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NHLGamers, Your inaugural eSHL champions have been crowned! Twelve eSHL teams entered, eight progressed to the playoffs, and eventually, we were left with a somewhat familiar-looking matchup in Linköping HC vs. Malmö Redhawks. Both teams are no strangers to winning, with LHC featuring their exact same roster from their most recent ECL Elite victory, and Malmö boasting two players from HAVU as well as four from the Vesa Pompa HC team who won the SCL last Spring. Despite the final series resulting in a BO5 sweep, two of the three games were decided by one goal, and each game felt like it was on a knife's edge. Once the dust had settled LHC emerged as your eSHL champions, continuing their impressive form over the past few tournaments they have competed in. Your new eSHL Champions - Linköping HC / Photo credit: Elias Gammelgård Linköping HC 🏆 Group stage record: 21-1-0 (1st) Round 1: vs HV71 (8) 3-0 Semifinals: vs Leksands IF (4) 3-1 Finals: vs Malmö Redhawks (2) 3-0 GOALIES #72 C. Lundgren @ICappeI DEFENSEMEN #27 A. Loimuvirta @loimmu #40 J. Torro @jtorro1233 #88 J. Virta @SUPERVIRTA FORWARDS #23 N. Tukiainen @NikkeDangles #25 E. Tammenpaa @Eki #44 P. Arontie @PleeMaker #86 J. Paatiala @Juunas After the games were played and Linköping HC had emerged as the champions, our editor-in-chief @jahajaha93 had a chance to talk to @Eki and asked him some questions: You've now managed to secure two titles within a short span of time, what do you have to say about your run as of late? "Obviously a championship always feels great, Cappe did an amazing job setting this up for us so it feels especially great to be able to play for him." Malmo was your expected final opponent for quite some time, did you prepare for that ahead of time? "We expected to meet Malmö in an eventual final. They have a very strong roster and we know their players well, so we didn't actually prepare too much per se since we've obviously met them before and had time to think things over." The eSHL differs quite heavily in character from the ECL for example, what did you think were the biggest differences? "Well, there's quite many but especially the heavily varying level of competition is different. Some clubs went with local talent and it's respectable, but they didn't fare too well in the end. It's obviously a bit of a different mindset going into the game when you're meeting a contender like Malmo versus when you're going up against a team you know you will beat with ease." Finally, how did you like representing Linköping HC in this tournament and what does the future hold for you? "It's been absolutely awesome and the support has been second to none. Linköping is a first-class organization that has really taken care of us players and seen to it that we can perform at our highest level. About the future - our contract term is for the remainder of NHL 20, no talks about extensions have been had yet so that's something that remains to be seen." Eki and all of Linköping HC were all smiles all weekend / Photo credit: Elias Gammelgård NHLGamer would like to congratulate Linköping HC for their championship and thank all of the teams, players and organizations for an amazing first season of the eSHL! Stay tuned for a more detailed season recap later this week.

NHLGamers, After a longer break for christmas and new years we are back with another article in the Player Spotlight series. Before christmas we asked Antti @Anhel Kuru a bunch of questions. Today we are back with the next article in the series and this time we are featuring Oskari @sibeelius Grönroos. We asked him 19 questions and as you probably have noticed by now, some are the same as earlier, and some are new. Let's get to it: 1. What was your first experience with the EASHL mode in NHL like? - My first experience in EASHL was probably a random drop-in game in NHL 17. It was horrible but we've come a long way from that. 2. During this season you switched teams from Filadelphia to Butterfly Effect, has it been any different playing in Butterfly than in Filadelphia? - Yes for sure. Defense has been maybe the biggest difference between these two teams as FILA had really good discipline and a more passive style of defense while Butterfly is more active in the forecheck. Penalties have also been a big difference. 3. Who is the best hockey player in the world according to you? - McDavid is in a league of his own at the moment, there is no question about that. 4. Describe your perfect breakfast! - I rarely eat breakfast, but coffee is a must and maybe some kind of croissant with some ham, cheese and lettuce in it. 5. If you would be a manager for a day and had to pick one defender, one forward and a goalie to build a new ECL Elite team around. Which players would you choose? You can only choose one from your own team. - I would probably pick young players, so as a defender I would pick @xDoumi from Butterfly Effect. The forward choice is much harder but I think I would take @Beniittto because he is a center and already experienced and young. As a goalie I would probably go with @Hansulinho even tho he isn't as young anymore but he is the most consistent goalie at the moment. 6. What would you rather be, an average player in the real-life Finnish Liiga or the worlds best EA Sports NHL-player in both 1v1 and 6v6? - If I could be an average real life player in NHL I would choose that any day but in the Finnish league... I will go with being the best EA Sports NHL-player. 7. Do you play or have you played hockey? - I have only played hockey with friends at outdoor rinks. 8. What’s your best hockey memory? - My best hockey memory would be seeing my first NHL game live. It was Flyers vs Lightning. 6-5 overtime ending made it very enjoyable to watch. It was also my first time in America so that made it even more cool 9. What’s your favourite team? - My favourite team is the Chicago Blackhawks. 10. What do you do on a day off? - I don't have a job at the moment as I'm trying to get into law school, but on a day off I would probably just chill at home or see friends. 11. If you would have to spend one day playing NHL and had to listen to one song only, during the whole day, what song would you pick? - My favourite at the moment is probably Legends from Juice Wrld so I will go with that. 12. How did you come up with your PSN ID? - When I was younger and played soccer, my soccer coach gave me a nickname and that was Sibelius. People in real life also call me Sibbe as a shoter version of Sibelius. 13. Who’s the best player in ECL according to you? - I must say @Buantso is the best player in ECL at the moment for sure. 14. What is the first thing you are going to do when you retire? (from work) - When I retire from work I will just travel as much as I can. I love travelling. 15. What are your top 3 places or countries you want to visit? - That is a tough one. Probably 1. Bahamas 2. Australia 3. Hawaii 16. Which team will win ECL 9 Elite? - I hope Linköping wins it so HAVU won't get a second ECL title in a row. However I still think that HAVU will win it because they are more effective at scoring even though Linköping has scored more goals this season. HAVU has a better goalie and their forecheck will give a hard time to any team who they face at the moment. 17. The eSHL just started and a lot of players and some teams have been signed by SHL-clubs, what are your thoughts on the league and players going there? - I think the eSHL will be a great league with great players and teams and I hope it gets a lot of attention so it could maybe wake interest in other leagues to also create the same kind of tournaments or leagues. Hopefully this league will show the potential of this esport and help it grow. I'm also happy that it wasn't strictly for Swedish players so the league will be more competitive 18. Would you have liked to play in the eSHL? - Yes I'm kinda sad that I'm not participating in this league as it would have been a cool experience but sadly no one needed my services. 19. Last question, Sauna or hot tub? - Hot tub The stats of Oskari "Sibelius" Grönroos We thank @sibeelius for taking the time to sit down with us for this interview. Next weeks player has already been chosen but as we plan to release more of these articles, please let us know which player you would like to hear more from!

NHLGamers, A week has passed since the latest and first edition of our Player Spotlight-series was released. Back then we asked Robin @Rubituss Söderqvist seventeen questions. Today we are back with the next article in the series and this time we are featuring Antti @Anhel Kuru. We asked him seventeen questions and you might recognize some of them from the last article, but there are some new ones too! Let's get to it: 1. What was your first experience with the EASHL mode in NHL like? -My first experience with EASHL happened on NHL 14. I was very young at the time so I can barely remember anything special but one strange thing that I can remember is that I played as a LW with a right-handed stick. 2. What's the best thing with competing in the ECL? -Hard to say one thing but maybe the feeling when you've won a tight game against an extremely skilled team with your friends stands out from the rest. 3. This season is Unlucky Boys fourth season in the Elite division, what's the secret to your success? -I think the secret lays behind our roster. Because our roster has been nearly the same for several years, we know particularly well how each and every one of us play. Our team spirit is also great due to playing together for so long and I think it plays a large role in how we are performing on the ice. Everybody plays for the burger on the jersey. Obviously in my opinion each one of us are really skilled individuals too. 4. A lot of you guys have been playing together for a while now, how did the history of Unlucky Boys HC start? -Unlucky Boys HC was founded in NHL16. I created the team with a great friend of mine, @iilmarii. He was new to the whole NHL series and we started to play 2's with good success. After a while it started to be boring and we wanted to leave the bot games behind us. I contacted @JimBoo after meeting him in a drop-in match and he was the third member of our team. Then we just signed both players from drop-in lobbies (like for example our RW @Wenger) and some half-familiar PSN friends like @Sweaty__99. The core of our roster has remained closely the same since the beginning which is very impressive thinking back now. Of course the burger has and will always be our symbol too. 5. If you would be a manager for a day and had to pick one defender, one forward and a goalie to build a new ECL Elite team around. Which players would you choose? You can only choose one from your own team. -Starting from the easiest pick, as forward I would pick Tuukka @FlyerKungen Kuha. Well, what couldn't I say about his level of play. He has also always been his teams captain which ensures that he is a leader both on and off the ice. For defender I would go with his linemate Wille @willekunq Juntunen because I think he is the best defender out there. Casper @ICappeI Lundgren would be the goalie. I was lucky to meet him at the IS Cup 4 final event and the man is pure class. 6. What would you rather be, an average player in the real-life finnish league or the worlds best EA Sports NHL-player in both 1v1 and 6v6? -I would rather be the best EA sports NHL -player. 7. Do you play or have you played hockey? -I can barely skate so no. 8. What’s your best hockey memory? -Maybe a bit boring answering quite same what @Rubituss said but my best memory is from World Junior Championship in 2016. Me and my dad were watching the final against Russia and it was one of the craziest games ever. I will always remember the winning goal from Kasperi Kapanen. Torille! 9. What’s your favourite team? -Kiekko-Espoo 10. Jari Kurri or Wayne Gretzky? -As a Finn this is an easy question, Jari Kurri. 11. What do you do on a day off? -Studying, listening to music and hanging out with my friends. 12. If you would have to spend one day playing NHL and had to listen to one song only, during the whole day, what song would you pick? -Probably Sonne by Rammstein. I love the song and it gets me focused. 13. How did you come up with your PSN ID? -Anhel was my nickname for some time and Kuru is my surname. Then I just combined them. 14. Who’s the best player in ECL according to you? -@FlyerKungen 15. What do you do when you don’t play NHL or watch hockey? -I'm a final year student in high school so most of my time goes to studying. Besides that I like going to the gym. 16. Which team will win ECL 9 Elite? -This is a tough one. I'll say HAVU in game seven against Linköping. 17. How are you going to spend christmas? -Spend time with my family and support Finland on the World Junior Championship. We thank Anhel_Kuru for taking the time to sit down with us for this interview. If you are lucky, next week you might be the one that gets to answer some of these questions. Who would you like to hear more from? In the meantime, NHLGamer wishes all of you a very merry christmas!

NHLGamers, We have received the devastating news that a beloved member of the community - Sami @Ampuhaukka Luoma passed away at the young age of 41 this past Friday. Sami was a family man and a long-time community member, who enjoyed spending his pastime playing the NHL series in good company. Over the years several of us had the privilege to play alongside this man and he touched many of our lives in one way or another. To honor Sami's memory, some of his past teammates and friends have shared some of their memories below: - @Tzon93 - @l-Furyan-l - @Lamsa A word from @Kenu on behalf of NHLGamer: I would like to offer our deepest condolences to the family, friends and teammates of Sami in this tragic loss. I was in touch with Sami in early January and he spoke about his plans to build a team together with @pelimies80 and he had some questions around the upcoming season. It's hard to accept that that discussion was the last chance I got to talk to him. I didn't know Sami well, but I did talk a lot of ECL with him throughout the years and also remember trying out for his team back in the day. He was always polite, positive and fun to talk to and I he will be missed. During his career of 227 games as a right defenseman in the ECL Sami racked up 26 goals and 125 assists, totalling 151 points. Aside from the the ECL, he was also active in a lot of our other leagues. You can see his full career stats below. The staff at NHLGamer extends our heartfelt condolences to everyone touched by Sami during his lifetime. Please also share your memory in the comment section if you wish to do so.