsmaier and Dominik @CashAllGreen Bellersheim stepped into the Starting Six. The Phantoms grabbed Overall seed #2 right behind their eternal rivals of ZSC Esports and were followed by a quite surprising new team on the block. The Predators finished on rank two of Group 2! Slovakian Licenseplayer Roland @jasomnajlepsi Nemec carried the newcomers with his impressive skillset and underlined his ambitions with 31 points in 12 games. With Hannover Indians Esports, HC Lugano Esports and EHC Kloten Esports, who started as Gleumes Hockey Krefeld in the season before, three new official Esports teams joined the German Championship League. Unfortunately non of these teams were able to hold on to their ambitions and their run was finished after 16 games in the regular season. With Eisbären Lauf Gaming a new exciting and very ambitious squad joined the stage of Division 1 eHockey! Max @theburner18 Spachmüller and Thomas @newman_2909 Neumann were able to create a talented roster with a good mixture of experience by adding the legendary Josh @Hasek-39-- Plattner to their team. Unfortunately it should not be enough for a first playoff appearance in GCL9 but that did not stop them by spending their first season on Pro Level in ECL'23 Spring! In the Playoff bracket we have seen a similar image as in the previous GCLs. ZSC Esports, Deadly Phantoms and Team NGU paved their way to the Top 4 and were joined by Tobias @Hohner Hohner's Esports squad from RB Munich who beat the Predators in Round 1 of the postseason. Unfortunately for them they were not able to keep up with the speed of the ZSC Lions as they got swept despite a top notch performance by their Goalie Marcel @Capitano_82 Houdelet. So, for a fourth straight season the two juggernauts of the DACH Community clashed in the GCL Finals! As we saw Alexander @BloodyLP Blattmann in the Commentator Box one more time the virtual Lions took a 3:0 serieslead after night one. Thanks to a clutch performance by licenseplayer Lenne @kemppainen39 Kemppainen who took over the position in the right Defense. In the second session the Phantoms striked back as they claimed victory in Games 4 and 5 and it seemed like the momentum has shifted as their confidence rised and they aimed for that reverse sweep. Alex @IDangledYouOut Wagner, who rotated from Goaltender back into the right offensive position, decided Game 6 early on and ZSC Esports secured their back-to-back-to-back title with a 5:1 win! 

GCL10:

After a title for Inter Iceland in the inaugural GCL Season 1, the Deadly Phantoms were able to secure five(!) titles in a row! After their relegation from ECL Elite the momentum shifted towards their Swiss competitors as they secured three GCL Championships in a row now. In GCL10 both squads are heavy favourites on the title in the anniversary season yet again. Especially in a Best-Of-7 Playoffseries it is tough for any team in the league to kick ZSC or DPH from their throne. With RB Munich Esports and Eisbären Lauf Esports two more teams gained Pro Experience in ECL'23 Spring. It will be interesting to see if the experience on higher level will help them in the German Championship League, too. HC Lugano Esports had an incredible ECL Lite campaign, only falling short to the later champions of Mustaa Kultaa in the Quarterfinals. We can be excited to see if the Swiss outfit is able to compensate the departure of Jürgen @DangledYouOut Kloster into Division 2 and getting in Slovakian Forward Roland @jasomnajlepsi Nemec instead. Nürnberg Ice Tigers Esports also took steps into the right directions as they transferred two-time eNLA Champ Mirco @Tron1x90 Komir before last ECL'23 Spring Lite campaign who helped them to advance to the second round of the postseason. Especially in a season with big rotations expected due to holidays and vacation anything might happen. Once again a big thank you to @wobfighter, @adu83, @ManU287, @Drobele, @Myiama and @Justmaniac for organizing the jubilee Season for competetive 6s in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Will ZSC Esports get their hands on their 4th title in a row? Will the Deadly Phantoms be back on top? Or are we seeing an underdog paving their way to the finals and managing to surprise every player in a scene? Alexander @BloodyLP Blattmann will be back in the booth again and joined by @RPH_31, @kandykills and @theburner18 live on twitch.tv/sportsgamerdach as we will present you a weeekly Broadcast!

We wish everyone an exciting GCL10 season. Play hard and smart and we will see you again in the Playoffs!

Kevin @Keuschemisch Berg