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SportsGamer will be attending Assembly Winter 2023 with not one, but two great events this February! Assembly Winter 2023 will once again be one of the biggest gaming and LAN-events in Finland and while fans around the country will be gearing up to meet some of their favorite streamers and game with their friends, we are looking to bring some international color to the big stage in the form of the ECL '23 Winter Finals and the World Finals on the same weekend! The event will be hosted in the legendary Messukeskus in Helsinki, where some of the greatest teams in European NHL esports have hoisted trophies, such as the IS Cup 3 trophy by FILADELPHIA and the FCL 2019 trophy by HAVU Gaming. Will your team be next up to go for ultimate glory? Lassi Nummi, CEO of Assembly states: “We are happy to welcome all NHL esports players to Assembly Winter 2023 to enjoy the unique atmosphere of Assembly Festival and compete in front of a LIVE audience. The tournament will add great value and diversity to the esports program of the Festival. Assembly is the biggest gaming event in Finland and we are expecting around 15 000 visitors to attend our Winter 2023 Event.” This upcoming February, the greatest European teams will clash on Friday, the 24th in a head-to-head battle for the ECL '23 Winter Championship. Out of these two, the winner will advance to meet the future NACL Champion at the World Finals played on Saturday, February 25th, 2023. This is the first time in NHL esports history an American team faces off against a European team in a live setting, and we're expecting fireworks right from the get-go in this series that has been brewing for a long time already. On top of the ECL '23 Winter Finals and the World Finals, Assembly Winter 2023 has a lot more to offer. The massive LAN festival features the biggest LAN area in Finland, two event stages, several esports tournaments, an open play area, an EXPO area and so much more! The event spans over the course of four days from the 23rd of February to the 26th of February. Assembly features some of the biggest esports and streaming personalities in Finland, many of them with an international following, so this is an event you surely won't want to miss! Interested in seeing the Finals live in Helsinki? So are we! That's why we are extremely happy to be able to provide all ECL Player License holders with the following exclusive discounts for Assembly Winter 2023 tickets: 50% discount for single day ticket (normal price from 20€ / discounted 10€) 50% discount for four day ticket (includes usage of sleeping area) (normal price from 40€ / discounted 20€) 50% discount for four day LAN ticket (BYOC, includes usage of sleeping area) (normal price from 89€ / discounted 44,5€) If you are planning on attending the event, please let us know by filling in this form, we'll try our best to provide you with some more exclusive deals related to travel and accommodation to and at the venue. Information about Assembly Winter 2023 Festival can be found at the Festival website: https://party.assembly.org/en/winter23.

SportsGamers, Before we get underway with the main part of the 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 '23 Winter Pro and Lite Qualifiers will start officially on Thursday, November 24th. The Qualifiers will be completed at an intensive pace and here are the schedules for the respective Qualifiers: Pro Qualifiers: Round 1: Thursday 24.11., Sunday 27.11., Monday 28.11., Tuesday 29.11. Round 2: Thursday 1.12., Sunday 4.12., Monday 5.12. BO5 series (where needed*): Wednesday 7.12. Lite Qualifiers: Group Play: Thursday 24.11., Sunday 27.11., Monday 28.11., Tuesday 29.11., Wednesday 30.11., Thursday 1.12. BO3 series (where needed*): Sunday 4.12., Monday 5.12., Tuesday 6.12., Wednesday 7.12., Thursday 8.12. * The final number of open spots will be determined on 30.11. by 23.59 CET when registrations close for Elite, Pro and Lite series levels.     In our Lite & Pro Qualifier registrations 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 '22 Spring teams have gained the right to participate in the Pro Qualifier: Company of Geeks Venom (HC SHH) Sodertalje SK Six Sticks Misfits (Linköping HC) Ace Hockey Lemmenvelhot TTK RoKi Esports PunaKala Due to us having only one Pro Wildcard applicants fulfilling the requirements for a Pro Qualifier Wildcard spot, The Wildcard Battle was not played this season. Below is the Wildcard team: Örebro Hockey         The Expansion of the ECL '23 Lite Qualifiers will come into effect immediately. Here, we'll be increasing the Qualifier size to a total of 64 teams, consisting of 15 Lite teams, 28 Core teams and 4 Neo teams from the previous season. The remaining 17 spots in the qualifiers will be filled by Wildcard teams, and these Wildcard spots will be open for application to every team without restrictions. Wildcard spots will be filled in order of registration. In the case of eligible teams not signing up, the amount of Wildcard spots will automatically increase. Teams that applied for an ECL '23 Winter Lite Wildcard spot: Alliance HT Bad to the Bone BIG Mistake Chiefzz HC Davemiehet Golden Sticks Gunners HC HC VADELMA Karmadillos Lions Academy Lulea Hockey Region Nurnberg IceTigers eSport Prestige Skelleftea AIK Sunne IK Esport Timra IK Esport TROJANS Unique xBOTS backup  Lite Qualifier teams:   The Lite Qualifier teams will be played in two stages, here is a breakdown of the structure: Six groups, six or seven teams - the Top 3 out of each group will gain direct promotion to Lite The remaining teams will clash for best-of-three series to determine the who will gain spots in the Lite division. The exact format will be determined later.   Reminder about licenses The team participating in the qualifiers must have at least six players who have purchased a player license. Each team can get up to 3 free backup player licenses (outside of the primary 6) that can help the team out and play up to 10 games without having to buy the player license (more detailed info coming soon). The ECL ‘23 Player License can be purchased during the season if a backup wants to play more games than expected. The team license will be issued after the season's league spot has been decided in the qualifiers.   Special rules for Qualifier teams To prevent teams from taking advantage, 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. If a former Elite player wants to participate in a qualifier for a Wildcard, Pro or Lite team, then they will be locked into that division at where the team ends up throughout the season Transfer to a lower division is possible If a former Pro player wants to participate in a qualifier for a wildcard, Pro or Lite team, then they will be locked into that division at where the team ends up for 2 weeks (starting from the first game played in Pro that season) Transfer to a lower division is possible Lite & Pro Qualifiers are part of the ECL '23 Winter season Only one transfer is allowed during the season The backup player's free games decrease when playing qualifiers Otherwise, the ECL '22 Spring rulebook will be used in the qualifiers.   We wish all participating good luck in the Qualifiers, play hard, play fair and most importantly have fun!