Sodertalje SK takes the virtual ice

NHLGamers,

The past year has brought a multitude of organizations into the NHL esports scene out of which a vast majority are Swedish traditional hockey clubs which is a joy to see. The latest addition to this group of clubs is going to be Sodertalje SK, who will be competing as SSK Esports in NHLGamer organized tournaments and have in fact pushed into the quarterfinals of the SCL already, where the team will be facing the very strong Vaxjo Lakers HC in a series that will be starting tonight and is broadcasted at www.twitch.tv/nhlgamer.

"Now is the time to act on this and we've been impressed with the quick growth of esports in general. Basically every SHL club is represented in esports and we wanted to jump on that train in also establishing a HockeyAllsvenskan presence in esports. We welcome our esports team with open arms and will be doing everything we can to back them in their efforts going forward. It's especially heartwarming to be represented by true supporters of SSK on the virtual ice." - Club director Robert Andersson

The roster of SSK Esports consist of several experienced Swedish players with some Norwegian spice in the form of Henning @el_tacobag Drange. The captain trio of David @HambergD Hamberg, Philip @Strumpan87 Ström and Asko @minokin Grön have all played through their own paths and ended up crossing paths in the former Syndicate, who they now have turned into SSK Esports with a few interesting acquisitions, mainly their Norwegian addition and Tobias @svetidaje Karlsson to help out on defense.

We had a few words with captain @HambergD ahead of tonight's games against Vaxjo:

You've been doing well so far into the SCL and are now heading into a massive challenge facing Vaxjo, what's your gameplan going into this series?
- We've been trying to stick to our guns as much as possible and in general it's been working well for us. In order to fight our way tot he semi's we'll keep doing just the same - trusting that we truly can challenge even the best teams and offer a good fight in all three zones of the ice. Vaxjo is a tremendously skilled team that you have to make it hard for to enter your zone. They're at their best when setting up around the net so we'll really have to give our all in every situation in order to top that.

Take us through your roster a bit, what are some of your strengths?
- I believe we're quite the pain to play against as our system is built on puck cycling offense with lots of movement up front. Our defenders also play a big role in creating offense. We know that we can trust our defense since on top of our two regulars, we've got former defensemen up front who definitely know how to handle themselves without the puck on their stick. 

If you were to pick out one team that you definitely want to beat, who would that be?
- If I were to mention one, I'd say Company of Geeks. We managed to keep a high level throughout that series and were glad to be able to take home that victory. When looking ahead, I'd say Vesa Pompa HC has to be the team everyone wants to beat. They've got the ability to do such unexpected things on the ice and possess all the skill in the world. We felt that we challenged them well in the group stage, so we're definitely eager for a rematch if the opportunity should present itself. 

Sodertalje SK

Sodertalje SK, also known as SSK hails from the east coast of Sweden as Södertälje is located just south of the nations capital Stockholm. The club currently competes at the second highest tier of Swedish hockey - HockeyAllsvenskan and is among the older clubs in the country, as SSK was founded in 1902 and started their hockey operations in 1925.

Follow SSK Esports on social media here:
Twitch
Twitter
The team also has an open Discord-server for fans, please request an invite from a team member if you wish to join.