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The start of the ECL '23 Winter season brought lots of news to the beloved crown jewel of European NHL Esports, and we're committed to keep developing the league. Now we're launching registrations for the ECL '23 Spring season and it's time to gear up amidst the packed competitive schedule the game offers this year! After the ECL '23 Winter season culminated in the biggest event we've done to date and the national Championships have taken off to a nice start in the competitive schedule, the time has come to also announce the ECL '23 Spring season. This season will continue strengthening the framework we've built whilst maintaining the status as the crown jewel of European NHL Esports. Just over three weeks ago, we crowned Tunnel Vision the ECL Winter Elite Champions at Assembly, and now the young squad is seemingly entering their prime in the looks of a similar dominant streak to that of hREDS, Frölunda and HAVU that were before them. With more parity than ever before across the league and across divisions, the newly crowned Champions will have several hungry teams in pursuit, though. The ECL '23 Spring season will feature a prize pool totalling up to 26 000€ across the four highest competitive tiers. This puts the ECL up there as not just the biggest 6v6 league out there, but also one of the longest running and highest paying leagues. We are committed to keeping the development and the trend going not only this season, but long into the future too. Having established the ECL as the superior European NHL Esports league, a big part of the league is the culmination in live Finals - a big event where the community can come together to celebrate another successful season. This season, the ECL Elite Finals will be played on June 16th and 17th in the Helsinki metropolitan area. The location and specifics will be announced at a later stage! Revamped ECL 1v1 format With the introduction of the inaugural season of the 1v1 European Championship League, we saw lots of potential, but also realized several areas that needed development. This season, we'll be looking to improve on the player experience by introducing a group stage and playoffs similar to what we've seen in the national leagues to this point. This means that all entrants will be seeded into groups right from the get-go and the top 128 players will advance to the playoffs from the group stage. As ECL 1v1 still falls under the ECL umbrella, you can also expect the big production and a hefty prize pool to go along with it. To X-Factor, or not to X-Factor? There's been lots of discussion going on about X-Factors and we'd like to remind you that an official desicion on their future in the ECL has not yet been made. We are still looking for community input to help us make an educated call, and with that would like to invite you to the discussion in the threads below: ECL Elite & Pro: Abilities Ban Poll ECL Core & Lite: Abilities Ban Poll ECL Neo: Abilities Ban Poll An official decision will be communicated leading up to the season and we will do our best to allow teams an adjustment period if any changes will be implemented. UPDATE: LA Announcement: Certain Player Abilities to be banned in eHSM, SCL and ECL '23 Spring ECL '23 Player Licenses An ECL '23 Player License purchased for the Winter season will still be valid for the Spring season. However, if a player had not obtained their license for ECL '23 Winter, a license can now be purchased for the Spring season at a slightly reduced price.. The new ECL Player License will cost 15€ and allow for participation in both the ECL 6v6 and 1v1 leagues for the ECL ‘23 Spring season. This license will grant you access to compete in the most prestigious and biggest competitive NHL esports league in Europe. An ECL season spans over the course of two to three months and guarantees a minimum of roughly 20 games of competition on the 6v6 side*, whereas the 1v1 league adds - at the very least - the opportunity to participate in the group stage, guaranteeing a good amount of high level competition also on that side. ECL Neo will continue being available at no license fee for teams wishing to get a taste of competitive virtual hockey, whereas all other divisions are subject to a team license fee. The license is exponentially higher at higher levels of competition, given the increased spotlight and additional content around the divisions in question. Each team can name up to 3 backup players (outside of the primary 6) that can help the team out and play up to 10 games during ECL '23 without having to own the player license. The 10 games consist of qualifier, regular season and playoff games during the ECL '23 Winter and Spring seasons. The ECL ‘23 Player License can be purchased during the season if a backup wants to play more games than expected. ECL Neo will remain free to play, with no player license required to compete, however To uphold the integrity of ECL Neo as the beginner level, we reserve the right to deny teams to participate in cases where they are clearly above the amateur level, as it could significantly impact the experience of what ECL Neo is intended for. The ECL ‘23 Player License can be purchased by an ECL Neo player if they want to participate in ECL 1v1, benefit from the additional advantages that come with the license, or simply as a form of supporting the league. License fees will be allocated to fund prize pools and developing operations, such as our broadcasts, live productions and promoting the league. *Based on the minimum amount of games played in a starting role in the ECL '22 Spring: Core regular season. The ECL is the pinnacle of European NHL esports - a league where all the best European NHL gamers compete against each other in both EASHL (6v6) and Online Versus (1v1) for the European Championship title. ECL 6v6 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 players located in North America or Asia. A European server will always be used. In case of severe connection issues, we reserve the right to exclude teams or players. Individual requirements: Each player needs to have an account at SportsGamer.GG and create their personal player card. ECL licenses: Teams in ECL Elite & ECL Pro, ECL Lite and ECL Core will require their respective ECL ‘23 Winter team licenses in order to play. In addition, every player needs to have a valid ECL ‘23 Spring Player License before taking the ice. Rules: The ECL ‘23 Spring ruleset will follow the same foundation as the previous season. The updated rulebook will be available before the season. The divisions framework for the ECL ‘23 season will follow the same logic as for previous seasons. 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 refer to this ECL Ranking in order to understand which teams are eligible to sign up for each division. Wildcard teams: 18.3.-1.4.2023 ⚠️ Lite Qualifier: - 18.3.-7.4.2023 ⚠️ Pro Qualifier: - 18.3.-7.4.2023 ⚠️ Neo: 18.3.-20.4.2023 Core: 18.3.-20.4.2023 Lite: 18.3.- 13.4.2023 Pro: 18.3.-13.4.2023 Elite: 18.3.-13.4.2023 *Signups will close at 23:59 CET on the last day mentioned unless otherwise specified. Schedule Pro Wildcard Battle: 3.-4.4.2023 Lite Qualifiers: 9.-23.4.2023 Pro Qualifiers: 9.-20.4.2023 ECL '23 Spring Season: 24.4.-29.6.2023 Signups are open right now, so now is time to brace for that final push in building your teams! Get your team together and sign up for the biggest event of the year! Read more about specific division schedules, prize pools and more: ECL '23 Spring Wildcard ECL '23 Spring Lite & Pro Qualifiers ECL '23 Spring Neo ECL '23 Spring Core ECL '23 Spring Lite ECL '23 Spring Pro ECL '23 Spring Elite ECL '23 Spring 1v1 Purchase Licenses 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 23)

SportsGamers, This news story is for you to understand the ECL Ranking for teams at the end of the ECL '23 Winter season. That means that this ranking determines the eligibility for teams entering various divisions this upcoming ECL '23 Spring season.    Below you will find a list of teams that have secured a division spot at the Elite, Pro or Lite league level. If you didn't find your team on the list, don't worry! You can apply for a wildcard spot for your team in the Pro qualifiers or participate in the Lite qualifiers, which are open to everyone this season. Elite 1 Elite 🏆 Tunnel Vision 2 Elite 🥈 Frölunda HC 3 Elite 3 JYP Jyväskylä 4 Elite 4 hREDS 5 Elite 5 Reality Check HC 6 Elite 6 JANO 7 Elite 7 ZSC Esports 8 Elite 8 Nordic Stars 9 Elite 9 GOONS 10 Elite 10 Färjestad BK 11 Elite 11 Falun Coal Miners 12 Elite 12 Roots Gaming 13 Elite 13 Växjö Lakers 14 Pro 🥇 ▲ Tohtorit 15 Pro 3 ▲ Örebro Hockey 16 Pro 4 ▲ Nemesis   Pro 1 Elite 14 ▼ Unlucky Boys 2 Elite 15 ▼ ISO ESPORTS 3 Elite 16 ▼ Luleå Hockey 4 Pro 🥈 Leksands IF 5 Pro 5 Be a Bro 6 Pro 6 RCTIC 7 Pro 7 Golden Nights 8 Pro 8 Djurgården Hockey 9 Pro 9 VISU Gaming 10 Pro 10 Herlev Eagles 11 Pro 11 Renascor 12 Pro 12 IK Oskarshamn 13 Pro 13 Memento 14 Pro 14 HanaaHC 15 Pro 15 Deadly Phantoms 16 Pro 16 Bjorkloven Esport 17 Pro 17 Gifu Hockey 18 Pro 18 Arkham Asylum 19 Pro 19 Lulea Hockey Academy 20 Pro 20 Valco 21 Pro 21 Bastu 22 Pro 22 Venom 23 Lite 🥇 ▲ Pirati Chomutov Esports 24 Lite 🥈 ▲ Project X 25 Lite 🥉 ▲ Gunners HC 26 Pro Qualifiers   27 Pro Qualifiers   28 Pro Qualifiers   29 Pro Qualifiers   30 Pro Qualifiers   31 Pro Qualifiers   32 Pro Qualifiers     Pro Qualifiers 1 Pro 25 Hawaii Hockey 2 Pro 26 Ace Hockey 3 Pro 27 Synergy Hockey 4 Pro 28 Company of Geeks 6 Pro 29 TTK 5 Pro 30 Inter Iceland 7 Lite 4 Six Sticks Misfits 9 Lite 5 Prestige 8 Lite 6 Herforder Ice Dragons 10 Lite 7 Vizio 11 Lite 8 Purification 12 Lite 9 Hunters 13 Wildcard   14 Wildcard   15 Wildcard   16 Wildcard     Pro Qualifier Wildcard requirements Three former Elite starters or four former Pro starters A starter is defined as having played 16 or more games in the ECL '23 Winter season, or 20 or more games in the ECL '22 Spring season If there are more players from the same team that relegated out of the Pro (in the same season) in the team applying for a wildcard, they will be counted as one player What if all Pro Qualifier positions are not filled? Teams will not be promoted straight and all open spots will be filled through qualifiers (excluding automatically relegated/promoted teams). 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) spots are filled as follows: Pro Qualifiers Pro relegated teams Lite #10-16 Wildcard teams #5-8 Lite #17-32   Lite 1 Pro Qualifiers   2 Pro Qualifiers   3 Pro Qualifiers   4 Pro Qualifiers   5 Pro Qualifiers   6 Pro Qualifiers   7 Pro Qualifiers   8 Pro Qualifiers   9 Pro Qualifiers   10 Pro 29 ▼ Team NGU 11 Pro 30 ▼ Mora IK 12 Pro 31 ▼ Frolunda HC Academy 13 Lite 10 Neptune Hockey 14 Lite 11 RoKi Esports 15 Lite 12 Timrå IK Esport 16 Lite 13 Sodertalje SK 17 Lite 14 EHC Kloten eSports 18 Lite 15 NOSTREETSPORTS 19 Lite 16 DEG eSports 20 Lite 17 Lions Academy 21 Lite 18 Stone Age 22 Lite 19 Blessed Suedis 23 Lite 20 Sawolanche 24 Lite 21 Lemmenvelhot 25 Lite 22 Unique 26 Lite 23 BIG Mistake 27 Lite 24 SCB eSports 28 Lite 25 Resurrection 29 Lite 26 TROJANS 30 Lite 27 Technical Disaster 31 Lite 28 Skelleftea AIK 32 Lite 29 Ultimatum 33 Lite 30 EHC Dinamo Riga 34 Lite 31 xBOTS 35 Lite 32 Armada Hockey 36 Lite 33 Oulunsalo HT 37 Lite 34 Sunne IK Esport 38 Lite 35 Wildcats esport 39 Lite 36 PunaKala 40 Lite 37 Bad to the Bone 41 Lite 38 Ghost 42 Lite 39 Including Me 43 Lite 40 Nurnberg Ice Tigers eSport 44 Lite 41 Golden Sticks 45 Lite 42 United Front 46 Lite 43 Woodhands 47 Lite 44 Lulea Hockey Region 48 Lite 45 Saucer Hockey 49 Lite 46 Chiefzz HC 50 Lite 47 Rahinage 51 Lite 48 HC VADELMA 52 Core 🥇 ▲ Cheeky Grinders 53 Core 🥈 ▲ HC KOROBKA 54 Core 🥉 ▲ Hannover Indians eSports 55 Core 4 ▲ Deggendorfer SC Esports 56 Lite Qualifiers   57 Lite Qualifiers   58 Lite Qualifiers   59 Lite Qualifiers   60 Lite Qualifiers   61 Lite Qualifiers   62 Lite Qualifiers   63 Lite Qualifiers   64 Lite Qualifiers   All teams without an Elite, Pro or Lite league spot can participate in the Lite qualifiers without restrictions. The format of the qualifiers will be decided according to the number of participants. Promotion and relegation rules of Lite and Core will be reviewed before the start of the season.