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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