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Hey NHLGamers, As I’m sure many of you have noticed, we have had a record number of teams sign up for the current season of ECL. Whilst growth is good, it certainly comes with some challenges, and our ECL division structure has certainly had to undergo some impromptu changes over the years to account for this exponential increase. Indeed, talk about adding a new division to reduce the strain placed on those that already exist has been a debate that has been raging for a while now, as such we hope that an update to the ECL structure, as well as the very system in which teams are promoted, will help satiate your desires as we embark into truly unchartered waters for NHL 6v6 esports. Please note that the changes to the promotions and relegations will be effective immediately. Hitting the ice for ECL 12 will be an all-new division which will be going by the name of ‘ECL Core’. This division will aim to take up most of the strain of the ECL structure by acting as the place in which the main bulk of teams will play. Position-wise, Core will be placed in between Lite and Neo, acting as the main starting off point for teams that want to try their hand at climbing the ECL ladder. In terms of raw numbers, we are looking for Core to field a division high 128 teams. This means that we can tighten up Lite above it, condensing the skill gap between teams competing there. What this means is that ECL will starting with season 12 host the following amount of teams in each division: Elite – 16 [16] Pro – 32 [48] Lite – 64 [112] Core – 128 [240] Neo – Open Square brackets [*] denote the aggregate number of teams within the ECL system. As always, Neo will remain open to all teams and will not have a cap imposed upon it due to the intention being that the division in question should be available at all times to teams that are new to the 6v6 game mode, and would otherwise feel discouraged from applying to enter the ‘more serious’ division in Core. As already outlined, Core will be placed between the divisions of Lite and Neo. One of the problems that this causes is that the number of teams playing in Lite will be greatly reduced, and with that brings up the question of how to fairly allocate teams. Therefore, with that in mind here is the solution we have arrived at: As Lite will (for ECL 12) have a cap of 64 teams playing within it, we have decided that the top-32 Lite playoff teams from the current season (i.e. teams that make it to the second round) will maintain their spot within Lite automatically – although with that said, it can still be viewed as a promotion all things considered. However, this still leaves 32 spots that need to be filled. To remedy this, we have decided to run a 64-team qualifier in which 32 teams will claim their spot in Lite for ECL 12. Teams that are invited to take part are as follows: Bottom-32 Lite playoff teams (i.e. those that lost in their first round matchup), the top-20 non-playoff Lite teams, the top-8 playoff Neo teams, as well as four ‘Wildcard’ spots. These 64 teams will then be placed into eight groups of eight teams based on the following seeding: Bottom-32 Lite playoff teams (#1-#32) Top-20 non-playoff Lite teams (#33-#52) Top-8 Neo playoff teams (#53-#60) Wildcard* teams (#61-#64) *In order to be eligible to compete as a wildcard team, your team must meet the following quotas: Have 3 former Elite and/or Pro starters Have the remainder of the team be former Lite starting players. A starter is defined as having played 16 or more games in the ECL 11 season, or 20 or more games in the ECL 10 season. It should be noted that the Wildcard spots can either be filled by solely special* teams, remaining non-playoff Lite teams, or a combination of the two – with that said however, the special* teams take priority and if there are four eligible for admission into the qualifier, then the non-playoff Lite teams that finished 21st, 22nd, 23rd, and 24th will not be selected. If more than four special* teams should be eligible for participation into the qualifier, NHLGamer staff will be making the final selections based on player history and perceived skill level. Note: Image has been updated March 17th - see bottom of article for more information. Once placed within these eight groups, each team will play all of their opponents twice in the usual (Home-Away) fashion, meaning that each team will finish the group stage portion of the qualifier with 14 games played. Teams finishing in the top-2 of each respective group will secure their spot in Lite for ECL 12, whilst teams finishing in the bottom-3 of each respective group will be eliminated from the second stage. As 12 more spots need to be filled at this point, a second stage will begin where the middle-3 teams from each group (i.e. those that finished 3rd, 4th, and 5th) will reseeded against each other using the tiebreakers mentioned in the rulebook, with each team being matched up against an opponent in which they will have to play a BO5. The teams victorious in this final stage will lock in their spot for Lite in ECL 12, whilst those that did not qualify will be placed in Core along with those that finished in the bottom-3 in the group stage element of the qualifier. In the spirit of including an all new division to the ECL structure we feel that updating the promotion logic between divisions would be advisable – not just from the perspective of refreshing the system, but to give you the players a more concrete setup, especially as the systems we have been using have been fairly varied and plastic. First up we have Pro and Lite. These two divisions mark the mid-way point of the climb into Elite and are the epicentre of where the game goes from just being a hobby or pastime, to something serious, in most cases. From this point on, prior to every ECL season there will be a 20-team qualifier. This qualifier will be used to decide which teams are relegated, and which teams are promoted into Pro. Before we go into detail regarding the structure of the qualifiers, it should be mentioned that Pro teams who finished 15th and 16th in their group will be relegated straight to Lite (i.e. they will not be invited to the qualifier). Additionally, the top-3 Lite teams (i.e. the champions, runners-up, and bronze medal victor) will be promoted directly into Pro. With that out of the way, let’s get into the nitty gritty of the all-new promotion structure. Making up the bulk of qualifier competitors will be the Pro teams that finished 12th, 13th and 14th from both groups, as well as the top-6 remaining teams from the Lite playoffs (i.e. 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th). Joining these twelve teams will be the top-4 teams from the Core playoffs (i.e. champion, runners-up, and semifinalists). Finally, to round out the competitors to an even 20 we have four ‘wildcard’ spots. These spots can then either be filled by solely special* teams, remaining Lite playoff teams, or a combination of the two – with that said however, the special* teams take priority and if there are four eligible for admission into the qualifier, then the Lite playoff teams that finished 10th, 11th, 12th, and 13th will not be selected. *As ECLs only occur once a calendar year, and twice per each NHL year, we feel that a balance has to be struck between affording upper echelon teams (i.e. Elite and Pro) the ability to reform in a different setting under a different team banner, as well as being ‘fair’ for teams that have worked their way up through the ECL division structure – as such, under this system we feel that balance has been struck. Of course, we would love to hear your opinions regarding this. In order to qualify as a ‘special’ team you must hit one of these two quotas: Three former Elite starters Four former Pro starters A starter is defined as having played 16 or more games in the ECL 11 season, or 20 or more games in the ECL 10 season. With the ‘who’ out of the way so to speak, let’s get into ‘how’ the qualifiers will be conducted. The twenty teams will be split into four groups of five based on the following seeding: Lite playoff team (4th) Lite playoff team (5th) Lite playoff team (6th) Lite playoff team (7th) Lite playoff team (8th) Lite playoff team (9th) Pro relegation team (12th) Pro relegation team (12th) Pro relegation team (13th) Pro relegation team (13th) Pro relegation team (14th) Pro relegation team (14th) Core playoff team (1st) Core playoff team (2nd) Core playoff team (3rd) Core playoff team (4th) Wildcard Wildcard Wildcard Wildcard Once the groups have been decided, each team will then play each of their opponents in the usual (Home-Away) double matchup. Once this stage has been completed, the top-3 teams from each group will progress to the second stage, meanwhile the teams finishing 4th and 5th in each group will be eliminated. Progressing on to the second stage we have a bit of a reshuffle of sorts, as the four group of five will be combined into two groups of six. It will not be a ‘full’ reshuffle however, as teams will progress with the other two progressing teams from their group. Furthermore, each team’s record and points accumulated from their games against the advancing teams from their group will be carried forward into this stage. Teams will then be tasked with playing against three different opponents. Once this has been completed, the top-3 teams from each of the two groups will be promoted into Pro, meanwhile the teams that finished 4th in both groups will battle against each other in a BO5 for the final Pro spot. Once the BO5 has been played out, and the victor promoted, the pro / lite qualifiers will have concluded. ECL Pro 11 -> 12 Transition We do agree that the "sudden" immediate relegation for teams in 15th and 16th spot is too harsh at this stage in the season, so we put together a compromise for the transition between ECL 11 and 12 that allows for every team to have a chance to prove their worth. Lite playoff team (4th) Lite playoff team (5th) Lite playoff team (6th) Lite playoff team (7th) Lite playoff team (8th) Lite playoff team (9th) Pro relegation team (12th) Pro relegation team (12th) Pro relegation team (13th) Pro relegation team (13th) Pro relegation team (14th) Pro relegation team (14th) Pro relegation team (15th) Pro relegation team (15th) Pro relegation team (16th) Pro relegation team (16th) Wildcard Wildcard Wildcard Wildcard Seven (7) out of these twenty (20) teams participating in the ECL Pro Qualification tournament will play in ECL Pro 12. Like the promotion structure laid out for Pro / Lite, Lite / Core will be largely the same – albeit with some minor differences. Instead of the qualifiers consisting of 20 teams there will be 24 teams, all competing to gain entry into Lite. Now for the quick rundown of who this qualifier will not have an impact on. Lite teams that finished the season prior as the 15th or 16th ranked team in their group will be directly relegated to the Core division. Meanwhile, the top-3 teams from the Core playoffs (i.e. champion, runners-up, bronze game victor) will be instantly promoted into Lite. With the automatic relegations / promotions out of the way let’s get into the specifics of who you will see in the Lite / Core qualifier. As with the Pro / Lite system, the majority of the teams taking part will be sourced from the season prior’s Core playoff teams (4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, and 11th), as well as Lite teams who were ranked 13th, or 14th in their group (of which there are four). Specifically, this means that these two groups of teams will take up 16 spots of this 24-team qualifier. The next group of teams invited will be the four best Neo playoff teams (i.e. champion, runners-up, and semifinalists). Finally, the remaining four slots will be ‘wildcard’ teams. The process will be similar to the one already laid out for Pro / Lite, namely that these spots can either be filled by solely special* teams, remaining Core playoff teams, or a combination of the two – with that said however, the special* teams take priority and if there are four eligible for admission into the qualifier, then the Core playoff teams that finished 12th, 13th, 14th, and 15th will not be selected In order to qualify as a ‘special’ team you must hit one of these two quotas: Five former Lite starters A starter is defined as having played 16 or more games in the ECL 12 season, or 20 or more games in the ECL 11 season. Additionally, to prevent teams from taking advantage of the staggered divisional start time that we have instituted for ECL, specifically recruiting players to bolster your chances in the qualifier that have no intention of remaining in the team beyond that, we have decided to enforce a soft roster lock post qualifier play. What this means in practice is that if a former Elite player wants to participate in a qualifier for a Pro or Lite team, then they will be locked into that division for four weeks (starting from the first game played in Elite that season). If a former Pro player wishes to do the same, then they will be locked into the division for 2 weeks (starting from the first game played in Pro that season). Finally, 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, or owned a spot to the division in question), we will award the next highest ranked playoff team each spot, whilst the next highest ranked potential qualifier eligible team will replace them in the qualifier. This procedure will be carried out for each and every extra unforeseen spot. Now onto the method in which the Lite / Core qualifiers will be conducted. The twenty-four teams will be split into four groups of six based on the following seeding: Core playoff team (4th) Core playoff team (5th) Core playoff team (6th) Core playoff team (7th) Core playoff team (8th) Core playoff team (9th) Core playoff team (10th) Core playoff team (11th) Lite relegation team (13th) Lite relegation team (13th) Lite relegation team (13th) Lite relegation team (13th) Lite relegation team (14th) Lite relegation team (14th) Lite relegation team (14th) Lite relegation team (14th) Neo playoff team (1st) Neo playoff team (2nd) Neo playoff team (3rd) Neo playoff team (4th) Wildcard Wildcard Wildcard Wildcard Once the groups have been decided, each team will then play each of their opponents in the usual (Home-Away) double matchup. Once this stage has been completed, the top-2 teams from each group will be promoted directly into Lite, whilst the bottom-2 teams will be eliminated from further contention. Of course, this leaves 5 spots still open, so, like in the Pro / Lite structure described earlier, we will have a second stage following largely the same procedure. The remaining teams from the four groups of six (i.e. teams that finished 3rd and 4th) will be combined into two groups of four. Teams will progress with the other progressing team from their group. Furthermore, each team’s record and points accumulated from their games against the advancing team from their group will be carried forward into this stage. Teams will then be tasked with playing against two different opponents. Once this has been completed, the top-2 teams from each of the two groups will be promoted into Lite, meanwhile the teams that finished 3rd in both groups will battle against each other in a BO5 for the final Lite spot. We realize that this article is very detailed and can be tough to digest in one sitting. Please send your questions in the comment below. EDIT: Added section "ECL Pro 11 -> 12 Transition" EDIT March 17th: During the preparation of the new ECL 12 season, we noticed that the transition qualifier that we previously introduced for the ECL 12 Lite season had a small error. We failed to take the Wildcard teams into consideration in our math for the qualifiers which would have lead to an 68 team Lite division. We will still use the previously announced system we mentioned in our structure article, but we will be making a small adjustment: The playoff line will be moved from above the 7th seed to above the 6th seed. This means that the top 5 teams out of each qualifying group has a chance to continue to play for the ECL Lite promotion, while the 6th-8th ranked teams in each group will solidify their spot in the Core division. We apologize for the miscalculation while creating the new system, but we still believe that having a chance to fight for the ECL Lite promotion as a 5th ranked team in your individual group still gives you a very fair chance to make it.

NHLGamers, Despite his young age, 21-year-old Oskari @SibeIius Grönroos has played a very long career in virtual hockey. The young man has represented several top clubs, including FILADELPHIA, JYP and Butterfly Effect during these playing years. In early 2020, we conducted an interview with him in our "Player Spotlight"-series that you can read here: Player Spotlight: Oskari "Sibelius" Grönroos. He started his NHL playing career with 1v1 - a game mode he adopted back in NHL 15. It wasn't until a couple of years later that the young man switched over to the 6v6 side of things. SibeIius says that he has also participated in several versus tournaments, but the mode itself is not as pleasant and interesting as 6v6 action. Since moving to the 6v6 game format, SibeIius has made a rather quick ascent to the group of top players in the Finnish virtual hockey scene and holds a high standard internationally too. "I started playing NHL 15 games casually in the 1v1 format, and 6v6 I didn't start until NHL 17. That's also when I started transitioning towards competitive play more and ultimately it's led me to the point I'm at today." Transfer to HAVU For this season SibeIius moved to represent HAVU Gaming, which is definitely one of the top teams in virtual hockey. In the previous ECL 10 season, SibeIius represented JYP Jyvaskyla, a team that dominated the top of the regular season and was en route towards a successful run. However, in the playoffs, the team did not play as hoped and fell out of the quarterfinals against Swedish Farjestad BK in one of the biggest upsets in a long time. "I was very excited about the opportunity to represent HAVU. The group is full of good guys who I've known also off the ice for a long time. I would argue that HAVU's playing as a unit and consistency during the season will be the biggest differences when compared to JYP." Studies alongside gaming Although SibeIius represents one of Finland's top clubs, there is also time to study. He also says that leisure time is a good counterbalance to gaming and tough university studies. "I study at the Faculty of Law at the University of Helsinki, so when not training or playing otherwise, I'm catching up on some reading or doing other assignments for school. But if there's free time, I usually go out and have dinner with friends or talk to them in party chat and maybe play some 1v1 at the same time or watch some TV show or stream on the computer." When asked about his best memory in virtual hockey, the young man mentions winning the IS Cup 3 (NHL19 6vs6) Finnish Championship representing FILADELPHIA at a GameXpo event in the autumn of 2018. FILADELPHIA defeated Written In The Stars 2-1 in a BO3 final of the tournament. The IS Cup 3 event at GameXpo was a huge stepping stone for the development of the 6's community and the final series is still remembered as one of the most intense clashes of the sport. He says that the biggest reason why they won the tournament with FILADELPHIA was the team's seamless team spirit. "Team spirit was our key to success. I don't think any of the teams had a similar spirit compared to us and of course, we had a team considered one of the best in Europe as FILA still is, but I bet that the decisive factor was how relaxed and happy we were to just play." Strengths & weaknesses - European top 6 Each player has their own strengths and weaknesses, it's good to be aware of them and be able to develop them to be even better at any point. The young man feels that his clear strengths are on the mental side. "As a player, I feel like I have a relatively good pressure tolerance that's probably developed since I've played a lot of tough and tight games in the playoffs, off the field I feel like the kind of relaxed guy who likes to joke around and I think I get along pretty well with people." When asked about an ability of his choice that he could steal from one of his teammates, SibeIius starts pondering about a career on offense - hands like Tuukka @FlyerKungen Kuha or Ilmari @Buantso Lehkonen would be beneficial on that front. Anyone who plays even a little virtual hockey sometimes wonders what his or her dream unit would be like. We asked SibeIius to form a dream roster of his own, and there were some very familiar men among his selections. "There has been a lot of thought and reflection on these through different perspectives. My selection would be based on achieving the best possible performances on the ice through skill, but also chemistry. Outside of HAVU players I'd pick LW Paul @PleeMaker Arontie C Perttu @Beniittto Kemppainen RW Erik @Eki Tammenpää LD Aaro @xDoumi Ruuhinen RD Aleksi @loimmu Loimuvirta G Filip @Faze91- Azri." Future outlook Having played virtual hockey for such a long time, SibeIius states that he's also interested in other games, such as CS:GO. However, he notes that it would not necessarily be played at the competitive level. His long career in in NHL has also spurred some opinions on how the Finnish NHL scene should be developed in the future. "It's hard to say. Of course, more tournaments and more prize money would always be nice to get, but I'd say that @Kenu and the staff and partners are doing everything in their power to make this grow all the time. It would be cool if the NHL itself ever got involved, but I have no idea how excited the big gentlemen are across the pond. I think things are rolling quite well at the moment, given the circumstances." As he stated, besides playing a lot of his free time is taking up by his studies and he hopes that in the next five years he would be able to find work in the profession. However, he does not completely rule out some kind of career path along virtual hockey at some point. "Of course I'll be part of the scene for years to come but unless some big steps are taken in the next five years, I feel like my career might take me in another direction. Of course you never know, maybe I could handle some of the juridical duties at NHLGamer if things take a turn that way. I definitely hope that the friendships will last beyond our playing careers but overall the future isn't something I've offered much thought to due to my young age."