Arda Ocal Returns to Talk NHL 18 World Championships & More Records

Last we heard from MSG’s Arda Ocal, he was spreading the gospel of NHL 94 by calling tournaments and setting world records. Now, he’s moved into the 21st century, courtesy of the NHL 18 Gaming World Championships, a multi-week event that seeks to crown the very best NHL 18 player in the United States, Canada, and Europe. The first two legs of the event took place in Stockholm, Sweden, and Toronto, Ontario, respectively, with the American leg taking place this Sunday at the NBC Studios in Stamford, Connecticut. Arda discussed the event with us, plus some plans he has in store for the future (Hint: They involve Twin Galaxies).

If you need a touch-up on the rules, it's explained in the video below: 

Officially Dropping the Puck!

Ocal has been the play-by-play man and host for the NHL 18 World Championships from the get-go, and says it’s been a “fun challenge” to call the games. “I’m constantly reminding myself to clarify things,” Ocal said. “If someone’s tuning in without understanding what they’re seeing, they might get lost and move on.” While typically events of this nature would only pertain to Twitch users, Ocal has the added challenge of trying to entertain a television audience, as the events are featured on NBC Sports Network. Ocal said he has to not only keep the teams and players in mind, but also the esports athletes themselves. “On a given play,” Ocal said, “I might have to give information on the esports player, their team, which color sweater they’re wearing (in the event of a mirror match, where both players are using the same team) and the player the esports athlete is controlling. There’s a lot of moving parts, but it’s been fun.”

Alongside his color commentator Nasher, an NHL 18 content creator, the pair have called an exciting first two tournaments and are looking forward to the American tilt. The first event took place in Stockholm, Sweden and featured no shortage of compelling storylines. Ocal told us that despite the event being open to players throughout Europe, the top 8 consisted of 7 Finnish players and 1 Swedish player. “The Finnish players have a ton of pride when it comes to NHL,” Ocal said, “and it’s fun to see them get riled up.” One player that Ocal said stood out was Paul “Pleemaker” Arionte, a 16 year-old phenom from Oulu, Finland, who won his first NHL tournament at 13 years old. He was also one of the only players to beat a signed esports athlete from his local area en route to qualifying for the event.

One interesting aspect of European players’ gameplay is their style, or lack thereof. “There’s very little dekeing in the European game,” Ocal said, “which is a clear contrast to the American and Canadian styles.” Ocal admitted he was looking forward to seeing the styles clash in the tournament finals. The European tournament was ultimate won by Erik “Eki” Tammenpää, with Arttu “Artuzio” Mustila finishing as runner-up.

O, Canada

The Canadian leg of the tournament saw eight more highly skilled players hit the virtual ice, this time at the SportsNet studios in Toronto, Ontario. Ocal said there were two players from his home country that appealed to him. The first was Matthew “YungGren” Grenier, the eventual runner-up in the Canadian tourney. Ocal loved Grenier’s confidence that he said, “seemed to grow with each goal [Grenier] scored.” Grenier’s chest pounding and yelling struck Arda not as cockiness, but simply good-hearted fun.

The second player on Ocal’s radar was Nicola “Foolx90” Bruna, who had an interesting path to the tournament to say the least. Ocal told us Fool went through all four online qualifiers to try and enter the tournament. Fool suffered a disconnect in the first tournament, automatically disqualifying him, then suffered heartbreaking losses in the other two. They say fourth time’s a charm, and such was the case for Fool, who qualified for the top 8. Ocal said Fool performed, “the best saucer pass I’ve ever seen,” to which Fool said, “of course I’m good at the sauce pass, I’m Italian.”

The finals between the two players were tons of fun, Ocal said, with both athletes playing to the crowd and the camera, blowing kisses and taunting one another. Afterwards, when Fool reigned victorious, both admitted they were both very appreciative of the opportunity and humbled to be among the top 6 NHL 18 players on the planet.

Coming to America

Ocal admitted he hasn’t met any of the American players quite yet, but said one interesting player to watch has a much more personal tie to the NHL. Alex “Boonsop” Kangas, one of the top 8 participants for the American tournament, was drafted by the Atlanta Thrashers (now Winnipeg Jets) in the 5th round of the 2006 NHL Draft. "To qualify is pretty satisfying and exciting," Kangas told NHL.com. "My buddies still don't think this is a real thing." Kangas is from Rochester, Minnesota and played for the Minnesota Golden Gophers college team, where he was named an alternate captain his senior year, a rarity for a goaltender.

A Little Inside Information

Ocal mentioned that through speaking with some of the pros, he picked up a few tips along the way he wanted to share with the Twin Galaxies readers. As far as the most popular teams go, Ocal said it was between, “Pittsburgh, Winnipeg, and Tampa Bay in distant third.” This is due to their strengths in all three measurable categories - offense, defense, and goaltending. He also tipped us off to a calling card for other pros, “The pros know that if their opponent doesn’t edit their lines before the game,” Ocal said, “they’re in for an easy win.” Generally, hockey lines are built to accent the strengths of the players or play off the chemistry of the line. However, in the virtual game, skillsets and chemistry don’t really matter, so putting the best players on the top lines (which will net them the most ice-time) is the goal. In fact, Ocal said, sometimes players will be set in strange positions to make the most of unique situations the esports athlete can be put in to offer a competitive advantage. Ocal also marveled at the in-game adjustments, saying that he loved seeing the strategy that went into each line change.

Knowing our love for the Anaheim Ducks, Ocal mentioned that Ducks forward J.T. Brown, one of the most prominent gamers in the sport, popped into the Twitch chat for the Canadian tournament and hung out for a while. Of all the NHL players, Brown said that Lightning forward Jonathan Drouin was the best 18 player in the league.

We also joked that the Vegas Golden Knights, despite being tied (as of 5/16/18) in the Western Conference Finals with the Winnipeg Jets, get no respect in the virtual world either. The Golden Knights, an expansion team who didn’t exist last year, were considered to be underdogs all year, but were Ocal’s pick to win the Stanley Cup before the playoffs even started. “ Ocal said of Vegas,  “When we get there for the Grand Finals, the coolest thing, to me, would be able to say, ‘Welcome to Las Vegas, home of the Stanley Cup Champion Golden Knights.’”

Excited for the Future

Ocal’s optimism beamed through his words as he described his excitement for the future of the World Championships. “I love that this is happening,” Ocal said. “Seeing the amount passion and love from the esports athletes, the production crew, the fans, and even the NHL going into this event shows that this is only the beginning for the World Championships.” Ocal recalled speaking to developers at Blizzcon last year, and said that developers are, “making games that aren’t just fun to play, but are fun to watch too.” He credits the NHL 18 developers for making a fun game to play and watch.

Speaking of Ocal’s newfound love of NHL 18, he mentioned to us his desire to establish some world records for the game and “start a content war” between the community. If you recall, Ocal has a few retro NHL game records to his name. You don’t recall? Then you need to check out our first interview with Arda, where we chat about the all the work he’s done with NHL 94.