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The Rulebook for the ECL has been updated with several important points. Please always refer to the rulebook for the full ruleset - this news story is intended to highlight some of the additions and/or amendments to the rulebook. Without further ado, let's jump into the new rules. Betting While the ECL isn't officially associated with any betting company, some companies have started offering bets on ECL Elite games. This is an honor for us, as it means our games are appreciated at the same level of seriousness as we play and organize them with. In addition to the raised importance of reporting the games and potential reschedules in a precise and timely manner, the introduction of betting poses some potential risks involving integrity. In order to ensure the integrity, members of ECL Elite teams are hereby prohibited from betting on ECL Elite games or other ECL Elite related bets. ECL Elite Playoff Schedule Below you'll find the ECL Elite Playoff Schedule and the dates for the broadcasts (starting time 20:00 CEST). The goal is to cover two of the quarterfinals, both semifinals, and the finals. ECL Pro, Lite & Neo Playoff Schedule Below you'll find the playoff schedule for the rest of the divisions. Due to the overlap of the different division's playoffs, our goal is to cover all of the divisions' finals on our broadcasts. Rescheduling games into the future This is not a new rule, but something we ask teams to pay attention to. Games should never remain unplayed and unreported on a past date. If the games can't be played on the default date, discuss the new date with the opposing team's captains and use the rescheduling tool to update to the new date. This also applies to games played ahead of time - please reschedule them for the earlier date and time before playing and reporting. This is important for e.g.: Betting Fans following your games League staff making sure everything is running as planned End of the regular season Here you'll find the information on the last day to play your games. Any games left unplayed can end up being decided by the League Administration. Instigating a fight While we haven't been presented with any actual evidence about instigating a fight prior to a faceoff, we've been contacted by numerous teams worried about players instigating a fight before faceoffs. In order to save us all from the trouble of speculating about the topic - especially as instigating fights prior to faceoffs is generally speaking pointless - we have decided to ban this behavior. That being said, if you can properly prove that this actually gives you a boost, please send us the evidence, as we're sure EA Sports would appreciate it. Accidental fights Accidental fights rarely get started - in fact, not even once per season. However, it can happen, so we decided to add it to the rulebook to describe what to do under these circumstances and what the outcome could be if the League Administration deems the "accident" intentional. Reporting game immediately after game As mentioned earlier in this article, there are more eyes on the ECL and more teams in the ECL than ever before. This is why it's crucial that games are reported at the very latest within 24 hours of the game. It is good practice to report the games by the end of the evening, though. ECL Elite games must be reported directly after the game. This improves the experience for betting and allows our articles and broadcasts to always work with the most up to date information. Our broadcasts actually get the up to date numbers immediately after reporting now. Winning team reports games This is not a new rule, but something many seem to have a misconception of due to memories of ECL seasons in the past. The winning team is responsible for reporting the games. The losing team is, however, also responsible for documenting the necessary data as a backup. ECL Neo Playoffs Due to the expansion of ECL Neo from 32 teams to 84 teams, we added more groups and more teams make the playoffs. Here's how it works: Transfer Deadlines We allow transfers in ECL. Transfers are like trades, but there isn't a requirement for teams to get anyone in return. Note: The transfer deadline is just around the corner. In order to leave a team or transfer, a player has to request that the captain drops them from the roster. This is to make sure the communication is there when leaving teams - in order to not leave the old team in trouble. How to get help I get messages (PM, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, PSN, email, etc) daily asking for help with a lot of ECL related questions. This applies to many other members of our staff as well. While we love to help you, when you get spammed with 30-50 messages on random platforms each day, it becomes an unmanageable task. In order to be able to help you in a structured way, we offer our support section. Support can be accessed through the Team Tools (for captains) and through the community. Consider bookmarking this link: https://nhlgamer.com/community/support/. Please keep in mind that while we try to reply as soon as we can, sometimes it will take a while for us to get back to you. The important part is that you report the issue and we'll help you out as soon as we can. Thank you for your patience. We hope you found these updated rules logical and reasonable. Please let us know if there are any questions and suggestions on how you would make the rulebook even better. UPDATE: 21.04.2020 Updated Lite playoff specifics (5.6) 22.04.2020 Tweaked Pro transfer deadline to be in line with Lite and Neo (14.1)