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Gamers, the time has come to step into the future. Today, we invite you to join us for “A Song of Winter and Spring” as we introduce the next step in the evolution of ECL. We’ll also walk you through some incoming improvements to the website and the overall EASHL team experience here at NHLGamer. You’ll find all the details below but before we get to the grand reveal, I’d like to take a moment to address the community directly. Introducing something new in the world of gaming comes with a certain responsibility. Especially when presenting it to a group of loyal, passionate consumers. Like you, our 14,000+ members here at NHLGamer.com. How the invention itself is received can be difficult to predict, but for better or for worse the launch itself is often memorable. Who can forget the celebrated Cyberpunk 2077 presentation at E3 2019 when Keanu Reeves set the internet ablaze by shouting “You’re breathtaking!” to the crowd? Memorable, for the right reasons. But like Cyberpunk proved, the introduction itself is nothing without a solid product launch. Today, we aim to deliver on both fronts as we write yet another new chapter in the already storied history of the European Championship League. And, just like when we introduced our Divisional system in ECL 4 or when we hosted our first LAN event in ECL 8 or even when we re-imagined the divisional framework for ECL 12, we welcome your thoughts, opinions and above all – your passion. After all, that is what it’s all about, isn’t it? Now, let’s get to it. INTRODUCING… ECL WINTER & ECL SPRING Moving forward, our ECL leagues will no longer carry the numerical distinctions next to them as before. Instead, NHLGamer will be hosting two annual ECL seasons: ECL Winter and ECL Spring. What’s more, we’ll be crowning an annual ECL Grand Champion – exclusive to the Elite division. The combined prize pools for ECL Winter, ECL Spring and the ECL Grand Finals will be larger than anything seen before here at NHLGamer. Furthermore, the divisional framework as presented in ECL 12 will remain, but we are happy to announce we’ll be adding a license and prize pool for our second-tier division; ECL Pro – and voluntary licenses and prize pools for ECL Lite and Core. Here’s how it will work. ECL Winter ECL Winter takes the place of ECL 13, as it were, and will be played from January through March 2022. This will be the tentatively scheduled slot for ECL Winter in the future as well, but we are open to starting the Winter edition even as early as November – depending on feedback from the community. Knowing ahead of time when the seasons are set to start allows our players and teams to plan ahead in a way that was previously difficult. ECL Spring ECL Spring replaces ECL 14 and will be played from April through June 2022. Just like ECL Winter, Spring will be tentatively scheduled for the same slot next year. Having ECL Spring finish before midsummer allows our players and teams to take the summer off from playing ECL games, as per requests from the community. Annual ECL Champion Come June, we’ll be hosting an ECL Grand Final – with an additional prize pool – to crown the annual ECL Champion. This much-anticipated best-of-seven event will feature the ECL Elite teams who won ECL Winter and ECL Spring, respectively. Should the same team win both seasons, that team will be crowned the ECL Grand Champion in conjunction with the ECL Spring Finals. INTRODUCING… PRIZE POOLS FOR ECL PRO, LITE AND CORE ECL Elite remains the pinnacle of virtual hockey gaming in Europe and will feature our biggest prize pool yet - a total of 33 000 EUR! As our community continues to grow and the competition becomes increasingly tougher, playing in ECL Pro, Lite and Core is more prestigious than ever before. Now, for the first time ever, we are set to further elevate the status of these divisions by introducing the concept of prize pools. ECL Pro will feature a mandatory license fee and prize pool. All the money from the team licenses goes into the prize pool. The top sixteen (16) out of the divisions’ 32 teams will be awarded a share of the prize pool. ECL Lite and Core will feature a voluntary license fee and a prize pool for the teams who choose to acquire a license. The top 16 teams that choose to acquire a license in ECL Lite (64 teams) will be awarded a share of the prize pool. The top 32 teams that choose to acquire a license in ECL Core (128 teams) will be awarded a share of the prize pool. ECL Neo will continue as our division for new teams who want to get accustomed to league play on a relaxed schedule. There will be no license or prizing for ECL Neo. INTRODUCING… NEW WEBSITE FEATURES As a community, you’ve been asking us for upgrades to the website infrastructure. You’ve given us feedback; you’ve outlined what you want to see in terms of a competitive esports platform. And we thank you for it. We continue to listen – and ask for – your thoughts and feedback when it comes to the long-term development of the platform. Here’s an outline of what we’re doing to improve the website experience in the short term. We’ll be improving and expanding the admin tools with a singular focus on streamlining the support process. As the community grows, the need for a quick and efficient support system has never been greater – and this is something we’ve put a lot of work into. We’ll be improving and expanding the amount of stats from the EA SPORTS NHL game we’re able to track. As you might have seen in the Player Summary screen, several new statistical columns have been introduced and we’ll be introducing them to our website. The stats in question will be available retroactively for the previous ECL seasons where they were available in-game. We’ll be introducing a social sharing tool for the teams and organizations that make up our user base. No longer will teams need to grab a screenshot of a game report on NHLGamer or an in-game screen grab of a result for posting on social media. Instead, you’ll be able to share results and stats conveniently to social platforms directly from our website. We’ll be eradicating the website bugs that exist today, while also improving our general response time when it comes to fixing them. Above all, we introduce a pledge that this is just the opening salvo in what will be a renewed focus to further develop the platform thousands of you choose to visit on a daily basis. INTRODUCING… SPONSORSHIP PROGRAMS AND ADDED TEAM VISIBILITY More and more esport organizations continue to join the ECL ecosystem and here at NHLGamer, that is something we take great pride in. In order to take further steps towards professionalism and allow all our teams – not just the ones signed to an organization – to attract sponsors and develop their franchise in terms of visibility and competitive efforts, we are introducing the concept of sponsorship programs. We will build and share free of charge sponsorship packages which will include high-class sales presentations, best practices, and other supporting materials for teams to elevate their commercial efforts. We will also set up a sponsorship pool for the community which will be allocated by competition rankings and other community incentives. We will continue to broadcast Elite games with the same passion and intensity as before, while also adding a weekly broadcast dedicated to our second-tier division, Pro. We’ll be introducing the opportunity for added sponsorship visibility during our broadcasts. As an example, an Elite team could be given the chance to have one sponsor visible at a designated area during our wide-reaching league broadcasts. I want to take this moment to thank you all for being on this journey together, we are very excited for the upcoming year and looking forward to share more with you in the near future. So without futher ado, welcome to ECL '22! READ MORE ABOUT THE ECL '22 WINTER SEASON HERE PS: We would love for you to follow our social channels, as they are an integral part of the ECL season. Discord Instagram Facebook Twitch Twitter

NHLGamers, The European Championship League is back with some new touches! We are confident that our reinvented format will bring bigger and better things not only this current season, but also in the future. The signups are now open, so tell your friends and get ready for the greatest NHL gaming experience to date! The ECL is the pinnacle of European NHL esports - a league where all the best European NHL gamers create teams and compete against each other in the game mode EASHL (6v6) for the title of Best EASHL Team in Europe. The league currently features five divisions, so action is guaranteed for everyone regardless of skill level and experience! Basic information/requirements of ECL: Regional restrictions: ECL is a European tournament format, however, we do not necessarily exclude North American or Russian players. A European server will always be used. In case of severe connection issues, we reserve the right to exclude teams or players. 6v6 tournament: ECL is played 6 vs. 6 only, using the EASHL Challenge Club game mode in NHL 22. Individual requirements: Each player needs to have an account at NHLGamer.com and create their personal player card. Roster requirements: Teams in ECL Elite need to have at least 7 players to sign up. Teams in ECL Pro, ECL Lite, ECL Core and ECL Neo need to have at least 8 players to sign up. The roster cap is 14 players. ECL licenses: Teams in ECL Elite & ECL Pro will be require their respective ECL '22 Winter license in order to play. Optional licenses are available for the ECL Lite and Core levels. More details below. Rules: The ECL '22 Winter ruleset will follow the same foundation as in season 12. The updated rulebook will be available before the season. Wildcard Battle: 2.- 6.12. ECL Lite Qualifier: 2.- 6.12. ECL Pro Qualifier: 2.- 6.12. ECL Neo: 2.- 27.12. ECL Core: 2.- 27.12. ECL Lite: 2.- 17.12. ECL Pro: 2.- 17.12. ECL Elite: 2.- 17.12. * Sign-up will close 23:59 CET on the last day mentioned unless otherwise specified Below you'll find the condensed version of what's new this year in the ECL. For a longer look, please read our article about the new era of ECL. ECL Winter & Spring ECL seasons will no longer carry the same numerical distinctions next to them as before. Instead, NHLGamer will be hosting two annual ECL seasons: ECL Winter and ECL Spring. The combined prize pools for ECL Winter, ECL Spring and the ECL Grand Finals will be larger than anything seen before here in NHL esports! We’ll be hosting an ECL Grand Final – with an additional prize pool – to crown the annual ECL Champion. This much-anticipated best-of-seven event will feature the ECL Elite teams who won ECL Winter and ECL Spring, respectively. Prize pools for ECL Pro, Lite and Core ECL Elite remains the pinnacle of virtual hockey gaming in Europe but as our community continues to grow and the competition becomes increasingly tougher, playing in ECL Pro, Lite and Core is more prestigious than ever before. We’ll be adding a license and prize pool for our second-tier division; ECL Pro – and voluntary licenses and prize pools for ECL Lite and Core. ECL Pro will feature a mandatory license fee and prize pool. All the money from the team licenses goes into the prize pool. The top sixteen (16) out of the divisions’ 32 teams will be awarded a share of the prize pool. ECL Lite and Core will feature a voluntary license fee and a prize pool for the teams who choose to acquire a license. The top 16 teams that choose to acquire a license in ECL Lite (64 teams) will be awarded a share of the prize pool. The top 32 teams that choose to acquire a license in ECL Core (128 teams) will be awarded a share of the prize pool. See more about licenses in our Licenses section. The divisions framework for the ECL '22 Winter will follow the same logic as for the previous season. We will have a total of five divisions with the following team allocation: Elite 16 teams, Pro 32 teams, Lite 64 teams, Core 128 teams and Neo 32+ teams. Please use the below links for more detailed info about each division and which teams are eligible to sign up: Wildcard Battle information (for ECL Lite and Pro Qualifiers) ECL Lite & Pro Qualifiers information ECL Neo Season Information ECL Core Season Information ECL Lite Season Information ECL Pro Season Information ECL Elite Season Information *If you're an existing team that wants to change names, simply sign up with the old name and contact support for the name change. If you're having issues with signing up overall, please contact support. 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. Did your team sign with an organization that is represented in the game and needs in-game unlocks? Fill in this form. (Only if your organization has unlockables available in NHL 22) PS: We would love for you to follow our social channels, as they are an integral part of the ECL season. Discord Instagram Facebook Twitch Twitter