eSports seeks Ice Hockey World Champion

The NHL Gaming World Championship enters its final phase on 18 May. Here is important information about the 100,000 dollar tournament.

Like last year, the National Hockey League (NHL) is hosting the second Gaming World Championship this season.

This weekend, the tournament finally starts into its critical phase, namely the Regional Finals, which take place in Canada, the USA and Europe.

The European showdown will take place on 18 May in Stockholm, Sweden. The showdown will also be live on Twitch on Saturday from 5 p.m. and will include eight finalists from Europe.

Finland dominates

A proud seven of these finalists are players from Finland. Among them is last year’s champion, Erik Tammenpää. But also an Austrian, Christoph Eilenberger from Kitzbühel, made it into the Regional Final.

In the Canadian region, the finals will take place in Toronto, and in the US region in Stamford, Connecticut.

The two best players of each Regional Final will make it to the Grand Final in Las Vegas, where they will receive prize money of US$100,000 – twice as much as last year.

The final virtual ice hockey showdown will take place on June 18 at the HyperX Esports Arena.

Drafting your own way to your dream team

NHL fans already know the system of drafts from the non-virtual league. During the Gaming World Championship, the eSportsmen will be able to put together the ideal team for them from a total of 280 active NHL players.

Who is allowed to vote first depends on the rankings of the preliminary rounds. The players then take turns picking, so that at the end of the day each team has a total of 25 players.

The participants of the European Regional Finals on 18 May

Christoph “Eilung” Eilenberger, Austria
Erik “Tilantekija” Tammenpää, Finland
Hannes “f0cus99” Kettunen, Finland
Joonas “ATRIVREPUS” Virta, Finland
Kristian “kriketsi17” Veijola, Finland
Paul “Pleemaker” Arontie, Finland
Risto “Dominointi” Järvi, Finland
Saku “Sagee95” Björn, Finland