MietuskaXIV

As we're at the midway point of the ECL '22 Spring Lite season, it's time to take a look at where some teams stand at the moment, some top performers of the season and how we're expecting things to turn out in the last few weeks. Join us for the ride! About half of the season is in the rearview when almost all teams have played more than 14 games in the regular season. A couple of new teams have risen and some “old faces” have shown that they still can hold the controller. When looking at groups now it is hard to quickly see the true leader of the group due to the fact that teams have played at different pace. Of course when looking at group 1 you can see that Destiny has been very solid throughout the season and none other than then should be topping the group. However, my point is that at this point you shouldn't blindly stare at the points in the standings, since teams have played at different pace and are facing different opponents at different stages of the season. When looking at groups now and comparing it to the Winter season there are a couple similarities. Last season it was FILADELPHIA ACADEMY who were almost unstoppable during the regular season. This season it has been Destiny. However, one big difference sticks out in the comparison of these two teams. Destiny already has outscored all of FILADELPHIA ACADEMY from last season, but they've also allowed almost a goal per game more, so you'd expect them to address that defensive slack at some point in a way or another. Of course you have to remember that FILA was playing their second season together, so they had the chemistry advantage already going into their campaign. Even though Lite isn't the highest level, the characteristic of the league is very highly skilled individuals scattered across several teams. Players who score those big goals in important games, and those who will find that fifth hole in the blink of an eye when given the chance. Players to watch: @xSagwa from Destiny The top point scorer in Lite. Most goals, most assists, flawless on a few faceoffs. Perhaps this guy is playing in the wrong division? The most complete player in Lite at the moment. @juusoskari from TTK A true puck hog in the division and the fifth best defenseman in terms of scoring. Playmaker behind the lines that has an offensive upside. Solid down low with great hands and playmaking ability. @PCJP (Pelkonen-I92I) from Arkham Asylum An experienced and really skilled fast moving goalie. Reads the game like an open book and is really hard to score against. With a goalie like this, Arkham Asylum doesn’t need to worry about easy goals going in. Sometimes, these reports can be quite tricky to write. If all the teams played at exactly the same pace it could be easier to draw comparisons and judge form, but we're working with what we've got right now. Now, we know how much you guys love some good tongue-in-cheek predictions, so that's exactly what we've gone for. Let's create some controversy between writer and reader. So - Here are my predictions and assumptions for the rest of the season, unfortunately not including every team, but some out of every group. Group 1 Destiny will top their group. Lemmenvelhot will drop to the eight seed. Bellizi will claim the second spot. Rusty Bulls will drop outside the playoffs. Tequila Sunrise will sneak into the playoffs. IK Oskarshamn will be the third. Linköping HC will battle to the end to make the playoffs. Stone Age battles for the eighth seed if @Ma26one can continue being an accurate passing machine. Group 2 Arkham Asylum will top their group. Sawolanche will be a playoff team. RoKi Esports will fight to gain a playoff spot. Pirati Chomutov Esports will drop from the playoff line. Bastu will be int he top 4. Free From Rodents will not make the playoffs. United Front will fight their way into the playoffs with @Kuolio10's clapper and body checking power. Including Me has an enforcer defenceman - good or bad, you decide! Group 3 Spirit will top the group. Tadpole will be second. Södertälje SK will lose out on the playoffs. Valco will not make the playoffs. Synergy Hockey is battling for top 4 position. Luleå Hockey Is in the playoff battle. Oulunsalo HT still has a chance. Group 4 Hunters will top the group if the writer can catch some pucks. Technical Disaster will battle for that top seed. HC SHH will drop from the top four. Neptune Hockey will drop from the top four. Resurrection doesn’t make it to the playoffs. Project X will finish eighth. Lutunilkat will miss out on the playoffs. Tic Tac Toes battles for top four if @Artuzio gets the puck in front of the opponents net. Argue, discuss, and prove me wrong, show why every prediction is false. Maybe even I can admit I was wrong - someday. We're wishing all teams good luck in their final push for the season. Get out there, play hard and most importantly have fun! Socials Here's an update to the social media instructions. Our sponsors this season are Kouvolan Lakritsi, St Hockey & Wilhelm. Twitter: When posting tweets of your lineups, matchups, recaps, clips, articles - or any other content you might want to create - please make sure to tag the following accounts and hashtag: @SportsGamerGG #ECL22Spring #NHL22 #esports #kouvolanlakritsi #MukanaWilhelm Instagram: When posting on Instagram, please make sure to tag the following accounts and hashtag: @SportsGamerGG #ECL22Spring #NHL22 #esports #kouvolanlakritsi #MukanaWilhelm Note: It is very helpful and critical for us to succeed in getting our partners tagged, so they get the necessary mentions and interaction to validate their participation in the future. That being said, it is understandable that there may be circumstances due to your other partners where you are unable to tag competition etc. Your support is appreciated. As there are quite a few hashtags by now, especially from a Twitter perspective with limited characters, we recommend using at least #ECL22Spring in the text part of the tweet and leave the sponsor tags for the end. If you need to cut out tags, remove #esports and #NHL22. For Instagram this shouldn't be an issue.

Here we go. After a short break the show must go on and a new season of virtual hockey is yet again on the horizon so let's preview the upcoming Lite division and break it down a little. Season information To find out about the prize pool specifics, check out our earlier prize pool info article. For a look at the whole ECL framework, check out the sign-ups article. Notable dates for the ECL '22: Spring Lite season: Regular season: 4.4-5.5. Playoffs Round of 32: 8.-12.5. Round of 16: 15.-25.5. Quarterfinals: 30.5.-2.6. Semifinals: 5.-8.6. Finals: 15.-16.6. (TBC) Default gamedays for the ECL '22: Spring Lite division will be on Tuesday, Wednesday and Sunday, with one scheduled double-header for each team. You can access the rulebook, schedule, standings, statistics and full rosters from the ECL ‘22: Spring Lite league page. Socials Here's an update to the social media instructions. Our sponsors this season are Kouvolan Lakritsi, St Hockey & Wilhelm. Twitter: When posting tweets of your lineups, matchups, recaps, clips, articles - or any other content you might want to create - please make sure to tag the following accounts and hashtag: @SportsGamerGG #ECL22Spring #NHL22 #esports #kouvolanlakritsi #MukanaWilhelm Instagram: When posting on Instagram, please make sure to tag the following accounts and hashtag: @SportsGamerGG #ECL22Spring #NHL22 #esports #kouvolanlakritsi #MukanaWilhelm Note: It is very helpful and critical for us to succeed in getting our partners tagged, so they get the necessary mentions and interaction to validate their participation in the future. That being said, it is understandable that there may be circumstances due to your other partners where you are unable to tag competition etc. Your support is appreciated. As there are quite a few hashtags by now, especially from a Twitter perspective with limited characters, we recommend using at least #ECL22Spring in the text part of the tweet and leave the sponsor tags for the end. If you need to cut out tags, remove #esports and #NHL22. For Instagram this shouldn't be an issue. Season preview The short break was intense and the games will start already tomorrow, on Monday April 4th, we'll surely see several teams get to action right away so keep your eyes peeled on the social media channels. What teams have improved most during the offseason? Will we see new challengers? Will the likes of Arkham Asylum recover from the Playoff disappointments faced in the winter season and how will the overhauled roster of Resurrection play in front of the long time captain @Jiihooo86? We have a few interesting new teams that have surfaced from the Core division, and Sawolanche even took part in the Pro qualifiers, coming up short this time but gaining some valuable experience, they are a squad to look out for this season with a great deal of potential. Rahinage is another new team that has a few seasons worth of Core experience under their belt and they certainly look ready for a challenge at the next level. What can we expect from this season, then? At the time of writing, we are yet to see the groups, so it's tough to predict an outcome for the regular season. However, there are a couple really strong teams that will most likely top the tables regardless of the group they get put in. As mentioned earlier, Arkham Asylum had a disappointing end to their previous campaign but is looking strong as ever coming into this one. They have a very experienced roster with the likes of @ReDMisTi and @tominointi possessing experience from higher up and the skill to help others by their side become better players. Also their goalie @PCJP has a long career behind and has been really solid. Captain @Hippitukka has done a good job in building the team to this state and the team is one of the favourites no doubt. Swedish clubs Linköping HC and Luleå Hockey should also definitely be mentioned in the favorites category and their experience from higher levels will definitely help them in the postseason too. Linköping HC played in the Pro Qualifiers but didn’t find the pieces for going through, even though the team is very strong and can challenge a better squad. If they can keep their consistency throughout the regular season, it's easy to predict them playing meaningful games long into the spring. Look out for prolific veteran scorer @Lamsa. Luleå Hockey played in Pro last season and lost their top scorer @Tkautto98 to HV71 but got a couple really strong reinforcements as replacement. @Tacterz was a backup for Frölunda HC in Elite last season and has been a part of generating success for Mora IK previously, he is very experienced and by that will help his team a lot. Also with solid defenders @basseman_ and @Vesterberg89 joining, the team is looking very strong. Another very interesting Swedish team making a comeback after some absence is Synergy Hockey, who have gathered their old familiar ranks, looking very strong. Players like @Mumsi-, @Supremski and @J-Foppa are are some legendary names with lots of skill and most importantly - hockey IQ. Look for Synergy to be a contender for sure. There are also a couple of dark horses in the race. Destiny, which was created for this season played in the Pro Qualifiers but couldn’t find their game yet but we can expect them to gel more as the season progresses, the roster consists of several experienced players with the necessary skill to do very well in Lite. Also Tic Tac Toes is back. Can @Artuzio lead the team to success - their squad holds perhaps more individual and mechanical skill than any other team in Lite, but if they can't translate all that to the 6's game, they could end up flopping. Finally, you can't forget Pata Hellalla. Losing their long term captain @kungenkurwa may be a tough pill to swallow but the team has played so long together we can probably expect some kind of a comeback story. We'll get the action started tomorrow and in June we'll have a new Champion! Get ready for the season and we'll see you on the ice!

The ECL Winter 22 Lite division has now ended and it's time to take a moment to look at what has happened over the course of the long campaign. Lite started as a 64 team division, but there could be only one winner. Congratulations to Mora IK who came through the Lite qualifiers all the way to the top to win the Lite division. This season saw dominating teams, underdogs going through and upsets alike - let's go through some of these events. @Timotei97 for Bellizzi dominated skater stats being the only one to reach over 100 points in the regular season, but a couple other players crossed that fabled 50 goal mark, with Valco's @itspardytime being the best scorer with 58 goals. Among defensemen we saw a quite unusual phenomenon, when traditionally defensively supreme @iSvamp stepped up as the leading scorer, both Prima eSport defensemen were great in the +/- department, as a result of their superior play in the regular season. The best goalies by save percentage (at least 14 games) were @Hangoverangel (Pasilan SKA), @I-THE_EAGLE-I (EHC Biel Bienne), @Giinis (Bastu) and W1nchester_62 (AK Bars). Quite interestingly, in each group we had one team that were in a class for themselves, above the competition. In group one, Prima eSport, group two Linköping HC, group three Golden Nights and for group four, FILADELPHIA Academy. One thing that all these clubs share is their sovereign play and also the favorite position they had going into the season. On the other hand, one of the biggest upsets must have been the Resurrection. They managed to win the Core division in ECL 12, but lost some key players in the offseason, which might have been one of the key factors leading to such a tough outcome this season. One team that also has suddenly seen a decline is without a doubt Södertälje SK. A couple of seasons ago they played in Pro and in the last ECL they reached the quarterfinals. What has happened to the once so competitive squad? Another strong team from last seasons Core division is Pasilan SKA, who also had a disappointing Lite entry. Losing their star player @Macentoitunu hit them hard and they couldn't patch the leak. Luckily, we were also treated to some teams upping their game, in other terms surprising us positively. Valco (former TIKI TALK) was one of these teams. Last season's disappointment turned to this season's success. One great emergence was also TadPole, who played in Core last season and proved that they still have more potential in store for us moving forward by reaching a #8 seed in the groupstage. Also, there's no getting by how Hunters managed to push their way to the semifinals with a rather inexperienced squad. Especially @Vale16 stands out as their leading scorer throughout, but their sole most experienced player @Karkkyjaa must have also played a big role for the team. *Note that the writer plays for Hunters, the above section was written by @jahajaha93. Regular season All Star lineup purely based on stats: @Timotei97 (Bellizzi) @Robban kaudern (Kaudomovic) (Mora IK) @itspardytime (Valco) @iSvamp (Prima eSport) @saunapastori (Tadpole) @Janne Hietala (Hiatala__) (Tadpole) However, the greatest team of the season was undeniably Mora IK. Coming through the Lite Qualifiers to win the whole division against one of the strongest Lite teams ever in FILADELPHIA ACADEMY is an incredible feat. The finals that ended in a game seven were also a thrilling series and a pleasure to watch throughout. With that, I thought we could break down our two finalists, starting out with FILADELPHIA ACADEMY, who held the favorite position going into the finals. FILADELPHIA ACADEMY Regular season record: 26-2-0 (Group 4) #1 seed into the playoffs FILADELPHIA ACADEMY had a great regular season as expected, dominating most matchups with a couple of slip-ups, that can be chalked up to loss of focus on some nights. Round 1 FILADELPHIA ACADEMY - RoKi Esports 4-0 When the playoffs started, RoKi Esports put up a great fight against the #1 seed as the first three games were only one goal games despite FILADELPHIA holding possession for the most part. The series ended in a FILADELPHIA firepower showcase and a 6-0 victory for that side. Round 2 FILADELPHIA ACADEMY - Toxicity 4-1 This was a pretty similar series to their opening round, but Toxicity stole one game. FILADELPHIA still outscored Toxicity 15-7 when the second game ended 8-1. Without that second game's slaughter, the games were tight and Toxicity put up a good fight. FILA was really clinical when it mattered the most. Quarterfinals FILADELPHIA ACADEMY - Alliance HT 4-2 Against Alliance HT, FILA started out the series routinely. They controlled the game through puck possession and playing their own game but firepower was missing. Alliance's tight defence held out the Filadelphia from the best scoring sector, putting the first game to double overtime and @TEST0-RYTZE scored the game winner. The second game was like a replay from the first game, but a couple of early goals came in favour of FILA and their defense held up throughout the game. The third game of the series was FILADELPHIA holding the puck and trying to find a way to score, but Alliance's defence was rock solid with @someth1ng_w1ld between the pipes. Eventually the game ended 4-2 to Alliance as a result of amazing goaltending and great team defense. Alliance also capitalized on the momentum and won the fourth game 3-0 and showed that they are really fighting for the spot in the semifinals. The fifth and sixth game, on the other hand, showed what FILADELPHIA ACADEMY is made from. They put forth a solid performance in both games, taking the wins 4-0 and 2-0. Two shutouts for @Tappu and it sure looked like nothing can stop them from now on. Semifinals FILADELPHIA ACADEMY - Hunters 4-0 Hunters was surely not going to be the team to stop FILA. The series was tighter than 4-0 would indicate, but the scoring efficiency of FILADELPHIA really put them ahead. Mora IK Regular season record: 23-5-2 (Group 4) #6 seed into the playoffs Mora IK, our other finalist were the clear underdogs. Moras regular season had a rough start as they lost their first three out of four games, but after that they found their stride, and only lost three more during the regular season. They might have had some benefit to going through the Lite Qualifiers and really glued together over the course of their campaign. Round 1 Mora IK - Its a nice city 4-1 In the first round of the playoffs Mora faced another qualifier team in Its a nice city. The first game was clearly Moras, the second game was anyone's game when Mora took the 1-0 victory. The third game went to Its a nice city. Puck control was quite even throughout but Mora seemed to have the edge in finishing. Especially the fifth game was a show of Moras good defense and firepower with a 5-1 victory. Round 2 Mora IK - Bastu 4-3 This was a thrilling seven game series between two good teams. Both teams held shutouts and scored when they had the chance. All in all, a very even series but Mora came out as the winner and continued to the quarterfinals Quarterfinals Mora IK - Linköping HC 4-1 Linköping HC controlled the play for most of the series. More shots, more possession, more offensive zone time. Still, a strong defense and a solid goalkeeper are the things that wins you games in these tight situations. Moras team defense was a key factor for the win and goalkeeper @Jeqque44 handled the situation and kept his cool when it mattered the most. Semifinals Mora IK - Prima eSport 4-1 During the playoffs, Moras game came together really nicely as the season progressed. In the semifinals they faced a really tough opponent, Prima eSport, who won their group in the regular season by losing only four games. Good puck movement and tough defense were Primas keys to success and we waited for at least a long series between these two teams. However, the first night they played, Mora grabbed a 3-1 lead in the series. Games were pretty even but Prima ended up running into the suffocating Mora defense and their hot goaltender. Mora used their scoring chances really well and was patient throughout the series. When they got the lead they held it. When they were trailing in the second game they started to pressure more and won it in overtime. Finals FILADELPHIA ACADEMY – Mora IK 3-4 The final with the two best teams of the season. Probably one of the best teams in Lite history in FILADELPHIA ACADEMY. A dominant regular season, only three playoff losses. Firepower on both wings and a really experienced captain. They had to go up against the team that got through the qualifiers, came together in the regular season. Played smart defense throughout the playoffs and would come into the finals as massive underdogs. Eventually, the Finals followed the script quite closely. None of the teams managed to grab more than two consecutive wins and it was really a back and forth battle. After the first night of games, Mora held a 2-1 series lead. FILADELPHIA held the possession, but once again, Mora and their team defense held tight. During the second night of play, FILADELPHIA managed to grab the 3-2 series lead and it looked like this could be in the history books, but Mora managed to really dig deep and turn it around in astonishing fashion. To everyone's surprise, we crowned the underdogs the new Lite Champions at the end of the season. Playoffs All Star lineup Basically you could put the whole Mora team here, but we'll try to do a more complete approach. @xAaro89x(FILADELPHIA ACADEMY) @andreaskakan(Mora IK) @Bror1326 (Mora IK) @ZNKK(Mora IK) @Laama777(Hunters) @Jeqque44(Mora IK) Both wingers were almost the most important players for their teams and scored at a tremendous pace throughout. They also really came up clutch in the games when they were needed the most. @ZNKK could have been the best defensive defenseman there was this season. His TA/GA ratio is top notch and he also holds the most interceptions in the playoffs. @Laama777 was also a very strong defensive presence for his team and ended up scoring some really big goals in the playoffs, especially against Golden Nights, without which Hunters wouldn't even have been in the mix in the late postseason. The goalie @Jeqque44 was in a class of his own this season, a total brick wall. That'll be all for the ECL '22 Winter Lite season, remember that the signups for the spring season are now open and we're hoping to see you all there!

It's that time again, the ECL Elite finals are here, and a long season sees it's end. But this time, we'll have no new European champion just yet, but one team will punch their ticket to the Grand Final in June. This season we saw new stars on the ascent, like Niklas @uhNikke Nieminen for SAWO ESPORTS, but in the finals, we have the new El Clásico and a rematch from the two latest Elite finals - hREDS and Frölunda HC will clash. The Finals will be played over the course of two days (Friday 4.3 & Saturday 5.3) and the entirety of it will be broadcasted at www.twitch.tv/SportsGamerGG. Action starts at 19:30 CET on both days and in the booth you'll see Cody @Tougie24 Tougas and Paul @Cyn Anderson getting the crowd hyped up for the battles. We reached out to hREDS defenseman and assistant captain Tuukka @Tuukka.R Röpelinen (KingOfApes_) for a few quick comments ahead of the finals: Barring just a few losses, you dominated the regular season with relative ease, where does your clinical execution come from? We've got top 2 players in Europe on every position, so that's definitely it. Also we've played together for a long time, which gives us an advantage and makes us even better. How was the team spirit when going in the playoffs, and how have your preparations gone since the Finals spot was confirmed? Our team spirit has always been really good, so no worries for the finals. Preparations have gone well and I'm confident we'll bee at our absolute best this weekend! Is your game on your highest level yet, or is there something more we can expect? I think we have a few new looks and some aces up our sleeves for the weekend that Frölunda won't be expecting. Otherwise we'll be trusting the process and doing what we do best. How will the series end and why? 4-1 to us, because we have more variation in our gameplay and our game is more versatile. Those things will make a difference in a long series. Good luck to both squads in the Finals! Make sure to keep your eyes peeled for a more extensive Finals preview dropping tonight!

SportsGamers, After a long ECL '22 Winter Elite season, this weekend we'll arrive at the culmination point, which will go down between the #1 seed hREDS and the #3 seed Frölunda HC. Does that ring any bells? Yes, we've got a rematch of the ECL 12 Elite and FCL 2021 Finals - the new ECL Elite El Clásico if you will. The Finals will be played over the course of two days (Friday 4.3 & Saturday 5.3) and the entirety of it will be broadcasted at www.twitch.tv/SportsGamerGG. Action starts at 19:30 CET on both days and in the booth you'll see Cody @Tougie24 Tougas and Paul @Cyn Anderson getting the crowd hyped up for the battles. We had a short chat with Frölunda HC winger Paul @PleeMaker Arontie ahead of the big games this weekend: We'll see a rematch of the ECL 12 Finals this weekend and you guys had an unusually fluctuant regular season. Has there been any certain factor that you feel has weakened you guys? We've been playing three tournaments simultaneously, often having six gamedays a week. That's lead to simply not getting the best our of ourselves every night. Also, in this iteration of the game, we haven't clicked like clockwork just yet, so we'll be looking to get back to that. How was the team spirit when going in the playoffs, and how are you preparing for the Finals? Our spirit has been the same as usual, very high. It was nice to get HAVU Gaming as our first round opponents, where we were really able to make a statement. We'll prepare for the finals quite normally, a few games Thursday night to get the feeling for the finals. Has your game reached its highest level yet, or can we expect you guys to step it up this weekend? I feel like you haven't seen the best of us yet this season. Our routine level has been enough for the wins, for the finals we'll need to kick things up a notch. How will the series end, and why? If I'd have to guess, I'd say it's going to be a sweep in either direction as that's been the trend. We'll take it 4-0. The form of the day and a little bit of luck will decide. Stay tuned for our extensive ECL '22 Winter Elite Finals Preview, dropping Thursday evening!