Search the Community

NHLGamers! We've gone three fourths of the way through the qualifiers of the Capitals Esports Face-Off. We're happy to announce that we will see plenty of European colours in the final event, as @Eki and @Eken45jr paved their way through in the first qualifier as we already wrote. It is also with great pleasure we bring the news that @MrNipsuli managed to make it through on the second qualifier weekend, the other finalist from that qualifier was Regs84. The third qualifier was played last weekend and unfortunately no European players made it through that time, but 3 out of 6 is a great record nonetheless. @PleeMaker has been a goal away for qualifying, and it seems like he won't be pursuing another run at this tournament as the Bolts Chel Challenge qualifiers are hosted simultaneously as the fourth qualifier next week. Confirmed Capitals Esports Face-Off Finalists: Eki eken45jr Regs84 MrNipsuli- THEY_SPEAK_OF_ME Cheez Whizzzzz A short recap of what the Capitals Esports Face-Off is all about: The Esports Face-Off is a versus tournament open to both EU and NA players on PS4. The tournament is played in a double elimination format alike the NHL GWC. Four online qualifiers will be organised prior to the final event. On top of competing for a $10,000 prize pool, the top 3 players will have the chance to attend the 2019 Chel Classic, representing the Washington Capitals in a 3vs3 showdown against the top 3 players of the Bolts Chel Challenge. The Capitals Esports Face-Off will continue as follows: February 2nd - Fourth Online Qualifier February 22nd - Final Event March 19th - 2019 Chel Classic More info and registrations over at https://smash.gg/tournament/capitals-esports-faceoff/details Congratulations to Eki, eken45jr and MrNipsuli- on behalf of all of NHLGamer! Your NHLGamer Editor, @jahajaha93

NHLGamers! Yet again, we bring you joyful news about the success of some of our very own NHLGamer members. A while back, NHL franchise Washington Capitals announced the Capitals Esports Face-Off, which is a versus tournament open to EU and NA players on PS4. The tournament is played in a double elimination format, alike the NHL GWC. Four online qualifiers will be organized leading up to the final event in Washington D.C. on February 22nd. On top competing for a hefty $10,000 prize pool, the top 3 of the tournament will also have a chance to represent the Washington Capitals at the 2019 Chel Classic on March 19th. The Chel Classic is a 3v3 format show match against the top 3 players of the Bolts Chel Challenge, hosted by the Tampa Bay Lightning. The first online qualifier was held on Saturday, January 12th 2019 and we're happy to inform you that our very own @Eki is advancing undefeated from the winners bracket and @Eken45jr has managed to pave his way through to the finals after beating Regs84 in the losers bracket final. As stated, Eki moves on undefeated and Eken moves on with one loss on his record, that loss being against Eki. Check out the absolutely crazy game between Eki and eken45jr called by our friend SleevelessGaming: Here is the OT game winner against Regs84 that sent eken45jr to Washington D.C.: The Capitals Esports Face-Off will continue as follows: January 19th - Second Online Qualifier January 26th - Third Online Qualifier February 2nd - Fourth Online Qualifier February 22nd - Final Event March 19th - 2019 Chel Classic More info and registrations over at https://smash.gg/tournament/capitals-esports-faceoff/details Congratulations to Eki and eken45jr on behalf of all of NHLGamer! Your NHLGamer Editor, @jahajaha93

(Source: Ilta-Sanomat - Picture by Mika Tuononen) @Eki takes it home once again. Seems to be the common occurrence nowadays, right? Success just seems to follow this youngster. IS Cup 3: NHL 19 1vs1 eSM was a blast and we had a lot of people showing up to cheer for their favourite in our stream! On top of that, we also had a nice amount of people show up at the event in Kauppakeskus REDI, Helsinki. The atmosphere was intense especially as the last games were being played. NHLGamer, together with your partners Ilta-Sanomat and SJK eSports would like to thank all of you for showing up, either live or through the broadcast! The event didn't lack any excitement as we were treated to some absolute thrillers by our competitors. Here are the results of each group after the group stage: Group A was regarded as 'the group of death' prior to the games, with really strong and experienced players @Dominointi, @Artuzio and @eskoeinari, joined by youngster @MrNipsuli who managed to cause an upset and make his way into the finals, playing as his favourite team Toronto Maple Leafs. Everything was up for grabs until the last round in group A, but Dominointi and MrNipsuli- managed to snag their second victories and move on. In group B we saw the only player who made it through the group stage without a loss in @kriketski17, a name that will certainly be on peoples lips in the versus scene from now on. @xDoumi managed to pave his way into the playoffs as the second player from group B. Group C didn't offer much in terms of surprising outcomes. @Eki took a routine route to the big games and @Nassustelija managed to cop the second place spot, although he edged out @Markoohh- only by goal differential. To no surprise @PleeMaker grabbed the first spot in group D, whereas @Hansulinho had himself a night to forget going 0-3-0. @buranaburana made his way to the playoffs in second place of group D. Upsets Galore. We definitely saw some upsets in the group stage already. @kriketski17 took the whole competition by storm as he went undefeated through a tough group B. Group A with @Dominointi, @eskoeinari, @Artuzio and @MrNipsuli was an absolute free-for-all, as players pretty much traded wins through the first two rounds, leaving a ton of factors to decide who moves on to the playoffs. The underdog in that group was definitely Nipsuli, who together with Dominointi managed to make it through from the group stage. Another massive surprise was the weak performance of @Hansulinho, who didn't quite get into the groove of things this time around. In a group where he could have had the chance of moving on from on a good day, the former IS Cup champion didn't get it done, dropping all group stage games. Playoff bracket: The most interesting quarterfinal matchup was definitely Dominointi vs xDoumi, which ended 1-2. The two guys battled hard trading wins and going into double overtime of game two. The younger xDoumi showed his skill and managed to take home the tight series, moving on to a semifinal matchup against PleeMaker. Plee managed to overcome Nassustelija 2-0, as did Eki against buranaburana. Kriketsi17 also won 2-o against MrNipsuli, we saw an interesting turn of events in their second game, as Kriketsi managed to score on a pass from the neutral zone after Freddy Andersen of Nipsuli's Maple Leafs let in an abomination of a goal in the first period. The game was tied up after which Kriketsi managed to secure a win in overtime of game 2. Jani "JiiHoo86" Hetta and Arttu Hämäläinen had a busy day in the commentator booth. (Source: SEUL - Picture by Jussi Jääskeläinen) The semifinals offered us a series to remember as PleeMaker and xDoumi went head-to-head. Plee drew first blood in game 1 after a long period of offensive pressure from Doumi to start the game. The game was close all the way through, Plee leading 2-1 until just about the end of regulation when Doumi managed to score off of a shorthanded one-timer chance with 4,7 seconds remaining in the game. To start OT we saw some undisciplined play by Plee, allowing Doumi to snag the win of game 1 by scoring on the powerplay. The second game was a one goal bout - a defensive battle ending in Plee tying up the series. Game 3 was certainly a headscratcher. Doumi came out swinging with two quick goals to start the game, whereafter Plee managed to mount a comeback and the guys went on somewhat on a scoring spree, leaving the game at 5-4 in favour of Doumi at the start of the 3rd period, which is where miracles happened. Doumi scored two goals first, putting him at a three goal advantage. Plee came back to 7-5, Doumi made it 8-5, Plee scored - 8-6 - spectators couldn't even keep up! The guys were nowhere near done, Plee scored three unanswered and the game seemed like a win until Doumi decided to spoil the party again, tying it up AGAIN with 8,5 seconds left! Regulation ends 9-9. Plee ended up securing a final spot in after scoring his 10th goal of the game about halfway through the first period of OT. As Eki managed to win two games against Kriketski, we were treated to a final game with the matchup Eki vs Plee! See PleeMaker vs xDoumi here: The Plee - xDoumi series is certainly hard to top in terms of excitement. However, the final matchup was one of the best we could ever have asked for. Eki and Plee are FILADELPHIA teammates, they are arguably the two best NHL 19 players of the world - and we were treated to the opportunity of seeing the two battle it out with 4000€ on the line. The first game of the finals was a tight battle as expected, Plee opened the scoring, but Eki quickly came back. Both guys scored once more in regulation sending us to overtime, which was decided about three minutes into OT at the hands of Eki, making his first claim for the championship. Game two was a bit different in the sense that Eki seemed to run away with the game early as he made it 2-0 in the first period. Plee had different ideas as he scored three unanswered. That remained the case until 41,9 seconds remaining, when Eki managed to find twine on a cross-crease one-timer. We had OT on our hands once again! The first OT period went into the closing seconds, where Eki had an offensive zone faceoff and managed to find the lane for a blueline slapshot - we had a winner! See the decisive final game here: Eki was certainly the favourite to take it home all along. The world champion joined the tournament through invite and didn't disappoint. Eki lost only one game in the final tournament, his last group stage game against Nassustelija - a game without any real meaning going forward as Eki had already secured a playoff spot by winning his first two games. When being asked how he felt about the result of the final, Eki stated: "Games between me and Plee have always been a coin toss, he had his chances that didn't go in and I had some luck on my blueline slapshot. It's the way this game is, sometimes the bounces go your way." Eki is the new champion! (Source: SEUL - Picture by Jussi Jääskeläinen) PleeMaker had to settle for second place (Source: Ilta-Sanomat - Picture by Mika Tuononen) Kriketsi17 took home the bronze. (Source: SEUL - Picture by Jussi Jääskeläinen) Here are the final standings of IS Cup 3: NHL 19 1vs1 eSM: (Source: Ilta-Sanomat) Congratulations to all participants! Once again, NHLGamer would like to thank everyone involved in the event and all of you who tuned in to the stream or showed up at the event. You have played a significant part in promoting the NHLGaming scene and we greatly appreciate every single one of you! Thank you.

Hi there NHLGamers, As you might have heard by now, our very own @Eki and @Artuzio have signed new contracts with an esports organisation called Sampi. I had the chance to have a discussion with both guys regarding their new contracts and how all of this went down. Most of you might have noted that Eki was already signed to Helsinki Reds, so this is a transfer for him. Artuzio, however is now signing his first ever pro contract. NHLGamer congratulates both! Team Sampi is most likely a very unfamiliar name to all of you, not simply because of the fact that is isn't a big organisation, but it wasn't officially founded until September 1st 2018. The founder of the franchise is professional football player Jakub Jankto, who currently represents Sampdoria in the Italian Serie A. "Jakub contacted me a few weeks ago and told me about his plans of launching an esports franchise. He mentioned that he used to compete in EA Sports FIFA some years ago, but financial restrictions came in the way. I think he even won a Czech championship in 2012. Jakub also got the chance to pursue a professional football career. He has a desire to help young gamers achieve their goals without restrictions.", says Eki about how the contract talks with Team Sampi begun. Artuzio says that in addition to NHL, the organisation has players competing in FIFA and Rocket league. competitive NHL will be one of the main focuses of the organisation. « Team Sampi made me an offer I couldn't refuse » -Artuzio on signing with Team Sampi I asked Artuzio about how he feels about his new organisation: "After the European Qualifiers of the NHLGWC I started receiving offers quite consistently, but I didn't want to rush it. Team Sampi made me an offer I couldn't refuse, so I'm very excited to represent them and start making a name for my new team!" What will your roles be representing the new organisation? "The organisation is so new right now, so I'm not completely sure what my role will be, but the main objective of Team Sampi is to support us players and provide the possibilities for us to compete at the very top.", said Eki. Both Eki and Artuzio will be focusing most on attending various tournaments and competitive play, they will be streaming occasionally but it isn't a requirement of the organisation. As this is now a transfer situation for Eki, I wanted to go a bit into the reasons behind the transfer and what he had to say about his former organisation Helsinki Reds. "Team Sampi offered me a contract I couldn't refuse. I have nothing bad to say about Reds, it was a good time. I learned a lot about the esports business and got to participate in all kinds of events thanks to them. It was a completely new thing for me. As Helsinki Reds was so close by, they were very involved in my gaming, creating stream graphics and hosting events. Team Sampi will be different in the sense that they merely aim to support their players and stay in the background. As of now there are no plans on hosting events or such. We will simply focus on winning and gaming." A piece of advice from the champion - Eki, as you now have some experience in the scene and have signed your second contract, what kind of tips would you give to gamers out there waiting to get their shot and sign a deal? "Once you have some success, you might get be getting several offers. I'd suggest staying patient and not just signing any deal. I've heard of players with really bad deals, so be careful and don't just sign a deal for the sake of representing an organisation." "Vegas didn't go as planned and I feel I am better than that, so I'll be looking to attend as many tournaments as possible and gain a lot of success in NHL 19. Versus is my main focus due to my contract, but I'll be looking to compete in some 6v6 action too!", states Artuzio after being asked about his ambitions for the new iteration of NHL. Eki's Car situation - I recall you saying you'll be buying a car if you win the NHLGWC, what kind of car stands in your driveway? I asked Eki. "I didn't get a car, says Eki with a laugh. I received the money a few weeks ago and decided to save it. It was the smart thing to do." Not only an unbelievably skilled gamer and new found the poster boy for the EA Sports NHL series but a responsible young adult too, who would've known? Huge thanks to both Eki and Artuzio for taking the time to have a chat with me. On behalf of the community, I wish both luck in their upcoming competitions. We're excited to see what the future brings!

NHLGamers! As of today, the European online qualifiers for the NHL Gaming World Championship 2018 are over and we have very exciting news to share. All eight regional finalists are part of the NHLGamer community! Best wishes are going out to: @Hansulinho (Xbox Live: Hansulinho) - EU XBOX #1 bracket winner @plee999 (Xbox Live: PleeMaker) - EU XBOX #1 bracket runner-up @Erkki (PSN: I_Eki_I) - EU PS4 #1 bracket winner @FlyerKungen (PSN: FlyerKungen) - EU PS4 #1 bracket runner-up @Kane (Xbox Live: Kaneyh) - EU XBOX #2 bracket winner @Nieppii (Xbox Live: Nieppi) - EU XBOX #2 bracket runner-up @Darkic01 (PSN: Darkic01) - EU PS4 #2 bracket winner @Artuzio (PSN: Artuzio) - EU PS4 #2 bracket runner-up The European Region Finals will take place in Stockholm, Sweden at Viasat Studios on May 6th, from which the winner and runner-up will be invited to the World Finals in Las Vegas, Nevada on June 19th to compete against the best players from Canada and the USA, who will be represented by two players each as well. If you don't know what the NHL Gaming World Championship is about, read up on it in our previous news story! Good luck everyone - the entire NHLGamer community will be rooting for you!