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Hello NHLGamers, Well, that was quite an intense experience wasn't it? Several months of competitive virtual hockey in the bag with more than a few highlight reel goals, slick saucer passes and bone crushing hits along the way. If you are anything like me, the time between ECLs is spent recovering from the emotional rollercoaster of the previous tournament while at the same time anticipating the next one. Judging by the activity in the NHLGamer forums, the amount of new members and teams registered plus the crazy Free Agent season we've seen so far - ECL 4 looks to surpass all previous tournaments in terms of participation and activity. Almost 80 teams registered, that is insane! Thank you all for making this community what it is and making sure we stay on course in building the ultimate gathering place for competitive NHL gamers. Keep up the great activity and know that the next step on the NHLGamer journey, ECL Divisions, is right around the corner. Here is all the information that is available right now concerning ECL 4 and the format it will feature: ECL Divisions FAQ. With 45 teams registered for the Pro division and 15 for Elite, the NHLGamer staff does have some work to do in balancing the divisions and making sure the numbers stay even in terms of division size. Look for an update this week with the finalized division placements, the tournament start date plus the schedule for the season. With that said, before we get started with ECL 4 it is time to properly close the book on our previous tournament. What better way to do that than to celebrate the greatest individual achievements of ECL 3? As you've most likely guessed based on the news story title, it is time for the ECL 3 Regular Season Awards (featuring the Playoff MVP)! In total, there will be 9 individual trophys handed out (6 for skaters, 3 for goalies) for the regular season and 1 for the playoffs. Most of these you might have seen before in this story where we presented the trophys for ECL 1, 2 and Summer Cup. However, you will notice two new additions for this particular tournament. Enjoy! (If someone isn't tagged, it is because I did not know their forum name.) ECL 3 - Regular season: Most Points - @Joukki with 86 goals and 87 assists for 173 points in 42 games. This is joukkis second award for Most Points as he previously snagged the award in ECL 1. Most Goals - Joukki again with his 86 goals; featuring 13 PPG, 1 SHG and 16 GWGs. joukki won this award for ECL 1 as well, so this is his second goal scoring title and fourth individual trophy in total. Most Assists - Puantso, who breaches the 100-plateau with 106 assists in 39 games played. This is the second trophy for most assists by Puantso as he won the title for ECL 1. NEW Most hits - Tanski87 of Rusty Blades delivered a crushing 327 hits in 46 games played. He wins this new award by a margin of more than 70 hits. Most Points by a Defenseman - @Rullstolskalas with a total of 14+63 = 77 in 46 games played. The first defenseman scoring title for longtime Northern Stars defender "Rulle". Best Plus/Minus - This category was completely dominated by Aapon Taikasauva who had the Top 5 spots. Winning the award is @indi969 with +179 in 44 games. Best Save % - Just like before, the requirement to win this title is that the goaltender in question plays at the very least 50% of his teams games. Playing in 24 out of 46 games for Northern Stars, MZK-TrophyHunter qualifies and delivered a commanding 83.71 % in those games. Most Wins by a Goalie - By many considered to be one of the top EASHL goalies in the world, @FinKonna finally manages to snag an goaltending award with his spectacular 37-8-1 record for ECL 3. NEW Most shutouts - @SneakPeaker of X Factor and @SpiderRoyal of SIKA shares this new goaltending award with 9 shutouts each. ECL 3 - Playoffs: As is custom, we only award one individual trophy during the playoffs - the Playoff MVP. This one goes to championship winners X Factors #1 center, @Penatski. With 46 points in 24 playoff games (featuring an impressive 8 points in 4 games during the finals) he finished among the top point scorers for the playoffs and was judged to be the primary X Factor in his teams success. Yes, I know. Sorry. Jokes aside, congratulations to you Penatski - well deserved! To finish this one off, we once again hand the mic over to X Factor captain, @nylanderi, for some choice words about his top playoff producer; "What a player. Great two-way forward, with TOP hockey iq. In the regular season X Factor scored 199 goals... and Penatski had a point in 165 of them. He always found a way to create scoring chances without ever hurting our defense. Although he is really young, he plays a truly mature game. He came through for us in the playoffs with so many crucial OT goals. Penatski deserves this trophy without a doubt" That is all for now. Look for the ECL 4 update this week! Later skaters! NHLGamer.com

Evening NHLGamers, After a tremendous season and an even better playoff run it gives us here at NHLGamer.com great joy to present our new reigning champions: X FACTOR. Congratulations on winning the ultimate prize that competitive EASHL gaming in Europe has to offer! Well deserved. It feels like a lifetime ago when ECL 3 kicked off in mid-October but really it has only been 3 months. That being said, it has been our longest season yet and a learning experience to be sure. We would like to take this opportunity to thank all the teams and players that participated - we know there are things to work on for future tournaments and we are excited to do so in combination with you, the community. Thanks once again! Now, without further ado, I will leave the floor to X Factor captain and leader, @nylanderi, who was gracious enough to take time out of his teams' celebrations to write a season recap. Take it away, sir. "OUR STORY When I created X Factor 3-4 days before ECL3 registrations closed, I never ever expected that this would happen. We played pretty good in EASHL before ECL start, but my biggest concern was our experience in big games. We had a team who could challenge every team, but I still was not sure about our chances to go far. I did not know - would we have what it takes to win best of 7 series against top teams? Regular Season Regular season started with big games against former champs Nordic Blizzard. I felt like we could have won both games, but they played really good and won one of the games. Northern Stars also gave us big problems, with their defensive playstyle and offensively just going for rebounds/deflections. We had most of our best opponents in the start of the season, and since we lost many games i dont think anyone believed in our chances. After Rynnäkköviikset games, something changed. We won 23 ECL games in a row, and I got excited. Maybe we could go far, and challenge for the title. Closer to end of season, something happened. We signed a player. F-B-I__A-N-D-Y_. And this signing was the point in the season, when I knew that we are gonna win the title. End of the season, big games against SKY and Dynasty. My personal least favourite opponent SKY. We won 1, lost 1 but still managed to put good performance. Playoffs Kattiautomaatti: Great defensive team, with top D-man pairing. We did not really expect too much, but they played really good. I felt like they just did not have goal scorers, that could challenge our defense. Well played and good luck to the future. Dynasty: First gameday (games 1-3), i felt like we are gonna sweep these guys. We played so good, and Dynasty struggled to create offense. Series was 2-1 after 3 games, although i felt like it should have been 3-0. Second gameday, they bring in Jageksi. I still felt confident, until i found out Penatski's alarm didnt go off and he slept during game 4. Series 2-2. I gotta say, i have never seen a team develop so much in couple of days. Gameday 2s Dynasty was of course so good defensively, but now super dangerous offensively aswell. But, then Mr. Danielcadabra stepped up. I never have seen such a dominant goalie, he was the reason we got trough Dynasty. (and of course my overtime shorthanded rebound goal ) We won Game 7, and Snapu was the first member of X Factor bandwagon. Lets go! Sika: Good defensive team, who are always dangerous in offensive zone. We did not play our best hockey this series, but Danielcadabra continued his great form. Series could have been lot closer, they got some good chances and were quite unlucky at times. 4-1 Factor, Lets go! Aapon Taikasauva: Super offense. Best offensive in the game, hands down. I knew that this is the time for me and Andy to step up. I think this series, was the time when people found out that maybe we are not all offense. During this we defended as a team, and i was really happy with our performance although it took us 7 games to go through. We did not score so many, but i felt like our defense was rock solid and they could not really get any good chances. Game 7 OT goal by yours truly, Lets go! Finnish Roosters: Well, team who swept Written and Laser. (Holy shit!). Team with 2 amazing players in offense PleeMaker and Tbnantti, and great team defense. I were still really confident, since i always felt we play really good vs. Roosters. Series were really tight, both teams played really good. Our team defense was on point, they did not really get any good chances, and we were really clinical. This series showed me that we had the best team defense in the whole tournament. Throughout the series one player stepped up the most, Penatski. He created almost our every offensive chance, and scored big goals (and for once defended ). 3 games went to overtime, but we somehow managed to score big goals, thanks to our offense Vilu, Ape and Pena. Amazing series by us, 4-0 X Factor. VICTORY! Playoff lineup: Vilupoika: One of the best defensive forwards in this game, who scored lots of important goals. He always listened and learned. Truly a great team player, and i hope he finds a good team for ECL4. Penatski: Young boy, who does not really care about anything. But hey, he can play NHL! Our offensive leader, who is certainly my pick for our season MVP. Lots of good goals, assists and penalties. Kingofapes_: I have never argued with someone as much as i did with Ape. Ape scored lots of big goals, and defended like a beast in the finals. Ape listened to Nylanderi Hockey Philosophy, and instantly turned in to best RW in the game. Otahan siitä. Well done Fbiandy: Best RD in the game, no doubt. I felt really comfortable playing alongside him, we always had good chemistry. He was solid in defense, and great passer. Nylanderi [TEXT BY @vSilenttio]: X Factor's ultimate leader. Captain with big C for sure. The guy who some people were laughing at during the XF's streams when he told his players what to do and how to do. From my view it was Nylanderi who kept this insanely talented team moving forward, come hell or high water. And that's just how I see him off the ice. What he did on the ice, defensively and offensively, was that he kept his calmness and skill-set of his just like that in the most tightest games of the season. Amazing player, even better captain. Can't wait to see this guy to play with @plee999 as they will be the LW/LD combo in new Elite team, Limitless. Danielcadabra: Player who stepped up the most, during playoffs, Dynasty and Sika series MVP. Made all this possible. Amazing goalie. Huge thanks to staff for organizing this tournament. -nylanderi" Thank you nylanderi! X Factor has truly made a mark on the community on its way to becoming our third ECL champion, beating some terrific teams along the way to their first ever championship. Once again, congratulations! But now, let us look to the future. To all the teams that are eager to get back on the ice and follow in the footsteps of our champions Nordic Blizzard, Mukimiehet and X Factor - ECL 4 is just a couple of weeks away. Be sure to check out our news story concerning the next step in competitive EASHL gaming; divisions and once you are done reading that - go check out the registration news story here. The ECL Elite, Pro and Lite divisions await - let's play some hockey. See you soon, NHLGamer.com

Hello NHLGamers Today we bring you a preview of the ECL 3 Finals or as Gandalf would put it: "So, we come to it at last... The great battle of our time". The featured teams in this spectacular finish to our longest season yet will be Finnish Roosters and X-Factor - two teams that have lived up to their hype before the season and navigated their way through some of the toughest teams in the world to reach this point. But enough hype, let us move on to the show: [Research (statistics) and matchup analysis by Ranksu] [Additional text, player interviews and editing by The_Alpha_Furyan] [Art by OxtreeLAT] X- FACTOR Projected lineup Vilupoika - Penatski - KingOfApes_ nylanderi - F-B-I__A-N-D-Y_ Danielcadabra Statistics (Forwards): Vilupoika Regular season: 44 GP [55G + 55A] 110 P / +127 / 8 PPG / 2 SHG / 148 HITS Playoffs: 23 GP [17G + 17A] 34 P / +14 / 2 PPG / 0 SHG / 87 HITS Penatski Regular season: 46 GP [70G + 95A] 165 P / +134 / 9 PPG / 1 SHG / 129 HITS Playoffs: 20 GP [17G + 21A] 38 P / +18 / 3 PPG / 0 SHG / 49 HITS KingOfApes_ Regular season: 46 GP [48G + 63A] 111 P / +134 / 9 PPG / 0 SHG / 135 HITS Playoffs: 23 GP [13G + 17A] 30 P / +14 / 0 PPG / 0 SHG / 97 HITS Statistics (Defenders): nylanderi Regular season: 40 GP [14G + 38A] 53 P / +87 / 3 PPG / 1 SHG / 38 HITS Playoffs: 23 GP [3G + 12A] 15 P / +14 / 1 PPG / 1 SHG / 19 HITS F-B-I__A-N-D-Y_ Regular season: 8GP [4G + 10A] 14 P / +19 / 0 PPG / 0 SHG / 40 HITS Playoffs: 22GP [2G + 17A] 19 P / +14 / 0 PPG / 0 SHG / 59 HITS Statistics (Goaltender): Danielcadabra Regular season: 28GP / 18 W / 6 L / 4 OTL / 79.38% / 1.67 GAA / 5 SO Playoffs: 23GP / 16W / 5 L / 2 OTL / 78.67% / 1.95 GAA / 5 SO How did they get here? X-Factor reached to finals by defeating the top-notch team Aapon Taikasauva in Game 7 in the 3rd round. This is X-Factors first appearance in the ECL Finals. X-Factor and Finnish Rooster faced each other in the regular season with the following results: 1-3 to FR and 0-4 to XF. How will they win? X-Factor signed F-B-I__A-N-D-Y_ at the ECL Trade Deadline which was in my book easily the best acquire at TDL. "Andy" is well known for playoff performances and is considered a "big games player". He's going to face the FR top scoring forward PleeMaker, who had yet another outstanding regular season and an even better post-season. If "Andy" can win that match up, that would be huge for X-Factor. Finally, I believe they will win if Penatski can break down Finnish Roosters redline trap and find the holes for it. How will they lose? X-Factor can sometimes be too reckless offensively which will put their D pairing in awkward positions - knowing the fast break game Finnish Roosters will execute. We saw it in game 6 against Aapon Taikasauva (1-5 to Aapo). It will be hard for X-Factor if they don't keep up nylanderi's game philosophy and trust his gameplan. X-Factor will lose this series if they can't find a way to deal with FR's hard blueline trap and can't find a way to shut down PleeMaker. You could say this set-up is almost the same like against Aapo were they needed to shutdown Joukki13 and they did. However, this time they are facing more defensively oriented 5-man team who will heavily lean on offensive mistakes and lurk around for fast breakaways. * * * FINNISH ROOSTERS Projected lineup PleeMaker - tbnantti - johtaja699 JParola - ktewjh FinKonna Statistics (Forwards): PleeMaker Regular season: 46 GP [83G + 56A] 139 P / +137 / 10 PPG / 2 SHG / 251 HITS Playoffs: 19 GP [29G + 11A] 40 P / +24 / 8 PPG / 1 SHG / 125 HITS tbnantti Regular season: 46 GP [68G + 84A] 152 P / +137 / 7 PPG / 6 SHG / 11 HITS Playoffs: 19 GP [17G + 20A] 37 P / +24 / 4 PPG / 0 SHG / 22 HITS johtaja699 Regular season: 44 GP [39G + 42A] 81 P / +118 / 9 PPG / 0 SHG / 81 HITS Playoffs: 19 GP [5G + 13A] 18 P / +24 / 1 PPG / 0 SHG / 44 HITS Statistics (Defenders): JParola Regular season: 36 GP [5G + 60A] 65 P / +87 / 3 PPG / 0 SHG / 67 HITS Playoffs: 19 GP [1G + 23A] 24 P / +24 / 0 PPG / 0 SHG / 36 HITS ktewjh Regular season: 46 GP [8G + 40A] 48 P / +137 / 2 PPG / 1 SHG / 104 HITS Playoffs: 19 GP [2G + 11A] 13 P / +24 / 0 PPG / 1 SHG / 46 HITS Statistics (Goaltender): FinKonna Regular season: 52 GP / 43 W / 8 L / 1 OTL / 80.88% / 1.82 GAA / 10 SO Playoffs: 19 GP / 16 W / 2 L / 1 OTL / 83.78% / 1.57 GAA / 3 SO How did they get here? The Roosters reached the finals by first beating Alliance HT, only to enter a tough battle with Nordic Blizzard. After narrowly defeating the Blizzard in an entertaining Game 7 they moved on to Written In The Stars - a team many thought would go far in the playoffs. However, Written were missing some of their players and the Roosters played a great series to win 4-0. After such a morale booster, they went on to dethrone championship favorites Laser HT in 4 straight games. How will they win? The Roosters will win by unleashing their offense while maintaining their tight team defense. The key is for johtaja699 to keep doing the terrific two-way work he has been doing together with defenders JParola and ktewjh and for Plee and tbnantti to work their offensive magic on a somtimes reckless X Factor squad. FinKonna also needs to be his usual talented self. How will they lose? The Roosters will lose if they can't get that offense going and also if they underestimate the X Factor offense which at times can be really dangerous. If FinKonna should falter or have a bad series, this could also spell doom for the Roosters because even if they have a truly impressive offense, their defense and goaltending is what has gotten them this far. * * * 5 things to look for, in general: 1. Both teams have 1-2 punch, Penatski - Ape and tbnantti - Plee. 2. Both teams have a guy who can change the series in Plee vs. Ape. 3. FinKonna vs. Danielcadabra - who will step up and who will melt down? 4. Finnish Rooster has the best powerplay % from regular season 35.4%, compared to X-Factors 21.6% 5. tbnantti has the most SHG in regular season by 6 goals - look out! * * * 5 Questions with X-Factor Captain nylanderi and Finnish Roosters Assistant Captain PleeMaker Give us a few words on your opponent! Nylanderi (X Factor): Roosters is a great team with good mixture of offense and defense. They got forwards who can score and defenders who work really well together. With FinKonna being one of the top goalies in the game, it is certainly going to be really hard to score against these guys. PleeMaker (Finnish Roosters): XF is a great defensive team with a lot of individual skill. They have two top quality defensemen and a great goalie. And they also have three really high skilled forwards - Penatski is a top center and the wingers Vilupoika and Kingofapes_ can score goals thanks to their great talent and stick handling. Who would you consider to be the toughest player to defend on the opposing squad? Nylanderi (X Factor): Tough question! PleeMaker and tbnantti are both really dangerous, and it is going to be really hard to keep that tag team from scoring. PleeMaker (Finnish Roosters): Penatski is, in my opinion, the best player of XF so I would consider him the toughest opponent to defend. I would say he is one of the best playmakers in this game with maybe the best hands out there. Tell us a little bit of your playoff run so far Nylanderi (X Factor): I did expect us to go pretty far, especially since our game has developed a lot throughout this tournament. We had our fair share of problems, but I am still really happy with our performance in this ECL. I feel like we could have maybe done even better (considering a couple of our series went to game7) but since we have made the Finals I can’t really complain, can I? Haha. PleeMaker (Finnish Roosters): Our goal was champion so it's not surprise to me that we are playing finals. Our first round opponent was Alliance HT and I think it was kind of a warm up round for us, but they are actually the best Russian team that I have ever seen so, well played. The 2nd round against NBz - that was close. I will tell you more about them in the next question! Then the 3rd round against Written In The Stars. That was… well, much easier than I was expecting before the games. After Adetikki and Flyerkungen left for the army, they have started to play with a "weird" style. Lot of shots and always trying to go for rebounds. But anyway, well played SKY. As for the semi-finals against Laser HT - 4 tight games against them. They have lot of skill but team defense was their weakness in that series. So 4 tight wins to us (I think it was 2 OT wins?) and we managed to get our spot in the finals. Which series gave you the most amount of trouble? Nylanderi (X Factor): I would have to say… either Aapon Taikasauva or Dynasty. To be honest, those were two totally different kind of teams and especially Dynastys defense was one of the best I have ever seen in this game. On the other hand, Aapos offense was really hard to defend. Really hard to decide actually, but in my opinion Dynasty was the tougher series. PleeMaker (Finnish Roosters): Nordic Blizzard was the toughest opponent for us in this tournament so far. Great team defense and truly a dangerous offense. If you have players like Gendlik and Hooneli, your opponent will always give you a hard series. It was actually close that NBz beat us, when the 3rd period of Game 7 started NBz was leading 1-3 but we managed to get momentum with a 2-3 goal and then it was our game after that… Well played NBz and it is a shame that it seems you can't get a team to next season. What key factors should the community be on the lookout for in this series? Nylanderi (X Factor): Both teams have rock solid defensive strategies, so I think that will certainly be one of the deciding factors in this series. Also, in my opinion, tbnantti and Penatski are both Top-3 centers overall in this game so it will be nice to see who can put on the greatest performance and lead their team to victory. PleeMaker (Finnish Roosters): I think the key factor in finals will be which team can break their opponents great team defense! I think the finals has the two best defensive teams in the ECL so I acutally think that we won’t see so many goals this series. Anyway, good luck in the finals XF and good luck to next season everyone! * * * The series goes live at 20 CET/21 FIN tonight so be sure to check it out! For NHLGamer.com, The_Alpha_Furyan

Hello NHLGamers, I want to start this post off right by giving credit to @OxtreeLAT for once again creating some spectacular art. Keep doing what you are doing sir, the staff (and the community) are all glad to have you onboard! Make sure to give Ox some love in the comment section if you appreciate the visuals. Anyway, getting back to the matter at hand: the ECL 3 playoffs. It's time for Round 4 - the Semi-Finals! I can't imagine anyone in the community has missed out on the great matchups that have been going on but on the off chance that you did, here is the quick recap; Laser HT beat Northern Ascendancy 4-2 Finnish Roosters beat Written In The Stars 4-0 Aapon Taikasauva beat MUKIMIEHET 4-3 X Factor beat SIKA 4-1 With Nordic Blizzard and MUKIMIEHET not part of the Final Four this means we will have a completely new champion for ECL 3. Anyway, without further delay, we present to you the playoff pairings for Round 4 (coupled with a preview/prediction from @vSilenttio and myself) - scheduled to be played 18/1 to 24/1; Laser HT - Finnish Roosters Preview, by vSilenttio Before I say anything specific on this series - I must say that this match-up feels like the Finals already. It's like the final showdown before the ultimate final super showdown - or something like that. LHT has been great since the beginning and you could say the same from FR as both teams have been dominating whole season three since day one. FR had little bit tougher regular season thanks to Group 1's teams being slightly more "Elite" if you could say so - oh wait, I can. What else we can predict than Game 7 finish? LHT has super offensive line-up which all starts from one of the best, if not the best, european center there is - Dominointi. Same goes for FR as tbnantti leads his squad from the center of the ice. What I'm saying is that one of the biggest factors in this series will be the battle between their centers. Both can do pretty much everything on the ice, Dominointi being maybe more defensive where Antti plays more offensively. Obviously they need help from their wingers to win this battle. Antti has one defensive winger in johtaja699, and one over-the-top offensive juggernaut wonder-kid in Plee. Dominointi then again has pretty much same kind of situation in LHT as Patzlaf in the left wing is their superman winger (originally center) and Hansulinho is literally the Patrick Kane of their team as his offensive awareness is just something out of this world. If FR can take Hansu out, LHT might think of replacing him with more defensive and disciplined but still super-skilled players like Leksa94 or Hittihermu. How about the defense or their goalies? I see FR's FinKonna being the best goalie of this whole tournament and his effort will perhaps be the one thing that can take FR to the finals over LHT. I'm not saying LHT has bad goalie in Hiirulainen as he was one of the best goalies in NHL14 but still - FR has the edge in goalies. Defensively then again, LHT has more offensive D-men and that is the spot to hit for FR. Vatalisti and no matter who with him (either DieCutterMC or willekunq) will be the more offensive pairing here compared to FR's solid two-way machine ktwejh and JParola combined together. I need to say that of course no one plays as an individuals here but that is more than obvious when you play hockey on this level - just need to say it out loud here. Both side's D-men are capable of making that one play that decides the one goal game's result - will be interesting to see that which side is the better one to support their team offensively AND defensively. I want Game 7 - and I think that most of the community see LHT as "better" team here but after seeing both team in these playoffs and time before all this - I'm going to say that it's Finnish Roosters who advances to the finals beating Laser in Game 7. LHT-FR 3-4. Aapon Taikasauva - X Factor Preview, by The_Alpha_Furyan There is no shortage of star players in either series here and for this one, the regular season masters Aapon Taikasauva (fronted by joukki13, Puantso, indi969, jtorro123, puke85 and Zande95) faces an X Factor team (led by captain Nylanderi and his playoff squad Penatski, KingOfApes_, Vilupoika, F-B-I__A-N-D-Y_ and Danielcadabra) that has continually gotten better ever since the start of NHL 17. Having been eliminated by Aapon, I know first hand what they can bring to a playoff matchup. When needed, they can balance their offence to include their defensive players as well and take some pressure of their top line. This also creates difficulties for the opposing team in shutting them down as you can't just take away that joukki13 one-timer on the right side and call it a day. However, featuring both the top goal scorer and top assist maker this season, you can never underestimate Aapons forwards. This will be the big challenge for Nylanderi and FBI Andy on X Factors blueline. Speaking of X Factor, they continue to impress as a team. From being one of the "potential top teams" at the start of the season they have devoloped into a force to be reckoned with and a proven contender. As a team, they play a similarly creative offensive style as Aapon - meaning this series has the potential to blow up a bit and be somewhat higher scoring than what we've seen in the playoffs thus far. To me, this one will come down to goaltending with the matchup between Danielcadabra and Zande95. If either one falters and fails to live up to the expectations they've set through their terrific playoff runs so far, that could decide the entire series. Seeing as both teams forwards are like sharks - if they smell blood in the water they will attack again and again - I wouldn't want to be in either goalies shoes for this series. Ultimately, I got to give this tone to Aapon as their offense if just too overwhelming to shut down over a lengthy playoff series. 4-2 series win, Aapon Taikasauva. Both pairs start their games tonight - as XF-Aapo goes live on 20:00CET and LHT-FR start their games on 21:00CET. Find their streams on NHLGamer's front page or in the chatbox later tonight! That's all from us right now, dont forget to subscribe to our various social media channels to show your support; Twitter: https://twitter.com/nhlgamercom Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NHLGamer/ Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/nhlgamertwitch PS4: Search for community: "NHL Gamer" On behalf of the NHLGamer staff, The_Alpha_Furyan & vSilenttio

Hello NHLGamers, As some of you may have noticed, Round 3 of the ECL 3 playoffs kicked off last night with some great battles. For those of you who did miss it, here are the playoff pairings (the ECL 3 "Final Eight" teams) for Round 3 - scheduled to be played 11/1 to 17/1; Laser HT - Northern Ascendancy Written In The Stars - Finnish Roosters Aapon Taikasauva - MUKIMIEHET X Factor - SIKA I'm sure all of us in the community are looking forward to some great battles here and as evidenced by the teams respective Twitch streams yesterday - the quality of play is top notch! Also, be sure to be on the lookout for a lengthy ECL 3 Finals Preview produced by myself and new NHLGamer Staff member @vSilenttio - featuring game analysis, some quotes from the captains and a prediction for who will be our next ECL champion. Finally, if all goes well we are looking into the possibility of producing a game broadcast from the Official NHLGamer Twitch Channel during the ECL Finals. Is this something you would like to see? Perhaps with a preview show? Some cat videos from @Kenu? Let us know in the comment section! We want your feedback. As always, later skaters // The_Alpha_Furyan

Hello NHLGamers, The regular season is at an end and the ECL 3 playoffs loom large. Who will be the last team standing this time and join the ranks of Nordic Blizzard and MUKIMIEHET as ECL Champions? It all starts in this Round-of-16 where the 32 best teams on the European side of EASHL do battle in grueling Best of-7 series. As I've stated in previous articles, I do love a good preview/review/prediction/analysis when it comes to EASHL so this is an article I've been looking forward to writing. To create a more nuanced approach, I've enlisted the help of SIKA Captain and Truth of Hockey podcast host, @vSilenttio. If you haven't gotten around to checking out the podcast yet, make sure to do so. I have no idea what is being said as the podcast is broadcast in Finnish, but from what I've been told, it's a fun ride with lots of opinions, controversy and analysis. Also, please note that these are just supposed to be fun, speculative predictions from two members of the community. These predictions do not in any way reflect the official opinion of the NHLGamer staff or the website as a whole. The predictions were written yesterday, before the start of the playoffs, without discussing the series' with each other beforehand. Anyway, without further ado, presenting... the ECL 3 Playoff Preview: Northern Stars - Free From Rodents Alpha: To me, this series is pretty much a lock. Northern Stars had an incredibly impressive regular season (better than I thought they would have even), have crazy chemistry built up over almost a decade of playing together, plus one of the best goalies in the league right now in MZK-TrophyHunter. Free From Rodents made the playoffs by winning 10 games less than they lost (atleast in the final standings, not counting the deleted teams). It is impressive for this team to have made the playoffs amongst many tough teams in Group 2, but sadly for them I predict their journey ends here. 4-0 NOS. Silenttio: One of the best teams from ECL 3's regular season faces team that I personally never thought that could make it to the playoffs. Journey to the finals begins easily here for NOS, as they win this series. 4-0 Northern Stars. Written In The Stars - Nordic Nosebleed Alpha: Same case here as the series above really. I believe the offensive firepower of the Bugimir - ADETIKKI - FlyerKungen line will be too much to handle for Nordic Nosebleed. Written In The Stars had the 2nd most goals for in Group 1 and NNB allowed the 5th most goals in Group 2... I think this one could be a bloodbath. 4-0 series win for Written In The Stars. Silenttio: Written is still Written here, as they have their top forwards still in the game with them. Their forwards combined together are one of the most skilled and dangerous trio offensively in the whole Europe. You dont wanna give space to those guys. NNB started well this season, but something happened as in my view their status dropped from surprising challenger, to team that almost didn't even make the playoffs. 4-0 SKY. X Factor vs. Kattiautomaatti Alpha: This is an interesting one. X Factor certainly were impressive during the regular season but Kattiautomaatti is a decent team that I think has another gear. If Kenu manages to take a break from sipping on banana-flavored cocktails - maybe Katti can pull off an upset. X Factor does have very good chemistry though and will most likely take it, not without a fight though. Final prediction, 4-1 X Factor. Silenttio: Oh boy, oh boy. Kids of new era facing the old, legendary Xbox team which used to go far in playoffs - not even long ago. X Factor is a Top 3-team on my list. Huge skill, huge awareness of the game, and lots of games under their belts. I'm afraid that this series will turn ugly after first couple tighter games. Katti has good players, for sure. I'm just not quite sure if are they playing? After tbnantti went to Finnish Roosters, Katti haven't been the same. They have the top Finnish defensemen of the Xbox Era out there in Slaivonen and Sumppi, good chemistry between the wingers but I gotta ask; Who is their leader? Or brick wall goalie? Haven't seen none of these two guys in months - that will be the key differencemaker in this series. Also, I gotta' say that I've heard that Katti has stood up well recently in the EASHL games. Lets hope so. 4-2, X Factor Finnish Roosters - Alliance HT Alpha: The Roosters were always good (they certainly showed me that personally - eliminating the Coal Miners 4-0 in the ECL 2 playoffs' first round) but the addition of tbnantti really pushed them into "Top Team-territory". With tbnantti setting up the always dangerous sniper pleemaker, the Roosters have one of the most dangerous 1-2 punches in the league. However, Alliance have certainly impressed me. As one of the few russian teams in the league, I didn't know what to expect but they've proven their mettle through this tough regular season by downing some big teams. As I said, impressive. Still, 4-2 Roosters. Silenttio: Just like Nordic Nosebleed, Alliance started well as they were one of the best teams of Group 2 in October and November. What happened? All I can say is that they know how to play D, they have a very impressive goalie but guess they haven't found their chemistry in the offensive zone yet. On to FR then - one of the best teams right now. In my honest opinion, they have Europe's best goalie and a Top-5 offense as well. These guys know how to score goals! You turn your back for them for one second and they will score - just like that. I would like to see AHT challenging FR with their defense but after thinking about it - no chances. 4-1, FR. Nordic Blizzard - Murohoki Alpha: Murohoki perplexes me. In the EASHL games I've played against them, they've crushed my team 7-0 one game with impenetrable defense and quick zone exists, only for the next game a few days later to end with us winning 5-1. This could of course have to do with different lineups, or it could have to do with the fact that muro has a very high "top level" as a team... If that is the case, they need to make sure they're firing at that level all playoffs long to be a challenge for Nordic Blizzard. NBz, former champs of ECL 1, delivered a solid regular season and will be looking to once again conquer the crown. Lots of talent and routine in this team and when the stakes are high - this should be the deciding factor. 4-1 Blizzard. Silenttio: Uhm, I gotta admit that I haven't seen these teams play much recently but on the paper - should be all Blizzard here. Muro lost their best player to Nordic Lightning, and that is big kick to the nuts for Muro when the game gets tougher. Even one win for Muro would be surprise here but not impossible. Still, Blizzard should take this home easy with routine effort. 4-0, Blizzard. Dynasty - Knight Aces HC Alpha: One of the very top defensive squads of the league (Dynasty) versus a fast, dynamic, agressive team like Knight Aces is a fun matchup. The expression "Offense wins games, defense wins championships" seems appropriate here, even if I don't always subscribe to that theory. If the Aces can get their offense going they have a shot here but thats easier said than done with Haldeem and Snapu patrolling the blueline (like they did every game of the regular season). However, I just got this feeling and I think we might have the first upset of the playoffs here. I'm gonna go out on a limb and say; 4-3 Knight Aces HC. Silenttio: Not even long ago, I liked Dy... excuse me - I played there. If some finnish team is built for playoffs, it's Dynasty without a doubt. What they have is defensive line-up with touch of smooth skill and great goaltending as they have not only one, but two top goalies. I'm too lazy to check stats as I write this but didn't Dynasty have one of the best GAA on ECL 3? Sums up their team pretty good. Knight Aces HC is smart and fast team. They dont maybe play the most beautiful hockey there is but hey, who cares? Shoot, skate and hit - oh and little bit good luck and Knight Aces might have chance to make this series one of the best in round 1. Just because Aces stole 3pts from SIKA in the regular season, I'll go with.... 4-3 Dynasty. Refuse to Lose - TIKI TALK Alpha: Refuse To Lose will have to shut down TIKI TALK captain and leading scorer, itspardytime, in this series to be successfull. If they can do that though, they should be able to advance past this round. RTLs first line of ShaneC27 - RedMisti - Hanssoni has been dynamic and really carried the team while their defenders have focused on defending and shut quite a few teams down. However, rumors say that Hanssoni might miss the first round of the playoffs... Lets see who comes out on top, TIKI TALKs fast transition attack or Refuse To Loses puck possession game in the offensive zone. 4-2 RTL. Silenttio: Very interesting match-up again, I'm thinking about Game 7 already! Both teams have offensive upsides in the game - then again I'm not so sure about their defenses as units. If RtL controls the cherry picking TIKI forwards, they should be fine here. Hard to say which team will take this as I see it very even match-up on the paper. Game 7 decision here but for who? I'll go with RtL. 4-3, Refuse to Lose Fat Cats - Inter Iceland Alpha: I really like Inter Iceland for this one. I know very little of them but what I have seen when playing them is a team that could surprise greatly. Fat Cats is a good, disciplined team but somehow I just got a strange feeling for this one. 4-2, Inter Iceland. Silenttio: If the date would be somewhere in October, I'd go all in with Inter Iceland but damn that Fat Cats has improved during this season. I really like their team and see them as one of the dark horses of these playoffs. Many have spoke about them being aggressive, playoffs-looking team and I have nothing against that. Inter Iceland - I see them as other version of Nordic Nosebleed - started well but long season has done its job for these guys as well. Even though I prefer Fat Cats here, I wouldn't be surprised if we see another long, tight series here. 4-2 Fat Cats. White Trash - Northern Ascendancy Alpha: White Trash is a good team - they proved that by positioning themselves well in Group 1 - but will not be a match for the skilled playoff performers of Northern Ascendancy, IMO. 4-1, Northern Ascendancy Silenttio: Have to say that WT is full of question marks to me. I only know couple skilled players from there and that's it. Have also heard that they've been annoying opponent to play against so there is that. NOR, on the other hand, is full of experience and that's something you cant just underestimate. Foppatofflan is the ultimate forward, one of the best ever, and I think that this is going to be his show. NOR didn't play that good regular season when you look at their roster but that team is built for playoffs and we're going to see that in this series. 4-1, Northern Ascendancy. Warriors of Kongo - Nordic Nightmare Alpha: Warriors of Kongo had a good performance in the games I played against them, so I am high on their chances in this series. However, Nordic Nightmare was one of my predicted top teams before the start of the tournament and I stand by that - despite their somewhat uneven regular season (by their standards). NN steps up and wins this one 4-2 NN. Silenttio: Warriors of Kongo has surprised everyone. Going from low tier team to dangerous mid-level team is something we dont see happen that often. Nordic Nightmare had problems during the regular season keeping their level after great start. However I see them as better team here, and by playing his with routine they shouldn't have any problems. Suutu_jo is their leader off and on the ice, and he will be the difference maker in this one and make things easier for NN. 4-1, NN. HC Checkmate - MUKIMIEHET Alpha: Another former champion in MUKIMIEHET looking to reclaim the ECL title, up against surprise team HC Checkmate with ECL Summer Cup leading scorer Selanne8. On paper, this looks like a MUKI win. They have the experience, they have the skill, they have the passion. However, Checkmate have proven resilient, overcoming many teams towards the end of the season to secure good playoff positioning. I expect MUKI to struggle more than they think this series. 4-3, MUKIMIHET. Silenttio: One of the least interesting pairs in first round as I dont see anything in CM that could even try to turn this series. Muki is solid, experienced, skilled... well, everything. Plus they have two elite goaltenders so, yeah... this one will be: 4-0, Muki. Sjukstugan - Nordic Lightning Alpha: THE series of Round 1 - I know for sure I will be watching this and I am sure I'm not alone in thinking that. Two of the best Swedish teams out there do battle! It's a bit of a shame that it had to happen as soon as Round 1, but what a matchup it creates. The speed and skill of NL versus the toughness and defense of 112... look for this one to go 7. In the end I think it will come down to a battle of wills between the two captains, Bjono and JaromirSniper68. Sniper is the stronger offensive performer but the leadership and iron will of Bjono cannot be underestimated. Still, I will go with... 4-3, Nordic Lightning. Silenttio: Then we have the biggest pair of first round as two traditional swedish teams face eachothers in big rivalry series. Huge match-up to start with. 112 has the defense where NL has the offense. If you want to watch just one series in the first round, watch this. Goalies have big roles as well here, and I see 112's robbin974 winning this series for them. C'mon boys, show us some love. 4-3, Sjukstugan. Rynnäkköviikset vs. SIKA Alpha: SIKA has impressed me during ECL 3 - it seems like their game is finally firing on all cylinders, both offense and defense, which should make them a dangerous contender in these playoffs. Rynnä had a strong start to the season but faltered a bit towards the end. Still, they are a skilled team with the capability to surprise. 4-1 SIKA. Silenttio: First two games have been played while I'm writing this, and the series is 1-1. Earlier I guessed that this will be 4-2 for us, SIKA, and I still do believe so. We have our problems in starting our engines and it did happen tonight again so no surprises here personally. Rynnäkköviikset play fast and simple, and that it all you need to know about them. Their goalie is underestimated, as I see juha96 as their best player who can turn this series for them. 4-2, SIKA. Silver Sword Griffins - Synergy Alpha: Tough series to predict containing two very tactically skilled teams. Every player from both squads understand the game extensively and we will likely see two teams that are very well-prepared, having scouted their opponents before game time. Synergy is another team that has impressed me this season - they have always been good but I'm not sure I would have pegged them to finish 3rd in the very competitive Group 2. This gives me confidence they could turn in their best playoff performance yet and go far this tournament. 4-2, Synergy. Silenttio: Oh boy, oh boy. SSG got Synergy with their last minute walkover situation and I have strong feeling this might turn ugly. Synergy has turned better and better, week by week. SSG has one-timers, Synergy has the whole package. Not gonna say more than this. 4-1, Synergy. Falun Coal Miners - Aapon Taikasauva Alpha: They say that hope is the last thing to leave you before you die, and maybe thats true here as well. Regardless, I wouldn't be much of a captain if I didn't atleast believe in my teams ability to win so I will ruffle some feathers here and predict another upset. One that will consist of a 7-game series where Aapon wins one game 6-2, we win next 1-0 in OT and on it goes like that until FCM's #1 Defensive defenseman, Meeertz, scores on a shot from the point in Game 7 OT. 4-3, FCM. Silenttio: This is pretty much like NOS vs. FFR, even though FCM has better upside to turn this series to game 7 showdown. These guys have playoffs experience from earlier years, and by defending Aapo's super offensive gameplan well, who knows if we have biggest surprise in this series? Then again, we're talking about Aapo. They have Joukki, they have Puantso, they have Indi. Tough, tough boys to defend against one time per night and I can just imagine what FCM D has in their minds facing Aapo for several games in a row (Note from Alpha: Nightmares...). However, Aapo's D-men are their weakspot but gladly they have elite goalie between the pipes. So yeah, might turn ugly again. I'm very excited to see Aapo's playoff journey and this will be good test for them. 4-1, Aapon Taikasauva. No Guts No Glory - Laser HT Alpha: Laser is, to me, without a doubt the best team in this tournament and the world right now. I predicted them to win the entire tournament before it started and I stand by that. Regardless of lineup, Laser is a force to be reckoned with and unless No Guts pull off a miracle here - this will be the first step of a long playoff journey for Dominointi and crew. 4-0 LHT. Silenttio: No glory here for NG2, for sure. Laser is definitely in the overall Top 3 of on-going season and they will handle this series, even with their lefties. Good luck, NG2... 4-0, Laser HT. Pheeew... That's all from us, for now. Feel free to leave any and all feedback in the comment section below. Let us have it! Good luck in the playoffs to all teams and have fun out there. // The_Alpha_Furyan & vSilenttio

Hello NHLGamers, With just one week left before the start of the ECL 3 Playoffs, we have a few more administrative matters to announce. As some of you may have noticed in the community chat, the staff reached out to a number of teams that had been unresponsive in the last few weeks. They were given one more day to respond and state their intentions before being removed from the tournament. One team, Terrific Tigers, wanted to remain but three others did not (or did not respond at all). The teams in question are the following: Origins (Group 1) Bone Breakers (Group 2) Ice Bros (Group 2) Like before, this means that the Captains and Assistant Captains of these teams will not be allowed any further participation in ECL 3, as per the rules. As the Transfer Deadline has passed, no other team members are allowed to participate in the rest of the tournament. The above teams will be completely removed from the ECL 3 database with all their games and stats wiped clean. One or two minor statistical errors are currently displaying for Group 2 (some of the teams that were removed earlier in the tournament accidentally popped back up) but rest assured that @Kenu is on top of it and that the standings should display correctly later today. We would like to remind all teams that the absolute last day to finish your regular season games are Sunday, December 18th as the playoffs start Monday, December 19th. We expect all remaining teams to finish out their seasons. On a final note, look for a playoff preview on monday as I will be enlisting the help of @vSilenttio to predict the outcomes and potential surprises of the ECL 3 Playoffs! On behalf of the NHLGamer Staff, The_Alpha_Furyan

Hello NHLGamers, This will be a rather short post but we just wanted to get the message out to you all before the start of the playoffs. First of all, a number of teams that have been unresponsive in the last few weeks have received messages giving them a window to 23:59 CET tonight to state their intentions on whether to finish their season or not. We will have more news for you regarding this in the coming days. Anyway, it is soon time to move into the playoffs for this third European Championship League season and below you will find the playoff structure First round - Group A vs Group B A1 vs. B16 A2 vs. B15 A3 vs. B14 A4 vs. B13 A5 vs. B12 A6 vs. B11 A7 vs. B10 A8 vs. B9 A9 vs. B8 A10 vs. B7 A11 vs. B6 A12 vs. B5 A13 vs. B4 A14 vs. B3 A15 vs. B2 A16 vs. B1 The games will, as per usual, be played best-out-of-7. The last day of the regular season schedule is Wednesday December 14th. In an ideal world, all teams would be done with their games by then and we could start the playoffs on December 15th. We are ready to do this, should the regular season be completely finished by then. Most likely though, there will be games remaining on the schedule so we are looking at a Playoff start date of December 19th. This takes us awfully close to Christmas and the usual stress that comes with that. Therefore, we are making the First Round two weeks long - December 19th to January 2nd (2017). This should help all teams to have those seven games in the first round done by then. The following four rounds will be just one week each, leaving us with a winner crowned for ECL 3 before Februaruy 1st. Round 2 and onwards Moving forward, the teams will be reseeded based on regular season points per game after each round to ensure the regular season standings continue to hold merit. The time allotted for every round in the playoffs (after the first round) is one week and the default scheduled days are Monday, Wednesday and Thursday. Sunday should not be used for scheduling - only as a last resort to get the games played. This will allow us to have everything set up and for the next round to start on time. Kind regards, The NHLGamer Staff

Hello NHLGamers, First of all, we would like to thank you all for the tremendous amount of reactions, thoughts and comments on the proposed Division system. Mondays post is already our most commented news story on the website and among the most viewed ones as well. Keep dishing out the feedback and know that we are reading all comments and suggestions closely. Anyway, back to the matter at hand. Please note that today (7/12-2016) is the final day for transfers during ECL 3, meaning all potential "trades" and free agent signings need to be made before midnight tonight. If you want, feel free to post your confirmed deadline moves in this thread so that the community can follow the activity: Confirmed ECL 3 Transfers/Trades/Free Agent signings (2016-12-07) Good luck in your signing efforts Captains and make sure to throw an additional look at the rulebook below to make sure all transfers are legit. Transfers "The rules in this section only apply during a league/tournament. The deadline for transfers is set to 23:59 GMT, 7 days before the end of the regular season. Teams are allowed to recruit free agent members of NHL Gamer up until the trade-deadline. Both the player and team must mutually agree to being picked up from the free agents. Teams are allowed to release a player from their roster, provided this doesn’t violate the roster minimum rule. Released players cannot go back to the team that released them and their next move is considered a transfer from the team that released them to their new team. Team captains and assistants are not allowed to transfer during a league/tournament. Regular players are allowed to transfer once per tournament from a team to another, unless the move would put their initial team under the 8-player limit. Players are not allowed to transfer to a team they had previously left during a league/tournament. Teams may add up to 3 transferred players for the duration of the league/tournament. If a team is disqualified its managers are banned from the league/tournament. The other roster players are free to transfer to another team, unless they were proven involved in the disqualification of their team, in which case they are also banned. " // NHLGamer Staff

Hey NHL Gamers, Another week, another disciplinary post. We would like to once again remind all teams and captains to try and work with each other as much as possible and use the rules combined with a heavy dose of common sense. We understand sometimes rules are simply broken and some situations cannot be resolved… but again, it would be much appreciated if every team and captaincy squad could make that extra effort to not only respect the rules, but also respect their opponents. This is especially true for the scheduling of games. Set a standard of professionalism and your opponent will learn from you. Anyway, let us get to the rulings. On the matter of incorrect arena configuration for Warriors of Kongo vs. HC Checkmate (Scheduled for October 13th) You might remember this case from last weeks post, if not read about the situation here. Turns out Warriors of Kongo were not able to play at the time that was agreed upon as the replacement game time. Rule #6 of the NHLGamer rulebook states that: ”If a team is more than 15 minutes late to a game, the opposing team has the right to request a walk-over win. These requests will be looked at by the NHL Gamer staff.” Warriors of Kongo did not show up to play on the agreed upon replacement game time, therefore the staff has come to the following conclusion: - Both teams accepted the ruling of a re-scheduled game. HC Checkmate were ready at the correct time. Warriors of Kongo were not. The staff rules that HC Checkmate is awarded a walkover win for the game in question. On the matter of TIKI TALK not showing up for the games vs. HC Marilyn (Scheduled for October 26th) The staff was made aware that TIKI TALK were not available at the scheduled time for the games against HC Marilyn on October 26th. TIKI TALK did communicate that they would not be able to play on the default game time the day before (the 25th) at around 7 in the evening, and instead suggested that same day at 9 as a replacement time. Naturally, HC Marilyn had some difficulties rallying the troops on just a two hour notice and were unable to play. HC Marilyn then suggested multiple different time for the teams to play that TIKI TALK were unable to comply with. TIKI TALKs suggestion in return was that they would play at an unspecified time the following week and that “there would be time to play, no worries”. Rule #6 of the NHLGamer rulebook states that: ”If a team is more than 15 minutes late to a game, the opposing team has the right to request a walk-over win. These requests will be looked at by the NHL Gamer staff.” Now, it is to be made clear that HC Marilyn has NOT requested a walkover win, but instead turned to the staff for further advice on the situation. On that basis, the staff has come to the following conclusions: - HC Marilyn were available at the default scheduled game date and time, TIKI TALK was not. - TIKI TALK did communicate that they would not be able to play at the default game time and did produce an alternative, albeit a very difficult one for HC Marilyn - HC Marilyn is to be considered having gone to greater lengths than TIKI TALK in their attempts to schedule the games Based on the above mentioned information, the staff rules that these games will be played during the following 7 days - meaning no walkover losses are to be handed out to TIKI TALK. That said, TIKI TALK showed a lack of respect for both their opponent and the default game day in not making a greater effort to be available on time. The default game time is to be considered the offical time to play and is to be respected. The staff furthermore rules that TIKI TALK is to be considered warned for their conduct and will be subject to harsher punishment if similar situations occur where they do not make an effort in regards to the game scheduling. Finally, the games are to be scheduled by HC Marilyn the following 7 days, at a reasonable time. Failure from TIKI TALK to respect this, will result in further discipline. Attempts from HC Marilyn to book games where they ”know” TIKI TALK are not available (like when they already have games) will not be accepted. On the matter of the delay of Origins vs. No Guts No Glory (Originally scheduled for October 12th) The staff was made aware of difficulties in the booking of games between Origins and No Guts No Glory. Issues first arose when No Guts No Glory were unable to play at the default scheduled game day. Both teams did decide on a replacement date though and things appeared to be fine. On that day though (the 21st), the PSN network was completely down - something we here at NHLGamer.com cannot influence. From here, the stories vary with regards to who was available to play and when. These teams are now missing the deadline by quite a bit but considering the circumstances, the staff rules that a date for these games needs to be decided within 24 hours. This date needs to be in the next 7 days and it needs to be communicated to the staff by message. If a game has not been scheduled within 24 hours, the staff will set a game time that both teams will have no choice but to accept. If one team is not available at this time, this team will be given walkover losses. Both captains have now received messages regarding this. On the matter of the games that were scheduled between Rusty Blades and Refuse To Lose (October 27th) The staff was made aware by both captains of these respective squads that a situation had arisen between these two teams on the default scheduled game day. The teams did not have any communication at all before the default game time (which in itself is highly unusual and is not to be recommended) at 20 CET. Rusty Blades at this time were available in the dressing room and made Refuse To Lose aware of this fact. Refuse To Lose had taken the lack of communication as an indication that the games would not happen that day and were not ready at 20 CET. RLT then indicated they could make some calls and have players ready at 21.15 CET at the very latest and did produce a lineup at that time but Rusty Blades had gone to great lengths to be ready at 20 CET (calling in players that were sick) and did not accept this, instead opting to request walkover wins. Rule #6 of the NHLGamer rulebook states that: ”If a team is more than 15 minutes late to a game, the opposing team has the right to request a walk-over win. These requests will be looked at by the NHL Gamer staff.” After plenty of discussion, numerous screenshots and various other communication – the staff has come to the following conclusions: - First of all, both teams are to take a long hard look at themselves in the mirror with regards to communication. Even though it is not part of the official rulebook, it is still custom in the ECL world to atleast contact your opponents before you have games scheduled. The fact that this did not happen here is highly unusual and should be improved upon in the future. If nothing else, to keep us from having to settle matters like this that could have been decided by a quick message here at NHLGamer or even the PSN Network. Bad all around. - That said, Rusty Blades were ready in the dressing room at the appointed time (with sick players even!) and Refuse To Lose were not. - Refuse To Lose did adapt quickly to the situation and could produce a lineup within roughly an hour. Rusty Blades claimed to have been exhausted from waiting in the dressing room for 45 minutes and opted to play “relaxing” 6v6 club games with their ECL roster for the rest of the night, instead of having to re-apply focus more than one hour after they were first ready. Based on all this information, the staff rules that these games shall be played within the 7 days. This means that, just like in the earlier case with TIKI and Marilyn, WO wins are not to be handed out. Both teams are to be considered negligent in regards to communication. However, Rusty Blades did produce a lineup at the appointed time and is therefore cleared of any wrongdoing within the boundaries of the rulebook. Refuse To Lose, like TIKI TALK, is given a warning with regards to scheduling where any further matter involving them and games unattended could result in heavier discipline. Rusty Blades should be commended for being ready on time but should also be reminded that we are all in the company of fellow NHL Gamers here. Refuse To Lose did show a lack of respect in this situation but Rusty Blades had the opportunity to pay this back by applying sportsmanship and chose not to. If the case had been that they were simply unavailable that would have been one thing, but as they kept on playing regular EASHL games with the same lineup that would have been used for ECL, that is another thing entirely. Finally, Rusty Blades are to decide when the game is played during the following 7 days, at a reasonable time for both teams. Failure from Refuse To Lose to respect this, will result in further discipline. Attempts from Rusty Blades to book games where they ”know” Refuse To Lose are not available (like when they already have games) will not be accepted. Individual warnings An individual warning is handed out to @Viiktor, captain of Kattiautomatti, for making his team leave their game against Muruhoki when one of Kattiautomattis players were dropped. This decision is to be made by the opposing team, Murohoki in this case, per the rulebook. Additional Info - Game Reports (as of 2016-10-31) Finally, the following games need to be reported immediately as they are well outside of the 24-hour reporting rule. Continued negligence will result in warnings and/or possible bans. (Bone Breakers) http://nhlgamer.com/match.php?matchID=1622 (October 19th) – 2ND REMINDER. FIX IT! http://nhlgamer.com/match.php?matchID=1770 (October 26th) (ICE BROS) http://nhlgamer.com/match.php?matchID=1723 (October 24th) http://nhlgamer.com/match.php?matchID=1729 (October 24th) (HC Checkmate) http://nhlgamer.com/match.php?matchID=1798 (October 26th) (Knight Aces HC) http://nhlgamer.com/match.php?matchID=1819 (October 27th) http://nhlgamer.com/match.php?matchID=1825 (October 27th) (Los Bombers) http://nhlgamer.com/match.php?matchID=1534 (October 14th) – 2ND REMINDER. FIX IT! http://nhlgamer.com/match.php?matchID=1535 (October 14th) – 2ND REMINDER. FIX IT! http://nhlgamer.com/match.php?matchID=1686 (October 21st) http://nhlgamer.com/match.php?matchID=1829 (October 27th) http://nhlgamer.com/match.php?matchID=1830 (October 27th) (Mpire) http://nhlgamer.com/match.php?matchID=1820 (October 27th) (Nordic Lightning) http://nhlgamer.com/match.php?matchID=1814 (October 27th) http://nhlgamer.com/match.php?matchID=1813 (October 27th) (Nordic Nightmare) http://nhlgamer.com/match.php?matchID=1718 (October 24 th) (Sektion K) http://nhlgamer.com/match.php?matchID=1840 (October 28th) http://nhlgamer.com/match.php?matchID=1841 (October 28th) (TIKI TALK) http://nhlgamer.com/match.php?matchID=1818 (October 27th) http://nhlgamer.com/match.php?matchID=1818 (October 27th) http://nhlgamer.com/match.php?matchID=1832 (October 27th) Thank you for your time. Sincerely, The NHLGamer Staff

Hello NHLGamers, It's time for ECL Season 3 and here is how the regular season will work: Regular season Teams have officially been created by Kenu so to all you Captains, get out there and start adding your players! Barring any sudden setbacks, the start of ECL Season 3 will be on Monday, October 10th - aligning quite well with the start of the actual NHL regular season. With almost 60 teams signed up, we are creating a longer regular season with two separate groups, or "conferences" - each containing roughly 30 teams. These teams will then play each other twice (within the conference) for a full regular season of about 54-58 games - depending on the exact number of teams that end up actually playing. Groups will be pre-seeded without a lottery to make sure both groups are even. However, we will seed teams into different clusters which will then be "drawn" on a Live Stream on the websites Twitch channel, look for it this Sunday (9/10). Playoffs The first 16 teams in both groups advance to the playoffs. In the first round, both groups will play against each other (A1-B16, A2-B15…). Afterwards, it’s strongest against weakest team (according to our regular season tiebreakers). There are a few more surprises coming Sunday in regards to the playoffs and one more thing. At this point I will just say the word "Divisions" and let you speculate a bit on your own... Hope this was enough to whet your appetites for now and until Sunday and on behalf of the entire NHLGamer staff: Welcome to ECL 3! Later skaters // The_Alpha_Furyan

Hey NHLGamers, Be sure to check out our big ECL 3 Twitch live stream tonight (October 9th) at 22 FIN/21 SWE time! Our charming website owners KenuFHR and Lurkins will host the stream - announcing the groups, presenting the tournament structure and above all, providing some quality entertainment. The tournament is starting tomorrow (check out the Welcome to ECL 3-post here) so be sure to check out the stream tonight to know all the details before you start setting up games tomorrow. This is the link, be there in two hours time; NHLGamer Official Twitch Channel