The Champion will receive a $50,000 USD cash prize, take home the inaugural tournament trophy and attend the 2018 NHL Awards™ presented by Hulu.
Fans can follow the conversation using the social hashtag #NHLGWC. To check out tournament details, Regional brackets, news and players bios, please visit
NHL.com/Gaming
.
Meet the Competitors
European Union Finalists:
Erik Tammenpää
(@I\Eki\I) - A native of Espoo, Finland, Tammenpää breezed through the tournament, posting a 5-0 record on way to booking his ticket to Las Vegas as the winner of the European Regional. The 18-year-old, who plays for the Helsinki Reds organization, has been competitive gaming since 2014 and lists the Toronto Maple Leafs as his favorite team and Boston Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask as his favorite player. I\Eki\I played his European Regional matches with the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Arttu Mustila
(@ArtuzioFIN) - A 20-year-old professional gamer from Lempäälä, Finland, Mustila fought his way back from the lower bracket, winning four straight matches to qualify as runner-up of the European Regional. He lists Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin as his childhood hockey idol and played his EA SPORTS NHL® 18 qualifier and Regional competitions with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Artuzio's favorite NHL team is the Chicago Blackhawks.
Canada Finalists:
Nicola Bruna
(@StDxFool) - Bruna plays for SetToDestroyX and is a native of Montreal, Que. The 23-year-old placed first in the Canadian Regional Final in Toronto with a thrilling 4-3 overtime victory against fellow Quebecer Matthew Grenier (his only loss of the tournament came at the hands of Grenier in Game 2 of the best-of-three final). Foolx90 played with the Winnipeg Jets through the Regional Final round and lists Vladimir Tarasenko of the St. Louis Blues as the NHL player he'd most like to play EA SPORTS NHL® 18 against.
Matthew Grenier
(@YungGren) - A member of Simplicity eSports, Grenier hails from Quebec City, Que. At 16 years old, he is the youngest player remaining in the NHL Gaming World Championship™ after placing as runner-up in the Canadian Regional. He played his Online Qualifier and Regional Finals matches with the Tampa Bay Lightning and lists goaltender Semyon Varlamov (Colorado Avalanche) as his childhood hockey idol. YungGren previously won an NHL18 tournament in Philadelphia in March 2018.
United States Finalists:
John Wayne Casagranda
(@Johnwaynee9) - A native of Anchorage, Alaska, Casagranda
breezed through the tournament by winning all his matches on his way to being named the U.S. Regional winner. The 27-year-old lists the Arizona Coyotes as his favorite team, former captain Shane Doan as his childhood idol and current Coyotes forward Clayton Keller as his favorite player. JohnWaynee90 was named after both his grandfathers and not the late American actor and filmmaker.
David Roebuck
(@StDxJrPens) - The U.S. Regional runner-up calls Forty Fort, Pa., home and plays for the SetToDestroyX eSport team. JrPens91 grew up playing for the Wilkes-Barre Junior Penguins and cheers for his home-state Pittsburgh Penguins. He lists captain Sidney Crosby as his childhood idol and the player he'd most like to play NHL® 18 against. Roebuck, 21, won his Online Qualifier matches on the PS4 console.
