NHLGamers,

Although a bit overshadowed by the NHL 20 Beta hype, we've yet again concluded a season in one of our leagues. The Spring League was started due to heavy interest from the community to have some competitive games going on and with 78 teams signing up we can call this one a success. At the end we had two teams remaining who battled it out for the title as Spring League champion. Written In The Stars played their last game under that name (now HAVU) as they faced off against Butterfly Effect in a best-of-5 series. Here's how it went:

Game 1: Written In The Stars - Butterfly Effect 3-2 OT

Game 2: Butterfly Effect  - Written In The Stars 0-3

Game 3: Written In The Stars - Butterfly Effect 1-0

 Written In The Stars
ROAD TO THE FINALS
Regular season record: 22-0-0
Round 1: BYE
Round 2: vs HC Unknown Diamond 3-0
Round 3: vs The Black Jacks 3-0
Quarterfinals: vs Nordic Stars 3-1
Semifinals: vs Unlucky Boys HC 3-0

GOALTENDERS

#16 V. Voutilainen @VesKuLiNe

#88 H. Kettunen @Hansulinho

DEFENSEMEN

#43 Y. Wilhelm @willekunq

#65 N. Mooh @kojowaa

#78 M. Katajisto @Nassustelija

FORWARDS

#6 I. Lehkonen @Buantso 

#13 R. Järvi @Dominointi 

#25 E. Tammenpää @Eki

#87 T. Keränen @topikeranen 

#91 T. Kuha @FlyerKungen 

NHLGamer congratulates Written In The Stars for the title!

Hey NHLGamers,

the second round of the Spring League has come to an end and had a banging upset with it. Will there be one more in the next round when The Black Jacks face the six-headed monster of Written In The Stars? Without further ado we want to announce the third round of the playoffs:

#1 Written In The Stars vs The Black Jacks #35
#3 Butterfly Effect vs AIK Hockey #27
#4 Northern Ascendancy vs Gotham Knights #20
#5 Invictus vs Deadly Phantoms HC #17
#6 The Next Gen vs Nordic Stars #15
#8 Reality Check HC vs Vesa Pompa HC #14
#9 MUKIMIEHET vs Almost Famous #12
#10 Unlucky Boys HC vs Supernatural #11

As in the first two rounds, the third edition will also be played in a best-of-5 series, so you need three wins to advance to the next round. The third round starts Thursday, 27.06.2019 and all games have to be played by Wednesday, 03.07.2019, 23:59 CEST.

Whether you're playing in the Spring League or not, please make sure to follow our news section as info for further tournaments will be released soon.

Hey NHLGamers,

The first playoff round of the Spring League has nearly ended. So far we haven't seen that many upsets, but who knows - maybe things will change in the second round as soon as the big guns will enter the race. Will there be a choke, sorry, I mean Tampa Bay fiasco?

As you probably noticed and/or experienced, the PSN network had some downtime on Thursday, the 13th of June 2019, which was set to be the last game day for the first round. Three series' are left to be played as they had planned to play the remaining games on the evening where the downtime occurred. Due to this unforeseen PSN downtime, we have decided to extend the first round until Monday, 17th of June 2019 23:59 CEST. As some second round pairs are already clear, these matchups can start playing on Sunday, 16th of June 2019 and the whole second round has to be played by Wednesday, 26th of June 2019. Please note that due to this generous amount of time for the second round, do not expect any additional time if you plan poorly.

The last three remaining series of the first round are:

• #22 Blackdawgs vs EV Duisburg #43 (Series 1:1)
• #31 Silver Sword Griffins vs UnderRated Lekstuga #34 (Series 2:0)
• #32 Wolverines HC vs SOPPAJENGI #33 (Series 2:2)

To summarize:

• 1st round: Sunday, 09.06.2019 until Monday, 17.06.2019 23:59 CEST
• 2nd round: Tuesday 18.06.2019 until Wednesday, 26.06.2019 23:59 CEST (however confirmed pairs may start sooner)
   

League Administration would like to announce the following rulings on below cases:

Deadly Phantoms HC vs ExBox
DPH had a 2:0 series lead over ExBox and the teams agreed to finish the series on Tuesday 11th of June. After first delaying the decisive games by 30 minutes, ExBox informed DPH at the delayed starting time that they won't have the players to finish the series and that ExBox will forfeit the remaining game. Deadly Phantoms HC receives a WO win and are therefore qualified for the second round.

Raccoon Rampage vs United Crew
Raccoon Rampage had a 2:0 series lead over United Crew. After the second game, which United Crew quit in the third period, United Crew informed Raccoon Rampage that they won't play the third game and leave them the last remaining win. Therefore the WO is awarded for Raccoon Rampage and they have also qualified for the second round. LA would like to remind all teams that quitting mid-game and/or giving up during a series is poor sportmanship and unacceptable behavior from a team.


Playoffs Round 2:

#1 Written In The Stars vs HC Unknown Diamond #39
#2 Symphony vs The Black Jacks #35
#3 Butterfly Effect vs Wolverines HC #32
#4 Northern Ascendancy vs Silver Sword Griffins #31
#5 Invictus vs Company of Geeks #29
#6 The Next Gen vs Cannonieris #28
#7 Checkmate vs AIK Hockey #27
#8 Reality Check HC vs Virtual Horizons eSports #25
#9 MUKIMIEHET vs TIKI TALK #24
#10 Unlucky Boys HC vs Horror Hockey #23
#11 Supernatural vs Blackdawgs #22
#12 Almost Famous vs Raccoon Rampage #21
#13 Six Sticks Misfits vs Gotham Knights #20
#14 Vesa Pompa HC vs GHETTO FIREBIRDS #19
#15 Nordic Stars vs LIONHEARTS #18
#16 Cheers Hockey vs Deadly Phantoms HC #17

All matchups are a best-of-5 series, so you need 3 wins to advance to the next round. The higher ranked team has the home ice advantage.

Captains of the teams which didn't qualify for the playoffs: After asking for your opinion about lower tier playoffs, we would like to announce that we have decided to not host lower-tier playoffs in this season. There weren't enough teams that wanted to participate in the lower tier playoffs and with the Summer Cup around the corner (info will be released as soon as we know all the relevant details), it didn't make sense for us to go through all of that trouble for only a handful of teams. That being said, a big thank you to the teams for their activity in responding to this inquiry! 

Hey NHLGamers,

as the spring itself, our Spring League is closing in towards its end. The temperature is getting higher, as is the intensity on the virtual ice. Over 1.700 matches were played and over 800 players took part in this tournament. We saw tight games, we saw some upsets, we saw some big guns firing everything they've got. The top 8 in points have 100+ points with an average of nearly 4 points per game - who the heck is Gretzky right?

But there is nothing like playoff hockey, even in a fun and more relaxed league like the Spring League - if you sign up, you want to go all the way and win the whole thing!
Without further ado we would like to introduce you the playoffs for this seasons Spring League:

48 Teams are qualified for the playoffs - the top two teams of each group will have a bye round in the first week. In addition, the 4 next teams with the best points per game average (PPG) will also be joining this bye round. The other 32 teams are getting seeded due to the following factors:

• PPG average during the regular season
• Wins (per game - as there were some groups with less games than others)
• Head to Head record
• Goal Difference
• Goals scored

Every series is a best of 5 series, so you need three wins to advance to the next round. The higher ranked team has the home ice advantage. This leads to the following seeding and playoff pairs:

Teams with bye round: #1 Written In The Stars, #2 Symphony, #3 Butterfly Effect, #4 Northern Ascendancy, #5 Invictus, #6 The Next Gen, #7 Checkmate, #8 Reality Check HC, #9 MUKIMIEHET, #10 Unlucky Boys HC, #11 Supernatural, #12 Almost Famous, #13 Six Sticks Misfits, #14 Vesa Pompa HC, #15 Nordic Stars, #16 Cheers Hockey

Playoffs round 1:

#17 Deadly Phantoms HC vs ExBox #48
#18 LIONHEARTS vs Old Farts #47
#19 GHETTO FIREBIRDS vs Freddie Mercury Institute #46
#20 Gotham Knights vs Rukoilevat Hinkkaajat #45
#21 Raccoon Rampage vs United Crew #44
#22 Blackdawgs vs EV Duisburg #43
#23 Horror Hockey vs Beast Hockey #42
#24 TIKI TALK vs Speedy Bros Hockey #41
#25 Virtual Horizons eSports vs MahtiAnkat HT #40
#26 FarmiNaattori vs HC Unknown Diamond #39
#27 AIK Hockey vs Clowns On Ice #38
#28 Cannonieris vs EV Fuessen eSports #37
#29 Company of Geeks vs Murohoki #36
#30 Bellizzi vs The Black Jacks #35
#31 Silver Sword Griffins vs UnderRated Lekstuga #34
#32 Wolverines HC vs SOPPAJENGI #33

The first round off the playoffs will take place between Sunday 09.06.2019 and Thursday, 13.06.2019.

We want to wish every team good luck and have fun!

Captains of the teams which didn't qualify for the playoffs, please check your inbox during the weekend as League Administration will want your teams interest in a lower tier playoffs and if you are ready to participate - or if you'd rather call it a day. Nevertheless we want to thank all of you for participating!

Hey NHLGamers,

We are already in week 5 of the Spring League, but there is still a lot of hockey left to be played. Surely you noticed that the last scheduled gameday is Monday, the 03.06.2019. As some teams are a little bit behind schedule and we want to ensure all games to be played on the ice, we decided to set the regular season end for Thursday, 06.06.2019 and the playoffs are about to start on Monday, 10.06.2019.

If you have any troubles in scheduling with your opponent, please contact the League Administration via the support tool.

Furthermore please be aware that we will start a poll soon where we need your opinion, if you want to have lower tier playoffs. Please do only vote if your team is effected.

NHLGamers,

We've had reports of inactivity with communication when scheduling Spring League games. Therefore, we feel it's timely to issue this reminder to all captains.

Although we have a set schedule with gamedays that should be respected, please ALWAYS contact your opponents ahead of a scheduled game. This way several misunderstandings can be avoided and eventual rescheduling can be agreed upon. We recommend contacting your opponents both on PSN and NHLGamer.

Please be transparent and respond to your opponents messages.

At this point we would also like to remind you that the trade deadline for Spring League is on the 19th of May, 2019 at 23:59 CEST.

Your NHLGamer Staff

Hi NHLGamers,

it's time for our very first Spring League! A total of 82 teams registered for this non-divisional tournament which will feature some of the very best ECL teams alongside some newcomers. Without further ado we would like to give you a short briefing of the important details of this tournament:

The Spring League season kicks off tomorrow on Monday 6th of May, however we would like captains to attempt respecting the suggested gamedays as follows: Monday, Wednesday and Thursday.

Rules

There are currently no special rules for the Spring League, but we would like to refer to the known ECL rulebook - the rules will be most likely to display the rules which are set for the Pro division. We will update the rulebook and release it as soon as possible.

League Administration

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

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

Spring League Groups:

Below is the complete list of the teams participating this season and in which groups they will play. We decided to make a total of 6 groups.

Here are your Spring League groups:

Playoffs

The eight best teams out of each group will be making the playoffs. This totals up to 48 teams. 16 teams will have a bye week for the first round, these 16 include the top two teams out of each group and the four next best teams determined by PPG. Alike the playoffs in ECL 8 Lite, the remaining 32 teams will then be seeded according to PPG and matched up against each other based on that. A new seeding will be done after the first round. The playoffs will be played in a best-of-5 format throughout.

Communication

Although we have a set schedule with gamedays that should be respected, please ALWAYS contact your opponents ahead of a scheduled game. This way several misunderstandings can be avoided and eventual rescheduling can be agreed upon. We recommend contacting your opponents both on PSN and NHLGamer.

How to report games

Game reporting is essential in order for the league to run smoothly. All captains should familiarise themselves with how the function works. For detailed instructions, please read our manual here.

NHLGamers, 

It's been a while since the ECL action came to an end and we've all surely been itching for some competitive hockey for quite a while now! The SCL is now underway and the first week of competition has shown a lot of promise - with that being said, we know that the SCL doesn't cater to the needs of all of our community and that's why we're bringing you the Spring League.

The NHLGamer Spring League is a free-to-play tournament meant to cater to the competitive gamers in our community. This tournament is a great opportunity for teams to keep up their skill level while some teams will have the chance to face off and test their quality against some of the very top teams - something that wouldn't happen with the ECL format. The Spring League will not feature a divisions framework.

The start date for the league is set at Monday, the 6th of May, 2019. Signups start immediately, please head over to the registrations thread in order to sign your team up. The deadline for signing up is Friday 3rd of May 23:59 CEST.

Background vector created by freepik - www.freepik.com

Further details about the league will be communicated once we have an approximate evaluation of how many teams will sign up, but expect the league to run with a similar ruleset to the ECL, without the divisions framework however. 

For those wondering, the Spring League and Summer Cup 4 will very likely be running simultaneously for part of the summer. This in no way means that you can't participate in both, but will force players to prioritise a bit for that time period. 

We look forward to seeing you all on the ice!