MietuskaXIV

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!