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NHLGamers, The European Regionals of the second iteration of the NHLGWC are in the books and we have weeded out the two best players in the European scene. Unsurprisingly, these players are long time NHLGamers and absolute beauties in the scene. After battling through the gruelling single elimination online qualifiers and taking on some elite opposition in the regional final, the golden boy @Eki and hairy veteran @Hansulinho are the first two players to secure their spot at the world finals in Las Vegas. Both Eki and Hansu paved their way through the Xbox online qualifiers and dominated their opposition in the regionals, with the reigning world champ going undefeated in the tournament so far. Being the reigning champion and going undefeated through all of the qualifying stages certainly puts a target on Eki's back. Whoever has been following the man play have surely become familiar with his stellar puck possession skills and outstanding patience when creating scoring chances. The champ seems to acknowledge that he is the guy to beat in this tournament, obviously it puts some pressure on the young gun but he is now a man on a mission - to secure a second consecutive championship and cement his position as the best in the business. Hansu is one of the most experienced players in the whole tournament for sure. He isn't making his first trip to Vegas either, as he actually participated in the NHL Virgin Gaming Championship in 2013 with some success, finishing in 3rd place just short of a hefty cash prize. In order to reach the runner-up spot of this years European regionals, Hansu picked apart @Sagee95 in the quarterfinals and went up against @PleeMaker in the semifinals, arguably as a minor underdog. The youngster Plee managed to steal one game but in the end nerves of steel and experience prevailed - Hansu was in the top 2. This is what the final bracket of the European Regionals looks like: If you missed the action from this past Saturday, you can watch the whole broadcast here: There's still three events of NHLGWC action left to go, as we'll be treated to the Canadian Regionals on Saturday, 25th of May, the US Regionals on Thursday, 30th of May and capping off the season with the Grand Final on Tuesday, June 18th. Here's a list of competitors at the upcoming regionals: CANADA RyanVince19 @xDubz 17 Mg x Nuclear @Sitballs (Sitful) @YungGren mrdreeezzee Joshfearless @Jer Dubz USA Top Shelf Cookie NippinBiscuits @McLxvinn NJD3VS JrPens91 Fishercelll25 johnwaynee90 frogstomp33 Who are your picks to make it through to the finals? Wo do you think will take it all home? Let us know in the comments section and make sure to turn up to the streams at www.twitch.tv/nhl and show your support!

NHLGamers, We've had reports of inactivity with communication when scheduling Spring League games. Therefore, we feel it's timely to issue this reminder to all captains. Although we have a set schedule with gamedays that should be respected, please ALWAYS contact your opponents ahead of a scheduled game. This way several misunderstandings can be avoided and eventual rescheduling can be agreed upon. We recommend contacting your opponents both on PSN and NHLGamer. Please be transparent and respond to your opponents messages. At this point we would also like to remind you that the trade deadline for Spring League is on the 19th of May, 2019 at 23:59 CEST. Your NHLGamer Staff

NHLGamers, As promised, we're now kicking off the Swedish championships of NHL 19 1vs1. The tournament is hosted by us and online qualifiers will start in early May depending on how many participants we'll have. Unlike the SCL, this tournament is only for Swedish citizens. All participants must obtain the Swedish Esports License from SESF. The SCL 1vs1 will conclude at Birdie together with the SCL Finals. Out of all participants, the top 16 will be making it to the final event in order to battle for the grand prize of 10 000 SEK and the Swedish Championship title. Please note that both PS4 and Xbox One Players are welcome to participate. The amount of qualifying spots on each console will be relative to the amount of total participants on each platform. Here's a preliminary schedule: 6.-8.5. Qualifying round 512 (If necessary) 9.-11.5. Qualifying round 256 12.-14.5. Qualifying round 128 15.-17.5. Qualifying round 64 18.-20.5. Qualifying round 32 30.5. Top 16 Finals @Birdie LAN Obtain your Swedish Esports License here. Registrations Registrations are now open, please head over here in order to sign up. You can sign up until Saturday, 4th of May, 2019 at 23:59 CEST. Stay up to date with the SCL 6vs6 and the 1vs1 tourney by checking out the SCL main page: https://nhlgamer.com/scl/ We're excited to see you guys at Birdie, good luck in your upcoming games!

NHLGamers, Dagens datum markerar starten för den första säsongen av SCL och därmed vill vi poängtera lite viktig info för alla deltagare. Detta kommer bli en lite stökig informationsartikel, så gör er redo för vad komma skall: Först och främst - grundserien i SCL börjar idag, tisdagen den 16:e april, 2019 och slutar söndagen den 12:e maj, 2019. Regelboken Regelboken hittas här. Vi ber alla lagkaptener att bekanta sig med reglerna så snabbt som möjligt. En stor del regler har blivit ändrade från ECL. Säsongens tidtabell Som sagt slutar grundserien den 12:e maj och slutspelet går av stapeln direkt följande dag. Slutspelet spelas med bäst av 7 format (vi erhåller möjligheten att ändra semifinalerna till bäst av 5 ifall tidtabellen på Birdie kräver så) förutom bronsmatchen, som avgörs på en match. Åttondelsfinal: 13.5-19.5 (Online) Kvartsfinal: 20.5-26.5 (Online) Semifinal: 31.5 @ Birdie Bronsmatch: 1.6 @ Birdie Final: 1.6 @ Birdie Uppdelning av prispott Totala prispotten på Birdie kommer vara 65 000 kr. Dessa 65 000 kr uppdelas på följande vis: Registreringen för 1vs1 kommer att öppnas senare denna vecka. Obligatorisk Licens Vi påminner om att Svenska och Finska deltagare skall ha licens från esportförbundet i deras respektiva hemland. Svenska medborgare: SESF Finska medborgare: SEUL Free Agents Alla lag är tillåtna att lägga till spelare under första veckan av SCL. Detta betyder att tisdagen den 23:e april klockan 23:59 stängs transferfönstret och nya spelare kan efter det inte läggas till. Observera att transfers är inte tillåtna i SCL, endast free agents är tillåtna att skriva på för nya lag. Kvällens drabbning Första matcherna av SCL går av stapeln ikväll när Borgarbracka HC möter Cannonieris klockan 20 och Stayhard Stallions kör mot det prestigiösa Northern Stars klockan 21. Matcherna kommenteras av Adam @esdor Ericson och Kenneth @Kenu Lehtinen. Klicka er in på vår Twitchkanal klockan 20!

NHLGamers, Today marks the start of the SCL! The regular season starts today, Tuesday 16th of April, 2019 and will end on Sunday, the 12th of May, 2019. We're issuing this announcement in order to secure that everyone is up to speed with some crucial info and therefore this will be something of an info post. There's a few different things we'd like to go over so get ready for the barrage: SCL Rulebook First off, we'd like to announce that the SCL rulebook is now available by clicking here. We ask all team captains to familiarise themselves with the rulebook as soon as possible. The rules have been altered from the ECL format. Season Schedule As stated, the regular season ends on Sunday, the 12th of May and marks the start of the playoffs the next day. The playoffs will be played in a best of 7 manner (we reserve the right to change the semifinals into BO5 to the schedule at Birdie) except for the Bronze Game that will be decided in one game. Here's the playoff schedule: Round 1: 13.5-19.5 (Online) Round 2: 20.5-26.5 (Online) Semifinals: 31.5 @ Birdie Bronze Game: 1.6 @ Birdie Finals: 1.6 @ Birdie Prize Pool Division You might have noted that the SCL will feature a prize pool amounting to a total of 65 000 SEK. This prize pool has been divided into 50 000 SEK for SCL 6vs6 and 15 000 SEK for our Swedish 1vs1 Championships that will be hosted at Birdie. The 50 000 SEK will be divided between the top 3 teams of the SCL as follows: 1vs1 sign-ups will open during this week. Mandatory License We would also like to remind all Swedish and Finnish players to obtain a license from their countrys respective esports association. Swedes: SESF Finns: SEUL Transfer Window The SCL will include a one week transfer window at the start of the season in order to allow teams to make some minor adjustments to their squads. With this being said, transfers can be made until Tuesday, 23rd of April, 2019 at 23:59 CEST. Please note that trades are not allowed - only picking up free agents. Tonight's Broadcast Tonight's SCL Broadcast will be live at 20:00 CEST at twitch.tv/NHLGamer, featuring Borgarbracka HC vs Cannonieris and Stayhard Stallions vs Northern Stars Tonights games will be commentated by Adam "@esdor" Ericson and Kenneth "@Kenu" Lehtinen.

NHLGamers, Although the ECL season is in the books, this past weekend has still been full of excitement and drama for NHL gaming fans around the world. That's because the NHL GWC is rolling on and this Saturday marked the date for the European Play-In Bracket that determines which gamers are punching their ticket to the regional finals at Viasat studios in Stockholm on May 18th. The games started Saturday afternoon and although they are something of a grind - the format this year was a single elimination bracket which resulted in the day progressing rather quickly. The single elimination format has been criticised heavily on social media due to the harshness and the nature of the game in its current state - meaning it allows for uncontrollable bounces and unfortunate goals to happen on the regular. Regardless of this, a good player can always create their own luck and at the end of the day we're certainly seeing some top notch gamers grabbing their spot in the regional finals. Here are the gamers moving through at the end of Saturday: PS4 Saku @Sagee95 Björn, Kristian @kriketski17 Veijola, Risto @Dominointi Järvi and Paul @PleeMaker Arontie. Xbox Erik @Eki Tammenpää, Eilung, Hannes @Hansulinho Kettunen and Joonas @SUPERVIRTA Virta. Check Eki's reaction to making the regional finals: The defending champion didn't beat around the bush when asked about the NHL GWC format this year: "I don't like the format, you simply need to have more shots at making the biggest tournament of the year than one. One and done isn't the way to do it. It's the same for everyone but at the end of the day think we're going to see some players at the finals who probably wouldn't deserve to be there." It's great to see a few names making their presence felt, although it means a few established players have to face disappointments. Some of last years regional finalists including @Artuzio, @Darkic01 and @FlyerKungen fell short this time, being eliminated in the earlier stages of the brutal single elimination bracket. One of the new names included is Saku @Sagee95 Björn, who we reached for some comments about the NHL GWC so far: "There's certainly some positives and negatives about the format this year. I like moving over to HUT in the sense that you're seeing some diversity in the teams which wouldn't be there if it was versus. The single elimination bracket is rough, since one mistake could cost you the whole tournament." "I don't want to put down my opponents, but I think I had an easy way to the regionals. None of my opponents so far really tested me too much. The upcoming draft is going to be interesting, I'll try to build a team with big bodies and Zdeno Chara is a guy I hope I can secure in my lineup.", Sagee continues. Joonas @SUPERVIRTA Virta is another new name, who's been one of the fastest growing NHL streamers out there recently: "It feels amazing to qualify for my first bigger tournament. What makes it extra special is sharing those moments with all the people in my stream and getting all the support from there." The NHL GWC will continue with the Canadian Play-In Bracket next weekend and the US Play-In Bracket the weekend after that, so there's still lots of action to go around before the grand finals. Remember to tune in and watch the regional finals on May 18th. Who will you be cheering for? @jahajaha93 NHLGamer Editor

NHLGamers, After an incredibly eventful ECL 8, POGGERS are crowned the champions of ECL 8 Pro! The finals were extended due to the widely known issues with the game. As that got fixed, TIKI TALK and POGGERS battled it out for the title during the past week in a series, which ended 4-1 in favour of POGGERS. NHLGamer would like to congratulate our newly crowned champion on the title and a promotion to ECL 9 Elite. NHLGamer would also like to congratulate TIKI TALK, Gotham Knights and Checkmate for outstanding performances and an opportunity to qualify for ECL 9 Elite. The game by game results for the finals are as follows: Game 1: POGGERS - TIKI TALK 2:1 OT Game 2: TIKI TALK - POGGERS 1:2 Game 3: POGGERS - TIKI TALK 1:2 Game 4: TIKI TALK - POGGERS 1:2 Game 5: POGGERS - TIKI TALK 4:2 POGGERS championship roster: GOALTENDERS #41 V.Lehto @Janne Hietala DEFENSEMEN #5 J.Pappas @MrNaiMiZ #87 X.Ripe @Riipperi87 FORWARDS #9 V.Saarijärvi @Chafak #17 -.ENZA @ZPalffy #29 A.Laine @Wickedtah69 #38 -.UI JUMA @Yoloberg #83 S.Gonzales @Speedy104 #98 D.DelaVega @JaKurrii POGGERS road to the trophy: Regular season: 18-8-4 (5th in Group 1) Round 1: 4:1 vs. Raccoon Rampage Quarterfinals: 4:2 vs. Gotham Knights Semifinals: 4:1 vs. Checkmate Finals: 4:1 vs. TIKI TALK Once again on behalf of all of us, congratulations! Now that all divisions have finished playing, stay tuned for our season previews out soon. Your NHLGamer Editor, @jahajaha93

NHLGamers, After long season and some incredibly tight turns, we're proud to be crowning Oton Letkutemppu your ECL 8 Lite champion! It was certainly no easy feat, but Oton really found their stride in the playoffs. The absolute clinic put on in the finals goes to show that we are talking about a Pro ready team and we'll be waiting eagerly for what next season entails for these guys. NHLGamer would also like to congratulate Vesa Pompa HC, We Kings and Cheers Hockey for outstanding performances and promotions to ECL 9 Pro. The game by game results for the finals are as follows: Game 1: Oton Letkutemppu - Vesa Pompa HC 5:0 Game 2: Vesa Pompa HC - Oton Letkutemppu 0:1 Game 3: Oton Letkutemppu - Vesa Pompa HC 3:0 Game 4: Vesa Pompa HC - Oton Letkutemppu 1:2 Oton Letkutemppus championship roster: GOALTENDERS #4 K.Makise @Huuru #62 S.Rakastaja @Theoikeakarim DEFENSEMEN #16 J.Pappas @JokkePappa #44 O.Keskitalo @Duran93 FORWARDS #9 T.Lehclair @Thounimeister #9 O.Kuhta @Matson94 #15 T.Rautavaara @builtforspeedos #59 V.Svitov @RappioTaide #87 S.Crosby @Lehikoinen_ #88 P.Kaukalo @Juha88 Oton Letkutemppus road to the trophy: Regular season: 17-6-1 (14th) Round 1: BYE Round 2: 4:1 vs. Finnish Hockey Legends Round 3: 4:0 vs. Me Carvoset Quarterfinals: 4:2 vs. Blackdawgs Semifinals: 4:1 vs. Cheers Hockey Finals: 4:1 vs. Vesa Pompa HC Once again on behalf of all of us, congratulations! Your NHLGamer Editor, @jahajaha93

NHLGamers, It's been almost a month since we announced the NACL, and finally we have arrived at the doorstep of the inaugural season of what we hope will be as successful of a ride we've had with the ECL in Europe. The signup phase is over and after a short break in order to get everything set up the time has come to play. For NACL Pro on Xbox, we have a total of 14 teams participating. Due to all of the teams being new on our site and a majority of NHLGamer staff being EU based, we have very limited knowledge about participating teams so far. For that reason, we reached out to the players and asked each team to submit a prediction of the final standings for NACL Pro. Based on all of these predictions, we've generated a prediction ranking: 1. Epicenter 2. Problematic eSports 3. Code of Conduct 4. Quality Control 5. Heroes 6. Complex 7. GT R 8. Kangaroo Court 9. True North 10. PREDATOR 11. Chaos Esports 12. Chicago Mafia 13. NACL 2nd Battalion HC 14. Fox Squad As we've seen over and over. Predictions don't always mean much when it's all said and done, but we hope that this ranking will give you guys a snapshot into what we can expect from these teams. We're very excited to have so many teams participating in the Pro division and look forward to delivering the high quality league experience NHLGamer is associated with. As it is now, our knowledge of these teams is limited, but as the action takes off and we get to see some games, we'll be able to provide better and more detailed reports and previews about the ups and downs this upcoming season. Let's get the hockey underway! Your NHLGamer Editor, @jahajaha93

Hello Gamers, We're glad to share with you what the NHL has prepared for their biggest gaming event so far - Season 2 of the NHL Gaming World Championship! Registrations kick off March 6th and closes on March 31st. However, online qualifiers will be starting already on March 13th. Ahead of the announcement, NHL Vice President of Business Development Chris Golier stated: “We’ve listened to the players and measured how the live events and content were received and are making changes this year that we think will make for a more competitive tournament and more engaged community.” So, what are the changes? First off, the NHL GWC Season 2 will be played in Hockey Ultimate Team. This will allow for players to create unique teams that are tailored according to their own style of play. It is definitely an interesting switch over from versus and it's refreshing to potentially see something else than the same two teams matching up against each other for the entire tournament. Right from the get-go, the switch to HUT received heavy criticism from some of the best gamers out there, and it hasn't been toning down. What do you think? The second new thing was the qualifier system, which was renewed as a natural continuation of switching to the HUT game mode. In order to qualify for the tournament, a player needs to register at Battlefy.com/NHL, whereafter one is eligible to play Online Open Play in order to qualify for the Online Play-in Bracket, where the top 23 players per console and region for each weekly period will compete for a spot at the Live Regional Finals. Online Play-in Brackets are hosted twice for each region (EU 13th & 20th of April, CAN 20th & 27th of April, US 27th of April & 4th of May). In the Online Play-in Bracket, the top 128 players from each console and region will battle it out for four spots at the Live Regional Finals. The third new thing is also related to the switch over to HUT and this is an interesting one. From the Live Regional finals onwards, players will be drafting their teams from a preselected player pool and no duplicate players will be allowed - meaning every team will be completely unique! This adds another layer of strategy to the competition and will definitely be some fun to speculate on. Players will draft their team for the Regional Live finals and redraft again for the NHL GWC Final. Andrew "Nasher" Telfer, who will be returning as analyst for season 2 of the NHL GWC commented on the draft as follows: “Players will be forced to step out of their comfort zone, some players stick to versus (with actual NHL teams), others focus on HUT, but for the first time, players won't know exactly what their team will look like going into the tournament. Tough decisions will have to be made during the draft, I'm sure we'll see some pretty crazy lineups come the live events. The good news is players will be able to build a team to fit their play style.” Prize pool: $100,000 1. $50,000 2. $15,000 3. $10,000 4. $5,000 5/6. $2,500 You can see the full schedule for the tournament below: EU US CAN March 6th Registration opens at Battlefy.com/NHL March 13th Online open play begins March 31 Registrations close April 7th Online open play ends April 13th European Online Play-In Bracket Day 1 April 20th European Online Play-In Bracket Day 2 April 20th Canadian Online Play-In Bracket Day 1 April 27th Canadian Online Play-In Bracket Day 2 April 27th US Online Play-In Bracket Day 1 April 27th European Regional Draft May 4th US Online Play-In Bracket Day 2 May 4th Canadian Regional Draft May 11th US Regional Draft May 18th European Regional Finals (Stockholm, Sweden) May 25th Canadian Regional Finals (Toronto, Ontario) May 30th US Regional Finals (Stamford, Connecticut) June 3rd NHL GWC Final Draft June 18th NHL GWC World Finals (Las Vegas, Nevada) Also check what your reigning champion @Eki has to say: Will we see you on the ice in season 2 of the NHL GWC? Who do you think will win? What are your thoughts on the GWC moving over to HUT? Let us know in the comments! NHLGamer Writers @jahajaha93 & @Serg1vratar

NHLGamers, Almost two weeks ago, we announced our venture into the North American NHL gaming scene and we received a warm welcome! Registrations have come along nicely, but there's still some space both in our Elite and Pro divisions. The Elite division is aimed at teams who are looking to play at a highly competitive level and fight for the prize pool of $3000*. The Pro division on the other hand is aimed for teams that are looking to introduce themselves into more competitive play and enter the world of 6vs6 leagues. An excerpt from our NACL announcement: We're really excited to have two as experienced guys as @Scheckel29 and @TheCreasePolice running our league. They will provide lots of knowledge and will work together with existing pieces in the NHLGamer staff in order to bring our new NA players an excellent first season to build upon and strive for bigger things. In order to kickstart the NACL 1 season, I got in touch with @Scheckel29 for a short interview: Please introduce yourself to the community My name is Scheckel29, most commonly known by my last name Scheckel or Scheck. I am one of the original players of EASHL. I fell in love with the game mode in NHL 09 and haven't looked back. I have been around the competitive community since then and mostly play goalie, although my secret that I can actually play forward decently well was let out of the bag recently in another league. I am the current goalie for Entourage, a new team, but filled with players that have been around the scene for a few years and have won some money leagues in the past. I was born and raised in Wisconsin and proud to be a cheesehead! Currently getting my masters, my full time job has me working lots of weekends and starting up NACL is really all I have time to do besides playing video games in my free time. What do you expect from the first season of NACL? I hope we have a good amount of familiar top NA teams that can put on a competitive season. I hope we can have some great broadcasts to show NHLGamer and the world, that 6s can be very entertaining. Also would like to see a successful PSN league as there really isn't much out there for PS players on the competitive side in North America. A successful season is one with few forfeits and lots of great games! Any team/players to look out for especially? I may be biased but I think our team (Entourage) is definitely one to look out for. In another league we have been playing well and should make the playoffs. If we keep riding this streak we are on, I think we will do very well in the NACL. We definitely have our eyes set on being crowned NACL champs in season 1. I see some newer teams sign up as well (Next Question and Natty Light Knightz) and this should be a real test to see how they compete in more traditional season format. It is exciting to see new teams try to compete against the best. Anyway, I think we have some of the best teams signed up right now and some more should be signing up soon. Any greetings for new fans of the league or players coming across a stream or the site for the first time? Welcome to NHLGamer! They have been doing amazing things for the 6s scene in Europe and I am extremely excited to be working with them on NACL. If everything goes to plan, we should have some fantastic broadcasts and some really great games of NHL being played. I look forward to continuing to help 6s esports grow in North America with NHLGamer! Keep your eyes wide open, as we'll be bringing you some prime NACL action on our Twitch channel very soon! Yet again, welcome to NHLGamer, North America. Your NHLGamer Editor, @jahajaha93 * The $3000 (USD) prize pool is confirmed when NACL Elite has 16+ participating teams.

NHLGamers, We've reached the final bout of the ECL 8 Pro season! After being treated to yet another eventful season, the eventual crowning of a champion is at our hands. Yet again, the playoffs have left us in awe from time to time. This season, 1st overall seed The Next Gen had a convincing group stage and pushed through the first two rounds with ease, after which they hit a brick wall and got eliminated in 4 games by Black Horse. A less surprising feat is seeing 2nd seed TIKI TALK paving their way to the finals. TIKI seems to have found their winning way and look to retrieve a spot at the highest level of ECL hockey by overcoming their opponent POGGERS in the finals. On top of these two, Black Horse and Checkmate also fought their way to the Semi-finals, which allows them a chance to battle for promotion to ECL 9 Elite. This season, it's worth noting that only the Pro champion gains direct promotion, as the 2nd place team will face Synergy Hockey in a relegation matchup. These are your ECL 8 Pro finalists: (2) TIKI TALK vs. POGGERS (9) Going into the ECL 8 Pro finals with a slight hint of favourite status we have TIKI TALK, who have managed to build an astonishing legacy for themselves by powering on for what seems to be an eternity through thick and thin. Before and even during the season, they've made some changes in hopes of pushing their team onto the right tracks and it seems as if they've managed to pull it off as of late. As stated, the team is one of the most long lived ECL franchises, having been there ever since the start of the new era of NHL gaming here at NHLGamer. It's a familiar sight seeing captain @itspardytime leading the team in scoring, which he has done ever so dominantly this season again. Another notable steady performer is goaltender @PCJP, who now in his second season with the team has got in the groove of stopping pucks quite efficiently, arguably being one of the most underrated netminders in the league. TIKI TALK is never an easy team to face, they play a fast paced style of hockey, which sometimes can be regarded as a bit chaotic. Stay alert at all times, TIKI is looking for the cup. POGGERS on the other hand is a new acquaintance. Although they are formed around the shell of last seasons Wasps Gaming and consist out of several very experienced players, they are the youngins by far in this matchup. My instinct would be to say what they lack in experience as a team, they more than make up for in skill. Offensive trio @Yoloberg-@JaKurrii-@Chafak are no strangers to tough matchups and all of them possess that x-factor that could make the players beside them so much better. The newly founded team struggled a bit to start the regular season, but once they have solidified their starting six, there has been very little stopping them as they have taken down strong teams such as Raccoon Rampage, Gotham Knights and most recently Checkmate in the playoffs. POGGERS has also been getting some decent goaltending for all of the ongoing season, as @Janne Hietala(Hassu85) has played an outstanding season and is surely looking to push his name into brighter lights. Prediction: POGGERS win 4-3. Schedule for the finals: Game 1: Wednesday, 6th of March 20:30 CET TIKI TALK vs POGGERS Game 2: Wednesday, 6th of March 21:00 CET POGGERS vs TIKI TALK Game 3: Wednesday, 6th of March 21:30 CET TIKI TALK vs POGGERS Game 4: Thursday, 7th of March 20:30 CET POGGERS vs TIKI TALK Game 5: Thursday, 7th of March 21:00 CET TIKI TALK vs POGGERS Game 6: Thursday, 7th of March 21:30 CET POGGERS vs TIKI TALK Game 7: Thursday, 7th of March 22:00 CET TIKI TALK vs POGGERS Tune in for broadcasts of the games at our Twitch channel! Tonight, yours truly and @Kenu in the booth! Your NHLGamer Editor, @jahajaha93

Picture courtesy of SEUL ry, Jääskeläinen. Taken at GameXpo 2018. Read more: ECL 8 Elite Finals: "I just want my team to win" The wait for the finals is coming to an end as Friday is here and the NHLGamer staff has arrived safely at LanTrek 19. Players will be dropping in at the venue shortly, so what better time than to release our final interview - this time we're bothering the highly praised Written In The Stars right defenseman @willekunq: For the first time in a while, you've had a season where you've played a lot. You also have a new defensive pair in @Nassustelija - how has it felt? - This season has been fun. It feels good to play and I'm enjoying myself out there. At first we had some problems and Nassu is pretty inexperienced at the highest level, but he's improved tremendously and proven to be a great asset for our team. What are you going to do to make sure Written In The Stars comes out with the win tonight? - I'll come into the games with a good nights sleep, eat well, bump fists with @Hansulinho and just play my game. Any greetings for the FILA players? - Nothing special, let's play some good games and may the best team win. You'll get to see Wille and many more of the best NHL gamers in Europe at LanTrek tonight! Remember to tune in to our stream at www.twitch.tv/nhlgamer if you can't make it to the live event! Your NHLGamer Editor, @jahajaha93

What's up, gamers? As we're at the doorstep of the ECL 8 Elite Finals between Written In The Stars and FILADELPHIA, NHLGamer founder @Kenu joined Mika Kuha from radio station Aito Hitti for a short interview about the upcoming weekend and one of, if not the biggest NHLGamer event so far. It's about ten months ago since Kenu last sat down with Mika for an interview about our site and now we're treated with another short segment. For those that understand Finnish, listen to the interview below, for those that don't we have a short recap. The ECL 8 Elite Finals: (1) Written In The Stars vs. FILADELPHIA (2) LIVE at LanTrek '19 in Tampere, Finland. Stream at www.twitch.tv/nhlgamer Schedule:* Game 1 17:00 CET Game 2 17:40 CET Game 3 18:20 CET --------------------------------------- BREAK 18:55-19:55 CET --------------------------------------- Game 4 20:00 CET Game 5 20:40 CET --------------------------------------- BREAK 21:10-21:20 CET --------------------------------------- Game 6 21:25 CET Game 7 22:05 CET *ECL Staff withholds the right to alter the schedule if need be. What's the underlying reason we're seeing an ECL 8 live final at LanTrek in Tampere? - Well, there were many. First off, the timing was right and we had been taking massive steps further, so we were happy to take the natural step with organising a live final. Tampere is at a good location as it's very central and easily accessible from all around Finland and even from abroad. I've never attended LanTrek, but heard good things about it, so I'm happy to be able to showcase the pinnacle of our league at this event. Are you surprised about these two teams matching up against each other in the final? - Anyone could have made it, but it's not a massive surprise that Written In The Stars and FILADELPHIA meet at the very first live ECL Elite final. These two have been some of the stronger teams in our league for quite some time now and they actually had their last live event clash at the IS Cup 3: 6vs6 eSM, where all three games went into overtime before FILADELPHIA managed to win and ultimately hoist the cup. Both teams surely have those games in fresh memory. In the regular season, FILA won both games in the matchup between these two teams. Nevertheless, both of these teams are tremendously skilled and wether you are a fan of versus NHL or 6vs6 NHL, expect the very best at this final event. Bringing these games to a live setting must surely bring an interesting twist to playing, how do you feel about that? - It's certainly different and I think it'll have an effect on the players. For both FILA and SKY it's kind of a familiar situation, though. If I recall correctly, @Eki stated that it's even easier for him to play live sometimes and looking at his performances, I don't doubt that. When playing live, it's always interesting to see how players react to the pressure of the crowd and the cameras. It's been nice to follow what's been going on in the ECL throughout the season. It seems like you're a tight knit community, talk a bit about that. - Yeah, we're enemies on the ice and competition is tough, but the community is very tight knit and it all comes together nicely at these live events. This community has been built by the players and we've grown quickly on to bigger things lately. Let's take a quick look across the pond. You recently announced the NACL - When does that kick off? - The NACL kicks off on the 11th of March. I can't stress enough how excited I am about this, I know the North American community has been itching for our market entry and now the time was right. The announcement blew up on social media and we've had some registrations already. We expect more of the very Elite of NHL 6vs6 to join our site now that we offer a chance for North American players to compete in one of our leagues too. Kenu, ECL action is at it's best when it's live. What do you have to say to all the people doubting attendance? - Couldn't say it better myself. ECL action is at it's best when it's live. Entry to LanTrek is only 15€ and on top of some excellent ECL action you'll get to devour some delicious Rustica Pizza right next to our stage. Thank you all and see you at LanTrek! Puck drop is at 17 CET tomorrow! Your NHLGamer Editor, @jahajaha93

Picture courtesy of SEUL ry, Jääskeläinen. Taken at GameXpo 2018. NHLGamers, It's the final week of ECL 8 Elite and it all culminates at the pinnacle of the season - The ECL 8 Elite Finals at LanTrek in Tampere, Finland! With this short intro, we're launching an extensive coverage into the heated battle between first seed Written In The Stars and second seed FILADELPHIA. The games are scheduled to start at 17:00 CET on Friday, 1st of March, 2019 and we'll keep going for as long as it takes to make out a champion, believe me - that might take a while! Last time these teams met live, we ended up playing long into the night as game 2 wasn't decided until 6th OT when @Dominointitickled twine. Stay tuned for our big ECL 8 Elite Final preview, dropping late this evening. You'll be able to find us all weekend at LanTrek, as we're hosting the ECL 8 Elite Finals on Friday and casual FIFA 19 and NHL 19 tournaments on Saturday. NHLGamer can be found in the lower left hand corner (picture above). The ECL 8 Elite finals will be played on stage #2. Read more: ECL 8 Elite Finals: "We're in this together" We're continuing our short interview series with a FILADELPHIA player today! This time, @Janzuh gets the honour to step up and share some thoughts: You and @vatalisti patrolled the blueline for three seasons straight, @jtorro1233 stepped in for this season. How has the transition went? - I'm not gonna lie, it was a bit difficult at first. Probably didn't help that we didn't practice too much ahead of the season either. We had a short adjustment period but I think we've been hitting it off with Torro quite well recently. There's a lot of similarities between Torro and Vata as both like to jump in on the rush and provide offense. I'm happy being the last man back and keeping it clean in our own end. Personal achievements aren't my priority, I just want my team to win. What's the factor that will push FILA to a win on Friday? - There's many. Our offense will click, we'll be solid in our own end. I'm not going to swear on it, but we'll try to keep our net clean for all of Friday. I think our biggest advantage is our team spirit, to be honest. We always have fun together and even if we wouldn't be the better team on paper, we'll give ourselves a chance to win by just sticking to what we always do - play the game and have fun together. Janzuh and several other of the best European NHL gamers will be taking the stage on Friday, 1st of March at LanTrek. Games start at 17 CET and you're all very welcome to join us either live in Tampere or through our stream at www.twitch.tv/nhlgamer. Arttu Hämäläinen and Jani @Jiihooo86 Hetta will be our commentators for the night! Your NHLGamer Editor, @jahajaha93

Picture courtesy of SEUL ry, Jääskeläinen. Taken at IS Cup 3: 1vs1 eSM. NHLGamers, It's the final week of ECL 8 Elite and it all culminates at the pinnacle of the season - The ECL 8 Elite Finals at LanTrek in Tampere, Finland! With this short intro, we're launching an extensive coverage into the heated battle between first seed Written In The Stars and second seed FILADELPHIA. The games are scheduled to start at 17:00 CET on Friday, 1st of March, 2019 and we'll keep going for as long as it takes to make out a champion, believe me - that might take a while! Last time these teams met live, we ended up playing long into the night as game 2 wasn't decided until 6th OT when @Dominointitickled twine. Stay tuned for our big ECL 8 Elite Final preview, dropping late this evening. You'll be able to find us all weekend at LanTrek, as we're hosting the ECL 8 Elite Finals on Friday and casual FIFA 19 and NHL 19 tournaments on Saturday. NHLGamer can be found in the lower left hand corner (picture above). The ECL 8 Elite finals will be played on stage #2. Read more: ECL 8 Elite Finals: "They can't beat us" To get you guys in the mood, we've decided to do short interviews with members of each finalist team. For this one, we caught up with Written In The Stars captain and right wing @FlyerKungen: You switched over to the right wing for this season from playing center in ECL 7. How did that change feel and was it tough? - It wasn't really tough, since I've played the RW spot for pretty much all my career before. I've got thousands of games at that spot under my belt so after a short adjustment it was easy to just get back into your old ways. Of course I needed to adjust to the play of @willekunq on right D and @Dominointi as my center. FILADELPHIA is te more experienced lan team. Do you think that will have an effect on the games come Friday? - Can't deny the fact that they are the slightly more experienced team and I've actually given this some thought before the season. I think it won't play too much of a part on Friday. We've got a great group of guys and we're in this together. Some guys might be a bit nervous for the first game but you get into the groove very quick. @FinKonna said that he'd be putting the pressure on you guys, how do you intend to respond to that? - We'll be keeping that a secret for now. Finally, what do you expect from the LanTrek event? - Well, I haven't attended before so I don't know too much about it. I expect a great event and hope that our community shows up even though it's outside of the Helsinki area. I don't think the entry fee is bad considering you get a rare chance to meet up with some of the best NHL gamers and best people out there. Hopefully we'll get some great games too! Watch FlyerKungen lead his team onto the ice this upcoming Friday, starting 17CET at www.twitch.tv/nhlgamer. We'll be streaming the full best of 7-series with your very own Arttu Hämäläinen and Jani @Jiihooo86 Hetta in the booth! Your NHLGamer Editor, @jahajaha93

Photo courtesy of SEUL ry, Jääskeläinen. Taken at GameXpo 2018. NHLGamers, It's the final week of ECL 8 Elite and it all culminates at the pinnacle of the season - The ECL 8 Elite Finals at LanTrek in Tampere, Finland! With this short intro, we're launching an extensive coverage into the heated battle between first seed Written In The Stars and second seed FILADELPHIA. The games are scheduled to start at 17:00 CET on Friday, 1st of March, 2019 and we'll keep going for as long as it takes to make out a champion, believe me - that might take a while! Last time these teams met live, we ended up playing long into the night as game 2 wasn't decided until 6th OT when @Dominointi tickled twine. Stay tuned for our big ECL 8 Elite Final preview, dropping late tomorrow evening. You'll be able to find us all Weekend at LanTrek, as we're hosting the ECL 8 Elite Finals on Friday and casual FIFA 19 and NHL 19 tournaments on Saturday. NHLGamer can be found in the lower left hand corner (picture above). The ECL 8 Elite finals will be played on stage #2. To get you guys in the spirit, we'll be releasing short interviews with some members of the finalist teams over the next few days. Our first victim was long time FILADELPHIA goaltender and assistant captain @FinKonna: You and @sibeelius pretty much share the responsibility of the games, is there any logic or strategy behind how you play or do you just go with who's available? - In the regular season we've agreed that both goalies split the games. To start the playoffs we play two games each and from there on we go with whoever seems to perform better. Quickly go over your season so far. - Well, @jtorro1233 came in as a new guy and obviously we had an adjustment period. We didn't play too much before the season started, which came back to bite us, however I think we managed to bounce back nicely and found our stride towards the end of the season. The last time Written In The Stars beat you in a competitive game was in the finals of the Finnish Championships in 6vs6 (aka IS Cup 3) in the fall of 2018, do you think that gives you an edge? - They can't beat us lately, so that'll certainly play in our favour. They might be feeling the pressure building and there's a bit of a monkey on their backs. FinKonna is notorious for applying pressure to the opposing side, and he is determined to keep doing just that this upcoming weekend. He mentioned that he'll make sure to bother some of the SKY players a bit extra at the hotel prior to the games. Make sure to tune in at www.twitch.tv/nhlgamer for all the action on Friday! The games start at 17:00 CET and we'll have your very own Arttu Hämäläinen and Jani @Jiihooo86 Hetta in the booth. Unfortunately there won't be a separate international feed, but we will include English content in our broadcast. Hope to see you all at LanTrek this weekend! Your NHLGamer Editor, @jahajaha93

NHLGamers! We're rolling on with the ECL 8 Lite Playoffs and now we've come along to the second round, where also the top 16 seeded teams get to jump in on the action. At this point, the 32 best teams of ECL 8 Lite remain to battle for Pro division spots in ECL 9. The second round of the playoffs will start today on Thursday, February 14th, 2019 and end on Wednesday, February 20th, 2019. According to section 5.6.1 of the ECL 8 Rulebook, the ECL 8 Lite Playoffs will be played as follows: In ECL Lite, the top 8 teams from each of the 6 groups will make the playoffs. For each group the top 2 teams will have a bye round and advance directly to round 2. All remaining teams will be seeded according to the tiebreakers mentioned in 11.3. The top 4 teams of these seeded ones will also advance directly round 2. This leaves 32 teams playing in round 1, where the top seed plays the 32nd seed, 2nd seed will play 31st etc. The winning teams will be merged with the bye teams and play the 2nd round, making a total of 32 teams competing in round 2. Tiebreakers (ECL 8 Rulebook 11.3): Wins (including OT-wins) Head-to-head record (points in mutual games) Goal difference (across all games played) Scored goals (across all games played) After the first round, all remaining teams are again re-seeded. Every series are played in a best of seven manner and the higher seeded team will play the first game at home. (10.7.2 ECL Rules). Here are the matchups for round 2 of the ECL 8 Lite Playoffs: (2.) Old Farts vs. Poston Fruits (36.) (3.) Dystopia vs. SKA Hokurit (35.) (5.) Blackdawgs vs. Club Savage (33.) (6.) Last Period vs. Western Express (31.) (7.) Perttilan Kommandot vs. LammasLauma (28.) (8.) Nearbird Fighters vs. Beast Hockey (27.) (9.) Elamam Kiekko vs. Farminaattori (26.) (10.) Puck Panthers vs. Me Carvoset (25.) (11.) We Kings vs. EV Fuessen eSports (24.) (12.) Saucer Hockey vs. Kaukosen Luistin (23.) (13.) The Dudes vs. Reaperr (22.) (14.) Oton Letkutemppu vs. Finnish Hockey Legends (21.) (15.) N0 Name vs. Vesa Pompa HC (20.) (16.) Cheers Hockey vs. Suomen Sonnit (19.) (17.) Mighty French Roosters vs. Chatbox (18.) League Administration rulings in Round 1: Dynamic Due to the team not being able to put 6 players on the ice for the rest of this season, they will be disqualified. This result in the best seeded team from the regular season (Prowlers) moving on to the 3rd round of the playoffs. (You can read more about the events that led to this here.) Suomen Sonnit vs Stayhard Stallions: LA got the information about Suomen Sonnit goaltender (cyberg-kzn) switching traits during a disconnected game and the new one that followed. This is not allowed according to rule 11.11 Player Disconnects This will result in a 1 game ban for the goaltender (cyberg-kzn) and it will be served during their first game in Round 2. The trait switching was only reported 3 days after the game was reported and the score of the game will stand. Atomic Hamsters vs Mighty French Roosters: In this case Atomic Hamsters had several games with connection issues and decided to not play the final games of the series on Wednesday. This day was also the deadline for the 1st round of the playoffs. Roosters were still available and wanted to finish the series on this night. LA member Hennisch, who is a member of Atomic Hamsters, was excluded in all discussions and voting related to the decision in order to come to an unbiased view of the situation. According to rule 11.9 Connection Issues This rule wasn't followed in this case, Hamsters continued to play their games past the 2 minute mark even though connection issues had appeared. In the end, this resulted in 1 walk over win to Mighty French Roosters, which resulted in their team going to the 2nd round. Play hard and fair out there, see you on the ice! Your NHLGamer Editor, @jahajaha93

NHLGamers! So, now the big games start. We've weeded out the haves from the have nots and what we're left with is eight teams who definitely have what it takes to be the very best. Prior to the season, there were some concerns about thew level of play in Elite being inflated as we saw a lot of up-and-down movement with some teams folding. 30 games later I think it's safe to say that was not the case. If not for a few exceptions ECL 8 Elite has definitely been a league where each and every team could beat any opponent. The primary game days for the ECL 8 Elite Quarterfinals are: Monday 11th of February, Wednesday 13th of February and Thursday 14th of February. These game days are to be prioritised in scheduling. Please communicate in the captains chat in order to ensure we have matchups in place for broadcasts. These are the matchups for the ECL 8 Elite Quarterfinals: (1) Written In The Stars vs. Northern Stars (8) As is often the case when the 1st seed faces the 8th seed in Elite it is rather unlikely to see an upset playing out. This series is no different in that in order for NOS to come out victorious, they will need an absolutely herculean effort from all players up and down their line-up, whereas for SKY they could in all likelihood ‘mail it in’ so to speak and still win each game quite decisively. The only saving grace for NOS is that they were one of the very few that were able to actually deal a blow to SKY this season in a 2-1 OT win a couple weeks back, whether this is something they can recreate however is up in the air. Written in the Stars (Regular season record 26-3-1) Familiar territory once again for Written in the Stars as they find themselves rolling into the playoffs with the number 1 seed for the second time in three seasons, and as one of hottest teams at the moment (8-2-0). Up to this point, SKY have completely manhandled almost everyone that they have played, establishing a record of 26-3-1 which goes down as the second best season in ECL Elite history (second only to SKYs own high water mark of 55pts in ECL 6), despite this, the most impressive part of their play is not their total points per se, instead more that they are just straight demolishing other teams. No other team in ECL history has finished a season with a goal differential of, or higher than, +74, not only does this speak to SKYs ability to score at will, but it underpins their growth defensively in that they now have a defence they can rely on it seems. To put into context how much of a beat down SKY has been dishing out, the next closest goal differential all time is +54. Of course, despite this there are still some doubts surrounding the team as their tendency to ‘choke’ once the playoffs roll around has been well documented in the past, sure the roster has changed quite considerably over the seasons but will the proverbial monkey-on-the-back remain? Only time will tell. Leading point scorer (F): @FlyerKungen & @Dominointi // 72pts (31+41) & (29+43) in 30 games Leading point scorer (D): @willekunq // 30pts (8+22) in 30 games Most winningest goalie: @Hansulinho // 86.36 SV% & 0.75 GAA in 16 games. Northern Stars (Regular season record 12-9-9) Someone had to draw the shortest straw, and that team just happened to be Northern Stars. That said, I do not imagine that they mind too much given the amount of adversity they have had to overcome to find themselves in this situation. Not only did they start the season to the tune of 3-6-5, but they also lost their stalwart forward in @Floor17 to illness. Despite this underwhelming start and turn of bad fortune, NOS have managed to fight tooth and nail to secure their 4th straight playoff appearance in Elite thanks in part to @cHIIMEERa catalysing the offense (having a hand in 76% of all goals scored by the team), as well as rookie acquisition @Nieppii slotting in rather nicely as the starting RW. Looking beyond this however, it would perhaps almost require a ‘Cinderella’ type of run / miracle for NOS to depose Written. Such an event would be fitting of its moniker, but even in the most outlandish scenario imaginable, I still do not see NOS besting SKY four times over the course of seven games. Leading point scorer (F): @cHIIMEERa // 37pts (21+16) in 29 games Leading point scorer (D): @ma0niii // 18pts (2+16) in 27 games Most winningest goalie: @MajLeN-Gaming // 86.11 SV% & 1.50 GAA in 10 games. Prediction: Written in the Stars, 4-1 (2) FILADELPHIA vs. Butterfly Effect (7) We continue our trip through all the first round matchups with a banger. This matchup seems like a great one, where both teams boast great offensive upside and impressive goaltending. Both regular season bouts were won by FILA (2:3 & 2:0). FILADELPHIA (Regular season record 23-6-1) The question on everyone's minds must surely be how well FILA will defend their title. It certainly won't be an easy task as already the first round opponent could surprise them. One of FILA's strengths this season has been their offense, which looks exactly the same as last season. @PleeMaker boasts an impressive total of 60 points, with @Eki and @Patzlaf not trailing far behind. If these guys go confident into the matchup, they will be hard to stop. On defense, they also have two offensively talented but also responsible players, @Janzuh and @jtorro1233 combine for 41 points in the regular season. @FinKonna had one of the strongest seasons in the league stats-wise, but we expect @Zande95 to step up in the big games. Leading point scorer (F): @PleeMaker // 60pts (23+37) in 30 games Leading point scorer (D): @jtorro1233 // 21pts (6+15) in 28 games Most winningest goalie: @FinKonna // 86.66 SV% & 1.00 GAA in 14 games. Butterfly Effect (Regular season record 15-10-5) FLY had a fluctuant season with some stretches of wins and losses. They made a nice push towards the end of the season and seem to have found some form as of late, so we expect them to be nearing their peak in time for the playoffs. @Joukki leads the team in scoring with 39 points amassed but he will need some secondary scoring if the team wants to advance. The team has been good defensively and we expect @JanneK. to show up big for his team in the playoffs. Leading point scorer (F): @Joukki // 39pts (24+15) in 30 games Leading point scorer (D): @Crisu_rottis // 10pts (0+10) in 30 games Most winningest goalie: @JanneK. // 77.50 SV% & 2.25 GAA in 30 games. Prediction: FILADELPHIA win 4-2. (3) Symphony vs. Rusty Blades (6) This should be a rather even matchup and what's interesting is that the styles of these teams should matchup rather well against each other. Symphony is a clear puck possession team whereas Rusty Blades likes to counter and utilise quick passing plays. We also see two of the best goaltenders in the scene go at it as @swagx88 has stood tall in net for SYM and we are all very aware of how good @Supreex has been for RB for years now. Symphony (Regular season record 21-5-4) Things for Symphony are kicking well, as expected. There wasn't too much roster turnover in the offseason as the team basically switched a goalie as @swagx88 replaced @ICappeI and up front @RutonMosse replaced @Buantso on the left wing. Let me tell you these changes have worked out for them! An already strong team got even better and both new players have possessed leading roles in their run so far this season. An extremely important factor in Symphony's success has also been their centerman @tbnantti, who seems to have hit his peak this season. The experienced center likes to hold on to the puck and seems to do close to impossible things with it every time it lays at his tape. To start of the season, SYM looked a bit shaky, experiencing a loss against AIK and a double loss against Butterfly Effect but at the same time stealing points from regular season winner Written In The Stars. They seem to have found their stride towards the end of the season though, closing out the last ten games with a record of 9-0-1. Leading point scorer (F): @RutonMosse // 51pts (26+25) in 30 games Leading point scorer (D): @Ilmari_30 // 22pts (9+14) in 30 games Most winningest goalie: @swagx88 // 80.76 SV% & 1.42 GAA in 14 games. Rusty Blades (Regular season record 15-10-5) Rusty Blades experienced something of a facelift over the offseason and oh boy has it been refreshing to see! Previously, "you get what you see" would have described RB quite perfectly. Everyone knew what they were about and sometimes they were effective with it, sometimes not. Well, this time around they added a few quality players to their lineup who definitely have taken the team to the next level. The duo @Foppatofflan-@MartindalexC from the former Northern Ascendancy definitely brings a whole new element to their offense and the addition of @The_Alpha_Furyan on LD has turned out in their favour too. All in all, the Rusty Blades 2.0 we're seeing this season is a team you could very well see go all the way if they manage to find consistency, something that has been difficult for them as of late. Leading point scorer (F): @MartindalexC // 45pts (26+19) in 30 games Leading point scorer (D): @The_Alpha_Furyan // 22pts (2+20) in 30 games Most winningest goalie: @Supreex // 79.93 SV% & 1.96 GAA in 30 games. Prediction: Symphony wins, 4-2 (4) Deadly Phantoms HC vs. Dynasty (5) This matchup offers up the best chance of the series going the distance and being decided in game 7, in fact the stats alone dictate as much (2.03 vs. 2.07 GF/A & 1.53 vs. 2.00 GA/A respectively). Despite the slight stats advantage towards DPH, I still think that Dynasty hold the edge based on their experience in Elite at this stage, as well as their roster finally resembling full strength as of late. Deadly Phantoms HC (Regular season record 18-9-3) Heading into this season DPH already had amassed quite a reputation before playing a single game, in fact I would go as far to say that out of all teams in Elite, they are one of the most identifiable teams quite simply because of their style of play and their ‘community presence’. Whether that is a good or a bad thing is up for debate of course, nevertheless this reputation invariably led to some teams and players no doubt making it their sole mission this season to not lose to Deadly Phantoms HC. Well, seen as DPH clinched ‘home ice advantage’ for the 1st round, it would appear as though that the German team can, at the very least, be competitive in Elite, and at the most, be good at it. Heading up this team offensively we have the duo of @Tim_FlyersFan & @Playmaker who appear to have adjusted to the step up from Pro to Elite very nicely, with each of their seasons being their first in Elite. Defensively however is where DPHs ‘true’ strengths lie, as through 30 games they conceded the 3rd fewest amount of goals in the division with a stifling 1.53 GAA. As far as quick comparisons go then it would seem as though this series cannot be better balanced, however it should be said that as the playoffs roll in, the goals typically dry up thanks to a myriad of reasons, one of those being anxiety. Such a problem is often not a factor for veterans of the playoffs for Elite, yet for a ‘new’ team it is certainly something that could come into play in some form or another and drag down their performance. Leading point scorer (F): @Tim_FlyersFan // 47pts (14+33) in 30 games Leading point scorer (D): @gzell60 // 17pts (1+16) in 28 games Most winningest goalie: @RPH_31 // 83.48 SV% & 1.42 GAA in 26 games. Dynasty (Regular season record 18-10-2) Stop the presses! Dynasty finished a season without clinching the 4th spot, or by recording around 42pts. Truly the end times are nigh! That aside, this season was once again a case of same old same old for those in DYN. Sure, they started a little slow, sure they had a bit of a wobble in the later part of the season, sure they perhaps did not look that impressive, yet here we are, in the playoffs again. In fact, their road to the playoffs could potentially be explained simply by the absolute ****show that went on regarding rotations over the season. Their most played goalie @Sandr0hh played 4 games as a skater (splitting it evenly between offence & defence), 6 players played as a skater, 5 players played as a defender and only one player actually played in 30 games (@hpkfani). Such a rotation is especially unusual considering most team rotate out one player at most really. Of course, none of this matters in the grand scheme of things going forward as I find it somewhat unlikely that such an arrangement it will continue into the playoffs. In fact, it may even serve to lull DPH into a false sense of security if DYN are able to come out swinging with their full roster clicking at a rate far above their season averages, which are admittedly astoundingly average going into this series. For instance out of the 8 playoff bound teams, Dynasty ranks dead last in GAA (granted by .03%) and 5th in GFA. Leading point scorer (F): @hpkfani // 48pts (30+18) in 30 games Leading point scorer (D): @Haldeem // 14pts (3+11) in 18 games Most winningest goalie: @Sandr0hh // 85.28 SV% & 1.70 GAA in 20 games. Prediction: Dynasty, 4-2 Stay tuned for announcements about the games on our social media channels, playoff matchups will be broadcasted at Elisa Viihde as usual. We'll also have international broadcasts for you as best as we can. These will also be announced on social media. As always, play hard and see you guys out on the ice! ECL Elite Writing Team @MartindalexC, @Serg1vratar and @jahajaha93

NHLGamers! Yet another Pro season is in the books. We had some exciting times and now 30 games later the deserving playoff goers have been weeded out from the rest. Tomorrow we'll be kicking off the fight for the ultimate goal for any of these remaining teams - promotion to ECL Elite! We'll also have some quality relegation battles up for you guys. As no teams folded or were disqualified, the teams placed 13th to 16th in each group will battle against each other for the right to play in ECL 9 Pro. The ECL Pro Playoffs Round 1 is to be played between Monday 11th of February and Sunday, 17th of February. Without further ado, here are your ECL 8 Pro Playoffs Round 1 matchups: (G1 #1) TIKI TALK vs. Bellizzi (G2 #8) Both teams in this series are very experienced. TIKI TALK has started to find beck their winning ways after a bit of a struggle for the past few seasons. Bellizzi on the other hand has been a Pro competitor for a long time already, but they always seem to get stuck in the masses along the low middle of the table. It'll be interesting to see if they can match up to TIKI, who have found some convincing form lately. (G2 #1) The Next Gen vs. GHETTO FIREBIRDS (G1 #8) The Next Gen is a team whose talent cannot be understated. They have versus powerhouse @kriketski17 centering a line with @Thounii and @NikkeDangles on the flanks and boy have they been dangerous! @oGBioLan will play a crucial part in their playoff run as their most experienced ECL player. Opposing them is GHETTO FIREBIRDS, who are making a strong push back into the top of the Pro division after missing the playoffs last season. Going into the post season as an eighth place seed won't be easy but they should be able to put up a decent fight. (G1 #2) Gotham Knights vs. SPARTANS (G2 #7) Gotham Knights showed us what it takes to be one of the top teams in Pro. Their centerman @ReDMisTi finished the season with 36 points and was a valuable asset for the team all season. On the other side we have Spartans, who got the chance to play in the Pro division and they really made it count. With @rize1988 leading the team in points alongside the fabled @Drunkendefender on defense they managed to finish in seventh place in their group. This series is going to be a tight one but a Gotham win 4-2 is our prediction. (G2 #2) Born With It vs. SIKA (G1 #7) The battle of the veterans! Born With It has had a great season so far and most of it can probably be attributed to being one of the more experienced teams in the league. SIKA is better known as a team and the same could be said for them. We'll expect to see a scoring onslaught as neither teams have been all too convincing in their own end. (G1 #3) Checkmate vs. Speedy Bros Hockey (G2 #6) This is going to be a tough series to call. Checkmate has a stacked roster, featuring former Elite All-Star @Tuukka.R and long-time SIKA forward @Naikou88 to name a few. They seem to be rotating their roster quite much though - do they have chemistry? Their opponent Speedy Bros Hockey declined an Elite promotion during the offseason in order to improve their game for another season in Pro. We'll be waiting to see if all that practice pays off as they go head to head with their toughest opponent yet in this series. (G2 #3) Mentula SKA vs. Rajatorpan Mafia (G1 #6) Two teams that are playing their first Pro season face each other in the first round of the playoffs. Rajatorpan Mafias power play won't get many chances as Mentula SKA play a clean game where they had the least amount of penalties and third least hits in the regular season. Rajatorpan can challenge any team with their consistent play, they got at least a point from every opponent in the regular season. Additionally they had nine games that were decided in overtime. Mentula SKA has a core that has played together for four consecutive ECL seasons and the addition of ECL veteran Hanssonni makes them favorites in the series. (G1 #4) Silver Sword Griffins vs. Black Horse (G2 #5) SSG is one of the older ECL teams, they are in fact closing in on the 300 game mark as a franchise and that's something most teams could only dream of right now. They've gone through some rough times but lately it seems they've found their stride a bit. Maybe this is the season they will take the step back up to the highest level? Black Horse is their opponent. They're a new team that's built around the former Shameful Knights core of @Hullued, @Exel56 and @Tapparafan to name a few. They aren't total newcomers either so to speak. The interesting thing about them is the former top goaltended Hullued making the switch to the forward position and dominating at that too - 54 points in 28 games isn't too shabby for a guy who used to stop pucks more than shoot them. (G2 #4) Raccoon Rampage vs. POGGERS (G1 #5) This series is going to be an even one. POGGERS is the more experienced team, but Raccoon Rampage is a team full of young, hungry players who have successfully been building a decent buzz around themselves recently. Both teams are very responsible defensively and have great goaltending, but the prediction here would be that it all boils down to who can be more effective up front. The Poggers duo of @JaKurrii and @Chafak are something to keep an eye on. Relegation matchups: (G1 #13) EV Duisburg vs. Bone Breakers (G2 #16) (G2 #13) Cowabunga Hockey vs. Murohoki (G1 #16) (G1 #14) Clowns On Ice vs. Pata Hellalla (G2 #15) (G2 #14) Freddie Mercury Institute vs. Tiffen (G1 #15) We'd like to take this opportunity to thank all teams for participation, it was fun to watch and follow your games. Good luck for all teams with the further rounds and battles, good luck and most important - have fun! ECL Writers, @Tonimo92, @Willander97 and @jahajaha93

Art by Efraim Larsson. Photos courtesy of Tölzer Löwen. You might think the life of a pro hockey player (any pro athlete for that matter) is awesome and all glamour. The reality can be quite different. Ben says he’s just a regular guy who happens to have some talent in hockey. It hasn’t always been that way though. There’s been a massive change in mentality and thought process to get to the point he is at today. Most of you have probably never heard of Ben Meisner and frankly it’s no surprise. The now 28-year old German-Canadian goaltender spent most of his junior career in smaller minor teams in his home province of Nova Scotia before moving away from home as a teenager to pursue his lifelong dream of becoming a professional hockey player. The first years of his professional career was spent around the ECHL after which he headed over to Europe for a change of scenery. Name: Ben Meisner Date of birth: June 20th, 1990 Place of birth: Halifax, NS, CAN Nationality: Canada/Germany When talking to Ben he seems like a really down-to-earth guy who is really outspoken and passionate about what he has to say. A first impression wouldn’t give away his troubled past and deep scars. In an article Ben wrote for The Players Tribune, he states that his story is “about a kid who loved hockey so much that he forgot to love himself”. Those might be some confusing words to hear for an average Joe, but it was a gruesome reality for Ben and what ultimately almost led to the end of his life. Let us backtrack a little bit to get you guys up to speed. To kick off the interview with Ben, the very first question I asked was about his gaming habits and to my surprise I learned that he had never even touched a video game. That’s refreshing, right? Ben grew up on a farm in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada spending most if not all of his free time as a kid shooting pucks alone in their driveway or out fishing. His main aspiration in life was to be a pro hockey player. Quite early on, Ben was signed up for a local hockey team and he progressed rather quickly - he was obsessed with becoming the best player he could possibly be. Ben’s words really paint the picture of a generic happy Canadian upbringing: “Growing up, I had both my parents at all my games pretty much always so that was awesome.” It isn’t all that unusual for young players in Canada and the US to move around looking for development opportunities in their junior careers, and Ben was no different. Before kicking off his college career he played at two different boarding schools in Ontario, Canada and just outside of Boston, Massachusetts in the US. It’s a competitive environment where thousands of kids chase the best opportunities and try to make their dreams come true. “It’s definitely a tough choice to make and you’ve got to be ready for it and go into it with your eyes open.”- Ben about moving away from home to pursue a hockey career at a young age. Playing team sports in a competitive environment is tough as it is, but being a teenager trying to figure yourself out far away from home surely adds its own spice to the mix. While the experience can be a valuable life lesson, it is also extremely scary and a difficult situation to be in as the youngins are pretty much left to their own devices. It was at a rather young age that Ben realised he might have some issues. He struggled fitting in with the team, having a hard time communicating and finding friends in a new environment. At first, the issues were chalked up to “goalie weirdness”, but as years went by and Ben moved around to different teams, the severity of the problem started coming to light. Social awkwardness led to bullying, which in turn led to anxiety, depression and OCD, the effects were many. Being anxious, tired, depressed and scared all at the same time while being a pro hockey goaltender in a league like the ECHL, in which teams can pretty much release a player at a moments notice is certainly leading down a destructive path. Especially when all you’ve done for your whole life was play hockey and nothing else. “I grew up playing hockey outside. Every day I was out shooting pucks, I was skating…I lived and breathed hockey. It’s all I ever knew and all I ever wanted to do. There was a fear of losing that. If one day hockey wasn’t there, I wouldn’t know who I was. I didn’t think I had any other skills and I didn’t think I brought anything to the table as a person.” The OCD kicked in and the anxiety levels skyrocketed, Ben as quoted from The Players Tribune: “I knew that there were 98 professional teams in North America … so there were exactly 196 jobs for goalies. I’d always come back to the fact that in North America alone there are usually around 320 free agent goalies from D-I, D-III, Canadian colleges, SPHL, AHL, ECHL and the NHL, fighting for what amounts to only a few open spots at any one time. I had nothing against any of those guys, but in my mind they became my enemies. And lots of times it seemed like I could actually feel them breathing down my neck. All 320 of them.” Ultimately, things got very bad. Ben was stuck in a vicious cycle where he couldn’t speak up of the fear of being released from his contract and not receiving proper help due to constantly relocating and being occupied by doing the thing that he loved - playing hockey. Doing so in a severely compromised mental state made his numbers drop, while also inflicting even more damage on his already bad psyche. All of this culminated in Ben almost taking his own life. (For this story, please ready Bens article at The Players Tribune.) Step by step, things got better. Ben reached out for help and found out it wasn’t the end of his career, but in fact the start of something new and better - a healthier life and a new found passion for helping others. The extremely important factor with mental issues is time. These issues have to be handled with urgency and professional sports organisations are now also starting to realise that. For example, several NHL teams have hired personnel to help their players deal with potential issues. With the stigma around mental health in sports slowly being lifted, more athletes have also come forth about some issues they have had or are still having, among some of those former NHL players Daniel Carcillo and Nick Boynton. Taking off with the release of his Players Tribune article, Ben has also started advocating for mental health awareness and is actively pursuing that opportunity to give back and get the word out there. Now Ben is working together with a whole bunch of different people (for example the aforementioned Carcillo) and organisations in order to further mental health awareness. Mental health issues are a widespread, although a not widely talked about problem worldwide. Just about anyone can find themselves in a tough situation where they will have to handle some type of mental problems, it could be just one traumatic life event or concussion away. Preemptive care is one of the best tools to tackle mental issues and Ben together with a whole company of other people strongly advocate for it. For young athletes out there that feel something might be wrong, Ben has an important pointer that cannot be stressed enough: “The number one thing is don’t wait. If you’re having an issue at a young age and parents or you yourself recognise it, please reach out. I knew I had these issues early on and I let it go until I was in my twenties so we’re talking over a decade. That really put me in a big hole and made my issues harder to handle and harder to hide - when you dig yourself a hole that deep, it takes a long time to fill back in.” Esports are no different from traditional sports in the sense that the environment is high-pressure. The straight-up physical requirements of the athletes might not meet the traditional standards but what is often talked about is the mental aspects of players. Quite often a player or a team is analysed based on their mental strength - "they don't have the winning mentality" is a cliché we're all familiar with. De-stressing activities or taking time off are often overlooked in pro sports, perhaps even more so in esports. The pace and player turnover is at such a high level that even a short vacation could set a top player back, and believe me - there are kids out there trying to take that spot! The result of this equation is players spending very close to all of their waking time at their screens - the very same screens that are the portal to Reddit and various other forums where their every single move, play and game is being scrutinised. Having an outlet and de-stressing is tremendously important, the physical capabilities of an athlete are also tremendously important in esports. Healthy bodies often promote healthy minds and the other way around, so remember to take care of yourselves out there! If you happen to find yourself out and about, here are some events that Ben will be attending as a speaker: The Global Goaltending Retreat - May 27th - 31st, Breckenridge, Colorado, US The Worth Living Conference - May 31st, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada Make sure to follow Ben on Twitter for more info about upcoming events he will be attending. “My legacy may not be left hanging in the rafters or written on trophies, but I want to people to recognize me as a guy who tried to make the game we all love more enjoyable for the people playing it.” If you or someone you know are going through a tough time, please don't hesitate to reach out for help. Here's some contact info to get you started: Finland: Suomen Mielenterveysseura - Kriisipuhelin 010 195 202 Sweden: 1177 Vårdguiden - Hjälplinjen 0771-22 00 60 Germany: Telefonseelsorge 0800 111 0 111 UK: Samaritans 116 123 France: Suicide Écoute 01 45 39 40 00 Russia: sravni.ru 8 (800) 333-44-34 Take care and keep on playing! Your NHLGamer Editor, Janne @jahajaha93 Tarvonen

NHLGamers! We've gone three fourths of the way through the qualifiers of the Capitals Esports Face-Off. We're happy to announce that we will see plenty of European colours in the final event, as @Eki and @Eken45jr paved their way through in the first qualifier as we already wrote. It is also with great pleasure we bring the news that @MrNipsuli managed to make it through on the second qualifier weekend, the other finalist from that qualifier was Regs84. The third qualifier was played last weekend and unfortunately no European players made it through that time, but 3 out of 6 is a great record nonetheless. @PleeMaker has been a goal away for qualifying, and it seems like he won't be pursuing another run at this tournament as the Bolts Chel Challenge qualifiers are hosted simultaneously as the fourth qualifier next week. Confirmed Capitals Esports Face-Off Finalists: Eki eken45jr Regs84 MrNipsuli- THEY_SPEAK_OF_ME Cheez Whizzzzz A short recap of what the Capitals Esports Face-Off is all about: The Esports Face-Off is a versus tournament open to both EU and NA players on PS4. The tournament is played in a double elimination format alike the NHL GWC. Four online qualifiers will be organised prior to the final event. On top of competing for a $10,000 prize pool, the top 3 players will have the chance to attend the 2019 Chel Classic, representing the Washington Capitals in a 3vs3 showdown against the top 3 players of the Bolts Chel Challenge. The Capitals Esports Face-Off will continue as follows: February 2nd - Fourth Online Qualifier February 22nd - Final Event March 19th - 2019 Chel Classic More info and registrations over at https://smash.gg/tournament/capitals-esports-faceoff/details Congratulations to Eki, eken45jr and MrNipsuli- on behalf of all of NHLGamer! Your NHLGamer Editor, @jahajaha93