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Hello, ECL Community! The debate around X-Factors, abilities, and player builds in competitive EASHL continues to be one of the most discussed topics within our community. Over the past month after the NHL 26 release, we’ve followed your conversations closely — in Discord threads, party chats, and private messages — and we want to thank everyone who has contributed to this discussion.   This season, our goal has been twofold: To maintain a fair and consistent competitive environment for all divisions, and To strengthen alignment with our North American counterparts so that competitive 6v6 hockey moves forward together on both sides of the Atlantic. We’ve been in regular contact with our North American counterparts to share experiences, discuss balancing, and explore ways to create a more unified competitive environment. In addition, SportsGamer and other league representatives will take part in an upcoming conversation with EA SPORTS to exchange insights on gameplay balance, abilities, and the overall direction of EASHL. These discussions are part of an ongoing effort to ensure that community feedback from both regions is heard and considered as the game continues to evolve. We believe that sharing unified feedback and experiences from both regions will help shape the next steps for the entire EASHL ecosystem. ECL ’26: Winter Restrictions After extensive discussion and testing, the League Administration has decided to continue restricting several player Abilities and Builds that were found to have a disproportionate impact on gameplay. The following restrictions apply across all ECL divisions for the ECL ’26: Winter season.     🛑 Banned Abilities All tiers (Gold, Blue, and Red) of the following abilities are banned:  Big Rig   Big Tipper   Elite Edges  Hipster  No Contest  Pressure+  Spark Plug  Truculence  Unstoppable  Wheels These abilities have shown to create unbalanced or unintended gameplay advantages, reducing the importance of player skill and positioning. Specifically, as a category, we have wanted to slow down the gameplay by prohibiting abilities that add significant speed boosts. The bans help ensure that all players compete on an even playing field, where awareness and execution matter most.     ⚔️ Position-Based Build Restrictions To further preserve role balance and gameplay authenticity: Forwards cannot use defensive classes: Defensive Defender, Enforcer Defender, Offensive Defender, Two-Way Defender, Puck Moving Defender Defenders cannot use forward classes: Dangler, Enforcer, Grinder, Playmaker, Power Forward, Sniper, Two-Way Forward Additionally, skaters and goalies cannot use special characters or custom character builds.   🧾 Enforcement Violations of the above bans will be handled as follows: 1st Infraction – Team captain warning + player suspended for 2 games + potential WO loss* 2nd Infraction – Second captain warning + full lineup warning + player suspended for 4 games + potential WO loss* 3rd Infraction – Captain suspended for 2 games + player suspended for 4 games + 2-point deduction + potential WO loss* *A Walkover (WO) loss will only apply if the offending team was clearly informed and continued to use banned Abilities or Builds afterward. Clear video evidence is required when reporting violations. You can view the full ECL '26: Winter - Official Rules here. Looking Forward While the overall ability structure remains similar to previous seasons, the addition of position-based build restrictions represents another step toward a stronger global standard. As always, we’ll continue to monitor gameplay trends and community feedback throughout the Winter season and forward your feedback directly to EA SPORTS. Thank you once again for your ongoing passion and input — it’s what continues to drive the ECL forward.   Best regards, League Administration

  The ECL is the pinnacle of European NHL esports. The abbreviation stands for the European Championship League and it features NHL 6v6 esports in five divisions aimed at various skill levels. Every player, including the goalies, is controlled by a human. League games are played in the EASHL mode and the platform is PlayStation and Xbox. ECL has been played since 2015, so the upcoming season is already the 21st. The latest addition to the ECL product family is a 1v1 tournament, where Europe's best solo players fight for the championship. ECL 1v1 has been played since the ECL '23 Winter season.   Basic information/requirements of ECL: Regional restrictions: ECL is a European tournament format, however, we do not necessarily exclude players located in North America or Asia. A European server will always be used. We reserve the right to exclude teams or players in case of severe connection issues.   Individual requirements: Each player needs to have an account at SportsGamer.GG and create their personal player card.   ECL licenses: Teams in ECL Elite & ECL Pro, ECL Lite, and ECL Core will require their respective ECL ‘26: Winter team licenses in order to play. In addition, every player in the above-mentioned divisions needs to have a valid ECL ‘26: Player License or ECL ‘26: Winter Player License before taking the ice. Players in ECL Neo require only an ECL '26: Winter Neo Player License. More information about licenses will be available closer to the season start.   Rules: The ECL '26: Winter rulebook will be an updated version of the '25 Spring rulebook and will be shared soon.    The divisions framework for the ECL ‘26 season will follow the same logic as for previous seasons. We will have a total of five divisions with the following team allocation: Elite 16 teams Pro 32 teams Lite 64 teams Core (up to) 128 teams and Neo 32+ teams.   Please refer to  this ECL Ranking  in order to understand which teams are eligible to sign up for each division. Generally speaking, teams that are new to the ECL will start in the Neo or Core division. However, it is possible to apply for the ECL Lite qualifications to prove that you can compete at that level.   Don't have a team yet? Team looking for additions to your roster? If you are a free agent looking to be picked up,   please head over here  . If you are representing a team looking for players,  please head over here .     Hall of Fame: The ECL Champions so far ECL 6v6: ECL 1: Nordic Blizzard ECL 2: Mukimiehet ECL 3: X Factor ECL 4: Laser HT ECL 5: Aapon Taikasauva ECL 6: Carlsberg HC ECL 7: FILADELPHIA ECL 8: Written In the Stars ECL 9: Linköping HC ECL 10: HAVU Gaming ECL 11: FILADELPHIA ECL 12: hREDS ECL '22: Grand Champion: hREDS ECL '22 Winter: hREDS ECL '22 Spring: hREDS ECL '23: Grand Champion: Tunnel Vision ECL '23 Winter: Tunnel Vision ECL '23 Spring: Tunnel Vision ECL '24: Winter Champion: hREDS ECL '24: Spring Champion: Tunnel Vision ECL '25: Winter Champion: Parasite ECL '26: Spring Champion: Last Dance   ECL 1v1: ECL '23: Winter: Sisu "sisu33_" Nurminen ECL '23: Spring: Väinö "Pikkarii" Pikkarainen ECL '24: Grand Champion: Teemu "Temppanen" Karvonen ECL '24: Winter: Erik "EkiOriginal" Tammenpää ECL '24: Spring: Väinö "Pikkarii" Pikkarainen ECL '25: Spring: Teemu "Teemuyy" Polttila

SportsGamers, This news story is intended to help understand the ECL Ranking for teams at the end of the ECL '25: Spring season. This ranking determines the eligibility for teams entering various divisions this upcoming ECL '26: Winter season.  Below you will find a list of teams that have secured a division spot at the Elite, Pro, or Lite league level. If you didn't find your team on the list, don't worry! You can apply for a wildcard spot for your team in the Pro qualifiers or apply to the Lite, Core or Neo divisions, which are open to everyone. Please note that the Qualifiers will be starting very soon and the registration time will be short, so start mentally and psychologically preparing for them as we look to release the ECL '26: Winter registrations later this week. Elite 1 Elite 🏆 Last Dance 2 Elite 🥈 Mythix 3 Elite 3 Parasite 4 Elite 4 EXEN 5 Elite 5 Mustaa Kultaa 6 Elite 6 Heimo 7 Elite 7 SSK ESPORTS 8 Elite 8 Tohtorit 9 Elite 9 Polski Boys 10 Elite 10 The Black Jacks 11 Elite 11 vNexs 12 Elite 12 GOONS 13 ▶ Elite 15 ONSE Esports 14 ▲ Pro 🥇 ROBE Esports 15 ▲ Pro 3 Golden Buffalos 16 ▲ Pro 4 AFTERLIFE   Elite Qualifiers (if needed) 1 ▼ Elite 13 Blackbirds 2 ▼ Elite 14 NOVA 3 ▼ Elite 16 Vapor 4 Pro 2 Vizio 5 Pro 5 Almost Famous 6 Pro 6 Pirates eSports 7 Pro 7 Otukset 8 Pro 8 Falun Coal Miners   Pro 1 ▼ Elite 13 Blackbirds 2 ▼ Elite 14 NOVA 3 ▼ Elite 16 Vapor 4 Pro 2 Vizio 5 Pro 5 Almost Famous 6 Pro 6 Pirates eSports 7 Pro 7 Otukset 8 Pro 8 Falun Coal Miners 9 Pro 9 Three Stars 10 Pro 10 F U R Y 11 Pro 11 Aspyre 12 Pro 12 Sawolanche 13 Pro 13 POGGERS 14 Pro 14 Carnages 15 Pro 15 REALISTIC 16 Pro 16 Setelikerho 17 Pro 17 HC Lugano eSports 18 Pro 18 Herlev Eagles 19 Pro 19 Sunne IK Esport 20 Pro 20 Puck Over Glass 21 Pro 21 Nurnberg IceTigers eSport 22 Pro 22 SSK Prospects 23 ▲ Lite 🥇 MoDo Hockey 24 ▲ Lite 🥈 Deadly Phantoms 25 ▲ Lite 🥉 Lemmenvelhot   Pro Qualifier Wildcard requirements Three former Elite starters or four former Pro starters A starter is defined as having played 16 or more games in the ECL '25: Spring season, or 16 or more games in the ECL '25: Winter season If there are more players from the same team that were relegated out of the division Pro (in the same season) in the team applying for a wildcard, they may be counted as one player. The League Administration reserves the right to interpretations of this depending on the specific circumstances of the situation.   What if all Pro Qualifier positions are not filled? Teams will not be promoted straight and all open spots will be filled through qualifiers (excluding automatically relegated/promoted teams). If there happens to be more open spots than anticipated (e.g. from teams disbanding which would have been invited to play in the qualifier) spots are filled as follows: Pro relegated teams Wildcard teams Lite #17-32 The League Administration reserves the right to make adjustments to both the promotion process and the final promotions if deemed necessary.   Pro Qualifiers 1 Pro 23 Golden Sticks 2 Pro 24 Brynäs IF Esport 3 Pro 25 Unique 4 Pro 26 BLEGI 5 Pro 27 Pivto4ka 6 Pro 28 The Oldtimers 7 Pro 29 vNexs Academy 8 Lite 4 Turun Gasellit 9 Lite 5 Kikkakirja 10 Lite 6 Six Sticks Misfits 11 Lite 7 Seinäjoki Noms 12 Lite 8 Including Me 13 Lite 9 MISSCLICK 14 Lite 10 Rusty X 15 Lite 11 Jurricanes 16 Lite 12 Silver Sword Griffins 17 Lite 13 DEG eSports 18 Lite 14 Lucky Strikers 19 Lite 15 Carolus Icemen 20 Lite 16 Hokurit 21 Wildcard   22 Wildcard   23 Wildcard   24 Wildcard     Lite 1 ▼ Pro 29 Chiubigigle 2 ▼ Pro 30 Owned Hexa 3 ▼ Pro 31 UnderRated 4 ▼ Pro 32 Kertoimia Vastaan 5 Lite 17 Kokemus Puuttuu 6 Lite 18 Powerhouse Hockey 7 Lite 19 SIX MAN AVALANCHE 8 Lite 20 Red Bull Munich eSports 9 Lite 21 German Ice Gladiators 10 Lite 22 Tikitaka 11 Lite 23 Wida 12 Lite 24 Saucer Hockey 13 Lite 25 HC VADELMA 14 Lite 26 Pata Hellalla 15 Lite 27 TROJANS 16 Lite 28 Macho HC 17 Lite 29 HC Last Resort 18 Lite 30 Iserlohn Roosters eSports 19 Lite 31 Eisbaeren Lauf Gaming 20 Lite 32 Hockeyholics 21 Lite 33 KOST Wolves 22 Lite 34 KohKae Esports 23 Lite 35 Dark Energy HC 24 Lite 36 Toukokuu 25 Lite 37 Woodhands 26 Lite 38 Kiekko Rainers 27 Lite 39 SSK Adepts 28 Lite 40 HC Pustertal eSports 29 Lite 41 Karmadillos 30 Lite 42 HC NAMOTKA 31 Lite 43 SCB eSports 32 Lite 44 Goodvibes Hockey Group 33 Lite 45 Hiljainen Pikkukaupunki 34 Lite 46 KALMARUNIONEN 35 Lite 47 Game Over Esports 36 Lite 48   37 Lite 49   38 Lite 50   39 Lite 51   40 ▲ Core🥇 ARMEIJAN KURI 41 ▲ Core 🥈 Conexion 42 ▲ Core 🥉 Nordic Nosebleed 43 ▲ Core 4 Dynamo Hc 44 ▲ Core 5 VBO STARS 45 ▲ Core 6 Fallen Rangers 46 ▲ Core 7 CapeTown Kings 47 ▲ Core 8 MIESKISSAT All teams without an Elite, Pro, or Lite league spot can participate and choose to apply for ECL Lite without restrictions. There will be no ECL Lite qualifier for ECL '26: Winter, but a maximum of 64 teams can participate in the season, so signing up on time is encouraged. Spots will be filled in the order of registration. As always, League Administration will monitor sign-ups and reserve the right to step in to make sure teams don't sign up too high or low compared to their perceived skill level.