Oliverigood

NHLGamers, The ECL 10 Lite season started on the 7th of April, 2020 with 64 teams participating. Before the start of the season, six teams were promoted to the ECL Pro division through applications (Rookie Mistakes, Herlev Eagles, Company of Geeks, HanaaHC, Djurgarden Hockey and Team Frosty) and some of the teams that signed up for the Lite division were chosen to prove their worth in the Neo division first. Every season, NHLGamers staff have to make the hard decisions of teams that will get the promotion to the Pro division or move down to the Neo division. These decisions are always facing some criticism especially from the teams that feels they are ready to play in Lite or Pro division, but after the season it’s fair to say that the staff made the right picks. This season turned out to be maybe the most competitive season of ECL Lite history which was actually pretty expected since the community is growing fast and the Lite division isn’t the entry level of ECL anymore. Several former E lite and Pro division players chose to play in Lite teams this season and every one of them faced a worthy challenge. Something that makes the Lite division very unique is the high variation of different nationalities in teams and players competing against each other. This season we saw many new esports organizations from Finland, Sweden, Norway, France, Germany, Russia and teams and players from other nationalities too. As the organizations are starting to find their way into the community, it’s clear that the level of competitiveness and value of the Lite division will only keep growing in the future. We finished ECL 10 Lite season on the 14th of June, 2020 when Sack Brothers were crowned the division champions. Between the beginning and end there was lots of action and we wanted to do a little recap of the season and give some credit to teams and players who made an impression in this season. Regular season Sixteen teams in four groups and only eight teams from every group continued to the playoffs. At the beginning of the regular season, everyone had their own guess of teams that were going to fight for the top spots in every group. In the Lite division there always seems to emerge a couple of teams that aren’t expected to be as strong as they end up to be. This season those teams were definitely Powerhouse hockey, who won Group 1 and newcomers Piiraaka Osuus ja Nakki, who ended up in 2nd place of Group 3. For the first time we had the pleasure of welcoming some of the best ECL 9 Neo teams to Lite but they couldn’t enjoy success in their first season at the higher level as only runner-up TanssiiTuhtienKansa was able to get to the playoffs. The playoff race stayed tight in every group all the way to the last rounds but especially in Group 2, Poston Fruits must feel devastated as they were left out of the playoffs only by one point by HockeyProfessorn HC who made a great run in the last half of the regular season and took the last spot. It's a rough tale about the competitiveness of the division for a few prestigious clubs alike Elamam Kiekko, Murohoki and Nearbird Fighters that were left out of the playoffs. Teams that made a major improvement from ECL 9 Lite were Ducktales BK, who improved their last seasons record from (4-13-1) to (21-4-5), Powerhouse hockey from (8-10-2) to (23-3-4) and Infamous from (9-7-2) to (21-8-1). Group winners were: Powerhouse Hockey, EBR eSports Official, HV71 eSHL and Sack Brothers. The regular season of ECL 10 Lite will also be remembered for two outstanding attacking trios that dominated the stats table and destroyed defenses night in and night out. Those trios were Sack Brothers' @snippystatue, @luosttin and @Datupeijooni together with Angry Cats' @Korkokokorko, @Lowryy and @juusto18. The trio of Angry Cats managed to score a total of 329 points in 30 games and @Korkokokorko won the scoring title with 114 points (56+58) in 30 games. Hokurit winger @Nagyttaja was the best goal scorer with 57 goals in 30 games, @viba2008 from HUIPPUPASSI had the most points from defenders with 61 (11+50) points in 30 games and Angry Cats goalkeeper @Giinis had the best saving percentage of active goalies with 89,38% (244 svs) in 24 games. A couple of players that had outstanding regular seasons despite their team not being among the top 3 teams in the group. GENESIS winger @meicci with 91 (36+55) points in 30 games, @Unrealhave of TanssiiTuhtienKansa with 89 (32+57) points in 30 games and Fysical center @Frans-Fin with 87 (29+58) points in 30 games. It’s obvious that the personal stats don’t tell the whole story of the season since there are multiple things that will determine a teams success in the end. For example there are several players in the league like Sack Brothers defender @Persusta95, HUIPPUPASSI defender @Mikax222 and Angry Cats defender @Demoni2016 (Myrkky_Maik) who are working hard on ice by keeping their own end clean and balanced which gives confidence and freedom for attacking players to try risky plays that will often lead to goals for their teams. These three players especially played big part in their teams success in the regular season and later stages as well. Playoffs There weren't any major surprises in this seasons playoffs like in ECL 9 Lite where the last seeded Carolus Icemen made a sensational surprise by beating first seeded HanaaHC in the first playoff round. Teams that were strong in the regular season continued their good form in the playoffs as well. In the first round maybe the biggest upset was seen in the series between HC SKULL TOWN and SOPPAJENGI, where SOPPAJENGI who was one of the favourites at the start of the season and among the teams that were expected to get the Pro promotion through Pro applications before the season, was left out of the competition after losing the series with a score of 4-1. The second round of the playoffs will definitely be remembered for Angry Cats' and Hokurits comeback wins against their respective opponents. The third playoff round is always really special since the winners will advance to semifinals and will get the promotion to Pro division for next season. Maybe the biggest games were seen in the series EBR eSports Official vs HUIPPUPASSI and HV71 eSHL vs Ducktales BK, where the underdogs HUIPPUPASSI and Ducktales BK were able to beat their strong opponents and earn the Pro promotion for next season alongside Sack Brothers and Angry Cats. The semifinals were extremely tight as they always are. Especially the matchup between Angry Cats and Ducktales BK that finally ended 3-4 to Ducktales BK victory was joy to watch. Sack Brothers continued their convincing run and not even HUIPPUPASSI who had found an excellent form in the playoffs couldn’t stop them from advancing to the finals. It was definitely a season to remember for Sack Brothers' players who ended the season in celebrations as deserved winners of ECL 10 Lite. Runner ups Ducktales BK can be proud of their season and display in the finals. There simply wasn’t a team that could have stopped Sack Brothers this season. The scoring leaders of the regular season continued their impressive form in the postseason too. Especially HUIPPUPASSI wingers @jjokke19 with 63 points in 22 games and @bergsti (pikkuroger) with 55 points in 22 games seemed to catch fire in the playoffs and they were both big reasons why HUIPPUPASSI ended their season in a top 4 finish. One of the players that catches the eye when scrolling the stats list is EBR eSports Official winger @Keuschemisch, who was his teams best scorer already in the regular season and managed to gather an impressive 45 points in only 16 playoff matches. There were two defenders who were in the spotlights throughout the season: Sack Brothers LD @Kucherov86 and HUIPPUPASSI RD @viba2008. They were clearly the two best attacking defenders of the regular season and the same goes for the playoffs. The closer we got to the end of the season, the more polished the play of Ducktales BK stars center @cHIIMEERa and defender @J-Foppa got and their vast experience showed. Especially the centerman was in flames in the finals where he scored 6 of a total 8 goals for his team and assisted for the rest of the goals as well. Individual awards of ECL 10 Lite 🏆 These awards are given to players who showed exceptional individual talent through whole season and helped their team in a race for the cup. MVP of ECL 10 Lite: @luosttin Sack Brothers Best centers of ECL 10 Lite: 1st. @luosttin Sack Brothers 2nd. @cHIIMEERa Ducktales BK 3rd. @Lowryy Angry Cats Best wingers of ECL 10 Lite: 1st. @snippystatue Sack Brothers 2nd. @Datupeijooni Sack Brothers 3rd. @Korkokokorko Angry Cats Best defenders of ECL 10 Lite: 1st. @Kucherov86 Sack Brothers 2nd. @viba2008 HUIPPUPASSI 3rd. @J-Foppa Ducktales BK Best goalkeepers of ECL 10 Lite: 1st. @mikeruud Sack Brothers 2nd. @Giinis Angry Cats 3rd. @Rymaan Ducktales BK That’s it folks! The season is over. On behalf of NHLGamer I want to thank all 64 teams and their players for another successful ECL Lite season. We hope these articles have brought more spark to your season and you have enjoyed reading them. Now it’s time for off-season rest, practice and rebuilding. See you next season!

NHLGamers, Congratulations to Sack Brothers on winning ECL 10 Lite title. Your name will be written in ECL history alongside teams like Sulkavan Sudet, Oton Letkutemppu, The Black Jacks, EV Duisburg and Red Machine as the champions of Lite division. Sack Brothers started the season as one of the main favourites to win the trophy and they played true to those expectations right from the very beginning. They were the best team after the regular season with a record of record 28-1-1 and didn’t slow down in the playoffs. In the end no one was able to stop their victory march and the captain @Datupeijooni had the honor to lift the trophy above his head as a deserved winners. One of the main reasons for their successful campaign was definitely the quality to finish their attacks in goals. There was no better attacking team in the league than Sack Brothers was and coupled with steady defence and great goaltending this team was unstoppable. Hats off to Ducktales BK who also had amazing season and fought bravely in the finals. Sack Brothers 🏆 Group stage record: 28-1-1 (1st) Round 1: vs HockeyProfessorn HC (32) 4-1 Round 2: vs Tic Tac Toes (25) 4-2 Quarterfinals: vs GENESIS (18) 4-1 Semifinals: vs HUIPPUPASSI (10) 4-2 Finals: vs Ducktales BK (7) 4-1 GOALIES #41 M. Ruutiainen @mikeruud #97 K. Teppana @KXnet1b DEFENSEMEN #6 B. Steel @Kossu80 #7 E. Söderholm @Persusta95 #14 P. Kytta @XippiX #92 E. Yalcin @Kucherov86 FORWARDS #40 J. Asikainen @snippystatue #52 J. Luostarinen @luosttin #55 T. Luukkanen @Datupeijooni (Datzonee) Finals recap We started the final series last Thursday with games 1-3. In the first game Ducktales BK was close to taking the lead in the series but 20 seconds before the final buzzer Sack Brothers captain @Datupeijooni (Datzonee) scored the tying goal and finally won the game for his team in overtime 3-2. In the second game, Ducktales BK changed their approach to a bit more of an aggressive style and was able to steal some puck possession from their opponent. However, counter attacking specialists Sack Brothers were able to benefit from this and won game 2 with a clean 0-4 score. In the third and last game of the day Ducktales BK showed why they are in the finals as they were able to find the balance between offense and defense and won game 3 with a score of 2-1. It was a big mental win for Ducktales BK who now didn’t have to start gameday two with their backs against the wall. After day one Sack Brothers were leading the series with score 2-1. Three days later on Sunday, these two great teams were going to finish the season in games 4-7. Right from the first game of the day it was clear that both teams had made their homework and we saw the most balanced clash of the series so far. After regulation time that included lots of goals, both teams had their chances to end the game in overtime but finally it was Sack Brothers who scored the winning goal that proved out to be maybe the biggest goal of the finals. Game 4 ended 4-3 and Sack Brothers put a chokehold on the series with a 3-1 lead. Now the pressure was on the shoulders or Ducktales BK, they had to win. Game 5 started promising for Ducktales BK as they were able to continue where they left off in the previous match and created good scoring chances. However @KXnet1b who was picked between the Sack Brothers pipes instead of @mikeruud proved why he had deserved his starting spot and made an impressively solid performance in the net and kept the game tied at 0-0. Sack Brothers were able to score two goals in the second period and kept their own net clear. The third goal at the start of third period was too much for Ducktales BK. Sack Brothers started their march to victory and were able to score four more goals behind Ducktales BK keeper @Rymaan. The game finally ended with a score of 1-7 and the party was ready to start. Sack Brothers won the final series 4-1 and were crowned as the ECL 10 Lite champions. Overall, this Lite season was really entertaining and packed with skilled teams and players. Now it’s time to take a little break from ECL games and begin the practice/rebuild stage because the next season will most likely be even more competitive. We hope you enjoyed the finals as much as we did. Once again congratulations to Sack Brothers! Enjoy your success and thank you to all finalists, viewers and casters for giving us an entertaining show. Have a nice summer and stay safe.

NHLGamers, Approximately two months ago we started the ECL 10 Lite season with 64 teams in four groups. After the regular season we had a strong vision of teams that were going to fight for the promotion and final spots this season. The playoffs were as exciting as they always are and several teams had the quality to compete for the cup this time. In the end there were two teams that no one could stop. Now they will go head-to-head in the ECL 10 Lite finals! Here are the finalists of ECL 10 Lite: Sack Brothers (1) Road to the finals Regular season: (28-1-1) 1st in group 4 Round 1: vs HockeyProfessorn HC (32) 4-1 Round 2: vs Tic Tac Toes (25) 4-2 Round 3: vs GENESIS (18) 4-1 Round 4: vs HUIPPUPASSI (10) 4-2 LW: @snippystatue (22GP: 22+31=55 pts) C: @luosttin (22GP: 18+37=55 pts, FOW: 48,9%) RW: @Datupeijooni (Datzonee) (22GP: 26+21=47 pts) LD: @Kucherov86 (22GP: 9+22=31 pts) RD: @Persusta95 (22GP: 4+11=15 pts) G: @mikeruud (22GP: 234svs, 47GA= 83,27 SV%) Ducktales BK (7) Road to the finals Regular season: (21-4-5) 2nd in group 2 Round 1: vs Remparts de Tours Esport (26) 4-2 Round 2: vs ECDC Memmingen eSports (11) 4-3 Round 3: vs HV71 eSHL (3) 4-1 Round 4: vs Angry Cats (5) 4-3 LW: @Zidso (21GP: 17+22=39 pts) C: @cHIIMEERa (23GP: 21+20=41 pts, FOW: 49,8%) RW: @Craig (oskuldsfull) (23GP: 11+20=31 pts) LD: @J-Foppa (23GP: 5+17=22 pts) RD: @tokFan (ItokFanI) (23GP: 1+5=6 pts) G: @Rymaan (23GP: 200svs, 34GA= 85,47 SV%) To spice things up we decided to contact the teams to ask them couple of questions before the the games and had the pleasure to interview @Rymaan from Ducktales BK and @snippystatue from Sack Brothers: How does it feel to be in the finals? Was the finals your goal right from the beginning or where were the expectations set before the season started? @snippystatue ‘’Of course it feels great! The ECL finals are the best that the season can offer and as the captain told us in the beginning of the season, our minimum goal is to win the title after last seasons disappointment.’’ @Rymaan ‘’Feels great! Our main goal for the season was to get that Pro-spot. Achieving that, of course our next goal is to win the tournament.‘’ What is your teams strengths and the reason for success? Why are you in the finals instead of your playoffs opponents? What makes you the champions of ECL 10 Lite? @snippystatue ‘’Counter-attacks, tight team defense and good chemistry. We have practiced with the same players from the beginning of the off-season and the level of play has stayed good the whole time. The reason we are in the finals is that we have been able to minimize our opponents scoring opportunities with solid defending and the attacking has been working in every series. The reason we will be the champions is that we believe in our own playing. Even if we were losing with 4 goals we never give up and the atmosphere stays positive the whole time’’ @Rymaan ‘’Structure, defense, experience and a will to win. We had a game plan for every series and followed it well enough to be victorious. All opponents we played so far have been a challenge and played well, but we don’t want to comment other teams shortcomings. Beating us in 4 games takes great teamplay, individual skill and a solid defense. We've seen 2 out of 3 in Sack Brothers.’’ How well do you know your opponent in the finals? Have you faced them in the club games or earlier seasons? Done any scouting through the streams etc? @snippystatue ‘’We don’t know them very well. Of course we noticed that they were playing really well already in the regular season but we haven’t faced them in club games. We haven’t done any special kind of scouting from the streams but we have seen couple of playoff games from them’’ @Rymaan ‘’Played them a lot during NHL20 (not with Ducktales though) and to be honest they have evolved a lot. They had a fantastic season so far, obliterating their opponents on the way. We scout every opponent in playoffs to learn their tricks.’’ What do you think is your opponents strengths? Will you adjust your own gamestyle to make their playing harder or will you continue the way you have done so far and trust that it will bring you the desiredresult? @snippystatue ‘’We believe their strengths are especially in the defense but it’s hard to say yet since we haven’t faced them before. We will trust our own style of play since it has worked so well but of course we are ready for adjustments if the game isn’t working’’ @Rymaan ‘’They play a fast game and they are deadly when they get to scoring opportunities. We are confident in our style of play but will make adjustments if needed.’’ What will be the score of the series in the end? @snippystatue ‘’It’s going to be tight but I’ll say 4-3 to Sack Brothers’’ @Rymaan ‘’Ducktales wins in 7.’’ The confidence is high in both camps. As the interview tells us, both teams will trust their own style of playing and that’s exactly what they should do. Watching back the opponents that both of these teams have been able to beat it’s obvious that they have done everything right so far. Both teams are also prepared for a tough battle and it’s easy to join their predictions that the champions will be decided in a game seven. As the stats tell, Sack Brothers have been really effective in the offensive zone which has been their theme through whole season, while Ducktales BK have been the team that is extremely hard to score against. It’s going to be really interesting to see how well Ducktales BK are able to shut down Sack Brothers attacks. I believe it’s also a new kind of challenge for Sack Brothers to play against team that is really disciplined at their defense. There may be a possibility that Ducktales BK could make their opponents frustrated which would most likely turn the series in favour of Ducktales BK. But as @snippystatue stated in the interview, the mental side shouldn’t be a problem for his team. While Sack Brothers are figuring out how to get through Ducktales BK they can’t give any leeway in their own defense. Even though Ducktales BK are known having the special quality at their team defense they are also to score if the chances are given to them. Prediction: There is no doubt that the two best teams of the season are facing in the finals. This will be a battle of two different gamestyles and only the matches will tell us which approach will be the right one. If I was asked at the start of the playoffs which team was going to win from these two, I would have said Sack Brothers 4-1. I’m glad no-one asked because watching Ducktales BK journey through the playoffs I would have made a clown of myself. However I still believe Sack Brothers have the quality to break Ducktales BKs defense and captain @Datupeijooni will lift the cup at the end of the day. Sack Brothers will win the series with score 4-3. What a great season we have had and now it’s coming to an end. It will be a season to remember for both of these teams but only one can be crowned as champions. Play hard and fair, respect your opponents and enjoy the finals! How to watch? The ECL 10 Lite finals will be streamed at www.twitch.tv/nhlgamer. Thursday, June 11th 20:00 CEST Games 1-3 Sack Brothers vs Ducktales BK Sunday, June 14th 20:30 CEST Games 4-7 Sack Brothers vs Ducktales BK

NHLGamers, We have reached the semifinals of ECL 10 Lite. This also means we now know the four teams that have earned Pro promotion for the next season. NHLGamer wants to congratulate teams Sack Brothers, HUIPPUPASSI, Ducktales BK and Angry Cats. You have achieved something that hundreds of players were after this season. Enjoy this moment and be proud of yourselves! Great challenge awaits you next season. However the battle isn’t over yet as the title of champions is still there for the taking. Here are the semifinalists of ECL 10 Lite: Sack Brothers (1) vs HUIPPUPASSI (10) Fast attacking hockey has been the theme for both of these teams as has been the overall trend for so many others this season as well. However, the reason why these teams are now playing in the semifinals is understanding the game both ways and bringing the balance to the ice - that is a game mentality that is really hard to break. There have also been two players in this matchup that have been especially fun to watch throughout the season: @Kucherov86 (SB) and @viba2008 (HP) have been the best attacking defensemen of this season. They were in a two way battle over winning the scoring title for defensemen in the regular season and have continued on the same path in the playoffs. Finally they will go head-to-head, who will take the upper hand? Sack Brothers faced GENESIS (18) in a quarterfinal series that ended 4-1 in their favour. However the score doesn’t tell the whole truth of that series. GENESIS was able to put on real pressure to the Sack Brothers defense and made their attacking really hard, but with the lead of keeper @mikeruud Sack Brothers defense held up and in the end it was the quality of finishing that made the difference in the series. @snippystatue played the key role for Sack Brothers in this series and he was chosen as a first star in every win that Sack Brothers took. While the left side of Sack Brothers formation has clearly been the attacking one, some credit is due to @Datupeijooni (Datzonee) and @Persusta95 on the right wing for keeping the balance in the back as well so the team won’t be too vulnerable for counter attacks. HUIPPUPASSI showcased a thriller against EBR eSports Official (2) in the quarterfinals. The series ended in overtime of game seven, where defender @Mikax222 had the honour of burying the puck into the net from a rebound. HUIPPUPASSI have had a quite different path to the semifinals when compared to their opponent. While Sack Brothers have been among the best teams right from the very first game, HUIPPUPASSI had a rough start to the season and in the middle of the regular season it looked like they were one of the mid-table teams that were fighting for the last playoff spot but then something happened and since then there hasn't been a team that has been able to stop them. Wingers @jjokke19 and @bergsti (pikkuroger) have found excellent scoring form in the playoffs and the team is definitely ready for the challenge. Goalkeeper @IMadeGod (iceiceice-.-) isn’t currently enjoying an as high saving percent as his colleagues in the semifinals but there is no doubt about his ability to stop pucks at the same level as other keepers at this stage. Both teams will want to start the series strong. They both know that their opponents strength lies in their attacking and I believe that this could change the way of playing from their earlier series. We could see two teams heavily trusting in counter attacks and a tight defensive in their own zone. Sack Brothers is so used to winning it could make things really interesting if HUIPPUPASSI would manage to win for example the two first games utilizing the slightly more defensive style than they usually do. How would the ‘’Sacks’’ respond? As always, the centermen will play a big role. In this series @Aitis (Aitis81) (HP) will face maybe the best center of the season so far: @luosttin (SB). Aitis81 will have to continue his good work in the takeaway department if he wants to keep talented luosttin in check. This is definitely the pair of players you should follow throughout the series. Prediction: Many have marked Sack Brothers as the favourites for the cup and I can see why. They are a great team all around and especially their victory over strong GENESIS proved that there might not be a team in the league that can stop them. On the other hand I believe that HUIPPUPASSI enjoys the underdog status here and they could have the element of surprise if they can take the lead in series and find the weakness in Sack Brothers playstyle that others haven’t figured out. In the end I believe that Sack Brothers have the quality to overcome every obstacle HUIPPUPASSI will throw at their way and ‘’Sacks’’ will advance to the finals with a series score of 4-1. Angry Cats (5) vs Ducktales BK (7) This will definitely be a different kind of challenge for the Angry Cats than their earlier opponents this season. They will face Ducktales BK, who are one of the best defensive teams in the league. The theme of this series could actually be close to that of Angry Cats' series against Nordic Nosebleed in the first playoff round, where Nordic Nosebleed chose to pursue a very defensive style which led to three out of the five matches advancing to overtime. Only this time, the opponent will be a lot stronger and more dangerous in the offensive zone as well. This will also be a battle of two great goalkeepers. Angry Cats keeper @Giinis has an amazing 87,66 SV% in the playoffs and @Rymaan of Ducktales BK isn’t far away with his 85,57 SV%. Of course both goalkeepers will get help from their good defense but still these are really impressive numbers and deserve to be noted. Angry Cats played against Hokurit (6) in the quarterfinals. At the start of the series it was hard to say which of the teams was going to win but the more play we saw between the two, the more clear it became that Angry Cats were the better team and finally ended the series with a score of 4-1. It isn’t a secret that attacking trio @Korkokokorko , @Lowryy (Lowryy8) and @juusto18 have been the best attacking trio alongside Sack Brothers trio this season, but it was the defender @Jesse6115 who scored the biggest goals in the final games of the series against Hokurit. It is really important for Angry Cats that the defenders @Jesse6115 and @Demoni2016 (Myrkky_Maik) can help their talented attackers offensively in the series against a team that will make getting to the scoring areas really challenging. Ducktales BK have had a stable season and playoff run so far. In the quarterfinals they were able to beat HV71 eSHL (3) with 1-4 in a series that were expected to be as close as it was in the scoring department, but in the end Ducktales BK were the better team and deserved the spot in the semifinals. One of the key players for Ducktales BK in the series against HV71 eSHL was @Zidso, who seems to have found top form when it’s needed the most and as a result stirred the pot having a say in most of the goals that Ducktales BK scored. The team made some interesting changes to their roster in the playoffs, when @tokFan (ItokFanI), who started the season as a center and later switched places with @cHIIMEERa to the right wing, seems to be playing as a defender with experienced @J-Foppain the playoffs and its working very well. Also winger @Craig (oskuldsfull) started only half of the games in the regular season but has now been the starter for his team and there has been no problems finding chemistry right away. This is going to be a different kind of series compared to the other pair where both teams rely on putting heavy pressure on their opponent and countering from the takeaways. In this series the game will most likely be more balanced and not so much risks will be taken by either of these teams. As said before, Angry Cats faced some troubles playing against a tight defensive team earlier but they came out as a winners and I don’t believe Ducktales BK will go full defensive mode at least when the game is tied. Ducktales BK did a great job against HV71 eSHL in avoiding clear 2vs1 and 3vs1 counter-attacks by always keeping two players at the back and that will be crucial against Angry Cats as well, since they have the quality to punish from every odd-man rush they will get. Ducktales BK will also face the best powerplay in the league so they want to avoid any extra trips to the box. However it will definitely not be a series where Angry Cats are the only team that is trying to find the way to score, Ducktales BK have the individual quality and good form going, so Angry Cats can’t blink their eyes in the wrong moment or they will see Ducktales BK smashing the puck in the net. Prediction: Both teams have had quite a similar route to the semifinals. Both have survived a game seven and in the quarterfinals, both teams were able to play their best hockey and take convincing 4-1 wins over their opponents. I believe Angry Cats will start the series strong and take wins from the first games. However, if Ducktales BK manage to take the lead in matches, they have the ability to shut down the opposing attack and then Angry Cats could be in trouble. I still believe that Angry Cats will be the winner of this series. I have also predicted Ducktales BK to lose their series two times in a row now and they’ve won both times so I don’t want to jinx anything at this stage. Angry Cats will advance to the finals with score 4-2. Who will follow the path of Riven Johdolla and Sulkavan Sudet (ECL 9 Lite finalists) and play in the ECL 10 Lite finals? Follow the teams on social media to find out when the games are being played and give them your support. Enjoy the games and respect your opponents.

NHLGamers, Round 2 of the ECL 10 Lite playoffs is now behind and what a season we are having! We witnessed tight series going all the way to game seven, brave fighting from the underdogs and some massive comeback wins. These games have proven that nothing is impossible in the playoffs and even 0-3 lead in series won’t be a safe lead. Thanks once again to the teams that were eliminated in round 2. You gave us a great show and proved that with little improvements on the ice you are ready to go even further next season. Now we know the quarterfinalists of ECL 10 Lite. All of these teams have the tools to success and win the cup so there won’t be favourites anymore as every team will have to play at their best to process to the semifinals. At quarterfinals nothing less is at stake than a place in top four and promotion to ECL 11 Pro for the next season. Looking through the teams and players that will fight in the quarterfinals i’m convinced that every one of these teams have the quality to play in the higher division. It’s going to be extremely tough challenge for every team to beat their opponent at this stage and even harder to predict the winners from these pairs. Ladies and gentlemen, here are the quarterfinalists of ECL 10 Lite: Sack Brothers (1) vs GENESIS (18) Oh what a matchup! Both teams played their regular season in group 4 and the games between these two teams ended in a 2-3 OTW for GENESIS and 3-4 W for Sack Brothers. In the second round of the playoffs, GENESIS did really well against Powerhouse hockey (4) by winning the series with a score of 1-4 while Sack Brothers won their series against Tic Tac Toes (25) with a score of 4-2. Both teams play with similar strengths in trusting a smart, high pressure and a general attacking style of hockey. Their forward trios have been effective through the whole season while the defence have been stable and the keepers have had good form night after night. In the defence both teams have a dynamic, where one part has more responsibility in breakouts while the other one plays more safe at the back. It’s obvious that the forwards from both teams will be dangerous when ever they get the puck in the offensive zone so I predict that the role of the defenders will be big in this series. Key points to follow: Familiar opponents: Teams already met in the regular season and both managed to get one win from those games. You could say that neither of the teams have the mental edge over their opponent and some of the ‘’tricks up the sleeve’’ have already been revealed. The team that did their homework better since the last meeting will surely start the series better but it’s required to come up with something new to surprise your opponent and win the series at the end. Defenders: As said, the pressure given to the defenders will be high in this series. Especially puck moving defenders @Kucherov86 (SB) and @layout (JxLayout) (GEN) will have to be able to open the game up fast and smart to help their teams to get past the opposition defence. On the other end, defenders @Persusta95 (SB) and @Zoueli / @Mameluck88 (GEN) will have to be ready to react in fast counter-attacks and other giveaways in the defensive zone. Who will be the hero: Both of these teams are full of great individuals. I’m pretty sure there won’t be a player on the ice that doesn’t want to play the biggest part in their teams success. This could also have a negative effect for the team play so it’s up to the leading players of the team to keep these virtuosos disciplined. Prediction: Sack Brothers have been superb, they have had an almost perfect season so far and the confidence is high. GENESIS was able to shut down Powerhouse hockey in the latest round and with that have experience of playing one of the best attacking teams this season. The series will be really tight but I believe that Sack Brothers will overcome GENESIS in the end of the series, 4-3. EBR eSports Official (2) vs HUIPPUPASSI (10) The other pair that are familiar to each others in the quarters are EBR eSports Official and HUIPPUPASSI. Both teams played in group 2 in the regular season and the matches between the two teams ended in a 5-4 OTW for HUIPPUPASSI and a 3-2 W for EBR eSports Official. In the second round of the playoffs, EBR eSports Official had no problem winning Old Farts (21) with a score of 4-0 and HUIPPUPASSI was able to beat Sjukstugan (9) in their series with 1-4. Both of these teams had a real goalfest in their series, which could be the theme of this matchup as well. One of the players in this pair that has been absolutely on fire is @jjokke19 (HP) who is currently leading playoffs scoring with 36 (21+15) points in 9 games. This is the guy that EBR eSports Official must stop if they want to win. On the other side @Keuschemisch (14+17) and @Toews19 (BarriosLucas18) (16+10) have found the chemistry for EBR eSports Official that should be noted in HUIPPUPASSI's playbook. I believe these teams will continue where they left off and we will see lots of scoring and entertaining hockey on the ice. Key points to follow: Improvement from last season: Both of these teams have already done better than they did last season and for sure neither one wants to end the good form. In ECL 9, EBR eSports Official was beaten in the first round and HUIPPUPASSI in the second round. Now they are both only one opponent away from promotion to Pro for next season. The confidence must be flowing in both dressing rooms which for sure will add even more entertainment on the ice. Goal after goal: These teams know how to score and they both want to keep playing the attacking hockey they are so good at. For EBR eSports Official this will be a completely different kind of opponent than the physical Old Farts were, so they have to be ready to change their approach and be prepared to clash with the skilled HUIPPUPASSI team. Goalkeepers: Both of these teams were among the teams that had the most shots in the regular season. As the nature of the game is probably going to be pretty direct counter-attack from end to end there will be lots of good scoring opportunities and the keeper that has the ability to read these situations is going to play the key role for his team and can really devastate the opponents with the highlight saves. When the team likes to give pressure and attack a lot, it can sometimes make goalies look a bit vulnerable in the stats table, but both starting goalies @IMadeGod (iceiceice-_-) (HP) and @thesaw83 (EBR) knows what's coming for them. Prediction: Really entertaining, free flowing attacking game in both ends where the winner of the series will be the team that simply manages to score more goals. It’s hard to believe that neither of these teams will set up any kind of turtle trap on the blueline and wait for their opponents to push through it. I believe that HUIPPUPASSI will be more prepared for this kind of hockey after a strong series against Sjukstugan and they will win the series with a score of 2-4. HV71 eSHL (3) vs Ducktales BK (7 If the matchup between EBR eSports Official and HUIPPUPASSI is expected to be the high scoring one, then this pair will most likely be the one with the lowest goals scored. HV71 eSHL was able to beat The UnderRated (19) in the second round of the playoffs with 4-1 and Ducktales BK won the series against ECDC Memmingen eSports (11) with a score of 4-3. Both of these series were really low scoring which tells that two extremely well defending teams will play against each others in this pair. When comparing to other teams that are still in the competition, the defensive approach could bring a positive ending to the season for whichever of these two teams that will continue to the semifinals. Just to make it clear, when we are talking about this smart defensive style of play that these teams are preferring we are not talking about devastating blueline-trap hockey that is extremely boring to watch and play against. The quality of the defense for these teams comes from smart positioning and skill to win one on ones, corner battles and especially loose pucks in front of the goal. I wouldn’t be surprised if at least half of the games would go to overtime and because of that the winner of this pair is really hard to predict. Key points to follow: Battle of the centers: The brightest stars for both teams will go head to head right from the first puck drop. Centermen @cHIIMEERa (DBK) and @Demski13 (HV) are the ones to watch in this series. These two players have played the key role for their team from very beginning of the season and actually the fact that they are both centers will even the odds in this pair even more because they are also defending against each others. Both of these players also have ~51 FOW % which makes every faceoff interesting. Who will defend better: As said many times before, two defending teams will face each other and every mistake could become really costly as the team that will be able to score the first goal will have a huge advantage for the rest of the match. It doesn’t make scoring any easier that both teams have hot goaltenders that are ready to save the day if the defence leaks. The mental strength is also important because many games could end after several overtime periods and the risk of mistakes grow the further the game goes. Powerplay: The margins in 5 on 5 play will most likely be really small between these teams so the powerplay will play a massive role in this series. As the scoring is predicted to be really hard, taking advantage of even one powerplay could win the whole game. Prediction: Defensive hockey at its best. Few goals, great saves and long matches. The team that is going to win this series is the one that has more quality in the attack. HV71 eSHL have been able to find the net more times than Ducktales BK in this season without conceding many goals. That’s why I will predict that HV71 eSHL is the winner of this extremely tight series with a score of 4-3. Angry Cats (5) vs Hokurit (6) The comeback kids! It almost feels like these two teams were meant to face off in the quarterfinals. In the second round of the playoffs both of these teams made an epic comeback in their series. Angry Cats were losing their series by 1-3 against HC SKULL TOWN (16) but fought back with three wins in regular time while Hokurit did it even better by coming back from the 0-3 losing position against Horror Hockey (13). Huge mental victories for both teams and I bet they can’t wait to get back on the ice. This one is going to be an interesting battle. The quality of forwards in both teams is outstanding and now they are facing two of the best goalkeepers in the league. Both of the teams must feel confident after last round, especially Angry Cats who have already improved a lot from the last season. It was this stage of the competition that Hokurit were beaten last season and I’m sure they have the hunger to overcome last seasons disappointment and play their way to the top four. Nothing will come easily, both teams surely know that even 0-3 series lead won’t get you through to the next round. Key points to follow: Teamwork: Even though both teams have great individuals, the winner of this series will be the one that can group up those individuals better to play for the team. As both teams can be really effective in the attacking zone the team that wants to win will have to defend a bit more disciplined than they are used to. I don’t believe that either of these teams will want to take the defensive role so it will be about finding the balance between attacking and defending. Finishing: The individual skill of finding the net is outstanding in both teams. This will be hard for the defenders when they have to choose whether to challenge the player with the puck or cut the passing lane. It’s important that the communication between the defence and goalkeeper is working. The team that is able to shut down every ‘’easy’’ scoring position will be the winner, since the keepers are ready to get all the normal shots without problem. Goalkeepers: Both keepers @Somerjoki (HRR) and @Giinis (AC) have been outstanding in the playoffs. Of course they could have not done this without their defence but still a save percentage near 85% for both of these guys is an amazing number. I believe that the best goalkeeper of this season will be the keeper that will advance to the semifinals from this pair. Now they are facing the best snipers in the league and the real MVP will help his team to victory. Prediction: Both of these teams can be really proud of getting to the quarterfinals after challenging second round. However I don’t believe that neither of these teams will settle only for this as both feel they are ready for promotion. Angry Cats completely destroyed teams in the regular season and Hokurit have proven their quality now two seasons a row. It’s going to be close one but I believe that with the experience from the last season, Hokurit will be able to win the series with score 2-4. That's our small comparison of four great playoff pairs where all of the teams will want this to be the season where they earned the promotion to ECL Pro. It’s only four wins away but the road won’t be easy for anyone. I would like to hear the community opinion of the teams that you think will continue to the semifinals. Feel free to write it in the comment box below this article. Huge matches! we hope you enjoy!

NHLGamers, The first round of the ECL 10 Lite playoffs is now finished. Sixteen pairs gave us an entertaining start for the playoffs this season and we've already witnessed some great teams such as SOPPAJENGI and NOVA exiting the tournament, which proves that the level of play in Lite is really high at the moment and any of the remaining teams have a real chance to win the cup. For the sixteen teams that were beaten in the first round we want to say thank you and keep your heads up, you did a great job getting this far, and for the sixteen teams that will continue to the next round, congratulations! You are one step closer to the Pro promotions and the Lite finals. It’s extremely hard to predict which of the teams will eventually advance but we will give you our best try. Obviously we also appreciate the community opinion so feel free to comment your favourite teams, players and the reason why you see them going through to the next round. Let's refer to the rulebook for how our playoffs will commence: Here are the pairs for the second round of the ECL 10 Lite playoffs : Sack Brothers vs Tic Tac Toes (25) Sack Brothers were the best team in the regular season and continued their good form by beating HockeyProfessorn HC (32) by a series score of 4-1 in the first round of the playoffs. This extremely talented group is dangerous in the offensive zone but also consistent at the back end. Sack Brothers goalkeeper @mikeruud was also one of the best goalkeepers in the regular season with help from his defence so it’s going to be all but easy to win this team. However, Tic Tac Toes proved in the first round that they are ready to beat the favourites. They won sensational newcomers Piiraaka Osuus ja Nakki (8) in the first round with a score of 4-2 which surely gave them the confidence needed to challenge the main favourites as well. Tic Tac Toes have the experience of center @Artuzioand goalkeeper @Jiihooo86 that can be really valuable in the playoffs. The first round also proved that the less experienced players in the team have found the right level to compete in the playoffs so Sack Brothers will have to be at their best in every game if they want to keep winning and advance to the next round. Key points to follow: Sack Brothers demolishing attack against an inexperienced Tic Tac Toes defense: Can Tic Tac Toes find the way to stop Sack Brothers from scoring and if this happens, are Sack Brothers able to change their way of play to compensate for the situation. Centers @Artuzio vs @luosttin: Faceoffs are really important in the playoffs where scoring can be really tough at times. Successful faceoff tactics in the offensive zone have won games many times especially in the OT periods. Both of these centers are used to winning their faceoffs so this could balance the odds a bit. The main favourites against the challengers: Sack Brothers will start the series as a firm favourites which also builds pressure on their side. How can they handle the situation if Tic Tac Toes can take the lead in the series or stretch it all the way to the game seven? Prediction: Sack Brothers have been convincing from the very start of the season to the first playoff round. Tic Tac Toes will give them a worthy opponent but the quality on the attack will win the series to Sack Brothers 4-1. EBR eSports Official (2) vs Old Farts (21) EBR eSports Official had a really good regular season where they won group 2 with an eight point difference to second placed Ducktales BK. They had no major problems in the first playoff round series against DIKTATUURI (31) that ended 4-1 to EBR eSports Officials favour. EBR likes to keep the puck possession but also shoot a lot which brings variation to their way of play. It may become important now when they are facing a different playstyle compared to their opposition in the first round. The teams point leader, right winger @Keuschemisch took a big role in the regular season and also helped his team with eight goals in five games in the first round of playoffs. Their opponents Old Farts represents one of the most physical teams in the playoffs this season. They had the second most hits of the teams that started the playoffs and especially team captain @Ankkalasvegas has been active in laying the body, which has also led him taking lots of penalties. In the first playoff round, Old Farts convincingly beat Saucer Hockey (12) with a sweep and especially new signing, right winger @farssine stood out for his team by scoring 8 of 14 goals that Old Farts netted against Saucer Hockey. Key points to follow: Physical gamestyle against puck possession: Can Old Farts mess their opponents gameplan up with their aggressive approach and will EBR eSports Official be able to use this to their advantage especially if they get a lot of time on powerplay? Threat from the right wing: Both teams have the best scoring potential on their right wing. Which team can defend it better and which can overcome the situation. Both teams have also been swapping their left winger so the key to success could be to find the right player to the left side that can score when the right side is jammed. Line-up choices: Both teams have quality players also in the reserves so it’s interesting to see which line-ups will be chosen if the change is needed. Prediction: Even though EBR eSports Official had a great regular season and first round of the playoffs, Old Farts will give them a real challenge. Two very different kind of gamestyles will result the series going all the way to a game seven where eventually EBR eSports Official will end the series to their favour 4-3. HV71 eSHL (3) vs The UnderRated (19) HV71 eSHL had a tough first playoff round against Speedy Bros (30) where three of the five games went to overtime. However HV71 eSHL managed to win the series 4-1 and continues their good form. The key aspect in HV71 eSHL's gamestyle is their excellent team defence. Only 35 goals in 30 games were scored against HV71 eSHL in the regular season and it’s also notable that the goalies @IsakTuvesson (Akoniaia) and @Waern26 (Waernn_) are sharing the playing time and they both have been in excellent form throughout the season. Experienced captain @Demski13 has been controlling the game at his center position and plays the key role in his teams success. HV71 eSHL will play against The UnderRated who won Suomen Sonnit (14) in the first round of the playoffs by 4-2. In the first round there were moments when The UnderRated had everything in control. The team likes to keep the puck in the offensive zone and challenge defenders one on one and passing for the perfect scoring position. Especially right winger @Psych0 wants to stay in control and draw the defenders toward himself, creating space for his teammates. Key points to follow: HV71 eSHL defence: Can The UnderRated find the way to break through the best defensive team in the division. Could the more direct way of play be the key to success or will the team trust their own strengths. Captains: Both captains @Demski13and @Psych0 are hungry for success. They also play a key role for their teams so the eyes of the viewers and defenders should be on these guys. Both are also excellent in creating the game so marking only them won’t be enough. Powerplay: The UnderRated had really poor powerplay in the regular season (5,17 PP%) compared to HV71 eSHL (28,57 PP%). Both teams are really good at penalty killing but it’s going to be really important to use the advantage of the powerplay in the series that isn’t expected to involve lots of goals. Prediction: At certain moments The UnderRated can play really attractive hockey with puck moving and personal skills but against a team like HV71 eSHL they should be playing that game from the puck drop to the buzzer. HV71 eSHL's teamplay is the best in the division and I can’t see The UnderRated outplaying them. HV71 eSHL will win the series 4-2 Powerhouse Hockey (4) vs GENESIS (18) Wow, what a matchup already at this stage! Powerhouse won a tough group 1 and managed to put impressive team stats on the table after the regular season. Watching back to their results it’s fair to say that the only losses Powerhouse hockey faced came from the games in which they were clear favourites to win so when the focus is 100% in the game this team can go all the way to the end. In the first round of the playoffs Powerhouse hockey beat Empire (29) in tight a series 4-2. There isn’t any clear individuals that plays the major role in teams success. Powerhouse hockey have players for every slot who can score and create scoring opportunities for their teammates. They will face one of the title favourites in GENESIS, who had a decent regular season in tough group 4 finishing fifth and in the first round of the playoffs they didn’t have much trouble beating Infamous (15) with a score of 4-1. GENESIS also prefers attacking hockey so this could become one of the most entertaining playoff pairs in this round. Left winger @meicci had great regular season with 91 points in 30 games but the teams best goal scorer comes from the center of the field. @Wpaanane scored 41 goals in the regular season and 9 goals in the first round of the playoffs. This is something to keep in mind especially for Powerhouse hockey centerman @Patrick Kane (I_Kauppinen_I). Key points to follow: The odds are even: There isn’t a favourite to win this pair. GENESIS is probably disappointed from their regular season result while Powerhouse hockey had an amazing regular season. GENESIS is determined to prove their true worth while Powerhouse hockey is playing with high confidence. Pressure: GENESIS were clearly disappointed that they weren’t picked from the Pro applications to play in ECL 10 Pro. It means they are now expected to prove a point and play their way up which could build some pressure for players to succeed. Powerplay hockey wasn’t expected to be as tremendous as they have been in this season but now they are also seen as title contenders and no one dares to underestimate them anymore. This new situation could build some pressure for them as well. Discipline on defence: Both teams loves to attack, score goals and challenge for one on ones. The winner of the series is going to be the team that is able to sacrifice some of the attacking force to play smart at the defence. Prediction: As said, there isn’t a clear favourite to win this pair. The seeding won’t tell the truth of the difference between these teams. Powerhouse Hockey has had an amazing season so far but I believe that GENESIS will be the team that is ready to adjust their gamestyle to a more defensive minded approach, which will end the series to GENESIS with the score 2-4. Angry Cats (5) vs HC SKULL TOWN (16) The Angry Cats attacking trio is on fire. They all scored over 100 points in 30 games and Angry Cats were the most effective team to bury the puck in the net in the regular season. It seems to be impossible to win this team in a pure goalscoring competition especially when the goalkeeper @Giinis is having a season to remember between the pipes. Angry Cats faced Nordic Nosebleed (28) in the first round of the playoffs where they had some challenging times finding the way to score against a disciplined defence but in the end they won the series 4-1. HC SKULL TOWN had an OK regular season finishing fourth in group 3. However they had an amazing first round of the playoffs where they beat SOPPAJENGI (17) with series 4-1. Captain @JesseL2002 who played the key role in last seasons Kouvola Screaming Eagles has been excellent this season as well. Victory over a strong SOPPAJENGI proves that HC SKULL TOWN is ready to challenge any team that comes their way. Key points to follow: Angry Cats demolishing crew: Wingers @Korkokokorko and @juusto18 score goals and crush their opponents while center @Lowryy keeps feeding them with clever passes and helping on defence. HC SKULL TOWN has to find a way to disturb this trio. Dangerous underdogs: Angry Cats will start the series as favourites but HC SKULL TOWN proved in the first round that they can’t be underestimated. This won’t be only a defensive battle for HC SKULL TOWN since they have the skill to finish their attacks in goals so Angry Cats has to be ready to face some lethal counter-attacks. Powerplay: Angry Cats were the best team on powerplay in the regular season with the amazing 42,11 PP%. HC SKULL TOWN will not win this series if they take too many penalties for sure. On the other hand, Angry Cats' aggressive style of play can often give the powerplay opportunities to HC SKULL TOWN and the team that can make most of their chances will win these games. Prediction: HC SKULL TOWN did a great job in the first round of the playoffs but I can’t see them winning Angry Cats who have been excellent in the attacking zone. However, if HC SKULL TOWN is ready to play like Nordic Nosebleed did: Defense first, there is a chance for another surprise. I still believe that the quality in attack will end the series 4-2 in Angry Cats' favour. Hokurit (6) vs Horror Hockey (13) Hokurit had a tough challenge already in the first round of the playoffs when they faced NOVA (27) in an extremely tight series that eventually ended in a Hokurit victory 4-1. @Nagyttaja (Nukuttaja-) who scored an incredible 57 goals in the regular season continues his good form and played the key role in their victory over NOVA. Also hats off to @Somerjoki for having a 90,16 save percentage after 5 games that surely helped his team to end the series at such an early stage. Hokurit proved already during last season that playoff hockey suits them very well and whoever they are facing will have to give their all to beat this team. Their opponent Horror Hockey wrote the most beautiful story of this season so far when they made an epic comeback from 3-1 to 3-4 in their series against Storhamar IL Esport (20). This tells something about the mentality of this team. Horror Hockey had tough season in ECL 9 Pro that ended in relegation but unlike some might do, they didn’t give up. Both of these teams rely on seamless teamwork so there isn’t expected to be lots of goals scored in both ends of the ice. Key points to follow: Overcoming the disappointment: Both teams wants to leave last seasons disappointment behind by taking the next step closer to Pro promotion and the team that is going to win this pair will definitely be one of the favourite candidates to do so. Teamplay: Both teams have individuals that can score when the spots open up, but the strength comes from the team effort for both clubs. It’s pretty clear that for example sniper @Nagyttaja won’t get as much free space in the offensive zone as he was used to have in the regular season and to keep scoring he is going to need help from his teammates. Goalies: The margins are going to be extremely tight when two excellent ‘’team first’’ minded clubs will go head to head. There won’t be many scoring opportunities in either end and when the time comes, goalkeepers will lead the show. Hokurit have chosen to play only one keeper @Somerjoki, while Horror Hockey uses two goalies @eissi83 and @poliskontroll. Whoever is going to be between the pipes has to be at their best in every game. Prediction: This series is going to be extremely tight to the very end. It almost feels like I have to flip a coin to give you the answer. Both teams are ‘’playoff ready’’ and good enough to earn the Pro promotion this season and challenge for the cup as well. However I’m so impressed with Horror Hockey’s comeback in the first round that I believe it will boost them to win the series in fourth overtime of game seven, 3-4. Ducktales BK (7) vs ECDC Memmingen eSports (11) Ducktales BK had a good regular season where they finished second in group 2. Their star on attack is experienced center @cHIIMEERa, who also played a big role for his team in the first round of the playoffs where they beat Remparts de Tours Esports (26) with a series score of 4-2. The team had a difficult start to the season but they have been able to improve game after game which is of course important in long tournaments. Even though their last game against Remparts de Tours Esports ended in a crushing 7-1 win, it catches the eye that most of their games this season have ended with small numbers which tells that the team is either protecting the lead for the win or having a bit struggle finding the net. Ducktales BK is facing ECDC Memmingen eSports who were in the third spot of group 3 after the regular season. In the first round of the playoffs they faced Fysical (22) and after tight games, they were able to win the series 4-2. Left winger @Wowa_1995 (Waldinho_95) has found a great form and helped his team also in the first round of the playoffs with 8 goals in 6 games. Key points to follow: Defensive strength: Both teams have really efficient defenders in their lineup. Especially former Synergy Hockey defender @J-Foppain Ducktales BK and @Toneee9in ECDC Memmingen eSports are worthy keeping an eye on during the games. They both can play very well both ways and have a key role building offence for their teams. Powerplay: ECDC Memmingen eSports have been a good powerplay team this season with 35 PP% compared to Ducktales BK 20 PP%. Ducktales BK isn’t known for taking lots of penalties but when the chance comes, ECDC Memmingen eSports have the quality to bury it. I believe this series is going to be a low scoring one as well so every opportunity counts. Fighting spirit: Ducktales BK have many players that have played Elite/Pro division at some point of their career and are now maybe having a cooldown/restart for their playing while ECDC Memmingen eSports is a relatively new organisation in the scene that is hungry for success and this could be the decisive difference at the end. Prediction: Ducktales BK have some great individuals in their lineup, but I believe ECDC Memmingen eSports wants to win more than their opponents. Even if I was wrong with the mental analysis, the series is going to be extremely tight and low scoring anyway. In the end ECDC Memmingen eSports will turn the series to their favour and eventually win 2-4. Sjukstugan (9) vs HUIPPUPASSI (10) The legendary Sjukstugan is making a comeback to the virtual rink and the regular season went really well for them as they finished third in group 4 and eventually had no problems winning TanssiiTuhtienKansa in the first round of the playoffs with a score of 4-1. The work order in the team is pretty clear: Captain @Bjono feeds the wingers @Lamsa and @Martin Johansson (mitchx99) as they shoot the puck to the net with great accuracy. Sjukstugan will face HUIPPUPASSI, who had a really difficult start for the season but finally found their own level and ended the regular season in the third place of group 2. In the first round of playoffs, HUIPPUPASSI continued their good from by beating Gernoble BDL Esport (23) a sweep. One player that has been excellent this season for HUIPPUPASSI is young defender @viba2008, who scored most points out of all defensemen in the regular season and had a really strong start to the playoffs as well. There is a great amount of individual talent in this pair and this series is expected to be really entertaining. Brave attacking ice hockey both ways and lots of goals. Key points to follow: Offensive battle: Both teams want to attack and place a high forecheck. This could open up the game to counter-attacks and it definitely doesn’t make playing for the goalkeeper any easier. I predict that there will be lots of goals in this series and the team that manages to win the goal scoring race will win the series (obviously). Talented individuals: There is lots of Elite experience on ice for Sjukstugan, who can make impressive plays with the puck from time to time. Even though HUIPPUPASSI doesn’t have the same experience in their lineup, but every one of their players are capable to match the skills of Sjukstugan on a good day. Lots of one on ones, great passes and faceoff set plays will be expected in this encounter. Goalies: because of the reasons explained above, goaltenders will play a big part for both teams in this series. No easy shots are expected and lots of nasty wrap-around attempts will be made for sure. Keepers need to use all of their tools to catch every possible puck they can. Both goalkeepers were good in the first round but now the challenge is way harder. Prediction: These teams have very similar way of playing this game and I’m pretty sure this series will be really fun to watch. There won’t be many overtimes and many goals will be scored. In the end I believe that the experience of Sjukstugan will lead them to victory and the series will end 4-2 Well, there you go! Hopefully you enjoyed this extensive breakdown of the Lite round 2 playoffs. The train chugs on and teams are dropping in numbers, soon we're down to the last few and the stakes start rising. Follow the teams on social media for info about the games! As always, have fun - play hard!

NHLGamers, A month ago we started ECL10 Lite with 64 teams. Now we have reached the point where we know the 32 teams that will continue to the playoffs. Congratulations, now the hard work begins. We'd like to extend a special mention to Sack Brothers for being the #1 team after an impressive regular season with the record of 28-1-1. We also want to thank the teams that didn't manage to reach the playoffs but still fought bravely and gave us an entertaining regular season all the way to the last rounds. Come back stronger next time! Let's refer to the rulebook for how our playoffs will commence: Here are the pairs for the first round of ECL 10 Lite playoffs : (1) Sack Brothers vs HockeyProfessorn HC (32) (2) EBR eSports Official vs DIKTATUURI (31) (3) HV71 eSHL vs Speedy Bros (30) (4) Powerhouse Hockey vs Empire (29) (5) Angry Cats vs Nordic Nosebleed (28) (6) Hokurit vs NOVA (27) (7) Ducktales BK vs Remparts de Tours Esport (26) (8) Piiraaka Osuus ja Nakki vs Tic Tac Toes (25) (9) Sjukstugan vs TanssiiTuhtienKansa (24) (10) HUIPPUPASSI vs Grenoble BDL Esport (23) (11) ECDC Memmingen eSports vs Fysical (22) (12) Saucer Hockey vs Old Farts (21) (13) Horror Hockey vs Storhamar IL Esport (20) (14) Suomen Sonnit vs The UnderRated (19) (15) Infamous vs GENESIS (18) (16) HC SKULL TOWN vs SOPPAJENGI (17) Due to a tight schedule and the sheer amount of teams included, we decided to leave a closer preview of teams and players to the next rounds. Fight hard, respect your opponents and enjoy the series. Nothing is guaranteed in the playoffs. Let the race begin!

NHLGamers, We have reached the last week of the regular season in our ECL 10 Pro division. At this point it seems that Leksands IF and Black Horse are on their way to group victory while Clumsy Penguins, Bellizzi, Prowlers Esports and Me Carvoset are heading to the relegation battles. For the rest of the teams, there will be a lot at stake in the remaining matches, especially for the teams near the playoff line. Both groups will entertain us with epic battles for the last playoff spots and we decided to bring you some highlights of what to keep an eye on in the last week. Group 1 Teams that will fight for the playoff spots in group 1 are Enigma, Kaupallinen Yhteistyö, Blackdawgs, Djurgarden Hockey, MOCKBA, Cheers Hockey and The Syndicate. Even though Team Frosty are currently at 8th place, they have less games played than others and with their current form they are expected to join the battle for top 3 positions. However, as you can see from the scheme below, Team Frosty will play a key role in the playoff battle as well. Standings and the opponents for the rest of the season: 5th Enigma (26 GP, 33 pts): Djurgarden Hockey and The Syndicate 6th Kaupallinen Yhteistyo (26 GP, 33 pts): Blackdawgs and Leksands IF 7th Blackdawgs (26 GP, 32 pts): Kaupallinen Yhteistyo and Cheers Hockey _______________________________PLAYOFF LINE________________________________ 9th Djurgarden Hockey (24 GP, 28 pts): Enigma, Bellizzi and Team Frosty 10th MOCKBA (24 GP, 28 pts): The Syndicate, Leksands IF and Clumsy Penguins 11th Cheers Hockey (24 GP, 27 pts): Riven Johdolla, Team Frosty and Blackdawgs 12th The Syndicate (24 GP, 25 pts): Bellizzi, MOCKBA and Enigma Enigma will start as the favorites against both of their remaining opponents but every point is absolutely vital for Djurgarden Hockey and The Syndicate so winning won’t be easy for sure. One of the biggest matchups will be Kaupallinen Yhteistyö vs Blackdawgs. The winner of this game could secure a playoff spot and in the best/worst scenario, a shared 3 points could see both of these teams running away from the teams below the playoff line. That’s why Djurgarden Hockey, MOCKBA, Cheers Hockey and The Syndicate have to play for only for full points in the remaining matches if they want to keep the playoff dream alive. Group 2 Sulkavan Sudet, Vaxjo Lakers HC, Rookie Mistakes, Herlev Eagles and We Kings will battle for the playoff spots in the Group 2. 5th place TIKI TALK will also play a big role in the battle while 6th placed Nordic Stars should be able to gather the points from rest of their opponents and fight for a top 3 finish with HanaaHC and ZSC Esports. Standings and the opponents for the rest of the season: 5th TIKI TALK (24 GP, 35 pts): Herlev Eagles, We Kings and Vaxjo Lakers 7th Sulkavan Sudet (26 GP, 32 pts): ZSC Esports and We Kings 8th Vaxjo Lakers HC (26 GP, 32 pts): Pata Hellalla and TIKI TALK _______________________________PLAYOFF LINE________________________________ 9th Rookie Mistakes (24 GP, 28 pts): HanaaHC, Me Carvoset and Herlev Eagles 10th Herlev Eagles (24 GP, 27 pts): TIKI TALK, Company of Geeks and Rookie Mistakes 11th We Kings (24 GP, 27 pts): Prowlers Esports, TIKI TALK and Sulkavan Sudet Just like Enigma in Group 1, TIKI TALK are the favorites for their remaining matches but especially Herlev Eagles and We Kings need all the points to remain in the fight. For Vaxjo Lakers HC it’s important to win both games against Pata Hellalla and get as many points as possible against TIKI TALK to secure the playoff spot. Rookie Mistakes will play big games against HanaaHC and with wins from those matches they could really put pressure on Vaxjo Lakers HC and Sulkavan Sudet. We Kings are expected to win against Prowlers Esports and with crucial points against TIKI TALK their last matchup against Sulkavan Sudet could be decisive for who gets to the playoffs. This could be the case with Herlev Eagles and Rookie Mistakes as well if Herlev Eagles manage to get full points against Company of Geeks and steal the points from TIKI TALK. As you can see, pretty much everything is still possible in the playoff battle. The importance of the remaining matches will grow the pressure in the dressing rooms as every point will be crucial. There is no room for errors and only the strongest teams will continue to the playoffs. This will be a great week in ECL 10 Pro, we hope you enjoy it. Play hard and fair! Your ECL Pro Writing team @Oliverigood & @JakePlay77

NHLGamers, A bit over half of the regular season in ECL 10 Lite is now behind and we have a vision of teams and players that are going to be strong this season. It's also clear that the race for the playoff spots is going to be extremely tight in every group and every point is important from this point on. All of the teams want to finish as high as possible in their groups to have optimal seeding for the playoffs while mid-table teams are fighting to get above the playoff line before the regular season ends. For the teams that are finishing their season at the bottom of the table it’s going to be more of a learning process and gathering that important experience for the future. However, there are still many games left and time to improve for every team regardless their current position in the standings. We took a look at the midseason standings and stats and made a little summary of every group. Group 1 Current leaders SOPPAJENGI have been victorious in recent games against teams that they’ve been clear favorites to win against but they have also lost some important points against their main rivals, which could see them losing the top spot at the end of the regular season. The strongest candidates to overtake SOPPAJENGI are Hokurit, who were able to take 3 / 4 points against SOPPAJENGI when they squared off. Also one of the most positive surprises in this season so far has been Powerhouse hockey, who recently took 4/4 points from Hokurit and closed the gap between these two teams. In the predicted mid-table, Murohoki have taken some impressive victories but also suffered some devastating losses that could drop them out of the top 4 battle. They have played against all the top teams already and are now required to win the teams below them to secure a good position in the standings. Saucer Hockey took some vital points from Old Farts (4/4 points), Tic Tac Toes (2/4 points), and recently from Murohoki (4/4 points) which quickly turned them into the strongest playoff candidates in the mid-table. It is also expected that teams like Infamous and Empire will win the points to join the fight. Elamam Kiekko is currently heading towards another disappointing season but they have already played against most of the top teams in the group and they should be still able to gather enough points to challenge for a playoff spot at the end. Kuutamokiekko and Basic Instinct have to continue their good work in the defensive zone and take big wins from the rest of the games if they want to get to the playoffs. There could still be a glimpse of hope for KSE Teutons to challenge for a playoff spot if they manage to get the victories from the rest of their games. Rusty Bulls (who took two points from Powerhouse hockey last night) and CapeTown Kings needs to improve a lot if they want to rise from the bottom. Game is over for Team HulluPullo. @Nagyttaja, who joined Hokurit just before the season started has played key role for his team with league leading 44 goals in 20 games. SOPPAJENGI winger @Jondeezzis continuing from where he left off last season with an impressive 68 points (33+35) in 26 games. @Verve(Boychuk39) from Powerhouse hockey represents one of the most effective offensive defenders with 34 points (8+26) in 20 games and @Vamouxfrom Basic Instinct has currently the best save percentage in the group from active goaltenders ( 8 GP: 84,76 %) Key team stats Most points per game: Powerhouse hockey (1,7) Most goals per game: Hokurit (4,41) Least goals against per game: Saucer Hockey (2,05) Best power play: Powerhouse hockey (32,56 %) Best penalty kill: Powerhouse hockey (90,32 %) Group 2 Leader EBR eSports Official has been amazing in this season so far. In their games against 2nd placed The UnderRated they took 4 points (3-5 W, 1-0 OTW) and are heading to group winners if they continue to play the way they do right now. Right behind The UnderRated there are six teams that are only up to 4 points apart from each other. Ducktales BK with two games less played than the others could rise to challenge The UnderRated for 2nd place in the standings. The upcoming games between The UnderRated and Ducktales BK is going to be crucial for both teams and extremely tight because Ducktales BK have seen half of their games going to overtime this season. HUIPPUPASSI who won their group last time in ECL 9 Lite had a rough start for the season but now they are finding their form and are fighting with Suomen Sonnit and Poston Fruits for the best possible position for playoffs seeding. The games between Suomen Sonnit and Poston Fruits are going to be really important for both of these teams and could decide which team will challenge for the top 3 positions and who will fight for the playoff spots at the end of the season. TanssiiTuhtienKansa and Remparts de Tours Esport are just above the playoff line so there is no room for error for any of these teams especially when last season's playoffs sensations Carolus Icemen, Hopeless Hockey Team and Syndrome are desperate to get to the right side of playoff line as well. In the bottom half, HockeyProfessorn HC are closest to challenging the teams above for a playoff spot. They recently took an impressive 3/4 points from The UnderRated. IK Oskarshamn, AfroDunk, Slightly Below Average and Detroit Big Hinks need to change their course to winning ways to keep the playoff dream alive. For these teams it’s important to win all the points from other bottom teams or the gap to the top 8 teams will grow too big to catch. Last time in ECL 9 Lite, AfroDunk managed to get to the second round of the playoffs so they must be really disappointed in how the season is going so far and improvements are expected for the last half of the season. @Keuschemisch from EBR eSports Official has been the deadliest attacker of group 2 with 59 (22+37) points after 20 games. @viba2008 from HUIPPUPASSI is the point leading defender in the group with 24 points (6+28) in 20 games and @Herra Manaatti (Ponmi) from Poston Fruits has the best save percentage ( 10 GP: 84,17 %) Key team stats Most points per game: EBR eSports Official (1,9) Most goals per game: EBR eSports Official (4,15) Least goals against per game: EBR eSports Official (1,95) Best power play: Suomen Sonnit (43,24 %) Best penalty kill: The UnderRated (93,02 %) Group 3 Sensational newcomers Piiraaka Osuus ja Nakki are currently leading the group but ECDC Memmingen eSports, who were previously known as WEREWOLVES HC are right behind them with less games played. Piiraka Osuus ja Nakki was able to beat ECDC Memmingen eSports in both games this season (3-2 W, 2-3 W) and maybe the biggest games for them are going to be the matchup against Storhamar IL Esport who also needs full points to challenge for the top position in the group. The fourth team in the top 4 currently are Nordic Nosebleed who have already improved from last season when they failed to get to the playoffs. All these four teams have started their season very well and are building a little gap to the mid-table teams. However, HV71 eSHL is still lingering with less games played and the team has found a good form with only two losses during the whole season. They are expected to join the fight for the top spot and especially their matches against ECDC Memmingen eSports and Storhamar IL Esport could decide who is going to win the group. Speedy Bros is currently the strongest team in the mid-table with less games played than the competition. However, they have had problems in the recent games that could see them falling behind especially when they are yet to face teams like HV71 eSHL and Piiraka Osuus ja Nakki. HC SKULL TOWN who surfaced for the first time in IS CUP where they did an outstanding job by getting to the playoffs, have had a quiet start to the season but are slowly finding good form. They were able to win their main rivals DEG eSports (1-2 W, 9-2 W) and changed their course from being playoffs candidates to being a serious challenger for top 4 spots. Around the playoff line we find Grenoble BDL Esports, Clowns On Ice and Nearbird Fighters who all have had fluctuant seasons. Also DICE Hockey, Illumination and Finnish Hockey Legends are still in the race for the playoffs so it's going to be an entertaining last half of the season for group 3 too. At the bottom of the table we see nTice Esports and Free From Rodents, who are still searching for their winning form but most likely will not make it to the playoff fight this year. Free From Rodents managed to win 2/4 points from HV71 eSHL in their recent game that could bring some confidence back. @Wowa_1995 (Waldinho_95) from ECDC Memmingen eSports is leading the points statistics of group 3 with 22+31=53 points in 20 games while @Toneee9 from ECDC Memmingen eSports is the point leading defender with an impressive 8+32=40 points in 20 games. HV71 eSHL keeper @IsakTuvesson (Akoniaia) has the best saving percentage ( 6 GP: 93,1 %) Key team stats Most points per game: HV71 eSHL (1,79) Most goals per game: Storhamar IL Esport (3,61) Least goals against per game: HV71 eSHL (1,21) Best power play: ECDC Memmingen eSports (39,53 %) Best penalty kill: HV71 eSHL (100 %) Group 4 Sack Brothers are the leaders in Group 4 with less games played than Horror Hockey. As predicted, Sack Brothers have been excellent in the offensive zone with most goals scored of the teams in the league. However Sack Brothers are still facing Horror Hockey and NOVA in the final half of the season. Right behind the top 2 are Angry Cats who took big wins against NOVA recently (1-2 W, 5-2 W). GENESIS, who are the only team that have been able to win Sack Brothers this season and Sjukstugan who also were able to win NOVA twice. It is really hard to predict which of these teams could win this tough group and especially those games where they are playing against one another every point is going to be extremely important. It seems that TeamEurope, Fysical, DIKTATUURI, Mustachios, Skelleftea AIK and ORIGINS will fight for the playoff spots in the packed mid-table. Most likely only two of these teams will continue to the playoffs and to get there they have to be able to steal some big points from the top 6 teams as well. TeamEurope did this by winning 3/4 points against Horror Hockey in their latest matches and are now leading the playoff race. At the bottom are Fat Burritos, YK-V Esports, Olympia and 5th Line Heroes. Playoffs are getting away from them but if some of these teams could get wins from the rest of the bottom group teams and steal some points from teams above, there could be a chance to fight for the playoff spot at the last rounds of the seasons. @luosttin from Sack Brothers is currently leading the race for the most points on the regular season with amazing 74 points in 20 games while his teammate @Kucherov86 is at the top of the defenders stats with 8+33=41 points in 20 games. SPB_AlexZver_22 from NOVA is leading the leagues defenders goals statistics with 13 goals in 24 games. @Giinis from Angry Cats has an outstanding save percentage ( 16 GP: 91,62 %) Key team stats Most points per game: Sack Brothers (1,95) Most goals per game: Angry Cats (5,25) Least goals against per game: GENESIS (1,73) Best power play: Angry Cats (39,22 %) Best penalty kill: Sjukstugan (96,77 %) As you can see from the table, the rest of the season is going to be a hard battle right to the end for most of the teams. Everyone who has played some ECL playoffs before knows that those series can be really different from regular season games and every team have a real chance to win their opponent and move forward to the next rounds. The margins are very small this season and it’s going to be really important to keep fighting to the last whistle. We are excited to see how the table will form at the end of the season and wish the best of luck for every team in the league going forward!

NHLGamers It's time for our season preview of the ECL 10 Pro division. A bit over two months has passed since we saw Delusion crowned as the champions of ECL 9 Pro when they managed to beat Vesa Pompa HC in a final series that included an enormous amount of individual talent and two teams that both eventually paved their way into the top tier. Top tier play is on the list of requirements yet again for the champions as the game and our growing community makes the 6v6 scene more competitive season after season. To cap off last season we saw all top 4 Pro teams fight their way to Elite and also really tight games in the Elite Qualification Series which proves that the quality of play in Pro division is at a really high level right now. At the moment we are living in especially hard times globally. The COVID-19 pandemic will most probably have some influence on ECL competition in this starting season in terms of rescheduling and also if teams are forced to use back-ups in cases of sickness (which we pray does not happen). This might be a factor that sways the power ranking between teams one way or another. That is an interesting topic and the consequences of COVID-19 remain to be seen. We're definitely hoping not to see too much effect on the ECL this season, it's a prevalent topic that needs to be addressed in these times. ECL isn´t the “island away from the rest of the world” so this is a point we should not ignore ahead of this starting season. To sum it all up: Teams that were relegated from ECL 9 Elite and weren’t able to fight their way back in the Elite Qualification Series are Leksands IF and TIKI TALK. Teams that proved their worth in ECL 9 Lite and earned the promotion to ECL 10 Pro are Lite champions Sulkavan Sudet, runner-up Riven Johdolla, Clumsy Penguins and MOCKBA. To fill the missing teams in the division, NHLGamer staff have accepted applications from teams Rookie Mistakes, Kouvola Screaming Eagles, Company of Geeks, HanaaHC, Djurgarden Hockey and Team Frosty for the open spots in ECL 10 Pro. ECL 10 Pro has a total of 32 teams divided into two groups. We took a closer look at some of the most interesting teams at this point in the season and decided to bring you basic information about them and highlight some key players to follow. We are also predicting their success in the regular season during the forthcoming season. Group 1 Leksands IF After a disappointing season in ECL 9 Elite, Leksands IF was able to put up quite a show in the first eSHL season and the playoffs, where they first won ECL 9 Elite semifinalist Lulea Hockey and fought bravely against Linköping HC in a semifinal series that ended 3-1 (BO5) in the favor of the eSHL (and ECL 9) champion. Success in eSHL must have brought some confidence back but it didn’t show in the Elite Qualification Series, where the team saw another bottom of the table finish and was thereby relegated. Despite the recent setbacks the team has faced, Leksands IF is still seen as the favorite eSHL team to succeed this season in ECL 10 Pro (Challenge accepted Vaxjo Lakers HC, Orebro eHockey and Djurgarden Hockey?). There is no doubt that if Leksands IF can find their stride again, they will be fighting for the cup this season. Captain @Mumsi- is once again expected to lead the team to a promotion battle as he did back in their Synergy Hockey days in ECL 7 Pro, with familiar faces by his side. A notable player is missing from the roster, as it appears that long-time defender @Egyptologen (J-Foppa) has left the team. Placement after regular season: 1-2 Player to watch: Experienced defender and club icon @Supremski is the backbone for the whole team. With so many good attacking teams it is one of the main requirements for success to have good defenders that can do well in the own zone and Supremski represents the cream of the crop in this sector at this level. Enigma This team that was named Sandstorm last season has made a brand change and is now called Enigma. Last season, Sandstorm suffered a loss in the first round of the playoffs against GHETTO FIREBIRDS in a tight series that ended 4-3. The name isn’t the only thing that has changed from last season, though. Only captain @MozjaTG (Mozja-) remains from last seasons roster. However, compared to their roster in ECL 9 Pro the quality hasn’t dropped at all. For example, the team lost their best scorer @yrjoo but in exchange former Symphony player @Nieppii returns to Pro hockey after a couple of seasons in Elite. Also former team captain @Crisu_rottis returns to strengthen the defensive line after a season with Almost Famous. It is really interesting to see how the fresh squad will blend as a team and find chemistry. The roster of Enigma has the potential to do great things this season but in the end it is all about teamwork which we will see more in depth when the season starts. If the team can get their motors running the way they want to, it's likely that Enigma will do way better than they did last season and be a real threat to any team in the later stages of the season. Placement after regular season: 1-2 Player to watch: @Nieppiiis probably the most reputable player signed by a Pro division this season and possesses great offensive upside. He is expected to help Enigma with his experience, personal talent and points. Kaupallinen Yhteistyo Some eyebrows were raised when relatively unknown Kaupallinen Yhteistyo was promoted to ECL Pro 9 last season through their Pro application but after proving all doubters wrong, there's no question they are a force to be reckoned with this season. In their first ECL season ever, Kaupallinen Yhteistyo managed to finish in 3rd place in their group and fought their way to the second round of the playoffs where they lost to Elite promoted GHETTO FIREBIRDS. As the team roster remains almost unchanged from the ECL 9 Pro season with the addition of @Frilanderfrom Unlucky Boys HC, it is expected that Kaupallinen Yhteistyo will take the next step forward this time. Last seasons success also gave the team a chance to play in the Elite Qualification Series where they won their group but finally lost to BRAYCE Phantoms in the decisive final series. Signs from the previous season and the Elite Qualification Series tell that forwards @Jooonasaurus, @Limbe65 and @Katuhessu (KrisutusB) have found that special chemistry that could make them the most effective attacking trio this season. With the recent form the team is showing, it wouldn’t be a huge surprise anymore to see Kaupallinen Yhteistyo fighting for Elite promotion at the end of the season. Placement after regular season: 1-2 Player to watch: @Jooonasaurus is a player whose reputation precedes him. After a very good run in the Qualification Series, he is expecting to be one of the leading forwards both performance-wise and statistically this season. RPEAT Esports Former Nightmare/Supernatural now skates under the banner of Finnish eSports organization RPEAT esports. Nightmare had a disappointing season in ECL 9 Pro as they were left out of the playoffs by a small margin. After the season, team captain @Kozek77(Kozeehh) and the new alternate captains @illbiocandyand @Aze (l-AZE-l) started reforming the team to redeem themselves. Only three players from last seasons Nightmare squad will continue the journey with RPEAT esports. When taking a closer look at the new faces arriving, it’s obvious that RPEAT esports aims high this season but also looks towards the future. Former Dynasty defender @DieCutterMC will bring experience to the defense while young gun @Timez (Timoccio) and ‘’hidden gem’’ (quote from RPEAT NHL twitter) @vJokkee- are determined to make the breakthrough at the Pro level. Is it going to happen in this season already? This team has the hunger for success and the potential to surprise many strong teams this season. It may be too early to talk about a team that is chasing a promotion for real, but the season will show us what's to come. Placement after regular season: 4-6 Player to watch: Center @Timez(Timoccio) was the key player for ECL 9 Lite runner-up Riven Johdolla last season. He is the most interesting prospect to follow in his first Pro season in a team that can help him become star player in the future. Alliance HT If BRAYCE Phantoms has the highest reputation of German teams, then Alliance HT is the legend of the Russian EASHL scene. Last season in ECL 9 Pro was really tough for them as they were one of the teams that fell to the relegation series. Alliance HT managed to keep their spot in Pro by sweeping Resurrection in the series. A couple of weeks ago it was still unsure if Alliance HT was going to participate ECL this season and for example ECL 9 captain @MAYZIIX was part of the TIKI TALK roster in the Elite Qualification Series before the registrations. It seems the worries have been left behind and they have made a flying start in RCL 6 Div 1. However it is expected that Alliance HT will have another hard season ahead. Longtime player and former captain @Denisovl17l (Denisov_D_l17l) who represented the team back in ECL 6 Pro returns to help the team in these hard times. But is it enough to avoid relegation this season? Placement after regular season: 13-16 Player to watch: Goalkeeper @crooks(Crooks_Tc) will play a big role for his team. He will have to play at his top level every night to help Alliance HT in a season that is expected to be difficult for them. Not an easy task for a keeper that is heading into his first ECL season ever. Group 2 Reality Check It is believed that many have marked Reality Check as the favorites for the title race this season. Last season in ECL 9 Pro, Reality Check had a decent regular season finishing 5th in the standings. They started the playoffs strong by beating Children of Ice in the first round and gave a good fight against eventual runner-up Vesa Pompa HC in the second round, losing the series 2-4. During the offseason, the squads roster saw a couple of changes when center @valta15, defender @Ninjawiq (Hakkapeiiitta) and goalie @Jann3_67_ , who all played a big role in last seasons team decided to leave. To fill these boots team saw the arrivals of @Hüüli(huulihoelkka44) and @jimboslizer from Rakish, @Talonmies69 from Children of Ice and @vokial2(SolidElli) from HC Wildcard. Reality Check was one of the teams that took part in the Elite Qualification Series. With the current roster they managed to be the best team in the group stage but in the end they couldn’t find the way to win Almost Famous in the final series. However Reality Check showed that roster changes haven’t hurt the team and proved to their competitors that they are ready for the new season and chase for the cup. Placement after regular season: 1-2 Player to watch: The preseason indicates that @James (Jamssonii) will replace Valta15 at the center position and the game looked promising in the Elite Qualification Series. Wingers are also expected to benefit from the playmaking skills of Jamssonii. Nordic Stars Nordic Stars had an excellent regular season in ECL 9 Pro where they finished third in their group. Everything seemed to go the way the team wanted until the first round of the playoffs where they faced Black Horse and lost the series 0-4. Actually one of the Black Horse players that ended up ruining their season was @Iltapeli (apetttaja) who is now part of the Nordic Stars roster. Nordic Stars are a team that likes to play a lot of NHL20. With around 1400 club games played they are certainly one of the most active teams in ECL currently and it shows on the ice. Players like @Vire30 and @Jerax13 do incredible things with the puck on the ice and the way Nordic Stars sometimes plays is really entertaining to watch. It is expected that Nordic Stars will do very well in the regular season this time as well but the question is - have they found a way to play winning playoff hockey? If the answer is yes, then there are not many teams in the league that can stand in their way. This could very well be the season for Nordic Stars that will make them forget last seasons disappointment. Placement after regular season: 1-2 Player to watch: @Iltapeli (apetttaja) scored 49 goals in 38 games last season in Black Horse. Nordic Stars' style of fast attacking hockey will suit him well and he could break his own personal goal record this season. TIKI TALK Legendary TIKI TALK were close to avoiding the relegation battle in Elite last season. They were tied in points with POGGERS but with fewer wins TIKI TALK headed to the relegation series where they lost to GHETTO FIREBIRDS. The team had a second chance to return to the top division in the Elite Qualification Series but they couldn’t find their game when it was needed and ended up losing all of the games in the group stage. If TIKI TALK can get through the hard times and find their best form and chemistry with their fresh squad, ‘’ESA’’ can be one of the best teams in the regular season, favorites for the promotion battle and challengers for the cup. Talking about legendary, team captain and scoring machine @itspardytime is once again one of the most interesting players to follow during the season. Last time TIKI TALK played Pro in ECL 8, itspardytime scored a league leading 150 points in 48 games and led his team to the finals where they eventually lost to POGGERS but later managed to get promoted to Elite. Placement after regular season: 3-4 Player to watch: It seems that @Sagee95 will start the season on defense. It is interesting to see how this talented player who is more known for his attacking abilities will convert to defense and how it will affect TIKI TALKs way of play. Shooting Stars There seems to be a really interesting rivalry building up between German Championship League powerhouses Shooting Stars (previously EV Fussen Esports) and ZSC Lions Esports (previously The Black Jacks). In ECL Pro 9, ZSC Lions Esports managed to get to the playoffs while Shooting Stars were left just below the playoff line. However in GCL 5 Div 1 playoff semifinals Shooting Stars defeated the Lions with a series score of 4-1. So it is maybe fair to say that the Shooting Stars have the upper hand at the moment. For some time ‘’The pride of Germany’’ BRAYCE Phantoms have waited for a worthy opponent at their own soil and Shooting Stars have shown that they are slowly building up to up to the task. After a very good GCL season, Shooting Stars are expected to improve from ECL 9 and even though many will not expect miracles from this team, we could see a real surprise from them at the end of the regular season. GCL 5 Div 1 runner-ups may be one of the most underrated teams at the start of the season. Placement after regular season: 4-6 Player to watch: It seems that defender @x Holtbeast (xReuTschNer98x) step into the boots of @Krinke this season in the center position. Results from GCL 5 Div 1 show that he fits well into the teams attacking trio and with interest we follow how it will turn out in the ECL rink. Sulkavan Sudet Looking back at the ECL 9 Lite seasonm Sulkavan Sudet made an almost perfect run to be the division champions. Attacking trio @Oxdoggi, @Kemppane_and @Luokkala_with the help of backup forward @Stapletonetore apart opposing defenses from start to finish. With such an impressive display someone could think that these guys played in the wrong division but it is actually going to be their first season in the higher divisions. The only players that have previous experience from Pro are defender @Pirkkalope and new signing @Okke40(hifk_FANI). Sulkavan Sudet also added some depth to their defense by signing @Maestroffi from Hokurit who also had a good season in ECL 9 Lite. Obviously Pro is going to be a harder challenge for the talented wolfpack but it is interesting to see how well the team can adapt their style in Pro and how far it will take them. However, just like with the other teams that got promoted from Lite, expectations are at a moderate level. Placement after regular season: 6-8 Player to watch: The teams style of attacking hockey can sometimes leave room for really promising counter-attacks and that is when goalkeeper @TeikDaun can steal the show. The keeper faced some critic last season because of his relatively low save percentage but we are talking about one of the best goaltenders this season. Prowlers Esports Prowlers Esports was one of the teams that got promoted to ECL 9 Pro through their application at the registration stage. The team had really hard last season where they were the bottom of their group. However Prowlers gathered their ranks and beat Horror Hockey in the relegation battle. After the season most of the players in the team left and captains @eKvaarn and @Forsberg__21 (Lawner_) had to make complete rebuild. Scouting through the new signings it seems most of the new faces will play their first Pro games this season. With an inexperienced squad, the expectations are low, but the squads real potential is still hidden and they have a long season ahead to glue as a team and improve their game. However it is expected that Prowlers Esports will once again be facing relegation to end the season. Placement after regular season: 13-16 Player to watch: @Forsberg__21(Lawner_) has had good seasons at the Lite level. Last season was hard for the whole team but now with the experience of some Pro hockey in his pocket it is probable that Lawner_ will lead his teams points stats at the end of the regular season. Well there you have it! We hope that yo enjoyed our small preview and similarly will enjoy the starting ECL 10 Pro season. Remember to follow all the teams on their respective social media channels including Twitch and/or Youtube. NHLGamer will keep you up to date on the progress of the season and more articles about the division will follow as the standings start to take shape. Play hard - have fun! Pro writers, @Oliverigood & @JakePlay77

NHLGamers, Welcome to our season preview for the ECL 10 Lite division. A little over two months ago we saw Sulkavan Sudet crowned as the champions of ECL 9 Lite, which also earned them a direct promotion to the Pro division. Additional teams that got promoted to Pro were runner-up Riven Johdolla, MOCKBA and Clumsy Penguins. To all of these teams, NHLGamer extends warm congratulations and wishes good luck with the upcoming season! The offseason is now over and excitement in the dressing rooms is rising. Great individual skills, seamless teamwork and winning goaltender stole the cup for the ’’Wolfpack’’ last season and those are the requirements yet again as the level of Lite hockey gets better and better every season. After hundreds of games and countless hours of NHL20 many teams feel this could be ’’the season’’. We have also seen some interesting movement in the transfer market as teams are searching for the final piece to their respective puzzles. This season, ECL 10 Lite has four groups with 16 teams each. We took a closer look at the groups and decided to highlight some of the teams and players to keep an eye on this upcoming season. Keep in mind that this is not a listing of the best teams in the division, but a collection of teams that I've deemed worthy of a closer look going into the season. Let's begin: Elamam Kiekko ’’Kikko’’ performed below expectations in ECL 9 Lite when they had a tough time getting to the playoffs and finally were beaten in the first round against Syntax Error with the series score 4-2. Even though underperforming in the latest season, Elamam Kiekko still has the quality to be one of the challengers for the cup this season. They added some quality to their roster by recruiting @kApollo from Pro team Freddie Mercury Institute and @Johtava from Kaukosen Luistin. If the team can find their best form during the competition, we will see Elamam Kiekko going far. Fysical Previously called Farminaattori, this team now carries the name Fysical that was presented for the first time in IS Cup 4. Most of their players in the current roster played for team Kesaloma in ECL 9. Kesaloma managed to get to the playoffs where they lost to runner-up Riven Johdolla in the first round with series 4-1. Fysical made an addition to their roster by signing ex-Black Horse player @Ollizhki, who had a fine season in ECL 9 Pro and possesses leadership quality stemming from a long run with former team Shameful Knights. Hokurit Hokurit had a good season in ECL 9 Lite. Especially in the playoffs they showed real character by beating Hundred Acre Wood and Huippupassi. Their journey ended in the third round of playoffs where they lost to MOCKBA with series 4-1. During the offseason their best scorer @Jondeezz and top defender @Maestroffi decided to leave the team which begs the question - can Hokurit repeat their success and take a small step forward to achieve a promotion. The club saw the arrival of @haaga and @pinppikeisari, who now have a chance to prove their value for the team that has the potential to be in the top 4 this season. NOVA New club NOVA is an interesting Russian based team that is built of players from Russian teams such as Virtuoso and Nearbird Fighters. Their captain SPB_AlexZver_22 has described NOVA as a team that plays fast and attacking hockey and he believes that the team is currently at the level of best Lite teams. Even though NOVA hasn’t played any official matches yet, many of the teams that have faced them in the club games can agree that the potential is definitely there. Old Farts The legendary Old Farts have been in the scene from the very start of ECL history. Last season in ECL 9 Lite ended in a minor disappointment as they lost to Kaukosen Luistin in the first round of playoffs with the score being 4-1. Farts had one of the most interesting player roulettes during the offseason when many of their former ECL players left and five new faces came in. Captain @Ankkalasvegas brought in @Tuuski_36 and @Nixa_da_fck from Jortikan Tossut and experienced @vilperi90 who represented Angry Cats and HC Wildcard last season. Also @Jauho from Savo Bears will get the honor of wearing the legendary shirt this season. These signings will definitely bring more aspects to the way the Farts can play. This could very well be the season when we see Old Farts playing for the promotion. Poston Fruits Last time Poston Fruits were playing in ECL 8 Lite. They managed to get to the third round of the playoffs where they lost to Prowlers who were the #1 ranked team after regular season. When the season ended the team separated but now after a year, Fruits are back in the game. Many players from their ECL 8 roster are now playing for different teams but Captain @Jobeyz now has some Pro experience with Freddie Mercury Institute on his resume and has built a promising squad by adding @Jaks_10 from Kaukosen Luistin, @Peksi22 from Bellizzi and @kkostiiii from Saucer Hockey. If they manage to find chemistry, they could surprise many top teams this season. Sack Brothers Sack Brothers were presented for the first time in ECL 9 Lite where they managed to get to the second round of playoffs where they lost to Pro promoted Clumsy Penguins with a series score of 4-1. Despite the early exit, this team proved that with the right formation of ’’Sacks’’, they will be battling for the Pro spot in the future. They made a very interesting signing during the offseason as former Jortikan Tossut defender @luosttin joined their ranks. Luosttin gathered most points as a defender in regular season of ECL 9 Lite and scored an unbelievable 19 goals in 19 games from the D spot. With firepower already existing in Sack Brothers roster it is expected that they will be one of the deadliest teams in the offensive zone. Suomen Sonnit After pausing for the ECL 9 Lite season Suomen Sonnit decided to make a comeback. In ECL 8 Sonnit lost to Pro promoted Cheers Hockey in playoff round 2 with series 4-1. The core group is pretty much the same as in ECL 8 but with the additions of @Thounimeister from Oton Letkutemppu and @Jusa from MOCKBA. Suomen Sonnit is now seen as a real threat to the teams that are planning to succeed this season. There is always that one team that is a little bit underrated when the group winners are predicted and I believe that this season that team is Suomen Sonnit. The UnderRated A newly formed team that was previously named UnderRated Lekstuga. In ECL 8 Lite UnderRated Lekstuga was beaten in the first round against Me Carvoset. Since then the team roster has changed a lot. Captain @Psych0 has recruited the whole squad in a short time including four players from Pro team Prowlers eSports who had a difficult season in ECL 9 Pro but managed to win the relegation battle. With Pro experience in their core group The UnderRated will be a real threat to any team in the competition. Below you can also see the groups in which these teams have been put for the upcoming season. We want to wish all teams an exciting season and will be following your progress closely. Play hard - have fun! Group 1 Group 2 Group 3 Group 4