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Hey Gamers, The wait is over — it’s time to kick off the NHL 26 season with the ECL ‘26 Pre-Season Tournament. This friendly event gives teams the chance to warm up for the upcoming ECL season in a relaxed and flexible setting. With three competitive tiers, there’s something for everyone — from top contenders fine-tuning their play to new teams getting their first taste of ECL action. Each tier features its own playoffs, offering every team a chance to compete, improve, and prepare for the season ahead. Get your lineups ready and hit the ice — the ECL ‘26 Pre-Season starts now.   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. Basic information/requirements of ECL: The tournament will be played on the NHL 26 (PlayStation 5 & Xbox Series X/S)   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. The ECL '26 Pre-Season tournament does not require the license,   Rules: ECL '26: Winter Official Rules | Also see ECL ’26: Winter - Ability & Build Bans ECL Pre-Season As stated, the tournament will be hosted in three tiers without any major restrictions except for the ones mentioned below. Elite & Pro   Only ECL Elite & ECL Pro teams, and by special request wildcard & qualifier teams This is a friendly warmup tournament, no need to argue (=no League Admin cases) The final format is determined by the number of teams Double-header gamedays Regular season 30.10-9.11 Playoffs (BO3) 12-13.11 (RO16) 16.-17.11 (Quarterfinals) 19.-20.11 (Semifinals) 24-25.11 (Finals) 👉 Note: This Pre-Season will overlap with the ECL Winter Qualifiers. If you know or expect to participate in the Elite or Pro Qualifiers, you should skip the Pre-Season to avoid schedule conflicts. Sign-ups are open until 12:00 CET, November 28th. SIGN UP HERE   Lite & Core  Only ECL Lite & ECL Core teams, and by special request wildcard teams & qualifier teams This is a friendly warmup tournament, no need to argue (=no League Admin cases) Qualifier teams can participate, but the final rounds of the playoffs may coincide with the qualifiers The final format is determined by the number of teams Double-header gamedays Regular season 30.10-9.11 Playoffs (BO3) 12-23.11 (RO32) 16.-27.11 (RO16) 19.-30.11 (Quarterfinals) 24-25.11 (Semifinals) 27.11 (Finals) Sign-ups are open until 12:00 CET, November 28th. SIGN UP HERE   Neo & Newcomers  Only ECL Neo & Newcomer teams This is a friendly warmup tournament, no need to argue (=no League Admin cases) The final format is determined by the number of teams Double-header gamedays Regular season 30.10-9.11 Playoffs (BO3) 12-13.11 (RO16) 16.-17.11 (Quarterfinals) 19.-20.11 (Semifinals) 24-25.11 (Finals)   Sign-ups are open until 12:00 CET, November 28th. SIGN UP HERE   Uniform and logo unlocks for organizations This form is intended for organizations associated with SportsGamer to request primarily uniform and logo unlocks in order to represent their team appropriately. Here is a link for the unlocks form: https://forms.gle/3RezYrzCm1yZFFdU9   Rules Although the Pre-Season Tournament will not be under as strict scrutiny as the ECL, we want to remind you to respect your opponents and go about the games just as you would when playing real ECL league matchups. Rules: ECL '26: Winter Official Rules | Also see ECL ’26: Winter - Ability & Build Bans   If teams are tied in points after the group stage, we will utilize these usual tie-breakers: Wins (including OT-wins) Head-to-head record (points in mutual games) Goal difference (across all games played) Scored goals (across all games played)   We hope you're as excited as we are to get back into the action - build your team, sign up, and have fun!

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