[Our friend Sami "Ampuhaukka78" Luoma has passed away]

Remember playing against Ampuhaukka a lot, there was a time when it felt like our clubs met at least once every week, good battles were rolling down the left meant you were going to get hit - always a fan of his playing style. Sometimes we played game or two together in the same team, always supportive when my good old stone hands failed to bring desired results. Even shared ECL team for a brief time back in the day.

Sad news, really sad. All the best to the family and friends, Rip Ampuhaukka  

[FILADELPHIA is now Linköping HC]

 First reaction is the same as many others had - why is there no rules on how many users from other nations can join?

Lets not forget that in real hockey there is line changes, some lines might have couple foreign players, but I´m willing to bet that if multiple Swedish teams in the real league has close to 3 lines of Finnish/other nationality players in the team while the Swedish players take a back seat, Swedish hockey association is not going to be too pleased.

I don´t truly get why do you need to have SHL, as in another league where everybody can join? Basically the same product as ECL, but with different team names?Maybe other teams are building with Swedish players mostly and have couple other nationalities in there?

Entertainment value for neutral viewers is not that high in my opinion, ECL elite teams fighting in different league to see who is the best - again. Same players, same lines - nothing changes? Icing on the cake, Linköping goes and gets FILA - perhaps the early favorites to win it and brings them over. Yes, great that there is top teams and players in the league, but who is going to watch? Who is this for?

With my quick math only two Swedish players can be seen playing for Linköping. Perhaps Swedish players learn better by watching? Nothing says lets bring Swedish hockey into bigger window than getting a Finnish team steamroll the league, lets go! 

 

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[NHL 20 Beta - We want your feedback!]

1. NHL Ones = Not a huge fan of the mode, played one game, so can´t say much, but goalies were pretty poor. For me, only reason to play it is to get those hockey bags, play for one game every day and maybe you get those fancy Sweden skates early.
2. NHL THREES Drop-In (Arcade Threes) = N/A
3. EASHL Drop-Ins (Please specify if it is in 3s/6s/both) = Played couple drop- ins, both 6s and 3s, so not a huge sample size - I think you could leave even when the timer was on red if not enough players, that was nice. Other than that did not see anything too ´wild´ compared to 19. Outdoor action not for me.
4. EASHL Club 3s = NA
5. EASHL Club 6s = As mentioned already here, dressing room was buggy. Also, sometimes when heading into a game it looked like someone dropped like you might see in NHL 19, but in all reality everybody into the game, happened few times. 
6. AI skaters in World of Chel (specify mode + how many AI) = N/A
7. AI goalies in World of Chel (specify mode) = N/A
8. AI goalies in EASHL (specify if in 3s/6s) = N/A
9. Customization: Player Classes + Traits/Specializations = I also liked the fact that centers are not forced to use the faceoff trait - everybody on the same line, now we perhaps see more variety on what builds people use! If I remember correctly defensive defender had 85 in passing without any traits used = nice. About time defensive defender gets some love.
10. Customization: Gear (Casual + Pro gear + Gear Bags) = I can live without them, I guess it´s nice to have some skates and sticks that you can use, but other than that - I would get more enjoyment out of designing my own skates and using whatever stick.
11. Other World of Chel related feedback = N/A
12. Online Vs. = N/A
13. AI Skaters in Online Vs. = N/A
14. AI Goalies in Online Vs. = N/A
15. Skating = Skating back first was a viable tactic, so could work on that EVEN if it was maybe not as bad as in NHL 19.  Felt a lot better overall when comparing to NHL 19, I don´t know what it was, skating, animations or combination of both, but beta felt a lot better.
16. Hitting (Collision Physics) = Might have to bump it or something, not as effective as you might think,  especially for defenders it´s annoying when ´nothing´ happens if you line up a solid hit.
17. Pokechecking = Tried couple times, puck left the stick nicely and might be a real weapon if used correctly. (Learned not to use it too much in previous versions, so small sample size)
18. Shooting = Improved backhander is great, close range top shelf = oh my. Managed to score couple goals against a human G with a direct shot, sniper build indeed had real danger feel to it, fun to play when you can actually ´trust´ in your main weapon - the shot. I did not feel the shooting being overpowered or anything, shooting one timer from blueline for example did not result in a goal automatically, just the shots that you might expect, free shots from close range.
19. Offensive Play (i.e. how did it feel to play offense? How easy was it? Was there a skill gap? Were there limitations?) = I think you need to pay more attention where you pass and how you pass, players who know how to move and playing with players who know how to move are even more valuable now, pucks are more easily intercepted, but you can also make little passes in small space more easily, so like minokin mentioned - balance is good. (Using backhander and shooting in general was fun)
20. Defensive Play (i.e. how did it feel to play defense? How easy was it? Was there a skill gap? Were there limitations?) = Going for the hit was not a good move usually, felt like nothing good came out of it, so just better to stay calm and ´passive´, which might be right most of the time anyways, but sometimes would be nice if you can use the body bit more and know a good hit results in at least the guy with the puck feeling it. Great that you can play knowing that your player actually intercepts passes, proper shutdown D-mode activated! If you positioned yourself poorly -  you paid the price for it. Overall, I liked the defensive play even after first it maybe felt bit awkward with the puck bouncing around ´wildly´ in front of your net, if you went closer - good chance you pushed in yourself for good own goal.
21. Human Goalies in EASHL = Not much I can say, did not play G, but those wild pucks near the nets were something, for example if puck was under the goalie - what can you do as a defensive player?  Offensive guys could just poke spam it in, not sure what that is, but should look into it.
22. The new presentation and scoreboard (if you're having problems with it, let us know if you did the configuration properly when starting the beta for the first time) = turned the scoreboard off right away, I don´t want to configurate anything - how hard it is to give simple scoreboard? Score, period and how much is left on the period? I don´t want anything else. Presentation without the dances was ok, cool to see some stats.
23. Other (anything not covered here) = Beta was a big improvement compared to NHL 19, I would not change much in all honesty, maybe look into goalies and how they could close the puck better when it´s under them, but as mentioned did not play G, so no idea in reality, but beta was fun to play both on offense and in defense. I hope the actual game is close to it - going to be good!

[Beloved community member Daniel "Floor17" Anderzon has passed away]

Heartbreaking and tragic, gone way too soon. My condolences to the family and friends.

Rest in peace Daniel.

[Welcome to Summer Cup 4 (EU)!]

I think a system like in suggestion 1 serves the purpose better, a COMMUNITY event that aims to bring everybody closer to each other. Is it perfect? Maybe not, but big step in the right direction. Some kind of system where you have clear ´divisions´ could be even better for the ultimate goal where as many players get to play as much as possible, lite division and pro/elite together, something like that? Or could just be Lite and the normal SC, users can then choose where they sign up. (Some rules might be needed on who can join the lite version, normal is open to everyone)

´Newer´ players more than likely have a better time - more games, against similar skill level teams/players or at least closer to it. Pro/Elite division players same thing, higher quality games and maybe you see more movement between divisions when new connections are being made.

Unfortunately, kinda pointless at least in my opinion to take part if it´s the same setup as in previous years, it´s more like European Championship - summer edition than something that is made to bring new users into bigger spotlight and promote positive community vibes. Don´t have to take the magic eight ball out to guess what will happen - it´s the top-level players together and rest play the minimum. Of course, there are only so many positions, only so many can play at once and not everybody can play a lot even if they wanted to, but more could be done to make the whole SC experience more enjoyable for all parties involved.

At the moment the idea is great, lets have good time and meet new players from all over and with different experience levels on EASHL, but in reality it´s bit like beer league football on Sunday, you have the group that is all about that - to have fun and just play, maybe new players come in every Sunday to try it out, but then when Sunday comes, the other group you play against is out there running as fast as they can, slide tackling and playing like the championship is on the line. What happened, I thought this was beer league football? ´Oh yea - I can´t hear you, we are winning´.

It´s not that you should not take it seriously and play for the win, but that same ´try hard´ mentality can be seen here on how the teams are built, who plays and how much.

[Welcome to Summer Cup 4 (EU)!]

Voting for:

1. Captains will be seeded into baskets based on perceived skill level (based on previous season - Elite, Pro or Lite). During the first two rounds, the captain can only pick two players from the other two divisions that he/she doesn't represent. (In the case of the captain representing a team that was relegated from or promoted to Elite at the end of ECL 8, the captain will be interpreted as an Elite captain).

[NHL 20 Beta - We want your feedback!]

Quite few ´own goals´ so far in 6v6, kinda awkward when the puck is bouncing in front of the net, more than fair chance you push it in yourself as a defensive player. The puck seems to be alive under the goalies equipment often - opposite teams guys poke the puck in for a goal. Still remember the good old days of NHL where that was a thing, not as fun (Not a goalie, so can´t say what it is, does the goalie need to do something now or why the puck is alive so often ´under´ the G?)

[The Black Jacks are the ECL 7 Lite Champions!]

Congratulations! 🍻

[Send us your questions for the NHL developers!]

There is something that has been bothering me for years now, as a member of the LGBTQ+ community I feel that I cant truly express myself on the ice when the character I´m controlling is not accurate representation on who I am and what I believe in, that is why I´m asking now: When can I add facial hair to the female EASHL character that I created? 

I pay a lot of money every year for these games, so about time the NHL series steps into the 21st century and into year 2018.

[I_Eki_I is the winner of the 2018 NHL Gaming World Championships]

Congratulations to both! 🍺

[EV Duisburg are ECL 6 Lite Champions!]

Congratulations EV Duisburg!

[ECL 6 - Lite Playoffs Round 2 - Predictions]

@Samzoni

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[Season 4 - Multiple violations of rules]