Falun Coal Miners

[l-Furyan-l]

[From our Facebook]

🎮 FCM ANNOUNCEMENT: Sunday Night Stream 🎮

At Coal Miner Central - yes, that is what we call our headquarters - we enjoy consistency. We value keeping a roster together for an extended period of time, we enjoy knowing exactly when the shows and movies we like are released and we like it when there is a set schedule for when to tune in to our favorite streamers. As we were discussing the matter, a realization dawned on us… perhaps other people enjoy consistency too? 

Yes we know. Clever, huh?

Anyway, in the name of consistency we are introducing "Sunday Night Stream", live every week on our Twitch channel CoalMinersTV. With this new weekly feature, you won't have to feel bad if you miss out on an ECL Elite game on Monday or some Pro Clubs action on Tuesday, because you'll know: "Oh well, I'll at least catch some FCM action on the Sunday Night Stream".

Sunday Night Stream will always go live at 20.00 CEST on Sundays and feature gameplay from NHL 18/19, FIFA 18/19 or whatever other games we decide to play. Sometimes there'll be competitive games (ECL, for example) broadcasted as well but usually, this weekly feature will be a relaxed-type stream where we can hang out and talk hockey, football, gaming and coal mining. 

Oh and, there'll be a professional streaming webcam present - so you'll be able to see and interact with whoever is streaming on CoalMinersTV.

The premiere is THIS SUNDAY (July 22nd) at 20.00 CEST and the destination is, as always, https://twitch.tv/CoalMinersTV

See you there!

Edited January 9, 2019 by The_Alpha_Furyan

[l-Furyan-l]

ECL 7 Elite - a.k.a "the season where nobody believes in us… again"

So, a lot has happened for the Coal Miners lately. That's why I'm going to tell you an incredible story, kids. The story of how I met your m... iner. Jokes. Fun. Laughter.

Anyway, stuff HAS happened over at Coal Miner Central so to get any (hello?) and all readers up to speed, here's a quick rundown:

• We said good-bye to one of our "heart-and-soul" players 😥 Remember us, @minokin. Always!
• We partnered up with a Spanish professional football team 😎
• Our captain (me!) somehow made the EA SPORTS Gamechanger program 🤯
• We scored our first goal of NHL 19 🤑
• We gained a new assistant captain 👨‍✈️ Attaboy, @pentsaa!
• We signed a Norwegian and a German ✈️ Welcome @Panserhagen & @Asche!
• We signed up for ECL 7, Elite license and all... 
• …only to be predicted to finish 15th out of 16 teams in the division. Thanks, Elite captains 💩

Anyway.

Once again us Miners are deemed a hopeless case - not prepared for what is to come in ECL 7. In response to that I'd like to quote my personal Lord and Saviour; Richard B. Riddick on two occasions.

First: "Don't know how many times I've been crossed off the list and left for dead, so this, this ain't nothing new. So yet again, we play for blood".

I'll get to the second quote soon.

But if you thought putting us at the bottom of the rankings was going to make us lay down and die, well… I hope we won't. That would be awkward. (Haha.) 
No, it won't. But you know what it will do? It'll put us right back in the position of being the plucky underdog, which is where we prefer to be anyway. We're used to working underground for eight hours a day so striking from below suits us just fine.

The second quote?

See for yourself...

OH AND WAIT, I almost forgot… here is our lineup for this season:

Over n' out,
Cap

[l-Furyan-l]

HIGHLIGHTS
ECL 7
ROUND 1
vs. SIKA (0-3, 4-1)

 

[Seems like the music might be blocked in Finland - sorry about that. Will try new audio next game!] 

[l-Furyan-l]

Well, the experts were right - FCM did finish 15th, hah! 😂 

ECL 7 was a really, really tough season for us. We didn't even come close to meeting the expectations we had set for ourselves. That said, as a team we take some pride in being able to finish the season - even when it looked like we wouldn't be able to. Thanks for having us, Elite.

Anyway. Not completely related to our Elite relegation but - let's be honest here - somewhat connected to it, we have a short message to present:

To quote the great Bilbo Baggins from Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring: "I regret to announce — this is The End". After 8 tournaments (ECL 1-7, OEHL 4) and over three years of jokes, mining and great (well... good) hockey - Falun Coal Miners is folding and will therefore not be participating in the upcoming ECL 8. 

All players on the FCM roster are now to be considered Free Agents. Snatch them up quickly if you can - those who will continue playing, that is - because they are terrific people with good hockey minds. I can personally vouch for that.

Who knows, perhaps FCM will even be back some day. You never know.  Until then, thanks to everyone who has suited up for the Red, White 'n Coal!

Good luck to all the teams and players out there and a special "keep it going for ECL 8" to TIKI TALK, Gotham Knights (Refuse To Lose), Silver Sword Griffins, Northern Stars, Sjukstugan, Synergy Hockey, SIKA, Dynasty, Northern Ascendancy - who are now set to become the last nine teams to play in all ECL tournaments.

We dug coal together ⛏️

Edited December 4, 2018 by The_Alpha_Furyan

[l-Furyan-l]

"Who knows, perhaps FCM will even be back some day. You never know."

* 4 years later *
 

***

New roster TBA... ⛏️

[l-Furyan-l]

Falun Coal Miners - 2022 Edition

To @LastMandalorian and @pentsaa, I say: welcome back 🤝

To the remaining players on the roster, all first-time Miners, I say: welcome to Coal Country ⛏️

 

[l-Furyan-l]

ECL '22 Spring Elite - Weekly Report

You know how sometimes you do a thing without even realizing why you are doing it? And it doesn't become clear to you until you look back on that very thing later, now able to put together the context and rationale behind your actions?

That was me, reading back this thread. 

At the time of writing, I thought I was just providing a bit of entertaining content for the community while keeping those genuinely interested in the team (potentially the most narrow target audience of all time... 👀) in the loop on what was happening. But now I realize that what I was really doing was creating a time capsule, of sorts. A written record of the trials and tribulations of a hobby project that seemed doomed to fail, yet soared above and beyond expectations.

Until it eventually did fail 😂 But let's not focus on that.

I always look back fondly on FCM's playoff run in ECL 5 Pro or the hardships and challenges of ECL 6 Elite, but it wasn't until I read back the posts (<- linked) that I was truly transported back into those moments - immediately able to recall multiple individual plays on the ice and the raw emotion each and every one of them brought. That's when it all clicked and a cartoonish light bulb appeared above my head; "it's a time capsule" 💡

So, here I am. Again. Chronicling a weekly FCM report, again. Hopefully not on a journey towards another crushing defeat - only to then look back at these words fondly in four years time. But if that is the case (again), so be it.

As Michael Scott from The Office would say; 

***

⛏️ Week 1 (4-2-0 vs. hREDS, Conquer, IQUE):
When the schedule dropped for ECL '22 Spring Elite, we weren't exactly doing the Macarena on the rooftops of Falun. Mostly because none of the players, past or present, actually live in Falun anymore. But if we had been living in Falun, we wouldn't have been doing the Macarena on its rooftops in any way, shape or form. The reason? Our first week featured matchups against back-to-back ECL Champions hREDS, a Conquer squad hungry for revenge after how last season ended and an IQUE squad that finished 4th overall in the standings last regular season and managed to retain their full roster going into this one. 

Every week is a flat-out battle in Elite, but still... Yikes.

With literally everybody and their uncle (barring a few notable exceptions) predicting a spectacular failure for this #FCMRevival, the stage was set for an immediate losing streak. And the season started off in precisely that way when we dropped a pair of decisions (0-3, 0-1) against hREDS while failing to register even a single goal.

Still, with the combined old age experience on this roster, we didn't get rattled. Instead, we turned our attention towards our next opponent; Conquer Gaming.

Showing up for what we believe was the teams' first ever appearance on a professional SportsGamer broadcast (FCM wasn't exactly the hottest ticket in town to be showcased back in ECL's 1-7; nor did NHLGamer stream as many games back then), we got going in a big way and managed a pair of victories over Conquer (5-2, 2-1 OT). In front of star broadcasting duo CynFtW & Tougie (who couldn't really agree on who to call 'captain' on the team... 👀),  @MartindalexC got us going by sniping in our first goal of the season and eventually ended up registering points on six of our first seven goals. @poliskontroll was strong in net, picking up his first wins in Elite since ECL 8, and @SadaPoika & @Foppatofflan both registered their first goals and points with the team.

Just a day removed from those games, we were right back in the thick of it against IQUE. This time, the onus was on defense and goaltending. And really, really weird goals. However, the bounces ended up being on our side in this one (despite two own goals!) as we picked up a pair of 2-1 W's and improved our record to 4-2-0. A sharp @LastMandalorian picked up his first ever W's in Elite and @Tanski87 made sure to factor in on the offense, making it so that all the "new Miners" on the roster had each picked up points while wearing the Red, White & Coal - thereby securing their places in the great history book of FCM.

***

That's it for Week 1. Will we be back for Week 2? Who knows. We'll see. This took way longer than I expected. And let's be honest, had we started the season off 0-6-0, I doubt I would've written an 800-word essay on it.

But hey, let's enjoy the good vibes while they last ⛏️

[antoniomannen004]

<33

[l-Furyan-l]

ECL '22 Spring Elite - Season Recap

Well, the weekly recap report turned out to be not so much a weekly occurrence as a... one-hit wonder. Wild how that happens. Everyday life, poorer-than-expected results and a general lack of inspiration will do that to a man.

But let's wrap this baby up, shall we? This time with more GIF's than ever.

Great addition to the forums btw, who doesn't love the Graphics Interchange Format? (pronounced "Jiff")

***

⛏️ Week 2 (2-0-2 vs. JYP Jyväskylä, GOONS):
At this point we were still flying high. Coming off a successful opening week, we kept the momentum going and managed 3/4p each in two tough matchups. But most of the action this week took place off-ice. Specifically, this was the week podcaster extraordinaire @vSilenttio, of JYP fame, made it clear to the world that we were a team "playing just to survive at this level" and that playing with "clenched butts" was our only brand of hockey. 

Clearly, the man was on to something... Our worst was yet to come this season! 🥶 Meanwhile, Sile lead his troops to results far exceeding our meagre capabilities as JYP ended up finishing a full point (!) above us in the standings this season 👀 #brändinnäköstä, I believe was the word.

 ⛏️ Week 3 (0-6-0 vs. HAVU, Örebro, Färjestad):
Boy, this was a rough one. Zero (0!) points overall and some real stinkers here. If I were to pinpoint a single game that kind of derailed our season, my mind goes back to Game 1 vs. HAVU. Up 3-2 and with less than five minutes to play we were in a good spot to push our seasonal record to 7-2-2, including a regulation win against the still-mighty HAVU franchise. But, shit went down. The experienced green and black side scored twice in those final minutes, handing us a regulation loss and hitting us with a solid closed-fist punch right in the gut. We ended up losing the second game vs. HAVU as well - and after that, things got dark. Four regulation losses in a row followed and the surprisingly good start we had built ourselves evaporated.

 ⛏️ Week 4 (2-2-0 vs. YMCA, SAWO):
Playing on the SportsGamer stream was apparently our key to success this season as we (seemingly) got back on track by winning two tight games against YCMA. Clearly, our mojo had returned, right? Wrong. For next we ran into the brick-wall that is SAWO Esports (the eventual finalists). While we stood tall in the first game and suffered a slim 3-2 defeat, the second game turned into a rout with us dropping 8-4 and adding to our league-worst goals against.

Have you ever tried offering your team inspiration, as a defender, when you've just gotten walked for eight goals in one game?

Nine out of ten dentists would not recommend this procedure ❌

 ⛏️ Week 5 (1-1-0 vs. ZSC Esports):
Jesus, how long was this season? Don't really remember much from this week, except the fact us and the Lions took home one game each by way of shutouts. Naturally, the wins were divided by server 🔌

 ⛏️ Week 6 (1-3-0 vs. Frölunda HC, HV71):
The week of SHL matchups - and SHL losses. We got stomped twice by Frölunda and managed to reload enough to split the games vs. HV71. The FCM-HV matchup ended up looming large at the very end of the season as both teams finished in the relegation zone, just a point each below safe ground.

Next time, we'll just have to "2-2" our way into eliminating the Italians, like Sweden and Denmark did in 2004, am I right? (Swedes will know exactly of what I speak ⚽ #duedue).

 ⛏️ Week 7 (2-1-1 vs. Stargazing, Roots Gaming):
Ugh, would this season EVER end? Who's idea was it to have this season run 16 years? @Kenu, I am fixating my gaze upon you with ill intent 😠 

Anyway, we were down to our last two matchups; our last four games. We needed to essentially win all of them to secure our spot in Elite. Or, at the very least, three of them. We managed to win a grand total of two... and ended up falling short by one point.

We finished 13th in the regular season and were headed to the relegation series. Isn't that just how life goes sometimes? Closed-fist punch, right in the nutsack this time.

 ⛏️ Week 9 (4-0-1 vs. Hanaa HC):
So, we had one week to rest, recuperate and then get ready for our relegation matchup vs. Hanaa HC. Honestly, we weren't feeling all that hot, just coming off a disappointing regular season...

Thankfully, Hanaa decided to willingly "Relight Our Fire" as the Take That song goes.

How, you ask? Well, this team of a combined 36 games of Elite experience all-time felt it prudent to preview our series by tweeting "let’s make sure these guys drop to pro for good." 

 

Naturally, we printed these words and wallpapered it all over our locker room. It became our shining light in the darkness that was this season; our ice-cold Corona (with a large slice of lime) just as the summer heat was getting too much to bear.

The appearance of super-sub (and Finnish reincarnation of legendary United striker Ole Gunnar Solskjaer) @pentsaa helped matters, as he came into the lineup guns blazing and brough energy, offense and savvy to our lineup.

In the end, we won the series quite decisively (3-0, 4-3, 5-1, 2-3 OTL, 5-0) and proved that we belong in Elite. We finally got the offense firing on all cylinders, while getting the defense and goaltending to match it. It all came together to form an acceptable end to an otherwise disappointing ECL 22 Spring. 

What comes next? Who knows. Never take anything for granted in this community. But we lived to fight another day. This time, at least.

Enjoy your summer, SportsGamer members! 

Later, skaters 🏒