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Like we hinted at in last week’s recap, the big (h)RED machine seems to be waking up. After opening their season uncharacteristically weak, hREDS have rattled off eight straight wins – including four consecutive wins in their last four games. The hot streak has catapulted the team into the top four, which now consists of the foursome many expected to be there: HAVU Gaming, JYP Jyvaskyla, Linköping HC, and hREDS. A quick look at the leaderboards for individual statistics further enhance the domination by these four teams. The top six is made up of three LHC forwards and three HAVU forwards. The remaining four are two hREDS forwards and two JYP forwards. At the other end of the spectrum, we find Almost Famous and Luleå Hockey who both went 0-4 the past week, picking up no points in the process. Luleå is riding a nine-game losing streak overall (0-7-2) whereas aF (1-7-1) has had an increasingly tough go of things lately as well. Another team that is struggling is Vesa Pompa, one of the teams promoted from Pro. The reigning SCL champions did manage to pick up an overtime win against another Swedish team, Färjestad BK, in the NHLGamer-featured broadcast matchup between the two, but have gone 1-5-0 in their past six games and lost three out of four games the past week. One suspects these three teams are happy to turn the page on the past week and start a new chapter. When sorting by “points collected per game” for teams, we can deduce that Roots Gaming especially have been doing well beyond the top four. With a record of 4-1-1 the past week, the team has continued to build on what had already begun to look like a strong campaign. We are only at the halfway point, but Roots seems to have already positioned themselves as a sure-fire playoff team. Beyond Roots, teams Checkmate and BRAYCE Phantoms are also putting together strong seasons – both hovering above one point collected per game. One team that took off this week and seemed to leave a bad start behind them was Unlucky Boys HC. After losing eight of their first ten games, the team announced their intentions to climb by going 4-0-0 in the early goings of the week, defeating both Luleå Hockey and KOVA Esports without surrendering a single point. Their upward trend came to a screeching halt when they were faced with reigning champions Linköping HC yesterday, though. LHC collected all four points – further cementing themselves at the top of the standings for what seems to be another successful season. Newcomers Gotham Knights and GHETTO FIREBIRDS both continue to acquit themselves well at the top tier of ECL competition, tallying roughly a point per game thus far into the season. Färjestad, KOVA, and SJ Gaming have also performed adequately so far and put themselves in solid contention for a playoff spot. PERFORMANCE OF THE WEEK While it is in no way enjoyable to highlight these plays, at least not for this particular writer (Editors Note: the author represents Luleå Hockey), HAVU Gaming does deserve some credit for the highlight reel-worthy goals they scored against Luleå Hockey this past week. Enjoy. Or don’t. I certainly won’t… FORWARD OF THE WEEK Paul @PleeMaker Arontie, Linköping HC EASHL hockey is about scoring goals and as of right now, nobody does that better than Linköping HC left wing PleeMaker. With 32 goals in 14 games, he holds a commanding lead in the overall goal-scoring race – helped by his scorching performance last week where he tallied 11 (!) goals and 2 assists in just four games. With that, he is our forward of the week. DEFENDER OF THE WEEK Wille @willekunq Juntunen, HAVU Gaming HAVU Gaming had a busy week, playing four opponents for a total of eight games. Willekunq made sure to make the most of these games, amassing 10 points (4+6), and catapulting himself up to the top of the leaderboard for defender scoring. GOALTENDER OF THE WEEK Ville @Viltzup Poutiainen, Unlucky Boys HC Thrown straight into Elite by way of recruitment from ECL Pro team We Kings, “new” UB goalie Viltzup (he played for UB last season) certainly showed right away he can help the team win games. With an 85,19 save percentage, a 4-2-0 record, one shutout, and 2,00 goals against average, Viltzup is your goaltender of the week. Sure, he probably wishes he could forget about the LHC games yesterday – at least one of them – but overall, this first week for Viltzup in ECL 10 Elite was a roaring success.

NHLGamers, The first few gamedays of ECL 10 Elite are in the rearview and boy, have we been treated to some exciting action already! There's lots more to come and the same goes for out preview series, in which we overviewed "Contenders, Swedes and Newcomers" last time around. In the third and last part, we'll discuss the remaining teams, which consist of: Brayce Phantoms and Almost Famous both saw disappointing results in ECL 9 by finishing 15th and 14th – both relegation spots. To make matters worse, both teams were defeated by hungry Pro teams in the promotion/relegation series; Brayce by Vesa as mentioned in our previous article and Almost Famous by Gotham Knights. But these teams weren’t going down without a fight. With the situation unclear for a number of teams going into ECL 10 Elite, two eventually decided they wouldn’t participate in the season due to disbandment: PARRU and Butterfly Effect. This led to a scramble to fill the two spots – resulting in the ECL 10 Elite Qualification Series. Brayce Phantoms, Almost Famous, TIKI TALK, Leksand IF, Växjö Lakers, Reality Check, Black Horse and Kaupallinen Yhteistyo were all given another chance to prove they belonged in Elite. Brayce, Almost Famous, Kaupallinen Yhteistyo and Reality Check qualified from the group stage which led to the matchups: Brayce vs. Kaupallinen, and Almost vs. Reality. Here the former Elite teams really stepped up and won their series 4-1 and 4-0, respectively – displaying an impressive amount of psychological strength after being “down and out” for such a long time. As for the teams’ rosters, much of Brayces gameplay still revolves around playmaking genius Simon @PlaymakerSJ Junker at center, but the recent addition of Stephan @Krinke Krinke at LW could prove to be an interesting one as the man has proven to be a dependable goal-scorer in recent times. For Almost Famous, the players behind its revival are primarily assistant captains Janne @jahajaha93 Tarvonen and Joni @Tzon93 Tuovila whereas captain Aaro @Ikavalko Ikävalko will be spending the rest of the year serving in the Finnish military. Not only are they both skilled and capable players on the ice, their contributions off the ice should not be underestimated. Jahajaha93 brought the team back from death’s door through sheer force of will after a turbulent offseason. The team with new recruits tzon93, Samu @Ojamoska Ojamo, Eemil @Sokkelo__ Soikkeli and Lassi @Lazzio Hirvonen battled through the ECL 10 Elite Qualification Series with the energetic winger tzon93 instantly taking a supportive leadership role and bringing additional fire to the team. Brayce Phantoms and Almost Famous have been in playoff mode for the past months already – could that help them in ECL 10? It wasn’t just hReds and JYP Jyvaskyla who entered the NHL 6v6 scene ahead of ECL 10 Elite. ECL 9 teams Miracle and POGGERS each secured contracts with Finnish esports organizations; Miracle became KOVA Esports and POGGERS turned into SJ Gaming – both well-known and respected franchises in the Finnish esports scene. For KOVA, the team will look to build on their playoff finish last season while captain Kimi @Zip player Nordberg will be eager to prove that the mid-season additions of Mattias @iSvamp Björck and Amadeus @amadee21 Carlsson in ECL 9 wasn’t the driving factor behind the teams resurgence in the back half of that season. Miracle represented another esport organization, Swedish SHL club Djurgården Hockey, during eSHL but when a split occurred between the Finnish and the Swedish parts of the roster – eSvamp and amadee21 took on the Djurgården name whereas ZipPlayer quickly got to work securing a deal with the prestigious KOVA organization. SJ Gaming finished 12th last season in Elite but missed the playoffs by a mere two points, suggesting they are close to being a playoff contender. Captain Tero @Terodee Dahlström had a very impressive run in ECL 9 Elite, scoring 26 points in 26 games and finishing third overall among defenders in total points. This season he will look to build on that performance and lead his team to the playoffs. Unlucky Boys HC, Roots and Checkmate are returning to Elite after all performing well last season. Roots made the playoffs as the 4th seed, Unlucky Boys as the 6th and Checkmate just barely missed the playoffs, finishing 9th with the same point total as 8th seed Symphony. Being teams of supremely high ambitions, all three have made key changes to their rosters to take the next step in their evolution. Unlucky Boys have made two significant changes to their roster from ECL 9. Goaltenders Rami @ramseyy2 Rissanen and Janne @Jann3_67_ Saari were brought in to replace Ville @Viltzup Poutiainen, while Brayce Phantoms forward Tim @Timasy Hess joined as the primary RW with Veeti @Wenger Paloneva moving down to assume the RD position. For Roots, goalscoring legend Lauri @Lamsa Lämsä left the team and Timi @Rimpe Rimpeläinen joined. Jim @SadaPoika Leskinen was placed on “inactive status” due to joining the Finnish military services, leading Miko @Migo_boo Nurmi (who just came back after fulfilling that very same commitment) to assume the role of main center after acting as the teams backup for more than a year. The loss of Lamsa is a significant one as he had been the team’s leading goal scorer every single season Roots (Rusty Blades) has participated in ECL competition, but with captain Juhani @Tanski87 Tanskanen leading the team in a more balanced direction – having every player contribute equally on the offense – the team looks just as strong as last season, where they finished an impressive 4th during the regular season. Finally, Checkmate also made some key additions as “the Nikkinen brothers” (captain Jonne @TackleControl Nikkinen and assistant captain Juuso @Juizki Nikkinen) signed Markus @Makeaxl Lahti from Symphony and Ville-Petteri @vviljo Särmä from Butterfly Effect, both highly sought after, to act as the teams main defensive pairing. As 1v1 star Roni @MrNipsuli Kajan continues to ascend the rankings of “Elite 6v6 forwards”, Checkmate looks poised to build on last season and make the Elite playoffs. With this final preview part, we've taken a look at all 16 of the ECL 10 Elite teams to some extent - some more than others. The intent of this preview has not been to rank the teams in any way, but to create an understanding for the various situations that each of these teams are in. As we've stated numerous times before, we're extremely excited to get this season started! ECL 10 Elite continues tomorrow, Monday 13th of April with two matchups at www.twitch.tv/nhlgamer. SJ Gaming will go up against Almost Famous and Checkmate in our featured matchups.

The arrival of the global pandemic known as COVID-19 has brought about quite a few changes to life as we know it. While these changes – the arrival of the phenomenon “social distancing”, for example – won’t be permanent, they have certainly had an impact on most of us, if not all of us. Perhaps you have a friend or relative that has fallen ill. Perhaps you yourself have been battling the virus. Perhaps you’ve lost your job as a consequence of the radical changes in consumer behavior around the globe. Perhaps you’ve even lost someone close to you. In short, things aren’t great. And what’s worse is that no one can accurately predict how long we’ll be in this predicament. Still. As Harvey Dent of The Dark Knight (2008) would say – you know, before he turned all evil and homicidal – “The night is darkest just before the dawn. And I promise you: the dawn is coming”. As we wait for the sun to come up and illuminate our path forward, we could all use a distraction. Something to take our minds off headlines of pain and suffering. So, with every sport from Formula 1 to curling canceled or put on indefinite hold – not to mention our favorite sport of ice hockey – and guidelines in most countries suggesting that we stay at home as much as possible, what could be better than some competitive esports? I mean, not to make light of the current situation but… as gamers, we’re kind of used to staying inside and maintaining distance to people. No? All kidding aside, with the whole world essentially put on pause we can and should consider ourselves lucky that we are still able to do what we love on a daily basis: play and compete in NHL 20. And who knows – while we are busy battling our rivals for supremacy in the four separate divisions of the European Championship League, we might even be able to offer a sliver of happiness to someone who is going through a tough time; be it a spectator or a player. If you ask me, that’s not "nothing". The competitive aspect should of course not be forgotten. After all, this is NHLGamer and 6v6 EASHL hockey is what we do. So, let’s talk competition. For the purposes of this article, that means taking a long, hard look at the 16 teams set to participate in the premier division of European 6v6 gaming, ECL Elite. For the seventh edition of this ultra-tough division – the first three seasons of ECL did not feature divisional separation – we begin by taking a look at two teams that are no strangers to winning. Teams many would say stand the best chance of claiming the coveted title of ECL Grand Champion. And so, without further ado, what better way to start than by focusing on… THE BIG TWO Their dominant run as we know it began in November of 2018, in IS Cup 3 (eSM 2018). That’s when the team known as FILADELPHIA secured their first championship title. They did so by defeating a team known at the time as Written In The Stars. Make a mental note of that because the rivalry of these two teams had only just gotten started. Mere weeks after winning the IS Cup 3 title, “FILA” added another trophy to their collection – none other than the ECL 7 Elite title: their first championship win in Elite. Only this time their opponent wasn’t Written In The Stars, it was newly established team Symphony. However, as the calendar year of 2018 ended and 2019 began, the balance of power shifted. ECL 8 Elite saw FILA face off in the finals against Written In The Stars; a re-match of the IS Cup 3 finals. Only this time it was “SKY” who brought home the championship. SKY proceeded to win the “just for fun”-tournament Spring League and followed that up by signing a contract with professional esports organization HAVU Gaming. Next up was the last event of EA SPORTS NHL 19; the summer tournament of FCL (eSM 2019). Once again, we were treated to a matchup in the finals between FILA and HAVU. The now green-and-black HAVU continued their dominant end to NHL 19 by defeating FILA and bringing home their third straight tournament win. Picture: HAVU Gaming celebrating FCL Championship 2019. Photo credit: SEUL / Arttu Kokkonen Along came the fall and EA SPORTS NHL 20 – but HAVU weren’t done winning. The first tournament of NHL 20, IS Cup 4, saw HAVU bring home their fourth (!) straight title – defeating newly created team Delusion in the finals. FILA finished a (for them) disappointing third and with that decided changes needed to be made. Delusion goaltender Casper @ICappeI Lundgren was brought in to replace previous net-minding stalwarts Oskari @sibeelius Grönroos and Mika @FinKonna Paasikontu. With that, it was time for the balance of power to shift once more. With the arrival of ICappeI, FILA proceeded to sign an esports deal with Swedish hockey organization Linköping HC of the SHL – the highest tier of professional hockey in Sweden. Switching from the orange stag of FILA to the White Lion of Linköping, LHC dove head-first into ECL 9 and decisively mopped the floor with most opponents. Sporting an ECL Elite-record 27-2-1 (tied with SKY from ECL 6), LHC claimed the #1 overall seed in the regular season and worked their way through Symphony and Luleå Hockey in the playoffs to reach the finals… where none other than, you guessed it, HAVU awaited them. With HAVU up 3-1 in the best of-7 series, LHC dug deep and found another gear – turning the series around and winning their first title since ECL 7. Linköping surfed their new-found wave of success all the way to winning the inaugural eSHL championship – including a win in the finals against a Malmö Redhawks team that featured HAVU players Tuukka @FlyerKungen Kuha (RW), Risto @Dominointi Järvi (C), Hannes @Hansulinho Kettunen (G, reserve) and Ilmari @Buantso Lehkonen (LW, reserve) on loan. Picture: Linköping HC celebrating eSHL Championship 2020. Photo credit: Elias Gammelgård To summarize: in the last eight tournaments organized by NHLGamer (not including the differently formatted Summer Cup or the inaugural edition of the SCL where neither team had a chance to participate), FILADELPHIA/Linköping HC have won four and Written In The Stars/HAVU Gaming four – including four finals where they’ve been pitted directly against each other. That’s a near unprecedented dominance not seen on the NHL esports scene since Swedish teams Northern Stars and Unknown were lining up tournament wins in the previous gen (pre-NHL 16) of the game. The way Linköping and HAVU have made competitive NHL 6v6 gaming a two-horse race in the past 18 months (or NHLs 19 and 20, for those keeping track) almost defies explanation – bringing about comparisons to the famous rivalry in Spanish football league La Liga between standout clubs FC Barcelona and Real Madrid. And wouldn’t you know it? Whenever these two behemoths of NHL gaming get matched up against each other, especially in the playoffs, you will usually find at least 5-10 comments in the NHLGamer Twitch stream – because let’s face it, their matchups should never not be broadcasted – calling the matchup the “El Clasico of NHL gaming”. It does have a nice ring to it. And the rivalry is just as fierce. I’m talking about the battle between bearded beasts ICappeI and Hansulinho in net, the two-way talent in two of the strongest defender pairings of all time (Kristian-Mikael @Nassustelija Katajisto & Wille @willekunq Juntunen for HAVU; Aleksi @loimmu Loimuvirta & Joel @jtorro1233 Tourunen for LHC) and the matchup of six of the best forwards NHL esports have to offer: the above mentioned trio of FlyerKungen, Dominointi and Puantso facing off against Erik @Eki Tammenpää, Paul @PleeMaker Arontie and Joonas @Juunas Paatiala. With ECL 10 fast approaching and both teams looking as strong as ever, can anyone really be blamed for predicting another matchup in the ECL Elite finals between HAVU and LHC? I certainly wouldn’t put it past them. Next up; the second half of the ECL 10 Elite preview where we break down the remaining 14 teams. The challengers, the new arrivals and which teams and players to keep an extra eye out for.

NHLGamers, The next championship to be crowned in the 9th iteration of ECL is the most prestigious of them all - Elite. Two teams entered. And once the dust had settled, only one was left standing. We present to you the ECL 9 Elite champions in Linkoping HC. This marks the third title for this franchise, and the second in three seasons - no doubt solidifying them as one of Europe's finest. Linkoping HC 🏆 Group stage record: 27-2-1 (1st) Round 1: vs Symphony (8) 4-2 Semifinals: vs Lulea Hockey (5) 4-0 Finals: vs HAVU Gaming (2) 4-3 GOALIES #72 C. Lundgren @ICappeI DEFENSEMEN #27 A. Loimuvirta @loimmu #40 J. Torro @jtorro1233 #88 J. Virta @SUPERVIRTA FORWARDS #25 E. Tammenpaa @Eki #44 P. Arontie @PleeMaker #86 J. Paatiala @Juunas The finals between HAVU Gaming and Linkoping were 7 incredible games, that no doubt treated the viewers to what NHL EASHL 6s looks like at the highest level. All games were broadcast on the NHLGamer Twitch-channel. @Tougie24 and @Cyn once again blessed us with their presence and put forth a great effort in the commentator booth. If you missed that action, you can watch it again here: Games 1-3: Games 4-7:

Hi, NHLGamers! ECL 9 Elite season is just around the corner and you might have seen there were only 15 sign ups in ECL Elite. There is a need for one extra team in Elite and regarding this matter we leaned towards the rule book. The following rule was used to solve this matter: ”… If after this there are still spots to be filled in Elite, the best two teams from either pool (Elite relegates & Pro quarter-finalists) will play each other. These teams will be seeded based on points during the last season and wins in the most recent playoffs respectively. If, however, there are more spots to be filled than just one, a mini tournament can be announced, if there is enough time for it to be played out in full. In the latter case, League Administration will decide on the method best suited for the time available.” We contacted teams by order and the two best seeded ECL 8 Elite relegated teams (Resurrection and Synergy Hockey) accepted to play for the spot. Next we moved to the ECL 8 Pro quarterfinalists. We contacted the two best seeded teams (Gotham Knights and Mentula SKA), out of which Gotham Knights were up for the challenge, whereas Mentula SKA unfortunately had disbanded. The Next Gen was next in line but they were disbanded as well. The last option was SIKA but they did not respond to our communication. Thus the Wildcard Series will be organized between three teams. Tournament format The Wildcard series will be determined by a best-of-three double elimination tournament: 1) We start with two teams meeting up 2) Winner of that match-up faces the third team 3) Loser of the first matchup faces the loser of the second matchup 4) Winner of the loser matchup faces the winner from matchup 2 5) If the above is won by the undefeated team, it's all over and we have our winner. 6) If the loser in the pair above is a team who only lost for the first time the teams play another BO3. 7) At the latest, we have our winner here. Schedule Sunday 10.11.2019 21:00 CET Synergy Hockey vs Resurrection BO3 2-0 ------------- Monday 11.11.2019 19:30 CET Synergy Hockey vs Gotham Knights BO3 2-1 21:30 CET Losers' finals BO3 Resurrection vs Gotham Knights 0-2 ------------- Tuesday 12.11.2019 20:30 CET Finals Synergy Hockey vs Gotham Knights BO3 22:00 CET The 2nd Final if needed BO3 The first BO3 series between Synergy Hockey and Resurrection was streamed and can be viewed below:

All of us surely appreciate the progress our beloved NHLGamer platform has made recently. Especially this year, with all the changes in ECL Elite. Before the eighth season of the toughest and most prestigious EASHL 6vs6 league in Europe kicked off, founder and owner @Kenu proudly presented the collaboration with Elisa Viihde, the leading online entertainment service in Finland, and Dr. Oetker, a massive and well-known international food corporation. ECL is slowly morphing into a more well-organized and reported league which should bring a lot of fun to all parties involved. However, even a league with these standards can’t exist without the players and with this series it’s time to get to know them. Now it’s time to get to know the ECL’s Elite. In the first ever iteration of this series, @Lamsa will be in the starring role. The Rusty Blades winger is a true NHL veteran. As he never represented any other team competitively, the first steps of the Rusty Blades are still fresh memories! Counting the ongoing season, Lamsa has appeared in 188 ECL regular season games for RB so far – not counting playoffs and the IS Cup. Actually, Lamsa, @Tanski87 and @Supreex are the only three players left from the original season in ECL3 and they’re still going strong. A lot of things have changed since the founding days of the club. In their inaugural season the team had a large roster so the level of play basically changed every night. Personally, Lamsa started with NHL 96 and jumped into EASHL sometime around 2008 or 09. He prefers playing on the Right Wing and using a Sniper build, but he’s playing with a physical edge too. Lamsas all-time favorite build was the Hitting Sniper, which he still misses dearly. When asked about his biggest strengths the wise Finn just replied: "I can score ugly goals for days.“ Last season (ECL 7), the (skate)blades were too rusty. The team finished in tenth place and missed the playoffs. The offseason wasn't spent resting on their laurels though, as captain @Tanski87 took to the free agent market. The team added two high-end forwards in @MartindalexC and @Foppatofflan as well as defenseman @The_Alpha_Furyan. The new additions fit in nearly perfectly. RB managed to cap off their ECL 8 regular season with a great surge into the playoffs, finishing at 6th place, which means they will be going up against Symphony in the first round of the playoffs. Lamsa can’t say enough good things about the teams new acquisitions. "It’s really, really nice to play with these guys. They are all really good and skillful players – I still can’t believe that we got those guys on our roster.“ The Sedin twins (thats how Lamsa calls his two new linemates) were locked down after a quick tryout period and the new defenseman The_Alpha_Furyan already had some existing chemistry with Lamsa after a Summer Cup stint together. Personally, Lamsa is enjoying this really successful season. His regular season totals add up to 44 points, out of which 28 are goals. This puts Lamsa at a tie for 5th best goal scorer in the regular season of ECL 8 Elite, not too shabby! All in all, the goal-scoring Finn seems to be a relaxed and level-headed person. His PSN-ID is actually his last name, just without those dots above the letters. That’s not creative, but it suits him real well. Heading into the playoffs, the Rusty Blades are at a familiar spot as a minor underdog going up against a tremendously strong Symphony. Their opponents seem to have found a form that is close to unstoppable, so it'll be crucial for RB to get back on track and focus on the things they are good at - the basics and go forth from there. One thing is for sure: Lamsa and the Rusty Blades are prepared. And they are not going down without putting up a fight. ECL Elite Writer @Tim_FlyersFan

Picture courtesy of SEUL ry, Jääskeläinen. Taken at IS Cup 3: 1vs1 eSM. NHLGamers, It's the final week of ECL 8 Elite and it all culminates at the pinnacle of the season - The ECL 8 Elite Finals at LanTrek in Tampere, Finland! With this short intro, we're launching an extensive coverage into the heated battle between first seed Written In The Stars and second seed FILADELPHIA. The games are scheduled to start at 17:00 CET on Friday, 1st of March, 2019 and we'll keep going for as long as it takes to make out a champion, believe me - that might take a while! Last time these teams met live, we ended up playing long into the night as game 2 wasn't decided until 6th OT when @Dominointitickled twine. Stay tuned for our big ECL 8 Elite Final preview, dropping late this evening. You'll be able to find us all weekend at LanTrek, as we're hosting the ECL 8 Elite Finals on Friday and casual FIFA 19 and NHL 19 tournaments on Saturday. NHLGamer can be found in the lower left hand corner (picture above). The ECL 8 Elite finals will be played on stage #2. Read more: ECL 8 Elite Finals: "They can't beat us" To get you guys in the mood, we've decided to do short interviews with members of each finalist team. For this one, we caught up with Written In The Stars captain and right wing @FlyerKungen: You switched over to the right wing for this season from playing center in ECL 7. How did that change feel and was it tough? - It wasn't really tough, since I've played the RW spot for pretty much all my career before. I've got thousands of games at that spot under my belt so after a short adjustment it was easy to just get back into your old ways. Of course I needed to adjust to the play of @willekunq on right D and @Dominointi as my center. FILADELPHIA is te more experienced lan team. Do you think that will have an effect on the games come Friday? - Can't deny the fact that they are the slightly more experienced team and I've actually given this some thought before the season. I think it won't play too much of a part on Friday. We've got a great group of guys and we're in this together. Some guys might be a bit nervous for the first game but you get into the groove very quick. @FinKonna said that he'd be putting the pressure on you guys, how do you intend to respond to that? - We'll be keeping that a secret for now. Finally, what do you expect from the LanTrek event? - Well, I haven't attended before so I don't know too much about it. I expect a great event and hope that our community shows up even though it's outside of the Helsinki area. I don't think the entry fee is bad considering you get a rare chance to meet up with some of the best NHL gamers and best people out there. Hopefully we'll get some great games too! Watch FlyerKungen lead his team onto the ice this upcoming Friday, starting 17CET at www.twitch.tv/nhlgamer. We'll be streaming the full best of 7-series with your very own Arttu Hämäläinen and Jani @Jiihooo86 Hetta in the booth! Your NHLGamer Editor, @jahajaha93

Hey NHLGamers, Written In The Stars have been crowned as this season's Elite champion by beating FILADELPHIA 4 games to 1. As such, NHLGamer would like to congratulate each and every player from SKY for putting on a masterclass en route to their title. Additionally, we would also like to thank everyone that participated across all divisions this ECL for making each game as memorable as the last. If you missed out on any of the games from the finals then you can check out our Twitch channel or Elisa Viihde's where all games will be available to watch. The game by game results for the series are as follows: Game 1: FILADELPHIA - Written in the Stars 2:0 Game 2: Written in the Stars - FILADELPHIA 4:0 Game 3: FILADELPHIA - Written in the Stars 0:1 Game 4: Written in the Stars - FILADELPHIA 2:0 Game 5: FILADELPHIA - Written in the Stars 0:1 OT Written in the Stars' championship roster: GOALTENDERS #40 J. Lindström @poliskontroll #88 -. Hansuljevski @Hansulinho DEFENSEMEN #16 K. V @VesKuLiNe #43 Y. Wilhelm @willekunq #78 N. Tahtonen @Nassustelija FORWARDS #6 M. Sami @Buantso #13 I. SK @Dominointi #66 T. Keranen @topikeranen #91 U. SK @FlyerKungen Written In The Stars' road to the trophy: Regular season: 26-3-1 (1st) Quarterfinals: 4:0 vs. Northern Stars Semifinals: 4:0 vs. Rusty Blades Finals: 4:1 vs. FILADELPHIA Once again, NHLGamer would like to extend a warm thank you to all participants, every single member of this great community, Elisa Viihde and Dr. Oetker Rustica! Another entertaining season has passed us by and another new winner has been crowned. Enjoy your break and get ready to step on the virtual ice again very soon! Your NHLGamer Staff

Picture courtesy of SEUL ry, Jääskeläinen. Taken at GameXpo 2018. Read more: ECL 8 Elite Finals: "I just want my team to win" The wait for the finals is coming to an end as Friday is here and the NHLGamer staff has arrived safely at LanTrek 19. Players will be dropping in at the venue shortly, so what better time than to release our final interview - this time we're bothering the highly praised Written In The Stars right defenseman @willekunq: For the first time in a while, you've had a season where you've played a lot. You also have a new defensive pair in @Nassustelija - how has it felt? - This season has been fun. It feels good to play and I'm enjoying myself out there. At first we had some problems and Nassu is pretty inexperienced at the highest level, but he's improved tremendously and proven to be a great asset for our team. What are you going to do to make sure Written In The Stars comes out with the win tonight? - I'll come into the games with a good nights sleep, eat well, bump fists with @Hansulinho and just play my game. Any greetings for the FILA players? - Nothing special, let's play some good games and may the best team win. You'll get to see Wille and many more of the best NHL gamers in Europe at LanTrek tonight! Remember to tune in to our stream at www.twitch.tv/nhlgamer if you can't make it to the live event! Your NHLGamer Editor, @jahajaha93

What's up, gamers? As we're at the doorstep of the ECL 8 Elite Finals between Written In The Stars and FILADELPHIA, NHLGamer founder @Kenu joined Mika Kuha from radio station Aito Hitti for a short interview about the upcoming weekend and one of, if not the biggest NHLGamer event so far. It's about ten months ago since Kenu last sat down with Mika for an interview about our site and now we're treated with another short segment. For those that understand Finnish, listen to the interview below, for those that don't we have a short recap. The ECL 8 Elite Finals: (1) Written In The Stars vs. FILADELPHIA (2) LIVE at LanTrek '19 in Tampere, Finland. Stream at www.twitch.tv/nhlgamer Schedule:* Game 1 17:00 CET Game 2 17:40 CET Game 3 18:20 CET --------------------------------------- BREAK 18:55-19:55 CET --------------------------------------- Game 4 20:00 CET Game 5 20:40 CET --------------------------------------- BREAK 21:10-21:20 CET --------------------------------------- Game 6 21:25 CET Game 7 22:05 CET *ECL Staff withholds the right to alter the schedule if need be. What's the underlying reason we're seeing an ECL 8 live final at LanTrek in Tampere? - Well, there were many. First off, the timing was right and we had been taking massive steps further, so we were happy to take the natural step with organising a live final. Tampere is at a good location as it's very central and easily accessible from all around Finland and even from abroad. I've never attended LanTrek, but heard good things about it, so I'm happy to be able to showcase the pinnacle of our league at this event. Are you surprised about these two teams matching up against each other in the final? - Anyone could have made it, but it's not a massive surprise that Written In The Stars and FILADELPHIA meet at the very first live ECL Elite final. These two have been some of the stronger teams in our league for quite some time now and they actually had their last live event clash at the IS Cup 3: 6vs6 eSM, where all three games went into overtime before FILADELPHIA managed to win and ultimately hoist the cup. Both teams surely have those games in fresh memory. In the regular season, FILA won both games in the matchup between these two teams. Nevertheless, both of these teams are tremendously skilled and wether you are a fan of versus NHL or 6vs6 NHL, expect the very best at this final event. Bringing these games to a live setting must surely bring an interesting twist to playing, how do you feel about that? - It's certainly different and I think it'll have an effect on the players. For both FILA and SKY it's kind of a familiar situation, though. If I recall correctly, @Eki stated that it's even easier for him to play live sometimes and looking at his performances, I don't doubt that. When playing live, it's always interesting to see how players react to the pressure of the crowd and the cameras. It's been nice to follow what's been going on in the ECL throughout the season. It seems like you're a tight knit community, talk a bit about that. - Yeah, we're enemies on the ice and competition is tough, but the community is very tight knit and it all comes together nicely at these live events. This community has been built by the players and we've grown quickly on to bigger things lately. Let's take a quick look across the pond. You recently announced the NACL - When does that kick off? - The NACL kicks off on the 11th of March. I can't stress enough how excited I am about this, I know the North American community has been itching for our market entry and now the time was right. The announcement blew up on social media and we've had some registrations already. We expect more of the very Elite of NHL 6vs6 to join our site now that we offer a chance for North American players to compete in one of our leagues too. Kenu, ECL action is at it's best when it's live. What do you have to say to all the people doubting attendance? - Couldn't say it better myself. ECL action is at it's best when it's live. Entry to LanTrek is only 15€ and on top of some excellent ECL action you'll get to devour some delicious Rustica Pizza right next to our stage. Thank you all and see you at LanTrek! Puck drop is at 17 CET tomorrow! Your NHLGamer Editor, @jahajaha93

It's time, gamers! The pinnacle of the season is here! We've reached the end of the line with only the two best teams in all of Europe remaining. It is the ECL 8 Elite final between Written In The Stars and FILADELPHIA. These are two teams that definitely aren't strangers to each other, in fact what we will be treated to at LanTrek is a rematch of their IS Cup 3: 6vs6 best of 3 final at GameXpo 2018. Only this time, we're back bigger and better than ever before! Together with Dr Oetker Rustica, we're bringing you the first ever ECL live final and what better way to do that than with a guaranteed thriller of a matchup. SKY and FILA will face off in a best of 7 series, starting Friday, 1st of March, 2019 at 17 CET. How we find ourselves here For the first time in Written In The Stars franchise history, they have gained entry to the ECL finals. Thanks to one of, if not the, most dominant regular season displays ever seen, as well as a similarly commanding playoff showing thus far. FILADELPHIA on the other hand, come into this season’s finals as the reigning champions, and with an almost identical record compared to that season to boot. So, as far as finals go, this is no doubt shaping up to be one of the best we have ever seen. But how exactly does each respective team find themselves at this point? Let’s turn the clock back and find out. Picture courtesy of SEUL ry, Jääskeläinen. Taken at GameXpo 2018. (1) Written In The Stars Regular season record: 26-3-1 Playoff record: 8-0-0 As Written in the Stars are currently the favourites to take this ECL championship (albeit by a mere 16 votes at the time of writing), what better team to start this segment off with then? SKY History I think though, to properly set the scene we should take a trip (perhaps reluctantly for some) down memory lane. Specifically, all the way back to ECL 2 when SKY was first created. Just as a point of reference, the only player on the roster at this time who is still a feature in the current one was @FlyerKungen. In their first 6v6 competitive season Written posted a fairly decent record of 7-2-1, paving their entry to the playoffs where they were eventually bounced in 5 games by Infinity. A result that I’m sure was no doubt frustrating for those involved, but for an inaugural season you can definitely do worse. For ECL 3, SKY took off and recorded a 39-4-3 season with three players passing the century mark in points. Despite this impressive total, SKY only managed to proceed to the quarters before getting swept by the eventual runners up. Again, probably frustrating as all hell to be a part of, but as a far as trends go, their playoff performances are lasting longer and longer. Where the wheels begin to fall off is with the advent of ECL 4. Once again, SKY put up a fairly impressive season total of 18-6-4, good for 4th in Elite. However, they drastically underperformed and got beat in 5 games to a Dynasty side who eventually ended up being just 2 goals away from the championship title. ECL 5 then rolled around with SKY notching another impressive regular season. This time, they got revenge on Dynasty as they swept them in the first round, but experienced an unfortunate 2nd round exit to end their season. Sure, in hindsight it may have been another potentially wasted season from SKY, although with that said, getting past the first round in Elite is no small feat. Especially as they have been going in as the 4th seed in the past two seasons at this point, effectively guaranteeing that they would run into an extremely tough opponent. In response to these middling results SKY came out and posted the highest regular season point total on record (27-2-1). They then dismantled their first-round opponent in NOS in 5 games, setting up their best chance to make the finals and win a title up to this point, as their semi-finals opponent (NOR) was a team who had struggled massively in their first round appearance against Unlucky Boys, just about winning in 7 games and consequently prompting a positional / personnel change. Written then lost in 5. For ECL 7, they seemed to take a step back and ‘only’ racked up a record of 20-4-4, good for 3rd in Elite, proceeded to show some promise in their first-round matchup by disposing of their opponent in 5 games, then got swept by, you guessed it, the eventual runners up for the 4th consecutive season. At this point, I doubt few would call into question the idea that Divine Providence surely must be at play, given SKYs playoff opponents. Indeed, one could even go as far to call them the gatekeepers of the finals, guarding entrance to the stage, but never setting foot on it. ECL 8 So with that, we move into ECL 8 and the possibility of redemption for the much-maligned side. Indeed, starting the season with a blistering pace of 15-0-0 should have made abundantly clear to all onlookers that SKY surely meant business this time around. Not only were they winning games in their usual fashion of effectively sieging teams down, but they were doing it with startling efficiency compared to years past. Couple this with some slight, but noticeable, tweaks in how they set up offensively, as well as defensively, and it’s no wonder SKY have finally got over the hump of never making it to the ECL Elite finals. That is not to say that SKYs journey has been without fraught. Indeed, they seem to have a tendency for their offense to somewhat dry up from time to time, and thusly rely on their defence to carry a lot of the burden. This can be seen somewhat frequently throughout the regular season, with 2-1 / 1-0 wins over AIK, Bucketeers, Synergy and Deadly Phantoms HC. Sure, the optimist would say that SKY winning these games shows that their defense can be relied on and clearly, they would not be wrong per se, however the teams listed all had fairly disappointing seasons offensively, meaning that against other more offensively gifted teams SKY could easily have been in trouble. This is an admittedly minor issue, but couple this with the fact that FILA managed to snag both wins in their regular season matchup and there's little wonder why SKY do not have an overwhelming majority favouring them to take it all despite having such an obscene regular season and an 8-0 record in the playoffs thus far. Written In The Stars starting lineup reviewed by FILADELPHIA: LW @Buantso 8GP, 9+12=21 A great player and an even better guy. Puantso is a tremendously skilled player who has finally started playing up to his full potential in SKY. Is dangerous with the puck all the time, sometimes makes surprising decisions and doesn't force his game too much. Is a bit of a wildcard on the ice, you never know what he'll come up with. Torro's greetings: "Mä tuun pitään sua". C @Dominointi 8GP, 10+10=20 Dominointi is without a doubt an important piece of any team he is a part of. As his name suggests, a dominant presence at center. Has the desire to control and be the difference maker in games, which sometimes turns to a disadvantage. Needs to trust his teammates more. RW @FlyerKungen 8GP, 7+13=20 The heart and soul of SKY. He is a 200 foot player, a real workhorse. Made the switch back to RW after playing at center last season, so his style changed a bit with that. Seppo might be more important on the ice, but you can't underestimate this guy. Has improved his game without the puck a lot lately. LD @Nassustelija 8GP, 1+6=7 A defensive defenseman. Plays well in his own zone and has shown that he can compete at the highest level. The most unexperienced player in Written, @FinKonna will be targeting him especially at the hotel. RD @willekunq 8GP 1+9=10 Admirably calm with the puck. Is responsible for most of SKY's breakout plays and has done that tremendously well this season. Without a doubt one of their best players in IS Cup 3: 6vs6. G @Hansulinho 8GP, 8W, 85.71 SV%, 0,75 GAA, 4 SO The most experienced player of the finals and it shows in his game. Very calm in net and never overplays the puck. He's an OK goalie but not better than ours. Picture courtesy of SEUL ry, Jääskeläinen. Taken at GameXpo 2018. (2) FILADELPHIA Regular season record: 23-6-1 Playoff record: 8-1-1 FILA history Moving on to the other half of the finals we find FILADELPHIA. A team that has accomplished a lot in a very short period of time. In their inaugural season FILA was placed in Pro for ECL 6, much to the chagrin of many who felt that they had not earned their place and should have been placed in Lite. Well, FILA went on to post the best regular season record in Pro across both groups, then advanced to post a playoff record of 12-1-1 before being toppled in 7 by Monarchs, solidifying their spot in Elite for the upcoming season. In that season, as I am sure most of you can remember, FILA ended up going all the way and beat Symphony by the combined score of 4 games to 2 in the ECL 7 Elite finals. Since then, FILA have also picked up more hardware in the form of an eSM title where they beat none other than Written in the Stars. ECL 8 FILAs road to the finals this time around has been anything but easy though. Perhaps the largest transfer that occurred over the past off-season was the loss of their stalwart defender in @vatalisti to military duty, and the subsequent pickup / replacement @jtorro1233. Early on it seemed as the hole left by this change was perhaps a little too big to fill. In fact, as far in as 8 games it looked as though FILA were looking almost decidedly average in a way, ‘only’ managing to pick up 9 points in 8 games with a record of 4-3-1. Granted, they had played a top team in Symphony, on the other hand they had dropped points against teams such as Resurrection who would end up propping up the league table, something which, for a reigning champion at least, was fairly beneath them. The slow start could easily be explained by a somewhat lackluster season preparation by FILA, which goes to show that even the best of teams can't compete without practice. Despite or because of their start, FILA began to find their play, and racked up a combined 19-3-0 to finish the season, a pace somewhat close to that of Written’s. As far as hitches go however, that’s ‘all’ that FILA have had to deal with this season. Sure, thus far in the playoffs they may not have gone the perfect 8-0-0 that Written have, though going 8-2-0 is nothing to scoff at. In fact, despite losing two more games than Written, FILA have the superior goal differential with +30 compared to SKY's +22, showing the raw scoring ability that this roster still harbours. Therefore, it stands to reason then, that if FILA is able to open up the game and get their offensive weapons involved going forward, rather than being shelled for 8min a game, they have a very good chance of being the first team in ECL history to ever win two championships, and naturally the first to do it in back-to-back seasons. FILADELPHIA starting lineup reviewed by Written In The Stars: LW @PleeMaker 10GP, 12+15=27 Wouldn't believe it from what you see on the ice, but the youngin in the group. Very slippery on offense, their hardest player to face 1-on-1 and a pain in the ass with occasional cherrypicking. C @Patzlaf 10GP, 14+11=25 The beating heart of FILA, Mr. Selke, El Capitano - A dear child has many names. Rumour has it that he's a skilled dangler. High hockey IQ. RW @Eki 10GP, 9+13=22 The world champ. A friendly and pleasant guy to be around. Throws sauce better than everyone else, defends better than everyone else. Lost to Ippe (@Buantso) in Sampi Cup. LD @Janzuh 10GP, 0+9=9 A true FILA veteran. Janzuh is a hard hitter and a tough defender to face any given night. RD @jtorro1233 10GP, 1+8=9 Judas Iscariot of FILA. Loves the puck more than his teammates. G @sibeelius 8GP, 7W, 92.69 SV%, 0,37 GAA, 6 SO FILA's shortest player. Has proven to be a winning goaltender and handles the pressure well in tough spots. A former SKY player, who's been spotted at the training facility in a snakesuit on weekends. How to watch the finals? Preferred option: Show up to the live event at LanTrek on Friday, 1st of March, 2019. Puck drop is at 17CET, so be there early! Follow our stream at www.twitch.tv/nhlgamer. Arttu Hämäläinen and Jani @Jiihooo86 Hetta will be commentating all games live from Tampere. Schedule:* Game 1 17:00 CET Game 2 17:40 CET Game 3 18:20 CET --------------------------------------- BREAK 18:55-19:55 CET --------------------------------------- Game 4 20:00 CET Game 5 20:40 CET --------------------------------------- BREAK 21:10-21:20 CET --------------------------------------- Game 6 21:25 CET Game 7 22:05 CET *ECL Staff withholds the right to alter the schedule if need be. Who do you think will win? Will you be joining in on the action at LanTrek or through the stream? Let us know in the comment section! ECL Elite Writing Team, @MartindalexC & @jahajaha93

Picture courtesy of SEUL ry, Jääskeläinen. Taken at GameXpo 2018. NHLGamers, It's the final week of ECL 8 Elite and it all culminates at the pinnacle of the season - The ECL 8 Elite Finals at LanTrek in Tampere, Finland! With this short intro, we're launching an extensive coverage into the heated battle between first seed Written In The Stars and second seed FILADELPHIA. The games are scheduled to start at 17:00 CET on Friday, 1st of March, 2019 and we'll keep going for as long as it takes to make out a champion, believe me - that might take a while! Last time these teams met live, we ended up playing long into the night as game 2 wasn't decided until 6th OT when @Dominointitickled twine. Stay tuned for our big ECL 8 Elite Final preview, dropping late this evening. You'll be able to find us all weekend at LanTrek, as we're hosting the ECL 8 Elite Finals on Friday and casual FIFA 19 and NHL 19 tournaments on Saturday. NHLGamer can be found in the lower left hand corner (picture above). The ECL 8 Elite finals will be played on stage #2. Read more: ECL 8 Elite Finals: "We're in this together" We're continuing our short interview series with a FILADELPHIA player today! This time, @Janzuh gets the honour to step up and share some thoughts: You and @vatalisti patrolled the blueline for three seasons straight, @jtorro1233 stepped in for this season. How has the transition went? - I'm not gonna lie, it was a bit difficult at first. Probably didn't help that we didn't practice too much ahead of the season either. We had a short adjustment period but I think we've been hitting it off with Torro quite well recently. There's a lot of similarities between Torro and Vata as both like to jump in on the rush and provide offense. I'm happy being the last man back and keeping it clean in our own end. Personal achievements aren't my priority, I just want my team to win. What's the factor that will push FILA to a win on Friday? - There's many. Our offense will click, we'll be solid in our own end. I'm not going to swear on it, but we'll try to keep our net clean for all of Friday. I think our biggest advantage is our team spirit, to be honest. We always have fun together and even if we wouldn't be the better team on paper, we'll give ourselves a chance to win by just sticking to what we always do - play the game and have fun together. Janzuh and several other of the best European NHL gamers will be taking the stage on Friday, 1st of March at LanTrek. Games start at 17 CET and you're all very welcome to join us either live in Tampere or through our stream at www.twitch.tv/nhlgamer. Arttu Hämäläinen and Jani @Jiihooo86 Hetta will be our commentators for the night! Your NHLGamer Editor, @jahajaha93

Photo courtesy of SEUL ry, Jääskeläinen. Taken at GameXpo 2018. NHLGamers, It's the final week of ECL 8 Elite and it all culminates at the pinnacle of the season - The ECL 8 Elite Finals at LanTrek in Tampere, Finland! With this short intro, we're launching an extensive coverage into the heated battle between first seed Written In The Stars and second seed FILADELPHIA. The games are scheduled to start at 17:00 CET on Friday, 1st of March, 2019 and we'll keep going for as long as it takes to make out a champion, believe me - that might take a while! Last time these teams met live, we ended up playing long into the night as game 2 wasn't decided until 6th OT when @Dominointi tickled twine. Stay tuned for our big ECL 8 Elite Final preview, dropping late tomorrow evening. You'll be able to find us all Weekend at LanTrek, as we're hosting the ECL 8 Elite Finals on Friday and casual FIFA 19 and NHL 19 tournaments on Saturday. NHLGamer can be found in the lower left hand corner (picture above). The ECL 8 Elite finals will be played on stage #2. To get you guys in the spirit, we'll be releasing short interviews with some members of the finalist teams over the next few days. Our first victim was long time FILADELPHIA goaltender and assistant captain @FinKonna: You and @sibeelius pretty much share the responsibility of the games, is there any logic or strategy behind how you play or do you just go with who's available? - In the regular season we've agreed that both goalies split the games. To start the playoffs we play two games each and from there on we go with whoever seems to perform better. Quickly go over your season so far. - Well, @jtorro1233 came in as a new guy and obviously we had an adjustment period. We didn't play too much before the season started, which came back to bite us, however I think we managed to bounce back nicely and found our stride towards the end of the season. The last time Written In The Stars beat you in a competitive game was in the finals of the Finnish Championships in 6vs6 (aka IS Cup 3) in the fall of 2018, do you think that gives you an edge? - They can't beat us lately, so that'll certainly play in our favour. They might be feeling the pressure building and there's a bit of a monkey on their backs. FinKonna is notorious for applying pressure to the opposing side, and he is determined to keep doing just that this upcoming weekend. He mentioned that he'll make sure to bother some of the SKY players a bit extra at the hotel prior to the games. Make sure to tune in at www.twitch.tv/nhlgamer for all the action on Friday! The games start at 17:00 CET and we'll have your very own Arttu Hämäläinen and Jani @Jiihooo86 Hetta in the booth. Unfortunately there won't be a separate international feed, but we will include English content in our broadcast. Hope to see you all at LanTrek this weekend! Your NHLGamer Editor, @jahajaha93

NHLGamers! One round down and already we have had a couple upsets with Dynasty (5) and Rusty Blades (6) besting Deadly Phantoms HC (4) and Symphony (3) respectively. In fact, this marks the first time in two playoff seasons where a higher seed was knocked out in the first round, and the first time since the inaugural season that more than one fell. Proving, quite illustratively, that at the very top of the ECL structure the parity amongst teams is very strong, and that trying to make any predictions as to how the teams will finish can only be described as a ‘fool’s game’. Nevertheless, we will try to outline our thoughts regarding each team in the coming matchups for your viewing pleasure. The ECL 8 Elite semi-finals are going to be played on Monday 18th of February, Tuesday 19th of February, Thursday 21st of February and Sunday 24th of February. Please see a full schedule at the end of this post. These are the matchups for the ECL 8 Elite Semifinals: (1) Written In The Stars vs. Rusty Blades (6) The setup for this series is very much similar to that of the previous matchups of these teams. Written In The Stars is expected to control the pace of the play with their strong puck possession play and impressive passing whereas Rusty Blades is expected to rely on counter attacking and converting their chances efficiently. SKY won both regular season games with scores of 3-0 and 4-2 respectively. @Dominointi and @Buantso were the most prevalent players in those games, so a suggestion would be to keep your eyes on those two in this series. Rusty Blades will look to rely on the duo of @Foppatofflan and @MartindalexC, but undoubtedly they will need some secondary scoring and a whole lot of good fortune if they are going to see the series swaying their way. Written in the Stars (Regular season record 26-3-1) Written In The Stars have played an outstanding season so far and their playoff start has been nothing less than that. SKY dominated the eighth seed Northern Stars in the quarterfinals and advanced with a series score of 4-0. SKY wasn't really tested in that first matchup and the aggregate score of 16-3 speaks volumes of how dominant they were. Their scoring has been clicking well so far with 4 GF/GP and the team will surely look to stay on that path. All five of their players pose a threat in the offensive zone, which translates to an endless amount of opportunities when creating chances up front. The teams defense hasn't really been tested yet and we'll be expecting Rusty Blades to put forth some dangerous pushes. @willekunq and @Nassustelija will need to stay alert. Leading point scorer (F): @FlyerKungen & @Dominointi // 72pts (31+41) & (29+43) in 30 games Leading point scorer (D): @willekunq // 30pts (8+22) in 30 games Most winningest goalie: @Hansulinho // 86.36 SV% & 0.75 GAA in 16 games Rusty Blades (Regular season record 15-10-5) The Blades had an impressive showing in the first round where they bested a strong Symphony. RB went into their first matchup with a clear underdog status and will be doing the same in the semi-finals. Symphony had made their quarterfinal matchup 2-0 before Rusty Blades decided to bounce back with four consecutive wins including two shutouts by @Supreex along the way. They've only scored two goals per game so far, but as long as they keep up the solid play in their own zone and Supreex stays hot they have every chance to steal some wins in this series. Beating SKY is never easy, but we've seen that it won't be out of the question. Rusty Blades need to find the holes that are there and run with it. Leading point scorer (F): @MartindalexC // 45pts (26+19) in 30 games Leading point scorer (D): @The_Alpha_Furyan // 22pts (2+20) in 30 games Most winningest goalie: @Supreex // 79.93 SV% & 1.96 GAA in 30 games Prediction: Written In The Stars wins 4-1 (2) FILADELPHIA vs. Dynasty (5) Similar to the series outlined previously, this one between FILADELPHIA and Dynasty has a clear favourite / underdog division between the two teams. Not only because of FILAs pedigree over the past year (not least the fact that they are the current reigning champions) but also due to Dynasty having looked somewhat out of sorts at times in the 1st round, something that should, and in all likelihood will, get punished by a FILA team looking to become the first team in ECL Elite history to win two tournaments on the trot. FILADELPHIA (Regular season record 23-6-1) Despite an early stumble by FILADELPHIA against Butterfly Effect, they find themselves in the second round after performing the biggest beatdown from the first round, as they disposed of FLY in 5 games with a goal differential of +19 (the next closest was Written with +14). Even with this in mind however there are still some question marks going forward, specifically whether their defence can hold up against the pressure that Dynasty will invariably apply over the course of the coming series. It should be noted however that whilst this may become an issue, FILAs offence seems to be almost as effective as ever right now and should the series turn into a back and forth affair, then the advantage largely rests with FILA as opposed to Dynasty who are quite a bit less offensively inclined. Leading point scorer (F): @PleeMaker // 60pts (23+37) in 30 games Leading point scorer (D): @jtorro1233 // 21pts (6+15) in 28 games Most winningest goalie: @FinKonna // 86.66 SV% & 1.00 GAA in 14 games Dynasty (Regular season record 18-10-2) Emerging from an all-out brawl in the first round we find Dynasty, who are probably counting their lucky stars that they were able to beat out the Elite entrants Deadly Phantoms HC in 7 games, with all games bar one being decided by a single goal. In fact, to illustrate how much of a struggle Dynasty had against the German side, they enter the final four on the back of a measly +2 goal differential (the lowest out of the four remaining teams). Despite this, there is perhaps some hope for an upset to be staged by the DYN side, as they seemingly came alive after dropping game 1 & 2 to DPH, going on to win four out of the next five games. Of course, waiting until game 3 to start playing may just about work in the 1st round against playoff rookies DPH, but against the tested FILA such a start would all but seal their fate. So, realistically if DYN are to come out on top in this matchup they will need to carry over as much momentum as they can and not afford FILA the chance to become comfortable, otherwise their time may very well be numbered. Leading point scorer (F): @hpkfani // 48pts (30+18) in 30 games Leading point scorer (D): @Haldeem // 14pts (3+11) in 18 games Most winningest goalie: @Sandr0hh // 85.28 SV% & 1.70 GAA in 20 games Prediction: FILADELPHIA wins 4-1. ECL 8 Elite Semi-Finals Schedule: Monday, 18th of February 19:30 CET FILADELPHIA - Dynasty (Game 1 & 2) 21:00 CET Written In The Stars - Rusty Blades (Game 1 & 2) Tuesday, 19th of February 19:30 CET FILADELPHIA - Dynasty (Game 3-5) Thursday, 21st of February 20:00 CET Written In The Stars - Rusty Blades (Game 3 & 4) 21:00 CET FILADELPHIA - Dynasty (Game 6 & 7) Sunday, 24th of February 20:00 CET Written In The Stars - Rusty Blades (Game 5-7) All games will be broadcasted at Elisa Viihde. International broadcasts will be announced on social media. Signing off for now, ECL Elite Writing Team @MartindalexC & @jahajaha93

NHLGamers! So, now the big games start. We've weeded out the haves from the have nots and what we're left with is eight teams who definitely have what it takes to be the very best. Prior to the season, there were some concerns about thew level of play in Elite being inflated as we saw a lot of up-and-down movement with some teams folding. 30 games later I think it's safe to say that was not the case. If not for a few exceptions ECL 8 Elite has definitely been a league where each and every team could beat any opponent. The primary game days for the ECL 8 Elite Quarterfinals are: Monday 11th of February, Wednesday 13th of February and Thursday 14th of February. These game days are to be prioritised in scheduling. Please communicate in the captains chat in order to ensure we have matchups in place for broadcasts. These are the matchups for the ECL 8 Elite Quarterfinals: (1) Written In The Stars vs. Northern Stars (8) As is often the case when the 1st seed faces the 8th seed in Elite it is rather unlikely to see an upset playing out. This series is no different in that in order for NOS to come out victorious, they will need an absolutely herculean effort from all players up and down their line-up, whereas for SKY they could in all likelihood ‘mail it in’ so to speak and still win each game quite decisively. The only saving grace for NOS is that they were one of the very few that were able to actually deal a blow to SKY this season in a 2-1 OT win a couple weeks back, whether this is something they can recreate however is up in the air. Written in the Stars (Regular season record 26-3-1) Familiar territory once again for Written in the Stars as they find themselves rolling into the playoffs with the number 1 seed for the second time in three seasons, and as one of hottest teams at the moment (8-2-0). Up to this point, SKY have completely manhandled almost everyone that they have played, establishing a record of 26-3-1 which goes down as the second best season in ECL Elite history (second only to SKYs own high water mark of 55pts in ECL 6), despite this, the most impressive part of their play is not their total points per se, instead more that they are just straight demolishing other teams. No other team in ECL history has finished a season with a goal differential of, or higher than, +74, not only does this speak to SKYs ability to score at will, but it underpins their growth defensively in that they now have a defence they can rely on it seems. To put into context how much of a beat down SKY has been dishing out, the next closest goal differential all time is +54. Of course, despite this there are still some doubts surrounding the team as their tendency to ‘choke’ once the playoffs roll around has been well documented in the past, sure the roster has changed quite considerably over the seasons but will the proverbial monkey-on-the-back remain? Only time will tell. Leading point scorer (F): @FlyerKungen & @Dominointi // 72pts (31+41) & (29+43) in 30 games Leading point scorer (D): @willekunq // 30pts (8+22) in 30 games Most winningest goalie: @Hansulinho // 86.36 SV% & 0.75 GAA in 16 games. Northern Stars (Regular season record 12-9-9) Someone had to draw the shortest straw, and that team just happened to be Northern Stars. That said, I do not imagine that they mind too much given the amount of adversity they have had to overcome to find themselves in this situation. Not only did they start the season to the tune of 3-6-5, but they also lost their stalwart forward in @Floor17 to illness. Despite this underwhelming start and turn of bad fortune, NOS have managed to fight tooth and nail to secure their 4th straight playoff appearance in Elite thanks in part to @cHIIMEERa catalysing the offense (having a hand in 76% of all goals scored by the team), as well as rookie acquisition @Nieppii slotting in rather nicely as the starting RW. Looking beyond this however, it would perhaps almost require a ‘Cinderella’ type of run / miracle for NOS to depose Written. Such an event would be fitting of its moniker, but even in the most outlandish scenario imaginable, I still do not see NOS besting SKY four times over the course of seven games. Leading point scorer (F): @cHIIMEERa // 37pts (21+16) in 29 games Leading point scorer (D): @ma0niii // 18pts (2+16) in 27 games Most winningest goalie: @MajLeN-Gaming // 86.11 SV% & 1.50 GAA in 10 games. Prediction: Written in the Stars, 4-1 (2) FILADELPHIA vs. Butterfly Effect (7) We continue our trip through all the first round matchups with a banger. This matchup seems like a great one, where both teams boast great offensive upside and impressive goaltending. Both regular season bouts were won by FILA (2:3 & 2:0). FILADELPHIA (Regular season record 23-6-1) The question on everyone's minds must surely be how well FILA will defend their title. It certainly won't be an easy task as already the first round opponent could surprise them. One of FILA's strengths this season has been their offense, which looks exactly the same as last season. @PleeMaker boasts an impressive total of 60 points, with @Eki and @Patzlaf not trailing far behind. If these guys go confident into the matchup, they will be hard to stop. On defense, they also have two offensively talented but also responsible players, @Janzuh and @jtorro1233 combine for 41 points in the regular season. @FinKonna had one of the strongest seasons in the league stats-wise, but we expect @Zande95 to step up in the big games. Leading point scorer (F): @PleeMaker // 60pts (23+37) in 30 games Leading point scorer (D): @jtorro1233 // 21pts (6+15) in 28 games Most winningest goalie: @FinKonna // 86.66 SV% & 1.00 GAA in 14 games. Butterfly Effect (Regular season record 15-10-5) FLY had a fluctuant season with some stretches of wins and losses. They made a nice push towards the end of the season and seem to have found some form as of late, so we expect them to be nearing their peak in time for the playoffs. @Joukki leads the team in scoring with 39 points amassed but he will need some secondary scoring if the team wants to advance. The team has been good defensively and we expect @JanneK. to show up big for his team in the playoffs. Leading point scorer (F): @Joukki // 39pts (24+15) in 30 games Leading point scorer (D): @Crisu_rottis // 10pts (0+10) in 30 games Most winningest goalie: @JanneK. // 77.50 SV% & 2.25 GAA in 30 games. Prediction: FILADELPHIA win 4-2. (3) Symphony vs. Rusty Blades (6) This should be a rather even matchup and what's interesting is that the styles of these teams should matchup rather well against each other. Symphony is a clear puck possession team whereas Rusty Blades likes to counter and utilise quick passing plays. We also see two of the best goaltenders in the scene go at it as @swagx88 has stood tall in net for SYM and we are all very aware of how good @Supreex has been for RB for years now. Symphony (Regular season record 21-5-4) Things for Symphony are kicking well, as expected. There wasn't too much roster turnover in the offseason as the team basically switched a goalie as @swagx88 replaced @ICappeI and up front @RutonMosse replaced @Buantso on the left wing. Let me tell you these changes have worked out for them! An already strong team got even better and both new players have possessed leading roles in their run so far this season. An extremely important factor in Symphony's success has also been their centerman @tbnantti, who seems to have hit his peak this season. The experienced center likes to hold on to the puck and seems to do close to impossible things with it every time it lays at his tape. To start of the season, SYM looked a bit shaky, experiencing a loss against AIK and a double loss against Butterfly Effect but at the same time stealing points from regular season winner Written In The Stars. They seem to have found their stride towards the end of the season though, closing out the last ten games with a record of 9-0-1. Leading point scorer (F): @RutonMosse // 51pts (26+25) in 30 games Leading point scorer (D): @Ilmari_30 // 22pts (9+14) in 30 games Most winningest goalie: @swagx88 // 80.76 SV% & 1.42 GAA in 14 games. Rusty Blades (Regular season record 15-10-5) Rusty Blades experienced something of a facelift over the offseason and oh boy has it been refreshing to see! Previously, "you get what you see" would have described RB quite perfectly. Everyone knew what they were about and sometimes they were effective with it, sometimes not. Well, this time around they added a few quality players to their lineup who definitely have taken the team to the next level. The duo @Foppatofflan-@MartindalexC from the former Northern Ascendancy definitely brings a whole new element to their offense and the addition of @The_Alpha_Furyan on LD has turned out in their favour too. All in all, the Rusty Blades 2.0 we're seeing this season is a team you could very well see go all the way if they manage to find consistency, something that has been difficult for them as of late. Leading point scorer (F): @MartindalexC // 45pts (26+19) in 30 games Leading point scorer (D): @The_Alpha_Furyan // 22pts (2+20) in 30 games Most winningest goalie: @Supreex // 79.93 SV% & 1.96 GAA in 30 games. Prediction: Symphony wins, 4-2 (4) Deadly Phantoms HC vs. Dynasty (5) This matchup offers up the best chance of the series going the distance and being decided in game 7, in fact the stats alone dictate as much (2.03 vs. 2.07 GF/A & 1.53 vs. 2.00 GA/A respectively). Despite the slight stats advantage towards DPH, I still think that Dynasty hold the edge based on their experience in Elite at this stage, as well as their roster finally resembling full strength as of late. Deadly Phantoms HC (Regular season record 18-9-3) Heading into this season DPH already had amassed quite a reputation before playing a single game, in fact I would go as far to say that out of all teams in Elite, they are one of the most identifiable teams quite simply because of their style of play and their ‘community presence’. Whether that is a good or a bad thing is up for debate of course, nevertheless this reputation invariably led to some teams and players no doubt making it their sole mission this season to not lose to Deadly Phantoms HC. Well, seen as DPH clinched ‘home ice advantage’ for the 1st round, it would appear as though that the German team can, at the very least, be competitive in Elite, and at the most, be good at it. Heading up this team offensively we have the duo of @Tim_FlyersFan & @Playmaker who appear to have adjusted to the step up from Pro to Elite very nicely, with each of their seasons being their first in Elite. Defensively however is where DPHs ‘true’ strengths lie, as through 30 games they conceded the 3rd fewest amount of goals in the division with a stifling 1.53 GAA. As far as quick comparisons go then it would seem as though this series cannot be better balanced, however it should be said that as the playoffs roll in, the goals typically dry up thanks to a myriad of reasons, one of those being anxiety. Such a problem is often not a factor for veterans of the playoffs for Elite, yet for a ‘new’ team it is certainly something that could come into play in some form or another and drag down their performance. Leading point scorer (F): @Tim_FlyersFan // 47pts (14+33) in 30 games Leading point scorer (D): @gzell60 // 17pts (1+16) in 28 games Most winningest goalie: @RPH_31 // 83.48 SV% & 1.42 GAA in 26 games. Dynasty (Regular season record 18-10-2) Stop the presses! Dynasty finished a season without clinching the 4th spot, or by recording around 42pts. Truly the end times are nigh! That aside, this season was once again a case of same old same old for those in DYN. Sure, they started a little slow, sure they had a bit of a wobble in the later part of the season, sure they perhaps did not look that impressive, yet here we are, in the playoffs again. In fact, their road to the playoffs could potentially be explained simply by the absolute ****show that went on regarding rotations over the season. Their most played goalie @Sandr0hh played 4 games as a skater (splitting it evenly between offence & defence), 6 players played as a skater, 5 players played as a defender and only one player actually played in 30 games (@hpkfani). Such a rotation is especially unusual considering most team rotate out one player at most really. Of course, none of this matters in the grand scheme of things going forward as I find it somewhat unlikely that such an arrangement it will continue into the playoffs. In fact, it may even serve to lull DPH into a false sense of security if DYN are able to come out swinging with their full roster clicking at a rate far above their season averages, which are admittedly astoundingly average going into this series. For instance out of the 8 playoff bound teams, Dynasty ranks dead last in GAA (granted by .03%) and 5th in GFA. Leading point scorer (F): @hpkfani // 48pts (30+18) in 30 games Leading point scorer (D): @Haldeem // 14pts (3+11) in 18 games Most winningest goalie: @Sandr0hh // 85.28 SV% & 1.70 GAA in 20 games. Prediction: Dynasty, 4-2 Stay tuned for announcements about the games on our social media channels, playoff matchups will be broadcasted at Elisa Viihde as usual. We'll also have international broadcasts for you as best as we can. These will also be announced on social media. As always, play hard and see you guys out on the ice! ECL Elite Writing Team @MartindalexC, @Serg1vratar and @jahajaha93

Hello NHLGamers, For this season of ECL Elite we are tweaking the recurring segment that looks to detail the ‘hottest’, ‘coldest’ and… ‘mildest’? teams in Elite over the past week. There will be more of an emphasis towards the quantitative approach, so expect more graphs and fewer walls of text. Each article in this series will be released on Mondays and will thusly be based on the days in between each power ranking iteration. In addition to this it should be noted that each ranking will invariably be in some way biased as it is, at the end of the day, a subjective list. Note: Each article will be based off of results starting from the Monday, all the way up to (& including) Friday. Ergo, any games played over the weekend will generally end up being a week 'late' so to speak. The logic behind the ranking is admittedly a sort of internal subjective ranking that weighs up results, opposition 'strength' as well as thoughts on the general play during some games. As such a ranking is not 100% quantifiable in nature there will be some bias that creeps in. One thing I would like to make abundantly clear however is that points are not the be all and end all within these rankings; for instance, just because 3 teams have the same record does not mean they won't be ranked wildly differently, as the context behind said results are of great importance and simply cannot be understated. Previous rankings: Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 - 1. FILADELPHIA (4-0-0) [+2] 2. Symphony (7-0-1) [+6] 3. Deadly Phantoms HC (3-1-0) [+3] 4. Rusty Blades (4-2-2) [-2] 5. Dynasty (3-3-0) [=] 6. Team Frosty (3-5-0) [-2] 7. Butterfly Effect (5-0-1) [+2] 8. Northern Stars (3-2-3) [+2] 9. AIK Hockey (2-1-1) [+5] 10. Almost Famous (5-3-0) [+3] 11. Bucketeers (3-3-0) [=] 12. Written in the Stars (0-0-0) [-11] 13. Unlucky Boys (1-3-0) [-6] 14. HC Wildcard (0-6-0) [+1] 15. Synergy Hockey (1-2-1) [+1] 16. Resurrection (0-4-0) [-4] Standings Timeline *The "playoff cut-off point", as well as the "relegation zone" lines are rough estimations of where the respective areas of Elite will fall once the regular season has been wrapped up. So, in other words, if a team is able to get over the green line, they 'should' stand a very good chance of making the playoffs, whilst if a team cannot make it past the red line, then there is a good chance that they will have to fight a relegation battle in order to assure their Elite spot for next season. Analysis As we enter the home stretch of the season it appears as though the ‘blocks’ outlined last week have remained somewhat, albeit with some notable differences. For instance, Symphony have moved up into the upper bracket off the back of a very strong surge as of late, consequently joining the likes of Written in the Stars, Dynasty, FILADELPHIA & Rusty Blades. Regarding the final playoff spots however we find some stark development. For instance, despite a week to forget from Team Frosty, they still remain within the group of 4 (Butterfly Effect, Deadly Phantoms HC, Almost Famous) who harbour the best shot at clinching a berth. Time is running out for Frosty however, as they are sitting on the cusp of 8th/9th thanks to a great performance over this past week by DPH who are now nipping away at their heels. If any of these teams fail to find traction and cannot gain any more points from the remaining games on their schedules then they may be in for a rude awakening as, whilst the group has thinned slightly with Synergy effectively being out of contention now, the pace of the teams trailing them cannot be written off. AIK Hockey, Northern Stars, Unlucky Boys, Resurrection & even Bucketeers all have had a noticeable uptick as of late and could conceivably put on a late push, of course some are more likely than others (e.g. AIK still have a couple games in hand compared to most), nevertheless, all of this just makes for perhaps a more interesting end to the season than years past. Projection The section looks to, well, project where a team will finish based off of all the games they have played thus far. -- And with that, we can now conclude the fourth edition of ECL 8 Elite's power rankings. Hopefully next week we will see the stratification continue so that we can pick out any further trends with ease. ECL Elite Writer @MartindalexC

Hello NHLGamers, For this season of ECL Elite we are tweaking the recurring segment that looks to detail the ‘hottest’, ‘coldest’ and… ‘mildest’? teams in Elite over the past week. There will be more of an emphasis towards the quantitative approach, so expect more graphs and fewer walls of text. Each article in this series will be released on Mondays and will thusly be based on the days in between each power ranking iteration. In addition to this it should be noted that each ranking will invariably be in some way biased as it is, at the end of the day, a subjective list. Note: Each article will be based off of results starting from the Monday, all the way up to (& including) Friday. Ergo, any games played over the weekend will generally end up being a week 'late' so to speak. The logic behind the ranking is admittedly a sort of internal subjective ranking that weighs up results, opposition 'strength' as well as thoughts on the general play during some games. As such a ranking is not 100% quantifiable in nature there will be some bias that creeps in. One thing I would like to make abundantly clear however is that points are not the be all and end all within these rankings; for instance, just because 3 teams have the same record does not mean they won't be ranked wildly differently, as the context behind said results are of great importance and simply cannot be understated. Previous rankings: Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 - 1. Written in the Stars (6-1-1) [=] 2. Rusty Blades (5-0-1) [+5] 3. FILADELPHIA (6-2-0) [+1] 4. Team Frosty (3-3-0) [+4] 5. Dynasty (5-2-1) [=] 6. Deadly Phantoms HC (4-4-0) [-3] 7. Unlucky Boys (6-2-0) [+5] 8. Symphony (2-2-2) [+1] 9. Butterfly Effect (4-5-1) [-3] 10. Northern Stars (2-1-1) [+3] 11. Bucketeers (3-2-1) [+3] 12. Resurrection (4-4-0) [+3] 13. Almost Famous (1-3-0) [-11] 14. AIK Hockey (2-6-2) [-4] 15. HC Wildcard (0-3-1) [+1] 16. Synergy Hockey (1-4-1) [-5] Standings Timeline *The "playoff cut-off point", as well as the "relegation zone" lines are rough estimations of where the respective areas of Elite will fall once the regular season has been wrapped up. So, in other words, if a team is able to get over the green line, they 'should' stand a very good chance of making the playoffs, whilst if a team cannot make it past the red line, then there is a good chance that they will have to fight a relegation battle in order to assure their Elite spot for next season. Analysis Whilst Northern Stars and Unlucky Boys were able to stave off a full-blown cardiac arrest, HC Wildcard have not been as fortunate and as such are requiring a strong finish to not end up being the team propping up the rest of the standings once all things are said and done in little over two weeks time. Written had a momentary wobble thanks to Symphony and Northern Stars, nevertheless their challenge for the number one spot is almost as solitary as it comes. That said, it is technically possible of course that they don't end up rolling into the playoffs with the number one seed in tow, although at this late stage of the season it would require something akin to a biblical miracle. One trend of note is that it appears as though we are beginning to see a few 'divisions' within Elite. Outside of Written, who may as well have set up their own space program at this point, we have the next best 'top 3' involving FILADELPHIA, Dynasty and Rusty Blades. These teams harbour the best chance of anyone catching Written, on top of this they are the only teams who have a points per game average substantially above the playoff 'guaranteeing' level of 1.07. Moving on to the next 'block' we have the teams who currently round out the remaining playoff positions. Namely, Symphony, Deadly Phantoms HC, Team Frosty and Almost Famous. Unlike the block that precedes it, this fringe playoff group have not been afforded the same level of security as the 'top 4' simply based on the fact that if they slip up, even momentarily, they can very easily fall into the group hot on their heels. A group that, quite frankly, can only be described as an all-out brawl, as we have all the remaining teams in Elite (minus HC Wildcard) all within spitting distance of 8th place, even Synergy (who currently sit at a measly 12pts through 16 games) if they happen to go on a run and win ~4 in a row. Finally, of course, we come to the lowly HC Wildcard who, admittedly, started out very well, but have since appeared to sputter out and become almost comatose. Unlike Synergy, who still remain in contention mathematically, if HCW were able to win every remaining game on their schedule (a tough ask at that with their opponents being SYM, TF, DPH, RB & DYN) they would only finish with 29 pts, which would result in an exceptionally low likelihood of them making the playoffs, so while it is not impossible per se, for all intents and purposes it may as well be. Projection The section looks to, well, project where a team will finish based off of all the games they have played thus far. -- And with that, we can now conclude the third edition of ECL 8 Elite's power rankings. Hopefully next week we will see the stratification continue so that we can pick out any further trends with ease. ECL Elite Writer @MartindalexC

Hello NHLGamers, For this season of ECL Elite we are tweaking the recurring segment that looks to detail the ‘hottest’, ‘coldest’ and… ‘mildest’? teams in Elite over the past week. There will be more of an emphasis towards the quantitative approach, so expect more graphs and fewer walls of text. Each article in this series will be released on Mondays and will thusly be based on the days in between each power ranking iteration. In addition to this it should be noted that each ranking will invariably be in some way biased as it is, at the end of the day, a subjective list. Note: Each article will be based off of results starting from the Monday, all the way up to (& including) Friday. Ergo, any games played over the weekend will generally end up being a week 'late' so to speak. The logic behind the ranking is admittedly a sort of internal subjective ranking that weighs up results, opposition 'strength' as well as thoughts on the general play during some games. As such a ranking is not 100% quantifiable in nature there will be some bias that creeps in. One thing I would like to make abundantly clear however is that points are not the be all and end all within these rankings; for instance, just because 3 teams have the same record does not mean they won't be ranked wildly differently, as the context behind said results are of great importance and simply cannot be understated. Previous rankings: Week 1 Week 2 - 1. Written in the Stars (8-0-0) 2. Almost Famous (7-1-0) 3. Deadly Phantoms HC (3-2-1) 4. FILADELPHIA (6-3-1) 5. Dynasty (6-2-0) 6. Butterfly Effect (2-2-0) 7. Rusty Blades (3-1-0) 8. Team Frosty (3-2-1) 9. Symphony (4-0-0) 10. AIK Hockey (1-4-1) 11. Synergy Hockey (3-3-0) 12. Unlucky Boys HC (1-5-0) 13. Northern Stars (1-4-3) 14. Bucketeers (1-3-0) 15. Resurrection (2-3-1) 16. HC Wildcard (1-9-0) Standings Timeline *The "playoff cut-off point", as well as the "relegation zone" lines are rough estimations of where the respective areas of Elite will fall once the regular season has been wrapped up. So, in other words, if a team is able to get over the green line, they 'should' stand a very good chance of making the playoffs, whilst if a team cannot make it past the red line, then there is a good chance that they will have to fight a relegation battle in order to assure their Elite spot for next season. Analysis Two weeks in and we are beginning to see some stratification at long last. I suppose, the elephant in the room would be Written just straight curb-stomping everyone and, well, what is there to say really? In fact, to summarise how ridiculous their start has been, if they decided to fall off the rails (relatively) and merely finished the season at a sedentary 1PT/G pace, they would end up with the same amount of points as they did last season. As for the mortals, aF has gone on a pretty strong run recently (7-1-0), potentially going a long way towards punching their first playoff berth in Elite. In addition to this, Dynasty have undergone a resurgence of sorts, climbing into the upper echelons after a fairly dismal first week. Joining them are Team Frosty and FILA who trail just behind them. On the flip side however, we can quite plainly see that HC Wildcard, Northern Stars & Unlucky Boys have flatlined with no recourse in sight. It is of course early, with us being ~1/3 of the way into the season for the most part, nevertheless, going on extended losing streaks at any time in the season can be especially deadly for playoff ambitions, especially with Elite looking like everyone can beat everyone (sans Written) for some inane reason. Projection Missing from last week due to time constraints were a pair of 'features', namely a projection and a prediction. The projection looks to, well, project where a team will finish based off of all the games they have played thus far. Prediction (Missing from last week) The second feature that was absent was a prediction of where the teams will fall once the dust has settled at the end of this season. Unlike the projection, the data used to assign points in the graphic below did not come from this ongoing season, instead it came from collating previous season results for each team (if possible), as well as some user bias to bring it all together. Think of this as similar to the 16 in 16 baseline (Week 0) we used in ECL 7. -- And with that, we can now conclude the second edition of ECL 8 Elite's power rankings. Hopefully next week we will see the stratification continue so that we can pick out any further trends with ease. ECL Elite Writer @MartindalexC

Hello NHLGamers, For this season of ECL Elite we are tweaking the recurring segment that looks to detail the ‘hottest’, ‘coldest’ and… ‘mildest’? teams in Elite over the past week. There will be more of an emphasis towards the quantitative approach, so expect more graphs and fewer walls of text. Each article in this series will be released on Mondays and will thusly be based on the days in between each power ranking iteration. In addition to this it should be noted that each ranking will invariably be in some way biased as it is, at the end of the day, a subjective list. Note: Each article will be based off of results starting from the Monday, all the way up to (& including) Friday. Ergo, any games played over the weekend will generally end up being a week 'late' so to speak. The logic behind the ranking is admittedly a sort of internal subjective ranking that weighs up results, opposition 'strength' as well as thoughts on the general play during some games. As such a ranking is not 100% quantifiable in nature there will be some bias that creeps in. One thing I would like to make abundantly clear however is that points are not the be all and end all within these rankings; for instance, just because 3 teams have the same record does not mean they won't be ranked wildly differently, as the context behind said results are of great importance and simply cannot be understated. 1. Written in the Stars (6-0-0) 2. AIK Hockey (3-1-0) 3. Unlucky Boys (3-2-1) 4. Team Frosty (3-1-0) 5. Butterfly Effect (2-1-1) 6. Bucketeers (3-3-2) 7. Symphony (3-3-0) 8. Deadly Phantoms HC (2-1-1) 9. Resurrection (3-1-2) 10. HC Wildcard (3-3-0) 11. Northern Stars (2-2-2) 12. Dynasty (1-1-0) 13. Synergy Hockey (1-2-1) 14. Rusty Blades (2-2-2) 15. Almost Famous (1-3-0) 16. FILADELPHIA (0-0-0) Standings Timeline *The "playoff cut-off point", as well as the "relegation zone" lines are rough estimations of where the respective areas of Elite will fall once the regular season has been wrapped up. So, in other words, if a team is able to get over the green line, they 'should' stand a very good chance of making the playoffs, whilst if a team cannot make it past the red line, then there is a good chance that they will have to fight a relegation battle in order to assure their Elite spot for next season. Analysis Anyway, on to the mess. As I'm sure you can see, this early into the season teams have not been afforded the chance to really differentiate themselves from each other, as such it is generally pretty tough to spot many teams as they overlap with each other. That said, there are some things we can pick out. Namely, Written In The Stars are already the only team still unbeaten in regulation (sans FILA who are yet to play at all), quite an anticlimactic feat given that most teams have only played 4-6 games. Additionally, we can see that Bucketeers have clearly dispelled any notion that they would not be ready for Elite, as they have stormed out of the block and posted a very respectable point per game average over 8 games. Sure, at that pace they're unlikely to make the playoffs, however it certainly offers up the opportunity for them to make a run at a playoff berth, a position I'm sure that they're more than happy to be in right now. As far as slow starts go though, there seems to be quite a heavily amount of parity at the moment as all teams (who have played), already have at least a win on the board. If we have to name and shame however, the most anaemic start would go to Almost Famous who are currently 1-3-0, not great, but even this would put them on pace for 15pts which is should be alarming for those from the AF side, yet they've played just 4 games, so do not read too much into this at the very moment. - With that all of this in mind, we are now finished for the first edition of ECL 8 Elite's power rankings. Next time we'll have a projection and a (belated) prediction of how the standings will fall once the dust has settled, as well as (hopefully) more trends to discuss. ECL Elite Writer @MartindalexC

Hey NHLGamers! Welcome to our ECL 8 Elite season preview, and let us start off by stating this is going to be one to remember! Our Prize pool is now 10 000€, which makes ECL the biggest 6vs6 tournament worldwide both measured in team amount, player amount and prize pool by far! We're happy to have all of you back for another season of this greatness. In the last few days we've dropped some exciting news on you guys, such as the involvement of AIK Hockey into ECL and our new partnership with Dr. Oetker Rustica and Elisa Viihde. Now, let's not keep you guys waiting any more than we have and get into the team run downs. AIK Hockey New Swedish pride AIK Hockey enters with a bang as they were announced just before the start of the season. Not many changes have happened over the offseason, as the former Sjukstugan look to continue their strong efforts with the same lineup as in ECL 7. The most notable change is in the goaltending department, where @ICappeI is replacing @Hullued in a switch-up that turns AIK into an all-Swedish team. Both netminders are some of the very best the league has to offer, so the decisive factor here is the flag on their passport. A player to keep your eyes on this season is @Tacterz. The young and tremendously skilled winger was a welcomed addition to the teams offense in ECL7 and is only expected to improve from here on. Almost Famous Almost Famous were, well - famous for their offensive style of hockey in their previous seasons, but last season there were some serious problems. Troubles to score called for somewhat of a re-build. This season will be better for them, because their team leaders gained experience from ECL7 in Elite and bringing in fresh blood from Cowabunga Hockey (Pro) who are hungry to prove everyone tthat they can compete at the Elite level. Players added were G @Jonitski, LD @Makeaxl and RW @Sokkelo__. All of these players are in for their first season at the Elite level. Let's not forget that aF lost their defensive leader @Aze to Team Frosty, this might take it's toll but the new addition Make seems to possess some talent as he put up 24p in 30 games in ECL 7 Pro. Bucketeers As one of the five new teams in Elite for this coming season the emergent Swedish team should have some level of familiarity in the opponents that they will be playing. Of course, if they want to make a statement and assure themselves of Elite level play for longer than just one season, then they will have to take the next step in their startlingly fast rise through the ECL structure (Lite in ECL 6, Pro in 7 and now Elite in 8 ) and move outside their comfort zone in order to grind out the invariably close games that often characterise Elite. Regarding where the Bucketeers are predicted to finish, personally I think they will most likely end up somewhere around 10th - 14th place, simply based on the fact that there a lot of unknowns in some of these new teams. As long as the Bucketeers are able to stay above .500 against these aforementioned teams, they should be in a decent enough spot. Butterfly Effect It's gonna be really interesting to see how FLY plays this season, since they've underwent a major roster shake-up. The team formerly known as Red Machine gained Elite promotion before ECL 7 due to the folding of Evolution. In their inaugural season in Europes best division, the team put on quite an impressive showing. After clinching the sixth seed they made the playoffs, in which they lost in five games to big-time contender Written in the Stars. From last years team only three players stayed: Captain @jergelii, @Crisu_rottis and @Roisto999. These good-looking insects lost their most dangerous players in @Vilupoika and @RutonMosse. It's up to the newly acquired duo of @xDoumi and joukki13 (@Joukki) to replace some of the lost offensive capacities. They also acquired veteran defenseman @Totalii which should give them more quality and flexibility on the blue line. With the addition of Goalie @JanneK.(JANURI98) their GAA shouldn't be a problem anyway. Expect these guys to give their all and fight for one of the higher spots in the Elite standing. Deadly Phantoms HC DPH managed to claim the ECL 7 Pro title in stunning fashion after a very tough season facing some adversity early on in the playoffs. This is surely the season for redemption as the team will now compete at the highest tier. Their roster underwent no changed but a small downscaling as they now look for all of their players to take the step to the next level. It'll certainly be interesting to see how these guys will find their form and how they stack up against some of the more established teams. DPH could very well surprise, but an expected finish would be around 8th-12th. Dynasty The temptation when faced with adversity is to change too much (or even too little), with the consequence being that you take a step backwards. After x seasons in Elite, along with x trips to the playoffs and x semi final appearances, one would certainly expect some growing irritation that they have been so close, for so long, with little to show for it. Regardless of this, Dynasty are coming into the season having made probably the least changes to their roster amongst the teams of Elite, in fact the only changes appear to be the loss of @Filariou and the pick up of familiar face @Haldeem. All in all, barring a massive shift, Dynasty should easily clinch a playoff berth by finishing somewhere around 4th place (+/-: 1), beyond that however, your guess is as good as mine. FILADELPHIA All they do is win - no matter what. That seems to be the case with Finnish juggernaut FILADELPHIA. In their first season in the Elite division they immediately clinched the top seed for the playoffs after finishing with a record of 23-4-1. In the playoffs FILA kept on torching their opponents and ultimately finished with an incredible postseason record of 12-3. In the finals they had to battle though, beating Symphony in six games. I_Eki_I (@Eki) scored the championship-clinching goal in double overtime while teammate @PleeMaker grabbed the Playoff-MVP trophy after racking up 29 points in 15 playoff-games. Taking a look at FILADELPHIAs roster for ECL 8, they were able to keep their most impactful players and added top-tier defenseman @jtorro1233 from rival SKY. Captain @Patzlaf will still be flanked by the aforementioned and highly skilled wingers Eki and PleeMaker with @mikaasi providing the much needed forward-depth. The defensive-trio of @Janzuh, jtorro1234 and @vatalisti is arguably the best in the game. Both goalies, Zande95 (@sibeelius) and @FinKonna, are well-experienced guys and know how to handle pressure. It's hard to find any flaws in the star-studded finnish roster. The question is: Do they have what it takes to to build a dynasty (no pun intended) and become the first ever consecutive champion? HC Wildcard HC WILDCARD aka veterans squad. They appeared in ELITE filling the spot of Northern Ascendancy after a few interesting turns of events but they surely can pose a difficult opponent on any given night. Even though it’s their first season in ELITE they boast a squad with lots of experience. They signed the notorious Kinnunen brothers as known from Rusty Blades, @kinnun3 came from there, but @kikiukko came from Almost Famous where he had a short stint. Let's also not forget the recent addition of experienced offensive threat @Nampa77, who pent last season in aF with kiki. These signings increase their chances to stay put in Elite, but it surely won't be an easy fight. Northern Stars Much of the same is the modus operandi for this storied team. After another playoff appearance (and quit exit) NOS were faced with a similar question that Dynasty have been tasked with answering, in essence, what is the next step? Dynasty attempted to remedy the situation by picking up a new defender, whilst NOS appear to have done the same with the acquisition of @Nieppii, after that however the similarities drop off for the most part. This is due in part from NOS apparently going nuclear and trying out a, let’s just say, unorthodox lineup with @ma0niii (long time RD) playing C and Chimera being moved over to RW. Whether this pays off is yet to be seen, but at the very least this change (if they stick to it of course) should give them some new looks offensively, as Chimera will be allowed to take more risks given that he won’t have as much defensive responsibility to deal with. As for where I think they’ll finish, I’m going to say 8th place, not because I necessarily think they’ll end up there (they could easily finish one spot higher for instance) but rather I want the ‘yo-yo’ from them to continue since they’ve finished in 7th, 8th and 7th for the last three ECL seasons now. Resurrection It's name reflects it's programme. The team formerly known as Monte Carlo will now participate in ECL Elite - just a couple months after applying for ECL Lite. Yep, you read that right. Captain @Jiihooo86 and his squad put together a decent first season in the Pro division. He was the biggest difference maker himself, recording 3 shutouts and a save percentage of 82,38% during the playoffs. After losing 7 of their last 10 games in the regular season, they definitely resurrected in the postseason before losing to Synergy Hockey in the semifinals. They bounced back (again) from some bone-headed plays (bad one, I know) and defeated SIKA in the relegation series. The offensive line of @Artuzio, johtaja699 (@J0HTAJA) and @xKeskitalo was pretty much clicking constantly. The same can't be said for the defense though. Even though @Nikmes7 had a strong regular season, the team barely got any production from the blue line in the playoffs. The majority of the team felt a change was necessary, leading to @Veikkonator getting replaced by the rugged defenseman TheFakiiR1(@FakiiR1). It will be interesting to see if the new D-pairing will be able to hold their own against some of the best forwards in the game. Jiihooo might need to play out of his mind on a daily basis if Resurrection wants to compete. Rusty Blades Rusty Blades made one of the most interesting acquisitions of the off-season when they managed to secure the services of the former NOR duo @MartindalexC and @Foppatofflan. On top of this, they added @The_Alpha_Furyan to bolster their ranks in defense. The preseason games of Rusty have showed some promise as it seems they have kept their identity of playing a simple game, but the new additions have added some speed and offensive ability that wasn't there before. The combination of the two have turned into a dangerous mix that could quickly turn the opposing teams night into a bad one. Rusty could very well see their best season yet, as they should now finish in the top 8. Symphony This season they start as runner-ups of ECL 7 where they lost to FILADEPHIA in game six of the finals. The main story going on now is, will they be able to take the last step towards becoming the Champ? Could very well be, because they have made some great updates to their squad recently, even though they lost some of their leaders they got an equal trade for them. For example they lost top goalie @ICappeI, who went AIK Hockey, but they stole another great G from Gotham Knights in @swagx88. They also added the talented @RutonMosse from Butterfly Effect, who is now walking in his brothers footsteps and finally looking to overshadow the older one. A great point is that SYM managed to hold on to their amazing defensive trio @entii112, @vSilenttio and @Ilmari_30. Expect these guys to be contenders again. Synergy Hockey Joining Elite as one of the two automatic promotions from Pro due to a finals appearance we have the Swedish side of Synergy. As far as similarities go with Synergy and the Bucketeers, well, both are Swedish and that’s about it. Of the newly promoted teams, no other has the same amount of Elite experience as Synergy. For instance, their projected starting line-up (sans goalie) contains three players who have each played two full seasons in Elite previously (@Normark, @Supremski & @Egyptologen), so there should not be that big of an issue of players not being sufficiently prepared for the level of Elite, mentally speaking of course. All things considered then, I think that SYN, as well as DPH, probably have the best chance of making a claim towards a playoff position out of the new teams. Although, I think if either of them do end up doing as much, it will not be by a large margin. Ergo, I can see Synergy finishing being a fringe team on the ‘outside looking in’ so to speak, somewhere around 9th - 10th place. Team Frosty @Vilupoika, @Penatski and @Aze. That's a trio that when added to any team in the league would certainly provide a welcomed boost! After a tough first Elite season, captain @Zip player was a man on a mission for their return in ECL 8. He made the biggest and most spoken-of signings of the off-season and didn't waste any time in getting his team going for ECL 8. The preseason has been a bit up and down for Frosty, but we expect the experienced lineup to get it together come the first puckdrop. Aze will be their defensive leader, but it'll remain to be seen if @After8 (will_yo7) will manage to fill the shoes of a consistent performer at the Elite level. TF will be a playoff team. Unlucky Boys HC The veteran team built around Anhel_Kuru (@Anhel) missed last season's playoffs by a lone point. Yeah, that's rough. Not as rough as being Cody Parkey (NFL reference) these days, but still. That bad break should solely ignite some new desire to get back to the postseason, especially because they completely kept their core. One of their biggest struggles last year was their lack of offense. UB only scored 40 goals in 28 games, despite having a decent powerplay. It will be interesting to see if they can make the right adjustments without really changing anything significant in their roster. Expect the horseshoes in the playoff hunt once again. Written In The Stars Written is always a contender, but they never fail to provide a let down come playoffs. For 3 seasons straight away they are among the best regular season teams, but they are always coming short of being the best in Europe. Last season they already reached the semi-finals, where they lost to Symphony 1-4. They lost some good players like @jtorro1233, who went to FILA, @Bugimir who announced his retirement, @JOHTAJAVIRTANEN who turned his talents to FIFA Pro clubs, and one of the best goalies in the scene: @JanneK. to Butterfly Effect. SKY needed to quickly make up for their losses, which seemed not to be a problem at all. The team signed @Buantso from Symphony and @Nassustelija from Butterfly Effect in quick succession. To help out in net@poliskontroll from Northern Ascendancy was added. Follow this team during the current season, because their time to win should be due. Well, there you go, gamers. We're happy to have brought you yet another preview for yet another season. Some teams change, some remain the same. We'll see who the champion turns out to be! Don't forget to tune in to our broadcasts this season on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays in Finnish at Elisa Viihde Sport or the Elisa Viihde Twitch-channel. Broadcasts will also be available in English or without commentary at the NHLGamer Twitch-channel. Signing off for now, Your ECL Elite Writing Team @MartindalexC, @Serg1vratar and @Tim_FlyersFan

What’s up NHLGamers, We’re in the last days of downtime before a new season and teams are gearing up for battle come January 7th and the first puckdrop of ECL 8. One team that has certainly been busy in the last months is Sjukstugan, who has decided to join forces with AIK Hockey to create a new NHL gaming franchise. "It is with great pleasure we welcome the prestigious AIK Hockey organisation to NHLGamer and ECL Elite.” -NHLGamer founder Kenneth Lehtinen on AIK Hockey joining ECL AIK Hockey will be obtaining the ECL 8 Elite spot of the long-lived Swedish juggernaut Sjukstugan, as the traditional sports club is making a grand exploration into the esports world. The Swedish club is one of the most followed European sports franchises and is certainly eager to take on this new challenge. Their hockey club is the second club worldwide to venture into NHL gaming. - The growth of such esports as basketball, football or F1 hasn’t gone unnoticed. The NHL has already made indications that clubs are going to invest in NHL esports in the near future. We view this as an opportunity to step into an uncharted territory with massive potential. It’s nice to be the first Swedish player in this field but it’ll be important to have this step on our competition, states Sevve Saberi from AIK Hockey. - AIK as an organisation is the epitome of passion, professionality and innovativity and we’re convinced that these exact traits will also be the trademark of their team in ECL Elite. I was welcomed to visit the AIK offices during the negotiation phase and was struck by their attitude and drive for this project, says NHLGamer founder @Kenu. The eighth iteration of ECL kicks off in just a few days and the addition of AIK Hockey to our NHLGamer ranks is definitely a welcomed boost to start the season. Competition in all our division is expected to be ramping up as the stakes will only be increasing from now on. Last season, Sjukstugan finished in 5th place after being eliminated in the quarter finals against Dynasty. Now rebranded as AIK Hockey, captain @Bjono says the team is more motivated than ever: - As soon as we heard about their interest, it was full throttle from there! We have an outstanding opportunity in a growing esports environment like NHL gaming. Our entire team is extremely thrilled about this. We’re all even happier about the team being AIK, as they’re one of the biggest clubs in Sweden. Both Kenu and Bjono are praising the level of involvement and drive from AIK’s side, which really tells a lot about the organisation. When asked if the players were AIK fans prior to the acquisition, the team captain has a humble response: - Our goaltender @Pippo is a hardcore fan! We were all extremely happy to have caught the attention of one of the biggest clubs in Sweden. Hopefully this is only the start and many more will follow. What’s the outlook for AIK Hockey like in ECL 8? - With the involvement of AIK, we’re more motivated than ever! The team has been working relentlessly and even focusing more on the tactical aspects of the game. We’ll be entering the new season well prepared and ready to put forth the best effort possible. Our long-term goal is obviously to bring the title to our side of the Baltic Sea, says captain Bjono. AIK will enter ECL 8 with a very similar roster as their one for last season. The only change is in the goaltending department, where they have dropped the extremely skilled @Hullued, but added an equally competent @ICappeI. The main purpose of the move seems to have been going for an all-Swedish team identity. AIK AIK is a Swedish sports club based in Solna. The club was founded in 1891 and is one of the oldest and most prestigious clubs in Sweden. AIK is also known by the nickname Gnaget - Rodents. The nickname rumours to have been given in the 1920s, when the teams black jerseys were so worn out that they resembled a grey rat colour. The ice hockey department of AIK has seen tremendous success during their long history. Currently the club competes at the second highest tier HockeyAllsvenskan, where they are in 2nd place a bit past the halfway point of the season. You can read AIK's own story here: https://www.aikhockey.se/artikel/nwziajqhw-1bbi1/aik-blir-forst-i-sverige-att-starta-ett-e-hockeylag

Hi there NHLGamers, Another season on the books and another champion to boot. To some, this season will be a period that will oft be reminisced about (particularly amongst those playing for FILA), whereas for others it will be the source of great ire. Regardless of which side of the fence you are on, we welcome you to ECL 7 Elite's season review... we hope you enjoy! 1. FILADELPHIA - Regular season record 23-4-1 (Playoff wins 12) Half way through the year and FILADELPHIA have been the epitome of domination; winning every single tournament that they have entered thus far. In fact, there is almost nothing to say that would mean much in the grand scheme of things, as it would effectively result in me penning a paragraph that would be singing their praises than an actual review. With that in mind then, for brevity I will state FILA's playoff record below, as quite frankly, it speaks for itself. 12-3 2. Symphony - Regular season record 22-3-3 (Playoff wins 10) Coming into this season as newly(ish) formed team one perhaps could have been forgiven for expecting them to take a season or two to get their feet under them before making a splash so to speak. Symphony obviously missed the memo and stormed towards a finals appearance, losing to FILADELPHIA (2-4) after besting Northern Stars (4-1) in the first round, as well as Written in the Stars (4-0) in the second. 3. Written In The Stars - Regular season record 20-4-4 (Playoff wins 4) Another season is over, and we have another season where Written made the top 4, but have very little to show for it really. Despite the disappointment undoubtedly shared by among on Written, they should feel as though that they're in a good spot going forward to mount a challenge for ECL 8, given the fact that they have now made the semifinals for three consecutive seasons. Additionally, @FlyerKungen appears to have transitioned to C flawlessly, only being beaten in points by fellow teammate in @Dominointi, as well as FILAs MVP @PleeMaker. 4. Dynasty - Regular season record 18-4-6 (Playoff wins 4) A slow start characterised a season where Dynasty were good, but not outstanding. Such a distinction may be alluring for some, but for those trying to challenge for the top spot each season, it is almost a curse as much as it's a blessing. The acquisition of @hpkfani at the very least proved to be pivotal as he once again exhibited his ability to set the tone of a team's offence - especially in the playoffs where goals are oh-so difficult to come by. Despite this however, they ended up getting knocked out in the semifinals to the eventual champion in FILADELPHIA. 5. Sjukstugan - Regular season record 18-6-4 (Playoff wins 2) 112 went on an impressive hot streak to start off the season, overcoming strong opponents such as Written In The Stars and taking the division by storm with their disciplined defensive routine and an exciting offensive trio with one of the leagues most exciting talents in @Tacterz. Their form somewhat dropped off towards the tail end of the regular season, but they still managed to finish 5th and put forth the best regular season in team history. Round 1 of the playoffs came knocking with Dynasty ahead. The traditionally well-performing Finns were too strong this time around, overcoming 112 with a series score of 4-2. 6. Butterfly Effect - Regular season record 17-10-1 (Playoff wins 1) After gaining promotion due to Evolution folding, these guys set out to prove they sure belong at the Elite level. Securing possibly the biggest offseason signing (@Vilupoika) ahead of ECL 7 was certainly a pivotal effort to kickstart FLY's run at the highest tier. The team came out swinging, claiming the #1 spot in the power rankings already in the first week of competition. A strong regular season proved that their good start wasn't just a quick run of form, but they were a serious contender. In the first playoff round Butterfly Effect faced 'big brother' Written In The Stars, who sent them packing 4-1. 7. Northern Stars - Regular season record 14-8-6 (Playoff wins 1) Another strong season was exhibited by NOS for ECL 7, where they made the playoffs for the 3rd straight season. Granted, their route into the playoffs was potentially more 'touch-and-go' than seasons past, as they were never able to really put distance between them and the all-out battle for 8th place between NOR, UB, RB & TF. NOS eventually fell to Symphony in the first round in 5 games, so like most teams in Elite, there are still improvements to be made if they want to move up the table and potentially challenge for a title. 8. Northern Ascendancy - Regular season record 14-10-4 (Playoff wins 1) After a disastrous start, NOR were able to rescue their season in a last ditch effort. The veteran team went on a streak of 9-2-1 to finish after starting with an abysmal 5-8-3. Due to their low ranked berth they consequently drew FILA in the 1st round and inevitably fell in 5 games, signifying the end of an all round pretty forgettable season by NOR. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 9. Unlucky Boys - Regular season record 14-11-3 After proving themselves as more than a nuisance in the playoffs last season one perhaps was expecting more of a showing by UB, who more than anything seemed to truly live up to their name this time round as they narrowly lost out on a playoff berth by a lone point. The demise of UB this season was definitely one of the weakest finishing few rounds of a season we've seen in a while. 10. Rusty Blades - Regular season record 10-12-6 Compared with a lot of Elite teams from this season RB were somewhat consistent (although not exceptionally so), the aggravating thing for those from the RB side no doubt is the belief that if they just happened to play slightly better, earlier on in the season, as well as had a stronger finish, they would have made the playoffs instead of finding themselves on the outside looking in for the second straight season. 11. Team Frosty - Regular season record 11-14-3 ECL 7 was the debut season for Team Frosty (formerly known as White Trash), if we look at it from such an angle we can surely say that they did a good job for the first time around. One of their strengths this past season was their goaltending, as @Mehiiss got 9 wins in 21 games with 82,4 SV%. Good goaltending isn't always enough to win you games, though. Offensively, Frosty seemed to do fine, as their leading scorer @Zip player managed to snag 39 points in 28 games. The problem seemed to have been in team defense however, a goal differential of -22 didn't earn them a playoff record this season. 12. Almost Famous - Regular season record 11-15-2 Almost Famous were a debutant team this past season, possessing some definite potential with up-and-coming players such as centerman @Ikavalko. Even though they had some roster fluctuation during the season with two of their key players (@SadaPoika -> Unlucky Boys, @Nampa77 -> Team Frosty) leaving, aF managed to make some great signings such as having @Rimpe return from a stint in Gotham Knights and acquiring the very skilled goaltender @s_w1ld_rus. The season went pretty much as expected for the newcomer, some decent games but the consistency wasn't there to have some success yet. 13. Gotham Knights - Regular season record 9-13-6 After ECL 6 Gotham Knights did something of a rebuild by making plenty of signings to take the next step. On paper, Gotham had a playoff capable roster, but something went wrong, even though @swagx88 stood tall, stopping 85% of shots faced. The season ended in relegation games. There were a lot of expectations on @Nieppii who had his first season in Elite and he did rather well offensively with 12 points in 23 games as a defenseman, but he needs to get better in his own zone. The cornerstone of the team for ECL 7 were their older players, @ReDMisTi in offense and the defensive leader @MKivinen95, though. After a difficult season, Gotham was relegated to Pro following a relegation series loss against Bucketeers. 14. SIKA - Regular season record 5-19-4 What goes up, must invariably, come back down. Such is beginning to be tradition for SIKA at this point as they find themselves being demoted to Pro after a singular season in Elite for the second time (first one being ECL 4). For SIKA however, this time most likely has more of a sting to it, as they finished joint last (tied with FCM) with a measly 14 points over 28 games. Whether SIKA and captain @SpiderRoyal are able to replicate history and fight back into Elite is yet to be seen, but at the very least, this shows the level of play that Elite often demands and that getting promoted into it is only but half the battle. 15. Falun Coal Miners - Regular season record 4-18-6 RIP Kopparberget ⚰️ After a very solid opening season in Elite where they finished with 28pts in 30 games, it seemed as though that if Falun was able to make a couple choice free agent acquisitions and boost their offence, they could have very easily made the leap to the playoffs for ECL 7. Unfortunately, to say that that was not the case is perhaps a bit of an understatement. Their gf/g output dropped from 1.70 to 1.36, and their ga/g ballooned out to 3.68 from 2.27 just the season before. The cause of this is of course heavily debatable and exceptionally difficult to reduce down to a single player / reason, that said, it seems as though it was large dose of unluckiness as all of FCMs players appeared to have off-years simultaneously. 16. Radical - Disqualified Disappointment. That word alone describes Radical's season more accurately than any other. Not only was it a disappointment for the players of Radical, but it was also a disappointment for the spectators of Elite, as they were robbed of an extra 30 games at the very least and plays by some of the very best players at the most. 🏆 AWARDS Playoff MVP: @PleeMaker Most Points: @Dominointi, Written in the Stars, 26 Goals, 33 Assists, 59 Points in 28 games Most Goals: @Vilupoika, Butterfly Effect, 28 Goals, 21 Assists, 49 Points in 28 games Most Assists: @Eki, FILADELPHIA, 13 Goals, 37 Assists, 50 Points in 24 games Most Hits by a Forward: @hpkfani, Dynasty, 160 Hits in 26 games Best +/-: @jtorro1233, Written In The Stars, +49 in 26 games Most Points by a Defenseman: @jtorro1233, Written in the Stars, 11 Goals, 20 Assists, 31 Points in 26 games Most Goals by a Defenseman: @jtorro1233, Written in the Stars, 11 Goals, 20 Assists, 31 Points in 26 games Most Assists by a Defenseman: @vatalisti, FILADELPHIA, 5 Goals, 22 Assists, 27 Points in 22 games Most Hits by a Defenseman: @FakiiR1, Team Frosty, 144 Hits in 20 games TOP 3'S OF ECL 6 ELITE Top 3 Forwards Regular Season: 1. @Dominointi, Written in the Stars, 26 Goals, 33 Assists, 59 Points in 28 games 2. @PleeMaker, FILADELPHIA, 25 Goals, 30 Assists, 55 Points in 28 games 3. @FlyerKungen, Written in the Stars, 24 Goals, 30 Assists, 54 Points in 28 games Top 3 Defenders Regular Season: 1. @jtorro1233, Written in the Stars, 11 Goals, 20 Assists, 31 Points in 26 games 2. @vatalisti, FILADELPHIA, 5 Goals, 22 Assists, 27 Points in 22 games 3. @Ilmari_30, Symphony, 4 Goals, 19 Assists, 23 Points in 28 games Top 3 Goaltenders Regular Season: 1. @Hullued, Sjukstugan, 18 Wins, 89.02%, 1.33 GAA, 8 SO in 27 games 2. @poliskontroll, Northern Ascendancy, 14 Wins, 84.51%, 1.71 GAA, 6 SO in 28 games 3. @Mike Zigan, Northern Stars, 14 Wins, 84.32%, 1.60 GAA, 7 SO in 28 games Top 3 Forwards Playoffs: 1. @PleeMaker, FILADELPHIA, 10 Goals, 19 Assists, 29 Points in 15 games 2. @Eki, FILADELPHIA, 9 Goals, 14 Assists, 23 Points in 15 games 3. @tbnantti, Symphony, 10 Goals, 12 Assists, 22 Points in 15 games Top 3 Defender Playoffs: 1. @vSilenttio, Symphony, 2 Goals, 14 Assists, 16 Points in 15 games 2. @Ilmari_30, Symphony, 2 Goals, 7 Assists, 9 Points in 15 games 3. @vatalisti, FILADELPHIA, 1 Goals, 8 Assists, 9 Points in 15 games Top 3 Goaltenders Playoffs: 1. @Zande95, FILADELPHIA, 11 Wins, 86.59%, 1.00 GAA, 5 SO in 13 games 2. @ICappeI, Symphony, 9 Wins, 89.18%, 1.23 GAA, 4 SO in 13 games 3. @Hansulinho, Written in the Stars, 4 Wins, 88.15%, 1.00 GAA, 3 SO in 9 games We'll also be showcasing our controversial 'Top 6' of the season for Elite! What this means is a selection of six players in a starting lineup, that have showed exceptional skill and played a good season. Please note that all selections are subjective and they are made by community members who have been keeping an eye on ECL 7 Elite, in this case your Elite writing team. Hopefully we'll generate some discussion with this again: @PleeMaker (FILADELPHIA) - @FlyerKungen (Written in the Stars) - @Eki (FILADELPHIA) @vSilenttio (Symphony) - @vatalisti (FILADELPHIA) @ICappeI (Symphony) That's all she wrote for ECL 7, Gamers! The Elite Season Review will put a cap on ECL 7 and we'll be turning out heads into next week with a new season starting January 7th. Thanks again to all of you for being a part of this community and stay tuned for greater things to come! ECL Elite Writing Team @MartindalexC & @Serg1vratar

Hey NHLGamers, FILADELPHIA have been crowned as this season's Elite champion by besting Symphony 4 games to 2. As such, NHLGamer would like to congratulate each and every player from FILA for putting on a masterclass en route to their title. Additionally, we would also like to thank everyone that participated across all divisions this ECL for making each game as memorable as the last. If you missed out on any of the games from the finals then you can check out our Twitch channel where all games will be available to watch. https://www.twitch.tv/nhlgamer/videos The game by game results for the series are as follows: Game 1: Symphony - FILADELPHIA 2:1 (OT) Game 2: FILADELPHIA - Symphony 3:2 Game 3: Symphony - FILADELPHIA 4:2 Game 4: FILADELPHIA - Symphony 2:0 Game 5: Symphony - FILADELPHIA 1:2 (OT) Game 6: FILADELPHIA - Symphony 2:1 (2nd OT) FILADELPHIA's championship roster: GOALTENDERS #8 M. Paasikontu @FinKonna #88 O. Grönroos @Zande95 DEFENSEMEN #7 J. Jäte @vatalisti #71 -. Hoosii @oGBioLan #82 M. Nyqi @Janzuh FORWARDS #10 M. Heikkilä @mikaasi #24 J. Heirala @FIN_Potilas #25 E. Tammenpää @Eki #44 P. Arontie @PleeMaker #86 J. Paatiala @Patzlaf FILADELPHIA's road to the trophy: Regular season: 23-4-1 (1st) Quarterfinals: 4:1 vs. Northern Ascendancy Semifinals: 4:0 vs. Dynasty Finals: 4:2 vs. Symphony Once again, NHLGamer would like to extend a warm thank you to all participants and every single member of this great community! We've completed yet another successful season of ECL hockey and the next season is creeping up on us quick! Enjoy your holidays and get ready to step on the virtual ice again early 2019! Your NHLGamer Staff