Keep your NHL 10 hockey fix going during the winter break by entering the EA SPORTS^TM NHL 10 Winter Break Competition. During Feb 15th to the 28th, enter into the event and play your heart out to get to the top of the leaderboard.  The Tournament is open to both PS3 and XBOX 360 gamers.

At the end of the competition the top 3 ranking users on the tournament leaderboard will be awarded an EA SPORTS game copy of the their choice.

Good luck and get playing!

THIS COMPETITION IS OPEN ONLY TO PLAYERS WHO ARE RESIDENTS OF THE 50 UNITED STATES AND THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA EXCLUDING AZ, CO, MD, ND, TN, AND VT, AND 13 YEARS OF AGE OR OLDER AT THE TIME OF ENTRY. VOID IN: AZ, CO, MD, ND, TN, AND VT, AND WHERE PROHIBITED. PLAYERS MUST HAVE ACCESS TO AN INTERNET CONNECTED XBOX 360® OR PLAYSTATION®3 VIDEO GAME SYSTEM (INCLUDING AN XBOX LIVE GOLD ACCOUNT TO PLAY AND ENTER USING THE XBOX 360 PLATFORM OR A PLAYSTATION NETWORK ACCOUNT TO PLAY AND ENTER USING THE PLAYSTATION 3 PLATFORM), AND NHL 10 VIDEOGAME IN ORDER TO PARTICIPATE.

As mentioned on Wednesday, we've crowned the EASHL Console Champs and are getting set for the 12 players to fly out to Vancouver for the EASHL Championships to take place August 6th with all the games to be played that day.  It's very exciting to see the first year end off with a Championship Final and from the chatter on our EASHL Forums, this is looking to be a pretty great series.

For those that haven't had a chance to see these top teams in action, I thought I would post the videos that players submitted to us here. 

PlayStation 3 Console Finals - The NHL Regulators vs No CryBabys

First Period

Second Period

Third Period

XBOX 360 Console Finals - Purple Cobraz vs The White Church

First Period

Second Period - Part 1

Second Period - Part 2

Third Period

Overtime

And then there were four.  The NHL 09 Invitational Tournament has four teams remaining who are now one win away from competing in the Best-of-Seven Championship Finals in Vancouver set for August 5th to August 7th at EA Canada.

In the PS3 final, the #1 seed No CryBabys (NcB) will take on the #3 seed NHL Regulators while on the Xbox 360 end, the #3 seed The White Church (wTc) looks to get past #5 seed Purple Cobraz.

“Our key player in the tournament has by far been our goalie, ChubbsRebourne,” says wTc GM Izzy Toasty.  “In our first round match-up against the Dirty Snipe squad he held them to just one goal.  Not to mention he has been instrumental in coaching us and letting us know what we could be doing differently as he needs to always be on top of the action to be ready for anything.”

“Gerbox 360 has been phenomenal in our first two games and a big reason why we are playing for the XBOX 360 Championship this Saturday,” replies Purple Cobraz GM DoMiNaTioN x21.  “Our wingers, PhiFly10 and NfldTim, both had huge 5-point performances in our 7-0 semi-final win over THE GIANT SHAFTS.”

“All 6 guys have been huge players for us,” comments NHL Regulators GM Jones412pa.  “We’ve capitalized on our changes, and have not had many PIM.  In order for us to win this weekend, we will have to play as a team and play mistake-free hockey.”

“Our keys to winning this weekend will be to play disciplined, be strong on the penalty kill, and take advantage of our power play opportunities,” NcB GM mike24man states. 

Teams have stepped up their games during the tournament and the games have been intense.   Whether it’s on the virtual ice or real ice, these players aren’t taking anything for granted and sound as confident in their words as they are in their game.  This weekend will prove to be a defining moment for them as each look to capture their respective console championship.

“The key will be team defense,” says Izzy Toasty.  “The Cobraz are a solid offensive team that can throw a ton of different looks at you so it will be crucial that the forwards are a big part of the defense to force them to make good decisions and hopefully generate some offense as a result of our defensive hard work”

“As long as we stick to our game plan and don’t beat ourselves, we have an excellent chance of winning the game and representing the XBOX 360 side,” continues DoMiNaTioN x21. “We know that wTc will be ready to play on Saturday and are known as a very solid team defensively.  This is going to be a phenomenal final, there is no doubt about it.”

“It would be amazing to get the chance to play in Vancouver because we have battled so hard day in and day out to get where we are right now,” states Jones412pa.

“We need to play the way we played to get us the #1 ranking,” says mike24man.   “That means playing like we’re playing a regular season game against a top team.  If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

Some teams have been recording and sharing their finals including the 7-0 Purple Cobraz win over THE GIANT SHAFTS and the The Regs 4-3 OT win over the Angry Whoppers.  GM’s have been asked to record and share this weekend’s Console Championships so look out for the post on the official EASHL Forums where you can also sound off on who you think will earn the chance to play in Vancouver in August.

In the meantime, good luck to the Final Four teams and I’m looking forward to seeing who will come out on top this weekend to represent their respective console in the EASHL Invitational Championship Finals!