The Unlucky Boys brand was founded in 2017 by the trio Anhel_Kuru, Iilmarii, and Jm98II. The journey began in ECL 4 Pro, where the team finished fourth in its group during the regular season. Their playoff run ended in the quarterfinals against the highly experienced and skilled Swedish team Sjukstugan. It was a solid debut season for the team.
After a relatively successful first season, the Unlucky Boys organization was hungry for glory. In the following ECL 5 Pro season, the team topped its group in the regular season. With the playoff experience gained from the previous season, UB was able to reach the Pro Finals, where it faced Evolution.
Evolution had made the biggest signing in Pro history up to that point during the regular season, bringing in the face of the community, EkiTammenpää, from Elite team Mukimiehet. For this reason alone, the Pro Finals were previewed as an extremely even and exciting matchup, even though Unlucky Boys were still considered slight favorites.
The Finals did not disappoint, as the series reached Game 7 overtime. At 65:20, who else but EkiTammenpää got a breakaway and scored the series-winning goal. This meant that the dream of winning the Pro title went down the drain.
The rules back in those days stated that both ECL Pro finalists would receive automatic promotion to ECL Elite. This meant that UB's debut season in Elite came in ECL 6. The team was predicted to finish in the bottom half of the table, as it was not considered especially experienced or talented.
UB trusted its playstyle: defending its own net as well as possible and using counterattacks to score the necessary goals. This proved to work surprisingly well, and Against all odds, UB finished fifth in the regular season. It was an amazing achievement for the team. Supporting their strong defensive playstyle, UB allowed the fourth-fewest goals in the regular season.
Finishing fifth meant that UB faced the fourth-placed Northern Ascendancy in the playoffs. UB played with courage and even took a 3–2 series lead. This was the moment when, as the Finnish saying goes, "pupu meni pöksyyn," and the nerves started to show.
With the experience of players such as MartindalecX, Foppatofflan, and MuKiMaisteri, NOR came back to tie the series at 3–3 and eventually won it 4–3. Another season ended in a Game 7 loss for the Unlucky Boys.
In ECL 7 Elite, UB finished ninth in the regular season, missing the playoffs by one point. Falling outside the playoffs continued in ECL 8 Elite, where UB finished only 13th. This meant that UB had to play a relegation series against the Pro team Gotham Knights. UB was able to bounce back, win the series, and stay in Elite.
ECL 9 Elite was a bounce-back season for the Unlucky Boys, as the team finished sixth in the regular season. The playoff run was not as long as hoped, however, as UB faced the rising team Butterfly Effect. The magical attacking trio of Vilupoika, Jergelii, and NikkeDangles made UB's defense look like Swiss cheese, winning the series comfortably 4–1.
The next season, ECL 10 Elite, is still the season most people remember UB for. UB played a fresh offensive game after signing German forward Timasy from BRAYCE Phantoms. After finishing fifth in the regular season, UB faced hREDS in the first round of the playoffs.
This was a series to remember.
The series reached Game 7 overtime, just like the ECL 5 Pro Finals. Out of the seven games, five went to overtime. An even more interesting fact is that every game from Game 4 to Game 7 went to overtime. This demonstrates how insanely tight the series was.
UB managed to grab the series lead with a tight 2–1 overtime win. hREDS showed its offensive strength by winning the following game 6–1 and then took the series lead with a 1–0 victory in Game 3. UB showed resilience by tying the series in Game 4 after a 3–2 overtime win.
Game 5 had high stakes, as the winner would have a chance to end the series in Game 6. Once again, after a battle in overtime, hREDS found the necessary goal to win the game 3–2 in OT.
Game 6 was do-or-die for the Unlucky Boys. A win would keep alive the dream of reaching the Elite semifinals, while a loss would send the team on holiday. The start was not optimal, as UB found itself trailing 0–2 after 21 minutes had been played. However, the UB players were not ready to give up and tied the game 2–2 at 28:18.
In the third period, hREDS once again took the lead after a goal from Joukkiii. With 6:22 remaining in the third period, German superstar Timasy found the back of the net and tied the game 3–3.
The game went to overtime once again. All the previous overtime games had found a winner in the first overtime period, but not this one. The audience watching the SportsGamer stream had to wait until the third overtime period to witness the legendary slapshot from Jm98II on the power play, sending the series to Game 7 hockey heaven with UB winning Game 6 by a score of 4–3 in overtime.
To point out, Games 4–7 were played on SportsGamer's live stream, starting at 21:00 CET. As Games 4–6 all reached at least the first overtime period, the clock was around 1:30 CET when Game 7 started.
The momentum had to be with UB after being able to win the previous game, and UB started strongly, taking the lead with Jm98II's power-play goal at 08:07. In the second period, NikkeDangles was able to tie the game at 30:37. The game went into the third period tied 1–1.
This was going to be one of the craziest periods ever.
Unlucky Boys scored one of the best goals in its history with fast puck movement by Julius97, Timasy, and Jm98II, ending with Anhel_Kuru tapping it in at the back post. UB led 2–1 at 46:47.
Now the nerves of the UB players were truly being tested. UB managed to play a tight game, which eventually led to Teemuyy taking a frustration slashing penalty at 59:34.
Twenty-six seconds left. A 2–1 lead. Power play. Offensive-zone faceoff. What could go wrong?
Surely UB had this covered. There was no way hREDS could come back.
After two pauses before the faceoff, the critical call was made in the party: "I will tie up, Timasy pick up the puck, and let's play time." — Anhel_Kuru.
Good plan, right?
Anhel_Kuru won the faceoff cleanly by tying up Beniittoo. Timasy was first to the puck and got it. Then everything went wrong.
Timasy hit Jm98II and lost the puck. Janzuh managed to get the loose puck in front of the net, and at the same time, Joukkiii sprinted up to the neutral zone straight from the faceoff. Janzuh found Joukkiii with a saucer pass, and he was through on goal.
And he scored.
Game tied 2–2 at 59:40.
Eight seconds after the faceoff in the hREDS end, they scored the tying goal. Unbelievable.
Everyone in UB's party was speechless during the break. But the team decided that nothing had been lost yet. They could still score the winning goal in overtime.
UB started overtime on the power play and was able to create great scoring chances, but without the reward. UB even got a second chance on the power play, but again, without success.
At 75:00, hREDS had an offensive-zone faceoff. The trio of Joukkiii, Beniittoo, and NikkeDangles pulled off a faceoff setup play never seen before, and after a couple of fast passes, NikkeDangles was able to find the back of the net at 75:02.
hREDS won 3–2 in overtime.
Series over.
Emptiness.
That was all the UB players felt. Everything had been given. Everything had been under control. How did we manage to shit ourselves and let that chance go?
There were no words.
This was the toughest loss in UB's history.
The idea of the "UB choke" started to become a meme after this event. UB always chokes. Looking at the history, it was hard to argue against it. UB had lost all of its Game 7s: the ECL 5 Pro Finals, the ECL 6 Elite quarterfinals, and now the ECL 10 Elite quarterfinals.
Despite the first-round playoff loss in ECL 10 Elite, UB caught the eye of some small Finnish esports organizations. After some negotiations, the UB roster joined YMCA Esports and represented the organization in the following tournaments.
YMCA Esports, previously UB, finished 11th in the ECL 11 Elite season. In the following season, ECL 12, YMCA clinched a playoff spot as the sixth seed. Once again, however, the playoffs ended in a first-round defeat, this time against the powerhouse team HAVU Gaming by a score of 4–1.
After ECL 12, the naming of the seasons changed to Winter and Spring seasons. The ECL '22 Winter Elite season ended with YMCA finishing in 12th place, safely in the middle of the pack.
ECL '22 Spring was the last season with the YMCA Esports organization. Once again, the team finished 12th.
In ECL '23 Winter, Unlucky Boys returned to its original name and brand. However, this was not enough to turn the ship around, and the season ended in a disappointing 13th-place finish. This meant another relegation battle against a Pro team.
UB played against Nemesis and was the heavy favorite in the series. The series once again reached Game 7 overtime. And guess what? UB, the team known for choking, lost once again.
UB had reached Game 7 four times and lost all four.
This was enough.
UB was relegated to Pro.
Failing to reach the Elite playoffs for multiple consecutive seasons and eventually being relegated to Pro was tough to take. This led to the team disbanding.
That is the story of the Unlucky Boys.
To be continued.