2020–21 DEL2 season

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2020–21 DEL2 season
League DEL2
Sport Ice Hockey
Duration 6 November 2020 – 22 May 2021
Number of games 364 (52 per team)
Number of teams 14
TV partner(s) Sprade TV
eoTV
Regular season
Season champions EC Kassel Huskies
Top scorer Marco Pfleger (Tölzen Löwen)
Relegated to Oberliga No relegation
(relegation suspended for season)
Playoffs
Finals champions Bietigheim Steelers
Playoffs MVP Norman Hauner (Steelers)
DEL2 seasons

The 2020–21 DEL2 season was the eighth season since the founding of the DEL2, the second tier of German ice hockey, set below the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL). The season began on a delayed start date of 6 November 2020 after being rescheduled from 2 October 2020,[1] and concluded with the end of the playoffs on 22 May 2021. Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, DEL2 along with DEL and DEB agreed to a set of health rules and guidelines to ensure a safe and consistent work environment for everyone involved with hockey in Germany.[2] Fans were excluded from attending matches.[2] The DEL2 board agreed to suspend relegation to the Oberliga for the season, resulting in no relegation play-offs being contested.[3] The season also marked the first time the league implemented promotion to DEL.[4]

Format

Fourteen teams competed in the 2019–20 DEL2 regular season that ran from 6 November 2020 to 11 April 2021. No team was promoted or relegated to Oberliga. Each team played each other twice in the regular season, home and away, for a total of 52 matches each. The top eight teams qualified for the championship playoffs, played in a best of five format.[5]

For the first time in DEL2 history, sporting promotion to DEL was introduced. Relegation from DEL to DEL2 was suspended for the season. Financial account examination was an additional requirement for the DEL2 champion to obtrain a DEL licence to secure promotion. Löwen Frankfurt, EC Kassel Huskies and Bietigheim Steelers all applied for their financial accounts to be examined.[6]

Regular season

Pos Team Pld W OTW OTL L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 EC Kassel Huskies 49 32 6 4 7 210 108 +102 112 2021 DEL2 Championship Playoffs
2 Tölzer Löwen 50 28 1 6 15 210 153 +57 92
3 EHC Freiburg 49 23 8 4 14 177 149 +28 89
4 Bietigheim Steelers 49 26 4 3 16 183 165 +18 89
5 Löwen Frankfurt 49 22 8 5 14 158 141 +17 87
6 ESV Kaufbeuren 50 22 6 2 20 181 187 −6 80
7 Ravensburg Towerstars 50 20 2 8 20 155 161 −6 72
8 Heilbronner Falken 49 20 3 2 24 173 175 −2 68
9 Eispiraten Crimmitschau 49 17 6 3 23 156 166 −10 66
10 EV Landshut 50 15 4 7 24 162 191 −29 60
11 EC Bad Nauheim 49 16 4 4 25 156 187 −31 60
12 Lausitzer Füchse 50 15 3 7 25 141 175 −34 58
13 Dresdner Eislöwen 49 12 7 6 24 140 184 −44 56
14 Bayreuth Tigers 50 12 4 5 29 145 205 −60 49

Playoffs

Due to the ongoing coronavirus situation, the relegation play-offs were suspended for the season.[3] The championship play-offs saw the DEL2 champion qualify for promotion to DEL for the first time, as long as the winning team also met financial requirements to obtain a DEL licence.[4]

Championship

The championship playoffs reference:[7]

The championship playoffs ran from 22 April 2021 to 22 May 2021. The top eight teams from the regular season qualified and played best-of-five series. Teams were reseeded following the quarter-finals, which meant that Ravensburg, the only lower seed to advance, had to face top seed Kassel in the semi-finals. In the finals, Bietigheim came back from two games down to win the series and the DEL2 championship, 3 games to 2.

  Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals
                           
  1  EC Kassel Huskies 3  
8  Heilbronner Falken 0  
  1  EC Kassel Huskies 3  
  7  Ravensburg Towerstars 1  
2  Tölzer Löwen 1
  7  Ravensburg Towerstars 3  
    1  EC Kassel Huskies 2
  4  Bietigheim Steelers 3
  3  EHC Freiburg 3  
6  ESV Kaufbeuren 2  
3  EHC Freiburg 2
  4  Bietigheim Steelers 3  
4  Bietigheim Steelers 3
  5  Löwen Frankfurt 2  

Note: All numbers represent series results, not a match score

References

External links

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