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It’s official. Two teams remain in the North American Championship League, but only one can be crowned the winner. The stakes are ground breaking for the scene, with the winner taking a flight to Helsinki, Finland at the end of this month to face Europe’s top team to be considered the “worlds best” for the first time in the community's history. While the stage will be momentous, the teams that will be going head to head are household names in the region, who look to continue their ever growing legacy. Despite the classic upsets and underdogs looking to make a name for themselves, the top 2 seeds from the group stage will face off in the finals on Sunday. Scary Hours (1) vs Entourage (2) TOP SCORER Harley @Sitballs (Sitful-_-) Sitko 18 GP, 22+22=44 vs Ethan @xDeath (Ethancy) Macdonald 15 GP, 23+26=49 GOALTENDER Justin @Bardown Beauty Turner 13 GP, 11 W, 83,76 SV%, 1.46 GAA, 2 SO vs Justin @Rampage l79l Horn 15 GP, 12 W, 81,44 SV%, 2.07 GAA, 2 SO REGULAR SEASON RECORD 20-1-1 vs 17-0-3 It starts with Scary Hours, who came into the playoffs as the top seed after a fantastic group stage performance. With only a single regulation loss in the group stage, they looked as strong as they have ever looked. The new addition to the blueline in @Gwan brought the perfect balance of top end skill, and veteran experience to a team already with a loaded resume. @kcut has rounded into an MVP calibre defenseman in the past 12 months, and combining these two defenders has created a rock solid defense for Scary Hours. Despite being so close, the team hasn’t hoisted a trophy for a few events, and the group stage dominance proved that this team will be ready to fight for their next bit of silverware. Their path to the finals hasn’t come without some adversary. Matching 7 game series marathons in both the quarterfinals and semifinals could give outsiders some doubt over how strong this team really looks. However, drawn out series’ against 2 top 10 teams in Instinct and Caps Gaming could be seen as a sign of mental strength shown by the team. These type of nail biting moments can give teams that extra layer of confidence in themselves and their team in critical moments. This core has been enough battles to understand that there will be tough moments. It they truly wish to hoist the trophy, they’ll have to get through yet another strong opponent, and yet another potentially extended series. The team on the other side of the ice is someone they are certainly familiar with, and it’s in Scary Hours’ hands to finish the job. They’ve done it before, will be it their time on Sunday? Entourage find themselves back in the final 2 after coming up short in their previous attempt, and look as hungry as ever to showcase their skills in Helsinki. Their star power is apparent even before they take the ice. All 3 forwards on this team find themselves 1-2-3 in points for the playoff scoring race. They are able to run up the score if you give them too much room. It’s even more impressive when your center is the leading scorer on the team, with @xDeath leading the playoffs with 49 points in 15 games. This doesn’t even mention their backend performance, with 2 top defensemen in @Doughty x i8i and @Dumoulin65 putting up well over a point per game, and goaltender @Rampage l79l posting an 81.44 save percentage. The team is deep, and has championship caliber talent across all positions. While their playoff run has been less storied than their counterparts, Entourage has never looked rattled throughout the event. They have always looked in control of each game and each series they have played in. Rarely do you see any signs of nerves from this team, and it shows with how successful they have been as a team. The team is poised to win the entire event, and take their talents global, to truly showcase how good of a team they are. The stage is set, and the teams, talent, and viewers are ready for what should be an extremely exciting series. I have no doubts that the series will go the distance, and both teams will trade blows en route to victory. It all depends on who shows up best on Sunday. Both teams have the talent and the experience, but only one can win the title and represent their region on the global stage. It all begins this Sunday, and it all starts at twitch.tv/sportsgamergg.

We are down to the final four teams in the North American Championship League, and the competition only gets tougher from here. Some of the best teams in the region are competing for first place, and the chance to represent their region on the world stage against Europe’s best. All of these teams have the potential to win the whole thing, and the battle starts right away. The matchups will be as close as you can imagine from here on out, and so much is on the line each game. We’ll go through each matchup and talk about each team and how they stack up against their opponent. One Unit (4) vs Entourage (2) Entourage are looking to make it back to the finals for the 3rd time in a row. I thought they didn’t look as dominate in the previous event, but they are back into their high octane offensive play. @gilly is one of the region’s top snipers, and will be looking to lead this team to another dominate performance. There is only so much you can say about this team without repetition, but they have simply been in this position enough times to know what they need to do to win. They simply need to play confidently like they are the better team. Originally thought as nothing more than a dark horse, One Unit has exploded into a true event contender with an underdog win against IslesGT. With IslesGT being considered a favourite to win the whole event, One Unit went into the series and beat them in a tight affair en route to a series victory. While they have not been in the scene for as long as others in the top 4, One Unit have risen to the top of North American 6’s at a rapid pace, and it will now be difficult to call them anything but contenders. While it will still be an uphill battle against juggernauts no matter what, they have earned a huge reputation boost making it this far in this fashion. While it will be competitive, Entourage is playoff hardened and will be a huge challenge for One Unit to overcome. The question will be whether the cinderella story can continue. They massively impressed in their last series, but can One Unit keep up this pace against only championship level teams until the very end? Prediction: Entourage in 6 Caps Gaming (8) vs Scary Hours (1) Scary Hours are no surprise as the top seed of the event, and no surprise to find them in the final four of the q qplayoffs. They bolster household names at all positions and are poised for deep runs the moment they step onto the virtual ice. @Gwan returning to competitive play somehow makes this team even more rich in pedigree. While this team isn’t known for their explosive offensive ability, their rock solid defensive play and overall chemistry and structure make them one of the hardest teams to beat in North America. Their win against Instinct was a hard fought game 7 victory, but this could be used as a confidence booster in the crunch time, especially as we get close to the title match. Caps Gaming has been at the summit of North America for the past year, but after stumbling out of the gate this year they are right back to competing for the title. This team has been long running, and long successful, so taking them down in any situation is a tough ask. Despite them being seeded 8th for the playoffs, this team was a favourite to win the whole thing before the event started, and are poised to accomplish that goal starting with a win here. Arguably the most successful team of 2022, they look to add another accomplishment to their already deep resume. This series will be tight and come down to the final game I believe. This could become the battle of the goaltenders with how good both of these teams are. It could come down to a single misplay or crazy goal to decide it all. It’s hard to pick between the two, but Scary Hours will take it deep into the series, multiple OT games. Prediction: Scary Hours in 7 The battle starts tonight, and the 4 remaining teams will all be battling to the end for their chance at the trophy! Watch the coverage live at twitch.tv/SportsGamerGG.

The regular season has officially wrapped up for the NACL season, and we now look forward to the playoffs. We started with 45 teams, and we are now officially down to the top 24 teams battling out for the top spot, and more importantly, the ticket to the World Finals in Helsinki. The groups have been extremely tight, with only a few points separating teams in each group. The tight play will hopefully continue into the playoffs, for some high octane matchups! We’ll start with a quick recap of all of the groups and how we got to this point in the playoffs, followed by some quick predictions and previews of the matchups ahead. Group 1 There is no surprise of who would be at the top for group one, as Scary Hours and IslesGT would top the group easily and earn that bye into the second round of playoffs. Both teams combined for only four losses in out of the entire regular season out of 44 total games, and looked dominant throughout the competition. The rest of the playoff picture was very competitive, with seeds 3 through 6 separated by only three points. Teams like Supremacy and TST have certainly proved themselves in this right, coming in as slight underdogs in the group but most certainly made an impact and have shown that they are able to compete at this level. Group 2 A very competitive group at the top, with Legacy soaring to the top after finishing most of their games in the final hour of the season. Teams like Underdogs and Instinct had to settle for third and fourth respectively after very impressive campaigns out of Entourage and Legacy to lock up those top two seeds. Both teams should have no trouble getting through their first-round matchups, as both teams have made deep runs in the past. The remaining 2 teams, Kingdom and Ohana, are newer squads looking to make their first splash as a roster. Both teams have some familiar faces across the board, and shouldn’t be considered slouches with so many quality teams above them. Both teams are capable of stealing games if their opponents are not on the top of their game. Group 3 One Unit has to be one of the best stories this event, topping their group and earning that bye in the playoffs. The team has been making waves in recent events, and their trajectory has been soaring as the months have gone on. They pushed down some title contenders to lower seeds, and have proven they can compete with the cream of the crop in North America and come out on top. No big surprises either way, with Caps Gaming earning the other bye, followed by Ducks Gaming, Eclipse, No Mercy, and Tropics. Another tight group, with teams only separated by a few points. Group 4 Group 4 felt more like the wild west aside from the top 2 seeds, as Composure and Strictly Business cruised to the playoffs with relative ease. With top teams like Flawless, Heroes, and Catch 22 not in playoffs, the door was wide open for other teams to prove themselves in the spotlight. Veterans being at the top of these teams will have a tall task of taking this opportunity in stride, as they have proven before they are a tough team to put away, and will look to do just that heading into the post season. With the first round of the playoffs set, we’ll go over each matchup briefly and give a prediction each series. Playoffs will start with seeds 3-6 from each group facing off in round 1 in a best of 7 format. The top 2 seeds from each group will wait for the first round to complete before selecting their opponent to face in round 2. The Underdogs (9) vs Ohana (24) Underdogs is the clear cut favorite here. Ohana have some talent and have shown promise, but Underdogs should have a relatively clean series here. They have already made top 8 this year, and a loss in a best of 7 series here would be a complete surprise for all. Prediction: Underdogs in 4. Anaheim Ducks Gaming (10) vs JOFA (23) One of the PSN teams joining thanks to newly added crossplay, but I think Ducks Gaming is a couple steps above JOFA. Too much chemistry and too much experience in such an early round to go up against. The PSN teams will be fun to watch develop with cross play allowing for more opportunity, but going up against one of NA’s best will be too much to close out. Prediction: Ducks Gaming in 4. Hidden Potential (11) vs Turning Point (22) A very interesting matchup, and one that is much closer than the seeds suggest. These teams played in group play and split the games with tight 2-1 scores in both games. Hidden Potential did have some roster turmoil during the season, and revamping their lineup mid season cause some potential issues. Turning Point are as steady as ever with a ton of chemistry, and their tight checking style could be tough to beat during the playoffs. Overall I like HP’s ceiling more than Turning Point’s, and as long as they can avoid the 2-1 overtime games too many times, they have the edge here. Prediction: Hidden Potential in 6. Veterans (12) vs Tropics (21) Veterans comes from a depleted group 4, and will need to prove themselves every chance they get from here. @AgentSook613 has had an arguable MVP level performance for the team, dragging them forward with 18 more points than the next person on his team. He’ll need to continue this pace to advance any further. I think Tropics is a deeper team with more skill across all positions, and will come out on top here. Prediction: Tropics in 6. Eclipse (13) vs I n t e r s t e l l a r (20) Another PSN team that will be intriguing to watch how they stack up against some of Xbox’s best. While Eclipse has been in a turbulent period recently, they still have a good team that is capable of being a dark horse if they click at the right time. They finished 14-6-0, which is by no means a push over team. Their revamped roster has tons of skill, with players like @Twistafied and @CaLL Me Jakoo joining @rickchelup front to lead the charge. I think Interstellar will be competitive in the series and more competitive than others may think, but it will ultimately fall to Eclipse. Prediction: Eclipse in 6. Supremacy (14) vs Kingdom (19) A true wildcard matchup, as both teams came into the event with question marks, and now face each other to see where they stand among the top teams. Supremacy is a PSN team reunited under an old banner, but they have shown good placements in the past before. Kingdom has some great talent, with top 1v1, 3’s, and 6’s players amongst their ranks. The big question was how will it click in a 6v6 environment, and so far it has looked pretty good. They still haven’t quite shown enough to warrant moving forward past another team similar to their level, but it will be fun to see the potential grow from this squad regardless. Prediction: Supremacy in 6. Instinct (15) vs TST (18) Brothers matching against each other in @oHeroism and @Yetdi gives the matchup a little extra fun to experience. These 2 teams share a ton of connection to each other, which may be TST’s biggest asset heading into the series. They've had to scrim this team many times before, and will be TST's x factor to the unthinkable. I still think this is Instinct’s series to lose, but would be fun to see some tight games in the process. Instinct had a rough group play in my opinion, but still finished 13-6-1. They are more than poised to do well here. Prediction: Instinct in 4. Eruption (16) vs No Mercy (17) Similar to Veterans, Eruption is coming from a wild group and will need to compose themselves here against swift competition. They deserve to be here, but the competition only gets tougher and will need to show they belong against a veteran brand in No Mercy. No Mercy has been fairly inconsistent recently, but is finally starting to return to their old form, one that saw them as staples in the late stages of events throughout EASHL’s history in North America. With their roster solidifying, the time is now to show what they have. Prediction: No Mercy in 5. Those are all of the matchups for the first round of the playoffs of NACL ‘23: Winter! All of these teams will be battling out for not only the title, but also the chance to take on Europe’s best to be crowned EASHL’s world champion for the first time ever! Be sure to follow twitch.tv/SportsGamerGG to watch the action live, primarily on Sundays and Thursdays at 9pm ET.

The NACL returns for another season here on SportsGamer, with the stakes even higher than before. This new event not only features a large increase to the prize pool for the top 2 teams, but perhaps the largest prize to be obtained is a trip to Helsinki to face the top team in Europe to determine who will hold the current title of “6s World Champion”. At least until the next set of teams clash between the two regions. Let’s go through the event format and how the regular season and playoffs will work before we actually talked about the team themselves. The regular season will feature four groups of 11 or 12 teams facing off in a group play where you well face every single team in your group twice. Six teams from each group will move on to the single elimination playoff bracket. The top two teams of each group will get an automatic bye to the second round of the playoffs, while teams ranked 3rd through 6th in each group will advance to the first round of the playoffs. While the first round will go as normal playoffs as proceeded, the second round will introduce the challenge system. The challenge system will allow the top seeds from the regular season to select their opponents for their upcoming play-off round. Whether teams will use this to get the best matchup for their team, or by setting up an entertaining series or rivalry, the possibilities are endless. The challenge system will only be used for the second round of the playoffs, and further rounds will be a reseeded playoff bracket. With crossplay coming to NHL 23 EASHL, teams from both consoles will be able to play consistently in events like this. There will be more PlayStation teams that have come together and play in more events, and we will get to see where they stack up against the Xbox teams that have been playing in events for years. The potential for a dark horse PSN team is there, its whether they can rise to the challenge. Now, let's talk about the groups. Group 1 is a very top-heavy matchup with some interesting teams towards the middle end of the group in regards to seeding. IslesGT comes in as the clear favorite to win their group, after a very impressive Ducks campaign which is still ongoing at the time of this writing. IslesGT is loaded with talent and will look to compete for that ticket to Finland in February. The addition of @McFleuryadds yet another piece from the dominant Olympia that looked unstoppable. This team already has shades of its predecessor, and are poised to be a threat. Scary Hours is also no slouch, with a deep playoff run no surprise to this group, and have won titles before. The 6s scene is always better with @Gwan in it than without, and will slide into this deep squad effortlessly. The rest of the group features teams with pedigree, but some room to prove themselves. Hidden Potential is back with the familiar duo @Shockz and @CT 66 but add fresh blood to the team such as @Flinnur and @Nick Veds, as they look to bring the brand back to the top of the pyramid. Turning Point has plenty of experience as a whole as well as a team, and are looking to get over the “elite team” hump rather than just a good playoff team. The rest of the group all depends on who surprises with their growth the most. Teams like Versatility, and Tolerance have shown the capability to snatch the final spots, but are still rather green when it comes to consistency. Group 2 contains some heavy hitters, but the mid table is wide open. Teams like Entourage, Instinct, and The Underdogs should realistically wrap up those top three spots. All three of these teams have the consistency and the skill to reach the top end of the group pretty easily and should have no trouble getting out of the group. Legacy recently made top 8 in the Ducks event, and while this is still a team that should be making out of this group the majority of the time, time will tell if they are consistently a contender for top eight or further, or find themselves in that good team category that a lot of teams are in currently. After these teams, any of these teams could realistically make the playoffs and no one would be surprised. A lot of these teams have made playoffs in plenty of events before as individuals, albeit with different teams. If certain teams are able to gel with their new rosters and show a higher level of chemistry compared to others, they should get the leg up to finish high in their group. I wouldn't be shocked to see any of these teams as high as 3rd in the group, as there are a lot of teams that can surprise some of the favorites if they aren't careful. Group 3 contains the battle of the NHL teams. Both Caps Gaming and Anaheim Ducks Gaming field rosters in this group, and both will be battling for the top spot in the group. Teams like Eclipse, No Mercy and Evolution have had success in the past, and are banking on their roster moves to bring them back to their previous level. With multiple PlayStation teams in this group, this will be the true test of where the two consoles stand against each other. The wildcard team in this group for me is One Unit, a team that is fairly new to the scene, but has come out swinging since starting. The team has dark horse potential to top the group and make a run in playoffs. This will be the true litmus test of whether they are a potential top 10 team, or a team that find themselves hovering around the top 25. Finally, group 4 is a well balanced group between consistency and potential. Composure is the standout team here, and adding @officialmark07 to the blueline will add some familiarity to an already tight knit group. Former Delusions core Strictly Business has made a splash since forming, currently top 8 in the Ducks Opening tournament. The additions of @YungGren and @ProMoe to forward, along with moving @OFs back to right defense appears to be paying off, and the biggest question will be whether they can continue this pace going forward. The Flawless brand returns after a hiatus for some time, and will look to return to the top end of the NA scene. The PSN squad has been in the top 8 before, and will look to rekindle past success with their previous branding. Heroes and Catch 22 have an interesting rivalry, as these teams have mixed and matched between the 2 rosters for many events, so there is a certain level of familiarity and competition to their matchup. This event has everything you could possibly want for storylines. From the established veterans looking to win it all, to up and coming rosters looking to make their mark on the scene. The depth of teams participating is unmatched, with all teams being no slouch to play against. Some will rise to the challenge, but only one will punch their ticket to Helsinki and the world finals. Be sure to follow twitch.tv/sportsgamergg to watch the action live, primarily on Sundays and Thursdays at 10pm ET.

We have finally arrived at the finals of the Ducks gaming event hosted by NHLGamer. It's been an exciting group stage leading into the innovative three-tier playoff system, and all eyes are now on the tier 1 finals and who will take the biggest slice of the $5000 prize pool. We’ve gone from 72 teams down to only two remaining, who will be the one to come out on top? A Look at the Other Finals While we look forward to the tier 1 finals, the unique approach of the Ducks Gaming Tournament brought two more finals games to be played during the playoffs. The playoff format separated teams into three different tiers for a chance to compete for prizes across all tiers. This brought us two more playoff finals to talk about. The Tier 3 Playoffs, or the Niedermayer Division, while it may be considered the lowest playoff tier, the drama and excitement it brought during the finals was nothing short of memorable. It was game 2, and with 3rd seed Blueline Bakery leading the series 1-0 as well as leading the game 2-1 with just under a minute to play, disaster struck. This may be something you never see again, or one of those 1 in 10,000 moments that you picture in your head happening, but it never actually manifesting. This however was very real for Blueline Bakery, and this unfortunately meant that game 2 was now tied and heading to overtime, where Unknown Talent would go on to win games 2 and 3 to take the series 2-1 and capture the Niedermayer Division title. Despite the oddities of the series, both of these teams had extremely strong playoff runs, as they both only dropped a single game combined between the two teams before the finals, which was a defensive battle with 11 goals in 3 games between the two teams. The Tier 2 Playoffs, better known as the Kariya Division, was less about the heartbreak but rather the strong play heading into the finals. Denial heading into group play could’ve been considered a contender for the tier 1 playoffs but a tough group draw and a head to head tie breaker sent them to the Tier 2 Playoffs instead. This team finished group play 11-2-1, but 3rd in their group, so expectations were very high for Denial and were the clear favourites for the bracket play. They certainly exceeded those expectations, as they only had 2 losses in 14 games on route to their Tier 2 title. No Expectations’ cinderella 11th seed run may of been stopped short of the goal, but their run was something to be proud of regardless, beating some solid teams along the way, and as the 11th seed nonetheless. Finals Preview As we move on to the Tier 1 Selanne Playoffs, the teams that are set to clash have had very different roads to the finals. The first is Olympia, who has been known for the majority of the past year as a de facto top 5 team in North America, and could have the argument as the best team in NA. We most recently saw them on NHLGamer in the Northern Arena Cup last summer, where the core of the team finished 2nd out of 32 of the top teams with the New York Underdogs. We’ve seen them have deep runs in other events throughout the course of the 2020-21 season, and are back in yet another final and look to take their first crown on the NHLGamer site. Throughout the past year Olympia has proven to be one the biggest forces within North American Esports. Since their finals appearance in the NA Cup, they have 1 major event win, a finals appearances, and a top 8 finish this year, and look to add to the “event win” category with another one here. This team can score in many different ways, but also a very prevalent and strong defensive team. They’ve dominated their opponents, outscoring them 37-17 throughout the tier 1 playoffs, and against some pretty strong opponents as well. They’ll be looking to come out firing on all cylinders in this series, as I believe most people would consider them the favorites heading into the finals. Prodigy feels like the underdog in the series going up against a giant like Olympia, but these boys went through the gauntlet to get to this point. Despite finishing with an impressive 13-1-0 in group play, they ended up with a middling 8th seed for the playoffs, which certainly meant that their road to the finals was going to be more difficult than others. In the quarterfinals this prophecy came true in spades, as they had to go up against the number 2 seed in Hidden Potential, who just so happened to be undefeated in group play, scoring 87 goals in 14 games in the process. It was a long battle between these 2 teams, which took them all the way to 5 games, where @Canadiens 27 scored the series winning goal to send Prodigy to the semifinals. Their semifinal opponent? Well it just so happens that they drew the number 1 seed in Resilience, who also just so happened to have the best defense in group play with 11 goals against in 14 games. Prodigy went the distance again, taking the number 1 seed to the 5th and final game, where Canadiens struck again, first with the tying goal early in the 3rd period, and then the series winning goal 10 mins into overtime to send Prodigy to the finals. This team has gone through the 2 best teams in group play, who individually boasted the 2nd best offense and the #1 defense out of all the teams, and still came out on top. While this team may be considered a dark horse, this team has proven that they can compete and beat the best teams, and will look to shock the world again. This time however, for the whole event. Keys to the Series Sniper Shootout While both of these teams have a large arsenal of weapons to score with, the biggest matchup of them all will come down to the biggest snipers on both teams, that being @Canadiens 27 for Prodigy and @gillyfor Olympia. These 2 players are 1st and 2nd out of all players in the Tier 1 playoffs with 23 and 21 goals respectively, with the next best player being only at 15. They also happen to be 1 and 2 in shots on goal (57 for Canadiens, 49 for Gilleh), and game winning goals (6 for Canadiens, 5 for Gilleh). These guys are by far the most dangerous scorers for their teams, and will look to continue their scoring ways in the finals to be the factor to get their team over the line. Fire and Ice - Offense and Defense To get this far in the playoffs, you have to be good at both ends of the rink, but both of these teams have seemingly contrasting styles in how they have had success this event. For Prodigy, they have been a high octane offensive team, with the forward core of Canadiens, @Polgzand @xDeath(Ethancy) being capable of scoring goals out of seemingly nothing, but also the blueline of @Geimerand @desyd19are skilled, dependable offensive defensemen who can get the job done when needed. On the other hand, Olympia are built around a rock solid defense with @Ruxand @Grim, with a fantastic goaltender in @Rainz to boot. While Prodigy’s front 3 forwards are 1-2-3 in playoff scoring, Olympia’s players are tied for the lead in +/- with a +21. Not to mention that Rainz boasts a 1.42 GAA and an 84.4 SV% with 3 shutouts, in which he leads all 3 of these categories for playoff goaltenders. The X-Factor for these 2 teams is finding the ying to their yang, or rather the opposite of their team strengths. With Prodigy having such a high powered offense, can the defense and @o S m i i t t y come out and match the play of Olympia’s backend? Sure they can score goals, but if they can’t keep up with the strong defensive play the other side will bring, it will be a nail biting shootout for the title. On the flipside, Olympia will look to be just as explosive as Prodigy is going to be. It’s not as if they don’t have the weapons, as alongside Gilleh, @Gabseh and @McFleury are highly skilled forwards who can score in bunches if need be. We know that Prodigy can score, but Olympia is going to need to supplement their strong defensive play with some key goals and capitalizing on their chances to have the most success this series. That’s going to wrap up the finals preview! Be sure to check out all of the coverage over at twitch.tv/anaheimducks starting at 6pm PT! Good luck to all of the competitors involved, it’s going to be an exciting series.

It's been a while since I've done a piece here at NHLGamer, but it seems like the perfect time to make a comeback with the group play wrapping up in the Anaheim Ducks 6v6 event. 72 teams across 9 groups battled it out and we've now reached the conclusion of the group play and heading into the new three tiered system playoffs (The Selanne, Kariya and Niedermayer tiers). This is something that has never been seen before, and it encourages more teams to continue grinding through the playoffs and potentially win some prizes even if you aren't in the Tier 1 playoffs. Those who finished top 2 in their group will move on to the tier 1 playoffs, while the 3rd-4th and 5th-6th of each group will play in the tier 2 and tier 3 playoffs respectively. But before we get to the playoffs, let's see how group play went for some of these teams. In Group 1 it should be no surprise that Olympia top their group with a record of 13-1-0. The winners of the Caps Gaming Showcase only let in 13 goals in 14 games played, and certainly looked in control in every single game that they played. @Rainz led all starting goaltenders with a 92.45 SV% through 7 games, backstopping his team to their success. One of the more surprising teams on the other hand was the second seed of the group being Momentumm. This team made waves in the most recent Kings Coast Cup taking BBB all the way to seven games before eventually losing in the final game. They took the experience from that series and were actually very successful in this group going 11-2-1 across 14 games. This high scoring offensive team has been turning a lot of heads recently and look to continue their hot pace into the Tier 1 playoffs, where they will face the challenge again going up against the best in elimination games. The rest of the group was very even matched, with the rest of the teams trading wins out of each other every single match day. Code of Conduct started off very slow in the group but rattled off 4 straight wins to finish third in the group, while newcomer Vanquish managed to win their final game of the group play to squeak into the last spot of the tier 2 playoffs. Group 2 was a three-headed monster with Hall 0f Fame, Composure and True North all at the top of their group, each with at least 20 points in group play. Hall 0f Fame and Composure’s only losses came at the hands of each other, while True North’s only losses came at the hands of the two teams above them, that’s how tight this battle was. All three of these teams are well experienced esports rosters here in North America, and are by no means green to strong event placements, and look to do damage in each of the tier 1 and tier 2 playoffs respectively. While True North may not be considered contenders against the elite teams in the tier 1 playoffs, with the unique format of the Ducks tournament here, expect them to be a team to watch out for in the tier 2 playoffs. Group 3 was headlined by the first undefeated team from group play, with Instinct coming out as the top seed. Their impressive 14-0-0 record Isn't necessarily surprising given this team's high skill level, but the most surprising thing about the run more so the 13-12 win against High Latency in week 2. I can't tell if this was planned, or if this was just the most offensive game ever seen, but I'm not sure we'll ever see another score line like this for quite some time. So consider this something for the history books. l Knight Shift l has steadily been rising up the ranks, and have gone from a relatively high offense 3’s style team, to a more defensive squad, with a lot closer score lines but also a lot better at keeping the puck out of the net and also keeping the puck away from their net in general. Some newer teams such as Blueline Bakery and Believe the Hype round out the tier three spots of this group. Group 4 was another very top-heavy group, with Prodigy taking first place with BBB not far behind. This Prodigy squad is much more similar to the one that we saw they made a large run last summer in the Northern Arena Cup right here on NHLGamer, with top 1v1 players transitioning over to 6’s and finding success immediately. BBB started out the group play extremely hot winning 10 straight games, before stumbling into the playoffs losing three of their final four games, albeit against the 3rd and the first seeds of their group. BBB has been all over the map in terms of success, as some events they looked like a dominant top five team in North America, but other times they look like they could barely beat a fringe playoff game. This team has massive potential to have success in the tier 1 playoffs, it simply comes down to which BBB team shows up. The Helmet Boys has been another team that has been rising up the ranks slowly but surely throughout the year, and find themselves with another fairly successful placement in an event, finishing with the third seed in group four, and a top seed in the tier 2 playoffs. While this team may not wow you with impressive stat lines or crazy run up the score games, they always seem to be in every single game they play and always take good teams to fairly tight score lines. Group 5 featured another undefeated team heading into the playoffs, as Hidden Potential topped their respective group. The addition of @DDW4 to the team has really proven to be quite beneficial for them, as they have had deep runs in previous events and look to do so again in this event. They've always been a very dominant team in the regular season, it's just a matter of piecing it together come the playoffs, and being the 2nd seed heading into the tier 1 playoffs is the perfect opportunity for them to shine. Hidden Potential LW @Shockz is having an MVP type performance as well, as he leads all players in goals, points, and shots on goal through group play. The west based team in Evolutional take the second spot here in group five and it was a little bit of a surprise. Being as this tournament is hosted by the Anaheim Ducks, who also hosts the WCHL here on NHLGamer, it's only fitting that we have a west coast team in the Tier 1 playoffs looking to battle it out for the top prize. While they're always seems to be controversy surrounding west coast teams and ping issues, there's no denying that this team can score, as they had multiple games with extreme high scoring games with 76 total goals in 14 games played. Group 6 ended up being a very top heavy group, with 3 teams over 20 points at the end. Leading the charge was the ever dominant Entourage, who continue their season long success with an almost perfect 13-1-0 record. At this point, it feels almost routine to see Entourage perform against the best, and it’s no surprise to see them at the top of any group. However, one big surprise was the 2nd seed, as Osiris came out on top with an impressive 11-3-0 record. While this may be a newer squad in the scene, the came out with a bang in their first event together, and ended up being only second to one of the best teams in the world currently. Teams like l Stealth l and Freedom both contain seasoned players here in North America, and beat out some recognizable brands from recent events like Unknown Talent and VIGILANCE for the tier 2 playoffs. Starstruck has been a team on the rise in the past few months, and continue that trend with a dominant group play in Group 7. The addition of @JClaus33 has been everything and more for the team, and they look to be contenders heading into bracket play. A brand that has always been a dark horse in every event they play in, CBJ Gaming continues to prove the doubters wrong with a ticket to the tier 1 playoffs, with a record of 9-2-3. With the sudden retirements of No Expectations forwards @oSparz and @N a s t y x 93, there was some uncertainty surrounding the squad and how they would perform in the event. They ended up scrapping together a team and managed to grab a tier 2 playoff spot with a respectable 9-5-0 record. Group 8 had arguably the biggest surprise group winner with The Empire taking the top spot. The squad’s 13-1-0 record is nothing to scoff at, and they did so in a pretty tough group, beating out some high profile teams LFG and Highlanders along the way. While this team features members who have been playing with each other for a long time, the ability to create a new team and have such success so quickly is quite the feat. Rounding out the top 4 from this group is the Ephesians, who had a hot start, a slight stumble in week 2 before finishing off week 3 with a perfect 4-0 to finish in the 3rd seed of group 8. Finally, group 9 contained a number of heavy hitters at the top, but it was Resilience who topped all of them with a perfect 14-0-0 record. This team was both dominantly offensively as well as defensively, as they finished with the least amount of goals against with 11 goals against in 14 games played. Backed by @TH4 x W4LL and his 88.89 SV%, this team looks poised to make a run for the title. Joining Evolutional as a west coast competitor, Ice is a much more well known squad, having multiple high event finishes under their belt before this one. They’ll look to represent their region well, especially in an event located so close to home. Unfortunately one team had to get the short end of the stick in this group, and it ended up being Denial in this case. While 23 points and a 11-2-1 record could be a top 2 seed in multiple groups, the system was not kind to them in this case, and they will have to settle for the tier 2 playoffs. This team looked to be dangerous in the tier 1 playoffs, but now competing in the upcoming tier 2 playoffs, this team could be the team to beat. The Selanne tier features the best performing squads from the group stage, with Resilience entering as the #1 seed. The Kariya tier features teams that have also done well in the group play, and they are placed with squads of similar ability to fight for great prizes. We've also got tons of skill in the Niedermayer tier, with Hydra Esports grabbing the #1 seed spot. With group play wrapped up, teams will now look towards their respective playoff brackets. The big difference between other events and this one is the all new tiered playoff system, which gives more teams the ability to compete for prizes. Catch all of the games over at twitch.tv/anaheimducks for all of the playoff action!

After the dust settles, and the craziness of such an amazing event as the Northern Arena NHL Cup co-produced by NHLGamer has finished, we can finally look back on the storylines and some of the highlights of the tournament. There were multiple qualifying events, and after 91 teams battled it out, the top 32 teams in North America advanced to the next stage of the event, getting to go up against the best of North America. There were new faces, new teams, and established teams looking to cement themselves as one of the best teams in NHL 20 for the history books of the rising esport. As a whole, the NA Cup saw 100 teams throughout the qualifiers and regular season. Growth Under the Watchful NHL Eye While NHLGamer and the European player base it has is no secret to professional teams stepping into the spotlight and sponsoring teams or simply giving their support, the North American community has slowly been gaining more traction in professional team support. Starting with 1v1 events from many teams, onto the Caps Gaming Showcase and the first 6v6 North American LAN in over 10 years, more and more NHL teams are entering the esports market in varying quantities. It’s a fantastic step for growth in the scene, and will hopefully continue to progress more and more, with more teams and more events coming together in the near future. While the likenesses of every NHL team were used in the NA Cup, the Anaheim Ducks Gaming, Canadiens Esports, CBJ Gaming, FlaPanthers Gaming, and NJDGC were representing their NHL organizations and all either picked up a roster and actively supported them, or brought their own roster to the event. The active engagement and community outreach these small actions can bring to the community is extremely rewarding and truly feels like NHL 6’s is on the rise heading into the 2021 season. Perhaps with time some of these 1v1 events transition to the dark side of 6v6 (or perhaps a hybrid of both). Cup Contenders Shined in Regular Season Another interesting addition to this specific event was the invite system, where the top 6 teams at the halfway point of the CBJ Summer Cup were directly invited to compete in the NA Cup. It allowed teams performing well to skip the qualifier process altogether. It also gave spectators an idea of who to look out for at the top of the standings. Essentially all of the 6 invitees had very good regular season performances, where 5 of the 6 invited teams made up the final top 8 in the playoffs, as well as 3 of the top 4. In fact, both of the top seeds in each conference were held by invited teams, with those being Entourage with a 12-1-2 record, and the Underdogs with a 13-1-1 record. Those two teams also happened to meet each other in the finals, where Entourage took home the crown in 4 games. Teams Who Shined in Northern Arena Cup There will be the teams with high expectations of winning it all, but there will also be teams who turn some heads and really make a name for themselves with a solid performance. With NHL Esports being relatively new, you may only recognize a handful of team names off the top of your head, but with some very good regular season and playoff runs, there were a number of teams who will have some eyes on them to continue their run heading into future events. Teams such as Calgary Prodigy HC, who came into the event after a decent top 16 finish in the CBJ Cup in their first event as a team, ended up finishing second in the western conference with a 10-2-3 record. They ended up making it all the way to the conference semifinals, finishing top 8 in the event. The young team proved they can compete against the best, and hopefully, they can stick together for more future events. A team from the Eastern Conference that really turned some heads could be Philadelphia Problematic/Road 2 Glory, who had an impressive run in the regular season going 11-3-1 and making it to the conference semifinals. A team I thought would be around the playoff bubble were in fact the complete opposite, and shocked a lot of people competing in a pretty top-heavy conference. ____________________________________________________________________________ While we could go through every single team's journey and go game by game for storylines, there will be many things to take away from such a fun event. It was amazing to watch the best 32 teams in North America go head to head to wrap up the 2020 season. The 6v6 traction has been heating up recently and capping it off here with another great event. Congratulations to the Entourage for another title, but also to the Underdogs for being amazingly fun to watch all tournament long. You can pretty much guarantee both of these teams will be back in plenty more finals come October. Special thanks to everyone who helped make the event run as smoothly as possible, being everyone from Northern Arena, NHLGamer, to the production crew, to the admins and moderators. With every great game of hockey comes an army of people behind the scenes to make it run as smoothly as possible. We also want to thank all of the NHL organizations and sponsors involved in the event, and everyone who followed the tournament and broadcasts for your support! If you want to relive the NA NHL Cup Finals, you can do so above!

It’s been an exciting summer for NHL and 6v6 competition, as the 32 best North American 6v6 teams out of 90+ teams that played in the qualifiers faced off against each other in the regular season of the Northern Arena Cup, presented by NHLGamer. These teams played 15 regular season games, and have gone through multiple best of 5 series’ against the best of the best, and we are now down to the final teams left fighting for the $6000 prize for first place, and the $10,000 total prize pool. Let’s talk about the finalists! New York Underdogs - Eastern Conference Champions Record: 13-1-1 GF/GM: 4.47 GA/GM: 1.73 PP%: 41.18 PK%: 41.67 Road To The Finals: Quarterfinals: Defeated Long Island 6th Sense in 5 games. Semifinals: Defeated Philadelphia Problematic in 3 games. Conference Finals: Defeated Tampa Bay Vertigo in 3 games. The Underdogs have not felt like underdogs in recent times, feeling more like the top of the class with their performances. Going into the regular season they did have fairly high expectations, but they managed to blow them out of the water amassing a 13-1-1 record and top seed in a top-heavy eastern conference. They haven’t looked back since, with a slight scare in the opening round, before sweeping their next 2 opponents to make it to the finals. To add to the already impressive feats, their series against Vertigo went to overtime in all 3 games, with them tying the game to send it to overtime in game 3 with 1 second remaining. It also happened to be Team Captain @Karmuh x 86 scoring all 3 game-winning goals, who also leads the playoffs with 4 GWG. Seattle Entourage - Western Conference Champions Record: 12-1-2 GF/GM: 3.33 GA/GM: 1.73 PP%: 52.17 PK%: 86.36 Road To The Finals: Quarterfinals: Defeated Arizona Mars in 4 games. Semifinals: Defeated Anaheim Ducks Gaming in 5 games. Conference Finals: Defeated San Jose Chilltown in 5 games. The top seed in the west comes into the finals looking for their second title of the season, with their lone win being in the Caps Gaming Showcase in January. They have had a very successful run in every event, however, with multiple top 4 finishes since, but still looking for that elusive title. @hxndry currently leads the playoffs in scoring with 28 points in 14 games, 4 points ahead of @McFleury, whom he will be up against, and his teammate in @x Fisher 81, both with 24. You also have to talk about @Scheckel29 when you talk about Entourage, and he has certainly carried his load, facing the most shots out of any goalie in the playoffs with 138, while still posting a 1.79 GAA (4th) and an 84.66 SV% (3rd) Series Prediction: While it’s certainly going to go the distance between these two teams, I think the New York Underdogs are going to take the series in 5 games. They impressed by beating arguably the number one team in Tampa Bay Vertigo in only 3 games, not to mention they are coming off of a disappointing but solid 2nd place finish in the CBJ Summer Cup. Everyone on each team will need to be playing at their best in order to take home the title. X Factors for each team: Seattle Entourage: @Regs84 (0g 16a 16p in 14 GP) New York Underdogs: Karmuh x 86 (11g 8a 19p in 11 GP) 3rd Place Match Predictions: San Jose Chilltown vs Tampa Bay Vertigo 10-4-1 Record 12-2-1 3.13 GF/GM 4.73 2.20 GA/GM 2.47 24.24 PP% 26.32 85.29 PK% 83.33 It’s always a tough heartbreak losing so close to the finals and so close to the trophy, but both of these teams are very solid squads and certainly deserve some credit here. They have a chance at taking $1,000 home though in the 3rd place match, so there is still something to be played for. Prediction: Tampa Bay Vertigo in 4. Thanks for reading! Good luck to the remaining teams! Be sure to check out the streams and support everyone involved!

We have reached the conference semifinal stage of the Northern Arena Cup co-produced by NHLGamer. It was a fairly upset free round 1, with Anaheim Ducks Gaming being the only low seed to advance to the next round. This makes for some very exciting rounds, and a lot of very good teams about to be sent home. #1 Seattle Entourage vs #6 Anaheim Ducks Gaming 12-1-2 Record 9-4-2 3.33 GF/GM 3.07 1.73 GA/GM 2.53 52.17 PP% 10.53 86.36 PK% 92.31 Round 1: Seattle defeated #8 Arizona Mars in 4 games Anaheim defeated #3 Chicago Phantoms in 3 games Seattle made it through relatively easy getting through the west coast team in Arizona. While they did put up a very solid fight, Seattle’s experience and skill shined through in the end, advancing in 4 games. Anaheim made a relative upset in terms of seeding, although winning in exciting fashion sweeping Chicago. I said in my previous preview that they need to play better defensively, and they did exactly that in the series, allowing only 5 goals in 3 games. Despite being the lowest seed left in playoffs, they deserve to be considered a contender, and will make this series a barn burner. Prediction: Seattle in 5 games, 3 of 5 games will be 1 goal games. #2 Calgary Prodigy HC vs #4 San Jose Chilltown HC 10-2-3 Record 10-4-1 3.33 GF/GM 3.13 2.87 GA/GM 2.20 7.89 PP% 24.24 91.3 PK% 85.29 Round 1: Calgary defeated #7 Winnipeg Denial in 4 games. San Jose defeated #5 Dallas Walking Dead in 5 games. The young guns in Calgary continue rolling from their late-season winning streak, beating Winnipeg in 4. Their offense continues to shine through, even against a good defensive team, scoring 13 goals in 4 games. Their powerplay continues to struggle, going 0/5 in the series, which is pretty surprising given their offensive prowess. San Jose ran into a trending upwards Dallas and weathered the storm with a game 5 shutout to win the series. Despite the final 2 games going well in the way of San Jose, the first 3 games were 1 goal affairs with games 2 and 3 going into overtime. It will be another offense vs defense series, and it will be which team can establish their gameplan most effectively. Prediction: San Jose in 5. Game 5 will be a 2-1 game. Eastern Conference #1 New York Underdogs vs #4 Philadelphia Problematic 13-1-1 Record 11-3-1 4.47 GF/GM 3.93 1.73 GA/GM 2.40 41.18 PP% 30.43 41.67 PK% 80.95 Round 1: New York defeated #8 Long Island 6th Sense in 5 games. Philadelphia defeated #5 Boston Nationalz in 5 games. New York had a bit of a scare as the top seed in the east, going up 2-0 early before Long Island came back to bring it to game 5, an overtime win for New York. This team carries a ton of expectation being the top seed and with a fantastic record of 13-1-1, and perhaps the first round scare will give them some added fire in the next round. Philly was a bit of a surprise team after finishing the regular season with a 11-3-1 record. They have proven they can hang with the best, and most recently beat Boston Nationalz in a nail biter 5 game series. It’s hard to consider them a dark horse with a record of 11-3-1, but it will be a tough task going up against New York. Prediction: New York in 4 games. #2 Toronto Composure vs #3 Tampa Bay Vertigo 12-2-1 Record 12-2-1 3.47 GF/GM 4.73 1.20 GA/GM 2.47 56.25 PP% 26.32 88.89 PK% 83.33 Round 1: Toronto defeated #7 CBJ Gaming in 4 games Tampa Bay defeated #6 Canadiens Esports in 5 games Toronto came out swinging in the first round, taking the series over CBJ in 4 games, including a 5-1 and 6-0 win. After a disappointing CBJ Cup, they are hungry for another event win before the year ends. They’ll look to replicate their success from the regular season against Vertigo after a 3-1 win in week 2. Tampa Bay is on the opposite end of the spectrum, after winning the CBJ Summer Cup, and look to make it back to back event wins. They certainly have the talent to do it, but have come off a tough 5 game series against Canadiens Esports. It is quite the shame that one of these teams have to be eliminated before at least the semifinals, but this should make it for that much more of an exciting series. Prediction: Toronto in 5 games. There will be some very close games for sure, and some heartbreak for one of these teams to go home too early. Thanks for reading! Good luck to everyone competing!

It’s officially time for the playoffs in the Northern Arena Cup presented by NHLGamer. Over 90 teams signed up for a chance at glory, 32 teams have run through the qualifiers, played 15 games across 2 weeks, and we are now down to the top 16 teams left to battle it out for the $10,000 prize pool. Of course, due to the real-life NHL teams being represented here, we will see 8 teams in the western conference and 8 teams in the eastern conference. The competition and parity in the league was actually very strong, as there were many teams that were separated by only a couple of points. This could create some powerhouse matchups, where if some teams slipped up for a day could have changed their seed from a 3rd seed all the way to a bottom 2 seed potentially. There will be lots of action-packed games and series, so let's go through all of the matchups. #1 Seattle Entourage vs #8 Arizona Mars 12-1-2 Record 8-5-2 3.33 GF/GM 3.13 1.73 GA/GM 2.67 52.17 PP% 5.26 86.36 PK% 66.67 Seattle came into the event with high expectations of finishing in the top seed, and they did exactly that, only dropping one game in regulation in the process. The team felt in control throughout the season and rarely had any hitches. They were top 5 in a large amount of categories, which is no surprise given their very solid 12-1-2 record. Arizona Mars came off a very solid run in the CBJ Summer Cup finishing top 8 as Complex. While they may not be a team you first think of for playoff contenders, they managed to get back into a playoff scenario squeaking into that final spot in the west. Keys to the series: Seattle needs to stick to their gameplan and not get derailed by any antics from Arizona. As Arizona is a west coast connection, there will be some factor there, but this team has pulled through it before, and are riding high heading into the series. Arizona need to stay out of the penalty box. Seattle has the best power play in the west, operating at a massive 52.17%, while their penalty kill sits second last with a 66.67%. If they can keep games close throughout and not give Seattle too much confidence they can steal some early games and make it a battle. Prediction: Seattle Entourage in 4 #2 Calgary Prodigy HC vs #7 Winnipeg Denial 10-2-3 Record 9-4-2 3.33 GF/GM 2.93 2.87 GA/GM 1.73 7.89 PP% 20 91.3 PK% 77.78 Calgary Prodigy went through some roster changes prior to the event, and while I thought they would be within the playoff bubble, they went on a late-season run and managed to finish in a respectable 2nd place. The young guns on this team all love their high skill plays, and the entire lineup can be weapons. Winnipeg Denial ended up being the opposite, where I thought they would be pretty smooth sailing, but a slow start to the season forced them to have some second-half heroics to get back into the playoff picture. The team does have the chem and the event pedigree where any seed they finish in they can make a run and compete. Keys to the Series: Calgary will need to break through Winnipeg’s defense and use their skill to score plenty of goals. This team had good offensive numbers, but they were below average defensively, so they will either have to tighten up or prepare to pot some goals. Winnipeg will need to continue their tight defensive game. Unlike Calgary, Winnipeg Denial had very solid defensive numbers, and it could prove to be the x-factor for them in the series. With Calgary’s powerplay fizzling out with a 2.63%, it could be another leg up in the series. Prediction: Winnipeg Denial in 5 #3 Chicago Phantoms vs #6 Anaheim Ducks Gaming 10-4-1 Record 9-4-2 3.07 GF/GM 3.07 1.53 GA/GM 2.53 29.41 PP% 10.53 86.36 PK% 92.31 Chicago Phantoms came together and reunited for this event under the Phantoms banner, and they continued where they left off with a respectable 3rd seed in the west. They were consistently solid throughout the season, and have good underlying numbers in all categories. Their special teams have been red hot as well, being top 4 in both in PP% and PK%. Anaheim Ducks Gaming picked up BBB for their team, and they finished decently. To be honest, they started off strong but kind of stumbled into the playoffs, but a good squad nonetheless. They have had a lot of close games in the season, which could benefit them heading into the playoffs, where the games are usually much tighter. Keys to the Series: Chicago will need to capitalize on their strong powerplay. They finished with a 3rd ranked 29.41%, and will look to get an early lead potentially with a powerplay goal. This series will be very tight, so a good performance from the defense and goaltending could prove to be the difference. Anaheim needs to play a tighter defensive game. This team has very active puck-moving defensemen, and can score when needed, but it will be the defensive side of the game that will carry them through the series. They had a relatively high goals against per game compared to other playoff teams at 2.53, so they will need to be better in their own end. Prediction: Chicago in 5 #4 San Jose Chilltown HC vs #5 Dallas Walking Dead 10-4-1 Record 10-5-0 3.13 GF/GM 2.93 2.2 GA/GM 1.87 24.24 PP% 10.34 85.29 PK% 76.92 San Jose Chilltown made a couple of changes heading into the event, bringing in some experienced players like TheGreatMP7 and Vaporize 17 into the fray. This roster has the benefit of having multiple players who can all be solid contributors to any team out there, and can play at multiple positions. It’s a unique trait to have as a team, but the rotation could prove to be useful. Dallas Walking Dead have been known as a high offense team, with lots of chemistry between the forwards from many events. However, Northern Arena has given them new light in being a fairly solid defensively responsible team. I never would’ve expected Walking Dead to be a middle of the pack team offensively but a really good defensive team, but perhaps this is a factor to their recent success. Keys to the Series: San Jose will need to use their playoff experience to their advantage. This team doesn’t have a player that hasn’t had some sort of event playoff experience, and can most certainly be a factor heading into a big series. This team has been known for its defensive prowess, and I would say their regular season was more of an anomaly. Dallas will need to continue with their defensive play. It’s going to be a tight series, and before I wasn’t sure if they could compete in those tight games because of their all offense gameplan. They seem to have found a good balance between both sides of the puck, so it could be very fun to watch this team heading into the playoffs. Prediction: San Jose in 5 #1 New York Underdogs vs #8 Long Island 6th Sense 13-1-1 Record 9-4-2 4.47 GF/GM 2.47 1.73 GA/GM 1.60 41.18 PP% 33.33 41.67 PK% 90.91 New York Underdogs came into this event slated to finish first, and did they ever do that. They quite frankly have looked rather dominant at times, and with only 2 losses all season it’s definitely showing in the stats department. Not only are they scoring lots of goals with 67 goals in 15 games, they only are allowing 26. Long Island shifted some players around, and their new look team finished in the final playoff spot with a 9-4-2 record. While they didn’t score nearly as many goals as their counterpart, they certainly played a good defensive game, only allowing 24 goals in 15 games. Keys to the Series: I guess New York just needs to continue what they’re doing. They have been blowing the competition away so far, and they just need to stick to whatever their gameplan is to continue through the playoffs. Their penalty kill has been rather lackluster with a 41.67%, so they should try and stay out of the box. Long Island will look to continue to play a strong defensive game. Going up against an offensive force like the Underdogs, the best counter for it will be playing a defensively sound game. They have shown they can do it in the regular season, and keeping the games low scoring will give them the chance to shock the top seed. Prediction: New York in 4 #2 Toronto Composure vs #7 CBJ Gaming 12-2-1 Record 9-3-3 3.47 GF/GM 2.47 1.20 GA/GM 1.33 56.25 PP% 10.0 88.89 PK% 80.95 Toronto came into this event looking for some redemption after a disappointing top 16 finish in CBJ Gaming. They did just that again in the regular season with a fairly dominating performance in the regular season. Their powerplay was an astonishing 56.25%, and they had the lowest goals against per game with a 1.20. CBJ Gaming brought their own roster to the event featuring lots of local Columbus talent. Despite this, I thought they were going to struggle with the top tier competition. They ended up making playoffs in a Cinderella story manner, and look to make a dark-horse run. Keys to the Series: Composure will need to establish their tight possession game and give CBJ no space to maneuver. They always seem to have high TOA numbers, and in combination with their very good defensive system makes it extremely difficult to play against. CBJ needs Welsh to continue his monstrous run. He has been lights out for them, and a key reason why they have such a good goals against per game. They are going up against the only team with a lower goals against than them, so they will need to match their play to sneak in some tight wins. Prediction: Toronto in 3 #3 Tampa Bay Vertigo vs #6 Canadiens Esports 12-2-1 Record 10-3-2 4.73 GF/GM 3.47 2.47 GA/GM 2.27 26.32 PP% 22.22 83.33 PK% 91.67 Tampa Bay have always been a threat in all events they play in. This one is no different, finishing with a 12-2-1 record. They also have been goal-scoring machines, scoring 71 goals across 15 games. Montreal picked up their own roster for the event, and it paid off with a very solid 10-3-2 record. They started off somewhat slowly, but picked it up for the second week finishing with an 8-2-0 record in the final 10 games of the season. Keys to the Series: While their goals for is tops in the league, Tampa Bay had a somewhat average defensive performance, with only a 2.47 goals against per game, good for 8th in the east. For a team looking to make a deep run in the playoffs, they will need to be better in their own end to make that happen. Montreal will need to keep their momentum going from their final week success. This team has a solid roster that can challenge Tampa Bay and potentially make an upset, but if they can use their confidence gained from a solid string of games in the final week, it could certainly increase their chances. Prediction: Tampa Bay in 4 #4 Philadelphia Problematic vs #5 Boston Nationalz 11-3-1 Record 11-4-0 3.93 GF/GM 3.07 2.40 GA/GM 2.53 30.43 PP% 29.63 80.95 PK% 76.19 Philadelphia Problematic picked up the Road 2 Glory roster for the season. I thought they would find themselves within the playoff bubble, but they impressed with an 11-3-1 record. Their additions to their roster paid off and they have had a respectable season. Boston Nationalz started off very hot being the last team to be undefeated in the regular season before dropping a couple of games late in the season. An 11-4-0 record to finish in the 5th seed is still very respectable. Keys to the Series: Philadelphia will need to continue to score at the clip they are in the regular season. With 3.93 goals for per game, they have been scoring in waves and can prove to be their largest asset. Their powerplay has also been solid with a 30.43%, so it will need to continue to be impactful for them to advance. Boston needs to match the offense of Philadelphia. They are known as an offensive team, but they have only really been average with a 3.07 goals for per game. Also, their penalty kill has been mediocre compared to other top teams at 76.19% Prediction: Philadelphia in 5 Good luck to all of the teams in the playoffs, be sure to tune into the streams to catch all of the action!

NHLGamers, We are halfway through the regular season of the Northern Arena NHL 20 Cup, and we start to see some teams separate from the pack as contenders, and start to look at the potential playoff tree upcoming after week 2. Let’s go around the league and highlight some notable storylines and performances throughout the inaugural week. Stylistic Differences Between Both Conferences As teams will only play teams in their respective conferences with no crossover until the championship series, it’s interesting to look at the style differences so far between the east and the west. In the west, the trend seems to be the crash and bang every game is a playoff game style, with 8 western conference teams having over 100 total hits, while the eastern conference only has 4 that fall into that range. The same thing comes in the form of shots on goal, where the west has 8 teams with over 90 shots through 7 games played, with the east only having 4 in the respective category. It isn’t to say as much of the west is playing better hockey, but perhaps more so to the gameplan that each conference seems to be playing. The west seems to be playing a much more high volume, up-tempo style, with lots of hits thrown and plenty of shots to go with it, while the east has played more of a high percentage, high-quality type of style. It seems, however, that neither style is a better option over the other, as both conferences share similar goals for and against compared to each other. The Big Boys Have Come to Play While the tournament has given some newer, lesser decorated teams the chance to compete with the best in a relatively smaller vacuum than what they’re used to, it’s the projected top teams who truly stand out in the standings. Teams like the New York Underdogs (6-0-0, T2nd in East), the Seattle Entourage (6-0-1, 1st in West), the Tampa Bay Vertigo (5-1-0, T5th in East) and Anaheim Ducks Gaming (5-1-1, 2nd in West) were all projected to finish high in the standings, and have lived up to those expectations with good starts to the season. On top of the pre-season contenders, some teams have stepped it up during the regular season to vault themselves into the contender conversation. Boston Nationalz (7-0-0, 1st in East) were slated to be a playoff team, but being one of two remaining undefeated teams was not something expected. The roster's core is made of players from One Nation, a team with good previous results that recently finished top 16 in the CBJ Summer Cup. Philadelphia Problematic (6-1-0, T2nd in East) is a team that has hovered around the playoff bubble for a few events with the name of Road 2 Glory, before being picked up by Problematic, and was slated to do so again in this event. They have since stepped up to the challenge with a very solid 6-1-0 record. The addition of @SkillzPayBills3 (1-11-12 +18 in 7 GP) at the right defense spot has paid off in spades and along with @Kernsy (4-0-0 1.5 GAA 81.82 SV%) in net has elevated this team to new heights. Week 1 MVP Candidates While it may be too early to give someone the title of most valuable player, there are always some stand out performances that deserve to be highlighted. There will always be high volume scorers and good goalies, but there are also the ones who stand above the competition. @Rockxt 5 always seems to be at the top of the points leaders in any event he participates in, so it’s no surprise to see him at the top with 23 points in just 6 games. However, he ranks high in pretty much all major categories, as he is 2nd in goals (13), 15th in plus-minus (+10), and tied for 1st in shots on goal (33). He is a major reason why Vertigo has had the success they’ve had so far this season. While we’ve already touched on SkillzPayBills3 in the previous section, I think it’s important to highlight the value he has brought to the team. His 12 points rank him tied for 4th out of defensemen, and his +18 ranks him 3rd out of all defensemen. His ability to carry the puck and be a threat offensively gives Philadelphia Problematic a threat from the backend to attack and is a big reason for the run they have had so far. While the players above are solid candidates, the goaltenders, or rather one goalie, is stealing the spotlight for MVP talks. It comes from one of the partner teams in the form of CBJ Gaming, and more specifically, their goalie @x welsh 16. In my season preview, I thought CBJ Gaming had the potential to struggle going up against the best the community had to offer, projected to finish in 14th place in the east. That narrative has been blown out of the water through the first week, with Columbus sitting nicely in a playoff spot with a record of 4-1-2. And while you can partially pin the success on the entire team, it’s been the standout performance of Welsh that has given CBJ the edge over these teams. Welsh currently boasts a record of 4-1-2, with a goals against average of 1.00, a save percentage of 93.2, and has 4 shutouts to boot. Oh, and he ranks first in ALL of those categories. It’s also not like he just isn’t facing a lot of shots and/or chances, as he also ranks first in shots faced with 96 shots he’s stopped. At the same time, with Welsh looking like a brick wall out there, his teammates are struggling to replicate the same potent offense their opponents are bringing. CBJ Gaming is averaging only 1.57 goals for per game, good for 28th in the entire league. They also only have put up 55 shots on goal, which ranks tied for last place out of all 32 teams. All of this is more impressive thanks to the partnership with The Goalie Guild and their new G3 Prospects Program, where all goalies competing in the event have a chance to win extra prize money for certain categories, such as most shots faced, most shutouts, and tournament MVP. Unfortunately for other goalies, Welsh is leading in all of these categories and seems to have no plan of stopping anytime soon. That’s it from me this week, good luck to all the teams competing in week 2 and making that push for the playoffs!

NHLGamers, In cooperation with Northern Arena and Goalie Guild Gaming, we are proud to be bringing you The Northern Arena NHL 20 Cup - presented by Xbox Canada. This $10,000 USD 6v6 tournament has brought the best 32 teams in North America to one event to round off the 2020 season. This NA NHL Cup gives teams the opportunity to play as one of 32 (Seattle included) NHL franchises. There are five NHL organizations officially partnered with the event: Anaheim Ducks Columbus Blue Jackets Florida Panthers Montreal Canadiens New Jersey Devils This event also brought a new approach to tournament participants with firstly an invite system, where the top 6 teams through week 2 of the CBJ Summer Cup were directly invited to this event. Additionally, the event featured three open qualifiers where the top 8 teams from the first two and the top 7 from qualifier 3 would make it to the official event. With most of the recent events having been on an unlimited team cap or a pay to play idea, this is a refreshing piece of tournament infrastructure that could be utilized in more events. The event is approved by EA and supported by some NHL teams. Not all players are official representatives of respective NHL teams. We’ll go over a brief introduction of each team, the NHL team they are playing as, and their tournament history prior to the event. While some teams have been active and playing together for the entire season (or at least a core roster) some teams have been made for the sole purpose of qualifying for this event. If a team name is being used but is of a different roster, their results will still be included, but with the explanation of the roster changes throughout the past season. Anaheim Ducks Gaming Original Team: BBB How they qualified: Top 6 in CBJ Summer Cup Previous Results: T16 Caps Gaming Showcase T16 LGESHL S12 T8 LGESHL S13 T4 NACL T8 CBJ Summer Cup (ongoing) BBB has certainly been on the upward trend in the latter half of 2020. The past events have BBB making it at least to the quarterfinals of every event since the spring, capping it off with a top 4 placing in NHLGamer’s very own NACL. On August 15th, BBB announced they would be officially partnering with Anaheim Ducks Gaming to represent them in the Northern Arena Cup. Arizona Mars Original Team: Mars How they qualified: 2nd place in Qualifier 2 Previous Results: T8 CBJ Summer Cup (ongoing) The west coast roster has become a bit of a polarizing figure in the 6’s scene. No doubt a skilled lineup, with some experienced players, but with the added twist of being an uncommon roster of all western NA players. Some may say it is the battle of the servers, as a west coast server will put them on a very solid advantage, the question is can this team jump ahead quickly while others try to adapt to the connection. Calgary Prodigy HC Original Team: Prodigy HC How they qualified: Top 4 in Qualifier 3 Previous Results: T16 CBJ Summer Cup (ongoing) The team of Prodigy HC has been a relatively new roster to the scene, headed by top 1v1 players Geimer and Canadians. They made it to top 16 in the summer cup, but a disappointing playoff performance prompted some changes, revamping their backend and goaltending while adding OFs to play center. A fast-paced offensive squad will look to put up plenty of goals. Chicago Phantoms Original Team: Phantoms How they qualified: 2nd in Qualifier 1 Previous Results: 4th Caps Gaming Showcase T16 LGESHL S12 T12 LGESHL S13 T8 NACL Phantoms have reunited after a brief break up, and come back with a bang, going all the way to the finals of the first qualifier. They started the season off as dark horses in their first tournaments, but after multiple solid placements, they will be considered playoff favorites in the Western Conference. Colorado X Factor Original Team: X Factor How they qualified: Top 6 in CBJ Summer Cup Previous Results: 36th CBJ Summer Cup (ongoing) X Factor directly qualified to the event by finishing top 6 in the CBJ Cup, but failed to make the playoffs for the event. The poor finish prompted some changes for the squad, adding Burnsy x 95 and RoaringViper for the event. Time will tell which X Factor team will come to play in this event, the one that was top 6 through week 2, or the one that finished 36th come seasons end. Dallas Walking Dead Original Team: III Walking Dead III How they qualified: Top 6 in Qualifier 3 Previous Results: 44th CBJ Summer Cup (ongoing) Walking Dead is headed by the forward trio of JJr, Melvin x 94 and I Volcom x 28 l, whom have been linemates for some time. However, the defense of Forbz Eh and Focus TF have been solid for the team, allowing them to qualify for the event in the 3rd qualifier. Edmonton Offseason Original Team: The Offseason How they qualified: Top 8 in Qualifier 2 Previous Results: T32 Caps Gaming Showcase T16 CBJ Summer Cup (ongoing) Offseason has had an impressive run as of late, with a final week push to finish to top 16 in the Summer Cup, before being eliminated. The core roster have been playing together for a few events now, and the chemistry is starting to come through, and they will look to continue their good form during the season. Los Angeles Slaughterhouse Original Team: Slaughterhouse HC How they qualified: Top 8 in Qualifier 1 Previous Results: N/A Slaughterhouse is a unique case as they are one of the few teams that have no experience on the xbox side. However, this team has some good results over on the PSN side, but also apart of other rosters. While this team may seem like an underdog, they could surprise some teams that underestimate their experience as a roster. Minnesota Natty Light Knightz Original Team: Natty Light Knightz How they qualified: Top 6 in Qualifier 3 Previous Results: T8 Caps Gaming Showcase 30th CBJ Summer Cup as Knight Shift (ongoing) Natty Light Knightz went through a brief name change to Knight Shift before presumably switching back to Natty Light Knightz to qualify. A team of skilled 3’s players with some 6’s experience, the squad had a solid performance in the Caps Gaming Showcase, and will look to replicate that success after a tough CBJ Summer Cup. Nashville Mercenary Original Team: Mercenary How they qualified: 7th in Qualifier 3 Previous Results: 28th LGESHL S12 Mercenary has had its fair share of rosters, but they took the final spot in the Northern Arena Cup winning the final game to lock up 7th in Qualifier 3. San Jose Chilltown HC Original Team: Chilltown HC How they qualified: Top 8 in Qualifier 1 Previous Results: T16 CBJ Summer Cup (ongoing) Chilltown’s roster remains essentially the same as what they competed within the CBJ Summer Cup, with the exception of adding TheGreatMP7 as a presumed utility center. A good pick up no matter how many games he gets into, and will look to continue the team's trend of being a defensively responsible squad. Seattle Entourage Original Team: Entourage How they qualified: Top 6 in CBJ Summer Cup Previous Results: 1st Caps Gaming Showcase T16 LGESHL S12 T4 LGESHL S13 T4 NACL T8 CBJ Summer Cup (ongoing) With the announcement of the 32nd franchise Seattle Kraken, they will be a team to compete as in the Northern Arena Cup. Donning these jerseys will be none other than Entourage, who are a perennial contender in any event, and another team who were directly invited to the event. The long-running squad get the first crack at playing as the Kraken. St. Louis Infinity Original Team: Infinity How they qualified: Top 4 in Qualifier 2 Previous Results: T16 Caps Gaming Showcase Infinity are back as a squad and enter the NA Cup with a respectable semifinal finish in the 2nd qualifier. The team has some previous chem under their belt, so they will be looking to use that as much as they can over some of the newer squads. The team will be playing as the defending Stanley Cup champions, the St. Louis Blues. Vancouver Reckless Legends Original Team: Reckless Legends How they qualified: Top 4 in Qualifier 3 Previous Results: N/A Reckless Legends could be considered the biggest underdogs in the event, as they are a relatively new team to the competitive 6’s scene both as a team and as individuals. They did have a relatively solid run in the final qualifier, but they will be looking to prove themselves in this tournament. Vegas Golden Tropixx Original Team: Tropixx How they qualified: 1st in Qualifier 1 Previous Results: 28th CBJ Summer Cup (ongoing) Tropixx is another team with little experience as a team but lots of experience as individuals on other teams. They did, however, finish 1st in the first qualifier, beating some solid squads in the process. Finishing first in the qualifier allowed them to play as another new addition to the NHL in the Vegas Golden Knights. Winnipeg Denial Original Team: Denial How they qualified: Top 8 in Qualifier 1 Previous Results: T16 CBJ Summer Cup (ongoing) Denial is a new squad formed with the core trio of former Prophecy players in P t P 10, Keeeks 12 and McLxvinn. They’ve added some pieces from other teams such as Kovalchukl17l and Vaynx, who were a part of rising team Ground N Pound. The team has the skill to compete for a playoff spot, and showed they can already with a top 16 placing in the CBJ Summer Cup. Western Conference Standings Prediction: Seattle Entourage Anaheim Ducks Gaming Chicago Phantoms San Jose Chilltown HC Vegas Golden Tropixx Winnipeg Denial Los Angeles Slaughterhouse HC St. Louis Infinity Colorado X Factor Calgary Prodigy HC Arizona Mars Minnesota Natty Light Knightz Dallas Stars Walking Dead Edmonton Offseason Nashville Mercenary Vancouver Reckless Legends Boston Nationalz Original Team: Nationalz How they qualified: Top 8 in Qualifier 2 Previous Results: T16 CBJ Summer Cup as One Nation(ongoing) Nationals are made of a core of One Nation mixed with some other PSN players. The team has a solid amount of skill and has had success on the PSN side as well as the Xbox side. A top 8 finish in the second qualifier secured them a spot and a chance to play as the Boston Bruins. Buffalo Blacklist Original Team: Blacklist How they qualified: Top 8 in Qualifier 2 Previous Results: 24th CBJ Summer Cup (ongoing) Blacklist may be a new squad to the competitive 6’s scene, but they do have a solid amount of chemistry as a team. Formerly known as Showtime, the team had a decent showing at CBJ Summer Cup, before finally qualifying in the 2nd qualifier. Canadiens Esports Original Team: Most Wanted How they qualified: 1st in Qualifier 2 Previous Results: - T8 LGESHL S12 - 25th CBJ Summer Cup (ongoing) Montreal joins the partner team list and picks up Most Wanted to represent them in the event. The French squad has had some solid success, most prominently placing top 8 in LGESHL season 12. Carolina Highlight Highlanders Original Team: Highlight Highlanders How they qualified: Top 8 in Qualifier 2 Previous Results: T8 Caps Gaming Showcase T8 LGESHL S13 The Highlanders have had a tumultuous couple months with roster changes alike. While their previous results feature some other players, the current roster is still a solid lineup capable of competing for a playoff spot. CBJ Gaming Original Team: We Run the Show How they qualified: Partner Team Previous Results: 22nd CBJ Summer Cup (ongoing) CBJ Gaming have finally announced their roster, featuring a number of local Ohio players, mainly from the roster We Run the Show. The squad had a decent run at the CBJ Summer Cup finishing in 22nd place, and will look to step it up while representing the Blue Jackets. Detroit Turning Point Original Team: Turning Point How they qualified: 2nd in Qualifier 3 Previous Results: T8 Caps Gaming Showcase T16 CBJ Summer Cup (ongoing) Turning Point had admittedly a rough qualifier season, but finally has a solid run in the final qualifier, finishing 2nd. Despite the setback in the qualifiers, the team has shown they are able to make playoffs in major events and be at the top. This team is certainly capable of snatching up a playoff spot, but also to make a run for the cup. FLA Panthers Gaming Original Team: - How they qualified: Partner Team Previous Results: N/A The Panthers were the last to release their roster, and feature a team fairly similar to what they had in the CBJ Summer Cup. It isn’t a complete mixed roster, and the players have some familiarity with each other, featured in the Panthers squad that played in the CBJ Summer Cup, but also in various 3’s and 6’s leagues. Long Island 6th Sense Original Team: 6th Sense How they qualified: Top 4 in Qualifier 1 Previous Results: T32 Caps Gaming Showcase 1st LGESHL S13 2nd NACL T8 CBJ Summer Cup (ongoing) 6th Sense have made some rotations, creating a mainly french squad with some additions from Flawless. Nevertheless,the team has skill, experience and results to make them a contender heading in. New York Underdogs Original Team: Underdogs How they qualified: Top 6 in CBJ Summer Cup Previous Results: T8 Caps Gaming Showcase T4 LGESHL S12 17th LGESHL S13 T8 CBJ Summer Cup (ongoing) The first seed in the CBJ Summer Cup enter the Northern Arena Cup with high expectations. With a roster that’s been together for so long with good results, the expectations are high for this team. NJDGC Original Team: - How they qualified: Partner Team Previous Results: N/A The Devils have brought their own roster to the event. It features some GWC top 32 players, but for the most part, not a lot of competitive 6’s experience across the board here. Ottawa Momentum Original Team: Momentum How they qualified: Top 4 in Qualifier 1 Previous Results: T32 Caps Gaming Showcase 27th CBJ Summer Cup (ongoing) Momentum have had an up and down summer, with a decent performance in CBJ Summer Cup, they go back to their roots with players like Zarvek and PBanc. Their chemistry will look to shine through during the event. Philadelphia Problematic Original Team: Problematic Esports/Road 2 Glory How they qualified: Top 4 in Qualifier 2 Previous Results: 17th CBJ Summer Cup (ongoing) Problematic pick up the Road 2 Glory roster, who will be playing as the Flyers for the season. Most of their results and playing time has been on the PSN side, but they just missed out on the playoffs during the CBJ Summer Cup, and could prove to be a formidable dark horse for the tournament. Pittsburgh Washed Original Team: Washed How they qualified: Top 8 in Qualifier 1 Previous Results: T24 LGESHL S13 Washed has come into the event as a slightly mixed roster, with core players from The Krusty Krab, as well as players from Momentum like NINETY EIGHT and jared2112. A solid roster that managed to qualify in the 1st qualifier who will look to sneak into the playoffs. Tampa Bay Vertigo Original Team: Vertigo How they qualified: Top 6 in CBJ Summer Cup Previous Results: T4 LGESHL S13 1st NACL T8 CBJ Summer Cup (ongoing) Vertigo was directly invited to the event after finishing top 6 in the CBJ Summer Cup. A somewhat new roster, but one that has had an immediate impact on the scene, with at least a top 4 finish in all major events they have played in, with the summer cup still going. The roster will look to add another top 4 finish to add to their resume, and will do it under the Lightning bolt. Toronto Composure Original Team: Composure How they qualified: Top 6 in CBJ Summer Cup Previous Results: T32 Caps Gaming Showcase 1st LGESHL S12 T8 LGESHL S13 T8 NACL T16 CBJ Summer Cup (ongoing) Composure finished top 6 in the CBJ Summer Cup, allowing them to have an early pick to snatch up the Maple Leafs to play under. The team has gone through some recent changes and have had an average year so far for their standards but will look to the Northern Arena to finish the season off with a bang. Washington Resignation Original Team: Resignation How they qualified: 1st in Qualifier 3 Previous Results: 39th CBJ Summer Cup (ongoing) The young guns are back with a bit of a revamped roster, which has given themselves the boost they’ve needed to place first in the final qualifier to secure their spot. While this may be an inexperienced team, they have lots of skill and plenty to work to make a name for themselves. Eastern Conference Standings Prediction: New York Underdogs Tampa Bay Vertigo Toronto Composure Long Island 6th Sense Detroit Turning Point Boston Nationalz Canadiens Esports Pittsburgh Washed Philadelphia Problematic Carolina Highlight Highlanders Washington Resignation Ottawa Momentum Buffalo Blacklist CBJ Gaming FlaPanthers Gaming NJDGC Be sure to check out all of the featured games on the following channels: twitch.tv/NHLGamer twitch.tv/nosleeves12 twitch.tv/northernarena The games start Tonight at 8:45 EST, don’t miss it! Did we get it right? Did we butcher it? Let us know in the comments!

We’ve made it to the finals of the second-ever NACL season, and whether you've been along for all of it or just a part, let me tell you it’s been an extremely successful season chalked full of entertainment. We’ve gone through 312 regular season games, where we saw 822 goals. We started with 15 teams, but we’re down to the final 2. In a best-of-7 clash, we’ll see the winner take home $2,400, and 2nd place take $1,200. Let’s see how these 2 teams match up! Vertigo Regular season record: 19-4-1 Vertigo comes into the series as the number 1 seed with a 19-4-1 record in the regular season. Being the top seed can bring some pressure heading into the playoffs, but Vertigo showed no signs of crumbling, advancing through both the quarterfinals and the semifinals series scores of 4-2 and 4-1 respectively. Neither one of these series was shy on storylines, however, with Vertigo dominating the opening two games against Montage Moment in the quarterfinals with 7-0 and 8-2 scores respectively. @Nasher and co. (Montage Moment) looked to make it as close as possible, with three one goal games to end the series, until @CaLL Me Jakoo scored the series-winning goal with 18 seconds left in game 6 to advance Vertigo to the semifinals. They had an opening game OT loss to Entourage in the semis, but followed it up with four straight wins, with three out of these four wins being one goal games to cement their spot in the Finals. Leading the way offensively for Vertigo is @P t P 10, who leads all skaters in playoff goals with 17 in 10 games. @CaLL Me Jakoo and @ScaryJoeyy round out the offensive core, with very solid playoff runs with 23 and 17 points respectively. @Gwan led all defensemen in scoring during the regular season and continues his success with 11 points in 10 games in the playoffs. @SamDelisle9 slides in on the right side of the ice, recording 12 points in 10 games for Vertigo. @Denisov x 42 tends the pipes for the squad, and has only let in 15 goals in 11 games during the playoffs, and has recorded an 83.52 save percentage with 3 shutouts. 6th Sense Regular season record: 18-4-2 6th Sense finished the regular season with an 18-4-2 record, good for 3rd place heading into the playoffs. They came up against an always tough opponent in Phantoms in the quarterfinals. They started off slow in the series, dropping the first two games in overtime to go down 0-2 in the best of 7 series. However, they kept their composure and roared back with four straight wins, topping it off with a 7-1 win in game 6, to take the series 4-2. The semifinals against BBB was even more of a barn burner, in the sense that games 2-5 were all finished in overtime and every single game was tight all the way to game 7, where 6th Sense would cap off the series with yet another OT winner, this time to punch their ticket to the NACL Finals. @F0G 19 leads the way with 29 points in 13 games for 6th Sense. @John Bri I 7 I and @TheGreatMP7 finish off the forwards, who put up 25 and 21 points respectively. @Vaporize 17 has been a force from the right defensive side, leading all defensemen in goals (3), assists (12), points (15), shots (19), and is second in hits (51). His D partner @Doops also had a solid run, with 12 points in 13 games. In net is @Seb TopG, who has a 2.31 GAA and a 80.13 save percentage. In the regular season matchup between the two, Vertigo came out with the 2-0 victory in the series, with scores of 1-0 and 5-1. However, both games were close in time on attack and in shots on goal. While Vertigo was the better offensive team throughout the regular season, 6th Sense was the better defensive team, although both teams were at least top 5 in every single statistical category, with both teams seemingly neck and neck in some categories. Expect some very close games, and some high-quality hockey to be played by both teams. The action Sunday, where we will see one team be crowned as the NACL Champion. Tune in for all the action starting Sunday, May 17th at 07:00 PM EST (01:00 CEST) over at www.twitch.tv/nhlgamer!

NHLGamers, While our recent articles gear towards the teams and more importantly, the players, it’s time we heard from the voices behind the mic, our very own broadcast crew. I asked Cody @Tougie24 Tougas, Paul @Cyn Anderson, and Nick @f5penguin DiMeo their thoughts on the recent growth of NHLGamer, the production level, and the 6v6 community in general. All 3 of these gentlemen can be found across our streams and broadcasts, and have made appearances in all levels of play, whether it be ECL, NACL, or the eSHL. << I think they're one of the leaders of innovation when it comes to bringing forth a level of quality in the content and in the gamesmanship, and you see that especially with the ECL and now the NACL breaking through. I only see big things in the future for them. >> Question: We’re entering the 10th season of the ECL, and the second season (of hopefully many) of the NACL. Just recently it was announced that there were a total of 196 teams signed up, a record-setting 15 000€ prize pool for ECL season 10, and new esports organizations such as JYP Jyvaskyla, SJ Gaming, hREDS, and KOVA Esports signing rosters for the upcoming campaign. What’s it been like to watch the site grow at such a rapid pace? @f5penguin: It's interesting to see the site grow at this pace that you mentioned. It's fun to watch the surge happen, especially with everything going on in the world currently. People are looking for an outlet and they're looking for a place to play and do something that is closest to sports while they are confined. I'm of the opinion that esports IS a sport and I've said that for a while, being a new sports and new media advocate. However, seeing a record 15,000€ prize pool, seeing actual hockey teams take on an esports team, and signing a roster for the partnership with the Swedish SHL (eSHL). These are huge, monumental things and I couldn't be more thrilled that NHLGamer is the one responsible for doing some of these things. I think they're one of the leaders of innovation when it comes to bringing forth a level of quality in the content and in the gamesmanship, and you see that especially with the ECL and now the NACL breaking through. I only see big things in the future for them. @Tougie24: It's been amazing. Nearly a year ago I was able to have a conversation with @Kenu (owner and founder of NHLGamer.com) while we were both in Vancouver over potentially doing commentary for NHLGamer. It's something I wanted to get into, seeing as Youtube and Twitch isn't exactly the end goal I have in mind. I'd also been having conversations with Cyn around the same time over our mutual interest in trying to branch out into commentary. He's been someone I've considered a friend for nearly as long as anyone in the Youtube community, and we'd decided pretty early on into those conversations that we were going to be a package deal. After talking with Kenu, I knew that NHLGamer was who I wanted to be affiliated with. The ambition, the vision, of where the competitive NHL scene could be lined up directly with myself and Cyn's. And just in the past year alone, the thought of "backing a winning horse" has come to mind. I already view that decision as a successful one. In the time since, we had our trial NACL run, which has turned into what this series has been, which I'd argue has been successful in turning heads in terms of what type of platform this league is looking to provide. Overseas, the ability to call games not just for the NACL but the eSHL was an honor. I get to see the same drive and ambition that won me over in the first place on display. The team we have all want the same thing. To help improve the footing of NHL esports. And just over this past year alone? No doubt in my mind that's been accomplished. And I can't wait to continue to see where it goes. << While myself and Tougie may be the ones on screen being the proverbial “faces” of each broadcast, what goes on behind the curtains during and days before is just as if not more important than what we bring. It’s really great to see others appreciating the hard work that goes into that side of production because we know first hand just how vital it is to our success. >> Question: A common comment when talking about NHLGamer, has been the level of production in the broadcasting during the featured games. While the ECL has been acclimated to this for a few seasons, the introduction of the NACL has brought in numerous positive comments about the level of detail to make the broadcast the best it can be. These things are also mentioned talking about the casting crew and the level of professionalism yourself and others bring to the table. How do these comments contribute to your current and future broadcasts? @Cyn: That sort of positive reinforcement is quite inspiring to hear. I think we feed off of viewer feedback as a collective group. We all hold ourselves to the highest of standards and anything less than greatness leaves us feeling unfulfilled. It is one of the best rewards of this job to hear that your effort and passion is being appreciated, and that goes for internal feedback as well. We appreciate and value all those involved so much and it’s clear to us that everyone plays a huge part in making each broadcast a success. It all needs to click to look as good as it can. And while myself and Tougie may be the ones on screen being the proverbial “faces” of each broadcast, what goes on behind the curtains during and days before is just as if not more important than what we bring. It’s really great to see others appreciating the hard work that goes into that side of production because we know first hand just how vital it is to our success. @f5penguin: These comments to me I love. You may not know, but I have been broadcasting for 10 years in new media, so strictly online streaming, podcasting, etc. I've been a tech journalist for a long time, and I've been calling esports games for three or four years for other leagues as well. So when I see everybody love what we do, part of me is elated here that definitely without question. I love that people are enjoying the product that we're giving them, but also, part of me knows that this is what we could do. This is what happens when you bring talented people together and give them the ability to create. When you find the talent, you should work insanely hard to grow it, keep it maintained, do everything you can to give them a chance to shine. And I think NHLGamer does a fantastic job that I'm able to have free reign. I'm not told what to say, I feel like I'm not given a very finite script, and I'm able to create freely. Working alongside Drew Goldfarb has been a blessing, I'm learning so much from him and that's amazing. If you haven't seen an ECL broadcast before, here's the latest one from tonight: Question: With the cancelling of numerous sporting events across the world, we’ve seen professional sports teams and leagues shift towards simulating their respective sports to give their fans something to watch during this period of uncertainty. While it’s massive progress to have these organizations acknowledging the presence of esports, especially sports games like NHL 20, can you give your best sales pitch on what they are missing simulating games with the AI, rather than contributing to the 6v6 EASHL community? @Cyn: They are missing perhaps the most important element of entering an online market; timing. I believe they are still sort of trivializing esports, especially NHL which is just beginning to blossom, and haven't done a whole lot of market research on esports and their growth patterns. Otherwise, every single professional team would be scrambling to create their own division devoted solely to esports. The signs are everywhere. Gamers being signed to contracts with streaming platforms, countless tournaments being held both online and on LAN, and legitimate successful and thriving business models devoted to esports. I guess my pitch would be this: You have in front of you a unique opportunity to evolve with the times and cast yourself into an historical undertaking. If you don't get in on the action now, someone else will. Refusing to take the leap with the information we have on hand makes you a dinosaur. This is quite literally a can't miss investment opportunity. @Tougie24: First, from a general standpoint. It's probably somewhat cliché to say, but hockey is a team sport. The individual game is fine, it can be entertaining. From an advertising stand point, it's probably easier to focus on an individual and their personality. But it's simply mind boggling to me that we haven't seen more professional teams step up to support the team game over the individual. That's for both NHL and FIFA for that matter. Now in terms of teams currently presenting AI gameplay? It's a bit more understandable with how unexpected of a situation we're all living in happens to be. But perhaps this look towards the video game side of things for content opens some eyes to the product that's already there, and the opportunities that are there for the taking. << It doesn't matter what your role is, no matter how big or how small your contribution, everyone needs to work together to push this thing forward. >> Question: NHL 20 has seen an explosion of new tournaments, and overall impressive progress to the esports scene, whether it be more teams stepping into 1v1 tournaments, and more relevant to the 6v6 scene; the Caps Gaming Showcase in North America, and the eSHL featured in Europe. These 2 leagues not only broke down barriers in the community, brought new sponsorship opportunities, more legitimacy to the NHL esports community, but most importantly, more viewers and demographics to the community itself. What do you think are the next steps for the NHL community as a whole, but also the 6v6 community in terms of building off the growth and success of these prestigious tournaments? @Cyn: I think the next step to take is to continue to increase production value on the online formats to show that this is a sustainable model for success. We have to capitalize and continue to build on the momentum we as a community have right now and that means content, content, content. I think NHLGamer in particular is doing this exceedingly well. The more interest we generate, the more professional organizations and larger sponsors will have to take notice which will lead to further legitimacy and funding. With that, we can have even more LAN events which are always seen as the coup de grace for each season or tournament. We’re also going to need to work closely with EA to program in features that cater more to 6s esports in particular. The biggest of which would be an observer client and improved servers. Basically, everyone involved needs to be ready to put more skin in the game if we want this to keep exploding and not stagnate. @Tougie24: More important than the destination for competitive sixes is how we get there. Everyone wants more high profile LAN events, larger prize pools, etc. But we're not going to get there unless the community works together as a whole. It doesn't matter who you are, what your role is, what league you're in, etc. Do your part. Whether that's just maintaining a good public image, sharing and promoting stuff on social media, or helping with the production of the league you're in. It all adds up and pushes us forward as a group. Something as simple as sending in a picture to make the presentation look that much more appealing goes a long way. Like I said, it doesn't matter what your role is, no matter how big or how small your contribution, everyone needs to work together to push this thing forward. @f5penguin: First and foremost, we need more buy-in from NHL, the game, the sport, and we need more buy-in from the sponsors. You look at leagues like NBA 2K, and there's a real life crossover happening that is not happening at the scale that it needs to happen here. I think organizations are taking the safe approach by doing 1v1 tournaments, or by bringing it one player to play with a streamer that runs the stream and that's the right move. I think we need a spectator mode. We need the ability to not allow people to skip and press “A” We need better camera angles. We need a replay functionality. We need belief in the system and it's the chicken before the egg. There's no true proven ROI for NHL. It's the fourth major sport in the United States, so I totally understand the reason it's not there yet. Some teams are taking risks, and it's a catch 22, but somebody has to start doing it. Thankfully, we have amazing organizations like the Washington Capitals doing the Caps Gaming Showcase, which is unprecedented, and we wouldn't have seen that had it not been for some of the things that happened last year to bring it to fruition. But we need it on a bigger scale. We need everybody to buy in and do it, and we know we're seeing inklings of 1v1 here and there. Maybe a little bit of threes, but we need 6’s. Every NHL teams should have a 6v6 team, I stand by that. Maybe not locally, maybe they go and fetch people from around the countries. But they need something, and there has to be a reason to watch it and you can air games during intermissions and you can build hype around the teams. You can have him come to the games, there's so many ways to bring this here. Esports is gonna be a $7 billion industry by the end of next year. Why would you not want to be a part of that?

The NHL community loves to do top 10 rankings at each position. These are fun discussion starters for the community, but no one seems to be talking about the best 6’s teams out there. NHL 6v6 is all about chemistry and teamplay, but there isn’t any distinction to the best 6’s teams out there. It’s probably because teams rosters/teams change dramatically after a long event or a crushing defeat. With NHL 6v6 on the rise, and with more and more organizations/sponsors stepping into the space, let this be a PSA to try and maintain a roster for longer than a month. There will be good teams who won’t be ranked here, and that will simply be because they did not maintain a majority roster (3/6 starters) so their previous results cannot be pinned to an individual, and more so to the now-defunct roster. If you are switching your roster that drastically, you would assume they haven’t had success and probably shouldn’t be considered top 10 at this time. This post will contain the top 10 North American teams from the past couple of events in NHL 20. Here are the criteria: 1. Tournament/Event Results will be heavily considered here. Events are long and hard to come by these days, and teams change so much that we will only cover LG S12 and Caps Gaming in this list, as they are the most relevant and most recent. Going too far back leads to too much roster shuffling, but also the meta changing from yearly installments. So we’ll only use those 2 tournaments I mentioned. I’m using a points system, similar to ATP rankings in tennis, or how ESL ranks CSGO teams. Caps Gaming is ranked slightly more (about 5% higher) than LG due to recency. You can learn about these systems here: ATP: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ATP_Rankings ESL CSGO: https://pro.eslgaming.com/worldranking/csgo/rules/ 2. Opponents played/beat is also an important factor in these rankings. With both of the tournaments above being used, the quality of opponents can vary depending on scheduling/the format in general. In other words, some people may have an easier road than others, and best of 1’s versus best of 3’s+ are also a factor. Each team ranked here will have their notable wins in each category shown to get a grasp of the quality of opponent + placing. Best of 1’s (BO1) will only be a single game, while best of 3, 5 and 7’s (BO3, BO5, BO7) will be a series of wins over the same opponent, making them more noteworthy than a best of 1, where a bad or lucky bounce could change the tide of the game. Best of 7’s is the format of the NHL playoffs, where the first to win 4 games will ultimately win the series. 10. BBB LG Championship S12 - Top 16 Caps Gaming Showcase - Top 16 Bo3: Prophecy Bo1: Resilience, Composure x2 BBB was dominant in NHL 19, winning multiple 6s Championships. Unfortunately, it’s been too long since those events, and BBB hasn’t been able to replicate that same success in NHL 20. They bring back Flowmaster Joe, who was a key player in their previous success and will look to get that old BBB chemistry back and flowing. While they have been consistent in their placements, they’ll need to step it up in upcoming matches to jump in the rankings. 9. Dahlia LG Championship Season 12 - T24 (from Royalty) Caps Gaming Showcase - T8 Bo3: Prophecy, Phantoms, Entourage Bo1: Resilience, Vertigo The Dahlia Type Beat was in full force during the Caps Gaming Showcase and rolled through most of the regular season without a series loss. They play a tight defensive game and can play any team no matter how much offense to close games. They changed @TheGreatMP7 with @KingClutch, who is a proven PSN player in his own right and should be a solid addition to the squad. They’re proving that the gap between Xbox and Playstation players is smaller than people think, and will look to build off their previous campaigns. 8. Vertigo LG Championship Season 12 - T4 (From Legacy) Caps Gaming Showcase - N/A Bo7: Prophecy Bo1: Hidden Potential, Composure, Entourage, Dahlia, Underdogs Vertigo is a recently formed roster, filled with plenty of veterans from the 6’s scene. The majority of this roster comes from Legacy, who had solid 6’s results prior to the switch, but ultimately dropped out of Caps Gaming. They added the Turning Point duo of @Soy los 19 and @SamDelisle9, who you could argue were the two most impactful players on their roster. They then top it off with @Kernsy, @CaLL Me Jakoo, and @DDW4, who have been a part of very solid rosters in the past and are skilled players in their own right. This team has the potential to move up spots in these rankings in the near future, and the only reason they aren’t is because of the DNF in the Caps Tournament. 7. Prophecy LG Championship Season 12 - T8 Caps Gaming Showcase - T16 Bo3: N/A Bo1: Dahlia, Entourage, Vertigo, Phantoms, BBB The long-running brand of Prophecy has had a decent amount of consistency in terms of placing, but nothing too high or noteworthy. They recently went through a rehaul of their roster, bringing in @McLxvinn, @Po1andsFinest and @Sorokin x 90. All three of these guys bring pedigree and experience to the team and look to make a deeper run in future events. 6. Phantoms LG Championship Season 12 - T16 Caps Gaming Showcase - 4th Bo3: Entourage Bo1: Vertigo, Dahlia, Composure, BBB, Entourage Phantoms have been a pleasant surprise of the 6’s scene recently, being a newer roster/brand formed in NHL 20. The French squad surprised plenty in the early going, but then topped it off with a dark horse run in the Caps Gaming Showcase, making it to top 4 and the LAN experience. These guys can’t be considered dark horses anymore and will look to continue their consistent success. 5. Underdogs LG Championship Season 12 - T4 Caps Gaming Showcase - T8 Bo3: Composure, Dahlia Bo1: Dahlia, Composure, Entourage, Prophecy, BBB, Phantoms This French squad is by no means an underdog at this point, as they have been consistently a solid contender in all the events they play in. The Underdogs like to play a high powered offense and have the skill to match any top team goal for goal. They had a tough run in the Caps Gaming tournament, as they had forfeit wins and forfeit losses all over the place, which messed up their swiss ranking and eventually their seeding for playoffs. They have however been one of the more consistent teams in placings, and look to make a run in an upcoming tournament to jump in the rankings. 4. Composure LG Championship Season 12 - 1st Caps Gaming Showcase - T32 Bo7: Phantoms, Underdogs, Resilience Bo3: Resilience, Prophecy Bo1: Prophecy, Dahlia, Hidden Potential, Phantoms, Underdogs Composure is one of the few rosters that’s stuck together for a significant period of time. While they have had success in the past that aren’t mentioned here, the results look a bit hot and cold for the squad. I don’t think that the top 32 placement in Caps doesn’t tell the full story here, as they came up against another top 5 team in Underdogs. They have had wins in all series formats, and with an event win under their belt this year, they know how to get it done in NHL 20. 3. Hidden Potential LG Championship Season 12 - T8 Caps Gaming Showcase - 2nd Bo7: BBB (LG) Bo3: Composure, Dahlia, Prophecy, Underdogs, Phantoms Bo1: Prophecy, Underdogs, Dahlia, Phantoms, Entourage, Vertigo Hidden Potential is a relatively new team, but has made waves in NHL 20. They started off with solid placements and results early on in NHL 20, beating a lot of top 10 teams, and then followed it up with a 1st place regular season in Caps Gaming, and a 2nd place overall finish. They have depth in all positions, adding players like @rickchel, @YungGren, @Remi l9l and IHuskie to round out the utility positions. The next step for this team is an event win. 2. Entourage LG Championship Season 12 - T16 Caps Gaming Showcase - 1st Bo5: Hidden Potential Bo3: Composure, Resilience Bo1: Phantoms, BBB, Resilience, Dahlia, Composure The most recent champion, Entourage looked significantly more prepared for the LAN environment than the other attendees. This showed in their results, as they didn’t drop a single game on their run. Their event win is plagued by their slow start in the beginnings of NHL 20, but their ranking is nothing to discredit. This team is solid top to bottom, have the firepower to run up the score or play a tight 1 goal game. The addition of @Regs84 has proven beneficial in spades, as he brings a puck-moving side to the right defense spot not seen from too many other teams. 1. Resilience LG Championship Season 12 - 2nd Caps Gaming Showcase - 3rd Bo7: Hidden Potential, Vertigo Bo3: BBB, Phantoms, Underdogs Bo1: Underdogs x2, Phantoms, Hidden Potential, Composure, Vertigo, Prophecy, BBB, Phantoms As much as people may feel it’s strange to have a team that hasn’t won an event at number 1, it’s tough to not put Resilience at the top spot. They have been the most consistent, being the only team to get at least top 4 in both events. They also have the best track record in terms of beating top 10 teams, which comes from those deep playoff runs. The Resilience boys have bounced around with different wingers from time to time, but they brought back Stifmeister x7 and @Thibodd, who are arguably 2 top 5 wingers right now. They have one of the most well-rounded rosters and have done everything except win a big event. It feels like the only thing left for this team is to get that coveted trophy. Unfortunately, this team has spread itself out for NACL, joining various top 10 teams to bolster other rosters, so they will not be looking to raise the NACL trophy as a squad. Do you agree with our ranking? Let us know your TOP 10 in the comments below.