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Hey NHLGamers, 'I can feel it coming in the air tonight' is what a wise man once sung. Can you feel it too? I bet you can. With NHL 19 being out for a little over a week, it's time to ramp up our machinery for the next edition of the greatest 6v6 NHL championship there is - European Championship League 7. A whopping 106 teams signed up for ECL 6 last time, once again blasting our previous record of 96 teams in ECL 5 into oblivion. When we headed into the planning for ECL 7 almost half a year ago, we came across plenty of feedback, especially from our ECL Elite players, that were asking for new ways to be rewarded for their outstanding performances on the ice in the form of sponsorships or leagues with entry fees. Internally, we have had many discussions about these two options as well, and started opening doors and laying the groundwork in both directions as one option does not exclude the other. That's why for ECL 7 Elite on NHLGamer.com, we will offer an optional ECL Elite license for the very first time. NHLGamer, the ECL and many of its teams have received broad recognition in the past year, and we are in ongoing and highly promising exchanges with several possible partners that could lift the experience to a whole new level. As this comes with plenty of requirements that need to be fulfilled on our end as well, we decided not to rush things (as always), and aim to figure out the details and finalize our concept for future seasons. As NHLGamer founder @Kenu mentioned in a radio interview a few months ago, 'the future is bright', and we can't wait for you - the community - to finally benefit from our passionate work. In that regard, ECL 7 is the stepping stone, as it will once again take a step further for professionalism. Let's take a look at the sign-up procedures: If you are entirely new to ECL or were relegated from ECL Pro during ECL 6, please look at the ECL Lite registration instructions. ECL Pro teams that were not promoted to ECL Elite or relegated to ECL Lite during ECL 6, please look at the ECL Pro registration instructions. ECL Elite teams that were not relegated to ECL Pro during ECL 6, please look at the ECL Elite registration instructions. In case you are unsure about your placement in ECL 6, both the ECL Elite and ECL Pro sections offer a list of teams that have the right to sign-up for these divisions. If you can't find your team in any of the lists, your sign-up post belongs into ECL Lite. ECL Framework Regional restrictions: ECL is a European tournament format, however we do not necessarily exclude North American or Russian players. North American players are not allowed to host matches / be captain in the lineup, which means all games need to take place on European servers. This also applies to Russian players - please evaluate your previous connection experience against some of the teams participating in the ECL, especially if you live in eastern parts of your country (which likely connects you to US West servers). In case of severe connection issues, we reserve the right to exclude teams or players. 6 vs. 6 tournament: ECL is played 6 vs. 6 only, using the EASHL Challenge Club game mode in NHL 19 (will be added in October). Individual requirements: Each player needs to create an account at NHLGamer.com and create his personal player card. Roster requirements: Teams in ECL Elite need to have at least 7 players to sign up. Teams in ECL Pro and ECL Lite need to have at least 8 players to sign up. The roster cap is 14 players. ECL Elite license option: Teams in ECL Elite will have the option to pay for an ECL Elite license and play for a prize pool (more details in the ECL Elite section down below). Sign-up period: Teams can register from now until Wednesday 10.10.2018, 23:59 CEST. ECL 7 Kick-off: ECL 7 has two kick-off dates: ECL Lite and ECL Pro are set to begin on Monday 15th of October, while ECL Elite begins one week later, on Monday 22nd of October. The season is unable to start until the Challenge Club is added to NHL 19 with the next game update, which is scheduled for early October. Rules: The ECL 7 ruleset will see clearer definitions in terms of League Administration involvement, to take care of the added ECL Elite license option and other tuning to the good foundation we have created throughout the years. You can find the ECL 7 rules here. ECL Lite Sign-Up ECL Lite welcomes any and all teams that did not participate in ECL 6 as well as the teams that were relegated from ECL Pro during ECL 6. As last season, there will be no limit to the amount of registrations! We will flexibly adjust group sizes to accomodate all teams that are looking to participate. To sign your team up for ECL Lite, we ask that only the main captain (i.e. C) posts within the ECL 7 Lite registration thread. As ECL Pro teams could potentially break up and not particpate in ECL 7, we also offer teams the ability to apply for ECL Pro during this sign-up process. However, ECL Lite quarter-finalists from ECL 6 will take first priority when filling up spots in the ECL Pro division, which means only a few or no spots at all might be available for completely new teams should they apply. We will choose applicants depending on their player strength and other factors such as in-game 6 vs. 6 leaderboard results, history of ECL success and others. Below is the list of prioritized teams (in order) from ECL 6 Lite should there be spots available in ECL Pro: GHETTO FIREBIRDS (1 quarter-final win, 1.61 PPG) Freddie Mercury Institute (1 quarter-final win, 1.5 PPG) Pohjoista Voimaa (0 quarter-final wins, 1.5 PPG) MotherPuckers (0 quarter-final wins, 1.39 PPG) ECL Pro Sign-up ECL Pro is our second-tier division and will consist of all the teams that were able to stay in ECL Pro, were relegated from ECL Elite or were promoted from ECL Lite during ECL 6. ECL Pro has a fixed size of 32 teams, divided into two conferences. All the qualified teams are listed below: Relegated from ECL Elite: Nordic Stars Pata Hellalla Kattiautomaatti Silver Sword Griffins Made ECL Pro Playoffs: Alliance HT SIKA Shameful Knights Synergy Hockey Baltic Sea Eagles Clows on Ice Red Machine Arctic Deadly Phantoms HC Monte Carlo Raging Monkeys Quality No man's land: Free From Rodents Speedy Bros Hockey Murohoki TIKI TALK Banterfield Battallion Bellizzi OG Royals Penalty Box Old Farts EN HUND Breakers of the Bone Survived ECL Pro relegation faceoff: Nordic Nosebleed Promoted from ECL Lite: EV Duisburg Cowabunga Hockey Style Sektion K To sign your team up for ECL Pro, we ask that only the main captain (i.e. C) posts within the ECL 7 Pro registration thread. In case ECL Elite teams are folding, we will automatically ask the best ECL Pro qualifiers from ECL 6 to fill these spots, according to their playoffs progress (criteria #1) and regular season PPG average (criteria #2). You are not required to apply for these spots. However, you are required to confirm your attendance for ECL Pro to be considered for selection. ECL Elite Sign-Up ECL Elite is our top division, housing the very best 16 European teams in a single group. It will consist of all the teams that were able to stay in ECL Elite or were promoted from ECL Pro during ECL 6. All the qualified teams are listed below: Made ECL Elite Playoffs: Written in the Stars Dynasty Carlsberg HC Northern Ascendancy Unlucky Boys Sjukstugan SJK eSports Northern Stars No man's land: Evolution Gotham Knights Rusty Blades Falun Coal Miners Promoted from ECL Pro: Monarchs FILADELPHIA Almost Famous White Trash ECL 7 will allow ECL Elite teams to decide whether or not they want to pay the ECL Elite license to be able to play for a prize pool. The prize pool will only be distributed across ECL Elite teams that contributed to it by buying the ECL Elite license. Here are all the details: The ECL Elite license costs 120 € per team ( e.g. 15 € per player in an 8 player roster) and will be collected and submitted by the team captain. The captain who collects and pays the team license must be 18 years or older Teams can pay via bank transfer (usually no service fee) or PayPal (service fees apply). At this time, NHLGamer is considered a non-profit organization, thus 0% VAT apply to the license fee submissions. NHLGamer will keep 8% of the license fee minus service fees minus VAT to improve and grow the service. For example: With all 16 teams paying their ECL Elite license via PayPal, the prize pool would be roughly 1695,50 € (1920 € license fee - 70,88 € PayPal fees - 0 € tax - 153,6 € NHLGamer fee). ECL Elite teams ranked #3 and #4 will receive 120 €. The ECL Elite winners are set to receive 5/6 of the remaining prize pool and ECL Elite runner-ups are set to receive 1/6 of the remaining prize pool. With the 1695,52 € price pool in the example above, the winning team would receive 1213 €, the runner-up would receive 242,50 € and teams ranked #3 and #4 would receive 120 €. Finnish players are responsible for their own taxation in the case of prize money. For foreign players, a withholding tax of 15% will be automatically deducted from the payment. NHLGamer will report all winnings to the tax authorities. All of the prize pool will be distributed based on the internal ranking of the teams that have the ECL Elite license. I.e. if the best finished ECL Elite license holder team finishes #5 in ECL Elite, they will win the main prize. The ECL Elite license fees will be used in their entirety to organize leagues, tournaments, competitions and for prize money and developing the service. To sign your team up for ECL Elite, we ask that only the main captain (i.e. C) posts within the ECL 7 Elite registration thread. In case there are any questions left, please use the comment section below and we will make sure to get back to you as quickly as possible. Let's get this party started! @gzell60