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After three city tournaments in the rearview, a good amount of teams have secured their spots in the TOP 32, but there's still room for more! This weekend, we'll find out what Oulu has to offer.   The teams have been divided into three groups and the Oulu city tournament will be played in two stages, the group stage and the playoffs. Every team is guaranteed at least four games (the group stage), after which the top two will continue directly to the playoffs. The 3rd placed teams and the best 4th (based on PPG) will play a BO1 to determine the two last teams to make the playoffs. This will leave us with eight teams in total in the playoffs. See the full groups over at the league page - here. In the playoffs, the eight teams will be seeded based on PPG for each round and play a BO1 to advance. The top 3 teams will gain a direct spot into the TOP 32-stage of the entire Wilhelm eHockey Tour, whereas all other teams gain ranking points for participation. Ranking points add up throughout the eHockey Tour and will grant access to the TOP 32-stage for the top five teams without a top 3 city tournament finish. So, you'll have two ways to gain access to the TOP 32-stage: Reach the top 3 in a city tournament Rack up ranking points throughout the eHockey Tour in several city tournaments In terms of how the ranking system works, basically, the higher you finish, the higher you score. 1st 200p 2nd 150p 3rd 125p 4th 100p 5th-8th 75p 9th --> 50p The highest ranking teams will also receive awesome product prizes from our great sponsors! Let the action begin and we'll follow along to see who will be the next teams to secure a spot at the TOP 32-stage.

SportsGamers, the Player Spotlight series is making its return with the objective of showcasing gamers that would perhaps otherwise fall outside normal reporting, but that we want to get to know better. Our strength is this community, so let's get to know each other! We're coming at you with an interview of Prima eSport goaltender Juuso @TheSpeedo Sirkola, who took his first strides back in the second season of the Summer Cup with NG International Army alongside players such as @janbonator and @Mullweiser, who have since put down the controller. The 25-year old virtual goaltender hailing from the Finnish coastal city of Vaasa actually started his NHL gaming career as a winger, but quickly realized that his talent is better suited for stopping pucks. 1. What was your first experience with the EASHL mode in NHL? Back in NHL 17 we played 3v3 in a team called Gainsville Gains with some friends. We all played on our 4G connections with pings between 100-200. Good times. 2. What’s the best part of playing for your current club Prima eSport? The team is full of highly skilled players with high ceilings. That also motivates me to become a better player every time i take the ice. 3. What is your greatest NHL gaming memory? NHL gaming get togethers between friends. Tough 1v1 matches, great drinks, fair and sometimes less fair competition. Usually these things last far into the morning hours before the best of the best is determined, and who will hold the bragging rights until next time we go at it. 4. Describe your perfect breakfast! Not a big breakfast guy by any means, but if I'm on a day off I'd say lots of coffee, apple juice, sausage, bacon and some yoghurt with granola will do the trick. On workdays my specialty is to throw water & oats in a shaker - bon appétit! 5. You're GM for a day and get to pick any player for your 6v6 team but none of your current teammates. Who's in your starting six and why? @Hippitukka - @ReDMisTi - @Maexsa @saunapastori - @jahajaha93 @ICappeI Giving credit where it is due. Maexsa opened the door for me to the legendary Elamam Kiekko back in the day, as a young goalie I got a lot of responsibility which definitely motivated me and made me a better player. Eventually we co-captained the team for a while too. I picked Redmisti & Hippitukka for similar reasons, they trusted me to mind the net for Arkham and I really learned a winning mentality from these guys. Saunapastori will be our press guy, handling all the public statements and PR. Jaha is the one who originally got me into the scene. Finally, I had to pick the best goalie out there to give this team the slightest chance of being competitive! 6. What was your dream job growing up and what do you currently do? Every little boys dream, I wanted to be a hockey player, and later on a chef. Nowadays I'm a correctional officer. 7.  Do you play or have you played hockey? As a kid I played for Vaasan Sport, but nowadays my hockey is limited to the PlayStation version or outdoor rinks. 8. What’s your best hockey memory? Absolutely the 2009 SM-Liiga relegation series between Sport and Ässät. I was a little kid back then and cheered so hard my throat got sore in those games. 9. What do you like to do in your spare time besides playing NHL?  Sleeping and watching Netflix, but also a lot different types of sports. At the moment floorball and Padel are my favorites. 10. Pizza with three toppings, what are your choices? Pepperoni, shrimp and paprika. 11. You're the locker room DJ and get one song to hype up your team. What do you play? Fabian Mazur & Snavs - Arena 12. How did you come up with your PSN ID? As a kid I was a pretty good swimmer and when creating my PSD ID I laid eyes on some trunks of a particular brand next to me. The rest is history. 13. Who’s the best player in the ECL according to you? I'll have to say another goalie, Casper @ICappeI Lundgren. He's been at the top for so long and won pretty much everything you can imagine. He doesn't just give his team the opportunity to win every night, but also the opportunity to claim the title every season. 14. Describe your ideal holiday!  A summer cottage getaway. No rush, great food, a sauna and some good drinks, what else could you ask for? 15. Now it's up to you to suggest who we should interview next. Who do you want to hear from and why? @Maexsa, the guy has been around for a long time and I'm sure he would have some interesting stuff to tell. When will we see the return of Elamam Kiekko, for example? Feel free to also suggest who you'd want to see in the Player Spotlight-series - let us know in the comments below!

SportsGamers, The ECL '22 Spring Core Playoffs are here and we have got some very strong teams that are ready to go to war in the postseason. In Core, the playoffs consist of the top 8 teams from each group being seeded against other teams who finished in the same position (e.g. group winners are seeded #1-4, group runners-up are seeded #5-8 and so on.). The first round of the playoffs will start on Sunday the 1st of May 2022 and end on Thursday the 5th of May 2022. Here is a full schedule of the ECL '22 Spring Core playoffs: Round-of-64: 01.05 – 05.05 (BO7) Round-of-32: 08.05 – 12.05 (BO7) Round-of-16: 15.05 – 25.05 (BO7) Quarterfinals: 30.05 – 02.06 (BO7) Semifinals: 05.06 – 09.06 (BO7) Finals: 13.06 – 14.06 (BO7) [Provisional date] For the relevant rules regarding these playoffs, please find extracts from the ECL Rulebook below. Essentially, each series will be a best-of-seven and the higher seeded team will play 'at home' first, then alternate back and forth with the lower seeded team.  Click here to view the matchups for round 1 of the ECL '22 Spring Core Playoffs   Good luck for everyone!

We've now seen what both Helsinki and Tampere had to offer in the eHockey Tour, and it's time to move on to the next great city tournament in Turku. Who will be the next teams to qualify for the TOP 32? With seven team in participation, the Turku city tournament is played in one group and two stages, the group stage and the playoffs. Every team is guaranteed at least seven games (the group stage + one playoff game). All teams out of the group stage will be making the playoffs, with the #1 seed receiving a bye from the first round. See the full groups over at the league page - here. In the playoffs, the #1 seed will receive a bye from round 1 and the remaining six teams will play a BO1 to advance (2v7, 3v6, 4v5). After the first round, playoffs move on as normal. The top 3 teams will gain a direct spot into the TOP 32-stage of the entire Wilhelm eHockey Tour, whereas all other teams gain ranking points for participation. Ranking points add up throughout the eHockey Tour and will grant access to the TOP 32-stage for the top five teams without a top 3 city tournament finish. So, you'll have two ways to gain access to the TOP 32-stage: Reach the top 3 in a city tournament Rack up ranking points throughout the eHockey Tour in several city tournaments In terms of how the ranking system works, basically, the higher you finish, the higher you score. 1st 200p 2nd 150p 3rd 125p 4th 100p 5th-8th 75p 9th --> 50p The highest ranking teams will also receive awesome product prizes from our great sponsors! Let the action begin and we'll follow along to see who will be the next teams to secure a spot at the TOP 32-stage.

After a tough day of competition last weekend in the Helsinki city tournament, it's now time to see what Tampere has to offer! Bring your best to the ice for a chance to make it to the TOP 32! The teams have been divided into three groups and the Tampere city tournament will be played in two stages, the group stage and the playoffs. Every team is guaranteed at least five games (the group stage), after which the top two will continue directly to the playoffs. The best team in 3rd place (based on PPG) will gain a direct playoff spot, whereas the next two teams in 3rd place will battle it out for the final playoff spot in a BO1 game. This will leave us with eight teams in total in the playoffs. See the full groups over at the league page - here. In the playoffs, the eight teams will be seeded based on PPG for each round and play a BO1 to advance. The top 3 teams will gain a direct spot into the TOP 32-stage of the entire Wilhelm eHockey Tour, whereas all other teams gain ranking points for participation. Ranking points add up throughout the eHockey Tour and will grant access to the TOP 32-stage for the top five teams without a top 3 city tournament finish. So, you'll have two ways to gain access to the TOP 32-stage: Reach the top 3 in a city tournament Rack up ranking points throughout the eHockey Tour in several city tournaments In terms of how the ranking system works, basically, the higher you finish, the higher you score. 1st 200p 2nd 150p 3rd 125p 4th 100p 5th-8th 75p 9th --> 50p The highest ranking teams will also receive awesome product prizes from our great sponsors! Let the action begin and we'll follow along to see who will be the next teams to secure a spot at the TOP 32-stage.

SportsGamer hosted a PlayStation 5 giveaway as part of a community survey during the ECL '22 Winter season and the winner of the console was Juuso @juusto18 Karhila, who is an avid NHL gamer currently playing for Bastu in ECL '22 Spring Lite. The 2021 release of the PlayStation 5 still generated lots of buzz with the limited availability of the console, and it's undeniable that the new console offers a true generational leap in comparison to the PS4. Some of the new features including 4K/120hz gaming, the fast SSD and great haptics of the all new DualSense controller is what make this console worth the money and the hype. Now that our giveaway winner Juuso has had some time with his new console, we reached out to him for some comments about his experiences, and a short comparison to the predecessor. What do you like most about the PlayStation 5 in comparison to the previous model? "The best thing is definitely the speed compared to the PlayStation 4! For example all the menus are really smooth, and of course the graphics are excellent on the PS5 when compared to before." What are your thoughts on the new DualSense controller? "I think it's very good. It fits my hands better than the old Dualshock and feels a bit sturdier. Although I still think the issue persists that the thumbsticks tend to break quite easily." What games have you been playing and are there any new ones you are excited about? "My gaming is pretty much centered around NHL. Of course I've tested out your basic Warzone and FIFA, but NHL is definitely my go-to game." Naturally, we also had to get in a few ECL questions for the man: How has your ECL '22 Spring season went both individually and for the team? "Our ECL season has started off quite well with a 10-2-2 record. We've been a bit off from time to time and can definitely do better still. I'm not really satisfied with myself thus far and thin I've contributed to our game not really hitting its stride yet. Luckily we're only halfway through and still have time to improve as a team, our one and only goal is to secure a Pro spot at the end of the season." Who's your pick to take home the ECL '22 Spring Elite title? "I'm going to say Frölunda HC or hREDS. They're the two best teams out there and I think they'll make it to the finals again. Tuukka @FlyerKungen Kuha is undisputedly the best signing of the offseason so that's why I'll say Frölunda wins it out of these two, and I'd also love to get to see the Grand Final!" Thanks for the chat, Juuso and enjoy the rest of the season on your new PlayStation 5!

SportsGamer and the Finnish Football Association hosted the Finnish MA eCup in two divisions over the course of the spring, and the Cup came to a close last Thursday, when LehPa was crowned the champions of the open division, and FF Jaro won the U16 division. The best FIFA 22 players in Finland gathered on the premises of the Finnish Football Association last Thursday, on April 14th for the final event of the Finnish MA eCup 2022. The final event hosted the top two teams of the U16 division and the top 8 teams of the open division. There was certainly no lack of talent at the final event, featuring several players seen representing Finland at the national level before, such as Anton @Anzinho8 Korvenaho, Jesper @jjesu3 Hietarinne, Jesse @Kossu72 Kosamo and Erno @egoapina Parkkonen, who has led the national team in the FIFAe Nations Qualifiers over the past few months. Thursday evening kicked off with the open division finals group stage, which was played in two groups of four teams. Two teams from each group would emerge into the eventual semifinals and those teams were HauPa, FC Kiffen, LehPa and SalPa with the pressure of the favorites resting heavily on the shoulders of FC Kiffen duo egoapina & Kossu72 and SalPa duo Anzinho & jjesu3. Before the open division semifinals, however, we saw some of the best young talent in the nation clash for the U16 championship, where FF Jaro's Robin @Soccernerd1 Forslund and Colin @colin_gaddnas123 Gäddnäs eventually managed to overcome KoiPS' duo Jere "ZerBa" Tiainen and Tommi @BasilikaJr Mönkkönen. Some of this young talent will definitely be seen on the bigger pitches in the future, so make sure to keep your eyes peeled for them! In the open division, the semifinals were a shocker, as both favorites FC Kiffen and SalPa were knocked out with relative ease by the eventual finalists HauPa and LehPa. To our surprise, that meant that all of the players that had represented the Finnish national team this season were knocked out at this stage, and it was time for new talent to shine. On the HauPa side, we saw the very experienced Joona @Krompe Vaajala team up with Jeremias @jerkosz Kosamo, and they'd face the Hänninen brothers Markus @Masatial and Eelis "penaa_14" for the ultimate glory and spots with the national team in the near future. Eventually, the finals didn't end up being the thriller we all had on order due to the very skilled play of LehPa duo Masatial and pelaa_14. The Hänninen brothers employed a heavy defensive pressure throughout and were lethal on their scoring chances, ultimately not even giving their opposition a chance to come close. At the end, it seemed like their brotherly chemistry and the experience of Masatial was enough to secure them the victory, and their record for the final weekend ended up being six wins, a draw and a loss, which was enough to hoist the Finnish MA eCup 2022. "It feels really good. We really didn't have any expectations for the finals other than we'd play and see where that takes us, if it's a win, then good, if it's a loss we move on. We've got about 20 2v2 games under our belts and when we got on the train from Joensuu this morning our main objective was to move on from the group stage", the younger brother Eelis summarizes. "As I said to Eelis during the games, no matter the score, the mentality should always be 0-0. I'm very proud of my brother, we've played together in the same house and always had some banter about when we'll hoist the cup. Well, now we will!", older brother Matias praises. It'll remain to be seen when the brothers dress up for the national team for the first time, and if they'll be back to defend their title with LehPa next year. For now, stay tuned for more FIFA 22 content coming your way on SportsGamer in the future.

SportsGamers, We would like to remind every team that the transfer window for ECL '22 Winter Neo, Core, Lite and Pro expires today on Monday, April 18th at 23:59:59 CET.  Please remember to make sure your trades are in line with the rulebook before making them and check with support if you aren't sure. Remember, only one transfer per player is allowed per season - unless the player has played 0 games (overall, for any team) the entire season, which is covered in rule 14.1. If you're a player still looking for a team or a team still looking to add to your roster, please head to the Free Agents section or the Clubs Looking For Players section on our forum. Please post any last-minute transfers in the comments section below so everyone can enjoy them. 

The first week of ECL '22 Spring Elite included several interesting storylines, such as how the revamped Frölunda roster would play together, would hREDS still have enough hunger after two consecutive titles and how Falun Coal Miners would fare in their comeback after several years away from the ice. Already the opening night last Sunday featured two very tough matchups with teams that all had lots to prove in the early rounds. GOONS were predicted to have success already last season, but didn't quite get going despite their very talented roster. Perhaps now would be their time to realize all that potential? HAVU Gaming, on the other hand, have been in a spiral of steady decline over the past few tournaments and are looking to change that direction, but with the departure of long-time captain Tuukka @FlyerKungen Kuha, the task at hand does not look easy. Frölunda Hockey were also a team on many people's minds before the season due to their acquisition of the aforementioned FlyerKungen, but also due to them shuffling around their roster a bit, in the sense that Erik @Eki Tammenpää would take the center spot which we already saw him test out in the ECL '22 Winter Elite finals. Also, Joonas @Patzlaf Paatiala would be stepping down to the defenseman role alongside Aleksi @loimmu Loimuvirta. SAWO ESPORTS were one of the most sensational teams last season with their young and talented roster, and their emergence at #2 in the standings at the end of the regular season was a surprise to everyone, but the playoffs were a disappointment with a harsh first round exit. Could they bounce back and continue with the same determination? Obviously, one night of action will hardly give us any actions, but some indication that most of these teams could all be on a good path this season. So, let's leave these questions lingering for GOONS, HAVU Gaming, Frölunda HC and SAWO ESPORTS to answer as the season progresses. After their respective first weeks of action, Frölunda are topping the tables with six consecutive victories and FlyerKungen making a grand contribution to their success with ten points in total. GOONS have snuck into second place, but with already eight games played, including some worrisome losses against JYP Jyväskylä and Stargazing. SAWO ESPORTS are at 9th after facing tough opposition in the first week and HAVU Gaming are at 13th after a difficult week, and the overhauled roster is struggling to stick together for a full 60 minutes, leading to unfortunate losses at times.  Falun Coal Miners, the beloved hard workers have made a surprisingly successful return to the ECL ice after their long absence. Many predicted Falun to be able to challenge other teams simply due to the sheer experience on their roster, but questioned how ready they were for the season after completing the roster with short notice. Well, challenge they certainly have, and after losing out on points in their debut, they are now on a four game win streak, besting Conquer Gaming and IQUE along the way. The entire team has been hard at work, but Connor @MartindalexC Martindale seems to have been most effective with his pickaxe, now at nine points in total.  Elsewhere, we've seen newcomers Stargazing making their debut at the Elite level in somewhat successful fashion. A first week with matchups against HAVU Gaming and GOONS didn't warrant for too many wins for the rookies, but they ended up splitting points in both matchups. Despite them hardly having any Elite experience from before in their ranks, they look very comfortable with the pace and as expected, could be challenging for a playoff spot if their form keeps from slumping further on. Currently, the duo Miikka @xColeslaww (Koleslaav_) Kolehmainen and Miro @Flopper71 (Flopperii) Heikkinen are doing most of the production, with 8 and 7 points respectively. As far as individual effort goes, no one has been as effective as GOONS winger Arttu @laitineen64 (Laiitinen) Laitinen, who racked up 10+8=18 points in the first week for a #1 spot in the top scorers race. That is naturally helped out by having played already eight games, but GOONS are in fact the highest scoring team in the league at this point, together with hREDS at 2.75 goals per game. Frölunda HC's Paul @PleeMaker Arontie sits in second place with 7+5=12 points in his six games played, but has been the most eager to put pucks on net with 33 shots in total thus far. His shooting percentage tends to be just below 30% on average, so if he keeps this up you can expect a high scoring season yet again for the winger.  The most physical player by far has been GOONS captain Kristian @kriketski17 Veijola, and we are not surprised, having watched him mow people down for several seasons already. The aggressive style seems to come with some drawbacks, though, as his team is struggling to keep the puck out of their own net. Overall, the best defensive squad in the first week has been Frölunda HC and the transition of their captain to the defensive spot seems to work out for them. Patzlaf had an excellent week at his LD spot and is putting up points while shutting down the opposing offense, immediately claiming a place in the discussion among the best defensemen in the league. While on that topic, we naturally still have to mention Kristian-Mikael @Nassustelija Katajisto, who is taking the lead in the HAVU defense alongside Oskari @SibeIius Grönroos, whom we are used to seeing strapping on the goalie pads. While the duo by no means were completely out of their element, they were bleeding a bit too much in the first week, something we're hoping to see improvement on as we move further in the season. The early discussion of the best goalies in the league will revolve around familiar faces, mainly Casper @ICappeI Lundgren and Filip @Faze91- Azri, whom are both continuing their season with clean records and some shutouts each to their names. We'll have to wait a bit more to see if anyone can emerge to challenge these guys, maybe JYP Jyväskylä youngster Kasper @Kaz_zu Ramstedt or someone completely out of the blue? With that, were done recapping last week, and will be moving on toward the broadcast of the night, which you'll see starting at 17:45 CEST over at our Twitch-channel, see you there!

It's time to get things going with the inaugural Wilhelm eHockey Tour and we're starting off with the Helsinki city tournament! A total of 18 teams have signed up for the first city tournament, and they'll battle it out throughout the day. The teams have been divided into three groups and the Helsinki city tournament will be played in two stages, the group stage and the playoffs. Every team is guaranteed at least five games (the group stage), after which the top two will continue directly to the playoffs. The best team in 3rd place (based on PPG) will gain a direct playoff spot, whereas the next two teams in 3rd place will battle it out for the final playoff spot in a BO1 game. This will leave us with eight teams in total in the playoffs. Group 1 Group 2 Group 3 HC LAKO Eliel Kings Bare Knuckles Hockey Hc yllatys Huimat Hc Oota Helsingin Herrat Jokerit JAAMAYRAT Seinäjoki Noms Lemmenvelhot Madboys Technical Disaster Pass The Puck RAUTANE REMMI Vantaa Senators Pispalan Pantterit Tic Tac Toes The Wilhelm eHockey Tour - Helsinki groups can be seen above. See the standings. In the playoffs, the eight teams will be seeded based on PPG for each round and play a BO1 to advance. The top 3 teams will gain a direct spot into the TOP 32-stage of the entire Wilhelm eHockey Tour, whereas all other teams gain ranking points for participation. Ranking points add up throughout the eHockey Tour and will grant access to the TOP 32-stage for the top five teams without a top 3 city tournament finish. So, you'll have two ways to gain access to the TOP 32-stage: Reach the top 3 in a city tournament Rack up ranking points throughout the eHockey Tour in several city tournaments In terms of how the ranking system works, basically, the higher you finish, the higher you score. 1st 200p 2nd 150p 3rd 125p 4th 100p 5th-8th 75p 9th --> 50p The highest ranking teams will also receive awesome product prizes from our great sponsors! Let the action begin and we'll follow along to see who will be the first teams to secure a spot at the TOP 32-stage.

Let's not tiptoe around it, these art the teams that are here to challenge for the throne and with that, a golden ticket to the Grand Finals in mid-June. We've already gone over most of the division and you know who we'll be previewing here, but let's try to dig a bit below the surface, so join us for the journey! 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 Elite season: Regular season: 10.4-25.5. Playoffs: Quarterfinals: 30.5-2.6. Semifinals: 5.-8.6. Live Finals: 17.-18.6. Grand finals (if needed): 19.6. Default gamedays for the ECL '22: Spring Elite division will be on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday with feature broadcasts on every gameday at the SportsGamer Twitch at 17:45 CEST on Sundays and 19:45 CEST on Mondays and Wednesdays. Stay tuned for the season opening broadcast on 10.4. You can access the rulebook, schedule, standings, statistics and full rosters from the ECL ‘22: Spring Elite league page. The best of the best - Championship caliber The countdown is over and it's time for us to reveal the final order of our championship caliber teams. To no one's surprise, we're expecting both hREDS and Frölunda HC to top the tables and go the full length to determine who will come out on top in the ECL's new El Clásico. For all teams at the top but hREDS, the offseason was certainly one for the ages and it'll remain to be seen if that ended up strengthening these squads or not. On paper, all of them look stronger than ever and we are privileged to watch these teams clash for the title, starting on Sunday, April 10th at 17:45 CEST! 1. hREDS (Written by @ose16) ECL '22 Winter Elite season: Champions We're really at a lack of words at this point for how you could describe the domination of hREDS over the past two seasons as they became the first back-to-back Champions in the ECL Elite history. This season, the Reds will continue with the same lineup of course. Maybe the biggest question for these guys next season is, can they have that much needed hunger for the third title in a row because if that doesn’t exist, the likes of Frölunda HC are itching for a chance to pass them by. Captain Perttu @Beniittto Kemppainen has a massive role on that front together with his assistants, as they need to make sure to pull everything they can out of this well oiled machine. With the new format you have to remember that making it a three-peat this season, would simultaneously crown them the ECL '22 Grand Champions, but if not, they still have that golden ticket to fight for the title. Player to watch: Aaro @xDoumi Ruuhinen It's really hard to pull just one guy above the others from this lineup but if we had to, it'd be this guy. It's no coincidence that after @xDoumi came to hREDS they have started winning titles. Last season, he dominated all the stats and was crowned as the top defender in the league. Can he repeat that this season and control games with his team throughout the spring too? 2. Frölunda HC ECL '22 Winter Elite season: Runner-ups Frölunda HC made the transfer that couldn't be missed this offseason by acquiring long-time HAVU Gaming captain Tuukka @FlyerKungen Kuha to boost their offense and add even more of that winning mentality to their roster. How it's going to look for their lineup is that Joonas @Patzlaf Paatiala will take the LD spot, whereas Erik @Eki Tammenpää will move from the wing to center, a move that was previewed already in the ECL '22 Winter Elite finals. This means that if they didn't have enough experience from before, now they definitely do, as they could very well be the team with the most combined LAN and finals appearances under their belt. The thing that's plagued Frölunda for some time was their evident dislike of the game meta and the difficulty to find joy in improving themselves, something that should probably have seen a change with their big acquisition this spring. We're privileged to be able to watch first hand how this experiment will turn out, as arguably one of the greatest offensive trios ever gets separated and is being infused with a new, equally great player. There's a high likelihood of this season going down to the wire between Frölunda and hREDS once again, and if these guys can get as excited about the game as their competition, the race will be tighter than ever. Player to watch: Tuukka @FlyerKungen Kuha The former HAVU Gaming captain possesses second to none leadership qualities, a winning mentality and all the skill you could wish for, a perfect package. Without a doubt the most exciting transfer in recent memory and everyone will be watching to see how he will slot into the Frölunda lineup. 3. SAWO ESPORTS (Written by @ose16) ECL '22 Winter Elite season: Quarterfinals Last season, SAWO ESPORTS came in with a bang with the new lineup. Former Tunnel Vision's changes turned out to work wonders for them as the young team was 2nd in the regular season standings. The Playoffs were different story and with the disappointment, it could be good that spring came quickly for these guys, they must be eager to show that they can perform in the postseason too. This season, their offense stays the same and we will see if dynamic duo Jere @jxrska Laukka and Valtteri @Vattuyy Virtanen can continue on their productive paths. Center Aleksi @MozjaTG(Mozjayh) Kähkönen doesn’t maybe score that many goals but brings a great balance to this offensive trio with his abilities to make plays in the offensive zone but at the same time being a huge factor on defense. Down low, we'll see some changes as captain Tomi @tombo_02(tomboo-_-) Laitinen will get Teemu @Teemuyy Polttila by his side from Frölunda HC. They should have no problem with goaltending as cover gamer Niklas @uhNikke Nieminen will continue saving pucks between the goal posts. Player to watch: Teemu @Teemuyy Polttila It'll be interesting to see how big of a role the former Frölunda HC and hREDS defenseman will take this season. Despite the fact that he's played on two championship caliber teams, he is still looking for his first title. Still brings a lot of experience and winning culture to the squad. 4. Färjestad BK ECL '22 Winter Elite season: Semifinals There's been a number of players moving in and out of the Färjestad BK roster over the past few seasons, but captain Christoffer @I-Maise-I (I-Mallen-I) Berntsson, goalie Johan @McSavid Rundqvist, winger Andreas @affelj96 Ljungberg and their standings position have been somewhat consistent. This season, the team from Karlstad will be icing a fully Swedish lineup again, by bringing back Johan @Lehmannens Lehmann and having him take superstar Henrik @Eken45jr Eklund with him from the ashes of Granit Gaming. There's some history between several members of the team in having represented Vesa Pompa HC back in the day, where Affe, Lehmann and Eken actually won the very first SCL title at Birdie in Uppsala back in 2019. The new Färjestad is definitely more individually skilled than ever before and now has a tremendous amount of young talent in their ranks, but the biggest question is will the one puck be enough for them to share on the ice? Centerman Maise, defenseman Lehmannens and winger Eken all love quarterbacking plays and being in control, but can they find a suitable balance between the three of them? Player to watch: Johan @Lehmannens Lehmann His latest outing with Färjestad BK back in ECL 12 was a success story and truly brought him into the discussion of the very best defensemen in the league, in fact, he was crowned best defenseman and best offseason transfer to end the season, maybe we'll see a redo? To recap it all, here's our full ranking ahead of the ECL '22 Spring Elite season: 1. hREDS 2. Frölunda HC 3. SAWO ESPORTS 4. Färjestad BK 5. HAVU Gaming 6. IQUE 7. GOONS 8. JYP Jyväskylä 9. Roots Gaming 10. ZSC Esports 11. Stargazing 12. Falun Coal Miners 13. HV71 14. Örebro Hockey 15. Conquer Gaming 16. YMCA Esports 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.

After his dominant showing in the ECL '22 Winter Elite season, it is only right that the selection for the Spring season cover gamer would be Niklas @uhNikke Nieminen. In his first season as a bona fide Elite starter, he outclassed the competition and helped his team reach a #2 seed into the playoffs, which eventually ended up in a disappointment. after having started his competitive gaming career back in early 2018 with a team called Hokidogit, things have progressed quite fast for uhNikke. The 20 year old born and raised in Lohja, Finland took to the goaltender position due to necessity and has stayed on that path ever since. What really calls to him in playing the position is the fact that every game, you have a chance to either make or break it for your team. Things really took off in the fall of 2018, when the then very inexperienced netminder was picked up Delusion (now hREDS) to be their sole goaltender for their inaugural campaign in ECL 9 Pro - a season that ended in a Championship and promotion to the Elite division. Eventually, his tenure with hREDS ended up extending all the way until the fall of 2021 with one short sting with Tunnel Vision in between, but due to completing his military service, the goaltender didn't play too much and actually considered calling it quits at that point of his career. Now, six months and one ECL campaign with SAWO ESPORTS later, we are looking at a player at the top of his game, very eager to strap on the pads and to get the new season going. We reached out to Nikke for a short chat about the honor of being named ECL '22 Cover player alongside the prestigious group. List of previous ECL cover gamers: ECL 8: Erik @Eki Tammenpää ECL 9: Hannes @Hansulinho Kettunen ECL 10: Casper @ICappeI Lundgren ECL 11: Tuukka @FlyerKungen Kuha ECL 12: Niklas @NikkeDangles Tukiainen ECL '22 Winter: Johan @Lehmannens Lehmann & Hampus @l-Furyan-l Duvefelt First of all, congrats on the selection! You're entering great company, what does it mean for you to be the Spring season cover gamer? "Thanks! I'm very grateful to be in this position at this point of my career. I was close to calling it quits when I got our of the military but decided to give it one last shot with Tunnel Vision (now SAWO ESPORTS), and the result ended up being something great. Back in ECL 12 when my then teammate Niklas @NikkeDangles Tukiainen was the cover gamer I dared to dream of one day being at the top myself, and it's amazing how that's been manifested." You are now representing the entire league as a role model for other players, but also as the archetype of what the current top level gamer is, what do you think are some of the most important qualities a person in that position should possess? "Definitely a certain level of humility, but at the same time an immense hunger to succeed. With that I think you need to have a constant will to better yourself and take advice in order to do that. What separates a good player from a great player is often calmness, communication, and the ability to read the game." You've been a part of several different teams over the course of your career, barring your current one, what has been the most fun time of your career and why? "Probably the biggest step for my career has been when I joined Nordic Stars in 2019, which kind of put my name out there. Things progressed rather quick and when I joined Delusion for their first season in Pro, I was in for the biggest learning experience of my career. The atmosphere in that team is something else and it was evident from day one how much they really want to be the best out there." When you joined Delusion for ECL 9 Pro, you were filling the shoes of legendary @ICappeI as a rookie goaltender at the level, how did that feel? "Obviously I knew the stature of my predecessor, but I'm not the type to put too much pressure on myself and honestly didn't think about it too much. The boys put a lot of faith in me and I just did my thing." Who are some of the players you've looked up to over the course of your gaming career, not only because of their skills but perhaps their personalities? "Well, for my personal success a big thank you would go to Tuukka @Tuukka.R (KingOfApes_) Röpelinen, Perttu @Beniittto Kemppainen and the entire hREDS team, I looked up to them then and still respect them a lot for their desire to improve on a daily level. One player I've never played with but have followed closely throughout in Oskari @SibeIius Grönroos, who I hold in high regard and have tried to emulate my own game after. Last season I felt I was in the zone and haven't really followed others that much." Last but not least, a couple of thoughts on the upcoming season, who do you think will be contenders? Any interesting new outfits to look out for? "Firstly, I'm very excited for our own team. After the season we had in our last outing and with the addition of Teemu @Teemuyy Polttila from Frölunda HC I feel we're stronger than ever and are destined for success. The return of Falun Coal Miners is interesting and they've got a decent chance at the playoffs due to the history they've got together and their experience level. Some of the teams that are going to elevate their level should be YMCA Esports and Örebro Hockey. YMCA has one of the best goalies in the league (Ben @benu Rinnet) and a roster that's been together for a long time, whereas Örebro is getting an influx of talent through Väinö @Pikkardz Pikkarainen, who I can see helping them out a lot. Besides ourselves, the biggest contenders are hREDS and Frölunda HC." Sunday, 10th of April marks the start for our ECL '22 Spring Elite season and you'll see uhNikke take the ice with SAWO ESPORTS right away in their featured matchup against ECL '22 Winter runner-ups Frölunda HC. We expect to have a thriller on our hands, so make sure to join us at Twitch.tv/SportsGamerGG on Sunday at 17:45 CEST!

It's time to get underway with he second part of our ECL '22 Spring Elite Season Preview, consisting out of teams predicted to finish in the middle of the pack. Find out who we've put outside of the playoff picture, and who will grab the last available postseason spots. 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 Elite season: Regular season: 10.4-25.5. Playoffs: Quarterfinals: 30.5-2.6. Semifinals: 5.-8.6. Live Finals: 17.-18.6. Grand finals (if needed): 19.6. Default gamedays for the ECL '22: Spring Elite division will be on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday with feature broadcasts on every gameday at the SportsGamer Twitch at 17:45 CEST on Sundays and 19:45 CEST on Mondays and Wednesdays. Stay tuned for the season opening broadcast on 10.4. You can access the rulebook, schedule, standings, statistics and full rosters from the ECL ‘22: Spring Elite 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. Teams battling for playoff position - Throwing down the gauntlet It's time to introduce the middle of the pack, the positions where we expect the fiercest battles to go down, where all teams will be throwing down the collective gauntlet so to speak. As usual, we should see quite the fight go down all season long and into the very final rounds of the regular season. In the winter season, a rather unusually large gap was formed between the 9th and 8th spot, but with all teams seeing exponential growth over the offseason, we're expecting a tough grind to the finish line. Some of these squads are still young and possess the tools to go all they way if they end up clicking, but they have fallen short in previous seasons. This is the time to do all they can and see if all of their potential and hard work will come to fruition. 5. HAVU Gaming (Written by @ose16) ECL '22 Winter Elite season: Quarterfinals The long-time contenders have seen a steady decline over the past few seasons and with the transfer of former captain Tuukka @FlyerKungen Kuha to rival Frölunda HC, it appears that the glory days of HAVU Gaming would be over, at least for now. As a result, it's seemed that the team has rotated their lineup wildly over the course of the offseason, and they still might not have a final answer for which ensemble they're going to go with come opening night. Regardless of what they will choose, we are certain that the sheer routine level in their roster will be enough to earn them at least a playoff position. Player to watch: Ilmari @Buantso(Puantso) Lehkonen A massive comeback to ECL Elite and the familiar HAVU. After many championships in the black and green, played one season with JYP Jyväskylä in the Pro division. Like you could predict, he was on a completely different level among the Pro players and was the biggest factor for JYP winning the championship. Looking to help HAVU climb back toward the top. 6. IQUE (Written by @ose16) ECL '22 Winter Elite season: Quarterfinals IQUE was one of the most pleasant surprises last season, as they managed to gain fifth place finish for a rather favorable postseason push, but didn't quite find their game against the notoriously difficult opponent Färjestad BK. Like almost all the teams also IQUE had some movement happening in the offseason as Teemu @Teemuyy Polttila already came to IQUE from Frölunda HC but before the start of the season moved on to SAWO ESPORTS. Now it's expected that IQUE will continue with exact same lineup. Goalie Teemu @ITemeI Laukkanen had his breakout last season and if not earlier at least now has proven to be a solid Elite netminder. It's interesting to see could last season's biggest dark horse renew their playoff spot and maybe get to the next round. Player to watch: Aaro @Ikavalko Ikävalko After a couple of Pro and Lite seasons, he made the comeback to Elite last season and did so in successful fashion as he was the best goal scorer and point producer for his team. If IQUE was the surprise team last season, Ikavalko was the surprise individual. 7. GOONS ECL '22 Winter Elite season: Quarterfinals Whereas IQUE were a pleasant surprise last season, GOONS definitely disappointed and there's no tip-toeing around that fact. The team led by Kristian @kriketski17 Veijola has all the tools to be a true contender, but is yet to fully come out of their shell. They have the experience in goaltender Mika @FinKonna Paasikontu and defenseman Joel @jtorro-_- Tourunen, whereas forwards Arttu @laitineen64 Laitinen and Roope @pikkuroger Bergström represent some of the most highly touted prospects in the game. Now, if ever, is the time for this team to start improving and inching towards performing at their own level, there is lots of room to improve and if these guys manage to hit a home run, they're championship caliber. Player to watch: Arttu @laitineen64 Laitinen After surprising with IQUE back in ECL 12, the young center decided that a move to GOONS would benefit his career. While his individual numbers were slightly better due to the higher production of the team, his overall play didn't progress as much as expected. Now is the season he should make the step to the top player discussion. 8. JYP Jyväskylä ECL '22 Winter Pro season: Champions After one season away from ECL Elite action, JYP Jyväskylä is back at the top where they arguably belong. The team has had an intensive offseason with a hard grind, mainly in order to facilitate the arrival of new left winger Aaro @xAaro89x Aarvala, who has some big boots to fill as the replacement of Ilmari @Buantso Lehkonen, without any competitive experience above ECL Lite for that matter. The rest of the team more than makes up for that experience and the fact that the other forwards Antti @tbnantti Kuittinen and Santeri @indi969 Pendolin have played side by side since late 2018 will certainly make the adjustment process much easier. As no other major changes happened for the squad, we are expecting them to be a fringe playoff team that could end up taking off big time if they are able to utilize their full potential. Player to watch: Aaro @xAaro89x Aarvala It's highly unusual to see such a green player entering Elite competition. The potential of the young man is undeniable and it's not like we haven't seen similar tricks from JYP in the past, this signing has some striking similarity to that of Valtteri @Vattuyy Virtanen back before ECL 11. It's easy to predict a breakout season incoming. 9. Roots Gaming ECL '22 Winter Elite season: 9th Roots Gaming took the Elite division by storm last season, as they managed to pave their way into the division through additional Qualifiers and immediately made an impact, falling just short of the playoffs. Since then, the team hasn't made any changes and frankly, why should they? They have everything going for them with their young roster and the generous amounts of untapped potential. We'd be surprised if this team hasn't only gotten better with the time they've spent together and they should definitely be able to challenge for a spot in the playoffs. Look for the great puck movement and individual skill between forwards Linus @Limu95 Christiansson, Santeri @xleksa35 Levänen and Samuli @ssampee37 Mäntylä. Player to watch: Santeri @xleksa35 Levänen The captain is arguably his teams most important player. After being the most productive forward last season, now is a good time to build on that accolade and rise to the discussion of the top players in the division. 10. ZSC Esports ECL '22 Winter Elite season: 10th The Swiss lions hailing from Zürich have successfully claimed their place in Elite. A 10th place finish in the winter season can be seen as a moderate success for them and they are definitely starting to get more comfortable competing against the big boys, despite still being in an underdog position in most of their matchups. Zürich have made only one change in the offseason, bringing in former noRex Gaming forward Kevin @Keuschemisch Berg, who is going to man the left wing besides captain Sven @Original-SnuS Julmi and Alex @IDangledYouOut Wagner. This entails that offensively, the team looks to be their most balanced ensemble yet, with the wingers having scoring responsibility and center supporting as the complete player he is. On defense, these guys continue going with Max @Toneee9 Tonitz and Reto @Haldeem Haldemann, which has worked for them in the past and in net Reto @afc_Tschitsch (eTschitsch) Ulrich hopes to continue building on a great last season. Player to watch: Alex @IDangledYouOut Wagner The winger is notorious for being very aggressive off the puck and plays a hard hitting game. Possesses a lot of mechanical skill and would definitely be eager to improve on the personal level after not really getting the scoring going in the winter season. Now we've only got one more to go! On Friday evening, we'll return for the final part of our ECL '22 Spring Elite season preview and with that, finish off our prediction rankings. Who do you think will be the call for Champion?

ECL Neo is for new or teams who want to play on a relaxed schedule and it's time to get that action going, starting tomorrow, on Monday April 4th! Official gamedays for the ECL '22 Spring Neo division will be on Wednesday and Sunday, and the playoffs will be played in a best-of-five format. A total of 32 teams will make the playoffs. ECL '22 Spring: Neo Schedule 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: 12.6. (TBC) Here are your ECL '22 Spring Neo groups: 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. Good luck to all participating teams, have fun and play hard!

ECL Core is for those teams that are already familiar with the NHL game series and competitive play. It's time to get that action going, starting tomorrow, on Monday April 4th! Official gamedays for the ECL '22 Spring Core division will be on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday, and the playoffs will be played in a best-of-seven format. A total of 64 teams will be making the playoffs. The Core division also features the possibility to play for a share of the prize pool consisting out of optional License payments. The optional ECL Core License is 50€ per team. See the full license details here. ECL '22 Spring: Core Schedule Regular season: 4.4-28.4. Playoffs Round of 64: 1.-5.5. Round of 32: 8.-12.5. Round of 16: 15.-25.5. Quarterfinals: 30.5.-2.6. Semifinals: 5.-9.6. Finals: 13.-14.6. (TBC) See the full ECL '22 Spring Core details on the league page. Here are your ECL '22 Spring Core groups: 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. Good luck to all participating teams, have fun and play hard!

AHJO Esports becomes the newest organization to enter NHL Esports, as they sign the former Dynastia roster just in time for the ECL ‘22 Spring season. The team had a great showing in the winter season earlier this year and is hungry for success moving forward. Formed in 2021, AHJO is a rather young Finnish esports organization hailing from Helsinki, Finland. From before the organization holds a CS:GO roster, currently ranked at #276 by HLTV.org, and with their new signing, they are now looking to branch out and gain success on more fronts. “The mission of AHJO Esports is to through sustainable and long-term commitment create the possibility for our players to grow towards not only the domestic elite, but also the international elite. NHL Esports is booming right now and we felt that this would be the right moment to expand for us. Priority number one in our first season is to make the playoffs.” - Peetro Aittola, General Manager at AHJO Esports. The former Dynastia team itself is the brainchild of captain Eemil @Eeemill_ Törnvall, who started competitive NHL gaming back in early 2019 and decided to form his own team right from the get-go. The team started their current run in ECL 11’s Lite division, but there’s been a lot of roster turnover and in fact, the only remaining member since then is the captain himself. Despite the turnover, the team has seen incremental success and after a surprise Quarterfinals run in ECL ‘22 Winter and a close 4-3 series loss at the hands of eventual runner-ups Reality Check, they are now hungry for a real shot at promotion. “After the first Lite season the team actually disbanded for a bit. However, after finding out about the chance to qualify for Pro through the wildcard spot, we started the rebuilding process. It ended up being very challenging but we managed to pave our way to Pro and eventually to the playoffs. After that we have made changes to our team to match our playstyle and for the last two tournaments our core has stayed intact, which is starting to pay dividends.” - Team captain @Eeemill_ After their great ECL ‘22 Winter campaign, the team lost standout performer Väinö @Pikkardz Pikkarainen, but managed to replace him Arttu @TheArska Aarnio, who joins the squad after a long stint with Reality Check. While the two players were almost identical in terms of production last season, Arska played on the center position, which is where he will play in the new AHJO roster. Captain @Eeemill_ speaks very highly of their new signing: “We’ve only had few weeks to practice with Arska and he has been a great fit for our team. He’s a great two-way player with a strong net front presence. I think he'll help us turn tight games in our favor when it really matters with his ability to read the game and be in the right place at the right time.” @Eeemill_ is confident about the squads chances this season, and is very excited about continuing their journey representing new colors: “Our sights are strongly set towards gaining the spot in Elite. We have a strong group of players and after last seasons experience we have a better understanding what is really needed to take the big step. Our first focus will be reach the playoffs and the challenge the other top teams in Pro for the spot in Elite division.” You’ll see the new AHJO roster in action for the very first time already on Monday, April 4th, as the puck drops for the new ECL ‘22 Spring Pro season.

SportsGamers, Now is your chance to get in on the action and join us in the biggest NHL esports league in the world! The ECL is entering it's 14th season this April and you're all welcome along us on that journey. There's still one week left to sign up for our Neo and Core divisions, whether NHL esports is an entirely new thing for you or if you've already got some experience under your belt, we'll find a place for you. You'll have time to sign up until 1.4.2022 at 23:59 CEST. The ECL is the pinnacle of European NHL esports - a league where all the best European NHL gamers create teams and compete against each other in the game mode EASHL (6v6) for the title of Best EASHL Team in Europe. The league currently features five divisions, so action is guaranteed for everyone regardless of skill level and experience! Basic information/requirements of ECL: Regional restrictions: ECL is a European tournament format, however, we do not necessarily exclude North American or Russian players. A European server will always be used. In case of severe connection issues, we reserve the right to exclude teams or players. Russian-owned organization's participation is currently prohibited indefinitely. The ban affects organizations, meaning that Russian players and their private created teams will be able to participate, but cannot be affiliated to a Russian-owned organization. 6v6 tournament: ECL is played 6 vs. 6 only, using the EASHL Challenge Club game mode in NHL 22. Individual requirements: Each player needs to have an account at NHLGamer.com and create their personal player card. Roster requirements: Teams in ECL Pro, ECL Lite, ECL Core and ECL Neo need to have at least 8 players to sign up. The roster cap is 14 players. Rules: The ECL '22 Spring ruleset will follow the same foundation as in ECL '22 Winter season. The divisions framework for the ECL '22 Spring will follow the same logic as for the previous season. We will have a total of five divisions with the following team allocation: Elite 16 teams, Pro 32 teams, Lite 64 teams, Core 128 teams and Neo 32+ teams. Please use the below links for more detailed info about each division and which teams are eligible to sign up: ECL Neo Season Information ECL Core Season Information Don't have a team yet? Team looking for additions to your roster? If you are a free agent looking to be picked up, please head over here. If you are representing a team looking for players, please head over here. Did your team sign with an organization that is represented in the game and needs in-game unlocks? Fill in this form. (Only if your organization has unlockables available in NHL 22) Social media Here's an update to the social media instructions. Our sponsors this season are Kouvolan Lakritsi, Wilhelm & St Hockey. 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 super 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 #ECL22Winter 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. PS: We would love for you to follow our social channels, as they are an integral part of the ECL season. Discord Instagram Facebook Twitch Twitter

SportsGamers, It's been a long season but now also the last of our divisions have come to a close in the form of the ECL '22 Winter Core Finals, where #2 seed Točený Salámy took on #5 seed Almtuna eSport. A tough battle was expected between the two combatants and they certainly delivered. Despite the series being over by a sweep, three games out of four extended into overtime. When it was all said and done, Almtuna eSport hoisted the cup in the newest ECL division.   Almtuna eSport's s road to the championship: #5 seed from group 4 with the record 21-3-0 Round 1: vs Carolina Reapers 4-1 Round 2: vs SKYFALL 4-2 Round 3: vs Ebangalakata 4-0 Quarterfinals: vs Lausanne HC Esports 4-1 Semifinals: vs Sawolanche 4-1 Finals: vs Točený Salámy 0-4 The winning roster: GOALTENDERS #11 @Rickard Pettersson (lokope11) #30 @benjamint737 DEFENSEMEN #2 @Knickedikk (Snyggve-) #62 @PillenUpp (A) #74 @oh_man (bjoohm) FORWARDS #16 @jazze- #18 @BeastBenn14 (C) #87 @SmitteX (A) #91 @Svana_22 Once again, congratulations to the winners on behalf of the entire community!

NHLGamers, After an incredibly tough back-and-forth exchange in the finals between #1 seed FILADELPHIA ACADEMY and #6 seed Mora IK, we are able to crown the ECL '22 Winter Lite champion - Mora IK! Against all odds, the swedes managed to fight and claw their way tot he top, overcoming several opponents from an underdog status along the way. This must feel great for the boys, congratulations! Mora IK's s road to the championship: #6 seed from group 3 with the record 23-5-2 Round 1: vs Its a nice city 4-1 Round 2: vs Bastu 4-3 Quarterfinals: vs Linköping HC 1-4 Semifinals: vs Prima eSport 1-4 Finals: vs FILADELPHIA ACADEMY 3-4 The winning roster: GOALTENDERS #15 @Danskuz- #44 @Jeqque44 DEFENSEMEN #3 @ZNKK #12 @AMN3SYA #93 @Jonetzky FORWARDS #20 @andreaskakan (C) #88 @Bror1326 (A) #91 @Robban kaudern (Kaudomovic) (A) Once again, congratulations to the winners on behalf of the entire community!

NHLGamers, Today we saw a very tough best-of-five series concluding the ECL '22 Neo Winter season and with that a new Champion! After four games in total, HC JEUSSEN came away with the 3-1 win against Old Hogs. The team put forth a great effort all season long, with several players chipping in on multiple positions, including strapping on the pads and guarding the crease. Once again, a great success story and hopefully the beginning of a long journey for HC JEUSSEN.   HC JEUSSEN's s road to the championship: #9 seed from group 3 with the record 12-3-1 Round 1: vs Absolute 3-0 Round 2: vs The Black Pirates HC 0-3 Quarterfinals: vs Uudenmaan Oilers 0-3 Semifinals: vs Latvian Hockey Federation 0-3 Finals: vs Old Hogs 1-3 The winning roster: @Victorh (C) @Acciii (A) @Batti93 (A) @Tjockis Leif (sjolindd) @RAMBOS1234 @Scurre (maxmies) @KONOPLY- (ALEX_DIR007) Congratulations to the winners on behalf of the entire community!

NHLGamers, The ECL '22 Winter Elite season is now capped off and while the Finals were over almost as fast as they started, history was made this weekend. Frölunda did everything in their power to challenge the big, bad REDS but this time it just wasn't enough. By hoisting this cup, hREDS have etched their names in the history books by being the first back-to-back ECL Champions ever. hREDS wingers Vili @Vilupoika Häkkinen and Niklas @NikkeDangles Tukiainen were on fire in the finals and produced a majority of their teams offense, while centerman Perttu @Beniittto Kemppainen locked down the back-end in cohesion with defensemen Aaro @xDoumi Ruuhinen and Tuukka @Tuukka.R Röpelinen (KingOfApes_). Goaltender Filip @Faze91- Azri claimed his second title in only his fourth competitive ECL season - what an effort! We caught up with the captain @Beniittto in the midst of the celebrations: You're now going down in history as the first ever team to win back-to-back ECL Championships, what is it that makes you so great and how much do you appreciate doing it with these guys? First off, it feels great. We've got a good group of guys and all of us are capable players, which makes it all possible. Also, the chemistry both on and off the ice can't be overstated. Playoff series, no matter how tightly matched, have had a tendency to be over in rather quick fashion lately. What do you think is the reason behind that? Our game is simply put very complete, which makes us a tough team to beat in any given game. If we have one off-game, we're able to bounce back real quick, consistency is key. You took on a defensive role in the Finals, was that a conscious decision that your wingers will do the scoring and you shut down the opposition? Yeah we definitely talked a bit about that. We didn't want to give up any soft goals and decided to most importantly focus on shutting down their offense. Our wingers definitely got the job done with the scoring, which sealed the Championship for us. It looked like Frölunda HC caught you off guard a bit in game 4, was it difficult to regain your composure for the second gameday when being in such a dominant position? We didn't really change anything in our preparations and came into the games with a good mindset. We weren't able to set up any warmup games, which I think did us in for that one. How are you going to celebrate the Championship tonight? Naturally, a couple of drinks with the boys, and we'll see where the night will take us after that. hREDS' road to the championship: #1 seed with the record 22-5-3 Quarterfinals: vs GOONS (8) 4-0 Semifinals: vs Granit Gaming (7) 4-1 Finals: vs Frölunda HC (3) 4-1 The winning roster: GOALTENDERS #91 Filip @Faze91- Azri DEFENSEMEN #27 Aaro @xDoumi Ruuhinen #94 Tuukka @Tuukka.R Röpelinen (KingOfApes_) (A) FORWARDS #23 Niklas @NikkeDangles Tukiainen (A) #89 Vili @Vilupoika Häkkinen #96 Perttu @Beniittto Kemppainen (C) If you happened to miss the broadcast, you can rewatch the action from Saturday here. Thanks for tuning in and congrats to the champions!

NHLGamers, After a gruelling finals series, where we got to see a momentum change for the ages, we have a new ECL Pro Champion! JYP Jyväskylä got to hoist the cup and punch their ticket back to the Elite division after one season of absence from the European top 16. Reality Check ended up cooling down significantly after a dream start to the finals, and now will be facing Conquer Gaming in Qualifiers to determine their fate.   JYP Jyväskylä's s road to the championship: #1 seed from group 1 with the record 23-4-2 Round 1: vs GIFU Hockey (8) 4-0 Quarterfinals: vs noRex Gaming (13) 4-3 Semifinals: vs  RCTIC (9) 4-3 Finals: vs Reality Check (1) 4-2 The winning roster: GOALTENDERS #37 Kasper @Kaz_zu Ramstedt #73 Santeri @Sandr0hh Reijasalo DEFENSEMEN #11 Saku @Sakkem Saaranluoma #17 Niklas @Talonmies69 Tamminen #28 Väinö @vSilenttio Pietilä FORWARDS #6 Ilmari @Buantso Lehkonen #8 Antti @tbnantti Kuittinen (A) #9 Santeri @indi969 Pendolin (C)     Congratulations to the champions on behalf of the entire community, and a warm thank you to all participants!

SportsGamers, We're going to be in for a treat on Monday and Tuesday night with the ECL '22 Winter Pro Finals. Two very hungry teams have paved their way to this stage, and they're approaching the big games from very different angles. While JYP is eager to get back to the highest level of competition after a slip-up last season, Reality Check has only recently made a return to ECL action after an abrupt halt to their story after the ECL 10 Pro season. Both teams have a lot to prove and we can certainly expect some fireworks come Monday night! Who will grab the golden ticket, for a crack at the ECL Elite title in the Spring season? Reality Check (1) vs JYP Jyväskylä (2) TOP SCORER Harri @Pursuitti Haaksiala 19 GP, 15+20=35 vs Ilmari @Buantso Lehkonen 18 GP, 11+18=29 GOALTENDER Sebastian @FINSeRe Remes 19 GP, 12 W, 84,65 SV%, 1.63 GAA, 3 SO vs Kasper @Kaz_zu Ramstedt 18 GP, 12 W, 80,92 SV%, 1.61 GAA, 6 SO REGULAR SEASON RECORD 24-4-2 vs 23-5-2 Let's start off with JYP Jyväskylä, who have had an interesting run over the past 6 months or so. ECL 12 was a flat out disaster for the experienced squad, as it was evident that the joy from their game was gone and a soft performance led to them losing the divisional spot among the European top 16. After acquiring former HAVU Gaming X-Factor Ilmari @Buantso Lehkonen to bolster their offense, expectations were set high for the hurricanes, but the start of the season looked about as difficult as the end of their last one. In fact, despite eventually recovering from a terrible start, JYP have never really achieved the level of excellence that could be expected from them. Perhaps the finals is their chance to set the record straight? Reality Check had a time of absence after a sensational ECL 10 Pro campaign, that put them in the Elite Qualifiers to end that season. Now they've bested their old record and are one series win away from securing that fabled Elite spot. Now it's time for their current ensemble to prove themselves against a JYP that on paper at least, looks like a very tough opponent to beat. Whereas JYP have had some struggles along the way, the same doesn't apply to Reality Check, who have marched on towards their spot in the finals without too much of a hassle all season long. Only in the playoffs has the team needed to work a bit harder, and after two consecutive game seven series, it's easy to state that they should at least be mentally prepared for what's to come. Statistically speaking, both squads look very similar, with some minor variations to their respective styles of play. JYP has that traditional cycle game down to a tee and they've been utilizing it effectively, at least throughout the playoffs. Reality Check, on the other hand, like to use their defensemen quite much, even in the offensive zone. Both teams have a clear #1 breakout man, and we're speaking of Väinö @vSilenttio Pietilä for JYP and Jesse @jezbaru Ruuskanen for Reality Check. Especially the latter has been a bit of a puck hog for his team, having carried the bisquit for almost a third more than some of his teammates. One thing to note is that JYP is definitely the more well-rounded team, which should gain them the advantage in a long series. When it comes to the goaltending duel, we're in for an exciting one. The JYP netminder is one of the most interesting prospects out there, as Kasper @Kaz_zu Ramstedt is looking for his opportunity to break out and establish himself as a winning goaltender at a higher level. Facing him is season 1 veteran, and inaugural season champion Sebastian @FINSeRe Remes, who has definitely been around and seen it all when it comes to competitive gaming on the European ice. It's tough to give an edge in either direction, but you could speculate that whereas @Kaz_zu has the higher ceiling, @FINSeRe is a more reliable and steady backstopper. If the youngster is on top of his game, however, JYP can rest easy. We're thinking this one isn't going to be one of those 'blink and you'll miss it'-series. It'll be a tight battle and it's going to be a struggle to find high-quality scoring chances. Expect to see a lot of greasy goals and for the teams to resort to finding deflections if the middle doesn't open up. In the end, JYP Jyväskylä will regain their spot in Elite by winning a game seven. PS: We would love for you to follow our social channels, as they are an integral part of the ECL season. Discord Instagram Facebook Twitch Twitter