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Hi NHLGamers, The quarterfinals brought us a whole bunch of more upsets, as did the previous rounds. The first seeded team of The Next Gen got swept, Elite experienced teams like SIKA and Gotham Knights got sent to improving their golfing skills as well. We congratulate TIKI TALK, Checkmate, POGGERS and Black Horse for their guaranteed shot at an Elite spot for ECL 9. The ECL 8 Pro Semifinals will be played between Monday, 25th of February and Sunday, 3rd of March 2019. Here are the matchups for the ECL 8 Pro Semi-finals: (2) TIKI TALK vs. Black Horse (13) Is it TIKI TALK's year? Will they finally make their way back to Elite in ECL 9? After a disappointing end to their ECL 7 season, TIKI TALK have finally shown their true potential in the 8th iteration of the European Championship League. They don't want to waste any more time in their quest to advance back to the highest tier division - two sweeps against Bellizzi and SIKA, you can call that impressive for sure. The teams iconic captain @itspardytime rules this team and the division playoffs so far by scoring 38 points (20 goals, 18 assists) in 8 games. TIKI TALK have been running with their top lineup for all games so far and we believe this won't change as you don't change a winning team, right? @Thewix93 (4 goals and 13 assists) and @PCJP (89,47 SV% and 1,00 GAA) are the defensive anchors which this highly potential offense need at the back end. Black Horse started the season as their name would imply and surpassed all expectations completely. While they struggled a little bit at the end of the season, which cost them a higher seed for the playoffs, they didn't hesitate to show their skill right at the start of the playoffs against the big guns. They eliminated the 4th seed Silver Sword Griffins in 6 games while burying the top seed The Next Gen in only 4. Is TIKI TALK next in the line on their way to winning it all? Their defense is the key to their success - while they don't win their games with style, they are hard to score against and will make you pay for your mistakes. While former top goaltender @Hullued now is showing that he can be a top center and leads the team in that role in all three zones of the ice, the defensive pair of @Miika (Since2009-) and @Exel56 do an outstanding job and @villamies95 in net is a real stud in his debut season! Pure offensive skill vs a brickwall, who's gonna stand tall when this series has been played? Our bet is on TIKI TALK in 6 games, but expect some really tight battles! (5) Checkmate vs. POGGERS (9) Checkmates situation is very familiar to the one TIKI TALK finds themselves in - they also had a disappointing outcome to the ECL 7 playoffs with a first round exit. Now they are back in business again. While in the regular season they played with quite a big roster, we get that familiar top 6 line up in the playoffs. This roster consists of guys who were able to beat Speedy Bros Hockey and Mentula SKA in 5, respective 6 games. Alike Black Horse, Checkmate is a defensive minded team built around the captain @TackleControl. They established this play style during last season as well, but what is different this year? Maybe the addition of the Elite experienced @Tuukka.R was the missing puzzle piece for their final success. Can they hold on to their strong defense and make it to the finals? Once a Wasp, now a frog - the evolution goes on, but they started with Quality right from the beginning! After defeating Raccoon Rampage and Gotham Knights in 5, respective 6 games, the team around the leader @Yoloberg will make sure to give the best fight they have to offer. The addition of veteran @Chafak helped them to go far in the playoffs. Look out for their offensive trio as they like to throw some extra sauce on their passes and might surprise you coming out of the gates. They are also quite good defensively and will make sure that their top 6 guys are on the ice to win them this series. It will be interesting to see which team is going to be the active part with more puck possession. We're expecting both teams to have to dig deep in their playbook if they want to advance to the finals. We believe it will be Checkmate coming out as a finalist, but it will take the full distance of 7 games! Results from the relegation matchups: (G1 #14) Clowns On Ice vs. Pata Hellalla (G2 #15) 2-4 At last we would like to wish all ECL 8 Pro semi-finalists good luck in these series and would also like to give a big congrats to Pata Hellalla for staying in Pro! Signing off for now, ECL Pro Writing Team @Mannheimer1938 & @Panarinz

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

Hello NHLGamers, Round 4 is finalized in ECL5 - Lite and we have four winning teams that have gone on to semifinals: NORDIC NOSEBLEED vs DEADLY PHANTOMS 4 - 0 (4-3 OT, 4-2, 4-3, 4-1) This one was a big upset, as Nordic Nosebleed, ranked 15th place, played four really good matches against Deadly Phantoms, who were ranked first after the regular season. 4-0 to Nordic Nosebleed in matches, congratulations on a well-completed quarterfinal. RAGING MONKEYS vs EV DUISBURG 4 - 2 (3-2, 1-2, 2-4, 7-1, 5-2, 7-2) Raging Monkeys keep going strong in ECL and advanced after 4-2 in matches against EV Duisburg. ALMOST FAMOUS vs SQUAD VILTTIKETJU 4 - 0 (4-0, 8-0, 3-2OT, 3-2) Almost Famous stood as a winner after 4-0 in matches over Squad Vilttiketju, Almost Famous have had a great season so far. RED MACHINE vs FACE WASH HOCKEY 4 - 0 (1-0, 2-0, 1-0, N/A, N/A) Red Machine won their quarter-final series with 4-1 in matches over Face Wash Hockey. Here are the four teams that moved on and qualified for ECL - Pro next season: Nordic Nosebleed Almost Famous Raging Monkeys Red Machine We congratulate these four teams for advancing to ECL - Pro! NHLGamer would like to thank the teams Face Wash Hockey, EV Duisburg, Deadly Phantoms and Squad Vilttiketju for their participation in our league, well played by all of you! But the playoff is not over and now it's time to play two finalists in ECL 5 - Lite. There are two really exciting semifinal series that we will follow. Here are the next two series in the Semi-finals: Almost Famous vs Nordic Nosebleed Raging Monkeys vs Red Machine Framework Teams mentioned on the left side have their home game first The quarter-finals are played in a best-of-7 series, meaning the first team to rack up 4 wins proceeds to the semi-finals The round starts today, and all games must be completed before December 13, 23:59 CET / December 14, 00:59 EET Good luck to everyone!