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NHLGamers, Welcome to the tenth iteration of the European Championship League! It is with great pleasure we are once again able to open the registrations for the longest running and most prestigious competitive NHL league in Europe. The best players and the best teams gather to battle for the title that's long been reigned between the current champion Linköping HC and HAVU Gaming. There have been challengers before, but the rumour has it that this season we'll see something special with a great uprising of new talent in our community. The pinnacle of NHL gaming - our Elite division is running as smooth as ever and interestingly enough has received an influx of new teams through relegation matchups and will most likely also see an Elite Qualification Series. The Pro and Lite divisions are extremely well established too, and competition is ramping up through the introduction of ECL Neo that was done last season. The divisions framework will roll on in the same fashion and teams will further solidify their position at a suitable level of play. If you don't know what we're on about by now, here's a briefing of what ECL is; ECL is a competitive EA Sports NHL League. Games are played in the EASHL game mode in a 6vs6 manner. Since ECL 4, we have implemented a division framework with Lite (and now also Neo) being entry-level, Pro being our mid-level and Elite holding the best 16 teams in Europe. A season in each division consists of a group stage/regular season and playoffs. Here is the planned divisions' structure for ECL 10: ECL Elite: 16 teams Sign up: ECL Elite eligible teams Gamedays: Monday, Wednesday & Thursday Regular season: One group Playoffs: 8 teams Best-of-7 7 days per round ECL Pro: 32 teams Sign up: ECL Pro eligible teams Gamedays: Monday, Tuesday & Thursday Regular season: Two groups Playoffs: 16 teams Best-of-7 8 days per round ECL Lite: 64 teams Sign up: Anyone can apply for ECL Lite Teams will be decided by Franchise history, Roster composition, and EASHL record ECL Lite registrants are also allowed to apply for a spot in ECL Pro Teams signing up for ECL Lite that don't make it into ECL Pro or ECL Lite will be automatically placed in ECL Neo Gamedays: Tuesday, Wednesday & Sunday Regular season: Four groups Playoffs: 32 teams Best-of-7 8 days per round ECL Neo: 32+ teams Sign up: Without restrictions Gamedays: Wednesday & Sunday Regular season: Four groups Playoffs: 16 teams Best-of-5 7 days per round Basic information/requirements of ECL: 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. 6v6 tournament: ECL is played 6 vs. 6 only, using the EASHL Challenge Club game mode in NHL 20. Individual requirements: Each player needs to have an account at NHLGamer.com and create their personal player card. Roster requirements: Teams in ECL Elite need to have at least 7 players to sign up. Teams in ECL Pro, ECL Lite and ECL Neo need to have at least 8 players to sign up. The roster cap is 14 players. ECL Elite license: Teams in ECL Elite will be required to pay for an ECL Elite license in order to play (more details to follow). Rules: The ECL 10 ruleset will follow the same foundation as in season 9. Broadcasts ECL 10 Elite will be regularly broadcasted on the NHLGamer Twitch channel. Broadcasts will feature our favorite casters @Tougie24 and @Cyn, but also other familiar faces throughout the season. Be sure to follow our channel at twitch.tv/NHLGamer. ECL Elite Finals and prize pool The ECL Elite Finals information and prize pool will be confirmed close to season start. NHLGamer will continue to follow the COVID-19 situation and regulations and talk to the teams before making final decisions on how the ECL Elite finals will be played. When? ECL Elite is planned to kick off first, while the other divisions will have some more time to sign up for this season: ECL 10 Elite will kick off on Monday, 6th of April, signups end on Thursday 19th of March 23:59 CET ECL 10 Pro will kick off on Monday, 6th of April, signups end on Thursday 2nd of April 23:59 CET Pro teams that play for potentially open Elite spots will need to be signed up by Thursday 19th of March. ECL 10 Lite will kick off on Tuesday, 7th of April, signups end on Thursday 2nd of April 23:59 CET ECL 10 Neo will kick off on Wednesday, 8th of April, signups end Thursday on 2nd of April 23:59 CET Elite Qualification Series If all 16 Elite teams don't sign up for the ECL 10 season, we will have an Elite Qualification Series among the teams that are qualified to take part. In this case the teams eligible for a possible Elite Qualification Series are: TIKI TALK (Elite Relegate #13) Almost Famous (Elite Relegate #14) BRAYCE Phantoms(Elite Relegate #15) Leksands IF (Elite Relegate #16) Vaxjo Lakers (Pro Quarterfinalist #5) Reality Check (Pro Quarterfinalis #6) Kaupallinen Yhteistyo (Pro Quarterfinalis #7) Black Horse (Pro Quarterfinalis #8) The Elite Qualification Series exact format will be determined based on the available spots and the teams that want to play for the spot in Elite, but the dates for the games are 22nd-26th of March, with potential gamedays on Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Thursday in order to ensure a fair competition for the spot. More details will be given to the eligible teams on Friday, March 20th. Where to sign up? Sign up for ECL 10 Elite here Sign up for ECL 10 Pro here Sign up for ECL 10 Lite here Sign up for ECL 10 Neo here Please note: If you are currently in negotiations with an organization and have plans to change your team name, but are uncertain if you will make it until the start of the season, please contact @Kenu with this information as soon as possible. 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. Support While it's totally ok to ask for help on Discord and you might get a quicker reply from fellow community members to some of the simpler questions, when you actually want to get help with an issue from our staff, please contact support. While sending PM's to staff members may be tempting, using our ticketing system is the best way to go. Discord You can join the NHLGamer Discord server by clicking here. In the NHLGamer Discord, add the appropriate ECL role as well as the role for your team to help with league communication. This can be done in the #role-commands-entry channel (see #role-commands-guide for instructions). What can I do to help out? If you feel like you want to do more for the project, head over to this article for some examples of what sort of staff we are looking for and where to get in touch. As for the small things everyone can do, follow our different channels and spread the positive word of our community and your fellow players and teams - together we can make a difference! NHLGamer on Facebook NHLGamer on Twitch NHLGamer on Instagram NHLGamer on Twitter NHLGamer on Discord Hopefully, that covers most of the questions you might have. Without further ado: Welcome to the ECL! Finally, a short word about COVID-19 As mentioned above, we will continue to monitor the situation with COVID-19 (also known as the coronavirus) when determining whether or not to have a live on-location element to the ECL 10 Elite season or not. We at NHLGamer love to get together with the community and celebrate the game and the players, but we must also be responsible in stopping the spread of the virus. We will communicate with the Elite teams internally about this before the start of the season. In addition to the considerations of a live event, we must of course keep the health and safety of our community in mind and reserve the right to pause or cancel the season, in addition to altering the details of it. If you've somehow managed to miss what the COVID-19 is all about and what actions you should take, we definitely recommend you read about it. UPDATE: We have made the call to postpone the start of ECL 10 Elite by one week, until Wednesday the 8th of April. There are several underlying reasons and without going into great detail we want to ensure the best quality output possible.

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

Hey NHLGamers! The ECL Summer Cup is a draft-type league aimed at both experienced community members and complete rookies. The stated goal of this tournament is to improve networking within the community and introduce new players to the great world of NHLGamer. Our Summer Cup is always a great venue for prospects to open up doors for entry into the upcoming ECL season. The same promise remains for season 3, only this time we’ll deliver better! Last year over 300 players took part in our tournament, we organized a nice draft day stream, which due to technical difficulties didn’t go completely as planned (and presto, we got a night stream as well! 😅). We’ve learned from our mistakes and this season we’ll get the draft done in a swifter fashion. We’re hoping for an even larger number of players this season, so please consider your availability to act as a Summer Cup captain. Unlike last Summer Cup, we will not be having any prizes for this season. We’ve received valuable feedback from our community members and based on this, the decision was made that a Summer Cup without prizes will best serve the original purpose of the tournament – to increase networking and allow new players entry to our community. SUMMER CUP 3 FRAMEWORK Team building: No more than 2 players from a single ECL 6 team are allowed to play on the same Summer Cup team. This rule applies to the final rosters, after transfers and free agents. Team names: The Summer Cup will be played in dedicated EASHL teams which will have "NG" as a prefix - for example "NG Golden Knights". Sign-ups: To rule out unfortunate circumstances when it comes to player positioning, holidays and other aspects, the sign-ups will follow a clear structure, allowing captains to recognize fitting players more easily. Draft procedure: The team captains will be taking part in a snake draft, where all of the signed up players will be drafted during one night. LEAGUE DETAILS Summer Cup Season 3 will take place on the PS4 version of NHL18. Last day to sign up is Wednesday 6th of June 2018. Players sign up using the registration tool linked at the bottom of the post. Due to the latency issues experienced by the North American players in Summer Cup 2, Summer Cup 3 is only for European players. All signed up players are aimed to be seeded into teams with a size of 10 players (may vary). Out of all registrations, NHLGamer Staff will select an according number of team captains from the players that offered to take on a captaincy role in their sign-up post - anyone is allowed to apply for it. Team captains will receive a draft sheet on Thursday 7th of June, containing all signed up players and relevant information in a structured form. Team captains will be taking part in a live draft event on Saturday 9th of June picking their roster until all players are seeded. The draft will be streamed live on our Twitch channel. All games are played 6vs6 using dedicated EASHL teams. The Summer Cup is set to start on the week of June 11th and aimed to be finished in July. Full rules will be released after registration is over. HOW TO PARTICIPATE To participate, make sure you are logged in or create an account first, visit the sign-up page and fill in all fields of the registration form like below - make sure the player positions in your Player Card are up-to-date so captains know who they are drafting! You can update your Player Card on the "Edit Player" page. Sign-up page: Click here! Let's make this year's Summer Cup at least as memorable as the previous ones! Looking forward to see you on the ice!