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The finish line is in sight! With only a third left to go of the season, now is the time for a final push. It is still mathematically possible for every team to either make or fall out of the playoffs, but naturally the likelihood of those events are up for debate.  FILADELPHIA continues strong as the sole team to stay undefeated in regular time this season. The black and orange suffered their only loss so far at the start of last week in a big matchup against hREDS in their ECL 11 Elite finals rematch. This season, the team is looking better than ever defensively, while maintaining a high offensive production - proven by their very low GA/GP at only 1.06, simultaneously averaging 4 goals a game into the opposing net. It seems like FILA is a lock for the #1 seed into the postseason with their toughest matchups already out of the way, HAVU Gaming and hREDS have the chance to challenge but a favorable outcome for them would require some lackluster effort on FILADELPHIA's part. Just behind the top 3, things are wide open and somewhat surprisingly recently promoted GOONS have managed to keep up their good performances. The newcomers lead by the likes of Kristian @kriketski17 Veijola and Mika @FinKonna Paasikontu currently sit in 4th place with a few games in hand on Farjestad BK, who also seem intent on clinching yet another playoff spot, their third consecutive in fact. The Swedes suffered two stinging losses at the hands of YMCA Esports early last week, but managed to come back convincingly by destroying KOVA Esports in a scoring explosion, netting current goal scoring leader Andreas @affelj96 Ljungberg a total of eight goals in those two games. The battle for those few playoff spots around the playoff line is also raging hard, and as usual it'll come down right to the finish line. Most prominently, we've got POGGERS, SAWO ESPORTS and YMCA Esports currently in playoff position, but Vesa Pompa, IQUE and Northern Ascendancy have all but given up. JYP Jyvaskyla are also looking to salvage their season after a terrible start despite being previewed as a surefire playoff squad. Players going under the radar that have been crucial for their teams are definitely Mikko @EABUNKA Kärkkäinen for SAWO and Jan-Mikael @Janski (Jansku23) Aittoniemi for POGGERS - these guys sit at 25 and 23 goals respectively, amounting to nearly 50% of their teams production. In the scoring race, hREDS experienced centerman Perttu @Beniittto Kemppainen is topping the tables, followed closely by recent GWC EU Champion Erik @Eki Tammenpää and it looks like the fight for that #1 spot is going to go right down to the wire between these two. After yet another strong week, Johan @Lehmannens Lehmann has further solidified his position as leading scorer among defensemen. The 26-year old right defenseman notched six points in four games and is just ahead of Joel @jtorro-_- Tourunen and Aleksi @loimmu Loimuvirta.  When it comes to goaltending, Casper @ICappeI Lundgren reigns supreme! The FILADELPHIA netminder is at 17 wins for the season, a GAA of 1.06, a second-to-none save percentage and two goals! What!?   Transfers It's a somewhat rare occasion to see some movement at the Elite level after the start of the season, but some transfers have come to knowledge in the past week or so, we'll also be recapping possible movement in these reports. Here are the transfers that have come to light since last week:  Vesa Pompa IN Edvin @Thunborg5 Thunborg (FILADELPHIA) Despite not getting to make a single appearance in black and orange on ECL ice, the netminder spent a significant chunk of time learning from the best in FILADELPHIA. Now he is returning home to dear Vesa Pompa, who have struggled this season. The Swedes have an already strong netminder in Erik @MrAllsvenskan Rotsenius from before, so it'll be exciting to see if the two are to share duties or if Vesa Pompa has something else in mind. Thunborg already made his debut quite surprisingly on the RD spot in absence of other options - netting his career first ECL Elite goal against hREDS in a 3-2 defeat. Power Rankings Provided by @MartindalexC   1.  hREDS (14-3-1) [+5.5 | +11.50] 2.  POGGERS (10-8-0) [+5.125 | +6.875] 3.   FILADELPHIA (17-0-1) [+4.75 | +20.75] 4.  HAVU Gaming (16-3-1) [+4.50 | +15.25] 5.  GOONS (12-7-1) [+2.75 | +2.125] 6.  Färjestad BK (11-5-2) [+2.125 | +8.375] 7.  Tunnel Vision (5-9-4) [+1.50 | -6.75] 8.  Northern Ascendancy (7-8-3) [+1.00 | -3.125] 9.  IQUE (7-7-4) [-0.75 | -1.65] 10.  YMCA Esports (9-7-2) [-1.50 | +0.875] 11.  JYP Jyvaskyla (8-11-1) [-1.75 | +0.875] 12.  SAWO Esports (10-8-0) [-2.00 | +7.25] 13.  Vesa Pompa (7-7-2) [-2.75 | -2.25] T14.  Rusty Blades (3-11-2) [-3.75 | -10.875] T14.  ZSC Esports (3-11-4) [-3.75 | -8.75] 16.  KOVA Esports (7-11-2) [-7.50 | -9.50]

NHLGamers, The Russian virtual hockey scene has grown tremendously over the past few years and with that, the eighth iteration of the RCL now hosted two divisions for teams of various skill levels. The influx of organizations and traditional hockey teams into the scene has also helped growing the game, which we're pleased to see. The eighth RCL season was incredible in itself, and ended in a third consecutive RCL title for METALLURG MAGNITOGORSK, who won their former championships under the NOVA-banner. Some impressive records were also set along the way to the championship by this skilled roster, and all of the eleven roster players made contributions towards their accomplishment. Especially throughout the playoffs, the MAGNITOGORSK seemed unstoppable from time to time - Goaltender Aleksey "zZzvezZzda" Zvezdin was one of the most crucial parts in the team as he kept his net clean for a streak of 306 minutes and 25 seconds, the longest streak in RCL Playoff history. Also as a result of stellar goaltending and excellent team defense, METALLURG allowed only one goal in four games throughout their final series against Barys eSports. Together with Barys, the two also set the record for the longest game in RCL history - a fifth overtime game extending to 157 minutes and 27 seconds, coming to an end only when left defenseman Alex @SPB_AlexZver_22 Zverev found the net to seal the deal and win his team the championship. The assistant captain also commented on his teams efforts as follows: "We worked hard to take the RCL PRO title for the third time in a row. This season, many wrote us off due to the fact that there were some rebuilding in the team, but we've proven before that it is definitely not the names on the back that decide, but team play is what wins the titles. We had a great final, conceding only one goal in the entire series, the whole team played a brilliant defense. Of course it was also nice to finish with a victory in 4 matches of the 5th overtime. I am proud of my guys, I hope this is not our last RCL title - we will work hard to come back and repeat this next season!" METALLURG MAGNITOGORSK - Road to the championship: Regular season record: 18-2-2 (1st) Quarterfinals: vs HC KOROBKA 4-0 Semifinals: vs Nearbird Fighters 4-3 Finals: vs Barys eSports 4-0 Championship roster:

NHLGamers, ...And then there were four! We are boiling down to the finish line in our Neo division and this week will feature some extremely exciting games with four of the best teams in the division going up against each other. We can surely expect high-scoring battles at times with all the skill on show in these clashes, but in the end, we'll have two squads coming out as winners and these will be going at it one last time in the Finals on 4th of July. The ECL 12 Neo Semifinals are to be played between Sunday, 20th of June and Wednesday, 23rd of June. Here's the full ECL 12 Neo playoff schedule: Here are your matchups for the ECL 12 Neo Semifinals: (1)  RODIS vs Klassikko  (9) Players to watch (Playoff stats): @Syrsy8 (13 GP, 17+37=54) vs @Ylijumala96 (15 GP, 26+34=60) (5)  Bellissimo vs HC SHH  (7) Players to watch (Playoff stats): @MrMikkiL (11 GP, 20+18=38) vs @Hugobolt (12 GP, 20+17=37) As usual - have fun - play hard!

NHLGamers, We are extremely excited that the ECL 12 Neo season is already entering the Quarterfinals, which means that we are inching closer to crowning a new champion! Now we're left at only the eight best teams, who are all eager to hoist the trophy on July 4th. Good luck on your journey! The ECL 12 Neo Quarterfinals are to be played between Sunday, 13th of June and Wednesday, 16th of June. Here's the full ECL 12 Neo playoff schedule: Find all the ECL 12 Neo Playoffs: Quarterfinals matchups here. As usual - have fun - play hard!

NHLGamers, After an exciting first round of playoffs in the ECL Core division, we are down to only 32 teams left! We are moving on with rapid pace and some teams have already started their series in round 2, so without further ado, let the games begin! Round 2 of the playoffs is to be played between Sunday, the 13th of June and Thursday, the 17th of June. Here's the full ECL 12 Core playoff schedule: Find all the ECL 12 Core Playoffs: Round 2 matchups here. As usual - have fun - play hard!

We're now midway through the ECL 12 Elite season, which means that some teams have by now been able to solidify their spot - be it for good or for bad - in the standings, whereas others might have fluctuated a bit more. One thing that is certain is that now, if ever, would be a great time to turn on the jets for the home stretch of the season. Surpassing the midway point of the season marks for an exciting time, as it is just about the last chances for any team to attempt turning things around for their season. We've got the usual suspects HAVU Gaming and FILADELPHIA up top. Although HAVU has four games in hand already, there should be no reason for them dropping too much below 3rd place at the furthest if they are able to keep things up. For FILADELPHIA, there's some clouds on the horizon with the potential absence of centerman Joonas @Patzlaf Paatiala for some games in the near future, but with solid backup goaltending by Edvin @Thunborg5 Thunborg and the offensive skillset of Casper @ICappeI Lundgren on the wing, the team should be able to remain competitive, should they schedule any games in Patzlafs absence. One of the most surprising outcomes around the league this past week was KOVA Esports clinching two victories against contender hREDS by winning 3-2 in regulation and 2-1 in OT, thus leaving hREDS with only one point from a matchup they should have had in the bag. It was in fact an all around very solid week for KOVA, led by clutch efforts and big goals mainly from right winger Jere @Jerax13 Hällström and a string of excellent performances by goaltender Axel @MonkeyHeadAF Falck. While the middle of the pack is very even and we have around eleven teams in total still fighting for remaining playoff spots, it is looking grim for a few clubs. Newcomers ZSC Esports and Tunnel Vision have fallen into bad runs and haven't been able to convert tight games into points for at a favorable rate. With that, the Swiss are currently sitting at 14th, while the Finnish outfit is dead last, tied in points with Rusty Blades, but at a disadvantage due to tiebreakers. The biggest issue for the teams at the bottom has been an inability to defend as a team at a high enough level combined with some immense struggle scoring. Especially Tunnel Vision is in a pickle, converting at a rate of only 1,29 goals for per game. When it comes to the individual scoring side of things, hREDS have stepped things up despite their stinging losses against KOVA this past week. Perttu @Beniittto Kemppainen and Niklas @NikkeDangles Tukiainen have secured a double lead for the big, bad reds just ahead of FILADELPHIA's Erik @Eki Tammenpää and Paul @PleeMaker Arontie. As for netting goals, the Swedish sniper Andreas @affelj96 Ljungberg continues to impress with 23 notches to his name so far and is en route to a career high, should he keep up the pace. FBK only played two games last week, but the left winger managed to cash in on five goals against Tunnel Vision. Seems to be a weekly theme to highlight Johan @Lehmannens Lehmann in these reports too, but the fact is that despite playing only two games this past week, the FBK defenseman is still topping the points department for defensemen throughout the league. However, Joel @jtorro-_- Tourunen from HAVU Gaming is creeping up on him by collecting FIVE goals and seven points in four games throughout the week. With that performance in the books, jtorro now also leads the goal scoring table for defensemen. As far as goaltending goes, @ICappeI is still performing at the very highest level together with several of his Swedish colleagues, Filip @Faze91- Azri and Johan @McSavid Rundqvist in 2nd and 3rd place respectively. The very experienced Mika @FinKonna Paasikontu for success story GOONS breaks up the Swedish dominance with his 9 wins, putting him at 4th place. Erik @MrAllsvenskan Rotsenius and Ben @benu Rinnet stand out from the pack with exceptionally high saving percentages due to a higher amount of shots faced compared to their peers.   Power Rankings Provided by @MartindalexC   1.   FILADELPHIA (12-0-0) [+3.75 | +16.00] 2.  SAWO Esports (9-7-0) [+3.50 | +9.25] 3.  JYP Jyvaskyla (7-8-1) [+3.00 | +2.625] 4.  KOVA Esports (7-7-2) [+2.50 | -2.00] T5.  Färjestad BK (9-4-1) [+2.25 | +6.25] T5.  IQUE (4-5-3) [+2.25 | -0.90] 7.  HAVU Gaming (12-3-1) [+2.00 | +10.75] 8.  YMCA Esports (7-6-1) [+1.625 | +2.375] 9.  hREDS (9-2-1) [+1.25 | +6.00] T10.  GOONS (9-4-1) [+0.25 | -0.625] T10.  ZSC Esports (3-8-3) [+0.25 | -5.00] 12.  POGGERS (7-7-0) [ 0.00 | +1.75] 13.  Vesa Pompa (7-3-2) [-0.75 | +0.50] 14.  Northern Ascendancy (5-7-2) [-1.00 | -4.125] 15.  Tunnel Vision (2-9-3) [-2.50 | -8.25] 16.  Rusty Blades (3-10-1) [-4.125 | -7.125]

The second week of ECL Elite is usually when we start seeing the trends of the season as teams get more games under their belt and start showing their current form. The season is surprisingly short and we're soon at the halfway point and some teams are desperate to pick things up, will they do so moving forward? Trends have surely developed, and on the positive side of those, we've got HAVU Gaming, FILADELPHIA and hREDS as expected. This power trio has managed to stay on top of things through the first two weeks of action and are now all boasting a point average of 1.75 or more, which will surely put them in the top three at the end of the season should they be able to keep up their great work. On the other hand, we've also got teams like SAWO ESPORTS and POGGERS at somewhat surprisingly high positions in the standings - although with games in hand on competition. Both SAWO and POGGERS are currently sporting point averages of 1.00, which historically won't put you in the playoffs in Elite competition, but these squads still have room for improvement and could find a way to sneak their way into the top eight if they are able to steal points in big matchups. At the bottom end of the standings, it looks tough for recently promoted squads ZSC Esports, Tunnel Vision and IQUE, whereas Elite mainstays KOVA Esports and Rusty Blades are struggling even more. What seems to be a common factor for all these teams is having trouble scoring, as all of them are currently below 1.6 GF/GP, which is rarely enough at the highest level. An interesting notion is that Rusty Blades are defending very well and are 6th in the league in terms of goals allowed per game, but struggle mightily with scoring at only one notch per game, which has put them at the bottom of the pack. So far, FILADELPHIA is the only team on a perfect run, as they have right out dominated the league with fairly routine wins through their first ten matches. They will be going up against HAVU Gaming on Wednesday and hREDS on Thursday, two clashes that will set the tone for the rest of their season. FILADELPHIA and hREDS have been the highest scoring teams in the league so far and naturally it is not surprising to see both Erik @Eki Tammenpää and Paul @PleeMaker Arontie continue at the top of the scoring table, followed by Perttu @Beniittto Kemppainen. In terms of goals, though we are pleased to see Andreas @affelj96 Ljungberg continue his good form for FBK, but more surprisingly POGGERS' right winger Jan-Mikael @Janski (Jansku23) Aittoniemi has went off and is at 17 goals in 14 games this season so far - that's just below half of all of the goals for that POGGERS have scored. Last week we highlighted FBK defenseman Johan @Lehmannens Lehmann with 10 points in 6 games and somewhat questioned his ability to keep up pace, but the man has proved us wrong as he now sits at 21 points in 12 games and is truly playing a career season. Tero @Terodee Dahlström has also been great production-wise for POGGERS and Aleksi @loimmu Loimuvirta has stepped up his overall play and reached entirely new highs beside Teemu @Xteemuz (Teemuyy) Polttila for FILADELPHIA. In terms of goaltending, we still have Swedish dominance! Casper @ICappeI Lundgren is still on top with a perfect record, followed by Filip @Faze91- Azri, Johan @McSavid Rundqvist and Elie @eliekamel87 Kamel. Outside the top five, we've got the experienced Hannes @Hansulinho Kettunen and Oskari @SibeIius Grönroos, who are sharing responsibilities for HAVU Gaming. Hansu is sporting an impressive 89.36 SV%, leading the league in that department. Transfers It's a somewhat rare occasion to see some movement at the Elite level after the start of the season, but some transfers have come to knowledge in the past week or so, we'll also be recapping possible movement in these reports. Here are the transfers that have come to light since last week: Rusty Blades IN Mikko @DieCutterMC Paloviita (Free agent) The experienced defenseman of former Nordic Blizzard and Dynasty fame is now back at the highest level after spending ECL 10 with RPEAT Esports in Pro and ECL 11 with Oton Letkutemppu in Lite. He has made an immediate impact for the better in the Rusty Blades team and slots in very well on that LD spot next to team captain Juhani @Tanski87 Tanskanen. Rusty Blades are despite their new signing struggling mightily with scoring and unfortunately DieCutterMC is unlikely to help them too much on that front. ZSC Esports IN Mikkel @Birkedal96 Birkedal (Djurgarden Hockey) The Swiss Elite rookies have struggled making their entrance into the highest tier of competition, ableit they get the benefit of the doubt due to a somewhat challenging schedule in their first week. Now, the team has decided to recruit an offensive force, when former Djurgarden Hockey right winger @Birkedal96 joins the ranks of the Lions. He is hardly a player that creates offence on his own, but is a very intelligent team player that can slot into a system like the ZSC are playing very well. Known as a proficient scorer, Birkedal should help the rookies find the back of the net at a higher percentage if he is able to translate his skill to the higher level. Power Rankings Provided by @MartindalexC This season, the logic behind the power rankings have been overhauled in order to make them based on something tangible that can actually be quantified - as opposed to just, "well these guys are doing kinda bad, right?". In short, a number (or points rather) is generated for each matchup a team plays that they should attain, going above this number (by collecting more points) means that they are above average, whereas going below (failing to collect points) means that they are below average. Said positive / negative number will be reset each week and the rankings will be based solely off of that, this decision was made so that each week's rankings are truly separate, and teams are not afforded a higher position simply based on previous weeks (i.e. the rank decay is incredibly high). With that said however, each team will also have their 'season-wide' rating visible so everyone can see how precarious, or safe, each team is based on their current form. Furthermore, this week I have a (hopefully) final addition to the 'background' data for these rankings and as such will attach the updated week 1 rankings below* - there should not be any further changes beyond this point though! As well as this, since we are now moving into Week 2, two numbers will be assigned to each team in brackets. The first number represents their performance in the past week, whilst the second number represents how the team is doing over the entire season thus far. In any case, here are the ECL Elite Week 2 Power Rankings: 1. FILADELPHIA (10-0-0) [+6.00 | +12.25] T2. HAVU Gaming (10-1-1) [+5.75 | +8.75] T2. SAWO Esports (6-6-0) [+5.75 | +5.75] 4. GOONS (6-3-1) [+3.125 | -0.875] 5. hREDS (7-1-0) [+2.25 | +4.75] 6. Northern Ascendancy (4-5-1) [+1.75 | -3.125] 7. POGGERS (7-7-0) [+0.25 | +1.75] 8. Vesa Pompa (5-2-1) [-0.25 | +1.25] 9. JYP Jyvaskyla (4-6-0) [-0.375 | -0.375] 10. Färjestad BK (7-4-1) [-0.50 | +4.00] T11. Rusty Blades (2-5-1) [-0.75 | -3.00] T11. YMCA Esports (5-4-1) [-0.75 | +0.75] 13. ZSC Esports (3-6-1) [-1.25 | -5.25] 14. Tunnel Vision (2-5-3) [-1.75 | -5.75] 15. KOVA Esports (2-6-2) [-4.00 | -4.50] 16. IQUE (2-5-3) [-5.25 | -3.15] *Updated ECL Elite Week 1 Power Rankings: 1. FILADELPHIA (6-0-0) [+6.25] 2. Färjestad BK (5-1-0) [+4.5] 3. HAVU Gaming (4-1-1) [+3] 4. hREDS (4-0-0) [+2.5] 5. IQUE (1-2-1) [+2.125] T6. YMCA Esports (4-2-0) [+1.5] T6. Vesa Pompa (4-1-1) [+1.5] T6. POGGERS (5-3-0) [+1.5] T9. JYP Jyvaskyla (2-2-0) [0] T9. SAWO Esports (1-3-0) [0] 11. KOVA Esports (2-2-0) [-0.5] 12. Rusty Blades (0-4-0) [-2.25] 13. Tunnel Vision (0-4-0) [-2.5] T14. GOONS (3-2-1) [-4] T14. ZSC Esports (0-5-1) [-4] 16. Northern Ascendancy (1-4-1) [-4.875]

NHLGamers, ECL Core is the largest of our divisions and with that also hosts the largest playoffs, which are starting today! 64 teams have qualified and will from, this point on be fighting to advance against increasingly tough opposition in best of seven series, until we will be able to crown our first ever ECL Core champions in mid-July. Core is a division stacked full of talent and any team could rise to the occasion on any given day, we wish all participants good luck moving forward! Round 1 of the playoffs is to be played between today, the 6th of June and Thursday, 10th of June. Here's the full ECL 12 Core playoff schedule: Find all the ECL 12 Core Playoffs: Round 1 matchups here. As usual - have fun - play hard!

NHLGamers, We're entering the second round of playoffs in our ECL Neo division already! The heat of the summer is here and so is the heat of the truly meaningful games of the season. We've dwindled down to only 16 teams remaining at this point. Who will be the ones to push trough and get yet another step closer to etching their name on that trophy? The teams surely are excited, and so are we! Round 2 of the playoffs is to be played between today, the 6th of June and Wednesday, 9th of June. Here's the full ECL 12 Neo playoff schedule: Find all the ECL 12 Neo Playoffs: Round 2 matchups here. As usual - have fun - play hard!

It's been an exciting start to the season, which surely sets expectations high moving forward. We're excited for what's to come and brought friends Wilhelm, Kouvolan Lakritsi and Viaplay along for the ride! The first week of Elite action featured three full broadcast nights, out of which Thursday was hosted in Finnish by Oskari Koski, Julius Sorjonen and special guest Tuukka @FlyerKungen Kuha, who chimed in for color commentary in the first game between Tunnel Vision and YMCA Esports. As we're used to, the golden voices of Cody @Tougie24 Tougas and Paul @Cyn Anderson carried us through both the Monday and Wednesday broadcasts, with lots of more action to expect. We saw the first goal of the ECL 12 Elite season early on in the matchup between KOVA Esports and Rusty Blades in our broadcast on Monday evening, when Valtteri @Vire30 Vireaho not only opened the scoring for the season, but also opened scoring for his ECL Elite career - congrats! The Elite rookie does since then lead scoring for his team, that has struggled mightily with getting the puck to the back of the net, only racking up four goals in as many games played. Another team that somewhat surprisingly struggled with scoring has been HAVU Gaming, who only netted nine goals through their first five games played, but managed to salvage things on the statistical side by crushing ZSC Esports by 7-1 in their sixth game of the season. Consequently, the consistent contenders have dropped some points early on in matchups against YMCA Esports and Vesa Pompa, out of which their bouts against the Swedes extended into overtime on both occasions. A big talking point ahead of the season was definitely how Teemu @Xteemuz (Teemuyy) Polttila would fit in with his new team in FILADELPHIA and how the squad would rally around him in the adjustment period. Well, as you'd have it, FILADELPHIA has had a rather favorable schedule to start their season which arguably could have helped the adjustment, but Teemuyy has looked great in orange and black as of late. With five points in six games, he seems to be on par for similar production pace as in his previous ECL Elite campaigns, but most importantly he has played a big role in helping his teammates reach even higher highs - Erik @Eki Tammenpää, Paul @PleeMaker Arontie and Joonas @Patzlaf Paatiala currently hold a triple lead in the scoring department. A defenseman who has produced exceptionally well, on the other hand, is Farjestad BK defenseman Johan @Lehmannens Lehmann. In his first season with the squad from Karlstad, the right defenseman has racked up 3+10=13 points thru his first six games, and is rightfully topping the scoring table for defensemen in the league. Keeping up a pace of above two points per game in the best league in the world is unlikely, but his feat this far surely is admirable, it'll remain to be seen for how long he can keep this going. Finally, when it comes to netminding in the ECL 12 Elite, our Swedish brick walls seem to have things on lock this season with a five man lead and who else than Casper @ICappeI Lundgren topping the tables. Honorable mentions in this department go out to Elite rookies Erik @MrAllsvenskan Rotsenius and Ben @benu Rinnet, who have taken the league by storm and solidified themselves as formidable contenders in the rookie of the season-race early on. Transfers It's a somewhat rare occasion to see some movement at the Elite level after the start of the season, but some transfers have come to knowledge in the past week or so, we'll also be recapping possible movement in these reports. Here are the transfers that have come to light since the ECL 12 Elite season preview: JYP Jyvaskyla IN Joonas @swagx88 Kuossari (Free agent) The former Roots goaltender joins the ranks of JYP Jyvaskyla, after leaving the black and green on the brink of the season start. As a very experienced netminder at the Elite level, swagx88 is expected to form a very capable duo together with Santeri @Sandr0hh Reijasalo. Known for his aggressive style in net, he could very well be utilized especially against opponents who could have had trouble overcoming his style in the past. While swagx88 is very skilled on the ice, he is also an important player in the chat and as a vocal player he will surely help out his teammates in any way possible. OUT Teemu @ITemeI Laukkanen ITemeI leaves the team as is only natural, after being pushed down in the depth ranks due to the acquisition of swagx88. His new team is currently unknown, but he will surely be a great addition at least to any team in the Pro division on the lookout for a capable netminder with experience against top players. Power Rankings Provided by @MartindalexC This season, the logic behind the power rankings have been overhauled in order to make them based on something tangible that can actually be quantified - as opposed to just, "well these guys are doing kinda bad, right?". In short, a number (or points rather) is generated for each matchup a team plays that they should attain, going above this number (by collecting more points) means that they are above average, whereas going below (failing to collect points) means that they are below average. Said positive / negative number will be reset each week and the rankings will be based solely off of that, this decision was made so that each week's rankings are truly separate, and teams are not afforded a higher position simply based on previous weeks (i.e. the rank decay is incredibly high). With that said however, each team will also have their 'season-wide' rating visible so everyone can see how precarious, or safe, each team is based on their current form. There are some downsides, for instance the current 'model' is not fully fleshed out and this has led to some anomalous data entries that are kind of messing with the predicted points, so it may be that some teams are a little iffy in where they have been placed. However, for next week I will try to expand the data points that it's drawing from and that should hopefully even out any problematic entries. Either way, here are the ECL Elite Week 1 Power Rankings: 1. FILADELPHIA (6-0-0) [+4.5] 2. hREDS (4-0-0) [+4] 3. YMCA Esports (4-2-0) [+3] T4. Färjestad BK (5-1-0) [+2] T4. IQUE (1-2-1) [+2] T4. Vesa Pompa (4-1-1) [+2] 7. JYP Jyvaskyla (2-2-0) [+1.5] 8. HAVU Gaming (4-1-1) [+1] 9. POGGERS (5-3-0) [0] 10. SAWO Esports (1-3-0) [-0.5] T11. Rusty Blades (0-4-0) [-1] T11. KOVA Esports (2-2-0) [-1] 13. Tunnel Vision (0-4-0) [-2.5] T14. GOONS (3-2-1) [-4] T14. ZSC Esports (0-5-1) [-4] 16. Northern Ascendancy (1-4-1) [-5]

NHLGamers, The first of our divisions is entering the Playoff stage in the 12th iteration of the European Championship League. That means that a total of 32 well-equipped squads will fight for their right to move on to the next round and eventually be crowned the ECL 12 Neo champion, entering great company together with Olympia (ECL 9), Jarnkaminerna (ECL 10) and Pinaattikone (ECL 11). The playoffs are ready to start tomorrow, Sunday, May 30th. We wish all teams good luck moving forward! Here's the full ECL 12 Neo playoff schedule: Find all the ECL 12 Neo Playoffs: Round 1 matchups here. As usual - have fun - play hard!

It is yet again time to crown the best of the best - ECL 12 Elite is here! Last season was the triumph of FILADELPHIA, but now winds of change are blowing and we can hear the whispers about a new champion on the rise. Who will it be? We've been waiting for long - but the biggest and baddest are finally here! It's ECL 12 Elite time. So gather round and tell your friends, because this is going to be a season unlike any other. The season will kick off on Monday, 24th of May with a Pre-season show hosted by Cody @Tougie24 Tougas and Paul @Cyn Anderson before the puck drop at 20:00 CEST for a wild battle between KOVA Esports and Rusty Blades after which hREDS and IQUE will clash in the second game of the night. We will confirm the start time of the Pre-season show tomorrow morning. The partners for this season are Kouvolan Lakritsi, Viaplay & Wilhelm. ECL 12 Elite will feature a prize pool of 15 000€. Due to the pandemic situation, the ECL 12 season is planned to be played entirely online. The playoffs will be played between the 5th of July and the 31st of July on set game dates. More details about the playoffs will be shared as the season progresses towards that point. The division of the ECL 12 Elite prize pool will be as follows: #1. ECL 12 Elite Champion: 10 000 € #2. ECL 12 Elite Runner-Up: 3 000 € #3.-4. ECL 12 Elite Semifinal losers: 1 000 € *Prizes are subject to tax as per Finnish law and the tax is withheld before payment. Prizes will be paid out within 90 days of the ECL 12 Finals. Notable dates for the ECL 12 Elite season: Regular season: 24.5-1.7 Transfer deadline: 13.6. 23:59 CEST Quarterfinals: 5.7, 7.7, 8.7 (BO7) Semifinals: 12.7, 14.7, 15.7 (BO7) Finals: 30.7, 31.7 (BO7) Default gamedays for the ECL 12 Elite division will be on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, with broadcasts on the NHLGamer Twitch at 19:45 CEST each of those days. Access the rulebook, schedule, standings and statistics from the ECL 12 Elite league page. The ECL 12 Elite broadcast team consists of your beloved duo Cody @Tougie24 Tougas & Paul @Cyn Anderson as the main casters joined by Arttu @OLVARI Hämäläinen, Oskari Koski and Julius Sorjonen with appearances on Thursdays for Finnish broadcasts. Nick @f5penguin DiMeo and Drew Goldfarb are also on call for playoff time. 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: @NHLGamerCOM #ECL12 #NHL21 #esports #kouvolanlakritsi #MukanaWilhelm #viaplayECL Instagram: When posting on Instagram, please make sure to tag the following accounts and hashtag: @NHLGamerOfficial #ECL12 #NHL21 #esports #kouvolanlakritsi #MukanaWilhelm #viaplayECL Meet the ECL 12 Cover Gamer ECL 8 started our tradition of Cover Gamers and so far we've had the pleasure of highlighting true superstars of the game that are great personalities both on and off the ice. We surely have no intention to stop, and for ECL 12, we've picked yet another special player to join the ranks of Erik @Eki Tammenpää, Hannes @Hansulinho Kettunen, Casper @ICappeI Lundgren and Tuukka @FlyerKungen Kuha as the fifth ECL Cover Gamer in history - with that, we introduce Niklas @NikkeDangles Tukiainen. NikkeDangles started his competitive career back in 2018 and took his first strides on ECL ice in ECL 7 Lite with The Next Gen, where at that time 14-year old Nikke immediately made an impact totalling 110 points in his first season that ended in a finals loss at the hands of The Black Jacks - now known as ZSC Esports. Since then, the youngster has taken massive steps forward with his game and is now one of the most dominant offensive forces around. The hREDS right winger is a creative mind, who can generate dangerous chances out of seemingly nothing and make the players around him better. "I've watched hockey since I was a little kid and playing NHL was a natural extension of that. It is a great honor to be featured as the ECL 12 Cover Gamer in great company with the players that have had the title before me. I feel like the competitive scene has taken massive strides forward in recent years and take pride in that and developing it even further." When given the opportunity to send a greeting to all 15 other Elite teams, the youngster responds tongue-in-cheek: "GLHF." It's been an exceptional preseason in more ways than one and an interesting factor has been the multitude of preseason tournaments that have been organized by NHLGamer, but also by various teams and players in our community. The longer lead-up to the regular season has offered the chance for teams to really hone their play but as always, there have been some surprises and some squads have experienced last minute changes that might quite drastically turn the tables. Most interestingly though - there's been a lot of movement on the transfer market, and in negotiating those moves toes have been stepped on, drama has ensued, been resolved and started back up in the endless cycle that is related with the scene. without a doubt the biggest transfer of the offseason was Joel @jtorro-_- Tourunen suddenly switching sides from reigning champion FILADELPHIA to their fiercest rival HAVU Gaming. They have an ongoing rivalry that has been brewing in good spirit over the years, but the sudden transfer and underlying reasons behind it could add some spice to that matchup moving forward. The sudden departure of one of the strongest ofensive defensemen in the game left the reigning champion clinching for whatever they could find in the search for a replacement so close to the season. Erik @Eki Tammenpää has admitted that training has been limited in the offseason, but perhaps the departure of jtorro was the nudge they needed to get going. It looked for a while like FILADELPHIA would be placing old trusted allrounder Mika @mikaasi Heikkilä at that open LD spot, but an announcement last night suggests Teemu @Xteemuz (Teemuyy) Polttila will be taking on the challenge after being allowed a transfer from JYP Esports. The expected top of the pack isn't the only place where wild movement has taken place prior to the season - freshly promote Tunnel Vision has had their fair share of turbulence over the offseason, but they look to have turned out fine in the end, whilst leaving a trail of bloodshed in their wake. Since last season, they have lost top scorer Jere @BensaPoju (Jerskayy) Laukka due to suspension and looked to replace him with Juho @RutonMosse (Juigelson) Kinnunen, who suddenly left for SAWO ESPORTS. In the aftermath of that announcement, Tunnel Vision scrambled to find a new player and acquired Kim @Kim_20_00_ Suokas from Supernatural only to drop him a week later due to the sudden availability of Jim @SadaPoika Leskinen from Roots. Both Supernatural and Roots were since sent into a downwards spiral, perhaps due to the player poaches made from them, perhaps not - you be the judge of that. We can also not glance over the fact that this season will feature an array of four freshly promoted teams in the Elite division, as ECL 11 Pro champion IQUE gained direct promotion and GOONS, Tunnel Vision and ZSC Esports managed to win their respective relegation battles against Elite squads on their way down. All of the drama that took place between established teams over the offseason might end up in benefit of the freshly promoted teams, and it remains to be seen which one of them will pounce on those opportunities as they present themselves over the course of the long season. Then, we've also got the middle of the pack, which feels like even more of a free-for-all than we're used to. It's really the mantra we keep repeating season after season, the middle of the pack is tougher than ever. Established teams such as Northern Ascendancy, KOVA Esports or YMCA Esports will have to do everything in their power to keep young and hungry up-and-comers from switching on the turn signal and passing them. Without further ado, let's move on with our prediction for the ECL 12 Elite season: 1. HAVU Gaming (ECL 11 Elite: 3rd) ECL 11 top scorer: Tuukka @FlyerKungen Kuha - 40 GP, 34+53=87 HAVU Gaming is my pick for a champion this season, just to state that right off the bat. They were in a tough spot to start ECL 11 when having to replace their x-factor Ilmari @Buantso Lehkonen, well guess what - he's back. This time, HAVU had replace Wille @willekunq Juntunen on the RD position and looked like they were struggling to do so, but found a way to sign jtorro from FILADELPHIA in the biggest move of the offseason. This means Kristian-Mikael @Nassustelija Katajisto moves over to the right side, while torro takes over his LD spot. On offense, HAVU reunites their deadly line FlyerKungen - Risto @Dominointi Järvi - Puantso that is arguably on par with the best line in virtual hockey ever. With that, their starting five is stronger than ever before and with the experience carried from a touch ECL 11, one could make the case for a more resilient HAVU returning to play with the goal of showing their competition what they really are made of. 2. hREDS (ECL 11 Elite: 2nd) ECL 11 top scorer: Joakim @Joukki Nyholm* - 44 GP, 46+55=101 The runner-ups of ECL 11 surprisingly let last seasons top scorer Joakim @Joukki Nyholm walk after their finals push, replacing him with equally offensively prevalent Vili @Vilupoika Häkkinen and also changed up their defense by upgrading Teemuyy for Aaro @xDoumi Ruuhinen. On paper, these are some interesting changes that can be seen as upgrades depending on who you ask, but it is notable that roster changes always switch up chemistry. In this case, the added players are very familiar with the hREDS system and in fact, Vilupoika has combined for a dangerous radar pair with Perttu @Beniittto Kemppainen in the past. Youngster NikkeDangles on the right wing might get a bump from being awarded the honor as ECL 12 cover gamer and elevates his game yet another level, which would push hREDS on an ever steeper upwards trajectory this season - championship incoming perhaps? Definitely a strong candidate. 3. FILADELPHIA (ECL 11 Elite: Champions 🏆) ECL 11 top scorer: Erik @Eki Tammenpää - 43 GP, 34+60=94 FILADELPHIA is undisputedly the most successful team in ECL history with their three titles. Their last ECL outing finished in spectacular manner, with several records broken along the way and a dominant 4-0 outing against hREDS in the finals. The team has made the finals in each of their five seasons at the Elite level so far and are surely not going to stop. The offseason has been quiet for the team as the squad mostly has focused on resting up for yet another championship push, but at the final stretch of the preseason, there was some action to say the least. Mainstay LD jtorro suddenly left for HAVU Gaming in a high-profile transfer, but FILADELPHIA managed to find a replacement by waving an undisclosed amount of cash in the face of JYP Esports management as Teemu @Xteemuz (Teemuyy) Polttila joins the black and orange just in time for the new season. FILADELPHIA is not getting a replacement with the experience that they lost, but skill-wise, Teemuyy is right there with the best of them. We'll see how he blends in with the new team as the season progresses but one thing is sure, offensively Paul @PleeMaker Arontie - Joonas @Patzlaf Paatiala - Eki will deliver, as will Casper @ICappeI Lundgren in net and Aleksi @loimmu Loimuvirta at his RD spot. We know that FILADELPHIA is a championship caliber team and that is why all that's on the menu is championship or disappointment. 4. JYP Jyvaskyla (ECL 11 Elite: 4th) ECL 11 top scorer: Antti @tbnantti Kuittinen - 40 GP, 22+46=68 In command of captain Santeri @indi969 Pendolin, the JYP Jyvaskyla squad have at this point made ECL Elite playoffs in five consecutive seasons in different formations since beginning their journey as Symphony back in mid-2018. Their greatest feat still remain a finals push that ended in a game 6 defeat at the hands of FILADELPHIA in ECL 7. Now, hurricanes have managed to sign one of the strongest individuals of the last ECL season as Joakim @Joukki Nyholm will play besides the well-established Antti @tbnantti Kuittinen and captain indi, forming an offensive trio that should work very well both ways and have that x-factor for a scoring threat that JYP hasn't had before. The team is also glad to have Väinö @vSilenttio (vee_Sile) Pietilä return after a career season with Roots in ECL 11, pairing back up with a matured Ilmari @iilmarii Töyrylä. Having experienced goalie Santeri @Sandr0hh Reijasalo, who is rumored to be joined by a very capable tandem behind them is what makes this seasons JYP roster as strong as they've ever been. 5. Farjestad BK (ECL 11 Elite: 5th) ECL 11 top scorer: Christoffer @I-Maise-I (I-Mallen-I) Berntsson - 36 GP, 20+34=54 The long-standing pride of Swedish virtual hockey have established themselves as a surefire playoff team in the Elite division, but seem to be unable to punch their way into the top 4 in a convincing way. The Swedes are quite famous for their style of play and catch a lot of flack for continuing to ride that train. It is quite apparent that the team will either sink or swim with the performances of Andreas @affelj96 Ljungberg, who has established himself as one of the top pure goal scorers in the Elite division by netting a total of 76 goals over the past two seasons spent at the highest level of competition. Center I-Mallen-I loves the puck and is their number one setup artist along with setting the tone for the entire team oftentimes. The defensive pairing Hampus @l-Furyan-l Duvefelt and Johan @Lehmannens Lehmann is one of the more balanced ones in the league and definitely Sweden's finest if nothing else, both are very solid with the puck and can handle pressure with relative ease. Also, being backed by Johan @McSavid Rundqvist who is one of the best goaltenders in the league makes FBK's back-end a solid foundation for their team all around. 6. GOONS (ECL 11 Pro: 2nd) ECL 11 top scorer: Kristian @kriketski17 Veijola - 51 GP, 60+71=131 We're in for an exciting season watching GOONS, that is a relatively young team both due to the age of their players, but also due to the team only being founded just ahead of ECL 11 Pro, when they acquired Kriketsi to lead the way for their inexperienced squad. Krike will continue to lead from his center position, flanked by rising star Roope @pikkuroger Bergström and the more experienced Jere @jergelii Jortama, while young stud Viljo @viba2008 Kähkönen and Elite journeyman Ville-Petteri @vviljo (veepee___) Särmä combine for an interesting defensive pairing down low. Viba2008 actually becomes the youngest ECL Elite player in history at only 13 years old and with all that talent, he can be a great fit alongside someone like veepee, who has been around for a long time, but struggled to find a proper home. The team is capped off with a strong goaltender tandem in Mika @FinKonna Paasikontu (the winningest goaltender in ECL history) and Santeri @SanteriAK47 Puumalainen, who could very well share the responsibility throughout the season. GOONS have all the skill in the world, but as a young squad they might find themselves drifting off in a bad direction if they can't get things going right away. A playoff push is entirely possible. 7. IQUE (ECL 11 Pro: Champion 🏆) ECL 11 top scorer: Janne @Nieppii Niemelä - 52 GP, 33+69=102 As a team, IQUE (former Enigma) has experienced virtually no changes since their championship campaign back in ECL 11 Pro. They've been a dominant Pro force for quite some time already, but have now found the way to elevate their play to the next level with the lead of captain Nieppii. With an unchanged roster, it can very well be in their favor to keep their good momentum going into their first Elite run. IQUE has a solid offense centered by Arttu @laitineen64 Laitinen, who is one of the most talented young guns in the game at the moment, but especially wingers Nieppii and Santeri @sannteri Niemi has some history of going on cold streaks and getting stuck in their ways a bit. If they can find a way to keep things creative up front while not sacrificing their defensive responsibilities, IQUE is a squad that could very well make a playoff run. On defense, Markus @Makeaxl Lahti and Nico @zNico Tuoreniemi will be the teams main pairing, Makeaxl is the more experienced part, but both should be able to handle themselves in the Elite pace quite well. Toni @Pirtsa89 Pirttimäki has been their choice in net, this season in a probable tandem with Rami @ramseyy2(Ramsiil) Rissanen - neither one has ever carried the starter role at this level, so that could be considered a minor question mark. 8. Northern Ascendancy (ECL 11 Elite: 6th) ECL 11 top scorer: Juho @RutonMosse (Juigelson) Kinnunen* - 36 GP, 24+29=53 After being one of the consistent performers in the Elite division for quite some time, Norther Ascendancy had their downfall after the team dissolved and key pieces spent some time with Rusty Blades back in ECL 8. After a few seasons under the Lulea Hockey flag, ECL 11 saw the return of Northern Ascendancy in a very different constellation that before, but the team still managed to push their way to the playoffs. This season, NOR returns with one of the most inexperienced rosters they've ever iced, meaning a heavy reliance on captain Connor @MartindalexC Martindale, returning Aleksi @Tehh (TehhAhola) Ahola and André @Foppatofflan Liljegren to lead the way for the likes of 2nd year Elite players V-V @vvlampela (cTunkeilija) Lampela and Fredrik @maharajah2014 (Sparkaronnberg) Mickelsson-Holm, who are taking on big roles in the team this season. It is interesting to see how a playmaking force such as Foppatofflan will fit at the defensive position and if he will stay there throughout the season, after all cTunkeilija played as a defenseman in ECL 11, so we might be in for a switch at some point if the team feels it's warranted. Despite their continued success even in tough times, Northern Ascendancy will be struggling to reach the last playoff spot this season. 9. YMCA Esports (ECL 11 Elite: 12th) ECL 11 top scorer: Tim @Timasy Hess - 30 GP, 19+25=44 Six consecutive ECL Elite seasons have yielded three postseason appearances for the team that still continues without their captain Antti @Anhel_Kuru Kuru due to military service. YMCA Esports have definitely solidified their spot in the Elite division, but also as a mid-level team at best so far in their careers. After a disappointing ECL 11, the team has seen some changes mostly on the back end, as both defensemen are going to be swapped with Janne @Koppipelaaja (Jamoyy) Viitanen and ECL 5 Elite champion Nico @nylanderi Laitinen will pair for an interesting duo. The team also sees a fresh face in net, as former Nordic Stars netminder Benjamin @benu Rinnet joins the team after three consecutive very solid seasons in the Pro division. There surely are some question marks around the team, mainly due to their reorganized starting lineup and the chemistry issues that might relate to it, but YMCA has both skill and experience to take them to the playoffs. It remains to be seen if they can harness both of those traits to take them that far, or if their season will be yet another disappointment. 10. KOVA Esports (ECL 11 Elite: 10th) ECL 11 top scorer: Valeri @Valluxet Reihel - 30 GP, 27+24=51 KOVA Esports has as tradition seen a lot of player turnover over the offseason. Interestingly, long-time LD trustee Ari @FakiiR1 Palviainen leaves the squad as Jean-Patrick @Patsberg_ Kotonen takes over that position besides Saku @Sakkem Saaranluoma, who has become the new trusted man on defense for KOVA Esports. The duo on the back end will most likely combine for a rather well-balanced OFD-DFD combination that could work out well for the team. Up front, captain Kimi @Zip player Nordberg has managed to secure an interesting package deal to play beside him as former Nordic Stars dynamic duo Valtteri @Vire30 Vireaho and Jere @Jerax13 Hällström will enter as elite rookies. The two have made an impact in Pro together for several seasons already and if they can combine with an offensive force like ZipPlayer, that bodes well for KOVA Esports. Trusted Axel @MonkeyHeadAF Falck will be sharing responsibilities in net with ECL 1 original Sebastian @FINSeRe Remes, as captain Zip has been quoted stating the form of the day will determine who gets the call come gameday. It's not an unusual thing for KOVA to ice an entirely new squad each season and while that begs a multitude of questions, the squad always manages to at least retain their spot in no man's land. That is exactly what will happen also this season for KOVA Esports. 11. Vesa Pompa (ECL 11 Elite: 7th) ECL 11 top scorer: Jere @jergelii Jortama* - 34 GP, 21+21=42 Swedish Vesa Pompa has experienced some major roster turnover in the offseason and in fact will only retain captain Henrik @Eken45jr Eklund in their starting lineup. Their other five starters are joining the team from former Växjö Lakers HC, being Fredrik @Kattenj Jansson on the left wing, Adam @dzouvi Mensik on center, Samuel @EDHOLMEN3 Edholm and Johannes @Hockeyjohannes Hultmark on defense capped off with Erik @MrAllsvenskan Rotsenius in net - all of them Elite rookies with the exception of Kattenj, who has eight combined games in ECL 7 and 8. A positive is that the squad has a lot of experience together even despite a majority of the players being new with Vesa Pompa and their skill is proven at the Pro level. However, this squad without Eken has never went past the quarterfinals in the Pro division, which begs the question - why would they go far in the Elite division? One can hope they'll prove doubters wrong, but Vesa Pompa is looking for big steps forward on every position if they want to reach playoffs this season. 12. POGGERS (ECL 11 Elite: 9th) ECL 11 top scorer: Jussi @JaKurrii Koivuniemi - 26 GP, 26+24=50 The former SJ Gaming ended their org affiliation at the end of ECL 11 Elite and are with that returning to the more casual POGGERS. On the ice, some minor changes have also been made. That means Jan-Mikael @Janski (Jansku23) Aittoniemi replaces Mikko @EABUNKA Kärkkäinen on the right flank, and Elie @eliekamel87 Kamel replaces Janne @Janne Hietala (Hiatala_) Hietala in net. Offensively, their most important weapon is still multi-game talent JaKurrii, who will continue netting goals on the virtual ice when he isn't winning trophies on the FIFA pitch. Jiska @jorma2001 Näppä is their choice at center, and after gaining some valuable experience in Elite last season, the talented centerman is expected to take yet another step forward. Captain Tero @Terodee Dahlström pairs with Eemil @Eemil (eKoskii) Koski for a great defensive duo, where eKoskii is expected to carry most of the load with the puck and prove his fabled talent to be true by putting forth a strong season. POGGERS should be able to retain their Elite spot, but they are not a playoff team. 13. Tunnel Vision (ECL 11 Pro: 3rd) ECL 11 top scorer: Jere @BensaPoju (Jerskayy) Laukka* - 46 GP, 50+41=91 It was a turbulent offseason for ECL 11 Pro semifinalist Tunnel Vision, who suffer immensely from losing their top scorer due to suspension. The team is stacked with talent and players who enjoy spending time with the game and finding out the mechanics of it, but they are for the most part players that enjoy playing with intuition and trusting their individual skill in beating opponents. It worked wonders for them at the Pro level, but will it be enough in Elite? The squad had to scramble ahead of the season start, when they suddenly lost Juigelson to SAWO ESPORTS, which started a transfer roulette ultimately finishing with Tunnel Vision acquiring Sadapoika for their center lane. They have also upgraded their defense with Veeti @Wenger (re_wenger) Paloneva, who joins them from YMCA Esports. All in all, we're seeing a very skilled squad that has some Elite experience but have struggled to find success at that level. They will need to add a more structured approach beside their skill to see that next level. A playoff could be a tough ask, but the team should at the very least be able to maintain their Elite spot. 14. ZSC Esports (ECL 11 Pro: 4th) ECL 11 top scorer: Alex @IDangledYouOut Wagner* - 46 GP, 48+37=85 The Swiss lions have grown under the reigns of captain Sven @Original-SnuS Julmi since their first competitive season back in ECL 6 Lite, and goaltender duo Mike @burban26 Mueller, Reto @afc_Tschitsch (eTschitsch) Ulrich and forward Claudio @Freeman7187 Salamoni have stayed alongside their captain for the entire success story. Now, making their first appearance at the highest level as the first Swiss team in history, ZSC Esports are determined to make an impact. Their task is not easy, as the squad is losing their top scorer Alex @IDangledYouOut Wagner and replacing him with an inexperienced Tino @Timotei97 Saksi, who is extremely untested at a higher level of play. The team will be relying on their long-time success factors but also heavily on one of the most solid defensive pairings out there in Max @Toneee9 Tonitz combined with Reto @Haldeem Haldemann, who makes a return to the Elite level after three seasons in the Pro division as the only player from the ZSC squad with Elite experience on his resume. 15. SAWO ESPORTS (ECL 11 Elite: 11th) ECL 11 top scorer: Atte @Akunkku Kuningas - 30 GP, 16+20=36 The Cocks, as the like to call themselves have had an offseason with quite some turnover. They've changed captain by bumping up Roni @MrNipsuli Kaján, while long-time leader Jonne @TackleControl Nikkinen takes a step back as a backup player. They've also added two new starter forwards, a new starter defenseman, and a goaltender to play in a 1A - 1B tandem with Saku @mehukatti Serttilä. Up front, Juigelson and Mikko @EABUNKA Kärkkäinen will be flanking Kristian @Krisutus Räsänen while the defense will consist of Niklas @Talonmies69 Tamminen and MrNipsuli-. The goaltender acquisition is Reittu @Roisto999 Hynynen, who has been backing up for HAVU Gaming for a few seasons, now returning to competitive games for the first time since ECL 9. It's tough to evaluate SAWO to start the season due to them having changed so much, but it's a fact that they have some good pieces that are proven to work at the ECL Elite level. It is however up to debate if they've made an improvement when comparing to their former roster, which consisted of players that knew each other well but perhaps couldn't find their form last season. I have a tough time seeing SAWO in the playoffs and therefore predict for them to have to fight their way out of the relegation spots. 16. Rusty Blades (ECL 11 Elite: 8th) ECL 11 top scorer: André @Foppatofflan Liljegren* - 34 GP, 21+35=56 Nothing ever comes without a fight in the ECL, and the Elite division for that matter. For Rusty Blades, however, that fight started way before the season. With just a few weeks to go, everything seemed to be in order for the squad playing under the Roots Gaming organization, but in the blink of an eye it all went south. The team captained by Juhani @Tanski87 Tanskanen lost two starting forwards and their long-time starting goaltender Joonas @swagx88 Kuossari just before the season and in the aftermath also lost their affiliation with Roots. Now going back to their true and tested Rusty Blades name, the squad has an all-new roster that has a tough task ahead of them, but it is certain that a true veteran leader like Tanski will not be giving up any time soon, Rusty Blades have come to play. Despite the difficult situation, the team has made some interesting acquisitions. Aleksi @ADETIKKI (Dillynger) Kinnunen and Tanski will be their most experienced members, whereas Miko @Migo_boo Nurmi is the only starter continuing alongside his captain from last season. Santtu @Santtu (santtu333) Malin is joining the team after two seasons for Ringette HC in Neo and Lite - a massive step up for the rookie centerman. Joonas @LE1PAKONE (NordZman) Nordman is joining the team at the LD position after spending last season in Pro with Rookie Mistakes. A lot of unknowns for this squad going forward, they will be in for a massive task and the battle will be about staying in the Elite division this season. That's all for this time, gamers! Remember to tune in for our Pre-season show and season openers tomorrow, on Monday, May 24th at www.twitch.tv/nhlgamer. (Exact time TBA - estimated start time 18:30 CEST)

Based in southern Russia, Metallurg Magnitogorsk has established themselves as a steady contender in the KHL in recent seasons, and clinching two titles back in 2014 and 2016. This year, the club has also expanded into NHL esports by signing one of the most talented Russian rosters in the scene. There's a special kind of excitement to start the season for METALLURG MAGNITOGORSK. The squad has been atop of the Russian scene for a few RCL seasons already and recently felt that it's time to take the next step for the club - They surely have done so in more than one way. In early 2021, after a moderately successful ECL 11 Lite campaign, the former NOVA squad signed a deal with KHL club Metallurg Magnitogorsk and adding to that excitement, they managed to play their way to the ECL 12 Pro division through preseason qualifiers. With that, METALLURG will continue proudly flying the Russian flag in the Pro division, replacing Alliance HT at the second highest tier. Team captain Maxim @Haiissey Trukhanov is a Magnitogorsk resident and has worked hard to finalize the deal. He is very happy with the performances of the team so far, but feels like there are several benefits both on and off the ice that their new contract brings: "Our decision to join Metallurg Magnitogorsk was well planned and we wanted to play for a serious and well organized club. Metallurg Magnitogorsk is a club with a big history, this team is one of the strongest in the KHL and has a solid fanbase to back them up. We as back-to-back RCL champions believe that this is a mutually beneficial partnership and that we deserve to represent a club of this stature." Despite the roster experiencing some changes, they now look stronger than ever and have managed to recruit a healthy mix of both experienced horsemen and young talent. Their freshest recruits are long-time Alliance HT defenseman Evgeny @mons3223 Mons and Ilya @The1xTab (Cefurtuninen) Elchaninov on the back-end, whereas Latvian up-and-comer Daniels @CMB-wf- Magonis and Finnish addition Ilkka @ilikkaa Rekilä look to bolster their offensive guns. The captain describes his squad as a hard working, energetic and strong willed group who always leave it all out on the ice. The new roster has already been tested quite extensively in the RCL 8 Pro division, where Magnitogorsk currently tops the table, and youngster Artem @Nester4343 Nesterov has managed to net 24 goals and add 43 assists for a 4th place in the league scoring race. The team is aiming for a third consecutive RCL championship and is eagerly looking forward to their first outing in ECL 12 Pro. We welcome METALLURG MAGNITOGORSK to the NHL esports scene and wish them good luck in both the RCL 8 Playoffs and their starting ECL 12 Pro season! Team captain Maxim @Haiissey Trukhanov was interviewed by Viivi @viivimaria Rönnberg.

 NHLGamers, Tomorrow on Sunday, the 2nd of May we'll be starting action in the largest division in the ECL competition - our newcomer ECL Core! That division holds several established teams that are starting their journey in our competitive framework. We're looking forward to tons of exciting action over the course of the season and some fierce battles for three guaranteed promotion spots at the end of the campaign.  As previously stated, the Core division will from now on hold the bulk of teams participating in the ECL and with that currently holds 128 teams in total. These teams have been seeded and divided into eight groups, holding 16 teams each. The eight best teams out of each group will reach the playoffs. Finally, the winner, runner-up and bronze-game winner will gain direct promotion to ECL Lite for the next season. All groups and league info can be found on the league page. The default gamedays for ECL 12 Core will be Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday at 20:00 CEST and teams are required to contact each other prior to the scheduled date as per ECL rules.  Please get acquainted with the rulebook and refer to it in case of any problems over the course of the season. If any questions arise, please contact support. Notable dates for the ECL 12 Core season: Regular season: 2.5 – 3.6 Transfer deadline: 18.5. 23:59 CEST Playoffs Round 1: 6.6 – 10.6 (BO7) Playoffs Round 2: 13.6 – 17.6 (BO7) Playoffs Round 3: 20.6 – 23.6 (BO7) Quarterfinals: 29.6 – 4.7 (BO7) Semifinals: 6.7 – 11.7 (BO7) Finals: 16.7 – 17.7 (BO7) The remaining ECL 12 divisions will be starting as announced in the ECL 12 Season Information-article back in mid-March. With that, we wish all participating ECL 12 Core teams good luck and hope to see as much of your action as possible through your own streaming and social media channels. Remember to use the hashtags #NHLGamer, #ECL12 and #NHL21 for other community members to find your posts!

We've progressed to the playoff phase of The Anaheim Ducks 1v1 NHL 21 Tournaments presented by McDonald's of Southern California and with that we would like to congratulate all participants who have made it to this stage, we'd also like to thank all the players that participated and did not qualify to this stage. This is where the top players clash and we're guaranteed some intense games! To start off the playoffs, brackets for both the PS4 and Xbox tournaments are listed below. The top 8 seeded players will receive a bye this week. Please note, this round is a Best of 3 single elimination, meaning that the first participant with 2 wins will advance. You have until Friday, April 30th to complete this round of playoffs. Please refer to the the full tournament rules for the entire playoff schedule. Social Media and Hashtags: Showing sponsor support can help us grow these events in the future. We are planning to do official broadcasts towards the later rounds of playoffs but in the meantime, please let us know if you plan on streaming. When posting about the tournament on social media, please use the following hashtags: #Ducks1v1 #SoCalMcDs #NHLGamer #NHL21 and tags: @NHLDucksGaming @AnaheimDucks @NHLGamerCOM (Twitter), @nhlgamerofficial (IG)

NHLGamers, We're here to officially kick off the ECL 12 regular season with the start of our Neo division, which will be happening as announced on Sunday, the 25th of April. Our Neo division is the entry level of competitive virtual hockey and with that holds a vast amount of undiscovered and unpolished talent, in fact 90 registered teams worth of that. Now due to preserving the original intention of having ECL Neo be the true entry level, we have decided to place a total of 25 teams that originally applied for ECL 12 Neo into the ECL 12 Core division - please see a full list of those teams below: After placing those teams up a level, we end up with a total of 65 teams in the Neo division. These teams have been seeded and divided into six groups, holding 10-11 teams each. The five best teams out of each group will reach the playoffs along with the two best 6th placing teams across the division (based on PPG). All groups and league info can be found on the league page. The default gamedays for ECL 12 Neo will be Sunday & Wednesday at 20:00 CEST and teams are required to contact each other prior to the scheduled date as per ECL rules. The full rulebook will be available for access through the league page and will be released on Sunday, 25th of April. Notable dates for the ECL 12 Neo season: Regular season: 25.4-26.5 Transfer deadline: 13.5. 23:59 CEST Playoffs Round 1: 30.5-2.6 (BO5) Playoffs Round 2: 6.6-9.6 (BO5) Quarterfinals: 13.6-16.6 Semifinals: 20.6-23.6 Finals: 4.7 The remaining ECL 12 divisions will be starting as announced in the ECL 12 Season Information-article back in mid-March. With that, we wish all participating ECL 12 Neo teams good luck and hope to see as much of your action as possible through your own streaming and social media channels. Remember to use the hashtags #NHLGamer, #ECL12 and #NHL21 for other community members to find your posts!

NHLGamers, Starting today, Thursday, April 15th we are starting the qualifiers ahead of the ECL 12 season to determine recipients of the final open spots in each of the divisions. This article gathers all the base information required to carry out the qualifiers. Roster Lock As we've already received some questions about player movement during and around the ECL Qualifiers, we need to remind parties concerned about the soft roster lock rule applied to all teams and players participating in ECL Qualifiers (including Wildcard battle participants): Upon further reflection we have realised that this piece of information may not have received enough attention as it was embedded in the main body of text from the article detailing the overhaul of our promotion system. As such, we would like to take this opportunity to outline the rationale behind this rule, as well as better illustrate this for the players that it may impact in the current ongoing qualifiers. The rationale behind this rule was to heavily discourage players from ‘helping out’ other teams in the qualifiers, just to change team afterwards. That said, we originally quoted weeks as the duration of the ‘locks’ and realise that this can be a little confusing at a glance. Therefore, for Elite players, if they wish to join a team and help them out in the qualifiers, then they are locked to playing within that division (where the qualifying team ends up) for the entirety of the season. As for Pro players, if they wish to do the same, and play for a team in Lite, then they will have to stay within the Lite division until the 27th May, at which point they will be allowed to transfer into Pro or Elite teams. For next season this rule will be reviewed. As in previous seasons, players are only allowed one transfer per ECL. This includes the Qualifiers. Note regarding feedback on structure and qualifiers We hear and appreciate the passionate feedback received about the qualifying and promotion process. As stated, the promotions have occurred as defined in our first communications and we intend to keep it as such for ECL 12. We will take all feedback into consideration and aim to improve based on that for upcoming seasons. In the mean time however, the Pro and Lite Qualifiers are underway, and in the event that any more teams decide to not take part, their qualifier spot will remain empty. Additionally, a Pro team has decided to drop-out from taking part in ECL 12, normally this would mean that we would grant automatic promotion to a team from Lite, however as we were only made aware of this at this point, so far into the qualifier process, we will instead be allocating an extra spot that will be up for grabs through the qualifier structure. This means that the teams ranked #4 in the 2nd stage of the Pro Qualifiers both will be promoted rather than having to play a BO5 series. Pro Qualifiers Groups Schedule (all dates in April) Round 1: Thursday 15th, Sunday 18th, Monday 19th, Wednesday 21st Round 2: Sunday 25th, Monday 26th, Wednesday 28th BO5 series (where needed): Thursday 29th Lite Qualifiers Groups Schedule (all dates in April) Group Play: Thursday 15th, Sunday 18th, Monday 19th, Wednesday 21st, Thursday 22nd. All games to be played by Sunday 25th. BO5 series (where needed): Wednesday 28th NOTE: The team seeded #2 opted out after the groups were formed. This lead to an even 40 teams in 8 groups, meaning all teams will fit the top 5 and will after the group stage either be promoted directly (TOP 2 per group) to ECL Lite, or play a BO5 series in order to secure a spot. Seed 41, Wildcard team Unwanted is now in Group 2.

The Anaheim Ducks Xbox and PlayStation NHL 21 1v1 Tournaments presented by McDonald's of Southern California begin today with a prize pool of $1,500 and Ducks prizes. With nearly 100 registrants from the Southern California area, this will offer competitive gameplay and great entertainment for virtual hockey fans to tune in for globally. We'll be kicking off the action with online pool play among all the registered players. Here's an overview of how the tournament is going to progress all the way through pool play to the grand finals on Saturday, May 15th: Pool Play: Wednesday, April 15th - Monday, April 26th Best of 1 Each player will face five or six opponents in this timeframe. The top 24 players on both consoles will advance to the playoffs. Playoffs (BO3 single elimination): Wednesday, April 28th - Saturday, May 15th Round of 24: Wednesday, April 18th - Friday, April 30th Round of 16: Sunday, May 2nd - Tuesday, May 4th Quarterfinals: Wednesday, May 5th - Saturday, May 8th Semifinals (Xbox): Monday, May 10th Semifinals (PS4): Wednesday, May 12th Finals: Saturday, May 15th Click the buttons below to access the groups for both platforms: Please read the full tournament rules for more detailed information. IMPORTANT TOURNAMENT INFORMATION If any questions arise, please contact Support. Please join the NHLGamer Discord server and use the #role-registration channel to assign yourself to the Ducks Gaming role by clicking the reaction logo (shown in the image below). This will enable you to see the Ducks Gaming category and channels. Social Media and Hashtags: Showing sponsor support can help us grow these events in the future. We are planning to do official broadcasts towards the later rounds of playoffs but in the meantime, please let us know if you plan on streaming. When posting about the tournament on social media, please use the following hashtags: #Ducks1v1 #SoCalMcDs #NHLGamer #NHL21 and tags: @NHLDucksGaming @AnaheimDucks @NHLGamerCOM (Twitter), @nhlgamerofficial (IG)

NHLGamers, We're happy to have had a good amount of teams register for the ECL 12 Warmup Tournament, which starts today! The exact number of teams registered were 26 for the Elite & Pro-tournament and 70 for the Lite & Core tournament. Here's how it's all going to unfold: Elite & Pro Groups Schedule Two groups holding 13 teams each Double-header gamedays Default gamedays on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday Eight teams from each group make playoffs (BO3) Playoff dates (Playoffs practically ECL Pro-style, with cross-seed in first round etc): Monday, May 10th (RO16) Wednesday, May 12th (Quarterfinals) Thursday, May 13th (Semifinals) Monday, May 17th (Finals) Lite & Core Groups Schedule Seven groups holding 10 teams each Double-header gamedays No playoffs If teams are tied in points after the group stage, we will utilize these usual tie-breakers: Wins (including OT-wins) Head-to-head record (points in mutual games) Goal difference (across all games played) Scored goals (across all games played) We hope you all enjoy and remember to play by the rules! Although the Warmup Tournament will not be under as strict scrutiny as the ECL, we want to remind you to respect your opponents and go about the games just as you would when playing real ECL league matchups.

The Marseille Spartiates and MCES (Mon Club Esport) have joined forces to launch their first official NHL esports team: the Spartiates x MCES. You can see the team in action in the Pro division this upcoming ECL season and with that, the Spartiates x MCES become the first French squad to play at that level. Having established themselves as the most prestigious French team in NHL esports under the banner of Grenoble BDL Esports, it is only natural for the team to develop and with that move on to new things. Today we're announcing that the roster led by captain Maximilien @Tromi13 Tromeur have signed with the Marseille Spartiates and MCES, who will combine for a new virtual hockey club called the Spartiates x MCES. At this point, festivities have already been held in Marseille, where captain @Tromi13 has attended the Spartiates offices for a contract signing and press event. A ceremonial puck drop and a full team bootcamp was planned but due to recent increased travel regulations in France, only the captain attended the press event. "This is an accomplishment for our team and by extension for the French or French-speaking European gaming community. It is important to understand that we can't be compared to a scene like FIFA where the pool of players is huge. On the NHL side of things, we are lesser in numbers and about a year ago before the first French league, we were 40. Today we are 200 (in the French community)! Knowing that we can now interest an organization like MCES makes us proud! I feel like gaming organizations partnering with French hockey clubs will only feed the phenomenon and more and more players will arrive. When it comes to the ground level, the partnership between MCES and the Marseille Spartans allows us to anchor down as the team of a city and a club, it gives meaning to our work." - @Tromi13 on the meaningfulness of their partnership with Spartiates x MCES. The mostly French ensemble has experienced a lot together on the virtual ice and after a successful season in ECL 11 Lite and the WECL, they have now gained the opportunity to prove themselves at the next level as the first French team in ECL history. With a roster that has only seen minor changes, the squad is now confidently facing that challenge. NHLGamer founder Kenneth @Kenu Lehtinen on having the Spartiates x MCES join NHLGamer leagues: "We at NHLGamer are excited to have the Spartiates x MCES squad join our league. The scene has seen a tremendous amount of growth over the past few years and while we do our best to lay the groundwork as effectively as possible, teams and individuals have impressed us with their hard work and dedication in working towards the common goal of becoming a mainstream esport and involving various parties at the very cutting edge of esports. The Spartiates x MCES seem to be a partnership of utmost potential and we can't wait for what they will bring to the table on their NHL esports journey. Welcome!” About the Marseille Spartiates The hockey club of southern French port city Marseille wasn't founded until 2012, but despite their short history the Spartiates have established themselves as an extremely ambitious force in the field of French hockey. After gaining promotion to the national division 1 (2nd tier) back in 2019, the club now has their sights set on advancing to the Ligue Magnus. The Palais Omnisports is the arena that the Spartiates are privileged to call their home, seating 5600 fans and with that achieving the status of the biggest ice rink in France. About MCES MCES (Mon Club Esport) is a Marseille-based major player in French esports with subsidiaries in Italy and Morocco. The objective of MCES is to develop both the professional and amateur practices in all of esports. With representation currently in League of Legends, Fortnite, FIFA, Clash of Clans, Virtual Regatta, Rocket League and Valorant, the organization has gained lots of success across several of these games. The MCES method is to provide their players with all the necessary tools to succeed, such as sports practice, diet monitoring, neurocognitive performance testing, stress management and more. The method is defined and applied by MCES Sports Director and double Olympic swimming gold medalist Yannick Agnel.

NHLGamers, As you know, we're adding the Core division into our framework for the new season and with that we're in for a series of Qualifiers ahead of the ECL 12 season. Info to follow below: Pro and Lite Qualifiers will be starting officially on Thursday, April 15th. Qualifiers will be completed at an intensive pace, and therefore it is advisable for teams participating in the qualifiers not to attend our ECL 12 Warmup tournament. Here are the schedules for the respective qualifiers (all dates in April): Pro Qualifiers: Round 1: Thursday 15th, Sunday 18th, Monday 19th, Wednesday 21st Round 2: Sunday 25th, Monday 26th, Wednesday 28th BO5 series (where needed): Thursday 29th Lite Qualifiers: Group Play: Thursday 15th, Sunday 18th, Monday 19th, Wednesday 21st, Thursday 22nd, Monday 26th, Wednesday 28th BO5 series (where needed): Thursday 29th In our New Division and Promotion Structure article, we stated the following logic as a basis of filling potential open spots in divisions and Qualifiers: Based on that logic, to fill the available spots after sign-ups, the following ECL 11 Lite teams have gained direct promotion to ECL 12 Pro: Grenoble BDL Esport Sjukstugan BoxinElite Sinister PENTA (previously ECDC Memmingen eSports) Also, based on the same logic, there are updates to the teams participating in the Pro Qualifier: Due to us having a total of seven Pro Wildcard applicants fulfilling the requirements for a Pro Qualifier Wildcard spot, we made the decision to allow these teams play a pre-qualifier determining which teams will get the four Pro Qualifier spots. The teams not entered into the Pro Qualifier will be entered into the Wildcard spots in the Lite Qualifier. Below are the Wildcard teams: Dynastia Reality Check HC Royal HT Hawaii Hockey Rogle BK Barys eSports IK Oskarshamn Some of these teams might already hold a divisional spot in ECL Lite due to their performances in ECL 11 and should they be promoted will open up a spot in their place. After sign-ups closed and the number of available spots was determined, the following teams have gained a direct spot in ECL 12 Lite based on their performances in ECL 11 Lite: Armada Hockey FILADELPHIA Academy (previously Hammarby Hockey) Murohoki RoKi Esports Dynastia IK Oskarshamn BIK Karlskoga (previously Northern Falcons) TuTo Esports Oulunsalo HT Rogle BK Remparts de Tours Esport Spirit GIFU Hockey Lite Qualifier teams: Teams that applied and are eligible for ECL Lite Wildcard spot: Unwanted Almost Retired Due to the large number of teams moving up automatically to fill the spots in Pro and the Pro Qualifier, and how the rules were written for this, we were forced to reduce the number of teams in the ECL Lite qualifier. Below is an image of how the seeding will look. What works, what doesn't? At the end of last year we released our plans for how the promotions, relegations and qualifiers will work. Now, we've seen the formula in action for the first time, and while it's worth noting that we believe the transition from four to five divisions and significantly shrinking the size of ECL Lite is a big cause of the complexity of the process for this season, there's always theory vs reality. Perhaps for next season all (except for auto-promoted) spots should be given out through the qualifiers rather than moving teams before them(?). What we set out to do with the new qualification process is to eliminate subjective opinions from the decision making. While we believe our pre-season seeding of teams into empty spots with the old system has historically been fairly accurate and based on the performance of those teams we would argue that it has been successful, the fact is that we are reaching 300 teams this season and forming an objective opinion on the constantly growing number of teams becomes a harder task each season. Hence now is a good time to ask for your feedback - what part of the system do you like and what would you do differently?

NHLGamers, The seventh season of the German Championship League has been concluded and while it's bittersweet to see long-time torchbearers Team LEISURE have to give up the throne, we are happy to crown the Swiss ZSC Esports our new champions! It's been a long time coming for the Swiss club captained by Sven @Original-SnuS Julmi, as the squad has grinded their way up the European ranks and seem to be peaking at just the right moments as of late. On behalf of the entire NHLGamer community - congratulations! ZSC Esports - Road to the championship: Regular season record: 24-1-1 (1st) Quarterfinals: vs Hyperion 4-0 Semifinals: vs PENTA 4-0 Finals: vs Team LEISURE 4-0 Championship roster: GOALTENDERS #22 Reto @afc_Tschitsch Ulrich #26 Mike @burban26 Mueller DEFENSEMEN #5 Eetu @Raikkoneeh Räikkönen #9 Max @Toneee9 Tonitz #13 Reto @Haldeem Haldemann FORWARDS #4 Juergen @DangledYouOut Kloster #21 Sven @Original-SnuS Julmi #28 Alex @IDangledYouOut Wagner #71 Claudio @Freeman7187 Salamoni #84 Tim @Timasy Hess If you missed the finals, you can rewatch the broadcast below: