Chel Community Showcase: Team Entourage

Entourage is a storied 6v6 EA SPORTS Hockey League Club based in North America. The first and only ever World Champions are looking to continue building on their success in NHL 24 and elevate the NHL gaming space to new heights via Chel eSports and content creation.

Team Entourage is a competitive 6v6 EA SPORTS Hockey League Club based in North America. A historically strong brand, the club has seen many successes over the years and shows no signs of slowing down. In fact, they are looking to branch out in more ways than one. I had the privilege of learning more about the team's history, the players on the team, and their goals moving forward.

Lucas Hendry founded the original Entourage team. The team went on to win multiple championships, most notably, the first-ever Caps Gaming Showcase tournament, a 6v6 eSports event hosted by the Washington Capitals gaming division, CapsGaming. Shortly after, the New York Islanders gaming division, Isles Gaming Team, signed the original Entourage team.

The Entourage brand returned under a new squad towards the end of the NHL 22 competitive year, right after the Sharks Pacific Cup tournament, hosted by SJ Sharks Gaming, the San Jose Sharks gaming division. Today, the team’s main roster includes Hendry (LW), along with Ethan (C), Gilleh (RW), Doughty (LD), Dumo (RD), and Rampage (G).

It was evidently clear that both Hendry and Doughty had a vision about Entourage's new look. After all, returning the brand was a risk, but it has paid off. A deliberate and careful approach was taken to ensure the people on the team meshed well together as individuals and as players. Doughty shares, “Dumo and myself had played on Eclipse, Gilleh was on Olympia, Hendry was on IslesGT, Rampage was on Prodigy, and Ethan was a free agent at the time.”

Hendry adds, "It’s definitely been an adjustment, at least at first. Many people in the community felt that the new squad wouldn’t work because there would be a conflict with the various skillsets and puck-possessive players on the team.”

This ultimately gave the impression that the community doubted Entourage’s long-term sustainability. However, their first event together during the Columbus Blue Jackets eSports tournament at the end of NHL 22 saw them going 15-1 in the playoffs, which culminated in their first title together and plenty of momentum and confidence going into NHL 23.

Since then, Entourage has amassed several top placements and, most notably, was crowned the first ever 6v6 World Champions, after winning the North American Champions League and then flying out to Finland and taking down Europe's best, Tunnel Vision in the World Finals.

The players on Entourage have been able to work together to maximize their strengths and achieve success in tournaments. 

Doughty shares, “It has been fairly easy utilizing our strengths because we each bring something different to the team, contributing to our overall success. In terms of personalities, some of us are more vocal in-game, and some of us are more quiet. This has been an effective combination for us because everyone approaches the group with an openness to work together, continue to learn, and grow.”

From a playstyle perspective, Hendry further shares that, “I am our playmaker up front, Gilleh is our scorer, and Ethan is the most dynamic center in the game, while Dumo and Doughty have great chemistry on the backend, trusting each other. Rampage is a rock back in the net, making huge saves for us in key situations.”

Evidently, an ingredient to the success of team Entourage is the understanding that each player on the team has a key role (e.g., scorer, playmaker), and ultimately, they mesh the various roles and skills to help them achieve success. 

Hendry further adds, “A big thing that separates us from some other teams in the community is the ability to play to the games’ meta at any given year but also be very potent offensively and create goals from a variety of ways in a game. This is typically a difficult task as competitive 6v6 games are traditionally lower-scoring, but we’ve always found ways to be strong offensively."

Creativity and adaptability appear to be hallmarks of Entourage’s offensive game, and it is no secret that the team is known for its offensive onslaught based on those fundamental principles.

As mentioned, team Entourage is the first-ever world champion, a title they do not take lightly. Doughty shares, “If you had told us a few years ago that there’d be an opportunity to fly across the world and play the best of the best in Finland in a 6v6 setting, nobody would’ve believed it. It has been something that had been done in 1v1, obviously with the World Championship, but for 6s to get to that point and for us to have been fortunate enough to represent North America, then beat Europe’s best (Tunnel Vision) to become first world champions in the history of NHL 6v6 eSports means a lot to us. Winning the most recent Sharks Pacific Cup is likewise something we hold close to us. We understand that our experiences and success are not easy to get, and we will always cherish those memories and be grateful for the opportunities.”

The NHL gaming sphere has ways to go, and as for Entourage, they firmly believe that the time to elevate the space to new heights is now, not just from an eSport perspective, but content creation, and community initiatives as a whole.

Hendry shares, “We really think the content side of things is going to be a game changer for the scene, and with help from potential organizations to accelerate that, the sky is the limit. The space can improve on the priorities of what they’re looking for. Content is huge in today’s world, but so is consistent success. In NHL gaming, people aren’t too interested in watching or listening to players or teams that haven’t been consistently at the top as far as competitive 6s go. There are a lot of top players who stream casually and average a significant amount of viewers because of their skill set.”

Hendry’s comments on the state of the NHL gaming space and its outlook are illuminating. Undoubtedly, viewers usually enjoy watching Chel content for one of two reasons. Either the player or team they are watching is one of the best in the world, or the content itself is entertaining. So, for Hendry and team Entourage, a mixture of the two backed by organizations is the next logical step towards further growing the NHL gaming space.

Team Entourage has seen lots of successes over the years, but none of it came without some challenges along the way. However, the perseverance, determination, and ambition to keep growing and improving have put them in a position today as arguably the best competitive 6s team in the world, and undoubtedly the best non-signed team. So, helping grow the NHL gaming space is just another challenge for Entourage, and they are determined to contribute in meaningful ways.

When asked about the team’s plans and goals during the NHL 24 calendar year, Entourage shared the following statement:

“Our goal for NHL 24 is to have as much success as we can. We want to continue winning championships, but we also really want to get into the content side. Entourage is inarguably the best independent 6s brand in the community and has been for years. We recently launched a team TikTok (@EntourageNHL), so look for us to leverage our brand to bigger community initiatives. We have worked hard in the NHL gaming space for years now, and we are ready to be innovative and help the space push through its potential alongside the support of an organization with similar goals."

Team Entourage is not wasting time to live up to their promise, as they have already kickstarted their new content creation adventure on TikTok and signed up for the Isles Gaming NHL 24 Open, set to begin this Wednesday, October 18. Be sure to follow Entourage on X for correspondence with the team and to follow their journey.