MartindalexC

It's time, gamers! The pinnacle of the season is here! We've reached the end of the line with only the two best teams in all of Europe remaining. It is the ECL 8 Elite final between Written In The Stars and FILADELPHIA. These are two teams that definitely aren't strangers to each other, in fact what we will be treated to at LanTrek is a rematch of their IS Cup 3: 6vs6 best of 3 final at GameXpo 2018. Only this time, we're back bigger and better than ever before! Together with Dr Oetker Rustica, we're bringing you the first ever ECL live final and what better way to do that than with a guaranteed thriller of a matchup. SKY and FILA will face off in a best of 7 series, starting Friday, 1st of March, 2019 at 17 CET. How we find ourselves here For the first time in Written In The Stars franchise history, they have gained entry to the ECL finals. Thanks to one of, if not the, most dominant regular season displays ever seen, as well as a similarly commanding playoff showing thus far. FILADELPHIA on the other hand, come into this season’s finals as the reigning champions, and with an almost identical record compared to that season to boot. So, as far as finals go, this is no doubt shaping up to be one of the best we have ever seen. But how exactly does each respective team find themselves at this point? Let’s turn the clock back and find out. Picture courtesy of SEUL ry, Jääskeläinen. Taken at GameXpo 2018. (1) Written In The Stars Regular season record: 26-3-1 Playoff record: 8-0-0 As Written in the Stars are currently the favourites to take this ECL championship (albeit by a mere 16 votes at the time of writing), what better team to start this segment off with then? SKY History I think though, to properly set the scene we should take a trip (perhaps reluctantly for some) down memory lane. Specifically, all the way back to ECL 2 when SKY was first created. Just as a point of reference, the only player on the roster at this time who is still a feature in the current one was @FlyerKungen. In their first 6v6 competitive season Written posted a fairly decent record of 7-2-1, paving their entry to the playoffs where they were eventually bounced in 5 games by Infinity. A result that I’m sure was no doubt frustrating for those involved, but for an inaugural season you can definitely do worse. For ECL 3, SKY took off and recorded a 39-4-3 season with three players passing the century mark in points. Despite this impressive total, SKY only managed to proceed to the quarters before getting swept by the eventual runners up. Again, probably frustrating as all hell to be a part of, but as a far as trends go, their playoff performances are lasting longer and longer. Where the wheels begin to fall off is with the advent of ECL 4. Once again, SKY put up a fairly impressive season total of 18-6-4, good for 4th in Elite. However, they drastically underperformed and got beat in 5 games to a Dynasty side who eventually ended up being just 2 goals away from the championship title. ECL 5 then rolled around with SKY notching another impressive regular season. This time, they got revenge on Dynasty as they swept them in the first round, but experienced an unfortunate 2nd round exit to end their season. Sure, in hindsight it may have been another potentially wasted season from SKY, although with that said, getting past the first round in Elite is no small feat. Especially as they have been going in as the 4th seed in the past two seasons at this point, effectively guaranteeing that they would run into an extremely tough opponent. In response to these middling results SKY came out and posted the highest regular season point total on record (27-2-1). They then dismantled their first-round opponent in NOS in 5 games, setting up their best chance to make the finals and win a title up to this point, as their semi-finals opponent (NOR) was a team who had struggled massively in their first round appearance against Unlucky Boys, just about winning in 7 games and consequently prompting a positional / personnel change. Written then lost in 5. For ECL 7, they seemed to take a step back and ‘only’ racked up a record of 20-4-4, good for 3rd in Elite, proceeded to show some promise in their first-round matchup by disposing of their opponent in 5 games, then got swept by, you guessed it, the eventual runners up for the 4th consecutive season. At this point, I doubt few would call into question the idea that Divine Providence surely must be at play, given SKYs playoff opponents. Indeed, one could even go as far to call them the gatekeepers of the finals, guarding entrance to the stage, but never setting foot on it. ECL 8 So with that, we move into ECL 8 and the possibility of redemption for the much-maligned side. Indeed, starting the season with a blistering pace of 15-0-0 should have made abundantly clear to all onlookers that SKY surely meant business this time around. Not only were they winning games in their usual fashion of effectively sieging teams down, but they were doing it with startling efficiency compared to years past. Couple this with some slight, but noticeable, tweaks in how they set up offensively, as well as defensively, and it’s no wonder SKY have finally got over the hump of never making it to the ECL Elite finals. That is not to say that SKYs journey has been without fraught. Indeed, they seem to have a tendency for their offense to somewhat dry up from time to time, and thusly rely on their defence to carry a lot of the burden. This can be seen somewhat frequently throughout the regular season, with 2-1 / 1-0 wins over AIK, Bucketeers, Synergy and Deadly Phantoms HC. Sure, the optimist would say that SKY winning these games shows that their defense can be relied on and clearly, they would not be wrong per se, however the teams listed all had fairly disappointing seasons offensively, meaning that against other more offensively gifted teams SKY could easily have been in trouble. This is an admittedly minor issue, but couple this with the fact that FILA managed to snag both wins in their regular season matchup and there's little wonder why SKY do not have an overwhelming majority favouring them to take it all despite having such an obscene regular season and an 8-0 record in the playoffs thus far. Written In The Stars starting lineup reviewed by FILADELPHIA: LW @Buantso 8GP, 9+12=21 A great player and an even better guy. Puantso is a tremendously skilled player who has finally started playing up to his full potential in SKY. Is dangerous with the puck all the time, sometimes makes surprising decisions and doesn't force his game too much. Is a bit of a wildcard on the ice, you never know what he'll come up with. Torro's greetings: "Mä tuun pitään sua". C @Dominointi 8GP, 10+10=20 Dominointi is without a doubt an important piece of any team he is a part of. As his name suggests, a dominant presence at center. Has the desire to control and be the difference maker in games, which sometimes turns to a disadvantage. Needs to trust his teammates more. RW @FlyerKungen 8GP, 7+13=20 The heart and soul of SKY. He is a 200 foot player, a real workhorse. Made the switch back to RW after playing at center last season, so his style changed a bit with that. Seppo might be more important on the ice, but you can't underestimate this guy. Has improved his game without the puck a lot lately. LD @Nassustelija 8GP, 1+6=7 A defensive defenseman. Plays well in his own zone and has shown that he can compete at the highest level. The most unexperienced player in Written, @FinKonna will be targeting him especially at the hotel. RD @willekunq 8GP 1+9=10 Admirably calm with the puck. Is responsible for most of SKY's breakout plays and has done that tremendously well this season. Without a doubt one of their best players in IS Cup 3: 6vs6. G @Hansulinho 8GP, 8W, 85.71 SV%, 0,75 GAA, 4 SO The most experienced player of the finals and it shows in his game. Very calm in net and never overplays the puck. He's an OK goalie but not better than ours. Picture courtesy of SEUL ry, Jääskeläinen. Taken at GameXpo 2018. (2) FILADELPHIA Regular season record: 23-6-1 Playoff record: 8-1-1 FILA history Moving on to the other half of the finals we find FILADELPHIA. A team that has accomplished a lot in a very short period of time. In their inaugural season FILA was placed in Pro for ECL 6, much to the chagrin of many who felt that they had not earned their place and should have been placed in Lite. Well, FILA went on to post the best regular season record in Pro across both groups, then advanced to post a playoff record of 12-1-1 before being toppled in 7 by Monarchs, solidifying their spot in Elite for the upcoming season. In that season, as I am sure most of you can remember, FILA ended up going all the way and beat Symphony by the combined score of 4 games to 2 in the ECL 7 Elite finals. Since then, FILA have also picked up more hardware in the form of an eSM title where they beat none other than Written in the Stars. ECL 8 FILAs road to the finals this time around has been anything but easy though. Perhaps the largest transfer that occurred over the past off-season was the loss of their stalwart defender in @vatalisti to military duty, and the subsequent pickup / replacement @jtorro1233. Early on it seemed as the hole left by this change was perhaps a little too big to fill. In fact, as far in as 8 games it looked as though FILA were looking almost decidedly average in a way, ‘only’ managing to pick up 9 points in 8 games with a record of 4-3-1. Granted, they had played a top team in Symphony, on the other hand they had dropped points against teams such as Resurrection who would end up propping up the league table, something which, for a reigning champion at least, was fairly beneath them. The slow start could easily be explained by a somewhat lackluster season preparation by FILA, which goes to show that even the best of teams can't compete without practice. Despite or because of their start, FILA began to find their play, and racked up a combined 19-3-0 to finish the season, a pace somewhat close to that of Written’s. As far as hitches go however, that’s ‘all’ that FILA have had to deal with this season. Sure, thus far in the playoffs they may not have gone the perfect 8-0-0 that Written have, though going 8-2-0 is nothing to scoff at. In fact, despite losing two more games than Written, FILA have the superior goal differential with +30 compared to SKY's +22, showing the raw scoring ability that this roster still harbours. Therefore, it stands to reason then, that if FILA is able to open up the game and get their offensive weapons involved going forward, rather than being shelled for 8min a game, they have a very good chance of being the first team in ECL history to ever win two championships, and naturally the first to do it in back-to-back seasons. FILADELPHIA starting lineup reviewed by Written In The Stars: LW @PleeMaker 10GP, 12+15=27 Wouldn't believe it from what you see on the ice, but the youngin in the group. Very slippery on offense, their hardest player to face 1-on-1 and a pain in the ass with occasional cherrypicking. C @Patzlaf 10GP, 14+11=25 The beating heart of FILA, Mr. Selke, El Capitano - A dear child has many names. Rumour has it that he's a skilled dangler. High hockey IQ. RW @Eki 10GP, 9+13=22 The world champ. A friendly and pleasant guy to be around. Throws sauce better than everyone else, defends better than everyone else. Lost to Ippe (@Buantso) in Sampi Cup. LD @Janzuh 10GP, 0+9=9 A true FILA veteran. Janzuh is a hard hitter and a tough defender to face any given night. RD @jtorro1233 10GP, 1+8=9 Judas Iscariot of FILA. Loves the puck more than his teammates. G @sibeelius 8GP, 7W, 92.69 SV%, 0,37 GAA, 6 SO FILA's shortest player. Has proven to be a winning goaltender and handles the pressure well in tough spots. A former SKY player, who's been spotted at the training facility in a snakesuit on weekends. How to watch the finals? Preferred option: Show up to the live event at LanTrek on Friday, 1st of March, 2019. Puck drop is at 17CET, so be there early! Follow our stream at www.twitch.tv/nhlgamer. Arttu Hämäläinen and Jani @Jiihooo86 Hetta will be commentating all games live from Tampere. Schedule:* Game 1 17:00 CET Game 2 17:40 CET Game 3 18:20 CET --------------------------------------- BREAK 18:55-19:55 CET --------------------------------------- Game 4 20:00 CET Game 5 20:40 CET --------------------------------------- BREAK 21:10-21:20 CET --------------------------------------- Game 6 21:25 CET Game 7 22:05 CET *ECL Staff withholds the right to alter the schedule if need be. Who do you think will win? Will you be joining in on the action at LanTrek or through the stream? Let us know in the comment section! ECL Elite Writing Team, @MartindalexC & @jahajaha93

Hey NHLGamers, A new tuner & patch have been released. The changes of note (at least for EASHL) are the nerf towards a player's skating (acceleration, agility & speed) whilst backskating with the puck, some improvements towards blending of certain animations in the attempt to reduce the effectiveness of "shovel" style shots, a rise in the reliability of faceoff counters, as well as the network performance screen now correctly displaying your ping. Regarding the 'main' change (i.e. backskating), the tweaks that EA have made are described to be "subtle" in nature. So, it should not impact play too wildly in theory, although with that said, even a small adjustment to such a widely used mechanic will invariably lead to some pretty stark differences. The full changelog is as follows: Patch 1.55 Tuner 1.04 What does everyone think of the changes? Do you think the backskating nerf was something that needed to be done, or was it a necessary evil to give teams more options on attack? Please, feel free to post your thoughts below!

NHLGamers! One round down and already we have had a couple upsets with Dynasty (5) and Rusty Blades (6) besting Deadly Phantoms HC (4) and Symphony (3) respectively. In fact, this marks the first time in two playoff seasons where a higher seed was knocked out in the first round, and the first time since the inaugural season that more than one fell. Proving, quite illustratively, that at the very top of the ECL structure the parity amongst teams is very strong, and that trying to make any predictions as to how the teams will finish can only be described as a ‘fool’s game’. Nevertheless, we will try to outline our thoughts regarding each team in the coming matchups for your viewing pleasure. The ECL 8 Elite semi-finals are going to be played on Monday 18th of February, Tuesday 19th of February, Thursday 21st of February and Sunday 24th of February. Please see a full schedule at the end of this post. These are the matchups for the ECL 8 Elite Semifinals: (1) Written In The Stars vs. Rusty Blades (6) The setup for this series is very much similar to that of the previous matchups of these teams. Written In The Stars is expected to control the pace of the play with their strong puck possession play and impressive passing whereas Rusty Blades is expected to rely on counter attacking and converting their chances efficiently. SKY won both regular season games with scores of 3-0 and 4-2 respectively. @Dominointi and @Buantso were the most prevalent players in those games, so a suggestion would be to keep your eyes on those two in this series. Rusty Blades will look to rely on the duo of @Foppatofflan and @MartindalexC, but undoubtedly they will need some secondary scoring and a whole lot of good fortune if they are going to see the series swaying their way. Written in the Stars (Regular season record 26-3-1) Written In The Stars have played an outstanding season so far and their playoff start has been nothing less than that. SKY dominated the eighth seed Northern Stars in the quarterfinals and advanced with a series score of 4-0. SKY wasn't really tested in that first matchup and the aggregate score of 16-3 speaks volumes of how dominant they were. Their scoring has been clicking well so far with 4 GF/GP and the team will surely look to stay on that path. All five of their players pose a threat in the offensive zone, which translates to an endless amount of opportunities when creating chances up front. The teams defense hasn't really been tested yet and we'll be expecting Rusty Blades to put forth some dangerous pushes. @willekunq and @Nassustelija will need to stay alert. Leading point scorer (F): @FlyerKungen & @Dominointi // 72pts (31+41) & (29+43) in 30 games Leading point scorer (D): @willekunq // 30pts (8+22) in 30 games Most winningest goalie: @Hansulinho // 86.36 SV% & 0.75 GAA in 16 games Rusty Blades (Regular season record 15-10-5) The Blades had an impressive showing in the first round where they bested a strong Symphony. RB went into their first matchup with a clear underdog status and will be doing the same in the semi-finals. Symphony had made their quarterfinal matchup 2-0 before Rusty Blades decided to bounce back with four consecutive wins including two shutouts by @Supreex along the way. They've only scored two goals per game so far, but as long as they keep up the solid play in their own zone and Supreex stays hot they have every chance to steal some wins in this series. Beating SKY is never easy, but we've seen that it won't be out of the question. Rusty Blades need to find the holes that are there and run with it. Leading point scorer (F): @MartindalexC // 45pts (26+19) in 30 games Leading point scorer (D): @The_Alpha_Furyan // 22pts (2+20) in 30 games Most winningest goalie: @Supreex // 79.93 SV% & 1.96 GAA in 30 games Prediction: Written In The Stars wins 4-1 (2) FILADELPHIA vs. Dynasty (5) Similar to the series outlined previously, this one between FILADELPHIA and Dynasty has a clear favourite / underdog division between the two teams. Not only because of FILAs pedigree over the past year (not least the fact that they are the current reigning champions) but also due to Dynasty having looked somewhat out of sorts at times in the 1st round, something that should, and in all likelihood will, get punished by a FILA team looking to become the first team in ECL Elite history to win two tournaments on the trot. FILADELPHIA (Regular season record 23-6-1) Despite an early stumble by FILADELPHIA against Butterfly Effect, they find themselves in the second round after performing the biggest beatdown from the first round, as they disposed of FLY in 5 games with a goal differential of +19 (the next closest was Written with +14). Even with this in mind however there are still some question marks going forward, specifically whether their defence can hold up against the pressure that Dynasty will invariably apply over the course of the coming series. It should be noted however that whilst this may become an issue, FILAs offence seems to be almost as effective as ever right now and should the series turn into a back and forth affair, then the advantage largely rests with FILA as opposed to Dynasty who are quite a bit less offensively inclined. Leading point scorer (F): @PleeMaker // 60pts (23+37) in 30 games Leading point scorer (D): @jtorro1233 // 21pts (6+15) in 28 games Most winningest goalie: @FinKonna // 86.66 SV% & 1.00 GAA in 14 games Dynasty (Regular season record 18-10-2) Emerging from an all-out brawl in the first round we find Dynasty, who are probably counting their lucky stars that they were able to beat out the Elite entrants Deadly Phantoms HC in 7 games, with all games bar one being decided by a single goal. In fact, to illustrate how much of a struggle Dynasty had against the German side, they enter the final four on the back of a measly +2 goal differential (the lowest out of the four remaining teams). Despite this, there is perhaps some hope for an upset to be staged by the DYN side, as they seemingly came alive after dropping game 1 & 2 to DPH, going on to win four out of the next five games. Of course, waiting until game 3 to start playing may just about work in the 1st round against playoff rookies DPH, but against the tested FILA such a start would all but seal their fate. So, realistically if DYN are to come out on top in this matchup they will need to carry over as much momentum as they can and not afford FILA the chance to become comfortable, otherwise their time may very well be numbered. Leading point scorer (F): @hpkfani // 48pts (30+18) in 30 games Leading point scorer (D): @Haldeem // 14pts (3+11) in 18 games Most winningest goalie: @Sandr0hh // 85.28 SV% & 1.70 GAA in 20 games Prediction: FILADELPHIA wins 4-1. ECL 8 Elite Semi-Finals Schedule: Monday, 18th of February 19:30 CET FILADELPHIA - Dynasty (Game 1 & 2) 21:00 CET Written In The Stars - Rusty Blades (Game 1 & 2) Tuesday, 19th of February 19:30 CET FILADELPHIA - Dynasty (Game 3-5) Thursday, 21st of February 20:00 CET Written In The Stars - Rusty Blades (Game 3 & 4) 21:00 CET FILADELPHIA - Dynasty (Game 6 & 7) Sunday, 24th of February 20:00 CET Written In The Stars - Rusty Blades (Game 5-7) All games will be broadcasted at Elisa Viihde. International broadcasts will be announced on social media. Signing off for now, ECL Elite Writing Team @MartindalexC & @jahajaha93

Hello NHLGamers, For this season of ECL Elite we are tweaking the recurring segment that looks to detail the ‘hottest’, ‘coldest’ and… ‘mildest’? teams in Elite over the past week. There will be more of an emphasis towards the quantitative approach, so expect more graphs and fewer walls of text. Each article in this series will be released on Mondays and will thusly be based on the days in between each power ranking iteration. In addition to this it should be noted that each ranking will invariably be in some way biased as it is, at the end of the day, a subjective list. Note: Each article will be based off of results starting from the Monday, all the way up to (& including) Friday. Ergo, any games played over the weekend will generally end up being a week 'late' so to speak. The logic behind the ranking is admittedly a sort of internal subjective ranking that weighs up results, opposition 'strength' as well as thoughts on the general play during some games. As such a ranking is not 100% quantifiable in nature there will be some bias that creeps in. One thing I would like to make abundantly clear however is that points are not the be all and end all within these rankings; for instance, just because 3 teams have the same record does not mean they won't be ranked wildly differently, as the context behind said results are of great importance and simply cannot be understated. Previous rankings: Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 - 1. FILADELPHIA (4-0-0) [+2] 2. Symphony (7-0-1) [+6] 3. Deadly Phantoms HC (3-1-0) [+3] 4. Rusty Blades (4-2-2) [-2] 5. Dynasty (3-3-0) [=] 6. Team Frosty (3-5-0) [-2] 7. Butterfly Effect (5-0-1) [+2] 8. Northern Stars (3-2-3) [+2] 9. AIK Hockey (2-1-1) [+5] 10. Almost Famous (5-3-0) [+3] 11. Bucketeers (3-3-0) [=] 12. Written in the Stars (0-0-0) [-11] 13. Unlucky Boys (1-3-0) [-6] 14. HC Wildcard (0-6-0) [+1] 15. Synergy Hockey (1-2-1) [+1] 16. Resurrection (0-4-0) [-4] Standings Timeline *The "playoff cut-off point", as well as the "relegation zone" lines are rough estimations of where the respective areas of Elite will fall once the regular season has been wrapped up. So, in other words, if a team is able to get over the green line, they 'should' stand a very good chance of making the playoffs, whilst if a team cannot make it past the red line, then there is a good chance that they will have to fight a relegation battle in order to assure their Elite spot for next season. Analysis As we enter the home stretch of the season it appears as though the ‘blocks’ outlined last week have remained somewhat, albeit with some notable differences. For instance, Symphony have moved up into the upper bracket off the back of a very strong surge as of late, consequently joining the likes of Written in the Stars, Dynasty, FILADELPHIA & Rusty Blades. Regarding the final playoff spots however we find some stark development. For instance, despite a week to forget from Team Frosty, they still remain within the group of 4 (Butterfly Effect, Deadly Phantoms HC, Almost Famous) who harbour the best shot at clinching a berth. Time is running out for Frosty however, as they are sitting on the cusp of 8th/9th thanks to a great performance over this past week by DPH who are now nipping away at their heels. If any of these teams fail to find traction and cannot gain any more points from the remaining games on their schedules then they may be in for a rude awakening as, whilst the group has thinned slightly with Synergy effectively being out of contention now, the pace of the teams trailing them cannot be written off. AIK Hockey, Northern Stars, Unlucky Boys, Resurrection & even Bucketeers all have had a noticeable uptick as of late and could conceivably put on a late push, of course some are more likely than others (e.g. AIK still have a couple games in hand compared to most), nevertheless, all of this just makes for perhaps a more interesting end to the season than years past. Projection The section looks to, well, project where a team will finish based off of all the games they have played thus far. -- And with that, we can now conclude the fourth edition of ECL 8 Elite's power rankings. Hopefully next week we will see the stratification continue so that we can pick out any further trends with ease. ECL Elite Writer @MartindalexC

Hello NHLGamers, For this season of ECL Elite we are tweaking the recurring segment that looks to detail the ‘hottest’, ‘coldest’ and… ‘mildest’? teams in Elite over the past week. There will be more of an emphasis towards the quantitative approach, so expect more graphs and fewer walls of text. Each article in this series will be released on Mondays and will thusly be based on the days in between each power ranking iteration. In addition to this it should be noted that each ranking will invariably be in some way biased as it is, at the end of the day, a subjective list. Note: Each article will be based off of results starting from the Monday, all the way up to (& including) Friday. Ergo, any games played over the weekend will generally end up being a week 'late' so to speak. The logic behind the ranking is admittedly a sort of internal subjective ranking that weighs up results, opposition 'strength' as well as thoughts on the general play during some games. As such a ranking is not 100% quantifiable in nature there will be some bias that creeps in. One thing I would like to make abundantly clear however is that points are not the be all and end all within these rankings; for instance, just because 3 teams have the same record does not mean they won't be ranked wildly differently, as the context behind said results are of great importance and simply cannot be understated. Previous rankings: Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 - 1. Written in the Stars (6-1-1) [=] 2. Rusty Blades (5-0-1) [+5] 3. FILADELPHIA (6-2-0) [+1] 4. Team Frosty (3-3-0) [+4] 5. Dynasty (5-2-1) [=] 6. Deadly Phantoms HC (4-4-0) [-3] 7. Unlucky Boys (6-2-0) [+5] 8. Symphony (2-2-2) [+1] 9. Butterfly Effect (4-5-1) [-3] 10. Northern Stars (2-1-1) [+3] 11. Bucketeers (3-2-1) [+3] 12. Resurrection (4-4-0) [+3] 13. Almost Famous (1-3-0) [-11] 14. AIK Hockey (2-6-2) [-4] 15. HC Wildcard (0-3-1) [+1] 16. Synergy Hockey (1-4-1) [-5] Standings Timeline *The "playoff cut-off point", as well as the "relegation zone" lines are rough estimations of where the respective areas of Elite will fall once the regular season has been wrapped up. So, in other words, if a team is able to get over the green line, they 'should' stand a very good chance of making the playoffs, whilst if a team cannot make it past the red line, then there is a good chance that they will have to fight a relegation battle in order to assure their Elite spot for next season. Analysis Whilst Northern Stars and Unlucky Boys were able to stave off a full-blown cardiac arrest, HC Wildcard have not been as fortunate and as such are requiring a strong finish to not end up being the team propping up the rest of the standings once all things are said and done in little over two weeks time. Written had a momentary wobble thanks to Symphony and Northern Stars, nevertheless their challenge for the number one spot is almost as solitary as it comes. That said, it is technically possible of course that they don't end up rolling into the playoffs with the number one seed in tow, although at this late stage of the season it would require something akin to a biblical miracle. One trend of note is that it appears as though we are beginning to see a few 'divisions' within Elite. Outside of Written, who may as well have set up their own space program at this point, we have the next best 'top 3' involving FILADELPHIA, Dynasty and Rusty Blades. These teams harbour the best chance of anyone catching Written, on top of this they are the only teams who have a points per game average substantially above the playoff 'guaranteeing' level of 1.07. Moving on to the next 'block' we have the teams who currently round out the remaining playoff positions. Namely, Symphony, Deadly Phantoms HC, Team Frosty and Almost Famous. Unlike the block that precedes it, this fringe playoff group have not been afforded the same level of security as the 'top 4' simply based on the fact that if they slip up, even momentarily, they can very easily fall into the group hot on their heels. A group that, quite frankly, can only be described as an all-out brawl, as we have all the remaining teams in Elite (minus HC Wildcard) all within spitting distance of 8th place, even Synergy (who currently sit at a measly 12pts through 16 games) if they happen to go on a run and win ~4 in a row. Finally, of course, we come to the lowly HC Wildcard who, admittedly, started out very well, but have since appeared to sputter out and become almost comatose. Unlike Synergy, who still remain in contention mathematically, if HCW were able to win every remaining game on their schedule (a tough ask at that with their opponents being SYM, TF, DPH, RB & DYN) they would only finish with 29 pts, which would result in an exceptionally low likelihood of them making the playoffs, so while it is not impossible per se, for all intents and purposes it may as well be. Projection The section looks to, well, project where a team will finish based off of all the games they have played thus far. -- And with that, we can now conclude the third edition of ECL 8 Elite's power rankings. Hopefully next week we will see the stratification continue so that we can pick out any further trends with ease. ECL Elite Writer @MartindalexC

Hello NHLGamers, For this season of ECL Elite we are tweaking the recurring segment that looks to detail the ‘hottest’, ‘coldest’ and… ‘mildest’? teams in Elite over the past week. There will be more of an emphasis towards the quantitative approach, so expect more graphs and fewer walls of text. Each article in this series will be released on Mondays and will thusly be based on the days in between each power ranking iteration. In addition to this it should be noted that each ranking will invariably be in some way biased as it is, at the end of the day, a subjective list. Note: Each article will be based off of results starting from the Monday, all the way up to (& including) Friday. Ergo, any games played over the weekend will generally end up being a week 'late' so to speak. The logic behind the ranking is admittedly a sort of internal subjective ranking that weighs up results, opposition 'strength' as well as thoughts on the general play during some games. As such a ranking is not 100% quantifiable in nature there will be some bias that creeps in. One thing I would like to make abundantly clear however is that points are not the be all and end all within these rankings; for instance, just because 3 teams have the same record does not mean they won't be ranked wildly differently, as the context behind said results are of great importance and simply cannot be understated. Previous rankings: Week 1 Week 2 - 1. Written in the Stars (8-0-0) 2. Almost Famous (7-1-0) 3. Deadly Phantoms HC (3-2-1) 4. FILADELPHIA (6-3-1) 5. Dynasty (6-2-0) 6. Butterfly Effect (2-2-0) 7. Rusty Blades (3-1-0) 8. Team Frosty (3-2-1) 9. Symphony (4-0-0) 10. AIK Hockey (1-4-1) 11. Synergy Hockey (3-3-0) 12. Unlucky Boys HC (1-5-0) 13. Northern Stars (1-4-3) 14. Bucketeers (1-3-0) 15. Resurrection (2-3-1) 16. HC Wildcard (1-9-0) Standings Timeline *The "playoff cut-off point", as well as the "relegation zone" lines are rough estimations of where the respective areas of Elite will fall once the regular season has been wrapped up. So, in other words, if a team is able to get over the green line, they 'should' stand a very good chance of making the playoffs, whilst if a team cannot make it past the red line, then there is a good chance that they will have to fight a relegation battle in order to assure their Elite spot for next season. Analysis Two weeks in and we are beginning to see some stratification at long last. I suppose, the elephant in the room would be Written just straight curb-stomping everyone and, well, what is there to say really? In fact, to summarise how ridiculous their start has been, if they decided to fall off the rails (relatively) and merely finished the season at a sedentary 1PT/G pace, they would end up with the same amount of points as they did last season. As for the mortals, aF has gone on a pretty strong run recently (7-1-0), potentially going a long way towards punching their first playoff berth in Elite. In addition to this, Dynasty have undergone a resurgence of sorts, climbing into the upper echelons after a fairly dismal first week. Joining them are Team Frosty and FILA who trail just behind them. On the flip side however, we can quite plainly see that HC Wildcard, Northern Stars & Unlucky Boys have flatlined with no recourse in sight. It is of course early, with us being ~1/3 of the way into the season for the most part, nevertheless, going on extended losing streaks at any time in the season can be especially deadly for playoff ambitions, especially with Elite looking like everyone can beat everyone (sans Written) for some inane reason. Projection Missing from last week due to time constraints were a pair of 'features', namely a projection and a prediction. The projection looks to, well, project where a team will finish based off of all the games they have played thus far. Prediction (Missing from last week) The second feature that was absent was a prediction of where the teams will fall once the dust has settled at the end of this season. Unlike the projection, the data used to assign points in the graphic below did not come from this ongoing season, instead it came from collating previous season results for each team (if possible), as well as some user bias to bring it all together. Think of this as similar to the 16 in 16 baseline (Week 0) we used in ECL 7. -- And with that, we can now conclude the second edition of ECL 8 Elite's power rankings. Hopefully next week we will see the stratification continue so that we can pick out any further trends with ease. ECL Elite Writer @MartindalexC

Hey NHLGamers, As you've probably heard by now, EA will be having a tuner rollback to the Beta Tuner for a limited duration of time. That rollback has now gone live and will take place between Friday, January 18th (11:00 CET) and Friday, January 25th (11:00 CET). EA is also issuing a tuner feedback survey for the duration of the rollback, you will find a link in-game and on Twitter. Please see EA's previous announcement and the full 'changelog' below: So, what do you guys think about the rollback? It surely brings some spice to the ongoing season, where the game will have a completely different feel for the coming week. Let us know your thoughts in the comments section! On behalf of the NHLGamer Staff, @MartindalexC

Hello NHLGamers, For this season of ECL Elite we are tweaking the recurring segment that looks to detail the ‘hottest’, ‘coldest’ and… ‘mildest’? teams in Elite over the past week. There will be more of an emphasis towards the quantitative approach, so expect more graphs and fewer walls of text. Each article in this series will be released on Mondays and will thusly be based on the days in between each power ranking iteration. In addition to this it should be noted that each ranking will invariably be in some way biased as it is, at the end of the day, a subjective list. Note: Each article will be based off of results starting from the Monday, all the way up to (& including) Friday. Ergo, any games played over the weekend will generally end up being a week 'late' so to speak. The logic behind the ranking is admittedly a sort of internal subjective ranking that weighs up results, opposition 'strength' as well as thoughts on the general play during some games. As such a ranking is not 100% quantifiable in nature there will be some bias that creeps in. One thing I would like to make abundantly clear however is that points are not the be all and end all within these rankings; for instance, just because 3 teams have the same record does not mean they won't be ranked wildly differently, as the context behind said results are of great importance and simply cannot be understated. 1. Written in the Stars (6-0-0) 2. AIK Hockey (3-1-0) 3. Unlucky Boys (3-2-1) 4. Team Frosty (3-1-0) 5. Butterfly Effect (2-1-1) 6. Bucketeers (3-3-2) 7. Symphony (3-3-0) 8. Deadly Phantoms HC (2-1-1) 9. Resurrection (3-1-2) 10. HC Wildcard (3-3-0) 11. Northern Stars (2-2-2) 12. Dynasty (1-1-0) 13. Synergy Hockey (1-2-1) 14. Rusty Blades (2-2-2) 15. Almost Famous (1-3-0) 16. FILADELPHIA (0-0-0) Standings Timeline *The "playoff cut-off point", as well as the "relegation zone" lines are rough estimations of where the respective areas of Elite will fall once the regular season has been wrapped up. So, in other words, if a team is able to get over the green line, they 'should' stand a very good chance of making the playoffs, whilst if a team cannot make it past the red line, then there is a good chance that they will have to fight a relegation battle in order to assure their Elite spot for next season. Analysis Anyway, on to the mess. As I'm sure you can see, this early into the season teams have not been afforded the chance to really differentiate themselves from each other, as such it is generally pretty tough to spot many teams as they overlap with each other. That said, there are some things we can pick out. Namely, Written In The Stars are already the only team still unbeaten in regulation (sans FILA who are yet to play at all), quite an anticlimactic feat given that most teams have only played 4-6 games. Additionally, we can see that Bucketeers have clearly dispelled any notion that they would not be ready for Elite, as they have stormed out of the block and posted a very respectable point per game average over 8 games. Sure, at that pace they're unlikely to make the playoffs, however it certainly offers up the opportunity for them to make a run at a playoff berth, a position I'm sure that they're more than happy to be in right now. As far as slow starts go though, there seems to be quite a heavily amount of parity at the moment as all teams (who have played), already have at least a win on the board. If we have to name and shame however, the most anaemic start would go to Almost Famous who are currently 1-3-0, not great, but even this would put them on pace for 15pts which is should be alarming for those from the AF side, yet they've played just 4 games, so do not read too much into this at the very moment. - With that all of this in mind, we are now finished for the first edition of ECL 8 Elite's power rankings. Next time we'll have a projection and a (belated) prediction of how the standings will fall once the dust has settled, as well as (hopefully) more trends to discuss. ECL Elite Writer @MartindalexC

Hey NHLGamers! Welcome to our ECL 8 Elite season preview, and let us start off by stating this is going to be one to remember! Our Prize pool is now 10 000€, which makes ECL the biggest 6vs6 tournament worldwide both measured in team amount, player amount and prize pool by far! We're happy to have all of you back for another season of this greatness. In the last few days we've dropped some exciting news on you guys, such as the involvement of AIK Hockey into ECL and our new partnership with Dr. Oetker Rustica and Elisa Viihde. Now, let's not keep you guys waiting any more than we have and get into the team run downs. AIK Hockey New Swedish pride AIK Hockey enters with a bang as they were announced just before the start of the season. Not many changes have happened over the offseason, as the former Sjukstugan look to continue their strong efforts with the same lineup as in ECL 7. The most notable change is in the goaltending department, where @ICappeI is replacing @Hullued in a switch-up that turns AIK into an all-Swedish team. Both netminders are some of the very best the league has to offer, so the decisive factor here is the flag on their passport. A player to keep your eyes on this season is @Tacterz. The young and tremendously skilled winger was a welcomed addition to the teams offense in ECL7 and is only expected to improve from here on. Almost Famous Almost Famous were, well - famous for their offensive style of hockey in their previous seasons, but last season there were some serious problems. Troubles to score called for somewhat of a re-build. This season will be better for them, because their team leaders gained experience from ECL7 in Elite and bringing in fresh blood from Cowabunga Hockey (Pro) who are hungry to prove everyone tthat they can compete at the Elite level. Players added were G @Jonitski, LD @Makeaxl and RW @Sokkelo__. All of these players are in for their first season at the Elite level. Let's not forget that aF lost their defensive leader @Aze to Team Frosty, this might take it's toll but the new addition Make seems to possess some talent as he put up 24p in 30 games in ECL 7 Pro. Bucketeers As one of the five new teams in Elite for this coming season the emergent Swedish team should have some level of familiarity in the opponents that they will be playing. Of course, if they want to make a statement and assure themselves of Elite level play for longer than just one season, then they will have to take the next step in their startlingly fast rise through the ECL structure (Lite in ECL 6, Pro in 7 and now Elite in 8 ) and move outside their comfort zone in order to grind out the invariably close games that often characterise Elite. Regarding where the Bucketeers are predicted to finish, personally I think they will most likely end up somewhere around 10th - 14th place, simply based on the fact that there a lot of unknowns in some of these new teams. As long as the Bucketeers are able to stay above .500 against these aforementioned teams, they should be in a decent enough spot. Butterfly Effect It's gonna be really interesting to see how FLY plays this season, since they've underwent a major roster shake-up. The team formerly known as Red Machine gained Elite promotion before ECL 7 due to the folding of Evolution. In their inaugural season in Europes best division, the team put on quite an impressive showing. After clinching the sixth seed they made the playoffs, in which they lost in five games to big-time contender Written in the Stars. From last years team only three players stayed: Captain @jergelii, @Crisu_rottis and @Roisto999. These good-looking insects lost their most dangerous players in @Vilupoika and @RutonMosse. It's up to the newly acquired duo of @xDoumi and joukki13 (@Joukki) to replace some of the lost offensive capacities. They also acquired veteran defenseman @Totalii which should give them more quality and flexibility on the blue line. With the addition of Goalie @JanneK.(JANURI98) their GAA shouldn't be a problem anyway. Expect these guys to give their all and fight for one of the higher spots in the Elite standing. Deadly Phantoms HC DPH managed to claim the ECL 7 Pro title in stunning fashion after a very tough season facing some adversity early on in the playoffs. This is surely the season for redemption as the team will now compete at the highest tier. Their roster underwent no changed but a small downscaling as they now look for all of their players to take the step to the next level. It'll certainly be interesting to see how these guys will find their form and how they stack up against some of the more established teams. DPH could very well surprise, but an expected finish would be around 8th-12th. Dynasty The temptation when faced with adversity is to change too much (or even too little), with the consequence being that you take a step backwards. After x seasons in Elite, along with x trips to the playoffs and x semi final appearances, one would certainly expect some growing irritation that they have been so close, for so long, with little to show for it. Regardless of this, Dynasty are coming into the season having made probably the least changes to their roster amongst the teams of Elite, in fact the only changes appear to be the loss of @Filariou and the pick up of familiar face @Haldeem. All in all, barring a massive shift, Dynasty should easily clinch a playoff berth by finishing somewhere around 4th place (+/-: 1), beyond that however, your guess is as good as mine. FILADELPHIA All they do is win - no matter what. That seems to be the case with Finnish juggernaut FILADELPHIA. In their first season in the Elite division they immediately clinched the top seed for the playoffs after finishing with a record of 23-4-1. In the playoffs FILA kept on torching their opponents and ultimately finished with an incredible postseason record of 12-3. In the finals they had to battle though, beating Symphony in six games. I_Eki_I (@Eki) scored the championship-clinching goal in double overtime while teammate @PleeMaker grabbed the Playoff-MVP trophy after racking up 29 points in 15 playoff-games. Taking a look at FILADELPHIAs roster for ECL 8, they were able to keep their most impactful players and added top-tier defenseman @jtorro1233 from rival SKY. Captain @Patzlaf will still be flanked by the aforementioned and highly skilled wingers Eki and PleeMaker with @mikaasi providing the much needed forward-depth. The defensive-trio of @Janzuh, jtorro1234 and @vatalisti is arguably the best in the game. Both goalies, Zande95 (@sibeelius) and @FinKonna, are well-experienced guys and know how to handle pressure. It's hard to find any flaws in the star-studded finnish roster. The question is: Do they have what it takes to to build a dynasty (no pun intended) and become the first ever consecutive champion? HC Wildcard HC WILDCARD aka veterans squad. They appeared in ELITE filling the spot of Northern Ascendancy after a few interesting turns of events but they surely can pose a difficult opponent on any given night. Even though it’s their first season in ELITE they boast a squad with lots of experience. They signed the notorious Kinnunen brothers as known from Rusty Blades, @kinnun3 came from there, but @kikiukko came from Almost Famous where he had a short stint. Let's also not forget the recent addition of experienced offensive threat @Nampa77, who pent last season in aF with kiki. These signings increase their chances to stay put in Elite, but it surely won't be an easy fight. Northern Stars Much of the same is the modus operandi for this storied team. After another playoff appearance (and quit exit) NOS were faced with a similar question that Dynasty have been tasked with answering, in essence, what is the next step? Dynasty attempted to remedy the situation by picking up a new defender, whilst NOS appear to have done the same with the acquisition of @Nieppii, after that however the similarities drop off for the most part. This is due in part from NOS apparently going nuclear and trying out a, let’s just say, unorthodox lineup with @ma0niii (long time RD) playing C and Chimera being moved over to RW. Whether this pays off is yet to be seen, but at the very least this change (if they stick to it of course) should give them some new looks offensively, as Chimera will be allowed to take more risks given that he won’t have as much defensive responsibility to deal with. As for where I think they’ll finish, I’m going to say 8th place, not because I necessarily think they’ll end up there (they could easily finish one spot higher for instance) but rather I want the ‘yo-yo’ from them to continue since they’ve finished in 7th, 8th and 7th for the last three ECL seasons now. Resurrection It's name reflects it's programme. The team formerly known as Monte Carlo will now participate in ECL Elite - just a couple months after applying for ECL Lite. Yep, you read that right. Captain @Jiihooo86 and his squad put together a decent first season in the Pro division. He was the biggest difference maker himself, recording 3 shutouts and a save percentage of 82,38% during the playoffs. After losing 7 of their last 10 games in the regular season, they definitely resurrected in the postseason before losing to Synergy Hockey in the semifinals. They bounced back (again) from some bone-headed plays (bad one, I know) and defeated SIKA in the relegation series. The offensive line of @Artuzio, johtaja699 (@J0HTAJA) and @xKeskitalo was pretty much clicking constantly. The same can't be said for the defense though. Even though @Nikmes7 had a strong regular season, the team barely got any production from the blue line in the playoffs. The majority of the team felt a change was necessary, leading to @Veikkonator getting replaced by the rugged defenseman TheFakiiR1(@FakiiR1). It will be interesting to see if the new D-pairing will be able to hold their own against some of the best forwards in the game. Jiihooo might need to play out of his mind on a daily basis if Resurrection wants to compete. Rusty Blades Rusty Blades made one of the most interesting acquisitions of the off-season when they managed to secure the services of the former NOR duo @MartindalexC and @Foppatofflan. On top of this, they added @The_Alpha_Furyan to bolster their ranks in defense. The preseason games of Rusty have showed some promise as it seems they have kept their identity of playing a simple game, but the new additions have added some speed and offensive ability that wasn't there before. The combination of the two have turned into a dangerous mix that could quickly turn the opposing teams night into a bad one. Rusty could very well see their best season yet, as they should now finish in the top 8. Symphony This season they start as runner-ups of ECL 7 where they lost to FILADEPHIA in game six of the finals. The main story going on now is, will they be able to take the last step towards becoming the Champ? Could very well be, because they have made some great updates to their squad recently, even though they lost some of their leaders they got an equal trade for them. For example they lost top goalie @ICappeI, who went AIK Hockey, but they stole another great G from Gotham Knights in @swagx88. They also added the talented @RutonMosse from Butterfly Effect, who is now walking in his brothers footsteps and finally looking to overshadow the older one. A great point is that SYM managed to hold on to their amazing defensive trio @entii112, @vSilenttio and @Ilmari_30. Expect these guys to be contenders again. Synergy Hockey Joining Elite as one of the two automatic promotions from Pro due to a finals appearance we have the Swedish side of Synergy. As far as similarities go with Synergy and the Bucketeers, well, both are Swedish and that’s about it. Of the newly promoted teams, no other has the same amount of Elite experience as Synergy. For instance, their projected starting line-up (sans goalie) contains three players who have each played two full seasons in Elite previously (@Normark, @Supremski & @Egyptologen), so there should not be that big of an issue of players not being sufficiently prepared for the level of Elite, mentally speaking of course. All things considered then, I think that SYN, as well as DPH, probably have the best chance of making a claim towards a playoff position out of the new teams. Although, I think if either of them do end up doing as much, it will not be by a large margin. Ergo, I can see Synergy finishing being a fringe team on the ‘outside looking in’ so to speak, somewhere around 9th - 10th place. Team Frosty @Vilupoika, @Penatski and @Aze. That's a trio that when added to any team in the league would certainly provide a welcomed boost! After a tough first Elite season, captain @Zip player was a man on a mission for their return in ECL 8. He made the biggest and most spoken-of signings of the off-season and didn't waste any time in getting his team going for ECL 8. The preseason has been a bit up and down for Frosty, but we expect the experienced lineup to get it together come the first puckdrop. Aze will be their defensive leader, but it'll remain to be seen if @After8 (will_yo7) will manage to fill the shoes of a consistent performer at the Elite level. TF will be a playoff team. Unlucky Boys HC The veteran team built around Anhel_Kuru (@Anhel) missed last season's playoffs by a lone point. Yeah, that's rough. Not as rough as being Cody Parkey (NFL reference) these days, but still. That bad break should solely ignite some new desire to get back to the postseason, especially because they completely kept their core. One of their biggest struggles last year was their lack of offense. UB only scored 40 goals in 28 games, despite having a decent powerplay. It will be interesting to see if they can make the right adjustments without really changing anything significant in their roster. Expect the horseshoes in the playoff hunt once again. Written In The Stars Written is always a contender, but they never fail to provide a let down come playoffs. For 3 seasons straight away they are among the best regular season teams, but they are always coming short of being the best in Europe. Last season they already reached the semi-finals, where they lost to Symphony 1-4. They lost some good players like @jtorro1233, who went to FILA, @Bugimir who announced his retirement, @JOHTAJAVIRTANEN who turned his talents to FIFA Pro clubs, and one of the best goalies in the scene: @JanneK. to Butterfly Effect. SKY needed to quickly make up for their losses, which seemed not to be a problem at all. The team signed @Buantso from Symphony and @Nassustelija from Butterfly Effect in quick succession. To help out in net@poliskontroll from Northern Ascendancy was added. Follow this team during the current season, because their time to win should be due. Well, there you go, gamers. We're happy to have brought you yet another preview for yet another season. Some teams change, some remain the same. We'll see who the champion turns out to be! Don't forget to tune in to our broadcasts this season on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays in Finnish at Elisa Viihde Sport or the Elisa Viihde Twitch-channel. Broadcasts will also be available in English or without commentary at the NHLGamer Twitch-channel. Signing off for now, Your ECL Elite Writing Team @MartindalexC, @Serg1vratar and @Tim_FlyersFan

Hi there NHLGamers, Another season on the books and another champion to boot. To some, this season will be a period that will oft be reminisced about (particularly amongst those playing for FILA), whereas for others it will be the source of great ire. Regardless of which side of the fence you are on, we welcome you to ECL 7 Elite's season review... we hope you enjoy! 1. FILADELPHIA - Regular season record 23-4-1 (Playoff wins 12) Half way through the year and FILADELPHIA have been the epitome of domination; winning every single tournament that they have entered thus far. In fact, there is almost nothing to say that would mean much in the grand scheme of things, as it would effectively result in me penning a paragraph that would be singing their praises than an actual review. With that in mind then, for brevity I will state FILA's playoff record below, as quite frankly, it speaks for itself. 12-3 2. Symphony - Regular season record 22-3-3 (Playoff wins 10) Coming into this season as newly(ish) formed team one perhaps could have been forgiven for expecting them to take a season or two to get their feet under them before making a splash so to speak. Symphony obviously missed the memo and stormed towards a finals appearance, losing to FILADELPHIA (2-4) after besting Northern Stars (4-1) in the first round, as well as Written in the Stars (4-0) in the second. 3. Written In The Stars - Regular season record 20-4-4 (Playoff wins 4) Another season is over, and we have another season where Written made the top 4, but have very little to show for it really. Despite the disappointment undoubtedly shared by among on Written, they should feel as though that they're in a good spot going forward to mount a challenge for ECL 8, given the fact that they have now made the semifinals for three consecutive seasons. Additionally, @FlyerKungen appears to have transitioned to C flawlessly, only being beaten in points by fellow teammate in @Dominointi, as well as FILAs MVP @PleeMaker. 4. Dynasty - Regular season record 18-4-6 (Playoff wins 4) A slow start characterised a season where Dynasty were good, but not outstanding. Such a distinction may be alluring for some, but for those trying to challenge for the top spot each season, it is almost a curse as much as it's a blessing. The acquisition of @hpkfani at the very least proved to be pivotal as he once again exhibited his ability to set the tone of a team's offence - especially in the playoffs where goals are oh-so difficult to come by. Despite this however, they ended up getting knocked out in the semifinals to the eventual champion in FILADELPHIA. 5. Sjukstugan - Regular season record 18-6-4 (Playoff wins 2) 112 went on an impressive hot streak to start off the season, overcoming strong opponents such as Written In The Stars and taking the division by storm with their disciplined defensive routine and an exciting offensive trio with one of the leagues most exciting talents in @Tacterz. Their form somewhat dropped off towards the tail end of the regular season, but they still managed to finish 5th and put forth the best regular season in team history. Round 1 of the playoffs came knocking with Dynasty ahead. The traditionally well-performing Finns were too strong this time around, overcoming 112 with a series score of 4-2. 6. Butterfly Effect - Regular season record 17-10-1 (Playoff wins 1) After gaining promotion due to Evolution folding, these guys set out to prove they sure belong at the Elite level. Securing possibly the biggest offseason signing (@Vilupoika) ahead of ECL 7 was certainly a pivotal effort to kickstart FLY's run at the highest tier. The team came out swinging, claiming the #1 spot in the power rankings already in the first week of competition. A strong regular season proved that their good start wasn't just a quick run of form, but they were a serious contender. In the first playoff round Butterfly Effect faced 'big brother' Written In The Stars, who sent them packing 4-1. 7. Northern Stars - Regular season record 14-8-6 (Playoff wins 1) Another strong season was exhibited by NOS for ECL 7, where they made the playoffs for the 3rd straight season. Granted, their route into the playoffs was potentially more 'touch-and-go' than seasons past, as they were never able to really put distance between them and the all-out battle for 8th place between NOR, UB, RB & TF. NOS eventually fell to Symphony in the first round in 5 games, so like most teams in Elite, there are still improvements to be made if they want to move up the table and potentially challenge for a title. 8. Northern Ascendancy - Regular season record 14-10-4 (Playoff wins 1) After a disastrous start, NOR were able to rescue their season in a last ditch effort. The veteran team went on a streak of 9-2-1 to finish after starting with an abysmal 5-8-3. Due to their low ranked berth they consequently drew FILA in the 1st round and inevitably fell in 5 games, signifying the end of an all round pretty forgettable season by NOR. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 9. Unlucky Boys - Regular season record 14-11-3 After proving themselves as more than a nuisance in the playoffs last season one perhaps was expecting more of a showing by UB, who more than anything seemed to truly live up to their name this time round as they narrowly lost out on a playoff berth by a lone point. The demise of UB this season was definitely one of the weakest finishing few rounds of a season we've seen in a while. 10. Rusty Blades - Regular season record 10-12-6 Compared with a lot of Elite teams from this season RB were somewhat consistent (although not exceptionally so), the aggravating thing for those from the RB side no doubt is the belief that if they just happened to play slightly better, earlier on in the season, as well as had a stronger finish, they would have made the playoffs instead of finding themselves on the outside looking in for the second straight season. 11. Team Frosty - Regular season record 11-14-3 ECL 7 was the debut season for Team Frosty (formerly known as White Trash), if we look at it from such an angle we can surely say that they did a good job for the first time around. One of their strengths this past season was their goaltending, as @Mehiiss got 9 wins in 21 games with 82,4 SV%. Good goaltending isn't always enough to win you games, though. Offensively, Frosty seemed to do fine, as their leading scorer @Zip player managed to snag 39 points in 28 games. The problem seemed to have been in team defense however, a goal differential of -22 didn't earn them a playoff record this season. 12. Almost Famous - Regular season record 11-15-2 Almost Famous were a debutant team this past season, possessing some definite potential with up-and-coming players such as centerman @Ikavalko. Even though they had some roster fluctuation during the season with two of their key players (@SadaPoika -> Unlucky Boys, @Nampa77 -> Team Frosty) leaving, aF managed to make some great signings such as having @Rimpe return from a stint in Gotham Knights and acquiring the very skilled goaltender @s_w1ld_rus. The season went pretty much as expected for the newcomer, some decent games but the consistency wasn't there to have some success yet. 13. Gotham Knights - Regular season record 9-13-6 After ECL 6 Gotham Knights did something of a rebuild by making plenty of signings to take the next step. On paper, Gotham had a playoff capable roster, but something went wrong, even though @swagx88 stood tall, stopping 85% of shots faced. The season ended in relegation games. There were a lot of expectations on @Nieppii who had his first season in Elite and he did rather well offensively with 12 points in 23 games as a defenseman, but he needs to get better in his own zone. The cornerstone of the team for ECL 7 were their older players, @ReDMisTi in offense and the defensive leader @MKivinen95, though. After a difficult season, Gotham was relegated to Pro following a relegation series loss against Bucketeers. 14. SIKA - Regular season record 5-19-4 What goes up, must invariably, come back down. Such is beginning to be tradition for SIKA at this point as they find themselves being demoted to Pro after a singular season in Elite for the second time (first one being ECL 4). For SIKA however, this time most likely has more of a sting to it, as they finished joint last (tied with FCM) with a measly 14 points over 28 games. Whether SIKA and captain @SpiderRoyal are able to replicate history and fight back into Elite is yet to be seen, but at the very least, this shows the level of play that Elite often demands and that getting promoted into it is only but half the battle. 15. Falun Coal Miners - Regular season record 4-18-6 RIP Kopparberget ⚰️ After a very solid opening season in Elite where they finished with 28pts in 30 games, it seemed as though that if Falun was able to make a couple choice free agent acquisitions and boost their offence, they could have very easily made the leap to the playoffs for ECL 7. Unfortunately, to say that that was not the case is perhaps a bit of an understatement. Their gf/g output dropped from 1.70 to 1.36, and their ga/g ballooned out to 3.68 from 2.27 just the season before. The cause of this is of course heavily debatable and exceptionally difficult to reduce down to a single player / reason, that said, it seems as though it was large dose of unluckiness as all of FCMs players appeared to have off-years simultaneously. 16. Radical - Disqualified Disappointment. That word alone describes Radical's season more accurately than any other. Not only was it a disappointment for the players of Radical, but it was also a disappointment for the spectators of Elite, as they were robbed of an extra 30 games at the very least and plays by some of the very best players at the most. 🏆 AWARDS Playoff MVP: @PleeMaker Most Points: @Dominointi, Written in the Stars, 26 Goals, 33 Assists, 59 Points in 28 games Most Goals: @Vilupoika, Butterfly Effect, 28 Goals, 21 Assists, 49 Points in 28 games Most Assists: @Eki, FILADELPHIA, 13 Goals, 37 Assists, 50 Points in 24 games Most Hits by a Forward: @hpkfani, Dynasty, 160 Hits in 26 games Best +/-: @jtorro1233, Written In The Stars, +49 in 26 games Most Points by a Defenseman: @jtorro1233, Written in the Stars, 11 Goals, 20 Assists, 31 Points in 26 games Most Goals by a Defenseman: @jtorro1233, Written in the Stars, 11 Goals, 20 Assists, 31 Points in 26 games Most Assists by a Defenseman: @vatalisti, FILADELPHIA, 5 Goals, 22 Assists, 27 Points in 22 games Most Hits by a Defenseman: @FakiiR1, Team Frosty, 144 Hits in 20 games TOP 3'S OF ECL 6 ELITE Top 3 Forwards Regular Season: 1. @Dominointi, Written in the Stars, 26 Goals, 33 Assists, 59 Points in 28 games 2. @PleeMaker, FILADELPHIA, 25 Goals, 30 Assists, 55 Points in 28 games 3. @FlyerKungen, Written in the Stars, 24 Goals, 30 Assists, 54 Points in 28 games Top 3 Defenders Regular Season: 1. @jtorro1233, Written in the Stars, 11 Goals, 20 Assists, 31 Points in 26 games 2. @vatalisti, FILADELPHIA, 5 Goals, 22 Assists, 27 Points in 22 games 3. @Ilmari_30, Symphony, 4 Goals, 19 Assists, 23 Points in 28 games Top 3 Goaltenders Regular Season: 1. @Hullued, Sjukstugan, 18 Wins, 89.02%, 1.33 GAA, 8 SO in 27 games 2. @poliskontroll, Northern Ascendancy, 14 Wins, 84.51%, 1.71 GAA, 6 SO in 28 games 3. @Mike Zigan, Northern Stars, 14 Wins, 84.32%, 1.60 GAA, 7 SO in 28 games Top 3 Forwards Playoffs: 1. @PleeMaker, FILADELPHIA, 10 Goals, 19 Assists, 29 Points in 15 games 2. @Eki, FILADELPHIA, 9 Goals, 14 Assists, 23 Points in 15 games 3. @tbnantti, Symphony, 10 Goals, 12 Assists, 22 Points in 15 games Top 3 Defender Playoffs: 1. @vSilenttio, Symphony, 2 Goals, 14 Assists, 16 Points in 15 games 2. @Ilmari_30, Symphony, 2 Goals, 7 Assists, 9 Points in 15 games 3. @vatalisti, FILADELPHIA, 1 Goals, 8 Assists, 9 Points in 15 games Top 3 Goaltenders Playoffs: 1. @Zande95, FILADELPHIA, 11 Wins, 86.59%, 1.00 GAA, 5 SO in 13 games 2. @ICappeI, Symphony, 9 Wins, 89.18%, 1.23 GAA, 4 SO in 13 games 3. @Hansulinho, Written in the Stars, 4 Wins, 88.15%, 1.00 GAA, 3 SO in 9 games We'll also be showcasing our controversial 'Top 6' of the season for Elite! What this means is a selection of six players in a starting lineup, that have showed exceptional skill and played a good season. Please note that all selections are subjective and they are made by community members who have been keeping an eye on ECL 7 Elite, in this case your Elite writing team. Hopefully we'll generate some discussion with this again: @PleeMaker (FILADELPHIA) - @FlyerKungen (Written in the Stars) - @Eki (FILADELPHIA) @vSilenttio (Symphony) - @vatalisti (FILADELPHIA) @ICappeI (Symphony) That's all she wrote for ECL 7, Gamers! The Elite Season Review will put a cap on ECL 7 and we'll be turning out heads into next week with a new season starting January 7th. Thanks again to all of you for being a part of this community and stay tuned for greater things to come! ECL Elite Writing Team @MartindalexC & @Serg1vratar

Hey NHLGamers, FILADELPHIA have been crowned as this season's Elite champion by besting Symphony 4 games to 2. As such, NHLGamer would like to congratulate each and every player from FILA for putting on a masterclass en route to their title. Additionally, we would also like to thank everyone that participated across all divisions this ECL for making each game as memorable as the last. If you missed out on any of the games from the finals then you can check out our Twitch channel where all games will be available to watch. https://www.twitch.tv/nhlgamer/videos The game by game results for the series are as follows: Game 1: Symphony - FILADELPHIA 2:1 (OT) Game 2: FILADELPHIA - Symphony 3:2 Game 3: Symphony - FILADELPHIA 4:2 Game 4: FILADELPHIA - Symphony 2:0 Game 5: Symphony - FILADELPHIA 1:2 (OT) Game 6: FILADELPHIA - Symphony 2:1 (2nd OT) FILADELPHIA's championship roster: GOALTENDERS #8 M. Paasikontu @FinKonna #88 O. Grönroos @Zande95 DEFENSEMEN #7 J. Jäte @vatalisti #71 -. Hoosii @oGBioLan #82 M. Nyqi @Janzuh FORWARDS #10 M. Heikkilä @mikaasi #24 J. Heirala @FIN_Potilas #25 E. Tammenpää @Eki #44 P. Arontie @PleeMaker #86 J. Paatiala @Patzlaf FILADELPHIA's road to the trophy: Regular season: 23-4-1 (1st) Quarterfinals: 4:1 vs. Northern Ascendancy Semifinals: 4:0 vs. Dynasty Finals: 4:2 vs. Symphony Once again, NHLGamer would like to extend a warm thank you to all participants and every single member of this great community! We've completed yet another successful season of ECL hockey and the next season is creeping up on us quick! Enjoy your holidays and get ready to step on the virtual ice again early 2019! Your NHLGamer Staff

After some external difficulties and other issues, we've been able to compete the ECL7 Elite Quarter Finals with four extremely skilled teams advancing. Interestingly enough, we're also 4/4 for IS Cup 3: 6vs6 finalists in the Semi's of ECL 7. It'll be interesting to see how these games turn out this time around, as matchups are slightly different and some minor changes might have happened within the teams. As usual, the series are played with a best-of-7 system, meaning the first team to reach four wins advances to the next round. The Semifinal round has to be finished by Thursday December 13th, 2018. These are the matchups for the second round of our ECL 7 Elite Playoffs: (1) FILADELPHIA vs. Dynasty (4) Courtesy of @jahajaha93 Neither of these teams had a straight path to the semi-finals. FILADELPHIA in the sense that they had to battle through some server issues and a scheduling debacle, which again heated up things on the community side a bit. Dynasty in the sense that they clashed with Sjukstugan, the early Swedish sensation, who were now making their second Elite playoff showing, hungry to prove they could go far. This matchup wouldn't seem all too interesting if the teams we would take it back a month to the IS Cup, as Dynasty had a tough time competing at the Final event whereas FILADELPHIA went on to take it all home. Tables have turned, however. It's amazing how a little bit of time can work magic on the play of any said team. Dynasty has improved tremendously with the season progressing and are now looking to really challenge the IS Cup champions. One notable change Dynasty has made as of late is keeping @Leksa94 at center instead of @Tehh, as we're used to seeing. It would seem as if their decision is paying dividends as Leksa is a more offensive-minded player, with a slightly higher faceoff skill too - if we are to trust the stats. FILADELPHIA, on the other hand has been firing on all cylinders all season long. The team seems to have a relentless drive for success. Their first round opponent Northern Ascendancy didn't give up easy although the series ended 4-1, all but the last game were one goal games. FILA will surely look to play @Zande95 in net as he is yet to let in a goal during the playoffs. Possible Elite top-6 goaltender this season? Personally, I'm expecting FILADELPHIA to take the lead and never look back in this series. Although Dynasty is more than a capable team, they are simply up against a stronger force right now. I'll be more than happy to admit I'm wrong as that would set up an amazing success story for DYN, however, my prediction is FILA in 5. (2) Symphony vs. Written In The Stars (3) Courtesy of @MartindalexC Both competitors are coming off of similarly impressive routs of their previous opponents in Northern Stars & Butterfly Effect respectively. Symphony holds a slight edge given that they beat their opponent by over two goals in all but one of their wins, whereas Written only managed to do that very same feat two times. On the face of it then one would imagine that this series should be a close affair, with that said however some cracks have started to appear for the Written side. They may have beaten Butterfly Effect extremely convincingly to start the series (4-1 & 5-0 wins), yet their play degraded quite heavily as the series went on, as shown by them whimpering through to the second round off the back of two 1-0 wins, as well as being bested 3-1 by FLY. Such a drop off of goals as the series progressed is certainly a large red flag, especially as Butterfly Effect almost punished them for it. If FLY were almost able to make them look foolish then Written are in for one hell of a rude awakening as Symphony are assuredly better than Butterfly Effect, both defensively and offensively. The latter point is of great importance as we will now truly see what impact @Totalii's absence will have on the somewhat ‘untested’ Written back end. Regarding the actual prediction however I feel that this series has real potential to be an absolute bloodbath, on the other hand I can conceivably see Written getting ‘manhandled’ by Symphony in a bunch of 3-1-ish affairs if Written does not manage to restart their offence in time. Therefore, I’m going to play it somewhat safe and go with Symphony in 6 games, although as I’ve said before I feel as though this series, more than any other, has the potential to go absolutely ‘hay-wire’ at any second. So, what do you guys think? Agree with our predictions? Give us your thoughts below! Also, remember to stay tuned for upcoming playoffs broadcasts on our Twitch-channel! See you on the ice, ECL Elite Writing Team