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Evening NHLGamers, This post is meant to update you on what has been going on the last couple of days so, dive in. A recap of what has been going on and information about Round 2 - Playoffs First of all, Round 1 of the playoffs are over - at least to our understanding. I say "at least to our understanding" as we haven't been able to get 100% confirmation of this as the website NHLGamer.com has been down the last couple of days. This downtime was neither planned nor intentional and wasn't caused by the site itself but rather the website service provider. This led the staff, and particularly web wizards @Lurkins and @Kenu, on a quest to get everything up and running again which they have now been able to do. The outtage came at quite an inconvenient time though, seeing as the Summer Cup was knee deep into its playoff phase and Lurkins was in the process of putting together a playoff tree right when it happened. Some playoff games had even been reported in (namely the games between Mighty 8 Balls/Team PELTIKII and Hupimunat/Royal Warriors) and here's where the bad news kick in... due to the server issues these games will have to be re-reported as we work to rebuild the playoff section of the Summer Cup. We know this isn't ideal and we apologize for the frustration of having to report 2-3 games again but it's the best we can do under the circumstances. The playoff section is being built as we speak and we hope to have it up and running as soon as tonight - meaning you will be able to see a playoff tree and report all your playoff games tonight. Again, apologies for the inconvenience. We do have information that the other two playoff series have been played during the website downtime which means that 4/4 playoff series are done, meaning we can move on to Round 2 of the Summer Cup Playoffs! Round 1 results and Round 2 match-ups Here is how Round 1 shook out, according to our information (feel free to correct us if anything is wrong): Mighty 8 Balls vs. TEAM PELTIKII (2-1 in games) Hupimunat vs. Royal Warriors (2-1 in games) Team Juizki vs. Club Kannunkulma (0-2 in games) Team pelimies80 vs. Mirage (2-1 in games) Now, this means that for Round 2, we have the following teams: From Group 1: Seed #1 (Mighty 8 Balls) Seed #2 (Hupimunat) Seed #4 (Team pelimies80) From Group 2 Seed #2 (Club Kannunkulma) This means that we have a #1 seed, two #2 seeds and a #4 seed to organize into matchups. To organize these matchups, we took a look at the teams respective regular season point totals which created a ranking of Mighty 8 Balls 26p, Hupimunat 22p, Club Kannunkulma 21p, Team pelimies80 19p. Which in turn created the following matchups: #1 Mighty 8 Balls vs. #4 Team pelimies80 #2 Hupimunat vs. #3 Club Kannunkulma Again, the rules are best of 3 games and as today marks the launch of Round 2, we calculate another 5-6 days for this round with another 7 days after that for the finals (best of 7). Should everything run smoothly from here on out, we look forward to crowning a Summer Cup winner in the first week of September. Reminders - PLEASE READ Playoff games aside, there are still some games unreported for the regular season. While we can overlook the playoff games not being reported (obviously that part is on us and the website service provider) the unreported regular season are a different matter entirely. So please, take a look if your team has any unreported games for the regular season and just report the games, including player stats. Not only is it part of the rulebook to report the games within a reasonable amount of time, the finished game reporting would make it a lot easier for me, for example, to make the proper adjustments to the regular season awards. C'mon guys, just report it. Also a friendly reminder to the captains to send their Summer Cup Trophy nominees to me. I have received a few (about 4 out 14) but there are still many to go. Questions If you have any questions about anything, feel free to fire away in the comment section! As always, being curious is a good thing. On behalf of the NHLGamer Staff and also, "later skaters", The_Alpha_Furyan

NHLGamer Summer Cup Weekly: Who’s hot and Who’s not [Edition 4 - Award post #1] Fellow NHLGamers, Continuing every Sunday – we at NHLGamer.com are presenting a weekly column for as long as the Summer Cup is in action. This column will feature a list of which Forward, Defenseman and Goalie have performed well enough on the ice to have earned the honor of being named to this weeks ”Hot”-list. In the interest of fairness, it will also feature one representative of each position who hasn’t performed as well, resulting in a spot on the ”Not”-list. Moving on, the list will work like a Power Ranking and not like a ”3 Stars of the Week” (like on the NHL website). A power ranking means that it’s not exclusively what a specific player has done in just the past week that matters, but instead what that player has delivered in total throughout the tournament when the list is published, that does. Say for example if Kenu scores 20 points in 2 games in Week 1, landing him on the ”Hot”-list for that week, he can still be on the ”Hot”-list for Week 2 even if he only scores 10 points in 4 games that week – because his total will still be 30 points in 6 games which, presumably, will still be at the top of the rankings. Do you catch my drift? Good! Then let’s get started. (Before you continue to rip me to shreds for being dead wrong on all my selections, I’ll remind everyone that this is a column of opinion and a playful, tounge-in-cheek way to celebrate what a success this Summer Cup has been. However, a comment of ”You’re an idiot Alpha, that’s just wrong” is always better than no comment so remember – share your opinions!) NEW THIS WEEK (Week 4): Hello NHLGamers and welcome to another Special Edition of the Summer Cup Weekly! I am foregoing the regular format to once again make a special edition of this newsletter. This time, there won't be any "Not" skaters and we'll solely be focusing on the "Hot" ones - namely the people who have managed to capture the various awards we are introducing through the Summer Cup. For ECL 1 we had best offensive player, best defensive player etc. for regular season and playoffs. For ECL 2, there were no awards handed out. This time, we are setting the bar high to deliver the most expansive awards ceremony in the history of the NHLGamer.com website and hopefully, in the process, introducing something that will remain for future tournaments to come. How will this work? Well, some awards will be handed out today - in this Part 1 of the Award Posts. These will be the regular season awards that really aren't up for debate, meaning: Most points, most goals, most assists, most points by defenseman, best +/-, best save % and most wins by goalie. Now, here's where it gets interesting. For this to work I will need all the captains ( @LastMandalorian, @selänne8, @Billy44205, @FINSeRe, @Juizki, @juha96, @Joonas Paatiala, @mir02k1, @Tuukka.R, @vSilenttio, @DieCutterMC, @pelimies80, @debi_85, @Basstian23) to submit nominations (from their own team) for the following, subjective awards (meaning the awards where OPINION matters greatly, and not just stats); - Team MVP (most valuable to your particular team, not always the "best player overall") - Best Defensive Forward - Best Defender - Best Goalie - Best Teammate (with a very short explanation why, for example "Was always available when needed" or "Was a positive influence") These subjetive, nomination-based awards will also concern the regular season so everyone has a chance to be nominated and/or win, playoffs or no playoffs! The staff will then look at these five nominations from each team and compare them to each other. Among these nominations, one skater from each category will be chosen who will then become: - Summer Cup MVP - Summer Cup Best Defensive Forward - Summer Cup Best Defender - Summer Cup Best Goalie - Summer Cup Best Teammate Once the whole tournament is over, these five awards will then be handed out in Part 2 of the awards post, together with the biggest one of them all; Summer Cup Best Playoff Performer. In the playoffs it's all about the TEAM so that's why we only have one award for the post-season, just like in the NHL. So, to summarize, today we are presenting the following stat-based awards for the 2016 Summer Cup, Regular Season: - Most Points - Most Goals - Most Assists - Most Points by a Defenseman - Best plus/minus - Best Save % - Most Wins by a Goalie Once the playoffs are over, we are presenting the following opinion-based awards for the 2016 Summer Cup: - Summer Cup MVP - Summer Cup Best Defensive Forward - Summer Cup Best Defender - Summer Cup Best Goalie - Summer Cup Best Teammate - Summer Cup Best Playoff Performer All in all, we are bringing you 7 stat-based awards and 6 opinion-based awards for a total of 13 (!) awards! Hopefully, you will see this as a fun addition to what has already been a fantastic NHL summer! Without further ado, here are the stat-based awards: Most Points - @selänne8 with 14 goals and 20 assists for a total of 34 points in 12 games. Very impressive, congratulations to you! Most Goals - @plee999 with a staggering 17 goals in just 10 games played. Well done! Most Assists - @selänne8 again with 20 assists in 12 games. Quite the playmaker! Most Points by a Defenseman - @The_Alpha_Furyan with 4 goals and 17 assists for 21 points in 10 games. Playing on a great team helps, thank you teammates! Best Plus/Minus - @Joonas Paatiala (Patzlaf) with +17 in 10 games. Tied with Plee but he already won the goals award so, this one is for Patzlaf. Best Save % - @FINSeRe with 87.93% in 6 games. Very impressive to be over 85% in EASHL - kudos! Most Wins by a Goalie - @OxtreeLAT with 8 wins in 12 games. A winning percentage over 70% while playing all the teams games? The definition of reliable! Congratulations to all the winners! Now captains, let's hear your nominations for the other categories! You can send them by message here or on PSN to any member of the staff. Later skaters, The_Alpha_Furyan

Evening NHLGamers, As you are no doubt aware of, the ECL Summer Cup regular season came to an end tonight. Having been delayed a bit and getting some of the wind taken out of its' sails by the NHL 17 Beta Week, the Summer Cup nonetheless marches on. Here are the final standings for the two groups; Standings Group 1: (One result wrongly reported, but these are the correct standings) 1. Mighty 8 Balls, 26 points 2. Hupimunat, 22 points (tiebreaker over Team Juizki, more goals scored) 3. Team Juizki, 22 points 4. Team Pelimies80, 19 points (tiebreaker over Ullas Pojkar, 7 wins to 6) 5. Ullas Pojkar, 19 points 6. Los Dominos, 15 points 7. Team Billy44205, 3 points Group 2: 1. Mirage, 21 points (tiebreaker over Club Kannunkulma, 7 wins to 6) 2. Club Kannunkulma, 21 points 3. Royal Warriors, 19 points 4. TEAM PELTIKII, 18 points (tiebreaker over Everyday Im Byfuglien, 7 wins to 6) 5. Everyday Im Byfuglien, 18 points 6. Latvian Army For Hire, 16 points 7. Thats the Spirit, 13 points Playoffs The playoffs will look a bit different from the past ECL tournaments, this being the Summer Cup and all. There is only about a month left until NHL 17 is released which means we need to up the tempo a bit on the playoffs (as the extended Beta delayed the tournament by about a week). This means the playoffs will start TOMORROW (17/8-2016) and work as BEST OF 3-series until the Finals where - time permitting - the final two teams will play a best of 7 to determine the ultimate Summer Cup champion. This means a whole playoff series (3 games at the max) can be played in one night, something that should help with scheduling as the summer winds down and people start to head back into the "real world" = jobs/school/etc. We have calculated roughly 5 days per playoff round for the quarter- and semi finals but if they are completed sooner than that, we will of course accelerate the start of the next round. So, the Summer Cup playoff pairings will look like this: Mighty 8 Balls vs. TEAM PELTIKII Hupimunat vs. Royal Warriors Team Juizki vs. Club Kannunkulma Team pelimies80 vs. Mirage The Summer Cup has, in the eyes of the staff, been a great success and a fun opportunity to get to know some new people in the community! So, we'd like to acknowledge and thank all of you who have participated so far, with a special thank you going to the captains for making this as smooth a ride as possible. Of course, not everything can be smooth sailing always and alas we had some games that had to be settled by walkover. Walkovers In this case, Team Billy44205 was forced (due to inability to get enough skaters to complete matches) to submit walkover wins to two teams, as follows; Team Billy44205 vs. Team Pelimies80 0-5 Team Billy44205 vs. Team Juizki 0-5 Team Pelimies80 vs. Team Billy44205 5-0 Team Juizki vs. Team Billy44205 5-0 Billy, the captain, has handled the situation as well as can be expected and has communicated to the staff his efforts to set up games. No further discipline will be excercised in this matter. Point deductions The staff were presented with a number of cases where exceptions and/or trouble and miscommunication arose in regards to the "3-game rule". These matters were in regards to about five different teams. The staff has decided not to give these teams point deductions for two reasons (with #1 being the primary reason); 1. In every case the captains were able to show (through batches of print screens and messages) that they, in fact, tried above and beyond the call of duty to get all players involved in atleast 3 games. This is something we knew could happen when the tournament started but again, the majority of teams were able to comply with the 3-game rule and the teams that weren't, didn't end up in that situation for a lack of trying. This is important to emphasize because it was what formed the basis of our ruling. 2. In the individual cases where team point deductions were considered, all of the teams were out of the playoffs as far as the final standings go. Making point deductions would not have changed the playoff picture. Individual discipline Just because the teams weren't handed any point deductions doesn't mean there won't be any discipline doled out during this tournament. The Staff has, as indicated above, been handed a number of cases by the captains where individual players put their teams in tough situations and sometimes even acted immature and difficult. Each individual case will be reviewed further by the staff and communicated to the players affected after the end of the tournament. If you are one of the players who for some reason didn't complete 3 games for your team, fear not. It is not the intention of the staff to mindlessly throw punishments about, especially in cases where real-life circumstances were a factor. However, inappropriate behaviour will not be tolerated and as such, discipline will be imposed after the individual reviews are completed. Questions If you have any questions, feel free to fire away in the comment section! Being curious is a good thing. On behalf of the NHLGamer Staff and also, "later skaters", The_Alpha_Furyan

NHLGamer Summer Cup Weekly: Who’s hot and Who’s not [Edition 3 - Special] Fellow NHLGamers, Continuing every Sunday – we at NHLGamer.com are presenting a weekly column for as long as the Summer Cup is in action. This column will feature a list of which Forward, Defenseman and Goalie have performed well enough on the ice to have earned the honor of being named to this weeks ”Hot”-list. In the interest of fairness, it will also feature one representative of each position who hasn’t performed as well, resulting in a spot on the ”Not”-list. Moving on, the list will work like a Power Ranking and not like a ”3 Stars of the Week” (like on the NHL website). A power ranking means that it’s not exclusively what a specific player has done in just the past week that matters, but instead what that player has delivered in total throughout the tournament when the list is published, that does. Say for example if Kenu scores 20 points in 2 games in Week 1, landing him on the ”Hot”-list for that week, he can still be on the ”Hot”-list for Week 2 even if he only scores 10 points in 4 games that week – because his total will still be 30 points in 6 games which, presumably, will still be at the top of the rankings. Do you catch my drift? Good! Then let’s get started. (Before you continue to rip me to shreds for being dead wrong on all my selections, I’ll remind everyone that this is a column of opinion and a playful, tounge-in-cheek way to celebrate what a success this Summer Cup has been. However, a comment of ”You’re an idiot Alpha, that’s just wrong” is always better than no comment so remember – share your opinions!) NEW THIS WEEK (Week 3): Now that's more like it! The comments went pouring in for Week 2 and I couldn't be happier - let's keep that trend going for Week 3. All the comments also gave me a chance to explain my reasoning behind how I make my selections. For those of you who didn't see one comment in particular, I'll paste that here: New for Week 3 is that we will be departing a bit from the regular format. Since the Beta for NHL 17 just came out (Read about it here and get your Beta code here) on Wednesday and there really wasn't more than 5-6 games played even at the start of the week, we won't be looking at the Summer Cup in general. Instead, we'll be a taking a look at the names behind each team - the captains. Look for the regular Hot or Not-format to return next week as the Summer Cup concludes its regular season but for now, this is the NHLGamer Summer Cup Weekly, Edition 3 [Captain Edition]. CAPTAINS (Week 3): GOALIES: #30, Mr Juizki ( @Juizki), Team Juizki Having been featured on the Hot-list for two weeks, one certainly can't complain about the results this goalie has delivered. He's been in net for all his teams games so far and a quick look at the standings reveal that same team to be headed for the playoffs. His first round pick TehhAhola has turned out to be a fine addition with 11 points in 8 games, only bested by second round pick Jageksis 19 points in 8 games. Looking good so far for Juizki. #8, Fin Sere ( @FINSeRe), Mirage With a record of 5-1-0, it's no wonder that Fin Sere found himself on the runner-up list for goalies last week. Combine his stellar save percentage and Goals Against Average in those 6 games with his historical numbers as a #1 goalie for Nordic Blizzard in both ECL 1 and 2 and you've got yourselves one of the best goalies in the community right now. Seems to have done well with the draft as his #1 and #2 picks, tbnantti and kaislikko_peruna are #1 and #2 in scoring for Mirage. #34, Juha Julmala ( @juha96), Hupimunat One of a few teams to have completed their Summer Cup regular season so far, things are looking good for Hupimunat. 22 points in 12 games with a record of 7-4-1 will most likely generate a playoff position. Team captain Julmala has been in net for all 12 games and have done an admirable job between the pipes. He also seems to have put together a well-balanced team that could feature in the playoffs for a long time. DEFENDERS: #53, Shayne Gostisbehere ( @vSilenttio ), Thats the Spirit Thats the Spirit is another team who have finished their 12-game slate for the Summer Cup. As it stands right now, a playoff position is looking unlikely in the very tough Group 2 but this team have certainly fought for it. Involved in more OT games than any team I've seen so far, Silenttio has led his men into many tough battles and has put up a point per game pace with a GWG in the mix as well. His first round pick, imosi1, also did what he could with almost 2 points per game and 3 game winners but ultimately, things didn't go the way this captain wanted. #88, Boba Fett ( @LastMandalorian), Latvian Army for Hire A captain that I know quite well seeing as that we've played EASHL together since its inception on NHL 09. Wasn't sure about if he was going to play center or defense when the tournament started but eventually found a home on RD. Has delivered 3+3 in the 10 games Latvian Army for Hire has played so far but the real test for him and his team will come with two games remaining as the team is fighting for their playoff lives in Group 2. #17, Ludwig Borga ( @DieCutterMC), Ullas Pojkar A physical force on defense, Borga encourages the heavy hits among his teammates. Something that teammates FlyerKungen and Haldeem seems to have picked up on as they have almost 40 hits each. Teamwise, Ullas Pojkar have positioned themselves quite strongly ahead of the playoffs but will most likely have to win one or two of their remaining two games to secure a playoff spot. His first round pick, Tapparafan-, has only gotten into 6 games so far but has delivered 11 points in those games. #80, The Iceman ( @pelimies80), Team pelimies80 Defender who likes the defensive side of the game with strong positioning and few goals against, pelimies has his whole team playing solid defensive hockey. Having personally supplied 1+5 in 8 games, Iceman will have to continue his solid defensive play and timely scoring to help his team make the playoffs as the team are on the outside looking in right now with 4 games remaining. Hopefully he gets his #1 pick Foppatofflan back as he hasn't played in a single game so far. #44, - Billy ( @Billy44205), Team Billy44205 Putting Billy in any one position is tough as I've personally seen the man play defense and goalie in Summer Cup games, as well as seeing him as a forward in the box scores. Regardless, he stepped up to the captaincy plate with bravery, as he admitted to not knowing the players in the community as well as he would've liked. His team won't make the playoffs but he himself and most members of his team have conducted themselves professionally throughout and when problems have arisen, Billy has stepped up. FORWARDS: #88, Miro Hedman ( @mir02k1), Los Dominos Forming a very dangerous line with vilperi-90 and Nampa77, Miro has supplied 17 points in 8 games. Unfortunately, a slow start to the tournament has left Los Dominos in a tough position for the rest of the regular season, with a lot of ground to make up to be able to make the playoffs. One big factor in all this is the fact that the star Miro planned on leading the team, Dominointi, hasn't played in a single game so far. #91, Team Debi ( @debi_85), TEAM PELTIKII Debi is leading the charge for his team together with #1 pick Joukki and it has been quite a successfull charge. With 4 games remaining, Debis team has every chance of making the playoffs and do some damage once they get there. Debi is also the leading hitter among his teammates so one could make the argument he is leading by example on the scoresheet and in the physical side of the game. #86, Joonas Paatiala (???), Club Kannunkulma Patzlaf/BAAHTIS/forum name (?) has put together a high scoring team with him and #1 pick Plee at the helm. Not to be forgotten is the supporting cast of the team though, with defenders jaikken and plymalking, goalies FinKonna and Swigi and forwards indi696 and KenuFHR. At the "center" of it all, Patzlaf leads his team on both the offensive and defensive side of the game with an impressive 59% faceoff percentage and 28 hits outside his 21 points. #68, Jaromir Sniper ( @Basstian23), Everyday Im Byfuglien Truly a prime example of a captain leading the team with his performance on the ice. Having played in all 12 games for his team with 26 points to his name, Bastians team are most likely going to make the playoffs. Bastian has only used his #1 pick Chafak in 4 games so maybe there is more to gain there, but otherwise this sniper has formed quite the duo with second leading point scorer Hanssoni. #9, Busku Mees ( @Tuukka.R), Royal Warriors Busku and his Mees clan (seriously, atleast 5 players are named Mees) was probably the most game-ready team when the Summer Cup started. Having almost exclusively selected players from his own team Victorious Secret, the Royal Warriors were expected to come out of the games storming. For some reason it hasn't worked out perfectly so far but don't count this squad out as they will fight to the end for the last playoff spots in Group 2. #8, Teemu Selanne ( @selänne8), Mighty 8 Balls Last but not least, Selanne rounds out this captain list. His 32 points are the most out of any player in the cup and that is with 2 games remaining! A likely candidate to win the scoring title, Selanne has done well with his draft selections and team as well. #1 pick OxtreeLAT has been in net for all the teams wins so far and those wins have carried the team to a likely #1 or #2 spot in Group 1. Later picks Leksa, The_Alpha_Furyan and RedMisti have also contributed to the teams scoring prowess and every member of the team has delivered solid performances thus far. Remains to be seen if this team can carry their regular season success into what will be a tough playoff matchup. Now, bring your chainsaws to the comment section and let me have it! Did I make the wrong selections? The right ones? Were there any factual errors? Who's happy? Who's upset? Who's secretly plotting to murder me? Later skaters // Alpha Furyan

Hey NHLGamers, today we're bringing you a boatload of additional news on EASHL for NHL 17 through EA's own Gameplay Series. Tip of the hat to @vSilenttio for bringing this to our attention! Here are the main talking points (in EA:s own words); EASHL Team Editor Use the all-new team customization tool in Creation Zone to make your team into a brand by editing your team’s uniform, pants, socks, shoulder patches and logos to build your unique EASHL team identity. With thousands of different possible combinations, this is your chance to make your team stand out from the rest of the hockey world. EASHL Arena Progression As you play games in EASHL you will level up your club to earn more arena customization options. When you first create your team, you’ll have access to two brand new community rinks which are only available in EASHL. From there you can unlock larger arenas as well as customize options like scoreboards, goal songs, LED stanchions, horns and more. As your team gains more experience and unlocks more customizable options, your team arena can evolve from a low-tech community rink to the latest NHL-caliber arena. *You will be able to use the Create Team/Create Arena feature outside of EASHL and that will not need you to unlock said content. EASHL Arena Types Small Community Rink: A practice-sized rink without bleachers or seats. This rink is truly grass-roots and does not allow for any customization. Large Community Rink: This rink can hold a small set of hometown fans and allows for a moderate amount of customization, such as branding your team logo at center ice and having goal horns and songs play after goals. Junior Arena: Large enough to seat several thousand fans and allows for a significant amount of customization such as entry props and LED stanchion effects. Semi-Pro Stadium: Here is when you start to feel like a professional hockey team. A semi-pro stadium allows for a larger capacity crowd and even more customization options. Pro Stadium: There are 10 different pro stadiums to unlock and these allow for the biggest crowds and the most amount of customization options such as scoreboards and signature effects. Player Classes Returning to EA SPORTS Hockey League in NHL 17 is the ability to choose specialized player classes, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. A good team should have a mix of these player classes, with each contributing to a team's success in different ways. This class system helps deliver a balanced competitive experience on the ice, where player skill and your ability to play as a team now determines who wins and loses hockey games. We will be using the NHL 17 Beta to tune both earlier and new player classes, so make sure to give feedback during the beta. Forward Player Classes Sniper Forward Power Forward Playmaker Forward Grinder Forward Enforcer Forward Two Way Forward Dangler Hitting Sniper *NEW Jumbo Playmaker *NEW Two Way Dangler *NEW Defensive Player Classes Offensive Defenseman Defensive Defenseman Two Way Defenseman Enforcer Defenseman Puck Moving Defenseman *NEW Goalie Classes Butterfly Goalie Stand-Up Goalie Hybrid Goalie Anti-Griefing Improvements To make our EASHL online experience as fun and accessible as possible, we’ve listened to community feedback from our social channels and forums and will be implementing the following anti-grieving features for NHL 17. Goalies Quitting - In EASHL Club games, any game started with two (2) human goalies requires those goalies to finish the game otherwise their team is given a loss. For Drop-in games, any team that has their goalie leave is then replaced with a backup goalie who is smaller and has a lower skill rating to level the playing field. Improving Team Play - For drop-in games, our Coach Feedback System will keep tabs on your team play grade for skaters and goalies. If you aren't being a good team player and are intentionally creating a poor playing environment for other players the coach may boot you from the game. Examples of creating a poor playing environment are: going intentionally offside, continuously icing the puck, removing goalies from the net, etc. Reduced Number of Pauses - We have reduced pauses to one (1) per team regardless of mode or the number of players on the team. Each team will have one (1) 30 second pause. This will not consume your regular timeout that refreshes your lines. We have also surfaced the visual settings option in the limited pause menu so you don’t have to use your full pause to make those last-minute camera adjustments. We recommend you make those settings changes in the EASHL HUB so they are active for every EASHL game you play. Reduced Grace Period Before the Game Counts – Once the puck drops the game is officially on! Any teams that quit as this point earns a loss, while the team still playing earns the win. General EASHL Improvements Drop-In Games Improved Matchmaking - New to NHL 17, select the general position you would like to play before starting your matchmaking search. This will help bring players together and allow them to play their desired position. Matchmaking will also factor in your Competitive Gaming Rating to help find the best balance of skill and experience for both teams. Group Matchmaking - Introducing the new Drop-in Dressing Room that now allows you to invite up to five (5) other friends to join your team for a cooperative yet competitive experience against other drop-in players. Persistent Game Sessions - Players from the same team will stay in a Dressing Room after the end of each EASHL Drop-In game, to help improve consistency and chemistry between players. Online Connection Connection Quality Bar - Connection quality bar will now be highlighted in the pre-game matchup screen. Real Time Connection Quality - A real-time connection graph will now be highlighted in the pause menu and will show your connection quality from the last two minutes of game time. Game Server Selection - We will automatically find which game server is best for your entire team based on their ping times to each game server. Club Invitations Club GMs can now invite players to join their club by manually entering their friend’s profile names or by selecting a profile name in different in-game locations such as leaderboards or the Drop-in Dressing Room. Club GMs can effectively use Drop-in to scout players and recruit them to join their team. Viewing Club Rosters You can now select to view another club’s roster from within our Leaderboards screens and Recent Games screens. Source: https://www.easports.com/nhl/news/2016/nhl-17-gameplay-series-eashl // NHLGamer Staff

NHLGamer Summer Cup Weekly: Who’s hot and Who’s not [Edition 2] Fellow NHLGamers, Continuing every Sunday – we at NHLGamer.com are presenting a weekly column for as long as the Summer Cup is in action. This column will feature a list of which Forward, Defenseman and Goalie have performed well enough on the ice to have earned the honor of being named to this weeks ”Hot”-list. In the interest of fairness, it will also feature one representative of each position who hasn’t performed as well, resulting in a spot on the ”Not”-list. Moving on, the list will work like a Power Ranking and not like a ”3 Stars of the Week” (like on the NHL website). A power ranking means that it’s not exclusively what a specific player has done in just the past week that matters, but instead what that player has delivered in total throughout the tournament when the list is published, that does. Say for example if Kenu scores 20 points in 2 games in Week 1, landing him on the ”Hot”-list for that week, he can still be on the ”Hot”-list for Week 2 even if he only scores 10 points in 4 games that week – because his total will still be 30 points in 6 games which, presumably, will still be at the top of the rankings. Do you catch my drift? Good! Then let’s get started. (Before you continue to rip me to shreds for being dead wrong on all my selections, I’ll remind everyone that this is a column of opinion and a playful, tounge-in-cheek way to celebrate what a success this Summer Cup has been. However, a comment of ”You’re an idiot Alpha, that’s just wrong” is always better than no comment so remember – share your opinions!) NEW THIS WEEK (Week 2): Okay, so after Week 1 I'm adding a little something to this weekly column. First, let me just say that ALL your feedback has been appreciated! Even though it didn't take place as much in the official comment section as I would've hoped (seriously - drop some comment bombs!), it's still fun to know that what is being written is also being read and better yet - that it's making people FEEL something, whether that's anger, joy or hate! Anyway, as I said, new addition. It might seem small, but I've decided to add "runner-ups" for all categories. These runner-ups will feature who else was in my mind when I made my decision. These runner-ups will just get a short paragraph to explain why they are there but regardless, just having them in the column will hopefully let you guys in on what my thought process was for makings these selections! Okay, lets do this. WHO’S HOT (Week 2): FORWARD: #68, Jaromir Jagr ( @vilperi90), Los Dominos, 8GP 8G 10A = 18P, -2, 4 PIM, 30 Hits While Plee and Patzlaf continues their destruction of the Summer Cup (52 points combined) they will have to step aside this week for vilperi-90. What a comeback story! After being featured on the defenseman "Not"-list for Week 1, vilperi-90 shifted from defense to forward and started to tear the league up. Having scored 0 points in 2 games on defense, he absolutely exploded for 8 goals and 10 assists in 6 games as a forward, landing him 5th overall in the scoring race. Very impressive and certainly worthy of a spot on the "Hot"-list. Runner-ups: PleeMaker & Patzlaf - Club Kannunkulma [By far the best 1-2 punch in the tournament so far, leading points scorers, unstoppable?] BiggestEight - Mighty 8 Balls [This captain is leading his team by example, the top point getter after Plee&Patz] DEFENDER: #17, Junior Jaihicovic ( @JaikenK ), Club Kannunkulma, 10GP 2G 10A = 12P, +18, 10 PIM, 21 Hits No longer the leading scorer amongst defenders, Jaiken is still a strong 2nd with 2 goals and 10 assists. Furthermore, Jaiken is currently the only defender (with Haldeem) to play in 10 out of 10 games, suggesting how highly valued he is by his team. He also sports the very best +/- among all defenders (+18) all the while having a GWG and 21 hits to his name. All in all, the top defender on what is very likely one of the best teams in the tournament. Runner-ups: The_Alpha_Furyan - Mighty 8 Balls [Top point scorer among all defenders, needs more hits and better +/-] FIN_Potilas - Hupimunat [Strong in points and powerplay goals, although sometimes plays center] Haldeem - Ullas Pojkar [Solid point production, most hits among defenders, plays every game for his team] GOALIE: #30, Mr Juizki ( @Juizki), Team Juizki, 6GP 4W 2L 0TL, 85.29%, 1.66 GAA, 2 shutouts Still the reigning champion, Juizki remains at the very top of all goalie stats (#1 in save percentage, tied for #3 in wins, #5 in total saves, #3 in GAA, tied for #1 in shutouts). However, just like Jaiken among the defenders, Juizki is getting tougher competition - from several goalies - every week and he will have to continue playing at the highest level to remain at the top of this list in the future. Runner-ups: FINSeRe - Mirage [Close to Juizki in both save percentage and shutouts, needs more games] frenchplayer92 - Everyday I'm Byfuglien [Solid save %, solid GAA, solid goalie - on the rise!] MonkeyHead_AF - Latvian Army For Hire [Acrobatic goalie with the most saves and best save % out of all goalies with 8 GP] WHO’S NOT (Week 2): FORWARD: #84, - Bonn ( @Bjono), Latvian Army For Hire, 6GP 1G 5A = 6P, +5, 10 PIM, 26 Hits Perhaps being a high draft pick means being unfairly held to a higher standard than other players. However fair, the fact remains that this is another first round pick to end up on this list. An experienced ECL veteran - Bonn hasn't gotten everything going points-wise with his new team yet, although credible inside sources tell me he's been a leader and calming presence on the ice. With just a single goal to his name so far and a playoff position for his team in jeopardy, expect him to come out firing the last weeks of the regular season. Runner-ups: Billy44205 - Team Billy44205 [Will have to start leading his team out of the hole they've dug themselves as the team with the lowest point total so far] joukki13 - TEAM PELTIKII [Another first round pick with just 1 goal, in just 3 games played - where is joukki?] Pelle3000 - Los Dominos [4+1 in 5 games and a -3, has more in him!] DEFENDER: #53, Shayne Gostisbehere ( @vSilenttio ), Thats the Spirit, 6GP 0G 6A = 6P, -5, 4 PIM, 20 Hits Speaking of unfair, it is a known fact that when a team is struggling as a unit, the captain sometimes has to shoulder a disproportionate amount of the responsibility. Like Ovechkin when the Caps are struggling or Subban when Montreal (was) struggling. Which leads us to this defender... vSilenttio is a leader and one of the better two-way defenders in the tournament with loads of offensive skill, so with 0+6 in 6 games and his team on the verge of falling behind the pack and missing the playoffs - he will have to step up even more. Runner-ups: Nikge_89 - Thats the Spirit [Like his D partner, Nikge will have to step up the rest of the regular season for their team to make the playoffs] |tokFan| - Hupimunat [0 goals and 3 assists in 7 GP with just 3 shots on goal, on one of the highest scoring teams in the league] vatalisti - Team Billy44205 [Is leading his team in scoring so is most likely doing all he possibly can, but as a #2 overall pick - more is expected than a league-worst -7] GOALIE: #20, Antti Miettinen ( @JOHTAJAVIRTANEN), Ullas Pojkar, 6GP 5W 1L 0TL, 55.17%, 2.16 GAA, 0 shutout Just like last week, I am "attacking" a goaltender who is part of a winning team but isn't producing as good stats as can be expected of such a team enviroment. Miettinen does have a solid Goals Against Average with 2.16 and is actually helping his team win with a 5-1-0 record. Perhaps it is his team that is putting him in tough situations and maybe he is making the tougher breakaway saves, but with a league-worst 55.17% in save percentage, Miettinen is on this list for now. Runner-ups: poliskontroll - Thats the Spirit [Is struggling to help his team win games as he's gone 2-4-0 with 65.51% and 3.33 GAA - probably hungry to bounce back] Siickan - Team Billy44205 [will need to step up together with his teammates to help Team Billy make the playoffs] Now, bring your chainsaws to the comment section and let me have it! Did I make the wrong selections? The right ones? Were there any factual errors? Who's happy? Who's upset? Who's secretly plotting to murder me? Later skaters // Alpha Furyan

Fellow NHLGamers, You can tell EA is ramping up the PR-machine for the Beta release of NHL 17 because today we have a new trailer for you! A few things to take away from this EASHL-related trailer - The customization options seem limitless! Everything from jerseys to arenas to goal songs to scoring lamps... the list goes on. This is a sorely needed re-introduction to the EASHL community. - Customization options are earned. As your team wins and levels up, you gets access to more and more different features. - Perhaps the biggest reveal from this trailer; four new player classes! Let's take a look at them. Dangler - Already introduced in the later stages of NHL 16 but to those who left the game around spring, this will be a "new" class. Suited for players who performs with small, fast, shifty players. Probably modeled after Johnny Gaudreau of the Calgary Flames. Jumbo Playmaker - This one is for the playmakers out there who haven't been happy with the size and strength of the regular playmaker class. The regular class will still be in the game but this jumbo class (quite obviously modeled after San Jose Sharks "Jumbo" Joe Thornton) will be able to take a hit and still make a play. Hitting Sniper - Basically Alex Ovechkin. Enough said. Two-Way Dangler - This one is interesting because it seems to be a defensive class in style but with very good puck skills. Very likely inspired by previous NHLer Pavel Datsyuk (We miss you, Dats!). Anyway, that's that! Let us know what you think of this new EASHL-focused trailer in the comment section below! Later skaters // The_Alpha_Furyan

NHLGamer Summer Cup Weekly: Who’s hot and Who’s not Fellow NHLGamers, starting today and continuing on every Sunday – we at NHLGamer.com are introducing a new weekly column for as long as the Summer Cup is in action. This column will feature a list of which Forward, Defenseman and Goalie have performed well enough on the ice to have earned the honor of being named to this weeks ”Hot”-list. In the interest of fairness, it will also feature one representative of each position who hasn’t performed as well, resulting in a spot on the ”Not”-list. Moving on, the list will work like a Power Ranking and not like a ”3 Stars of the Week” (like on the NHL website). A power ranking means that it’s not exclusively what a specific player has done in just the past week that matters, but instead what that player has delivered in total throughout the tournament when the list is published, that does. Say for example if Kenu scores 20 points in 2 games in Week 1, landing him on the ”Hot”-list for that week, he can still be on the ”Hot”-list for Week 2 even if he only scores 10 points in 4 games that week – because his total will still be 30 points in 6 games which, presumably, will still be at the top of the rankings. Do you catch my drift? Good! Then let’s get started. (Before you continue to rip me to shreds for being dead wrong on all my selections, I’ll remind everyone that this is a column of opinion and a playful, tounge-in-cheek way to celebrate what a success this Summer Cup has been. However, a comment of ”You’re an idiot Alpha, that’s just wrong” is always better than no comment so remember – share your opinions!) WHO’S HOT (Week 1): Forward: #44, Reijo Renkewitz ( @plee999 ), Club Kannunkulma, 6GP 10G 8A = 18P, +12, 16 PIM, 25 Hits PleeMaker came into the tournament like shot out of a cannon – determined to live up to his early draft pick status – and immediatey started racking up the goals and points. Playing on a line with players like BAAHTIS (Patzlaf), indi696 and the NHLGamer staff’s very own KenuFHR has surely helped but, having put up the most points in the tournament to this point, PleeMaker has to be considered the frontrunner for best forward thus far. Defender: #17, Junior Jaihicovic ( @JaikenK ), Club Kannunkulma, 6GP 0G 9A = 9P, +12, 2 PIM, 15 Hits Got to go with another Kannunkulma player here as they have been not only one of the highest scoring teams thus far, but also one of the teams who have played the most with 6 games played. Jaikenkk of Sjukstugan is the defenseman with the most total points thus far and when you combine that with a solid 15 hits and just 2 PIMs and you’ve got your defenseman of the week. Goalie: #30, Mr Juizki ( @Juizki), Team Juizki, 4GP 3W 1L 0TL, 88.0%, 1.50 GAA, 1 shutout Given that Captain Juizki has lead his team to 3 wins in 4 games all the while putting up the most saves and the highest save percentage – this one was a no-brainer. Having been a relative newcomer to ECL (only joining in ECL Season 2 with Checkmate) Juizki is seeing his star rise quickly with performances like this. A well earned spot on the Hot-list. WHO’S NOT (Week 1): Forward: #34, Olli Palola ( @Tapparafan), Ullas Pojkar, 2GP 1G 1A = 2P, -2, 2 PIM, 5 Hits This first round pick has had a tough start to the Summer Cup as the only two games he has participated in so far ended up in just 1+1 in scoring, with the team losing both games and getting 0 points out of it. Ullas Pojkar has had somewhat of a rough start in general, collecting 6 points total in their first 6 games, and to snap out of it they need their #1 pick to lead by example. Defender: #68, Jaromir Jagr ( @vilperi90) & #7, Blob Beaverson ( @Akasido-95), Los Dominos, 2GP 0G 0A = 0P, -1, 0 PIM, 0 Hits With identical statlines, it was impossible to single out any one of these Los Dominos defenders to put on the list – so the solution was to have them share it. Both experienced ECL players known to be able to play any positon (Defense or Forward), these gentlemen will most likely pick their game up as Los Dominos gets rolling but, after a start where their team gained 1 out of 6 possible points with no production from either one of them, they start out here on this list. Goalie: #59, Peter Savemaker ( @FinKonna), Club Kannunkulma, 6GP 4W 1L 1TL, 62.79%, 2.66 GAA, 0 shutout The third member of Club Kannunkulma to feature in this article, FinKonna probably won’t be as happy to be on the list. Known to be a top goalie in the community, FinKonna has been a part of his teams 4-1-1 start while at the same time not delivering stellar numbers. Goaltending in EASHL is a tough business and I have no doubt FinKonna will bounce back but for now, he is on the Not-list.