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Hey NHLGamers, The first round of ECL Pro playoffs offered some really exciting matchups and while the four teams of the top five managed to stand their ground and come out at the top after the first round, we saw some really tight matchups and also saw some upsets, as lower ranked teams made their way into the Quarter Finals. It's the playoffs and whatever happened in the regular season doesn't matter for much else than seeding at this point. The matchups were seeded based on points per game and we can't wait to see these teams hit the ice for the second round of ECL Pro playoffs. Below are the matchups for the Quarter Finals: (1) FILADELPHIA vs Deadly Phantoms HC (13) (2) Monarchs vs Red Machine (11) (3) Almost Famous vs Baltic Sea Eagles (10) (5) SIKA vs White Trash (7) All series will be played in a best-of-seven series between the 5th and the 12th of April 2018. Below you can find the exact dates for the ECL Pro playoffs: First round 26.3.-4.4. Second round 5.4.-12.4. Semi-finals 13.4.-20.4. Finals 21.4.-28.4. Best of luck to all of the teams, have fun! NHLGamer will be covering some of the matchups and we will start tonight, given that the teams start their battle tonight. Please contact @Kenu and @Panarinz with the matchup, time and playing line-ups and you might be featured tonight or later down the line! You can find our Twitch channel here: https://www.twitch.tv/NHLGamerTwitch

Hey NHLGamers, It's time for some more ECL Pro Playoff action tonight! Starting at 20:00 CEST, be sure to join our ECL Playoff stream, as we continue two very exciting matchups tonight. The first one will be the battle between ECL Pro favorite FILADELPHIA and Quality. Below you'll find out original prediction for this series: The teams clashed together three times so far and FILADELPHIA is up in the series 2-1. You can watch the three first games here: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/245816953. Games so far in the series (home team to the right): Game 1: Quality - FILADELPHIA 0-3 Game 2: FILADELPHIA - Quality 3-5 Game 3: Quality - FILADELPHIA 1-4 The series will continue tonight with up to 3 games, so we might see FILADELPHIA walk away with it, or leave the teams and wait for an exciting game 7. Don't miss this matchup tonight! After this, we jump right over to another exciting ECL Pro pair as Alliance HT and Deadly Phantoms HC continue their series. The teams have agreed to finish the series tonight and the puck drop for game 5 will be at 21:00 CEST. You can read our original prediction about the series below: The played the first four games so far and contrary to our prediction, Deadly Phantoms HC is already up 3-1 in the series. Can they get that one last win to move on to round 2? You can watch the four first games here: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/245819765 Games so far in the series (home team to the right): Game 1: Deadly Phantoms HC - Alliance HT 3-0 Game 2: Alliance HT - Deadly Phantoms HC 1-0 Game 3: Deadly Phantoms HC - Alliance HT 2-0 Game 4: Alliance HT - Deadly Phantoms HC 1-2 The games will be broadcasted on the NHLGamer Twitch channel, at twitch.tv/NHLGamerTwitch. The games will be broadcasted by @Kenu, who's still looking for a commentary partner for tonight. Get in touch. Teams, we are still missing your starting line-ups for tonight, with the exception of FILADELPHIA, who has submitted theirs. Please let us know as soon as possible.

Hey NHLGamers, we witnessed what some would describe as upset wins in the Lite playoffs. We definitely have to mention that there is only one team out of the top six regular season teams remaining. At this stage, there are no teams left that don't belong there, though. The level of competitiveness is very high and all teams want to pick up their spots for the Pro division. The winner of the series earn their guaranteed spot in the higher division in ECL 7. So the price is high, the fall is near endless. Let's have a look at the upcoming matchups: (2) Cowabunga Hockey vs MotherPuckers (19) (7) GHETTO FIREBIRDS vs Sektion K (15) (8) EV Duisburg vs Pohjoista Voimaa (13) (11) Style vs Freddie Mercury Institute (12) The quarter final round is going to be played from 30th March until 7th April 2018 (Saturday). No extra time will be given! We hope we can cover some playoff action via our NHLGamer Twitch channel. At the very least you will be able to follow the action by following the respective team channels. Stay tuned on the NHLGamer.com front page to stay on top of the action. Best of luck to all of the remaining teams!

Hi there NHLGamers, The playoff spring is starting to heat up as the sun shines brighter and we close in on the really important games of the season. For some, the season ends and a break from hockey ensues, but there is still a lot of action to keep your eyes peeled for. Our Lite division is going on to it's second round of playoff action. This means that the best 16 teams in this division remain to compete for the title and promotion to the Pro division come ECL 7. Let's have a look at the upcoming matchups: (1) Bare Knuckles Hockey vs MotherPuckers (19) Much like their last series, Bare Knuckles Hockey has all the pressure in this one. Once again, we will witness a David vs. Goliath-matchup. Although MotherPuckers have some experienced players in their lineup, their game hasn't really translated to the scoresheet this season. The outcome of this series will very much depend on the performance of Bare Knuckles top scorer Teroe94 (@Tero Paikkari). If the MotherPuckers up the level of their team defense, this series could definitely be up for grabs for them. Prediction: 4:3 Bare Knuckles Hockey (2) Cowabunga Hockey vs Bucketeers (17) Cowabunga Hockey is one of my personal favourites as a title contender. A high-scoring offense (84 goals in the regular season) complemented with excellent team defense and a strong goaltender in @Jonitski makes them one of the best teams in the Lite division. In the second round, they will be facing Bucketeers, who rely heavily on a good neutral zone trap and simple decisions in the offensive end. Bucketeers isn't a team that will present the most beautiful hockey, but it surely is effective in winning the games. Prediction: 4:1 Cowabunga Hockey (3) SGWEER United vs Sektion K (15) SGWEER United picked up right where they left after the regular season. Being the highest scoring team in the regular season, they scored 33 goals in 5 games during their first-round matchup against Kaksikymmentaseitseman. @Gregson91 and riNBF3 (@rene hackberger) are responsible for most of their production, so it will be crucial for Sektion K to shut down this dynamic duo. Sektion K will be relying on @Tauri in net to be a brick wall and @Edhoolm97 to produce for them in the offensive zone. Prediction: 4:2 SGWEER United (4) Hippo Rangers vs Pohjoista Voimaa (13) Both teams swept their first round opponents. In other similarities, both teams finished their regular season in 2nd place in their respective groups. Both teams also have very strong goaltenders in @Perkkari for Hippo and @meiha for Pohjoista Voimaa. This will be a tough series - expect low scoring games. Prediction: 4:3 Hippo Rangers (5) Rukoilevat Hinkkaajat vs Freddie Mercury Insitute (12) I'm expecting a tough clash in this series. Both teams are solid defensively, backed by good goaltenders in @hulkamaania and @TheSpeedo, who will be having their own battle of the goalies. The other significant battle in this series will be between the more experienced members of each team. @Samzoni on Hinkkaajat's end will need to elevate his game to match Kickingapollo (@kApollo) in what I see as the other pair of players that will make an impact on this series. Prediction: 4:3 Rukoilevat Hinkkaajat (6) Suomen Sonnit vs Style (11) Personally, I saw Suomen Sonnit as one of the strongest contenders before the season. Inconsistency in the regular season might have lead to a surprisingly low seed for the playoffs, but I'm expecting this team to pick it up a bit the further we go into the important games. On the other side we have Style - a team in their first ECL season after dominating the Swedish OEHL. I'm expecting to see a tightly contested series as both teams know how to put the puck in the net and defend in their own end. Prediction: 4:3 Suomen Sonnit (7) GHETTO FIREBIRDS vs Korpens Finest (10) In this series we have GHETTO FIREBIRDS who are looking to redeem themselves after a tough last season in Pro. The regular season didn't go as well as they maybe would've hoped, but the birds still easily made the playoffs and managed to overcome their first-round opponent 4-1. This series isn't going to be as easy, as Korpens Finest is hoping to put up a good fight. Although seeding 10th into the playoffs, we must not forget that Korpens topped their regular season group. Prediction: 3:4 Korpens Finest (8) EV Duisburg vs Etelan Vetelat (9) Duisburg is one of the most experienced Lite teams. Having been close to promotion for a few seasons, this might be the time to shine for them. We know they won't be stumbling on goaltending with @FoxGoalie standing tall in net. Can they produce enough to move on to the next round? We're expecting to see great things, especially from @ShawnMcNeil and @GreatOne139 up front. The Germans will be facing an inexperienced Etelan Vetelat, led by @jouni29 on offense. Etelan will hope to cause an upset, but it is hard to see as they were struggling a bit in the first round against 5th Line Heroes. Prediction: 4:0 EV Duisburg We're expecting tight matchups and an exciting time. Be sure to post your streams on the frontpage so we'll be able to follow along! The second round is going to be played from 23rd March until 29th March 2018 (next Thursday). No extra time will be given! Special thanks to @Panarinz for assisting in the creation of this preview.

NHLGamers, The playoffs have arrived also for our Pro division. We've got the best 16 teams remaining to fight it out for the Pro title and promotion spots for ECL Elite. This spring we have some very interesting matchups set up for us and we're excited to be able to preview them for you guys. Let's get going with the matchups: Monarchs (1A) - Raging Monkeys (8B) The Monarchs were a team many around the community knew about even before the start of the season due to Captain and goaltender @chavelski's brutally honest forum series "Life of a General Manager". Toes were stepped on, certain amounts of drama was created - but the unit of players that ended up representing the Monarchs was a strong one. Going into the playoffs, the lineup will be led by veteran Swedish center @pajenc, known for his terrific puck control and excellent vision. Flanking him to the left he'll have @Tacterz, and to the right @Zalaz, one known for his excellent dangling skill and the other for his smart two-way play. On defense they'll ice point-producing machine @Philip Strom with smart defensive defender Bortalaget covering up in home field. In net Chavelski has yet to be defeated this season, going 18-0-0 during the regular season. That will be put to test versus the Raging Monkeys where Swedish captain @Buffy has assembled quite the foreign legion. @DangledYouOut and Akin71 from Germany and @Birkedal96 rumoured to be from Denmark. Furthermore, word around the community says Group 2 was the tougher overall group, which could have left the Monkeys battle-hardened and ready for a challenge. Raging Monkeys excel by playing an up-tempo, fast attacking style when they have the puck while remaining patient without it. It will likely come down to a battle of captains here as BuffyTBH was Monkeys' leadings scorer while chavelski's undefeated tenure in net is certainly impressive. Prediction: Monarchs win 4-3. FILADELPHIA (1B) - Quality (8A) We knew going into the season that FILA was a heavy favorite contender. They surely lived up to the hype by surfacing as the number one seed into the playoffs with an astonishing 27-1-2 regular season record. They were by far the highest scoring team in the Pro division, outscoring the second best team in this category by 29 goals in total. Defensively we know these guys can hang with the best in the game. It should be all about motivation and focus for FILADELPHIA in this series. Will they keep powering on in the playoffs or can the underdog Quality put them back in their place? Quality was the lowest seed into the playoffs, a team that underwent several roster changes before the deadline and almost the whole starting lineup was changed at some point. However, the team managed to find their game a bit closer to the end of the regular season. The addition of @KattenJansson97 seemed to boost their offensive production, but the defensive play is still a concern. Can they match the dominant FILA offensive trio of @mikaasi-@Erkki-@Joonas Paatiala who put up a combined point total of 239 points in the regular season? Prediction: FILADELPHIA win 4-1. Almost Famous (2A) - Monte Carlo (7B) Almost Famous was the runner-up last season in Lite and they also came 2nd in group 1 this season in Pro. They are used to finishing in 2nd place and will want to show that they can reach for that gold this playoff. With last Lite season’s best point and assist producer and also ECL 6 Pro’s best faceoff taker, @Ikavalko, and their mentor/coach in the own zone @Aze, they know how to play strong in both ends of the ice. Monte Carlo has been a team flying under the radar this season with a mid-table finish, playing even matches throughout the season. But if you look at their team you see that it is full of former top players, see @Lage, Octobussy (@Masapunda) and @J0HTAJA for example. With ECL Leader @Kenu by their side, anything can happen. The series has already begun and Monte Carlo have a 2-1 lead so far. Although I see Almost Famous turn it around, being a consolidated group of guys and knowing each other’s playstyle in and out may be the difference in this series. Prediction: Almost Famous win 4-3. Alliance HT (2B) - Deadly Phantoms HC (7A) In this series we'll have the clash at the Iron Curtain with a really strong Alliance HT against the Deadly Phantoms HC, who performed well in their inaugural season in Pro. Alliance finished their season with 7-3-0 in their last 10 games as they started to click and find their game. They scored 20 goals in their last four games of the regular season, led by @Awptim as their top scorer. @JaikenK was solid in both ends of the ice, proving to be a tremendous off-season signing and an important addition to the team. The German team Deadly Phantoms HC will certainly have their work cut out for them, but an upset is not completely out of the question in this one. The Phantoms are a solid defensive team who will go for the simple solutions offensively, but tend to be very effective despite that. The most dangerous element in this team is the fact that they can ice five scoring players in any game. There isn't one obvious scorer and one obvious playmaker so it'll keep the Alliance defense on their toes. Prediction: Alliance HT win 4-2. SIKA (3B) – Arctic (6A) Oh boy - two veteran teams here going at it. Or, let me re-phrase that: two groups of veteran players going at it. While SIKA is a storied franchise in the halls of NHLGamer, Arctic is a fresh team but it does consist of veteran players like captaincy trio @selänne8, @TackleControl and @MAYZIIX. Expect SIKA to carry the play and defend well through well balanced defensive pairing @vSilenttio and @MCH_98. While vSilenttio is the more offensively gifted of the two, both bring strong two-way sensibilites to the game and can help you win regardless of opponent. The attack will be led by SIKA stalwart @imosi and new aquisition @yrjoo, likely flanked by @Naikou88. On Arctics side, a lot comes down to captain BiggestEight - the primary offensive threat on Arctic. This "Hidden Gem" is a goal-scoring machine but will be relied upon to make plays and defend as well, if Arctic is to come out alive from this one. Mayziix and YouShallNotPass (@swe best sniper) form a strong D block and TackleControl is the primary dishmaster for "the Cold Ones". Look for this one to go 7. Prediction: SIKA Win 4-3. Shameful Knights (3A) - Red Machine (6B) The Knights had a decent regular season. They didn't quite perform as well as some might have expected, but certainly did enough to get the job done. Their roster performed evenly and the scoring worked well in every way. The problem I can see Shameful running into is not being able to provide the "wow"-factor. The lineup hasn't changed much and their game hasn't quite evolved to the level it probably should have. As their playoff series start they will surely hope to prove this preview wrong and put on a show for us viewers. On the other side of the ice we'll see a team in their second ECL season after a Lite title run in ECL 5. Red Machine acquired their top scorer @RutonMosse just before the start of the season and although there have been rumours about an upper body injury, the youngster has kept producing. As long as his linemates can continue feeding him the puck we might see an upset provided my RED. Prediction: Red Machine win 3-4. White Trash (4A) - Clowns On Ice (5B) White Trash have a lot of ECL experience, as they have played 4 ECL seasons. Watch out for Kaneyh (@Kane), White Trash top scorer with 34 goals and a 53.1 shooting percentage during the regular season. Clowns On Ice have former ECL experience too, playing in 3 seasons and also having just started GCL Season 2. Clowns On Ice had the worst PP% of all teams that made it to the playoff, but their forward @Tim_FlyersFan was 2nd in goals, 3rd in points and 1st in shots taken during the regular season in Pro. Both teams are fairly comfortable in high scoring games and you will probably see that in this series as well. Prediction: White Trash win 4-2. Synergy Hockey (4B) - Baltic Sea Eagles (5A) Two games have already been played and the series is tied 1-1. Synergy finished the season in a very strong manner, with six wins and grabbing points in nine consecutive games. Synergy is a very experienced team that has played all six ECL seasons, two of them in Elite. After being relegated last season they would look to get promoted back up again. Baltic Sea Eagles have been consistent throughout this season and have a very stable and reliable defense. They also have players at the top of the hits leaderboard. When you face them you need to stay focused throughout the whole game, cause if you don't, you will get mangled in the boards. These games will probably be very defensive and don't be surprised if a couple of the games goes to OT. This prediction is highly relying on Synergy's form at the moment. Prediction: Synergy win 4-2. There's a lot of playoff hockey to be played and anything can happen. The beauty in this time of year is that any game can go any way and in a tightly contested series we can expect to see some exciting turns of events. Be sure to check the NHLGamer front page for streams to tune in to! Thanks to @Panarinz and @The_Alpha_Furyan for creating this preview in co-operation with Yours Truly.

Hey NHLGamers, Please join us now for our ECL Playoffs stream, where we will be enjoying at least 4 games of ECL Playoff action. Our first matchup is the ECL Pro battle between FILADELPHIA and Quality, after which we will watch some ECL Lite Playoff action between Suomen Sonnit and Style. The games will be commentated by @Panarinz and @Kenu and you can watch it here: https://www.twitch.tv/NHLGamerTwitch You can read about our predictions for these playoff battles below: The full Pro predictions will be released later today. You can read all Lite Playoff predictions by clicking here.

Hey NHLGamers, an eventful regular season in ECL Pro is behind us. We saw tough battles for the playoff spots and teams fighting for their life to avoid the relegation battles. Unfortunately LA had to disqualify two teams (Inter Iceland and Sypperstaars) because of several rule infractions. Pro group 1 therefore had only 26 games to finish their regular season. All of our predicted favorites who were mentioned in our season preview by @jahajaha93 are qualified for the best time of the year. The so called underdog Monarchs actually turned out to be the strongest team in Group 1. As expected, FILADELPHIA showed their skill by winning group 2 and are still on their path to get to the Elite division as soon as possible. The first round in the Pro playoffs is cross-seeded, which means the top seed of group 1 will face off against the lowest seed of group 2. After the first round, the seeding will be set by PPG. Below are the matchups for round 1: (1) FILADELPHIA vs Quality (16) (2) Monarchs vs Raging Monkeys (15) (3) Almost Famous vs Monte Carlo (14) (4) Alliance HT vs Deadly Phantoms HC (13) (5) SIKA vs Arctic (12) (6) Shameful Knights vs Red Machine (11) (7) White Trash vs Clowns on Ice (9) (8) Synergy Hockey vs Baltic Sea Eagles (10) All series will be played in a best-of-seven series from 26th of March 2018 until the 4th of April 2018. The first round is a little bit extended to account for the easter holidays. Below you can find the exact dates for the ECL Pro playoffs: First round 26.3.-4.4. Second round 5.4.-12.4. Semi-finals 13.4.-20.4. Finals 21.4.-28.4. After the loss of 3 teams for the relegation battles, League Administration has decided that there will only be one relegation battle in ECL Pro this season. The teams with the lowest PPG are going to fight to stay in the Pro division. The relegation matchup is: J P T J vs Nordic Nosebleed The teams Free From Rodents, Murohoki, Banterfield Battalion, Speedy Bros Hockey, TIKI TALK, Bellizzi, OG Royals, Penalty Box, Old Farts, EN HUND and Breakers of the Bone managed to stay in Pro. We thank all participants and hope you will return next season! Best of luck for all remaining teams, have fun!

Hey NHLGamers, The ECL Elite All-Star Week has reached its pinnacle, as we head into the semi-finals and final tonight! In case you have no idea what we're talking about, please see the below two articles and you're all set. We would like to thank all the players and viewers involved in this All-Star week and congratulate the teams that made it this far. We will be streaming both semi-finals and the final tonight, starting at 20:30 CEST on our Twitch-channel: https://www.twitch.tv/NHLGamerTwitch All games will be BO1, meaning the winner of the semi-final game moves to the final and also the final is determined in one game. In other words, we will be streaming a total of three games tonight. The matchups in the semi-finals are: VS Team ICappeI vs Team FlyerKungen 20:30 CEST Team ICappeI was the best team during the regular season with 3 wins in 3 games. With their captain @ICappeI leading the lines with his strong netminding skills and @The_Alpha_Furyan guarding in front of him, they will be very hard to score on. Team FlyerKungen on the other hand is more known for high-scoring games and will punish the defense of Team ICappeI if mistakes were to be made. With 2 of the best forwards in ECL Elite, KingOfApes_ (@Tuukka.R) and @FlyerKungen himself, they can be deadly on the counter attack. Prediction: Attack wins games, but defense wins championships, I predict Team ICappeI to win 3-2. The top 10 skaters in the All-star group stage, sorted by points VS Team vatalisti vs Team cHIIMEERa 20:50 CEST With 20 goals scored in a very tight group, Team vatalisti succeded in clinching 1st place. Team vatalisti know how to play good defense but offensively, that's where they shine. With stars like @anrh17 and @SadaPoika you just know they will score several times a game. "Wait, what? SadaPoika? Wasn't he on Team Norpee?", you may ask. Yes indeed. Due to the fact that Sjukstugan apparently didn't read the requirements for the players taking part in the All-Star Week before sending in their players for the darft, we seem to have lost @Nampa77 to a real life activity called work. In order to fix this, SadaPoika, who represented Team Norpee in the group stage, will be putting on the Team vatalisti uniform tonight. Fellow Sjukstugan player Norpee would have replaced his teammate Nampa77 by default, but was unavailable. Team vatalisti had, by far, the best offense during the group stage with 6.67 GF/GP. Can SadaPoika keep up with Nampa's big point production? Team cHIIMEERa, on the other hand, was more of a strong defensive team during the group stage with only 1.33 GA/GP. Will the previously mentioned statement of "attack wins games, but defense wins championships" take factor in this game? Team cHIIMEERa has a strong all-round team and with players such as former ECL 5 winners @indi969 and @jtorro1233 they will put up a strong fight. This one could go either way. Prediction: Team cHIIMEERa to win 4-2. The top 5 goalies in the All-star group stage, sorted by wins Predicted final: Team ICappeI VS Team cHIIMEERa. With Team ICappeI finishing higher than Team cHIIMEERa in group 1 and Team ICappeI with a win in their game against each other, I predict Team ICappeI to win this tight defensive matchup with a nail-biting 2-1 score. We hope as many of you as possible tune in to watch this top games. It's not often you get to watch the best of the best play together and face each other in 3 on 3 action!

Hey NHLGamers, We recently had a competition to win tickets to see Jokerit and CSKA play in the KHL Playoffs at the Hartwall Arena in Helsinki and I was lucky enough to join the winners to this game on Tuesday. After CSKA goalie Ilja Sorokin and his defence leaving Jokerit scoreless twice in Moscow, Jokerit had finally managed to squeeze a couple in and won the first game in Helsinki 2-1 in OT. Going into Tuesday's game CSKA had a 2-1 series lead. The seats were good and close to the action After a scoreless first period that was slightly dominated by home team Jokerit, CSKA shocked the home audience with an early goal in the second. Jokerit bounced back quite quickly with a deflection goal that tied the game up and the game went into the 3rd period tied at 1-1. The game was starting to feel like another overtime game, until Sergei Andronov fought his way around the net and tried to make a cross crease pass - a pass that eventually would bounce off the skate of an unlucky Jokerit defenceman and into his own net. Jokerit had some quality chances to tie the game up on the power play towards the end, but got into penalty trouble themselves in the last minute and the comeback never happened. Our lucky winners who travelled quite a bit to be there. Thanks for the company! The final result: 1-2 for CSKA and a decisive looking 3-1 series lead. You can watch the highlights of the game here. The games continued last night in Moscow and Jokerit managed to win the game - which turned out to be the longest game in KHL history - in the 5th overtime period! The shots were 84-48 in CSKA's favor, but Karri Rämö only let in one goal and forced the series into game 6, which will be played in Helsinki on Saturday the 24th of March. You can watch the highlights of game 5 here and if you're interested in getting tickets for game 6 in Helsinki, they are available here. Be sure to clear your calendar, just to be safe, in case these two teams decide to break some new records on Saturday night. If you're in the Nordics, but can't make it to Helsinki for the game, you can also watch the game with a Viaplay subscription. We would like to thank our guests for the good company at Tuesdays game and a big thank you to Jokerit for cooperation in this competition. Let's hope this series gets a deserved game 7. For NHLGamer.com

Hey NHLGamers, right now there is so much great stuff going on in this community. We have been enjoying a very entertaining All-Star Week, Pro teams pushing for their playoff spots and last but not least, the first round of the Lite playoffs. Nearly every favorite won their series, but they had to fight hard to get to the next stage. David alias EaLogic nearly crushed the dreams of Goliath alias Bare Knuckles Hockey. Will there be a big surprise in round 2? If your team lost your series, keep your head up, learn from it and come back even stronger next year! Did you win? Great, you advanced to the next level, but don't think it's gonna get any easier. Keep the momentum going, there will be no cakewalk to the finals! Let's have a look at the upcoming matchups: (1) Bare Knuckles Hockey vs MotherPuckers (19) (2) Cowabunga Hockey vs Bucketeers (17) (3) SGWEER United vs Sektion K (15) (4) Hippo Rangers vs Pohjoista Voimaa (13) (5) Rukoilevat Hinkkaajat vs Freddie Mercury Insitute (12) (6) Suomen Sonnit vs Style (11) (7) GHETTO FIREBIRDS vs Korpens Finest (10) (8) EV Duisburg vs Etelan Vetelat (9) The second round is going to be played from 23rd March until 29th March 2018 (next Thursday). No extra time will be given! There are many interesting matchups and it will be fun to watch. Stay tuned on the streams which will be featured on our main page. Best of luck for all the remaining teams!

Hey NHLGamers, we hope you are excited as we are to get the playoffs started. As we mentioned in our post about the playoff-pairings, it’s now time to step up or step aside. Can an underdog step face-to-face against a goliath, or are there going to be dreams crushed by the recent favorites? In this article we give you our predictions about every match-up and mention possible factors for every team. VS Bare Knuckles Hockey (17-1-0 / L10: 9-1-0) vs EaLogic (9-7-2 / L10: 3-6-1) David vs Goliath or EaLogic vs Bare Knuckles Hockey. Is it even fair? Bare Knuckles Hockey finished with the best record in the regular season, coming up short of a perfect regular season with a loss in the last game. EaLogic had an upside down season: they failed to compete against the top guns of their group and were the last team to jump on the playoff train via a nail-biting tie-breaker. We don't mean to be harsh, but this sounds like a pretty obvious outcome. The cornerstone of this high scoring offense (78 goals) is right winger Teroe94 with 60 points, finished #2 among skaters. Their man in the crease Geqee also had a strong regular season, gaining 15 wins with only 1,81 GAA by 4 shutouts. On the other side of the field center Chaostive has to lead his team offensively and get their defensive tight to reduce scoring chances. Prediction: 4:0 Bare Knuckles Hockey VS Cowabunga Hockey (15-2-1 / L10: 8-1-1) vs Slapshot Club Germany (9-6-3 / L10: 5-4-1) Cowabunga Hockey can tear apart opponents with their high-scoring offense (84 goals), which is lead by #1 top scorer Fin_torsp90 (63 points). As if that wouldn’t be enough, they have the best goaltender so far in this season. Jonitski managed a 1,44 GAA average with an outstanding save percentage of 88%. Cowabunga Hockey's whole defensive game plan worked so far, with only 26 goals against in 18 games. Slapshot Club Germany had a bad start, strong mid-season and an even worse finish. Despite managing to get the necessary wins to make it to the playoffs, the team struggled to find their game all season long. Their defensive core has to step up and needs to keep clear shots for their netminder NHLDennis86. As they won’t get that many scoring chances, they have to be very effective in the offensive zone. Prediction: 4:1 Cowabunga Hockey VS SGWEER United (15-2-1 / L10: 7-2-1) vs Kaksikymmentaseitseman (8-7-3 / L10: 6-4-0) SGWEER United had the top scoring offense (86 goals) of this past regular season, but their defense is one of the weakest among the top teams. The top offensive duo Gregson91 and riNBF3 (both over 55 Points) needs to keep scoring to keep their hopes of moving on to the next round alive. The Germans also have the best defensive pairing measured in points, but they need to step up in the defensive zone. Their lack of effectiveness could bother them as you can see in the first two results (7:3 win, 2:1 loss). Kaksikymmentaseitseman had a sloppy start, but gaining 6 out of their 8 wins in their last 10 games. They need to keep their net clean and score on the chances they will get. Prediction: 4:2 SGWEER United VS Hippo Rangers (15-2-1 / L10: 10-0-0) vs KulmalaHengaus (8-7-3 / L10: 4-4-2) Hippo Rangers had the best possible record in the last 10 games, finishing strong with 10 wins. Their strong defensive core around their goaltender Perkkari - who managed a 1,50 goals against average with a save percentage of 84% - needs to play as they're used to. They are strong in faceoffs (57%), which could be the factor in tight match-ups. Their wingers lilchippah and Jii84-- (nearly 100 points in 18 games combined) need to keep their path going and hype their team up. Kulmala Hengaus struggled all season long, but won all important matchups against their evenly skilled opponents. They need to power up their offense to score against their opponents really good defense. Prediction: 4:0 Hippo Rangers VS Rukoilevat Hinkkaajat (14-3-1 / L10: 8-2-0) vs Rusty Bulls (10-7-1 / L10: 7-3-0) Rusty Bulls is a experienced team with a lot of tournaments under their belt. Rukoilevat Hinkkaajat had one of the best goal differences in the regular season. Rukoilevat have a well merited LW/C in Samzoni and he knows how to play the tough games and get out with a win. Prediction: 4:1 Rukoilevat Hinkkaajat VS Suomen Sonnit (14-3-1- / L10: 8-2-0) vs Cancun Pirates (10-7-1 / L10: 5-4-1) Suomen Sonnit has a lot of really experienced former ECL Pro players. Cancun Pirates is a sponsored French team in their first season. In this series the Bauer sponsorship will not matter. Sonnit would want to make an early statement and sweep Cancun. Prediction: 4:0 Suomen Sonnit VS Ghetto Firebirds (14-3-1 / L10: 7-2-1) vs ICEBREAKERS EAGLES (10-6-2 / L10: 6-3-1) Ghetto Firebirds have been pendling up and down between Pro and Lite. This time they will try their hardest to get up to Pro and stay there. With a faceoff percentage of over 58% they can build a little momentum in tight matchups. ICEBREAKERS EAGLES is a fusion of three old OEHL teams. Eagles can surprise quite a few people. They have a good mix of players and it's worth keeping an eye on Willander97, if he gets playtime in this series, as I'm sure he will score some goals. Prediction: 4:1 Ghetto Firebirds VS EV Duisburg (14-4-0 / L10: 8-2-0) vs Soldiers of Odens (11-7-0 / L10: 7-3-0) EV Duisburg has a lot of experience in ECL Lite, having played 3 seasons in Lite. However, this time their roster looks strong and deep, so they will look to get promoted. Their decent power play (30%) could take them a little step further into the next round. Soldiers of Odens have a couple Lite seasons under their belt, but they barely made it through to the playoffs with a negative goal difference. Odens improved their game towards the end of the regular season, are they able to continue? Prediction: 4:2 EV Duisburg VS Etelan Vetelat (14-4-0 / L10: 8-2-0) vs 5th Line Heroes (11-7-0 / L10: 6-4-0) Etelan Vetelat had a good regular season throughout, from a good beginning to a strong finish with 8 wins in their last 10 games. Their decent defense, backed up by their goaltender AcED719 with a 84% save-percentage, has to prevent the scoring chances of the stacked up offense of 5th Line Heroes. Their key to success will be to build up from their offensive outcome and reduce their turnovers. 5th Line Heroes key player will be Ale_012 with an incredible shot percentage of 56,4% by 22 goals in the regular season. Prediction: 4:2 Etelan Vetelat VS Korpens Finest (13-3-2 / L10: 9-0-1) vs The Black Jacks (11-6-1 / L10: 4-5-1) Korpens Finest topped a very tough ECL Lite group - some would say the toughest this season - and played very evenly throughout the season. The Black Jacks played in the same group and could have finished top of the group if two or three results had gone their way. Expect this one to be a tough fight until the very end, maybe with a small advantage for Korpens Finest, as they won both games in the regular season, but it could go either way. Prediction: 4:2 Korpens Finest VS Style (13-4-1 / L10: 9-1-0) vs Roistot (10-4-4 / L10: 8-1-1) Style struggled at the beginning of their season, but got their things together trough mid-season. Their positive trend shows up in their last 10 games, where they won 9 out of 10 games. Roistot's key to success will be to shut down Styles' top scorer Panarinz with 48 points in 18 games. Roistot has a nearly similar path to the playoffs. Their dynamic duo of altsu123 and taikuri8_0, with over 100 combined points, can easily outscore every opponent when they are on fire. They might be the best 5th seed of this season. Prediction: 4:3 Style VS Freddie Mercury Institute (13-4-1 / L10: 6-3-1) vs Elämäm Kiekko (11-5-2 / L10: 6-4-0) In this match-up pair between Freddie Mercury Institute and Elämän Kiekko we find two well experienced teams with several ECL seasons in the bag, both as a team and as individuals. This is a hard matchup to predict. The key duel could be the FMI defense with only 1,5 GA per game versus EMK's right wing Markogirl87, who is ranked #9 in the division with 53 points (23G, 30A). Prediction: 4:3 Freddie Mercury Institute VS Pohjoista Voimaa (13-4-1 / L10: 7-2-1) vs DELIRIUM (12-6-0 / L10: 8-2-0) Pohjoista Voimaa's games may not be spectacular to watch (38 Goals, 25 Goals against), but they are highly effective. Their key to success is to build from their very decent defense around their netminder Meiha (88% save-percentage). DELIRUIM had a strong push towards the end of the regular season and have to be very effective on the few scoring chances they will get, in order to move forward. Prediction: 2:4 DELIRIUM VS Club de Caballeros (12-3-3 / L10: 7-1-2) vs Motherpuckers (12-5-1 / L10: 6-3-1) Also a big matchup with teams from a really tough group. Motherpuckers is an old top team and consists of multiple old Elite players and also a few old EHL winners. Their special teams with a 35% power play could be the key factor in this series. Club de Caballeros have a good mix of new talent and former Pro players. It's also worth mentioning that they have MovaaN, a big name in the community who played for both several Pro seasons and one in Elite. This will be the toughest matchup in this round. Both their mutual regular season games went to OT and you might see these teams needing some extra time a few times this series as well. Prediction: 3:4 Motherpuckers VS Sektion K (12-4-2 / L10: 6-2-2) vs Finnish Hockey Legends (12-5-1 / L10: 6-3-1) Sektion K has players with Pro experience that know what it takes to win against top teams. Honorable mention goes to Edhoolm97, a former Lavetten (ECL Pro) player that knows how to score goals. Finnish Hockey Legends has played well throughout this season but Sektion K have the edge in this series due to their experience. Prediction: 4:1 Sektion K VS HokiDogit (11-3-4 / L10: 6-1-3) vs Bucketeers (12-5-1 / L10: 7-3-0) The regular season records don't not tell you much in this matchup. Even though HokiDogit finished in a higher position in their group and with more points than Bucketeers, Bucketeers is a strong team that played in a tough group. They shouldn't be underestimated here. Bucketeers may not be very well-known in the ECL community, but when you face them in EASHL games that would not be noticeable. With a high paced attack and a strong defence, they will give HokiDogit some tough games. Prediction: 1:4 Bucketeers We are sure that there will be tons of highlights in this years Lite playoffs and they will be very fun to watch, so be sure to save them and send them our way! Credits to @Panarinz and @iRSPe for their help with this article Best of luck to all the teams, play fair, respect your opponent and have fun!

Hey NHLGamers, finally it’s here, our most loved time of the season – playoff hockey! While all real hockey leagues around Europe are about to kick off their playoffs as well, the ECL Lite Division will start things off for NHLGamer and it will be pleasant to watch. Many skilled teams will be working hard to make their way to the ECL Pro Division. Are they able fulfil their own expectations? Will there be any upsets in the first rounds? Or are the favorites gonna have a cakewalk? Furthermore, we would like to thank all teams that were participating in ECL 6! If your season is already over, try to learn from it and become even stronger next time when we call for ECL 7. That being said, if there are still some regular season games with missing stats, be sure to take care of your duties before heading off to the off-season. For the remaining teams, it's time to get things straight. Put all your heart, will and skill together and prove yourselves to be the ones who have to be beaten down the road! The regular season in ECL 6 Lite had 6 groups with 10 teams each. The first 5 teams out of every group as well as the two best teams ranked 6th in their group are qualified for the playoffs. These two additional spots are decided by our usual tie-breakers, which were also used to seed all of the 16 playoff pairs in a "best-against-worst" procedure. These factors are listed below: 1. PPG (points per game average) 2. Wins (regulation and overtime wins) 3. H2H (head-to-head results) 4. Goal differential 5. Goals scored This leads us to the following playoff matchups: (1) Bare Knuckles Hockey vs EaLogic (32) (2) Cowabunga Hockey vs Slapshot Club Germany (31) (3) SGWEER United vs Kaksikymmentaseitseman (30) (4) Hippo Rangers vs KulmalaHengaus (29) (5) Rukoilevat Hinkkaajat vs Rusty Bulls (28) (6) Suomen Sonnit vs Cancun Pirates (27) (7) Ghetto Firebirds vs ICEBREAKERS EAGLES (26) (8) EV Duisburg vs Soldiers of Odens (25) (9) Etelan Vetelat vs 5th Line Heroes (24) (10) Korpens Finest vs The Black Jacks (23) (11) Style vs Roistot (22) (12) Freddie Mercury Institute vs Elämäm Kiekko (21) (13) Pohjoista Voimaa vs DELIRIUM (20) (14) Club de Caballeros vs Motherpuckers (19) (15) Sektion K vs Finnish Hockey Legends (18) (16) HokiDogit vs Bucketers (17) All matchups will be played in a best-of-seven series and the higher ranked seed gets home ice advantage. Due to the schedule becoming available quite late (due to late game reports), we have decided to not count the 15th as one of the Playoff days. Thus, every series has to be finished and reported by March 22nd, 2018. Here is the complete list of Playoff dates for ECL Lite: First round 15.3.-22.3. Second round 23.3.-29.3. Quarter-Finals 30.3.- 7.4. Semi-Finals 8.4.- 14.4. Finals 15.4-21.4. No extra time will be given - be active! Grow a beard, take a beer and let’s get started!

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!

NHLGamers, Here are the playoff pairings and framework for Round 2 of the ECL 5 playoffs for Pro & Elite: FRAMEWORK Each pairing, Elite or Pro, must be finished within 7 days from today, meaning last evening to play games is December 5th. Don't expect any extensions! All pairings are to be played in a best-of-7 series (teams on the left side below play home first) PRO PLAYOFFS After the cross-seeding of the first round between Group 1 and Group 2, we now return to our usual points per game seeding for the rest of the playoffs. Here is how last round ended: Gotham Knights vs. J P T J [2-1, final two games WO from J P T J due to no players available in the alloted time] SIKA vs. THE UNITED KNIGHTS [3-4] Inter Iceland vs. EN HUND [4-2] Lavetten vs. Pata Hellalla [2-4] Unlucky Boys HC vs. Alliance HT [4-2] Shameful Knights vs. Falun Coal Miners [1-4] Nordic Stars vs. White Trash [4-2] Baltic Sea Eagles vs. Evolution [3-4] This gives us the following pairings for Round 2 (new seeds based on points per game relative to each other in regular season): #1 Unlucky Boys HC vs. #8 THE UNITED KNIGHTS #2 Nordic Stars vs. #7 Falun Coal Miners #3 Gotham Knights vs. #6 Pata Hellalla #4 Inter Iceland vs. #5 Evolution ELITE PLAYOFFS For Elite, these were the results of Round 1. Aapon Taikasauva vs. Rusty Blades [4-2] Carlsberg HC vs. Northern Stars [3-4] SJK eSports vs. Northern Ascendancy [4-2] Written In The Stars vs. Dynasty [4-0] This gives us the following pairings for Round 2 (seeds remain unchanged = sorted by points per game in regular season): #1 Aapon Taikasauva vs. #7 Northern Stars #3 SJK eSports vs. #4 Written In The Stars Good luck to all teams and see you for Round 3! ECL Lite announcement regarding Round 3 will be out tomorrow. @The_Alpha_Furyan for NHLGamer.com

ECL 5 - Elite Playoffs A week after the ECL 5 Lite playoffs kicked off, Pro and Elite are now heading into the most exciting time of the season too! The Pro playoffs will be covered in a seperate post, so if you are a Pro team be sure to check that out. Time to cover Elite! FRAMEWORK Each pairing, championship or promotion/relegation faceoffs, must be finished within 7 days of the series' start date. Don't expect any extensions! All pairings are to be played in a best-of-7 series (teams on the left side below play home first) ELITE PLAYOFFS The very best 8 teams are about to enter the final stages of the most exciting 6 vs. 6 competition NHLGamer has to offer! It's where everlasting stories are written (no pun intended) and true heroes are born. The ECL Elite playoffs starts off with these 4 pairings: Aapon Taikasauva vs. Rusty Blades Carlsberg HC vs. Northern Stars SJK eSports vs. Northern Ascendancy Written In The Stars vs. Dynasty ELITE RELEGATION FACEOFFS The teams that finished 13th and 14th in the standings will pause for a bit until two ECL Pro semi-final losers are determined. Thus, while two Elite teams are relegated instantly (see below), a strong ECL Pro representation could potentially open up two more Elite spots: Nordic Nightmare vs. ECL Pro semi-final loser 1 (series starts when ECL Pro semi-finals are finished) TIKI TALK vs. ECL Pro semi-final loser 2 (series starts when ECL Pro semi-finals are finished) ECL RELEGATIONS Synergy Hockey and Nordic Lightning weren't able to get it done in Elite this season and are relegated to ECL Pro for ECL 6. However, there's no time for frustration - charge the batteries and come back strong in ECL 6! THE (UN)LUCKY FEW? MUKIMIEHET, Kattiautomaatti, Sjukstugan and Silver Sword Griffins finished the season ranked 9 to 12 and will remain in ECL Elite for ECL 6. While MUKIMIEHET came very close to making the playoffs, the other teams were in danger of being relegated but managed to evade it. With new Pro teams entering the ring, things are only going to get tougher in the future, so stay focused and keep building those rosters to not share the fates of Synergy Hockey's and Nordic Lightning's next season. Best of luck to everyone and see you on the ice! @The_Alpha_Furyan & @gzell60 for NHLGamer.com

ECL 5 - Lite Playoffs It is time to get the Lite Playoffs underway and below you will find the playoff pairings that will get it done. Before you scroll down, the NHLGamer.com staff would like to thank all 48 Lite teams who finished the ECL 5 season. You guys truly rock and despite some hard decisions that were forced to be made here towards the end of the season, we hope to see all of you back again for ECL 6 (regardless if it is in Lite or Pro!) when it starts up in January 2018. Thank you. Note that all the playoff series are to be played in the Best of 7-format. Playoff pairings (left = home, right = away, seeds marked with #) # 1 Deadly Phantoms HC vs. # 32 (WILDCARD) Bucketeers # 2 SGWEER United vs. # 31 (WILDCARD) Roistot # 3 Almost Famous vs. # 30 KulmalaHengaus # 4 Raging Monkeys vs. # 29 Rising Phantoms HC # 5 Red Machine vs. # 28 Slapshot Club Germany # 6 Face Wash Hockey vs. # 27 IN4MOUS # 7 Try Another Hole vs. # 26 Ice Phoenix # 8 EV Duisburg vs. # 25 Rusty Bulls # 9 HC Aurinko vs. # 24 Breakers of The Bone # 10 Squad Vilttiketju vs. # 23 Nottingham Chiefs # 11 RAKETTIPUTKET vs. # 22 Rukoilevat Hinkkaajat # 12 The Beagle Boys vs. # 21 Mentula SKA # 13 Penalty Box vs. # 20 Lucky Strike # 14 Nearbird Fighters vs. # 19 Finnish Hockey Legends # 15 Nordic Nosebleed vs. # 18 Freddie Mercury Institute # 16 Nordic Eagles vs. # 17 Puck Panthers Playoff schedule To be able to complete ECL 5 Lite before Christmas, this is the exact timeline that needs to be held for the playoffs. No extra time will be given during these playoffs as we won't be able to complete the playoffs before the holidays in that case and if there is one thing I am sure we can all agree on, is that we dont want a repeat of ECL 3 where the "christmas break" turned out to be devastating for the playoffs. Anyway, here is the schedule: Round 1: Starts 2017-11-16 (TODAY!) with last day to play games 2017-11-22 Round 2: Starts 2017-11-23 with last day to play games 2017-11-29 Round 3 (Quarterfinals): Starts 2017-11-30 with last day to play games 2017-12-06 Round 4 (Semi-finals): Starts 2017-12-07 with last day to play games 2017-12-13 Round 5 (Finals): Starts 2017-12-14 with last day to play games 2017-12-20 The playoff tree and schedule can be found here: https://nhlgamer.com/league.php?leagueID=25&gameType=regular&show=playoffs Good luck to all remaining teams. Text by: @The_Alpha_Furyan Art by: @Lurkins & @OxtreeLAT

Greetings, gamers After the first round of playoffs, we have 8 teams left competing for their free copies of NHL 18. We saw some upsets in the first round. Most notably NG Cheap Shot eliminating the 2nd seeded team, NG Kelamiehet, and the 3rd seeded team, NG Blackout, being eliminated by NG International Army. Let's have a look at how the first round played out: NG Club Kannunkulma vs. NG Oispa Taitoo: 3-2 NG Kelamiehet vs. NG Cheap Shot: 2-3 NG Blackout vs. NG International Army: 1-3 NG Parolan Visa vs. NG Puck Nation: 3-2 NG Nighthawks vs. NG Goose Egg: 3-0 NG 50 Shades of Blades vs. NG Paikallinen: 3-1 NG Texas 6 Rangers vs. NG Trashers: 1-3 NG Alchology vs. NG Ultras: 3-1 The match-ups for Round 2 will be as follows: NG Club Kannunkulma (1) vs. NG Cheap Shot (15) NG Parolan Visa (4) vs. NG International Army (14) NG Nighthawks (5) vs. NG Trashers (10) NG 50 Shades of Blades (6) vs. NG Alcohology (8) Good luck everyone, and remember to provide links to streams on the front page, thanks!

Good afternoon NHLGamers, One look at the calendar and you might think its just another Monday at the start of July. Here at NHLGamer.com we know better though, for today is anything but an ordinary day... it is the start of the playoffs for Summer Cup 2, presented by Webhallen! Ever since the Summer Cup draft took place on May 28th, 30 unique teams and more than 300 of the top european EASHL players have clashed - repeatedly - in order to have a chance at the ultimate prize when it comes to summer hockey; the NHLGamer Summer Cup title. This year, conquering that title doesn't just come with bragging rights amongst your peers, it also means winning extraordinary prizes courtesy of our tournament sponsor Webhallen. Needless to say, the coming weeks hold plenty to get excited about! With that said, there are a ways to go before a champion can be crowned. First of all we have the intriguing (and brutal!) matter of getting 16 playoff teams to become just 2 finalists. Without further ado, here are your 2017 Summer Cup playoff pairings; NG Club Kannunkulma - NG Oispa Taitoo NG KELAMIEHET - NG Cheap Shot NG Blackout - NG International Army NG Parolan Visa - NG Puck Nation NG Nighthawks - NG Goose Egg NG 50 Shades of Blades - NG Paikallinen NG Texas 6 Rangers - NG Trashers NG Alcohology - NG Ultras You can find the entire playoff tree here Walkovers On a more somber note, we regret to announce that there was some administrational intervention required when it came to the matter of finishing the regular season. The following Summer Cup teams failed to complete the season on time and were dealt Walkover losses: - NG Hupimunat: 4 WO Losses - NG Hunky Dory: 4 WO Losses - NG Golden Nuggets: 4 WO Losses - NG Terror Squad: 4 WO Losses - NG PONTIKKAPOJAT: 2 WO Losses Playoff specifics The first round of the playoffs is to be played 3.7.2017 - 9.7.2017. This means the second round will start on 10.7.2017 with the rest of the playoff rounds following the same Monday-Sunday pattern. Should all playoff pairings in a round be ready ahead of time there is the option of starting the next round early, so do bear that in mind when scheduling games. The goal and intention of the NHLGamer Staff remains to have a Summer Cup winner crowned before the NHL 18 Beta is released. Furthermore, all playoff rounds are to be played Best-of-5. This is, of course, a procedure specific to our Summer Cup format (ECL remains Best -of-7), designed to make sure the 1-week time span is enough to complete each playoff round even during summer. Additional thoughts On a personal note I would just like to take this opportunity to thank all the players I have gotten to interact with during this Summer Cup. Just like last season, I have made many new friends and aquintances among my own Summer Cup teammates but also among our opponents. In the end, bringing the community closer together is the ultimate purpose with the Summer Cup and if you'd ask me; I'd say it was another great experience! Good luck in the playoffs and as always... later skaters,

Hello NHLGamers, As the second round of the playoffs has been completed, it's time to look at the match-ups for the upcoming round. Elite finals, Pro semifinals and Lite quarterfinals - it's crunch time. Here are the match-ups: ECL Elite finals Dynasty vs. Laser HT ECL Pro semifinals Carlsberg HC vs. Silver Sword GriffinsKattiautomaatti vs. Sjukstugan ECL Lite quarterfinals Hawks Hockey Club vs. HC Ancient WarriorsDEAD END KINGS vs. Banterfield BattalionEN HUND vs. Lavetten J P T J vs. Dynamo Danglers The third round of ECL 4 Playoffs is to be played 19.04 to 25.04. Good luck! NHLGamer.com

Hey NHL Gamers, As most of you probably have noticed, there's been some controversy between the teams Synergy Hockey and Silver Sword Griffins. We will start this post off by laying down the information and staff ruling in this case and finish off with the round 2 matchups. The NHL Gamers staff was approached yesterday (3.1.) with Synergy Hockey (from here on SYN) asking what to do, when it's the last day and Silver Sword Griffins (from here on SSG) can't play. We instructed that the games need to be played yesterday. SYN was available to play, while SSG replied to them "I told you yesterday that we can't. We don't have to play with a suboptimal roster just because you couldn't play at all last two weeks" and adding "We could've finished yesterday but see Pelle I think it was who called it a night at 10pm. And now we have to adapt to that?". Here are the bullet points that we gathered from talking to both teams: The teams were supposed to play their first games on the 20th of December. SSG cancelled at the last minute due to "problems with personal relationship between our RW and G". SYN had before these games communicated to SSG that they can't play until the 2nd of January due to Christmas and New Years plans. As the games on the 20th were cancelled, SYN was able to offer another opportunity to play on the 22nd of January, where they played (according to their description) with a non-optimal line-up, in order to get the series started. SSG won both of the two games that were played. Series 0-2. The second batch of games were to be played, as agreed, on the 2nd of January. SYN asked before the games "How many games today (at most). 3?", to which SSG replied "yeah, something like that". SYN won the first game, SSG won the second game (making the series 1-3), after which SYN asked "One more?" and SSG replied "yeah". After the third game of the evening (SYN won and made the series 2-3), SSG asks "can you keep playing?", but SYN says that they can't and asks if SSG can play the next day. It is also explained that one of their players has already went to sleep. 13 minutes later, at 22:07 Swedish time, SSG says that they can't play on Wednesday, which is the last day of the first round. Neither teams are directly asking for WO's, but as time has run out and we're past the extra allocated day, we can not continue to give out more time for the series. The criteria on which we made our decision: We do not believe either team to have purposefully ended up in this situation. SYN was unavailable to play for a lot of evenings, however they did communicate this very clearly and were available to play on 4 occasions (20th, 22nd, 2nd and 3rd). SSG says they were ready to play on all default days. SSG didn't at any point contact the staff about any issues with the series. Only after being asked to play on the last day (3rd of Jan), they started communicating with the staff. Their explanation is that SYN was largely unavailable and that they are to be blamed for the situation. SSG claims they thought the 2nd of Jan was the correct date, as communicated earlier (before adding the extra day). Their point is valid about the clarity of the staff's communication and it is noted, but doesn't validate their unclear communication. As mentioned above, SSG made a comment about not agreeing to play with a "suboptimal" roster on the last day of the playoffs. They later commented to the staff that this was said out of frustration and wasn't accurate, and that they actually didn't have the appropriate amount of players to play. SSG did not communicate to SYN on time that they won't be able to continue the series on Tuesday. They only communicated this after some of SYN had left after the games on Monday. SYN asked up front how many games will be played and "one more" and not at any point was it mentioned that the series will have to be finished on Monday. After hearing both sides and investigating this case thoroughly - we have made the tough decision that Synergy Hockey advances to the second round of playoffs with WO's against the Silver Sword Griffins. We would like to remind everyone that the staff works as a team and there are votes on the difficult matters. The vote in this case was not unanimous, but this decision was supported by the majority. Walkovers at this stage are unfortunate but all teams need to be aware of the deadlines and due to the extra time already allocated, for the greater good, the NHLGamer Staff is forced to make this decision so the second round can start as promised. We've done our best to describe above, that we do believe both teams have made mistakes in this series. With better communication, these issues could've been avoided. The staff would've been happy to step in and do our best to help at an earlier stage. Bringing things up on the last possible day is not the approach that we want to encourage. Below are the second round pairings. Second round of playoffs is to be played 4. - 10.1. Laser HT - TIKI TALK Aapon Taikasauva - Fat Cats Northern Stars - Northern Ascendancy Written in the Stars - Nordic Nightmare Synergy Hockey - Mukimiehet X Factor - Dynasty SIKA - Nordic Lightning Finnish Roosters - Nordic Blizzard The schedule and playoff tree will reflect this as soon as possible. In the mean time, feel free to start playing. Respectfully, The NHLGamer Staff

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

Evening NHLGamers, This post is meant to update you on what has been going on the last couple of days so, dive in. A recap of what has been going on and information about Round 2 - Playoffs First of all, Round 1 of the playoffs are over - at least to our understanding. I say "at least to our understanding" as we haven't been able to get 100% confirmation of this as the website NHLGamer.com has been down the last couple of days. This downtime was neither planned nor intentional and wasn't caused by the site itself but rather the website service provider. This led the staff, and particularly web wizards @Lurkins and @Kenu, on a quest to get everything up and running again which they have now been able to do. The outtage came at quite an inconvenient time though, seeing as the Summer Cup was knee deep into its playoff phase and Lurkins was in the process of putting together a playoff tree right when it happened. Some playoff games had even been reported in (namely the games between Mighty 8 Balls/Team PELTIKII and Hupimunat/Royal Warriors) and here's where the bad news kick in... due to the server issues these games will have to be re-reported as we work to rebuild the playoff section of the Summer Cup. We know this isn't ideal and we apologize for the frustration of having to report 2-3 games again but it's the best we can do under the circumstances. The playoff section is being built as we speak and we hope to have it up and running as soon as tonight - meaning you will be able to see a playoff tree and report all your playoff games tonight. Again, apologies for the inconvenience. We do have information that the other two playoff series have been played during the website downtime which means that 4/4 playoff series are done, meaning we can move on to Round 2 of the Summer Cup Playoffs! Round 1 results and Round 2 match-ups Here is how Round 1 shook out, according to our information (feel free to correct us if anything is wrong): Mighty 8 Balls vs. TEAM PELTIKII (2-1 in games) Hupimunat vs. Royal Warriors (2-1 in games) Team Juizki vs. Club Kannunkulma (0-2 in games) Team pelimies80 vs. Mirage (2-1 in games) Now, this means that for Round 2, we have the following teams: From Group 1: Seed #1 (Mighty 8 Balls) Seed #2 (Hupimunat) Seed #4 (Team pelimies80) From Group 2 Seed #2 (Club Kannunkulma) This means that we have a #1 seed, two #2 seeds and a #4 seed to organize into matchups. To organize these matchups, we took a look at the teams respective regular season point totals which created a ranking of Mighty 8 Balls 26p, Hupimunat 22p, Club Kannunkulma 21p, Team pelimies80 19p. Which in turn created the following matchups: #1 Mighty 8 Balls vs. #4 Team pelimies80 #2 Hupimunat vs. #3 Club Kannunkulma Again, the rules are best of 3 games and as today marks the launch of Round 2, we calculate another 5-6 days for this round with another 7 days after that for the finals (best of 7). Should everything run smoothly from here on out, we look forward to crowning a Summer Cup winner in the first week of September. Reminders - PLEASE READ Playoff games aside, there are still some games unreported for the regular season. While we can overlook the playoff games not being reported (obviously that part is on us and the website service provider) the unreported regular season are a different matter entirely. So please, take a look if your team has any unreported games for the regular season and just report the games, including player stats. Not only is it part of the rulebook to report the games within a reasonable amount of time, the finished game reporting would make it a lot easier for me, for example, to make the proper adjustments to the regular season awards. C'mon guys, just report it. Also a friendly reminder to the captains to send their Summer Cup Trophy nominees to me. I have received a few (about 4 out 14) but there are still many to go. Questions If you have any questions about anything, feel free to fire away in the comment section! As always, being curious is a good thing. On behalf of the NHLGamer Staff and also, "later skaters", The_Alpha_Furyan

Evening NHLGamers, As you are no doubt aware of, the ECL Summer Cup regular season came to an end tonight. Having been delayed a bit and getting some of the wind taken out of its' sails by the NHL 17 Beta Week, the Summer Cup nonetheless marches on. Here are the final standings for the two groups; Standings Group 1: (One result wrongly reported, but these are the correct standings) 1. Mighty 8 Balls, 26 points 2. Hupimunat, 22 points (tiebreaker over Team Juizki, more goals scored) 3. Team Juizki, 22 points 4. Team Pelimies80, 19 points (tiebreaker over Ullas Pojkar, 7 wins to 6) 5. Ullas Pojkar, 19 points 6. Los Dominos, 15 points 7. Team Billy44205, 3 points Group 2: 1. Mirage, 21 points (tiebreaker over Club Kannunkulma, 7 wins to 6) 2. Club Kannunkulma, 21 points 3. Royal Warriors, 19 points 4. TEAM PELTIKII, 18 points (tiebreaker over Everyday Im Byfuglien, 7 wins to 6) 5. Everyday Im Byfuglien, 18 points 6. Latvian Army For Hire, 16 points 7. Thats the Spirit, 13 points Playoffs The playoffs will look a bit different from the past ECL tournaments, this being the Summer Cup and all. There is only about a month left until NHL 17 is released which means we need to up the tempo a bit on the playoffs (as the extended Beta delayed the tournament by about a week). This means the playoffs will start TOMORROW (17/8-2016) and work as BEST OF 3-series until the Finals where - time permitting - the final two teams will play a best of 7 to determine the ultimate Summer Cup champion. This means a whole playoff series (3 games at the max) can be played in one night, something that should help with scheduling as the summer winds down and people start to head back into the "real world" = jobs/school/etc. We have calculated roughly 5 days per playoff round for the quarter- and semi finals but if they are completed sooner than that, we will of course accelerate the start of the next round. So, the Summer Cup playoff pairings will look like this: Mighty 8 Balls vs. TEAM PELTIKII Hupimunat vs. Royal Warriors Team Juizki vs. Club Kannunkulma Team pelimies80 vs. Mirage The Summer Cup has, in the eyes of the staff, been a great success and a fun opportunity to get to know some new people in the community! So, we'd like to acknowledge and thank all of you who have participated so far, with a special thank you going to the captains for making this as smooth a ride as possible. Of course, not everything can be smooth sailing always and alas we had some games that had to be settled by walkover. Walkovers In this case, Team Billy44205 was forced (due to inability to get enough skaters to complete matches) to submit walkover wins to two teams, as follows; Team Billy44205 vs. Team Pelimies80 0-5 Team Billy44205 vs. Team Juizki 0-5 Team Pelimies80 vs. Team Billy44205 5-0 Team Juizki vs. Team Billy44205 5-0 Billy, the captain, has handled the situation as well as can be expected and has communicated to the staff his efforts to set up games. No further discipline will be excercised in this matter. Point deductions The staff were presented with a number of cases where exceptions and/or trouble and miscommunication arose in regards to the "3-game rule". These matters were in regards to about five different teams. The staff has decided not to give these teams point deductions for two reasons (with #1 being the primary reason); 1. In every case the captains were able to show (through batches of print screens and messages) that they, in fact, tried above and beyond the call of duty to get all players involved in atleast 3 games. This is something we knew could happen when the tournament started but again, the majority of teams were able to comply with the 3-game rule and the teams that weren't, didn't end up in that situation for a lack of trying. This is important to emphasize because it was what formed the basis of our ruling. 2. In the individual cases where team point deductions were considered, all of the teams were out of the playoffs as far as the final standings go. Making point deductions would not have changed the playoff picture. Individual discipline Just because the teams weren't handed any point deductions doesn't mean there won't be any discipline doled out during this tournament. The Staff has, as indicated above, been handed a number of cases by the captains where individual players put their teams in tough situations and sometimes even acted immature and difficult. Each individual case will be reviewed further by the staff and communicated to the players affected after the end of the tournament. If you are one of the players who for some reason didn't complete 3 games for your team, fear not. It is not the intention of the staff to mindlessly throw punishments about, especially in cases where real-life circumstances were a factor. However, inappropriate behaviour will not be tolerated and as such, discipline will be imposed after the individual reviews are completed. Questions If you have any questions, feel free to fire away in the comment section! Being curious is a good thing. On behalf of the NHLGamer Staff and also, "later skaters", The_Alpha_Furyan

Hey Everyone, We'd like to thank you for getting the regular season done in a timely matter! Unfortunately we didn't get through even this short regular season without a dropout and thus handing out WO's, but for the most part, things have been going really smoothly. It's time to move into the second ECL Season Playoffs and below you will find the Playoff pairs: Group 1 vs Group 2 Nordic Lightning - Nordic Hockey Tigers Dynasty - Ace Holes HC Sjukstugan - ORIGINS Kattiautomaatti - Beniserna Group 3 vs Group 4 Nordic Nightmare - Rising Force Victorious Secret HC - SIKA Refuse To Lose - TIKI TALK Nordic Blizzard - Fat Cats Group 5 vs Group 6 Synergy Hockey - Freaky Friday Aapon Taikasauva - Nordic Stars Infinity - Written In The Stars Silver Sword Griffins - HC IceTigers Group 7 vs Group 8 Helter Skelter - Rising Phantoms HC Finnish Roosters - Falun Coal Miners HC Shameful Knights - Murohoki MUKIMIEHET - Northern Stars The games will be played best-out-of-7 and groups 1-4 will be on the left hand side of the playoff tree and 5-8 on the right side. In the second round the teams will be reseeded based on points per game, however groups 1-4 and 5-8 won't mix until the finals. The time allotted for every round in the playoffs is one week and the default scheduled days are Monday, Wednesday and Thursday. Sunday should not be used for scheduling - only as a last resort to get the games played. This will allow us to have everything set up and for the next round to start on time. There are a few statistical mistakes currently displaying on the page that will be fixed shortly. The actual standings have been taken into consideration while creating the above pairs. On behalf of the NHL Gamer Staff,