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Get Ready for the Ultimate eHockey Showdown: ECL '24 Spring Season Sign-Ups Are Now Open! Hey there, SportsGamers! It's time to sharpen those skates and get ready for the most electrifying season yet! The ECL '24: Spring season is upon us, and if you thought last season was intense, you haven't seen anything yet. With an eye-watering total prize pool of 25 220 EUR up for grabs, this season is shaping up to be a blockbuster. The European Championship League (ECL) stands at the zenith of European NHL esports, bringing together the best talent in a 6v6 format that has been thrilling fans since 2015. Whether you're a goalie, a forward, or a defender, every position is controlled by human talent, promising a competition that's as real as it gets. And with divisions catering to all skill levels, everyone has a shot at glory. Plus, don't miss out on our 1v1 tournament for those who love the thrill of the solo battle. Please note that the time to sign up is very short, especially for the qualifiers and higher divisions (Elite-Lite) so don't hesitate to sign up right away! After the intense fights we saw go down at the finish lines of all five divisions last season, the ECL '24: Spring season will have lots to live up to, but with the skill level constantly increasing and the superstar talent across the league intent on bringing their top game on a nightly basis, we're confident that we have an even better season coming up! The total prize pool of the ECL '24: Spring season will be 25 220 EUR. The ECL is the pinnacle of European NHL esports. The abbreviation stands for the European Championship League and it features NHL 6v6 esports in five divisions aimed at various skill levels. Every player, including the goalies, is controlled by a human. League games are played in the EASHL mode and the platform is PlayStation and Xbox. ECL has been played since 2015, so the upcoming season is already the 18th. The latest addition to the ECL product family is a 1v1 tournament, where Europe's best solo players fight for the championship. ECL 1v1 has been played since the ECL '23 Winter season. 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. We reserve the right to exclude teams or players in case of severe connection issues. Platform: PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S 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 ‘24: Spring team licenses in order to play. In addition, every player in the above-mentioned divisions needs to have a valid ECL ‘24: Player License or ECL '24: Spring Player License before taking the ice. Purchase your license in the Store. Rules: The updated ECL '24: Spring rulebook will be published closer to the season, but there won't be too many changes rolling out, so check out last season's rules here. For a more extensive overview of the ECL as a whole, check out our “What is the ECL?” news story released a while back. Pro Wildcard Battle: 23.3-26.3.2024 ECL Lite Qualifier: 23.3-29.3.2024 ECL Pro Qualifier: 23.3-28.3.2024 ECL Neo: 23.3-11.4.2024 ⚠️ ECL Core: 23.3-11.4.2024 ⚠️ ECL Lite: 23.3-29.3.2024 ECL Pro: 23.3-28.3.2024 ECL Elite: 23.3-28.3.2024 *Signups will close at 23:59 CET on the last day mentioned unless otherwise specified. Schedule Qualifiers: The schedule for the qualifiers will be tight, so please prepare to play almost every day during the qualifiers stage. The exact details will be shared once the number of teams is known. Lite: 1.-11.4 Pro Wildcard: 27.-28.3 (if necessary) Pro: 31.3-11.4 Elite 7.4-11.4 Regular Season duration: 14.4.-16.5.2024 Estimated finals dates: Below are estimated dates for the Finals to be approximately played. We reserve the right to changes in schedule. Neo 26.-30.6 Core 26.-27.6. Lite 24.-25.6. Pro 17.-18.6. Elite 14.-15.6. PLEASE NOTE: ECL '24: SPRING 1V1 SIGNUPS WILL LAUNCH SOON Early Bird Offer on Player and Team Licenses Below you’ll find the pricing of the team and player licenses for ECL ‘24. For the next ten days (until April 1st), you can pick up the ECL ‘24 Spring Team license for the Early Bird pricing listed below. After that, standard pricing will be in effect. PURCHASE YOUR ECL '24 LICENSES HERE For those of you participating in the qualifiers and unsure which division your team will play in for the ECL ‘24: Spring season, you can still take advantage of this offer; Purchase the Early Bird license for the division you are qualifying for and if your team is unsuccessful in the mission, we will refund you the difference to the Early Bird price for the division your team ends up in. For example, if you enter the qualifiers for the Lite division, purchase the Early Bird Lite license. If your team doesn’t qualify for the Lite division, you will play in the Core division and we will refund you the difference - in this example: 100 EUR. The ECL Neo division will remain free of cost. Please refer to this ECL Ranking in order to understand which teams are eligible to sign up for each division. 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. Need more help, check out the below article!

SportsGamers, A few weeks ago we wrapped up the ECL Elite season as we got to enjoy the Finals series between hREDS and Tunnel Vision turn into yet another seven-game spectacle to be decided by only one goal, as @NikkeDangles secured his and hREDS' fourth ECL Elite Championship, solidifying them as the all-time winningest ECL team. This also marks only the second time someone outside of the TOP 3 finishers in the regular season wins the championship, with hREDS going into the Playoffs as the #4 seed (the first time was Laser HT, who finished the regular season with seed #7 and yet managed to win the championship in the ECL 4 season back in 2017).   Image: The ECL '24: Winter - Elite Champions - hREDS. From the left: FinSere, Mozjay, xDoumi, NikkeDangles, Vilupoika, Beniittto, Teemuyy Now that the dust has settled, we took some time and spoke to captain Perttu @Beniittto Kemppainen and goalie Sebastian @FINSeRe Remes about their thoughts about the season.   Interview: Captain Perttu "Beniiittto" Kemppainen Now that it's been a few weeks since your win - how would you reflect on the season? "Before the season I had high expectations for us as always, because I knew that if we were in good form no one could beat us and before this season our only problem was inconsistency. Although we still had those issues during the regular season and some games in the playoffs, we were able to keep our form good and stable enough in the playoffs, and that led us to the championship." Take us through the finals - it looked like the series was going to be over in 5 games, but in the end, we got to enjoy a full seven-game series and a G7 decided by one goal "Our start of the 1st game was bad but towards the end of the 1st game we were able to find our form and even though we lost game 1 we were able to improve our game for games 2,3 and 4. Games 5 and 6 were bad defensively and we made a lot of mistakes that you can't make in the playoffs if you want to win and we picked up our form again for game 7." How have you been preparing for the ECL '24: Spring season? "We took some time off the game to enjoy the championship and relax. After that, we have just been playing FCL regular season and when we get to the playoffs we will start practicing more."   Interview: Sebastian "FINSeRe" Remes   How would you describe the season as a whole? "I think we had a bit slow start to the regular season but started to gain momentum after NikkeDangles came back from the army. We carried that momentum to the playoffs and there we were playing extremely good hockey pretty much every game in every series. Beniittto was playing like MacKinnon and deservedly won the Best Forward of the Season award. I think he really carried us when we were having difficult moments. I also think that Teemuyy got snubbed as for me he was the best defender of the season by looking at gameplay and not points. You always expect a team like this to be up there fighting for the championship, and I think there was never any doubt among us during the season that we couldn't win it all if we just played on our level. Obviously, it's not that simple especially when you had to face both Straikers and Tunnel Vision in the playoffs but I think it just made our championship sweeter that way. And for me, it's just nice to be in the right place at the right time and get the trust of my team."   What about the finals - it was looking like the Series might be over in 5 - but you found yourself in game 7 with a one-goal win. How were the finals from your perspective? "I remember saying in our group chat after the 3rd win that now comes the hardest challenge - winning the 4th time. The 5th game could have gone either way, but Tunnel Vision tying the game in the 2nd period when there was 1s left in the clock was probably something that turned the tides for them. Also, benuh_ was giving them a chance and was making extremely important saves in games 5 and 6. After game 6, heading to the 7th I didn't feel that anyone was nervous or anything, even after dropping 2 games. On the contrary, I got this feeling that we were more focused on our task and I think it really showed in game 7. Game 7 was the best game we had all season in my opinion and honestly, it was the best game defensively I've ever been part of in any team. Yeah, I got shutout but I honestly felt like I didn't have to do anything because our 5 man defending was so unbelievably good."   This was your second ECL championship. Your first championship was in ECL Season 1 in 2016, which was before the divisions were introduced to the ECL. If you remember - how would you describe the experience of winning then vs now? "I remember those days very well. To be honest I don't think that the skill level at the top was any lower back then than it is now. You got fewer players but you still had these same guys on the top. For example in the finals we had to face players like Patzlaf, PleeMaker, Joukkiii, and loimmu. Of course, there were lots of teams that had no chance so it worked pretty much like FCL works nowadays where the real games start in play-offs. Also back then there were more teams that could win it all. I think this was because talent was more dispersed between the teams compared to now. But back then it was also normal to create a new team for every season so there wasn't as much stability as there is now. Personally winning the championship now felt so much sweeter for me than it did then since I had to prove I belong to this level. The older you get, less people believe you still got it and honestly I've worked hard to prove them wrong."     hREDS' road to the championship: #4 seed with the record 18-5-1-6 Quarterfinals: vs Radical (5) 4-1 Semifinals: vs Straikers (1) 4-0 Finals: vs Tunnel Vision (2) 4-3   The winning roster: GOALTENDERS  🇫🇮 #8 Sebastian @FINSeRe Remes   DEFENSEMEN  🇫🇮 #3 Teemu @Teemuyy Polttila   🇫🇮 #27 Aaro @xDoumi Ruuhinen FORWARDS 🇫🇮 #23 Niklas @NikkeDangles Tukiainen  🇫🇮 #67 Aleksi @Mozjayh Kähkönen   🇫🇮 #89 Vili @Vilupoika Häkkinen    🇫🇮 #96 Perttu @Beniittto Kemppainen   RELIVE THE FINALS On behalf of the entire SportsGamer community, we congratulate the ECL '24: Winter - Elite Champions and extend a warm thank you to all participants!

SportsGamers, This news story is intended to help understand the ECL Ranking for teams at the end of the ECL '24 Winter season. This ranking determines the eligibility for teams entering various divisions this upcoming ECL '24: 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. Elite 1 Elite 🏆 hREDS 2 Elite 🥈 Tunnel Vision 3 Elite 3 Straikers 4 Elite 4 Vesa Pompa 5 Elite 5 JYP Jyväskylä 6 Elite 6 Radical 7 Elite 7 Unwanted 8 Elite 8 The Black Jacks 9 Elite 9 Mayhems 10 Elite 10 Polski Boys 11 Elite 11 Heimo 12 Elite 12 GOONS 13 ▶ Elite 13 Falun Coal Miners 14 ▶ Elite 15 Roots Gaming 15 ▲ Pro 🥇 Gotham Knights 16 ▲ Pro 3 Purification Elite Qualifiers (if needed) 1 ▼ Elite 14 POGGERS 2 ▼ Elite 16 Lekstugan HC 3 ▶ Pro 🥈 Renascor 4 ▶ Pro 4 GIFU Hockey 5 Pro 5 Opera Hockey 6 Pro 6 Mustaa Kultaa 7 Pro 7 Bjorkloven Esport 8 Pro 8 Herlev Eagles Pro 1 ▼ Elite 14 POGGERS 2 ▼ Elite 16 Lekstugan HC 3 ▶ Pro 🥈 Renascor 4 ▶ Pro 4 GIFU Hockey 5 Pro 5 Opera Hockey 6 Pro 6 Mustaa Kultaa 7 Pro 7 Bjorkloven Esport 8 Pro 8 Herlev Eagles 9 Pro 9 RCTIC 10 Pro 10 Kallion Dynamo 11 Pro 11 Nurnberg IceTigers eSport 12 Pro 12 Supernatural 13 Pro 13 Vizio 14 Pro 14 Gunners HC 15 Pro 15 N0VA 16 Pro 16 Valco 17 Pro 17 Deadly Phantoms 18 Pro 18 HC Lugano eSports 19 Pro 19 Södertälje SK 20 Pro 20 Hawaii Hockey 21 Pro 21 Cheeky Grinders 22 Pro 22 IK Oskarshamn 23 ▲ Lite 🥇 Bone Breakers 24 ▲ Lite 🥈 HEXA eSports 25 ▲ Lite 🥉 Almost Famous As a small amendment to the ECL '24: Winter rules, we have decided to increase the number of Pro Qualifier teams from twenty to twenty-four. The intention has been to make the rule clearer and to ensure that every team that qualifies for the Quarterfinal round of the Lite is on equal footing. In addition, a fifth wildcard spot has been added to even out the number of teams. Pro Qualifiers 1 Pro 23 Hokurit 2 Pro 24 Ultimatum 3 Pro 25 Sawolanche 4 Pro 26 PunaKala 5 Pro 27 Golden Sticks 6 Pro 28 Athletic Bulls 7 Lite 4 Neptune Hockey 8 Lite 5 Invasion 9 Lite 6 Pasilan SKA 10 Lite 7 HC VADELMA 11 Lite 8 Finnish Roosters 12 Lite 9 Toxic City 13 Lite 10 Six Sticks Misfits 14 Lite 11 Pata Hellalla 15 Lite 12 Technical Disaster 16 Lite 13 NOSTREETSPORTS 17 Lite 14 Mora IK 18 Lite 15 Shameful Knights 19 Lite 16 ACEsquad 20 Wildcard   21 Wildcard   22 Wildcard   23 Wildcard   24 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 '24 Winter season, or 20 or more games in the ECL '23 Spring season If there are more players from the same team that were relegated out of the division Pro (in the same season) in the team applying for a wildcard, they may be counted as one player. The League Administration reserves the right to interpretations of this depending on the specific circumstances of the situation. 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 relegated teams Wildcard teams Lite #17-32 Lite 1 ▼ Pro 29 Eisbaeren Lauf Gaming 2 ▼ Pro 30 xBOTS 3 ▼ Pro 31 Red Bull Munich eSports 4 Lite 17 Rocking Bears 5 Lite 18 Ismon Valinta 6 Lite 19 Sunne IK Esport 7 Lite 20 Niederrhein Canucks 8 Lite 21 Bustdown Rollie Avalanche 9 Lite 22 Ghost 10 Lite 23 Nelos kentta 11 Lite 24 Carolus Icemen 12 Lite 25 A Laget 13 Lite 26 Trojans 14 Lite 27 Swedish Stars 15 Lite 28 Including Me 16 Lite 29 Hannover Indians eSports 17 Lite 30 Niitti Pohjassa 18 Lite 31 Armada Hockey 19 Lite 32 Bad to the Bone 20 Lite 33 Black Sharks 21 Lite 34 Seinajoki Noms 22 Lite 35 Carpe Diem 23 Lite 36 SCB eSports 24 Lite 37 HC KOROBKA 25 Lite 38 Chiefzz HC 26 Lite 39 Black Hurricanes 27 Lite 40 Taisto 28 Lite 41 Ice Scream 29 Lite 42 BK Skinnarna 30 Lite 43 Northern Dust 31 Lite 44 EHC Olten eSports 32 Lite 45 Woodhands 33 Lite 46 DEG eSports 34 Lite 47 Company of Geeks 35 Lite 48 German Ice Gladiators 36 Lite 49 Rahinage 37 Lite 50 Dompa HC 38 Lite 51 Dark Energy HC 39 Lite 52 Deggendorfer SC Esports 40 ▲ Core🥇 Belissimo 41 ▲ Core 🥈 SACK BROTHERS 42 ▲ Core 🥉 BushWhackers 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, but a maximum of 64 teams can participate in the qualifiers. Spots will be filled in the order of registration, but the teams on the list below will have priority if the number of teams is full. Lite Qualifiers 1 Core 4 Mights 2 Core 5 HC Gaming 3 Core 6 MoDo Hockey 4 Core 7 Aspyre Dragons 5 Core 8 Viitapohjan Viikingit 6 Core 9 Silver Sword Griffins 7 Core 10 Fiilis Hockey 8 Core 11 Gleumes Hockey Krefeld 9 Core 12 United Front 10 Core 13 Lutunilkat 11 Core 14 NAM3LESS 12 Core 15 Rusty Bulls 13 Core 16 Jurvan Liekki