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| Deutsche Eishockey Liga | |
|---|---|
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| Sport | Ice hockey |
| Founded | 1994 |
| No. of teams | 16 (since 2008/09) |
| Country(ies) |  Germany |
| Most recent champion(s) |
Eisbären Berlin |
| Most championships | Adler Mannheim (5x) |
| Official website | Official DEL website |
The Deutsche Eishockey Liga (German Ice Hockey League, shortname DEL) is a German high-calibre ice hockey league, and has the highest number of American and Canadian players overseas. It was formed as a replacement for the Ice hockey Bundesliga and is also called DEL - Die 1. Bundesliga.
Contents |
Rules & Regulations
The DEL is an independently run league, fully owned and operated by its member clubs. The league currently operates with 15 clubs in the 2007-08 season. The leagues maximum strength however is 16, meaning a 2nd Bundesliga team could be elected to the league in this season, providing the club fulfills the DEL's basic requirements:
- A written application for membership
- "On the field qualification" (championship in the 2nd Bundesliga)
- A stadium that meets DEL standards
- Financial qualification
- Formation of an ordinary company (the DEL consists of franchises, not clubs)
- Development program for young players
- Purchase of a licence (currently, the licence fee is set at € 800.000)
The DEL can only admit one 2nd Bundesliga club per season to the league, unless the league strength falls below fourteen, in which case two clubs can be admitted. Since the 2006-07 season, no DEL club can be automatically relegated, a club can only lose its league status through non-compliance with the leagues regulations(see above).
From the 2008-09 season, each DEL club will only be allowed to have ten non-German players under contract. Currently, the number is set at twelve.
The ESBG guarantees to admit any DEL club wishing to step down to the 2nd Bundesliga or Oberliga which are the two leagues operated by it. The club however has to purchase a licence (licence fee for the 2nd Bundesliga is currently set at € 100.000).
To regulate the relationship between the DEL, the DEB and the ESBG (2nd Bundesliga), a so called Kooperationsvertrag exists, the cooperation contract, signed in December 2005. It is valid until 2011. This contract ended years of disbute between the three organisations over competencies and financial issues[1][2].
Format changes 2007
In November 2007, the DEL announced another change in format. The league will be expanded to 16 teams for the 2008-09 season, resulting in direct promotion for the 2nd Bundesliga winner, should they fulfill all requirements and be interested. Should this not be the case or a current DEL team resign from the league, a selection process would determined the club or clubs required to archive the number of 16 teams.
A new layout for the game schedule will also limit the number of games per club in the regular season to 52. This is achieved by each club playing four games against eleven others and two games against the remaining four. To determine which clubs play which, the final standings of the previous season are used.
The DEL will also reintroduce promotion once more. The teams placed 15th and 16th will play a best-of-seven series to determine which club faces the 2nd Bundesliga champion for a place in the league. There is, however, an ongoing dispute about those games as second division clubs can only have five foreign players on contract and therefore face a handicap in comparison to the DEL clubs with currently twelve[3]. For now, the ESBG has declared that no club from the 2nd Bundesliga would take part in these matches and therefore no promotion/relegation with the DEL will take place[4].
League champions
The Ice hockey Bundesliga (English:Federal Ice Hockey League) was formed in 1957 as the elite hockey competition in the Federal Republic of Germany, replacing the Oberliga in this position. From the 1994-95 season, it was in turn replaced by the DEL, which now also carries the name 1st Bundesliga in its logo. Unlike the old Bundesliga, the DEL is not under the administration of the DEB.
In women's ice hockey, the Bundesliga is still the highest league, dived in a northern and a southern division.
Bundesliga champions
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- Until 1990, the Bundesliga covered only West Germany. After the reunification of the country, East German clubs took part in the competition to.
- For champions of Germany previous to the Bundesliga and East German champions, see here
DEL-Champions
| Season | Club |
|---|---|
| 1994-95 | Kölner Haie |
| 1995-96 | Düsseldorfer EG |
| 1996-97 | Adler Mannheim |
| 1997-98 | Adler Mannheim |
| 1998-99 | Adler Mannheim |
| 1999-2000 | München Barons |
| 2000-01 | Adler Mannheim |
| 2001-02 | Kölner Haie |
| 2002-03 | Krefeld Pinguine |
| 2003-04 | Frankfurt Lions |
| 2004-05 | Eisbären Berlin |
| 2005-06 | Eisbären Berlin |
| 2006-07 | Adler Mannheim |
| 2007-08 | Eisbären Berlin |
Deutsche Eishockey Liga
History
Establishment
The DEL was founded in the 1994-95 season, made up of teams from the ice hockey Bundesliga's 1st and 2nd division. The condition of this earlier leagues had become intolerable: many of the 1st and 2nd division teams were heavily in debt, while the 2nd division attracted few sponsors and spectators; thus many clubs were forced to fold or withdraw to the lower leagues. For this reason, in the last Bundesliga season 1993-94, only 11 teams wanted to play in the 2nd Bundesliga. Furthermore, two teams folded during the season and after season's end.
The goal behind the DEL was to create a league, based on the model of the North American NHL, in which the teams could play consistently without relegation concerns and create a stable league. The constant mismanagement of clubs in the old Bundesliga had tarnished ice hockeys reputation in Germany and made it difficult to attract serious sponsorship. The clubs in the DEL from now on formed their own, financial independent, companies, based largely on a franchise system. Clubs were required to have financial guaranties.
1994-95: Season One
The first season 1994-95 started with 18 teams, twelve from the old 1st Bundesliga, six from the 2nd Bundesliga.
In the main round the 18 teams played a home-and-away schedule and, in regional groups, a second single round. After this, the play-off round of the last sixteen in the mode best of seven took place . The semi-finals and final were played in the mode best of five. The hope to be able to avoid the troubles of the old Bundesliga by stricter financial controls did not materialise in the first season. EC Hedos München, the Bundesligas last champion, now renamed Mad Dogs Munich, folded on 18 December 1994.
Founding members of the league
From the Bundesliga:
- Eisbären Berlin (10th)
- BSC Preussen Berlin, now BSchC Preussen (4th)
- Düsseldorfer EG (runner-up Bundesliga)
- ESV Kaufbeuren (8th)
- Kölner Haie (3rd)
- Krefelder EV, now Krefeld Pinguine (5th)
- EV Landshut, now Landshut Cannibals (6th)
- Adler Mannheim (7th)
- Mad Dogs München (Bundesliga champions)
- EC Ratingen "Die Löwen", now Revierlöwen Oberhausen (12th)
- Star Bulls Rosenheim (9th)
- Schwenninger ERC "Wild Wings" (11th)
From the 2nd Bundesliga:
- Augsburger EV, now Augsburger Panther (2nd Bundesliga champions)
- Frankfurt Lions (4th)
- EC Hannover, now KEV Hannover Indians (6th)
- Kassel Huskies (2nd)
- EHC 80 Nürnberg, now Sinupret Ice Tigers (3rd)
- ESG Füchse Sachsen Weißwasser/Chemnitz, now Lausitzer Füchse (7th)
Current Teams
Placings in the DEL 1995 to 2008
| Club | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nürnberg Ice Tigers | 12 | 11 | 15 | 12 | 1 | 10 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 1 |
| Eisbären Berlin | 17 | 17 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 13 | 13 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 2 |
| Kölner Haie | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 3 |
| Frankfurt Lions | 10 | 8 | 12 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 10 | 11 | 13 | 5 | 1 | 9 | 8 | 4 |
| Iserlohn Roosters | 15 | 12 | 9 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 5 | ||||||
| Manheimer Adler | 3 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 10 | 1 | 6 |
| Hamburg Freezers * | 8 | 3 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 7 | ||||||||
| Hannover Scorpions | 14 | 7 | 11 | 9 | 7 | 10 | 10 | 13 | 12 | 7 | 6 | 8 | ||
| Düsseldorfer EG | 5 | 3 | 9 | 5 | 11 | 9 | 3 | 8 | 10 | 3 | 2 | 9 | ||
| Ingolstadt Panther | 12 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 10 | ||||||||
| Krefeld Pinguine | 4 | 7 | 8 | 11 | 7 | 3 | 9 | 3 | 6 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 10 | 11 |
| Augsburger Panther | 13 | 12 | 11 | 13 | 8 | 8 | 14 | 8 | 11 | 9 | 7 | 12 | 13 | 12 |
| EHC Wolfsburg | 13 | 13 | ||||||||||||
| Straubing Tigers | 12 | 14 | ||||||||||||
| EV Duisburg | 14 | 14 | 15 | |||||||||||
| Kassel Huskies | 7 | 9 | 3 | 10 | 9 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 11 | 14 | 13 | ||
| Freiburg Wölfe | 14 | |||||||||||||
| Schwenninger Wild Wings | 9 | 5 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 16 | 14 | |||||
| Revier Löwen Oberhausen | 14 | 14 | 14 | 6 | 13 | |||||||||
| Moskitos Essen | 15 | 16 | 14 | |||||||||||
| BSC Preussen Berlin Capitals | 1 | 2 | 5 | 8 | 13 | 6 | 8 | 15 | ||||||
| München Barons * | 2 | 3 | 1 | |||||||||||
| Star Bulls Rosenheim | 8 | 13 | 6 | 15 | 12 | 12 | ||||||||
| Landshut Cannibals * | 2 | 4 | 7 | 6 | 6 | |||||||||
| Ratinger Löwen | 16 | 10 | 16 | |||||||||||
| ESV Kaufbeuren | 11 | 15 | 13 | |||||||||||
| SC Riessersee | 14 | |||||||||||||
| Hannover Indians | 14 | 16 | ||||||||||||
| Lausitzer Füchse | 15 | 18 | ||||||||||||
| Mad Dogs München * | 18 | |||||||||||||
| Colour | Result |
|---|---|
| Gold | Champion |
| Silver | Finalist |
| Green | Semi finalist |
| Blue | 1st round |
| Purple | Preliminary round |
| White | not qualified for play-offs |
- In 1995, the Mad Dogs München folded during the regular season.
- In 1999, the Landshut Cannibals sold their DEL licence to the München Barons.
- In 2002, the München Barons relocated to become the Hamburg Freezers.
- In the 1995 and 1996 season, 16 clubs were qualified for the play offs.
- In the 1998 season, 14 clubs were qualified for the play offs.
- In the 2007 and 2008 seasons, 10 clubs were qualified for the play offs.
Former Teams
(1994-95 - 2005-06)
- Berlin Capitals (96-97 - 01-02)
- BSC Preussen Berlin (94-95 - 95-96)
- EC Hannover (94-95 - 95-96)
- Essen Moskitoes (99-00 - 01-02)
- Freiburg Wölfe (03-04)
- Kassel Huskies (94-95 - 05-06)
- Kaufbeurer Adler (94-95 - 97-98)
- EV Landshut (94-95 - 98-99)
- Mad Dogs München (94-95)
- München Barons (99-00 - 01-02)
- EC Ratingen/Revier Löwen (94-95 - 01-02)
- SC Riessersee (95-96)
- Star Bulls Rosenheim (94-95 - 99-00)
- Sachsen/Weißwasser Füchse (94-95 - 95-96)
- Schwenninger Wild Wings (94-95 - 02-03)
External links
- Meltzer, Bill. "Germany a Hockey Haven for Former NHL Players" at NHL.com Retrieved 03-23-06.
- Meltzer, Bill. "Three European Champs, Three Different Paths to the Top" at NHL.com Retrieved 08-18-06.
- Official DEL website - German only
- Official Website of the German Ice Hockey-Federation - DEB
- Official DEB-MySpace-Website
- Hockeyarenas - DEL Arenas (German,English
- GermanHockey.net - English news site on German DEL hockey
- Internet Hockey Database - standings and statistics
See also
References
- ^ "Kooperationsvertrages (in German)". DEL (November 2005). Retrieved on 2008-03-30.
- ^ "Fragen zur DEL (in German)". DEL (2007). Retrieved on 2008-03-30.
- ^ "DEL: Neuer Modus mit Auf- und Abstieg (in German)". Hockeyweb.de (21 November 2007). Retrieved on 2008-03-30.
- ^ "DEL: Kein Auf- und Abstieg(in German)". kicker.de (14 March 2008). Retrieved on 2008-03-30.
Sources
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