janbonator

Greetings, gamers! After a well-deserved breather following last season’s Game 7 thriller, it’s time to rust off your blades, as ECL 5 Elite is set to start with a bang. Twelve teams from ECL 4 Elite, four teams from ECL 4 Pro and only 8 playoff spots to compete for – we are looking at another season of action-packed excitement. The offseason was very busy with major roster shuffle in several teams. However, the balance of power has not seemed to shift that much. As an introduction to the new season, here’s a prediction of how the teams stand, mostly based on personal observations and EASHL performance during the pre-season. The teams are listed alphabetically within their respective categories. The Contenders The reigning champions Laser HT are now known as SJK eSports. Team captain Dominointi, who represents the eSports organization personally as well, is expected to be on full form early on, having continued his successful season with a victorious Summer Cup. SJK goes into the season with no major changes in the lineup – and with a champion status, nothing points out they would not be contenders for the new season. Written In The Stars has been one of the strongest teams in the pre-season. DieCutterMC from Dynasty is a great fit to the team. They will look to repeat their start from last year and only a few have doubts they will succeed at that. A blend of slick moves and unorthodox plays; at times, juggling on the fine line between effective and entertaining. Carlsberg HC is back in the Elite division, to which it undoubtedly belongs. There were two very interesting additions to Carlsberg HC in the form of Vilupoika and KingofApes. With one of the best offensive rosters in the league, this team intends to win the last game of the season and light the lamp on the way through. MUKIMIEHET introduced Pair4You back into the lineup. The core of the team has stuck around together for a while already, and with a well-balanced offensive and defensive style of play, the cup is within the reach of these guys. The Challengers Aapon Taikasauva saw a lot of changes over the summer. In came Nylanderi, Penatski, Puantso, Cappe and ShaneC27. They have all the tools to make it a championship team, but the tournament is short and with so many changes, time is not on their side. With arguably the highest potential of improving their game throughout the season, they probably don’t top the Challenger list only alphabetically. Dynasty was as close as it gets to winning last year, but a lot of roster changes happened over the summer and it will probably take a while to get back the routine level to where it was. To highlight the changes made, the starting roster is expected to feature only 2 skaters who finished the season with the team in ECL 4. Nevertheless, Dynasty is still one of the best defensive teams out there – come playoffs, anything is possible. Northern Ascendancy drained the swamp, being no more known as Unknown. Instead, the team is known for their fast, creative and lethal counter-attacks. One of the best teams in neutral zone transitions, and often catch opponents out of formation. Very strong when given the chance to play with their strengths. Nordic Lightning is one of the teams with most roster changes during the offseason. From the brink of folding the club, Terrorsenko|91| managed to get a squad together. The hard work has only just begun though; most teams in the Elite division have a solid head-start in preparation and Nordic Lightning faces a tough task should they try to clinch a playoff spot. Likely to rely on defensive play and quick rushes up the ice. Nordic Nightmare come into the tournament as a bit of a mystery. The team has been a rare sight during the pre-season, but reports say they’ve been building chemistry over the summer in a whole different genre of games. However, the changes to the lineup weren’t big during the offseason, and they should be on form quickly. Northern Stars was another team to make a big double-signing, when PleeMaker and tbnantti inked their names on a contract. Last season they were a very productive duo, and will be interesting to see how they adapt to the new environment. If they can get everything clicking, Northern Stars has the potential to win the tournament; but as I see it, they are not there yet. Synergy, another long-standing franchise from Sweden, finds themselves in a rather similar spot to past tournaments; ready to challenge any team on the ice, and beat them on a good day. Known for strong cycle plays and utilizing all 5 skaters in all phases of the game, the experience level emanates from the blue-and-yellow uniforms. Missing out on the playoffs would be a disappointment. TIKI TALK starts another season with an under-dog status. Patient defense and success with their stingy counter-attacks, and TIKI TALK is right on their game. Team captain itspardytime has been around for a long time and knows how to rob the points from bigger teams. Nevertheless, a playoff spot is probably out of reach. The Arrivals Kattiautomaatti N/A, author's team. How will Katti do in Elite? Share your thoughts in the comments section! Rusty Blades was eventually rewarded for their strong season in Pro with a last-minute Elite spot for ECL 5. These Finns start the season with a virtually unchanged lineup. They are a strong defensive team with good goaltending, often able to catch out match favorites. Silver Sword Griffins is one of the four new teams in Elite this season, and they’ll be looking to cement their place at the highest tier. SSG has a very balanced lineup, including three winners from the previous Summer Cup. The structure and organization of their game is more developed and rigid than with most other teams. Contending for a playoff spot. Sjukstugan makes their entry into the Elite tier in an uncomfortable position after losing their n. 1 goalie right on the doorstep of the new season. With some additional roster shuffling in the offseason, Sjukstugan could be facing a rocky start with their new campaign. Stories to Follow In a big picture, there are always interesting finer details. There are several new teams ready to leave their mark in Elite, Carlsberg HC even looking at setting a standard on what can be achieved straight after promotion. On an individual player level, there is so much to follow. Here are a few stories that I will be following with interest: 3+2=?: Can tbnantti and PleeMaker continue to be the offensive powerhouse we saw in the past, will the new roster start clicking, and will it make NOS great again? Rusty on both ends: Can Lamsa keep up his goal scoring numbers for the Rusty Blades, now at the highest tier? Can Supreex do the same goaltending-wise in the other end of the ice? The League Sheriff: SadaPoika was an interesting addition by Sjukstugan; not least because he is the only forward in the Elite league to regularly play with an enforcer build. What are looking forward to this season? Do you have a team or a player you will keep an eye on? Who wins, who relegates? Tell us your thoughts! Keep those streams running, and as always, good luck & have fun!

Greetings, gamers! After a great display by all four semi-final teams, the Summer Cup by Webhallen is gearing towards the grand finals between NG 50 Shades of Blades and NG Cheap Shot. We at NHLGamer are pursuing to match the dedication and passion shown by the finalists in reaching this stage by providing you with our first-ever broadcast with live-commentary! In the booth we will have Kenu Emrick and Janbo Ferraro. The entire finals series will be played today 24th of July, starting at around 19:30 CET. Moreover, we encourage you all to join in an hour before the opening faceoff for an analysis of the finalists, and even more so for the autographed Mike Green jersey giveaway, which will kick off the stream! If you haven't taken part in the giveaway lottery, you still have time to do so until 18:30 CET. Instructions can be found here. After the games we hope to have a live interview of a player from the winning team. We have also requested both teams not to skip replays during the games in order to provide you with an enjoyable viewing experience of the Hockey Night in NHLGamer, as well as to assist the aging couple in the commentary booth in what is expected to be a showdown of fast plays and tactical maneuvers. Key facts: Stream starts at around 18:30 CET with the Mike Green jersey giveaway and a pre-game analysis at NHLGamer Twitch Channel The games will start at around 19:30 CET Interview, awards and post-game analysis right after the games We hope to see many of you join in with us, and as always - GL & HF!

Greetings, gamers After the first round of playoffs, we have 8 teams left competing for their free copies of NHL 18. We saw some upsets in the first round. Most notably NG Cheap Shot eliminating the 2nd seeded team, NG Kelamiehet, and the 3rd seeded team, NG Blackout, being eliminated by NG International Army. Let's have a look at how the first round played out: NG Club Kannunkulma vs. NG Oispa Taitoo: 3-2 NG Kelamiehet vs. NG Cheap Shot: 2-3 NG Blackout vs. NG International Army: 1-3 NG Parolan Visa vs. NG Puck Nation: 3-2 NG Nighthawks vs. NG Goose Egg: 3-0 NG 50 Shades of Blades vs. NG Paikallinen: 3-1 NG Texas 6 Rangers vs. NG Trashers: 1-3 NG Alchology vs. NG Ultras: 3-1 The match-ups for Round 2 will be as follows: NG Club Kannunkulma (1) vs. NG Cheap Shot (15) NG Parolan Visa (4) vs. NG International Army (14) NG Nighthawks (5) vs. NG Trashers (10) NG 50 Shades of Blades (6) vs. NG Alcohology (8) Good luck everyone, and remember to provide links to streams on the front page, thanks!

Observations of the Draft First of all, a big thank you to all the captains for their patience and effort while overcoming the obstacles we had during the draft. The last 3 rounds were done afterwards as per captain's request on a looser schedule. The remaining players were allocated randomly in a short bonus 11th round. Overall, it was a great event and the stream peaked at over 350 viewers. Thank you! The draft itself did not bring huge surprises. Quite expectedly the first round of the draft was dominated by centremen, totaling 14/30 of overall first-round picks. Goalies were, just like in last years Summer Cup, not at a premium until Rounds 2 & 3. This led to some really nice late pickups for the captains who seemed well prepared for this scenario.There was an interesting split between the drafting philosophies of picking the best player available, and drafting by need (picking players for the positions the team was lacking in). Regardless, following the draft through all its twist and turns was a genuine pleasure. One that we hope to repeat next year together with all of you. Let's have a closer look at the Top 10 picks of the Summer Cup 2 Draft: Top 10 picks 1. Dominointi, NG Cheap Shot MVP of ECL 4 Elite and one of the very best versus players in the game, Dominointi was an expected #1 pick. A centreman who manipulates the flow of the game extremely well. Timing and positioning are the keys to his game. We are used to seeing him as a captain, and it will be interesting to see how Dominointi adapts to a new team dynamic. 2. tbnantti, NG Blackout A flashy centreman with a long and impressive track record. Strong in the faceoff circle. Formed a lethal duo with PleeMaker in previous two ECLs. Will we see a new duo in the SC? I expect xDoumi to have had good hunch on it to happen; this pick was probably decided well in advance, as tbnantti and xDoumi had been playing together between ECL4 and SC2. 3. Patzlaf, NG Ultras The highest pick from players that played in Pro division last season, Patzlaf is a guaranteed performer. Very traditional type of a center, who sees the ice well and is strong full length and width of the ice, with or without the puck. Can play any skater position on a high level. 4. Penatski, NG Oispa Taitoo Undoubtedly one of the best puck handlers in the game; the puck is the wheel of a stick-jojo in Penatski’s hands. Excellent at drawing penalties. The question is whether the team will find chemistry in time to make use of the resulting time and space. 5. Rullstolskalas_, NG Goose Egg The highest-picked defenseman, Rullstolskalas, will find himself in a very nice spot, pairing the D with his team mate Floor17 from Northern Stars. Under pressure, Rullstolskalas is calm like a frozen pond. To round off his defensive awareness and positioning, he also has a great knack for getting pucks to the net through traffic. Expect a solid pts/G. 6. Foppatofflan, NG European Union The first winger to be picked in the draft, Foppatofflan could be the most dangerous player on the counter-attack. Superb passing ability and vision. Last year’s SC champion needs at least a few players around him who think the game fast enough, to be able to play the way he’d like. 7. TehhAhola, NG 50 Shades of Blades The centreman for ECL 4 Elite runner-up’s, TehhAhola is a consistent points producer, poised with the patience of a severed lama when equipped with the puck. Expect him to finish around his draft position in the scoring tables at the end of the regular season. 8. ADETIKKI, NG Trashers Green and brown is the new black, and NG Thrashers will be eagerly waiting ADETIKKI to come back. Crisu_Rottis was ready to take a chance and this talented offensive stinger will join the team fully in a few weeks’ time, after completing his civil services. 9. janbonator (by The_Alpha_Furyan), NG International Army A pure student of the game, janbonator can adapt to any type of situation or forward position you put in front of him. Known for maintaining a steady point production while never forgetting about his defensive responsibilites, he is a solid pick to build your team around - especially as he will most likely spend most of his games at the center position with NOS mainstay Mullweiser riding shotgun on the wing. 10. JaromirSniper68 (by The_Alpha_Furyan), NG Terror Squad One of the highest scoring Swedish players in ECL history, JaromirSniper68 excels when the game is played at a fast pace. Being picked by longtime linemate (and sometime rival) TerrorsenkoI91I may have come as a surprise to many watching the draft, but should this C-RW duo re-kindle the chemistry they've had in previous editions of the game, look out. Leading the Pack At about mid-point of the regular season, the battle for playoff spots is as furious as ever. Each group has at least 7-8 teams with a very good chance of clinching a spot in the sun. Current front-runners looked strong before the tournament, and have duly delivered thus far. NG KELAMIEHET, NG 50 Shades of Blades, NG Parolan Visa, NG Blackout, NG Ultras and NG Kannunkulma are the leaders of their groups and boast an impressive average of 1.5+ pts/G. Individually it’s been NG Kannunkulma’s captain, PleeMaker, who has been topping the stat sheets since the start. 21 goals and 11 assists in just 8 games, adding up to a phenomenal 4 points per game average. Can he keep it up?

Battle Royale After what can only be described as a thriller of a tournament, Laser HT has been crowned the champion of the 4th European Championship League in a plot that would have left even Stephen King hanging on the edge of his seat, while desperately holding onto his MUKI. The start of the season was Written in the Stars, but the scripture had too much TIKI TALK in it, and was thus shattered around with a banhammer, also known as Kenu's Taikasauva, with other teams picking up the fragments for points as the season progressed - eventually turning it into a Nordic Nightmare for them, on the first round of the playoffs. How we saw nightmares on Round 2 is anyone’s guess, as on Round 1 they had triumphed against an Unknown team. In an extremely competitive regular season the Northern Stars were fading and only two Swedish team made it to the playoffs, but unfortunately lacked the Synergy to shut down the beam team of to-be-champions. One team seemed to regard the playoff-line non-existent, and in their nearly Limitless limitlessness almost eliminated themselves out of the limited-for-eight playoffs. No Dynasty was made this season, either, as they continued an impressive record of 3 Game 7 losses in the past four tournaments, reportedly leading to a violent burst of Nordic Lightning in the vicinity of Kouvola. All the while, at the bottom of the standings, there was a team that Refused to Lose only four times during the tournament. Other relegations were the Animalia of Elite; Finnish Roosters and SIKA (pig) will be seen in the Pro division next season, together with Rynnäkköviikset. Promoted teams The teams that were promoted from Pro to Elite for ECL 5 are: Carlsberg HC, Kattiautomaatti, Silver Sword Griffins and Sjukstugan. We will inform of any changes to the divisions and teams after ECL 5 registration, if need be. Awards A big thank you to @The_Alpha_Furyan for compiling the statistics for all three divisions. Here's a list of the best performers in Elite during ECL4. Forwards Most points: Dominointi [39+55 = 94p in 28 games - 3.35 Points/GP], Laser HT Most goals: PleeMaker [49g in 30 games - 1.63 Goals/GP], Limitless Most assists: Dominointi [55a in 28 games - 1.96 Assists/GP], Laser HT Most hits: PleeMaker [145 hits in 30 games - 4.83 Hits/GP], Limitless Best +/-: Haldeem, Penatski, tbnantti, PleeMaker & nylanderi [+43 in 30 games], Limitless Defensemen Most points by a Defenseman: nylanderi [12+22 = 34p in 30 games - 1.13 Points/GP], Limitless Snapu48 [4+30 = 34p in 30 games - 1.13 Points/GP], Dynasty Haldeem [6+28 = 34p in 30 games - 1.13 Points/GP], Limitless Most goals by a Defenseman: nylanderi [12g in 30 games - 0.40 Goals/GP], Limitless Most assists by a Defenseman: Snapu48 [30a in 30 games - 1.00 Assists/GP], Dynasty Most hits by a Defenseman: friilander [140 Hits in 30 games - 4.66 Hits/GP], SIKA Goalies Best Save% (min. 50% of games played): Ranta83 [80.58% in 30/30 games], Unknown Best GAA (min. 50% of games played): Sandr0hh [1.93 GAA in 16/30 games], Dynasty Most Wins (W+OTW) by a Goalie: Ranta83 [19 Ws in 30 games], Unknown Most Shutouts: Danielcadabra [4 shutouts in 12 games], Written in the Stars DUNZA [4 shutouts in 14 games], Synergy VilberttoCarlos [4 shutouts in 18 games], Nordic Nightmare FinKonna [4 shutouts in 30 games], Limitless Playoff MVP Dominointi, Laser HT Words of a Champion Now, let’s hand over the pen to Risto “Dominointi” Järvi, the captain of Laser HT and the MVP of the tournament: “For the regular season our objective was only to make the playoffs. It got very tight in the end, but we managed to battle ourselves to 7th. A couple of players left the team at the end of last season and we got the replacements for them from Nordic Blizzard. I think it made each players’ role in the team much more clear. We played the regular season quite a bit differently than what people perhaps expected or had seen from us before. I played quite a lot up the ice, looking for stretch passes while the wings gave close support on the breakouts. I feel like it helped a lot, at least against certain teams. The team probably wasn’t on equal level skill-wise compared to last autumn, but this season we played strong as a team from the get-go, which I think was the primary reason for our success. Nowadays in this game you have to play as a team if you want to succeed, the level of competition is simply so tough. In the playoffs we were just trying to keep our own end clear of goals, with the front of the net being the keywords. We knew that if we kept our defence tight, we had a chance to win every game, as we pretty much always manage to score at least a few goals. We couldn’t go into a goal-scoring competition - something that would not have ended up well against every team. On the first round of the playoffs we faced Synergy, a team we’re very familiar with. For the most part we knew how they’d be playing and where we would need to strike at. The first games were tight, but we managed to clinch them and eventually won the series. On the second round we were up against Nordic Nightmare, a team that eliminated us last year when playing for Nordic Blizzard, so we were looking for a revenge. We thought of our approach carefully because Nordic Nightmare has a unique style of play for Elite. Our game-plan was to strike them on the breakout and try to prevent their quick counter-attacks. We knew they’d be playing very straightforward hockey and blocking shots would be important. Of course, we supposed our opponent would also know how we’d be playing, so we tried to mix that up a little as well by getting more pucks to the defencemen and more shots from the blueline. We played well and deserved to progress on to the finals. In the finals we were up against a very familiar team, Dynasty. We knew them to be a great defensive team and to add to that they have a lot of skill on every position. Their goalies were top of the league, too. We set out to play brave hockey and apply strong pressure to the defencemen, always shooting the puck and crashing the net when there’s an opening. The first four games of the series were tight, but somehow it felt we had that slight edge, even though the stats were very even in every game. The weekend break started with us leading the series 3-1. After the break we had games 5 & 6, and quite frankly, we had no chance. The opponent had changed their approach and our tactic was not working at all. Deserved wins for Dynasty and off we went for a game seven. For the deciding game, we agreed to just play our regular game, not try anything too complicated and just park the bus in the neutral zone. After some thrilling events and a lot of screams and shouts, we clinched it 2-1 and won the title. The series could not have been tighter – that’s just how it ended this time. Overall, I think Leksa played a fantastic tournament. Counting both the regular season and the playoffs, I don’t think he had a single off-game. I will tip my hat to the performance of our goalies in the playoffs, especially Hansu in the finals. The defence was rock solid throughout the playoffs, too. Vesa and Wille were excellent in the finals and Selarit played as well as he always does. As for the future of the team, I can’t tell. We agreed that we’ll look at it again before the beta, but most likely we’ll be continuing with the same lineup.” The Decider Scored by who else than Risto "Dominointi" Järvi in the closing seconds of the 3rd period of Game 7. Broomsticks and Magnets Every year the game franchise makes small but significant changes to online gameplay. One year it's short-side one-timers, the other it's far-side one-timers. One year poke-checks are overpowered, the other it's stick-lifts. I'm yet to witness a year, however, in which the rock-paper-scissor of the meta game would've have found, say, rock unbeatable. This year there were some tricks to be found in terms of puck control, the kind of tricks your user manual doesn't tell. Some individuals and teams started picking up on these towards the latter parts of ECL 3, one of the masters of such arts winning the MVP award of the tournament. These type of players and their rather spectacular-looking play-style I call Magnets. Some teams spent their off-season between ECL 3 & 4 figuring out how to deal with Magnets, and one of the answers was a Broomstick. By now, the Broomstick technique has spread wide and has arisen some heated debates, and I know there are teams that refuse to play against each other because of this. The Broomstick is of course the crouch block position you can go to by pressing L1. The most obvious advantage is that you can't get penalized; you can't trip, slash or interfere with a player while doing so. While I think anyone would agree using the function in the game as intended should be allowed, many would say spamming it the way it is possible to spam, is effectively abusing a glitch. Personally, I'm inclined to disagree that it should be forbidden or whatnot. The Broomstick is much more effective along the boards than it is anywhere else as a means to strip the puck. Now, if we look at board play and puck control in general, is it balanced, or does the offensive or defensive player have an advantage? I think definitely the player with the puck has the advantage; with the puck your player is much more agile, you can actually move your stick through the boards while controlling the puck etc. So, effectively, I find the Broomstick a balancing, not a breaking factor of gameplay. Furthermore, I find the gray area on the defensive side to be larger than on the offensive side. In real hockey, too, you're effectively allowed to do things on the defensive side of the puck that you're not allowed to do when attacking. Also, you can still be a great player in this game even if you never used the whole function. Thank You I had absolutely no stake in organizing ECL 4 and thus would like to use this opportunity to express my gratitude to those that did – Kenneth, Samuli, Max, Väinö, Hampus, Jānis and Teemu, it was yet another great tournament to take part of, thank you very much for your effort on behalf of all of us players, and let’s try to build on this as a community going forward. From now on I’ll be back on-board with the staff as well. Have a great summer everyone, hope to see many of you in the SC - you still have a day left to register have you not done so already, but if not, see you in the autumn with ECL 5!