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NHLGamers, Ahead of the first ever ECL Winter for the '22 season, we have some qualifying ahead of us and with that, let's get right to it with the info to follow below: Firstly, ECL '22 Winter Pro and Lite Qualifiers will start officially on Monday, December 13th. The Qualifiers will be completed at an intensive pace, and therefore it is advisable for teams participating in the Qualifiers not to attend our ECL Warmup playoffs. Here are the schedules for the respective Qualifiers (all dates in December): NOTE! The games of Monday 13th will be moved to Thursday 16th due to issues caused by the newest EA Sports NHL tuner. Pro Qualifiers: Round 1: Monday 13th, Tuesday 14th, Wednesday 15th, Thursday 16th Round 2: Sunday 19th, Monday 20th, Tuesday 21st BO5 series (where needed): Wednesday 22nd Lite Qualifiers: Round 1: Monday 13th, Tuesday 14th, Wednesday 15th, Thursday 16th BO5 series (where needed): Sunday 19th, Monday 20th, Tuesday 21st, Wednesday 22nd In our Lite & Pro Qualifier registartions article, we stated the following logic as a basis of filling potential open spots in divisions and Qualifiers: Based on that logic, to fill the available spots after sign-ups, the following ECL 12 Lite teams have gained the right to participate in the Pro Qualifier: Spirit AfroDunk Baby Goons Due to us having a total of seven Pro Wildcard applicants fulfilling the requirements for a Pro Qualifier Wildcard spot, we made the decision to allow these teams play a pre-qualifier determining which teams will get the four Pro Qualifier spots. The teams not entered into the Pro Qualifier will be entered into the Wildcard spots in the Lite Qualifier. Below are the Wildcard teams: Alliance HT Bastu Fiasko Nemesis Prima eSport Vaxjo Lakers WannaCry After sign-ups closed and the number of available spots was determined, none of the ECL 12 Lite relegated teams were interested in participating, due to that the following ECL 12 Core teams have gained the right to participate in the Lite Qualifier. Its a nice city Virtuoso Mora IK esport Including Me Kymmenelta baariin New Jersey Blessed Suedis Lite Qualifier teams: Teams that applied and are eligible for an ECL '22 Winter Lite Wildcard spot: SEVERSTAL CHEREPOVETS The Lite Qualifier teams will be played in two stages, here is a breakdown of the structure: Four groups, six teams - the Top 2 out of each group will gain direct promotion to Lite, the Mid 2 will advance to stage 2 and the Bottom 2 will play in Core. The remaining eight teams will clash for best-of-five series to determine the who will gain spots in the Lite division. We wish all participating good luck in the Qualifiers, play hard, play fair and most importantly have fun!

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

Janne @Nieppii Niemelä has experience from both the virtual side of hockey and the more traditional sport. He has played competitive NHL since NHL 17 and has in recent years managed to pave his way to the top of European competition with his team IQUE. Niemelä also represents the prestigious Oulun Kärpät in their eLiiga campaign. "Of course I've been playing the NHL series casually for quite a long time, and then during NHL 17 became interested in the competitive side while watching a lot of Hannes@Hansulinho Kettunen and Risto@Dominointi Järvi streams, through that I really started to develop my own game and got the ball rolling." Niemelä feels that playing hockey has been useful also when transitioning to the virtual side of things. He says he’s developed a good eye for the game and in-game responsiveness from that side. "This is an interesting topic for me and when thinking of it I'd say that the eye for the game and reaction to situations has definitely come from that side. However, perhaps the pressure tolerance and the fact that I am at my best in a tough spot is something that has transitioned directly to the virtual ice." As his best memory from playing virtual hockey, Nieppii states that his first LAN experience takes the cake, however, back in his junior days he played one season in Bradford, Ontario, which he remembers fondly. "The best memory of virtual hockey was the first GWC back in NHL 18 when I qualified for the EU finals in Stockholm and got to play on a LAN event for the first time. The best memory for hockey is probably the entire season when I played in Canada, although the league level wasn't too good, but the experience was overall great and I got to focus on the things I like the most (NHL and real hockey) so it was cool." Niemelä states that personally, playing the 6v6 game mode is much more fun because you can experience it with the team, while in the 1v1 game mode it's only you. However, he says he appreciates both forms of play. "In my opinion, 6v6 makes more sense, because playing with a team brings a different feel to it, and for example big wins feel much better with the team than alone, although of course I appreciate the 1v1 side of things, but team sports are always better." We asked the IQUE captain what kind of tips he would give to those young people who want to play and succeed in competitive virtual hockey in the future. He notes that humility is crucial. "Well, the biggest thing I would say is that you shouldn't overthink things, and stay as humble as possible, this works for both the 1v1 and 6v6 sides of things. I also think it’s too common for people to think it’s easy to move from a hard 1v1 game mode to the 6v6 game mode, I was a bit guilty of that at a younger age myself but the reality is that it’s not as easy as you'd imagine." His team IQUE ran into some turbulence in the offseason and experienced some major changes after playing together with success for a few months. "Yeah, there has been quite a turnover in the team after the FCL season and things didn't look too good for a while, but in my opinion good pieces were found for the team and of course the main thing is a nice fresh look and everyone has a strong motivation to make it work.  Perhaps the team has been strengthened through a certain kind of experience in that it's noticeable in the team how more experienced players take on different situations, and through that we will certainly be able to be a tough team to beat in future tournaments.  I feel that the team has to play together a bit longer to find out which styles of play work for us, but there are already signs of good teamwork." One of the players lost in the offseason was young prodigy Arttu @laitineen64 Laitinen, who suddenly left for GOONS and left a gaping hole down the middle for IQUE. "Of course, it's not an easy situation and it's hard to say whether you can directly replace such talent, but I feel like we've made a great acquisition in Aaro @Ikavalko Ikävalko, who is getting back to Elite games and surely still can develop a lot despite being an experienced player already." Also, If you could choose one player from your own team with whom you could swap places, who would it be and why? "Yes, Nico @zNico Tuoreniemi and I swapped places before, and I heard a bit of a story that his ECL career as a forward only lasted one night, so he could show his skills at the attacking end. At least it couldn't go any worse than last time." You get one more task... assemble your own 6v6 team of players who you think possess exceptional potential to make it big in the future, you may choose players from your own team. Left wing: Matias @theMaddias Kilpinen - played a really good FCL tournament and proved to be a very versatile player, reminds me of Ilmari @Buantso Lehkonen with his unpredictability. Secured a roster spot in Conquer Gaming so I think he's ready for Elite now. Center: Aaro @Ikavalko Ikävalko - I'm making a homer call on this one and choosing our center. Ikis is making a return to Elite and possesses high skill and grinds the game alot.  Right wing: Valtteri @Vattuyy Virtanen - Makes a return to the ECL ice now and is still young and hungry, which gives a lot to this game and I think it will make him even better than before.  Left defenseman: Juho @juhkis96 Katajamaa - Also made a name for himself in Otukset and has a good eye for the game. Understands how a good defenseman is supposed to play and now gets a shot to prove his level in Elite. Right defenseman: Putte @Putteekiing Unasin - I think a good puck moving defender who doesn't forget his defensive obligations and now gets to show with HV71 what he has to contribute on the Elite ice. Goaltender: Niklas @uhNikke Nieminen - Has already been among the best goalkeepers for a while, but the army slowed down the progress a little bit. Now is the time to prove how he can perform in the long season and in a team where the goalkeeping game will also play a big role in their success.