Virtual_Saku

NHLGamers, As I lost against @jahajaha93 in the final table of the ECL Staff Poker Event, it is I who have to present the playoffs of the second edition of ECL Neo. All joking aside, this almost new division has gathered an incredible audience. Thirty-two teams had launched the first season of Neo, half of which had entered the playoffs. This time, eighty-three teams registered, offering sixty-four seats at the forefront of the playoffs ... Absolutely extraordinary. Let's be honest, making an exhaustive presentation of this first round of playoffs is unthinkable. To try to find out more clearly, we have chosen the unstoppable option of statistics. Point by point we will draw up a Top 5 of the regular season, in the most factual way. These figures, due to the inequity of the groups, will have to be weighted. The fact remains that they still give some notable indications. Scoring leaders (Points) – Individuals 1- kim_johan, RGT - 112 points (18 games) 2- Xx_ZetterberG40, RGT - 104 points (18 games) 3- santtu3333, RGT - 88 points (18 games) 4- Pathen-21-, NC - 85 points (17 games) 5- CMB-wf-, FK - 77 points (18 games) Scoring leaders (Goals) – Individuals 1- kim_johan, RGT - 59 goals (18 games) 2- flgr93, NC - 46 goals (15 games) 3- Kihan64, POM - 46 goals (16 games) 4- otakiinnijossaat, GT - 41 goals (16 games) 5- andreaskakan, EHK - 40 goals (16 games) Scoring leaders (Assits) – individuals 1- Xx_ZetterberG40, RGT - 66 assists (18 games) 2- CMB-wf-, FK - 58 assists (18 games) 3- kim_johan, RGT - 53 assists (18 games) 4- santtu3333, RGT - 52 assists (18 games) 5- Pathen-21-, NC - 50 assists (17 games) Save percentage leaders – Individuals (10 games played at least) 1- Fcoy_faze, DIF - 89.8% (16 games) 2- l_-JigSawG-_l, SVK - 88.19% (12 games) 3- FoxGoalie, EVD - 87.66% (16 games) 4- sorkpippi, PHC - 87.12% (16 games) 5- Empuuz_24, TVS - 86.84% (10 games) GAA leaders – Individuals – Individuals (10 games played at least) 1- Fcoy_faze, DIF - 0.94 (16 games) 2- Empuuz_24, TVS - 1 (10 games) 3- FoxGoalie, EVD - 1.19 (16 games) 4- sorkpippi, PHC - 1.31 (16 games) 5- snaasigi, SFG - 1.33 (18 games) Shutout leaders – Individuals (10 games played at least) 1- FoxGoalie, EVD - 7 (16 games) 2- snaasigi, SFG - 6 (18 games) 3- Fcoy_faze, DIF - 6 (16 games) 4- Xx_sidthekid_87, RGT - 5 (18 games) 5- AltenPfleger_89, UKN - 4 (18 games) Defensemen scoring leaders (Points) – Individuals 1- Idko_5, RGT - 57 points (18 games) 2- Much1979, NC - 34 points (17 games) 3- Sirzuxie, EHK - 31 points (12 games) 4- juhkis96, POM - 31 points (16 games) 5- CuteTerminator7, RLJ - 27 points (16 games) Defensemen scoring leaders (Goals) – Individuals 1- Idko_5, RGT - 17 goals (18 games) 2- L_Karlsson97, CWC - 7 goals (6 games) 3- Anzinho8, GT - 7 goals (12 games) 4- Alessandro3891, JNS - 7 (13 games) 5- juhkis96, POM - 7 (16 games) Defensemen scoring leaders (Assists) – Individuals 1- Idko_5, RGT - 40 assists (18 games) 2- Much1979, NC - 33 assists (17 games) 3- Sirzuxie, EHK - 29 assists (12 games) 4- juhkis96, POM - 24 assists (16 games) 5- Aksuboi94, RGT - 23 assists (12 games) Power play goals leaders – Individuals 1- flgr93, NC - 9 goals (15 games) 2- JF1891, DIF - 9 goals (16 games) - Mwigh, DPS - 9 goals (16 games) 4- kim_johan, RGT - 9 goals (18 games) 5- otakiinnijossaat, GT - 8 goals (16 games) Short-handed goals leaders – Individuals 1- bambulexx, BB - 2 goals (6 games) 2- xreflex54, GFT - 2 goals (7 games) 3- Lilk1046, CHC - 2 goals (11 games) 4- echannover, FH - 2 goals (14 games) 5- Goegi91, BR - 2 goals (15 games) Game-winning goals leaders – Individuals 1- kim_johan, RGT - 9 goals (18 games) 2- otakiinnijossaat, GT - 8 goals (16 games) - Kihan64, POM - 8 goals (16 games) 4- Fuchs2534, WHC - 7 goals (15 games) 5- Zimowski95, FK - 7 goals (16 games) Hits leaders – Individuals 1- gacorigavecit17, LAT - 211 (16 games) 2- Lek3b4b, POM - 186 (16 games) 3- Bothniablod, MOI - 183 (16 games) 4- Venca29, CZL - 181 (16 games) 5- Cigi19889, HYB - 153 (16 games) Penalty box leaders – Individuals 1- bonny2275, FH - 49 PIM (14 games) 2- gandy6666cz, CSS - 47 PIM (15 games) 3- Venca29, CZL - 46 PIM (16 games) 4- LaxenHD, MHC - 42 PIM (10 games) 5- djadidai, MFZ - 38 PIM (14 games) Tripping from almost the front side leader 1- ShawnHeins44, CHC – way too much (10 games) Shooting leaders – Individuals 1- kim_johan, RGT - 128 shots (18 games) 2- otakiinnijossaat, GT - 121 shots (16 games) 3- andreaskakan, EHK - 115 shots (16 games) 4- sgt_soccer, WHC - 114 shots (16 games) 5- Chilenco, EHK - 107 shots (16 games) NHLGamer’s ECL 10 Neo regular season Awards ECL Neo MVP : Fcoy_faze, DIF Best forward : kim_johan, RGT Best defenseman : Idko_5, RGT Best goalie : Fcoy_faze, DIF Statement from Casper @ICappeI Lundgren, Cover Player of ECL 10 and goalie of Linkoping HC “I want to congratulate Fcoy_faze for being named the MVP in Neo. Being named the MVP is the biggest individual award you can win. Seeing it from a goaltender perspective it means that you have together with your teammates created the best possible opportunity for you to perform at your highest level. I had the chance to play with him recently and I was really impressed with his performance. I felt right away that this is a goalie that we will see on the biggest stage very soon. Once again congratulations with your award and good luck to you and Järnkaminerna in the playoffs!” Goals scored – Team stats 1- Ringette HC - 153 goals (18 games) 2- Niederrhein Canucks - 118 goals (18 games) 3- Pahat Pommittajat - 101 goals (16 games) 4- Bull Dozer - 97 goals (18 games) 5- Fearless Knights - 93 goals (18 games) Goal against – Team stats 1- Jarnkaminerna - 15 goals (16 games) 2- EV Duisburg - 19 goals (16 games) 3- Taavetin Starat - 20 goals (16 games) 4- Polarbears HC - 21 goals (16 games) 5- Pahat Pommittajat - 22 goals (16 games) Powerplay leaders – Team stats 1- Niederrhein Canucks - 47.83% (18 games) 2- Redlight Jokers - 41.67% (18 games) 3- ScandinavianFishingGroup - 36.36% (18 games) 4- Cancun Pirates - 35.29% (16 games) 5- Grilli Tulille - 34.62% (16 games) Penalty killing leaders – Team stats 1- Morganchipsen HC - 100% (73 PIM) 2- Honeypunch - 100% (59 PIM) 3- Dompa Poppers - 100% (56 PIM) 4- Territorio Hockey - 100% (49 PIM) 5- Ringette HC - 100% (45 PIM) Now let's move on to how the playoffs should then be played, here's a short quote from the rulebook: Here are your first round matchups: Ringette HC (1) - CSSR Legends (64) Pahat Pommittajat (2) - Support Linne (63) Taavetin Starat (3) - Territorio Hockey (62) Jarnkaminerna (4) - Bonusambers (61) Meisselit (5) - Arctic Blaze (60) ScandinavianFishingGroup (6) - HC Berlin Eagles (59) Grilli Tulille (7) - CaeSarS (58) Bahamas Mamas (8) - Hirviklubi (57) Suomen Dynamo (9) - Black Ice Guards (56) Veikkolan Veikot (10) - Latvian Warriors (55) Polarbears HC (11) - KulmalaHengaus (54) Otukset (12) - Varissuon Toverit (53) EV Duisburg (13) - Eituumielee (52) Niederrhein Canucks (14) - HC Hybridi (51) Fearless Knights (15) - ALLSTAR TAMPERE (50) Savo Bears (16) - Redlight Jokers (49) HC Grizzlies (17) - Morganchipsen HC (48) NHL4you Gaming (18) - Puliveivarit (47) Gentlemen's Club (19) - Bauer Rangers GmbH (46) Wisby Islanders (20) - BurritoBrothers (45) Masiina (21) - Red Devils HC (44) Lassen Lampaat (22) - EIS Force Hockey (43) Thunder United (23) - Honeypunch (42) Dompa Poppers (24) - Evolution HC (41) Wolfsrudel HC (25) - Vemppaosasto (40) UKnighted HC (26) - CZ JDOUCI NA SMRT SK (39) Oulunsalon Pallo (27) - Charleswood Chiefs (38) Enkoping HKS (28) - Bull Dozer (37) The Mighty Skunks (29) - Asgard prospects (36) SLOVAK VETERANS (30) - Russian Lightning (35) MAXIMUM EFFECT (31) - TeamHazard (34) Beastie Boys (32) - EBR eSports NEO (33) The series not to miss : Beastie Boys (32) - EBR eSports NEO (33) Focus on this series which seems to be announced as one of the most closed. Beastie Boys (4th seed in Group 9) and EBR eSports Neo (4th seed in Group 5) have had fairly similar trajectories in the regular season. Ten wins and six losses each, these two teams are likely to go head-to-head during this first round of playoffs. In the register of goals scored, advantage to Beastie Boys with 65 goals against 51 for EBR. On the other hand, the German team takes the advantage in defense with only 32 goals conceded against 40 against their adversaries. The two defensive special units neutralize each other by being fairly close: 89% for Beastie Boys, 85% for EBR. But the Germans are making a big difference in powerplay with 27% of advantage situations converted against 10% at Beastie Boys. NHLGamer's prediction: we will probably need a Game 5 NB: We draw your attention to the fact that all the statistics given here are for information only on the basis of the ranking elements of the NHLGamer site. A large part of them are however erroneous due to the fact that the game reports are not entered with sufficient rigor or vigilance, in particular concerning the goals scored in powerplay or shorthanded. For example, in Group 1 the NHLGamer Staff noted nearly sixty insufficiently reported goals. It is important for the game experience to be complete through reliable statistics that this part of the team coaching staff work is understood as essential. Thank you very much for your attention.

NHLGamers, We asked ten team captains or alternates to tell us about their roster and ambitions for this second iteration of ECL Neo. In order to guarantee maximum objectivity we specify that these ten teams were chosen randomly, even Cancun Pirates, it’s promised ;). In a Neo division of 84 teams spread across 9 groups, we wanted to give the word to the teams in order to present themselves. This very succinct presentation will be followed, in a few weeks, to a more in-depth approach once the first games have delivered their verdict. Varissuon Toverit with @Kimiz1993 How did you compose your team? “We have known each other for a long time and have played a lot of games together - now we are here.” What is your game philosophy? “Just play and don’t complain.” What is your main strength? “Our main strength is MO-DO - Gema Tanzen, it’s a song” What is your main weakness? “Our mental strength after losing a game.” What are your ambitions for this season? “We want to proceed to the playoffs.” Redlight Jokers with @Steve How did you compose your team? “After the GCL season, we had a little break. Some guys decided to join other teams, so we had to look for new members. At first, it wasn't easy but at least we can say that we found some great players with a good personality and who can play more positions. We first thought that we didn’t have enough defensemen, but managed to sort out the situation. Our goalie @Christoph Kugler decided to go to Puck Panthers, but luckily he returned to us before the season. We think that we can be competitive for the new season.” What is your game philosophy? “We are Jokers, we want to have fun on the ice and to break some bones by laying heavy hits, LOL. Well seriously, attack wins games but defense wins championships, so we will stay good at D, take our chances on attack in different ways, not only with the same scheme. We are good for some strange and crazy action on the ice. We are not afraid to play against great opponents, because we want to develop our game, step by step. We just want fair games and to have fun.”” What is your main strength? “Our team spirit, we will never give up even if there is a big difference on the scoreboard. We have some talented players who can make a difference, goalscorers, playmakers and some weapons on the ice. All of us have a good mentality, that can push the other player in case of a bad situation. We are so glad that Kuglach is back in the net, because he performed incredibly during the GCL season. One Joker for all, all for one Joker!” What is your main weakness? “If we get a powerplay situation, we are too hectic and we do not play enough to move the opponent in the slot to find the free spaces. On breakaways we look for nice goals too often. A simple goal is too easy for a Joker LOL. In some situations, we play too slow or have too much of a big space between the attacker and defender. But mistakes are a part of the game and we will fight us back. If we have a big lead, our concentration can be lost.” What are your ambitions for this season? “First of all, we want to have a good start for the season, with great games and no troubles. Our goal is to qualify for the playoffs. We have a good team and we think we have a good chance to punch that ticket. We must fight/play as a team. Our second goal is staying tight on defense, which was our big problem in the past. Finally, we wish all teams good and fair games, but as Jokers we have always a trick in our pocket, LOL.” Cancun Pirates with @IsaaDePo How did you compose your team? “To be honest, it started as a joke because we were not supposed to join this ECL and finally with the quarantine, it became something serious. Our team is mainly composed of guys that played for Cancun Pirates during ECL 6 and we added some new faces, two of them will play their very first ECL.” What is your game philosophy? “Tripping penalties and shooting straight on the opponents goalie, mainly. To be serious, we only focus on having fun together, between a bunch of good and long time friends.” What is your main strength? “Having a member of NHLGamer’s staff on our team… And also the great atmosphere that prevails in our group. We really don’t care about winning or losing, except @Steve Yzerman, our captain…” What is your main weakness? “We have so many weaknesses, if not we would play in Elite like our good friends GHETTO FIREBIRDS who were in the same group as us during ECL 6. Well, to be honest we can lose our concentration very fast and very often.” What are your ambitions for this season? “Nothing but having fun, about the results and standings - we don’t care at all. And we will cheer for our buddies Hawks Olympique HC and Grenoble BDL Esport, the two other French teams in ECL 10.” Masiina with @joujami How did you compose your team? “We are all friends IRL.” What is your game philosophy? “We focus on icing a good defense and striking hard on offense.” What is your main strength? “Our defense, definitely.” What is your main weakness? “We need to be better at converting on our scoring opportunities.” What are your ambitions for this season? “We want to qualify for the playoffs.” Black Ice Guards with @miitu87 How did you compose your team? “Voiko nää kysymykset saada suomeksi LOL” What is your game philosophy? “We try to make the guys better players for solo and team play, while having fun, keeping a good atmosphere and helping those of us who never played in the ECL.” What is your main strength? “Our team as group, mainly. I’m so proud of all the guys in my team.” What is your main fault? “Well, my weakness is that I have no idea of what I have to do as a team captain and to handle the whole tournament things, LOL.” (check out this post for advice!) What are your ambitions for this season? “Making my team a friendly and lovely family, and if possible, join the playoffs.” Good Fellas with @Nemli-SVK How did you compose your team? “I had problems with my previous team so I decided to put some good guys together and I’m happy with this new team.” What is your game philosophy? “Be smarter than our opponent.” What is your main strength? “We always try our best to have fun together.” What is your main weakness? “Mainly letting out focus slip and also some bad days sometimes.” What are your ambitions for this season? “We want to be smart and win against rival teams.” Maximum Effect with @feertiiga How did you compose your team? “I just decided to create a team and a lot of my friends wanted to join in.” What is your game philosophy? “To just have fun while playing and keeping a good mood.” What is your main asset? “We have fun while playing and we also have fun while losing.” What is your main weakness? “We are not good at keeping a good overview of the game.” What are your ambitions for this season? “We wan’t to be as high as possible in the standings.” Bauer Rangers GmbH with @SirScheissa1ot How did you compose your team? “We wanted to rebuild something with some good friends.” What is your game philosophy? “Stay strong at defense and work hard at the offense, LOL” What is your main strength? “As a new team, we had very successful times, we reached the playoffs in the ECL9 Neo and the GCL5 Div2. We‘re working hard, playing a lot together and trying to keep improving.” What is your main weakness? “When we are challenged like what happened for us in the GCL, we‘re sometimes playing low-skill hockey.” What are your ambitions for this season? “Our ambitions should be to reach the maximum of ourselves. But the ECL can be very tricky because of the new teams joining. We are one of them, but we‘re thinking the playoffs can be possible.” Fearless Knights with @CzE Toni & @Zimowski95 How did you compose your team? “We have carefully considered and put our team together. So that our boys personalities mesh well in the locker room, but we also need to be a team where you can play at a very high level.” What is your game philosophy? “Forcing our opponents on our playing style and then punishing their mistakes mercilessly.” What is your main strength? "Our team is extremely strong in character and fights to the end. Therefore, it is possible for us to overturn even a high goal differential." What is your main weakness? “Our main weakness is that we don't have one.” What are your ambitions for this season? “Take it game by game and get into the playoffs. From the playoffs everything is possible.” NHL4You Gaming with @Hohner How did you compose your team? “When @Tornado.hr and me met one evening at the party to play we had the idea to build a team together. The name was also quickly found "NHL4you Gaming" NHL4you is our 1vs1 league and under their name we will start our journey. We asked some players from our old clubs as well as some friends and so we put our team together.” What is your game philosophy? “Never give up and keep on fighting.” What is your main strength? “Our main strength is that nobody knows us.” What is your main fault? “We are a new team and not yet so well established - it will take some time.” What are your ambitions for this season? “We want to reach the semi-finals of ECL Neo with this squad of experienced Lite and Pro players.” There you go! We wanted to give the reigns of this article to the captains themselves and hopefully you have now become a bit more acquainted with some of the teams that are battling through our Neo division this season. Remember guys, play hard - have fun!

NHLGamers, To all the teams joining on their first ECL adventure through the Neo and Lite Divisions, thank you. More and more of you are entering the competitions organized by NHLGamer and your enthusiasm is heartwarming. Here we are going to provide a guide for those of you new here and who may need a little help. First and foremost, your best advisor is the Rulebook (Updated ECL 11 Rulebook to be released 17th of November), which brings together all of the useful information. Each captain (and their alternates) are warmly advised to read it. If you have any questions, the NHLGamer's Staff is at your disposal, and the forum can also help you find answers to your questions. 1- How to enter my team into our assigned division? You don't have to, it's the NHLGamer Staff who does it. In the case that your logo has not been assigned to your team yet, a little patience, it will come. In the case of you wanting to add a new logo or change your existing one, please send a new logo to our support team (.PNG, minimum 500x500) for it to be assigned. Once your team has been assigned to its division, you will then be able to invite your players to join via the home page of our site and your personal tab. If one of your players does not appear in the list of free agency, a probable cause is that they have not yet created their account, instruct them to do so. As such, it is advisable to give your player a name identical to that of your avatar on NHL 21. Once everyone has joined you can appoint yourself as captain and appoint your alternates (if not already correct). 2- Your role as captain and alternate As captain and alternates, you are the representatives of your team towards your opponents and towards the NHLGamer community, so bear your assigned role with pride and act accordingly. You are in charge of organizing matches and monitoring the calendar. You are also responsible for your players' compliance with the rules, in particular the ethics and code of conduct towards members of the community. 3- How to contact the support or your opponents? For any need to reschedule a game, you are required to refer to the rulebook which specifies all the conditions, and above all, you are first required to contact your opponents. It is strongly recommended not only to contact the opposing captain but also their two alternates. It is possible by clicking the Message all captains button on the opponent's team page. You can also contact our support in case of a question, any statistical problem or a disagreement with an opponent, by using the support tab. 4- Your match has been interrupted, what to do? The first thing to remember is that quitting a game is formally prohibited and that it can lead to disciplinary action, up to and including exclusion from the league. In the case of a game that does not come to an end because of a disconnection, here again, the rulebook gives precise instructions. In short, you must first record the stats of the match before you leave (preferably by taking a few pictures), then contact the opposite team. A new match must be restarted to bring the game to a conclusion. Note: in case of a serious network issue, you are allowed to quit the game during the first minute of play, keep in mind that communicating any problems to your opponent is mandatory. 5- How to report a match on the site? You will need to take photos of the individual and collective stats as well as the three stars of the game. The API tool (available through the captain's account tab on the home page) will allow you to report the games. As an agreement, the winning team captain reports his game. The API tool is a great help and does almost everything on its own, you will only need to add the goals and penalties as well as the three stars of the game and some elements. If the API does not work you will have to go through the so-called old tool, which isn't more complicated but a bit longer of a process. Again the Rulebook is a valuable tool. We advise you to take some pictures of every game played even if it is not your turn to report it, just in case your opponent would have forgotten or if any problems arise. As a conclusion, we thank you again for joining our competition. This was only a scratch of the surface and we - as well as the members of our community - are at your disposal for any questions. Do your best, have fun and remember that, even if everyone takes this very seriously, it's just a game. Get ready for the faceoff!

The European Championship League is currently running its 9th iteration of competition. In order to get a snapshot of the perspective of the person behind it all, Slapshot Magazine reached out to Kenneth @Kenu Lehtinen, founder of NHLGamer.com. Interview by Yann @Virtual_Saku Maillet, Nov. 30th 2019. Here is the English internet version of the interview: Kenneth, can you introduce the origin of the NHLGamer project to our readers? NHLGamer.com originally saw the light of day over a decade ago, somewhere around 2004. What started as a website platform for friends to arrange NHL leagues together has since grown exponentially into what is today the largest community for NHL gamers in Europe. In late 2015, NHLGamer launched a new platform for a larger audience. Ever since we started, we've been providing a community experience and competitive action for gamers who enjoy the EA Sports NHL series. We've grown exponentially into one of the biggest communities worldwide and in launching the European Championship League (ECL) in 2015 was a groundbreaking step in our history. The ECL is a league where all the best European teams compete in a 6vs6 setting for titles in various divisions based on skill level. We also launched the North American counterpart in early 2019. On top of this, we host national leagues for Sweden, Finland, Russia and Germany. At its core, NHLGamer is a community of passionate gamers who strive to push our beloved sport onward. We've come a long way but are still just getting started. While we're proud of our achievements, we're continuously striving to find new ways to grow our community, host bigger tournaments with bigger prize pools and find new partners at the very cutting edge of gaming and esports. How many tournaments are you running today and how are you organizing for the whole thing to work? The main ecosystem of NHLGamer consists of two main leagues, accompanied by the national leagues for four countries. The main leagues are the European ECL and the North American NACL, while the national leagues consist of the FCL (Finland), GCL (Germany), RCL (Russia) and SCL (Sweden). We also do some other leagues and tournaments that are less about the competitiveness and more about the community aspect. In addition to our own products, we’ve co-operated with organizations like Ilta-Sanomat to create their IS Cup tournaments and a handful of other projects. How do we do it? Hard work. NHLGamer is fortunate to have not only the most passionate and devoted gamers, but also staff members possessing these same qualities. I have been doing this full-time since 2017. What is your economic model? Currently, our economy is driven by our staff (myself included) working pro-bono and all of the proceeds from the projects being reinvested into our expenses and prize pools. We are consistently growing and constantly talking to new potential partners and sponsors and that is a key step in the right direction of longevity and scalability. « Parallels between traditional sports and esports » What answer do you give to those who believe that esports isn't comparable to traditional sports? Does it really matter? Do we really care if someone thinks it is or isn’t a sport? That’s all about labels and beyond the point of what esports is about. Playing video games competitively at the top level requires several important skills. Some of these skills required of top players can be reflexes, strategy, teamwork and being able to perform under pressure. Being in good physical condition can definitely help with some of these things, such as reflexes, keeping your pulse steady under longer periods of stressful playing, staying concentrated and so on. From that perspective, you can draw many parallels between sports and esports. Many of our most successful players are active and successful in traditional sports and I definitely see it as a benefit in esports. Traditional sports teams such as Düsseldorf, Växjö and more recently Zurich, Luleå and Färjerstad have launched their official esports teams, is this a turning point? Do you know what motivates these clubs to take on the challenge? It’s no secret that esports is taking the world by storm and more and more companies are getting involved. It can be kind of hard and expensive to get involved with some of the more established games in esports at this point, whereas for NHL esports, this is the perfect time to come in as it is at the stage of maturing and growing season after season. There is starting to be an overall demand for businesses and especially sports organizations to get involved in esports, but not everyone feels like these massively famous games that revolve around violence and shooting are something that they want their brand to represent. For hockey organizations, getting involved in video game hockey seems like the most natural step. Having been introduced to what we do, combined with the passion, talent and devotion of the players in our community and an affordable entry-level cost - the interest towards our leagues has been big and you can expect a lot more organizations getting on board in the near future. The Washington Capitals have just done the same, should we expect an eNHL soon? It was only a matter of time before the first NHL organization got involved and we’re excited to welcome the Capitals into the scene. The NHL itself has, of course, produced their own NHL GWC for two years now in the 1v1 format and I’m surprised if they don’t join in on the 6v6 action within 2020-2021. Did you have any discussions with the IIHF about an official competition? I have not, but I am happy to talk to them and anyone else who is interested in entering this market. « Esports is the future of entertainment » Do you think that the general public will find this product appealing? Absolutely. The benefit of this game and sports titles, in general, is that if you’re at least remotely familiar with the sport, you can easily start watching our broadcasts and understand what’s happening on the screen. Something that gets me excited is how the general public engages with us during our live events; Seeing passer-by’s take out their phones to take photos, groups of people discussing what they’re seeing and people from all kinds of backgrounds finding their way to fill the seats in the audience. At the end of the day, it's really up to us as an organizer, EA SPORTS as the game developer and our community to create immersive leagues and tournaments with high production value in order to make it fun and enjoyable to watch for both the hardcore fans and the more casual crowd. How do you see the future of esports in general? There have been some talks about virtual Olympics, do you believe in it? Esports is the future of entertainment. I do believe the bubble will eventually burst with some of the most astronomical prize pools we see for some games. However, I don’t see that happening for a while or overall harming the great thing that esports already is today. Regarding the Olympics - there’s a common question I hear from time to time: Does esports need the Olympics, or is it the Olympics that need esports? Whatever the opinion, I do believe that it is the direction we are heading in - just last week the Finnish Esports Federation was approved as a member of the Finnish Olympic Committee. There are numerous bugs on NHL 20 and several glitches are still possible, are they a challenge to the development of your business and eHockey? I wouldn’t say that bugs and glitches are a big problem for the development of our business and the virtual hockey. I am a member of the EA SPORTS GameChanger program and actively provide them with information about any bugs that either I or the community stumble upon and I believe that it is a valuable line of communication to have in order for EA to keep improving their product for competitive play. The bigger concern that I have voiced to the producers and developers is that from our perspective there is a large demand for better broadcasting options, such as a spectator mode where the broadcaster would have control of the camera angles. Many people are indignant at the disparities of connection across the continent. For this reason, do you think that one day a multi-day LAN competition could bring the community together in a central place or country? Absolutely. That is definitely one of our goals and it is just a matter of time and cooperating with the right partners. Which team, and player, do you enjoy watching most? Our community is filled with a huge amount of talented and passionate players and teams. Some players shine with their incredible puck-handling skills and fancy goals, while others blow you away with ice-in-their-veins kind of calm and collected plays under the pressure in a game 7. Every season we get treated with both great defensive battles and offensive shootouts and while I do enjoy watching the best of the best - watching two even teams play in the lower divisions can be very entertaining as well. This article was published in Slaphot Magazine #99 – December 2019. It is released on NHLGamer.com with the kind authorization of Asphalt Rink Editions. Any copy of this text is strictly forbidden.

NHLGamers, First they were 32 on the starting line, now remains only two that are about to face each other in the first ever ECL Neo Finals, played on Tuesday January 21st, in a best-of-5 final series. NHLGamer will be hosting a live broadcast of the entire series on Twitch. The broadcast will be starting at 19:00 CET and @Tougie24 together with @Cyn will be our casters that night, this is one you will not want to miss! Both teams are coming from Group 1 of the Neo division. TanssiiTuhtienKansa finished first with a record of 11-2-3 and Olympia came in just behind with a record of 11-3-2. Points in the groupstage were distributed evenly: 5-2 TanssiiTuhtienKansa then 3-0 Olympia for two points each. We decided to ask some questions from the team Captains ahead of the matchup: Can you shortly present your team and its history? @Hagerstrom_99, Olympia: "Olympia was founded just a couple of weeks before ECL 9 started. I've been playing the game since forever, but never played ECL before because of lack of time. I've been on the leaderboards in HUT, I've been undefeated 50-0-0 and it was time to actually do something serious. I guess I wanted to prove myself that I can. Instead of going to a higher tier division I wanted to start in Neo with my own team for the first time. I recruited @SWE_KARLSSON16 and @Bloodymess at an early stage and from there we created what we have now." @Unrealhave, TanssiiTuhtienKansa: "We have a great group of close friends in TanssiiTuhtienKansa. We created the team in NHL19 but we mostly played without a goalkeeper and 3's. There has been some roster changes along time but the core hasn't changed. We started playing competitive games in IS Cup 4 and we all love it despite the fact that we played terrible. We started to develop after really creating our game system. There is still a lot of work to do but we are eager to learn new and our goal is to play Pro in ECL 11. We are not the typical six persons team which always plays with the same roster. There are nine important pieces in our team at the moment. We will for sure change things around for the finals as well." What about the group phase, was it close? @Hagerstrom_99, Olympia: "We never played together before, all of us are new to each other. @BeastBenn14 (C) and @Teamplayer (LD) came in later. So as a group i think we definitely grew closer. I think I grew a lot as person by leading a team as a Captain although I'm familiar with that from real life already. Hating to lose sometimes shifted focus to negative, which could be improved. I think the groupstage was just the start for us. Now we have adapted to a playstyle that works and made a lot of progress." @Unrealhave, TanssiiTuhtienKansa: "As you can see both finalists are from the same group, that was definitely not the easiest one. It was a close group and I think there were many good teams left out of the playoffs. After all I think it was great for us because the tight games are the ones which improve you the most." Same for the playoffs phase, how do you see your run so far? @Hagerstrom_99, Olympia: "Playoffs have really been a turning point, being seeded eighth into the playoffs we met in my opinion some of the toughest opponents. I think we only lost two games and I thought they were pretty ridiculous losses to be honest. Our goal was to reach the playoffs, we did. Then we took one step at a time and really wanted to play in the semifinals. Against Kuutamokiekko we knew it was going to be tough, @Tsikago is a skilled and a good guy, they have a lot of good players. We really played our best hockey and swept them 3-0 and here we are, in the finals in our first ever run." @Unrealhave, TanssiiTuhtienKansa: "The playoff phase is always tight because everyone who has gone that far has already shown their skill. We have had some bad games along the playoffs but we have proven that we can play great when it's our life on the line." What kind of games are you expecting during the finals? @Hagerstrom_99, Olympia: "Against TanssiiTuhtienKansa I expect a skilful round, to be honest some games I've just wished for the game to end so it's nice to get this challenge. Some play styles are just really weary to play against. TanssiiTuhtienKansa is a good team, they have skilful players, but so do we. I hope to see good offense, good defense and some nice goals scored from us of course!" @Unrealhave, TanssiiTuhtienKansa: "Olympia is a great team. They play pretty tight, they are skilled in the offensive zone on the ice and they also read game situations really good. We need to be ready for the game before the puck hits the ice and I think we also need to play a bit simpler than usually. I'm expecting tight games which include fast hockey and lots of goals." Explain why your team will be the first ECL Neo Champ? @Hagerstrom_99, Olympia: "Olympia has the best goaltending and top tier players, we have players who really can change a game on their own. I know if we play the way we can, it's going to be tough beating us. We're proud to be here, but we won't stop until we are named Champions. Expect us." @Unrealhave, TanssiiTuhtienKansa: "We are a team, not just a bunch of individuals and we all believe on our game system. I think the main reason for being in this position is that we are always willing to find solutions on problems. We always try to improve our play and never play games without thinking of what we can do better. Within the group of friends we have a great team spirit. We always have fun when we play and we stay in touch with each other on a daily basis so even though we take the game seriously it's always a great way to spend some time with friends, especially now when some of the guys have moved to different cities. We also have a great mix of different kind of players who bring different things to the table. We have always succeeded when we have needed it, so we are confident that will be the atmosphere in the finals as well." The road to the finals Olympia 2nd seed of Group 1 / 11-3-2 (8th seed in total) Biggest win: 13-1 (Varissuon Toverit) Biggest loss: 2-5 (TanssiiTuhtienKansa) 67 GF / 34 GA / 40 % PP / 193 hits 1st round Kulmalahengaus: 3-1 2nd round Eliel Kings: 3-1 3rd round Kuutamokiekko: 3-0 Team leaders 1. @Hagerstrom_99 85 pts (46+39) 2. @SWE_KARLSSON16: 63 pts (39+24) 3. @BeastBenn14: 39 pts (8+31) Goaltending @Bloodymess: 85 % / 2.14 GAA / 1 SO (Playoffs 80.85 % / 2.25 GAA / 1 SO) THE KEY POINT : A deadly powerplay with a 40% success rate. TanssiiTuhtienKansa 1st seed of Group 1 / 11-2-3 (4th seed in total) Biggest win : 6-0 (Mustangs) Biggest lost : 0-3 (Olympia) 62 GF / 44 GA / 17.65 % PP / 89 hits 1st round MAD Knogmackers: 3-0 2nd round EIS Force Hockey: 3-2 3rd round Seinajoki Noms: 3-2 Team leaders 1. @Unrealhave: 86 pts (35+51) 2. @Valtter1111 : 82 pts (45+37) 3. @Wilhooo13 : 36 pts (17+19) Goaltending @Juhned32: 84.96 % / 2.13 GAA / 1 SO (playoffs : 88.37 % / 1.36 GAA / 2 SO) @Häkä : 76.52 % / 3.38 GAA / 1 SO (playoffs : 86.49 % / 2.5 GAA) THE KEY POINT : Four overtime victories since the start of the contest A massive thanks to @Hagerstrom_99 and @Unrealhave for being available to answer all questions. Good luck in the finals! Remember to tune in to the broadcast on Tuesday! Who do you think will win?