Eight NHL Gaming World Championship (GWC) North American finalists compete for $26,000 in Montreal on July 6. Among the finalists are Matthew Geim, Matthew Grenier, Johnny Khalil, Edward Nicol-McCabe, Joseph Olmstead, Ethan Polgar, Justin Reguly and Ben Thompson.
Geim is representing the Calgary Flames, Grenier the Dallas Stars, Khalil the Minnesota Wild, Nicol-McCabe the Ottawa Senators, Olmstead the Detroit Red Wings, Polgar the Toronto Maple Leafs, Reguly the New York Islanders and Thompson the Edmonton Oilers.
"My decision to represent the Islanders in this year's GWC comes from myself working with them in the past, alongside the Isles gaming team, which is the New York Islanders esports division," Reguly said. "I really wanted to, hopefully, bring them home a championship."
Reguly is representing the Islanders but is a Boston Bruins fan at heart. Polgar took a different route, representing the team he's been cheering for the last 20 years.
"I've been a die-hard Leafs fan ever since I've been a kid. My dad's been a die-hard Leafs fan for over 50 years now," Polgar said. "Representing the Leafs, it's my hometown and I love them."
Reguly and Polgar prepare to compete against the very best, with money and a championship belt on the line.
Both said Grenier is the hardest opponent to play.
"I'm not nervous to play any players but I think there are some better than others," Reguly said. "Ones that stand out to me are Gren (Matthew Grenier) and Jos (Joseph Olmstead). I faced Gren in the past two years in the finals, myself winning one and him winning the other year. He's always been an extremely difficult opponent but is someone I love being able to beat."
Reguly won the 2020 and Grenier the 2021 NHL Gaming World Championship North American competition. Polgar said his first round will be the toughest, when he takes on Grenier.
"That's definitely my biggest matchup," Polgar said.
Each player earns a guaranteed $1,000 for reaching this point. The top four will earn up to $2,500. Whoever lands second place will make $10,000 and the winner will walk away with $26,000.
"It's a whole lot of money," Polgar said. "I may try to buy my first car."
Reguly said if he won the grand prize money, it would go toward his fourth year at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ontario and eventually toward a down payment on a house.
The competition will be streamed live on
twitch.tv/NHL
, starting at 1 p.m. E.T. on July 6.
