Pensasmies

Steffen @Suth98_ Sutherland has had a really interesting and different path into the ECL community. Suth found his way onto the virtual ice for the first time in NHL 12 and he fell in love especially with Franchise Mode. In his own words, he didn't know anything about the online aspect of the game at that time. Suth played his first ECL season in ECL 11 in the Lite division after his friend recommended ECL to him. Suth has also had an unusual journey as a player; during his whole career, Suth has played for the same team for the majority of his career. Although the team now known as Unwanted has had different names, the core group of players has remained pretty much the same. The public perception of Suth is that he is a great team player both on and off the ice, a great captain and leader, a great point scorer, and an all-around gentleman player. We asked Suth's long-time teammates @Snus97_ & @Henka0009 to describe him as a teammate and as a player: "Well, Suth as a player, it’s like hard to describe. He isn’t the best at something specific but my god as a whole player and as a centerman he’s one of the best in this scene for sure. His ability to see his teammates and to do very important goals is elite. He’s also a really good captain. Me, Suth, and Henka have driven this team forward for some years now and he’s very good at making good decisions for the team. And that reflects on how he’s as a teammate and a person. He’s a very funny guy but at the same time he can be serious, i think it’s a good combination." - Snus97_ "Suth has been my teammate since forever I feel. I think I’ve played a total of 3 seasons without him. He has always shown a typical leadership personality, dedicated to practice and being better each and every day. He’s also really easygoing, so to speak, toward everyone, and it is a key part of holding our team together. For me, it’s hard to play the game without him. He makes me 10 times better than I actually am. We have never truly spoken about any “tactics” and stuff regarding NHL. I feel like we just think the same where we want each other to be in certain situations. It’s hard to describe but I can say that without him or Snus_97 in my team, I would never play. The best thing about Suth is that he’s not a “try hard”. We are just playing the game to have fun and joke around. He always brings the joy in the game and party." - Henka0009 Now, making history as the first Norwegian player to be honored as the Cover Gamer for the upcoming ECL '24 Winter season, Suth takes the center stage together with Unwanted, in an attempt to recreate another successful season. List of previous ECL cover gamers: ECL 8: Erik @Eki Tammenpää 🇫🇮 ECL 9: Hannes @Hansulinho Kettunen 🇫🇮 ECL 10: Casper @ICappeI Lundgren 🇸🇪 ECL 11: Tuukka @FlyerKungen Kuha 🇫🇮 ECL 12: Niklas @NikkeDangles Tukiainen 🇫🇮 ECL '22: Winter: Johan @Lehmannens Lehmann 🇸🇪 & Hampus @l-Furyan-l Duvefelt 🇸🇪 ECL '23: Spring: Niklas @uhNikke Nieminen 🇫🇮 ECL '23: Winter: Erik @Eki Tammenpää 🇫🇮 ECL '23: Spring: Tomi @tomboo- Laitinen 🇫🇮 ECL ‘24: Winter: Adam @dzouvi Menšík 🇨🇿 ECL ‘24: Spring: Perttu @Beniittto Kemppainen 🇫🇮 ECL '25: Winter - Intro video by @ProMinx24 Interview with Suth How does it feel to be chosen as the cover gamer of the top NHL Esports league? "It feels really good, when I look at the list of former cover gamers I only see insane players, so it's a compliment, and I'm honored about it for sure." What has been the best moment in your career so far? "I don't have only 1 specific moment, but the thing I'm most proud about is taking what feels like my own team from Lite all the way to Elite and back-to-back playoffs. So the journey as a whole is my favorite moment." What do you enjoy most about competing at the highest level? "It's really fun to play for something, and especially in Elite, every game matters so much. And you can also beat and lose to anyone so it's important to have 100% focus in every matchup." What are some of your personal goals for the upcoming ECL season? "I don't really have any personal goals, I just want to do my best for the team. It's always fun to score and make good plays but as long as our team and I perform well I'm happy." And lastly, how do you think staying in the same team/environment for the majority of your career has affected you as a player? "It has created some special bonds both on and off the virtual ice. Especially with both Henka and Snus. And the more comfortable you are around your teammates/friends, the easier it is to talk about little details on ice and things happening in real life if that makes sense." Tune in to the Season Opening Broadcast Tonight! Tune in to the ECL '25: Winter - Elite season opener tonight at twitch.tv/SportsGamerGG! The broadcast starts exceptionally early at 18:45 CET as the first Episode of the SportsGamer Wraparound with Cody @Tougie24 Tougas will introduce us to the new season!

It's time to take a look at the second round in Lite of the ECL ‘24 Spring season, and oh boy do we have some juicy matchups! Disclaimer, all of the predictions were made before any games played. (1) Nordic Stars vs Refuse Too Lose (25) With Nordic Stars absolutely destroying their round 1 opponent Hirvikolari, there was no doubt who is the current favorite to win the championship, with 32 goals scored in 4 games we do not need to debate that any further. On the other hand, Refuse Too Lose had a tighter battle with better-seeded Vitosvitja, closing out the series in a thrilling game 6 overtime win. Nordic Stars are heavy favorites as one can imagine, like all teams they have their weaknesses and it’s for this Refuse Too Lose team to figure it out, one could point out that Nordic Stars did have trouble keeping the puck out of their net in their round 1 win, with goalie @SakkeTheEngineer boasting a 2.5 GAA in 4 games, the question here is can Refuse Too Lose stop @Vire30 and @Jerax13 from stacking the points even further, with both players raking in 21 points each so far. Whilst scoring 21 goals in 6 games is not bad, Refuse To Lose needs to keep this up versus a much better team defensively than their last opponents, if @Loghi89 can keep this scoring touch throughout the series, they might have a chance. Player to watch this series: @Jerax13 Predictions: @hifk_FANI: 4-0 Nordic Stars @Pensasmies: 4-1 Nordic Stars @Juhaniz-: 4-0 Nordic Stars @Pekedipeks: 4-0 Nordic Stars (2) The Oldtimers vs Hopfensmoothie HC (24) This series will be an interesting one to follow since both teams had very interesting first rounds. The Oldtimers had a tight game 7 series win in the first round and SSK Academy really put up a fight. Hopfensmoothie HC was an underdog coming into the first round at least seeding-wise, but they managed to do a reverse sweep of Nelos Kenttä. A reverse sweep is something that always helps a team perform in future rounds as it shows mental strength and also gives hope to the team even if they find themselves in a tight spot in future rounds. If Hopfensmoothie HC wants to win this series, their offense needs to step up and I am especially expecting @Original-SnuS to carry the team on his back. Player to watch: @Original-SnuS Predictions: @Pensasmies: 2-4 Hopfensmoothie HC @hifk_FANI: 4-2 The Oldtimers @Juhaniz-: 4-2 Hopfensmoothie HC @Pekedipeks: 4-3 Hopfensmoothie (3) Zenegeim vs Schrute Farmerz (23) Another series in which the better team swept their first-round opponent, Zenegeim taking down Hockeyholics in 4 games, was not as lopsided with 3 out of 4 games ending in a one-goal game. Schrute Farmerz need to capitalize on their chances in this series, because in these 4 games Zenegeim only conceded 4 goals, this shows that the defense of @Juhaniz- and @Saviinainen is no easy task for forwards, even if you do beat them they have an outstanding and experienced goalie in @Esko-etikka guarding the net. With Schrute Farmerz coming in as a clear underdog, they really need to study the game of Zenegeim to have a chance, they have a new team, and surely a lot of excitement to be here and have a chance to play in the playoffs. Defense might be the way to go here, if their defense holds up and the games are tight, they can steal a few games but their goal scorer @I-Jeppe-I needs to have a golden touch to put in those few chances they will be able to create. I had a chance to talk to the captain of Zenegeim @Juhaniz-, let's see what he had to say. Have you prepared for the next round in any way? "We talked after the first round, what went well and if something needs to be changed " What do you know about your opponent? "Not much new team but we do recognize some of the players." What will be the difference maker in this series? "This is always a hard question… It'll depend on who can read the game better and react to the opponent's playbook better. " Player to watch this series: @rakkauspakkaus- Predictions: @hifk_FANI: 4-0 Zenegeim @Pensasmies: 4-0 Zenegeim @Pekedipeks: 4-0 Zenegeim (4) Mights vs Ruuti (21) This series is one that can go both ways despite the seeding, with Ruuti a great series win over Carpe Diem and Mights barely getting through the first round it has surely woke the team up and reminded them of not underestimating these lower-seeded teams. Ruuti plays a really high-paced game and Mights plays a very patient playstyle that always includes that one extra pass to trick the defense. At the end of the day this series will come down to which team is more adaptable in their play. I'm expecting @Saloust77 to make some noise in the offensive zone from Mights and from Ruuti I'm expecting more balanced point production which can also be one of the deal breakers in this series. Player to watch: @Saloust77 Predictions @hifk_FANI: 4-1 Mights @Juhaniz-: 4-3 Mights @Pensasmies: 4-3 Ruuti @Pekedipeks: 4-3 Mights (5) BushWhackers vs Seinäjoki Noms (20) Firstly, let's have a look at these teams in round 1: While BushWhackers got a confident win with a gentlemanly sweep after only a game 1 loss, Seinäjoki Noms had to battle until the last moment with a sweaty game 7 overtime win. So far in playoffs BushWhackers goalie @HiBaZiBa- has been as awesome as previously in the regular season. He has an enormous 6-0-1 record with 90.91 SV%, 0.86 goals against average (#1 in playoffs) and 4 shutouts (Tied-#1 in playoffs). I would say this guy would not be far from it if we had a Goalie of Season award in lower divisions too! Assistant captain @hifk_FANI is the most experienced player of the lineup and you can definitely see that on purely scoring sheet with 7G+10A=17P but also watching their games noticing often him being the brains of offensive plays. But the other guy with an A on his chest @LeiskaViis7 has stepped up significantly and is currently #1 in defensemen playoffs points with 2G+10A=12P. All regular season long and in playoffs so far @Simbee434 has been the top-scorer of Seinäjoki Noms. Besides him, the big point in their gameplay is that their powerplay has been good and creative so far. If BushWhackers stay disciplined and Seinäjoki Noms can't build more weapons than their powerplay, this series will be a sweep. Predictions: @Pekedipeks: 4-0 BushWhackers @Juhaniz-: 4-1 BushWhackers (6) Sawolanche vs xBOTS (19) This matchup will be a very interesting one to follow as the xBOTS roster holds many big names from the HUT community. In my books, this series comes down to how well xBOTS manages to transfer individual talent into team play. Their attack at best can have most teams in Lite on their knees. Both teams have the nerves to win tight games as they both won a game 7 in the first round and personally, I really hope this series goes into 7 games so we can see which team has the nerves of iron. I had the chance to interview the captain of xBOTS so let's hear him out. What do you expect from the upcoming matchup? “I am expecting a broadly similar series to what we had in round 1 against Belissimo. As a team Sawolanche is not too familiar for us, so adapting to their play style will be key. In round 1 we made a drastic tactical decision after going down 2-0 in the series - we don't want to be in the same situation again, so we will try our best to counter whatever it is that Sawolanche is going for offensively.” What did you learn from the first round? “The first round was of course important for us gameplay-wise. But more importantly, this was absolutely MASSIVE for our team to relieve the pressure of making it through the first round. xBots in its history has played in 3 post-seasons, without making it past the first round - until now. This should help us to loosen up our grip on the controller - improving our gameplay. “ How will you prepare for the upcoming matchup? “To prepare ourselves for the upcoming battle, we have mostly tried to focus on our own way of playing. We have the capability to adapt our defense to match the offense of our opponents. We have a lot of discussions about how we want to play the game, how we want each other to move on the ice, and things of that nature. Being on the same page about the way we play is super important to us, and we are constantly improving on that.” Predictions: @Pensasmies : 4-3 xBOTS @hifk_FANI: 4-0 xBOTS @Juhaniz-: 4-2 xBOTS @Pekedipeks: 4-3 xBOTS (7) Modo Hockey vs Pata Hellalla (18) After many nights, and many days, MoDo finally played their last games of the first round, and it was a close one going to game 6 where MoDo drew the longer straw. This will for sure be a tight series with Pata Hellalla having the edge in experience, at least @Patadevils has a game or two under his belt, and maybe even the edge when it comes to offense. It's always nice to have forwards with the same amount of points and that's what we got here, can anybody stand out? Or will they rely on a solid team game to take out MoDo? MoDo plays tight defense which can cause trouble for their opponents, with 3 of their 4 wins being shutouts, this will surely be the story of this series. With a team defense like this comes great defenders, with their lineup not being the same so far, we will see who they scratch for the first games. Maybe @Sebbanejad or @I-Sjogren-I who both went without a point in three straight playoff games. Player to watch this series: @tilsuu Predictions: Hifk_fani: 4-2 Pata Hellalla Pensasmies: 4-2 Modo Juhaniz: 4-2 Pata Hellalla Pekedipeks 4-0 Modo (11) DEG eSports vs Technical Disaster (16) With interesting playoffs this year, these two teams are currently the closest two seeds in these Lite playoffs, with both teams overcoming their opponents in the first round they both have a difficult obstacle. Since both teams are quite even, this series will be decided by the team with more creativity, goaltending, and nerves. DEG eSports is not a new team by any means with 672 games played across all SportsGamer tournaments, their biggest weapon will definitely be their defense, conceding a mere 6 goals in 5 games, and their goalie @Meazza1704 rocking an 89,47% save percentage is no joke, with the recent connection issues arising these past weeks, will we see a significant change in either team's playbook? Technical Disaster's first-round series can be seen as a tight one, with all games being close, this will be a big test for this team to see if they can get past the 2nd round. With offense not quite being at the level they can be, this will be a difficult one, good defense vs a shaky offense? @Tecena needs to take his game to the next level once again, with only 5p (2+3) and a disappointing 39,2% faceoff percentage. Player to watch this series: @daaiim0n Predictions: @hifk_FANI: 4-2 DEG eSports @Pensasmies: 4-3 DEG eSports @Juhaniz-: 4-2 Technical Disaster @Pekedipeks: 4-3 DEG eSports Follow the Playoff streams: Please post dates, times and links for streams in the comments of this news story and social media, to help everyone find your team streams. Who do you think will win each series? Let us know in the comments!

As the regular season has come to an end it's time to look at how we did with our predictions and give you some tips on interesting playoff matchups to follow from the first round! Firstly, let's take a look at how we did with our predictions for the regular season, in the projections article for the ECL '24: Spring season we listed 16 potential cup contenders/dark horses and every single one of those teams made their way to the playoffs. As we predicted there were also many successful regular seasons from teams not included in the projections. For example, MoDo Hockey, Red Bull Munich eSports and Neloskenttä managed to secure spots within the top 10 seeds. ECL '24: Spring - Lite - Round 1 schedule: Sunday 19.5 Tuesday 21.5 Wednesday 22.5 The deadline for Round 1 is Saturday, May 25th. Should teams have any issues scheduling, please reach out to support immediately. Let's take a look at a few playoff matchups that are definitely worth keeping an eye on. (1) Nordic Stars VS Hirvikolari (32) In this matchup we will see two teams with vastly different regular seasons, the number one seed versus the worst seed in the playoffs. This series we measure the playoff level of Nordic Stars. Hirvikolari can play with zero pressure because Nordic Stars has been a team considered the biggest contender for the title since the start of the season. Prediction: @Pensasmies Nordic Stars 4-0 The Oldtimers (2) VS SSK Academy (31) With a regular season like this, The Oldtimers most likely are favorites in every series these playoffs ahead of the finals.@Werppi has been tearing this Lite division apart with 87 points (34+53), and we all know a team that can score always has that second guy not far behind in points, and this season was no exception with @japi_kuittaa. While scoring almost 4 goals a game in the regular season is fun and all, this SSK Academy team won’t budge that easily. They play good defense and will surely make Oldtimers work for those wins. SSK Academy is an interesting team with how they play this game, they don’t necessarily play the way most teams do. This can cause some confusion in the Oldtimers team, and SSK need to capitalize on their chances in this series if they want to have a chance. Taking the lead in this Swedish team is @Hellqvist23 who knows how to hold on to the puck, and isn’t afraid to show it. If his teammates can find that next gear this series, it might be an even series. Player to watch this series: @WerppiWerppi Predictions: @hifk_FANI: 4-0 Oldtimers Anonymous player: 4-1 Oldtimers Zenegeim (3) VS Hockeyholics (30) This could be an interesting series for plenty of reasons: HockeyHolics pack a powerful punch offensively and could cause Zenegeim problems if they’re not careful. Nothing is a given in the playoffs, especially with @ViSiOnZ97_ putting up an impressive amount of points (35+41) for a team that made the playoffs on the last day of the regular season. Zenegeim on the other hand made an impressive showing in the regular season, taking down teams left and right. @imosi and @rakkauspakkaus- both seem to have that necessary edge to their game, which can be seen while playing against them. Their defense, consisting of the new defense pairing @Juhaniz- and @Saviinainen, will be a tough thing to crack. With both of them on their A-game these playoffs, this team makes the Pro division, and I bet they go to the playoffs there too. Player to watch this series: @imosi Predictions: @hifk_FANI: 4-0 Zenegeim Anonymous player: 4-1 Zenegeim (5) BushWhackers VS Aspyre Dragons (28) This playoff pair will be interesting since Aspyre Dragons was the only team that managed to grab more than 3 points from BushWhackers in the regular season. It will be interesting to see if BushWhackers manage to keep their net clean in this series. Aspyre Dragons can be thought of as a team that is seeded way below their actual level. Prediction: @Pensasmies BushWhackers 4-2* *Note: the author plays for BushWhackers Nelos Kenttä (9) VS Hopfensmoothie HC (24) When the season began, Nelos Kenttä got off to a hot start playing a lot of games and gathering points. It was clear very really on that they were making the playoffs and now they need to polish their sticks and try and beat a central server team that lacks no experience. Nelos Kenttä assistant captain @Welhouu61 with a mere 30 points (11+19) surely doesn't want to end his season in the 1st round? A few more points here and they surely won't. A team with some interesting names on the roster, Hopfensmoothie HC will try to rely on former Swiss star @Original-SnuS to bring back that magic he produced a few seasons ago in the Elite division. With the difference in the quality of this roster, the rest need to take their game to the absolute top, if the Swiss team wants to have a shot at advancing to the second round. Player to watch this series: @Revitty-stiga Predictions: @hifk_FANI: 4-1 Nelos Kenttä Anonymous player: 4-2 Nelos Kenttä (14) Belissimo VS xBOTS (19) Both teams have extremely high potential but have had trouble staying consistent, in my opinion, the team who wins this series will go far with the confidence gained from this series. This series will be a showcase of lots of individual skill and the team who manages to play better as a team will go through to the next round. Prediction: @Pensasmies xBOTS 3-4 (15) Sack Brothers VS Pata Hellalla (18) This matchup will be a battle of two quite different playstyles, Sack Brothers with conservative defending and Pata Hellalla with a speedy playstyle that includes a lot of long slapshot passes. I believe that the team that has done their homework better will win the matchup, but this series will be a tight one and can go both ways. Prediction: @Pensasmies Sack Brothers 4-3 (16) HC Vadelma VS Technical Disaster (17) With both teams having nearly identical seeds, it's easy to say this will be a tight series. Nonetheless, a series where both teams can make it difficult for the other one is always intriguing. Technical Disaster losing their last two regular season games may have cost them a few spots regarding seeding - or was it a masterclass in disguise where they wanted to play this specific team? @wrlster should lead this Technical Disaster team these playoffs with some silky-smooth moves on the wing. He knows how to put the puck in the net and will cause trouble for a good HC Vadelma team. Helping him is @Tecena who knows a thing or two about this game. Watch out HC Vadelma, this guy can play. HC Vadelma has worked hard these past seasons, entering Lite after playing in Core for a few seasons with mixed results. Captain @Awesome_Zone_ did not have the best regular season and has some stepping up to do when it comes to this series and the playoffs. Can the rest of the team help him elevate his game to what we know he can do, and will the defense of HC Vadelma rely on a shaky end to the season of Technical Disaster? Player to watch this series: @Tecena Predictions: @hifk_FANI: 4-1 Technical Disaster Anonymous player: 4-0 HC Vadelma Who do you think will win each series? Let us know in the comments! Thank you to @hifk_FANI for contributing and covering half of the matchups covered in this article.

From the very early age of three, Perttu “Beniittto” Kemppainen was interested in the NHL video game. He grew fond of the game and later on as the game's competitive side started developing, he began to take the game more seriously. Like many of us, @Beniittto grew up with the game and has been a fan of the series for almost two decades. He is a proud owner of every version since NHL 08. Beniittto first hopped on the ECL ice in the very first season when he was only 13 years old. You could say he has grown up alongside the 6v6 scene and been a part of our story at SportsGamer from the very beginning. Beniittto is a player who has truly won it all during his career. NHL 24 has been no exception, to name a few of Beniitttos achievements during NHL 24: ECL ‘24: Elite winner as the captain of hREDS Forward of The Season in ECL ‘24: Winter eHockey SM 2024 winner as the captain of Parasite As one of the OGs in the 6v6 scene, Beniittto also leads all-time points on our platform. In 615 games he has gathered a combined points total of 1874, which means he has managed to keep up a 3,05 point per game pace now for multiple years. What makes this achievement so great is that he has been playing against the best defenders and goalies for the majority of his career and has still managed to score so many points. This season Beniittto continues as the captain of his team, a team he started originally as long ago as 2019. The team has for the most part been known as hREDS, but started as Delusion. After the hREDS organization shut down its operations, the team was briefly renamed Parasite and is now known as Valokuitunen Esports. How does it feel to be chosen as the cover gamer of the top NHL Esports league? “It feels great, there have been a lot of great players chosen as the cover gamer and it is an honor to be among them.” List of previous ECL cover gamers: ECL 8: Erik @Eki Tammenpää ECL 9: Hannes @Hansulinho Kettunen ECL 10: Casper @ICappeI Lundgren ECL 11: Tuukka @FlyerKungen Kuha ECL 12: Niklas @NikkeDangles Tukiainen ECL '22: Winter: Johan @Lehmannens Lehmann & Hampus @l-Furyan-l Duvefelt ECL '23: Spring: Niklas @uhNikke Nieminen ECL '23: Winter: Erik @Eki Tammenpää ECL '23: Spring: Tomi @tomboo- Laitinen ECL ‘24: Winter: Adam @dzouvi Menšík What has been the best moment in your career so far? “It has to be winning ECL 12 on LAN since it was the first LAN I won.” Since you have been phenomenally successful in big matches, what is the key to a superior performance when preparing for a game? “I don't do anything special, I just focus on the fact that I want to win and try to play my best game.” What do you enjoy most about competing at the highest level? “I just enjoy competing, I have always wanted to be good at the games I play and there is always room for improvement.” You have played this game on a high level for so many years, what direction do you see the competitive side of the game taking? “I think the scene has seen better days, but I am hoping the scene will bounce back and reach new heights.” What are some of your personal goals for the current ECL season? “I always want to win the championship and maybe break some records!” Lastly, as a player who has won it all do you ever see yourself retiring? “I have played NHL games my whole life and can't see myself not doing that, there are always more things to win and more things to achieve and that is what keeps me going.” We are wishing all teams an enjoyable ECL '24: Spring season full of exciting games and hard competition! Make sure to tune in for our broadcasts at Twitch.tv/SportsGamerGG!

As the first week of ECL 24 Spring is coming to an end, it's time to take a look at some teams that have put up performances that have convinced us to be serious cup contenders this ECL Lite season. Keep in mind that it is impossible to include everyone, and there will definitely be teams who will see loads of success this season and are not mentioned here! For every group, there will be three cup contenders and one dark horse. Group 1 Cup Contenders Belissimo Last season's Core champion, a team that did a reverse sweep in the final, has shown many promising performances in the current and past seasons. The ability to thrive in the playoffs is often overlooked, but these guys have shown they have what it takes to also succeed in the playoffs. It will also be interesting to see how last season's Core team will succeed against teams that have been on the Lite level for a lengthy period. They certainly will not want to fall any short of another title now that they know what winning feels like. Player to watch @MrMikkiL Zenegeim Zenegeim is a team with loads of Pro experience and skill. The team consists of players who have not had too much success in Pro but have now decided to come to Lite to gain some momentum for their careers. The players in their team have played in many different teams in their careers, and it will be interesting to see how the team's chemistry will form. Skill and potential are there, and if they manage to play accordingly, they will be a good contender for the title. Player to watch: @Juhaniz- Carpe Diem Carpe Diem is a team who was not in the Lite playoffs last season but has improved loads. If they keep improving, they will be a possible title contender. They have a lot of strong personalities in their team and if they manage to channel those the right way, I can see them going far this season. Player to watch @TorvelaJR__ Dark Horse Aspyre Dragons Aspyre Dragons is a Pittsburgh based multilateral gaming organization that has expanded onto NHL esports. The team has put up a few convincing performances and could be a top team in Lite this season. Last season in core they had trouble keeping their level steady, but we will have to see if they manage to keep up the top level all season long. In this team highs are high, and lows are low, sometimes a team with a decent but steady performance will outperform teams who have a tough time being consistent. But if they manage to keep their level high and consistent, they go from dark horse to serious cup contenders in my books. Player to watch: @letsgoat67 Group 2 Cup Contenders Neloskenttä Neloskenttä is a team that has started the season extremely well, letting in very few goals and solid attack to seal the deal. This team is one that I think went under everyone's radar but has now shown that everyone should keep the team's name in mind. Their tight defense and goaltending have been amazing so far and I cannot wait to see more of this team. Is this team going to start with 1. seed in the playoffs? Player to watch @Kalju-Makke The Oldtimers (previously Ultimatum) The Oldtimers are a team with lots of pro experience and great individual players. For example, two of their forwards are currently in the top 2 of regular season points in all of Lite. The Oldtimers also reached the top 16 in eHockey SM ‘24, which is a great achievement for a Lite team. Player to watch: @Werppi Sack Brothers Sack Brothers is a team who is looking to turn last year's painful final loss in Core into a Lite title. Last year's painful final loss must still be in recent memory after choking a 3-0 lead to Belissimo, and will for sure motivate the team to win it all this season. The team consists of many old Pro players, and they are looking to make some noise! Player to watch: @IKarkkiI Dark horse Toxic City Toxic city is a team who was the fifth seed in last season of lite but failed to keep good form from the regular season up in the playoffs. This team has shown they can be a top team in Lite, but their game still has some question marks, hence they are the dark horse for this group. Player to watch @norskeli Group 3 Cup Contenders Vitosvitja The team with the greatest logo of all time on the ECL ice. They have put up decent performances so far and having a good run in eHockey SM ‘24 they have convinced us to be able to play on a prominent level. Player to watch @SilakanTimo Technical Disaster Technical Disaster is a team with roots all the way in ECL ‘22. They have shown promising performances in the off-season and eHockey SM ‘24. I am looking forward to seeing this team play as they have many tricks up their sleeves with skillful players like @wrlster . Player to watch @wrlster Nordic Stars Nordic Stars is probably the biggest favorite to win Lite. This team has had so many convincing performances in the past seasons it is impossible to overlook them. In eHockey SM ‘23 they were in the finals which proves they are a talented team but also that they are capable of playing good playoff hockey. Player to watch: @SakkeTheEngiueer Dark horse: XBOTS After playing their first ECL Pro season at '24 Winter this club which has been considered as "top Xbox team" for long time by many players got disappointed this time in Pro qualifier. However, this could be seen as a good opportunity for them to gain some confidence from Lite this season. They may sometimes have issues with consistency and also the lineup has been a question mark at least earlier. But everybody who is familiar with players in their roster knows that there are loads of skills and experience. For example, @Kibeeex who battled his way to NHL 24 WC European top 8 lan-event in Copenhagen and captain @OGxN72ege "Maybe the most stick-skilled player who I have ever played against" said Eki after their WC games so that says something. In nutshell, they have pure skill and experience to have a great playoff run but the question is: can they get their consistent quality routine going on? Player to watch: @OGxN72ege Group 4 Cup Contenders Hirvikolari No games played yet this season but this team still caught our attention. One of few if not only team in Lite with Elite experience after making big signing J--Jamaltheman. A big part of their roster has been playing together earlier in lower divisions of ECL. These two things together could be huge resources for them in future. Hopefully 0 games played doesn't mean availability problems because their grinding and developing as team would be remarkably interesting to follow during this season Player to watch: @J-_-Jamaltheman Sawolanche Sawolanche is a team who did not find much success in Pro but are now trying to win Lite. This team has stuck together for a long time. They have shown the capability to play at a high level on multiple occasions. I am looking forward to seeing them make some noise this season! Player to watch: @I_LaiTi_I Ruuti Ruuti is a team with an annoying but working playstyle, loads of waiting on the offensive blueline can be hard to defend against. I think most teams won't be ready for it and Ruuti has the ability to surprise opponents right at the start of the match. They proved the ability to play on a prominent level in the eHockey SM ‘24 where they were in the top 3 in their group. Dark Horse: Mights Last season Mights were highly successful in Core playoffs, they barely squeaked out of the top 3 losing in game 7 in the bronze match. Although Mights had to go through Lite qualifiers they were superb and secured a spot in Lite. The reason this team is a Dark Horse is that it still holds many question marks, they faced many changes only a few days before the season started. Player to watch: @Madladcas Do you agree with the predictions, or did the writer miss the net? What are your predictions for how the season will go? Let us know in the comments!