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NHLGamers, Starting today, Thursday, April 15th we are starting the qualifiers ahead of the ECL 12 season to determine recipients of the final open spots in each of the divisions. This article gathers all the base information required to carry out the qualifiers. Roster Lock As we've already received some questions about player movement during and around the ECL Qualifiers, we need to remind parties concerned about the soft roster lock rule applied to all teams and players participating in ECL Qualifiers (including Wildcard battle participants): Upon further reflection we have realised that this piece of information may not have received enough attention as it was embedded in the main body of text from the article detailing the overhaul of our promotion system. As such, we would like to take this opportunity to outline the rationale behind this rule, as well as better illustrate this for the players that it may impact in the current ongoing qualifiers. The rationale behind this rule was to heavily discourage players from ‘helping out’ other teams in the qualifiers, just to change team afterwards. That said, we originally quoted weeks as the duration of the ‘locks’ and realise that this can be a little confusing at a glance. Therefore, for Elite players, if they wish to join a team and help them out in the qualifiers, then they are locked to playing within that division (where the qualifying team ends up) for the entirety of the season. As for Pro players, if they wish to do the same, and play for a team in Lite, then they will have to stay within the Lite division until the 27th May, at which point they will be allowed to transfer into Pro or Elite teams. For next season this rule will be reviewed. As in previous seasons, players are only allowed one transfer per ECL. This includes the Qualifiers. Note regarding feedback on structure and qualifiers We hear and appreciate the passionate feedback received about the qualifying and promotion process. As stated, the promotions have occurred as defined in our first communications and we intend to keep it as such for ECL 12. We will take all feedback into consideration and aim to improve based on that for upcoming seasons. In the mean time however, the Pro and Lite Qualifiers are underway, and in the event that any more teams decide to not take part, their qualifier spot will remain empty. Additionally, a Pro team has decided to drop-out from taking part in ECL 12, normally this would mean that we would grant automatic promotion to a team from Lite, however as we were only made aware of this at this point, so far into the qualifier process, we will instead be allocating an extra spot that will be up for grabs through the qualifier structure. This means that the teams ranked #4 in the 2nd stage of the Pro Qualifiers both will be promoted rather than having to play a BO5 series. Pro Qualifiers Groups Schedule (all dates in April) Round 1: Thursday 15th, Sunday 18th, Monday 19th, Wednesday 21st Round 2: Sunday 25th, Monday 26th, Wednesday 28th BO5 series (where needed): Thursday 29th Lite Qualifiers Groups Schedule (all dates in April) Group Play: Thursday 15th, Sunday 18th, Monday 19th, Wednesday 21st, Thursday 22nd. All games to be played by Sunday 25th. BO5 series (where needed): Wednesday 28th NOTE: The team seeded #2 opted out after the groups were formed. This lead to an even 40 teams in 8 groups, meaning all teams will fit the top 5 and will after the group stage either be promoted directly (TOP 2 per group) to ECL Lite, or play a BO5 series in order to secure a spot. Seed 41, Wildcard team Unwanted is now in Group 2.

The Anaheim Ducks Xbox and PlayStation NHL 21 1v1 Tournaments presented by McDonald's of Southern California begin today with a prize pool of $1,500 and Ducks prizes. With nearly 100 registrants from the Southern California area, this will offer competitive gameplay and great entertainment for virtual hockey fans to tune in for globally. We'll be kicking off the action with online pool play among all the registered players. Here's an overview of how the tournament is going to progress all the way through pool play to the grand finals on Saturday, May 15th: Pool Play: Wednesday, April 15th - Monday, April 26th Best of 1 Each player will face five or six opponents in this timeframe. The top 24 players on both consoles will advance to the playoffs. Playoffs (BO3 single elimination): Wednesday, April 28th - Saturday, May 15th Round of 24: Wednesday, April 18th - Friday, April 30th Round of 16: Sunday, May 2nd - Tuesday, May 4th Quarterfinals: Wednesday, May 5th - Saturday, May 8th Semifinals (Xbox): Monday, May 10th Semifinals (PS4): Wednesday, May 12th Finals: Saturday, May 15th Click the buttons below to access the groups for both platforms: Please read the full tournament rules for more detailed information. IMPORTANT TOURNAMENT INFORMATION If any questions arise, please contact Support. Please join the NHLGamer Discord server and use the #role-registration channel to assign yourself to the Ducks Gaming role by clicking the reaction logo (shown in the image below). This will enable you to see the Ducks Gaming category and channels. Social Media and Hashtags: Showing sponsor support can help us grow these events in the future. We are planning to do official broadcasts towards the later rounds of playoffs but in the meantime, please let us know if you plan on streaming. When posting about the tournament on social media, please use the following hashtags: #Ducks1v1 #SoCalMcDs #NHLGamer #NHL21 and tags: @NHLDucksGaming @AnaheimDucks @NHLGamerCOM (Twitter), @nhlgamerofficial (IG)

NHLGamers, We're happy to have had a good amount of teams register for the ECL 12 Warmup Tournament, which starts today! The exact number of teams registered were 26 for the Elite & Pro-tournament and 70 for the Lite & Core tournament. Here's how it's all going to unfold: Elite & Pro Groups Schedule Two groups holding 13 teams each Double-header gamedays Default gamedays on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday Eight teams from each group make playoffs (BO3) Playoff dates (Playoffs practically ECL Pro-style, with cross-seed in first round etc): Monday, May 10th (RO16) Wednesday, May 12th (Quarterfinals) Thursday, May 13th (Semifinals) Monday, May 17th (Finals) Lite & Core Groups Schedule Seven groups holding 10 teams each Double-header gamedays No playoffs 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 all enjoy and remember to play by the rules! Although the Warmup 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.