The 2017–18 DEL2 season was the fifth season since the founding of the DEL2, the second tier of German ice hockey, set below the Deutsche Eishockey Liga. The season ran from 15 September 2017 till 22 April 2018. SC Riessersee was crowned league premiers by finishing top of the regular season standings. Bietigheim Steelers claimed the championship title by defeating SC Riessersee 4-1 in the final series. Bayreuth Tigers lost the relegation playoffs 4-1 against promoted team Tölzer Löwen, however they were saved from relegation from DEL2 to Oberliga due to SC Riessersee not being granted a DEL2 licence in the summer of 2018.

Modus

Fourteen teams competed in the 2017–18 DEL2 regular season. Tölzer Löwen was promoted from Germany's third division, Oberliga. Each team played each other twice in the regular season, home and away, for a total of 52 matches each. The top six teams directly qualified for the championship playoffs, played in a best of seven format. Teams placed seven to ten advanced to the championship playoff qualifiers, which followed a best of three format. The bottom four teams enter the relegation playoffs. The two losing teams from round 1 face off in the relegation final with the losing team being relegated to Oberliga.

The DEL2 champion does not automatically get promoted to DEL. In September 2015, the DEL and DEL2 agreed to reintroduce promotion and relegation between the two leagues from the 2017–18 season onwards. The DEL2 champion would then have the opportunity to be promoted, provided it fulfilled the licensing requirements of the DEL, while the last-placed DEL club would be relegated.

Regular season

Results

The cross table represents the results of all matches of the regular season. The home team is listed in the middle column, the visiting team in the top row. First round Team Second round SCB FRA ECK DRE ESV LFX FRB BTT SCR RVT ECN HNF EPC ECT SCB FRA ECK DRE ESV LFX FRB BTT SCR RVT ECN HNF EPC ECT 3:2 4:3O 3:1 3:2 6:1 3:1 2:0 6:3 7:5 4:1 4:3 7:3 4:3 SCB 3:4S 4:2 4:5 0:7 2:1S 4:5O 5:2 4:5S 3:2O 3:4 3:2O 3:0 5:1 4:3O 5:4 4:2 5:4O 9:2 2:4 6:2 5:1 3:2 4:5S 8:5 1:2O 6:5 FRA 4:5O 3:4O 2:1O 1:6 4:5O 1:4 8:3 2:3O 4:3 2:3 6:3 2:5 8:4 5:2 4:3O 3:1 4:1 5:4O 6:1 4:3O 5:9 5:3 6:1 3:0 7:0 2:1 ECK 2:4 5:1 3:2 2:1 4:3O 1:5 2:3O 2:5 5:7 5:2 2:5 3:1 6:5S 4:2 5:1 1:7 4:2 4:2 3:1 6:0 3:1 2:5 6:1 3:4O 4:3O 4:2 DRE 0:4 3:6 7:4 0:4 0:5 0:1 5:0 4:8 5:4O 4:3 2:3 6:3 1:2 5:4O 1:2 3:2O 2:3 7:1 1:0 1:5 1:2 3:5 7:1 1:4 5:4O 5:2 ESV 4:1 4:5 1:3 5:1 3:5 5:0 5:2 6:1 4:0 2:1 3:1 4:3 5:0 2:3 6:1 3:4O 2:3S 4:3O 2:0 6:3 2:5 2:4 0:7 3:4O 4:5O 2:1 LFX 2:4 4:1 3:4 4:3 7:2 2:5 3:1 3:5 4:0 3:2 3:4O 3:4O 6:2 3:1 3:6 1:3 1:3 3:5 4:1 3:2O 1:3 4:3 3:2O 4:5O 2:4 6:3 FRB 2:3 2:6 3:0 7:5 1:4 2:4 3:4O 4:5S 4:3S 0:4 3:6 0:3 6:4 1:2 2:3O 2:1O 3:6 0:3 1:0 5:1 4:3 6:3 3:2 2:5 3:4 2:5 BTT 3:2S 1:5 3:6 7:2 4:3O 1:2 4:5 1:4 1:6 6:4 1:4 3:4 5:2 3:4O 2:8 5:3 2:1O 3:2O 2:3S 2:1 2:0 3:1 3:2 5:2 5:1 9:4 SCR 3:2O 6:3 2:1 4:5 1:3 5:1 3:2 5:2 4:3O 6:1 7:4 4:3 6:1 6:2 2:3O 5:4 5:2 3:5 3:5 4:3 10:1 5:2 4:3 6:3 1:2 5:2 RVT 5:2 2:3 4:1 4:6 5:2 6:2 4:3S 4:2 2:4 3:4O 3:5 2:5 3:2O 2:3S 2:1O 5:3 1:4 4:3 1:2 3:5 2:1 3:0 3:4S 3:0 6:1 5:4 ECN 4:9 2:6 4:3O 4:3O 5:2 4:1 3:2 3:2 5:2 5:3 2:6 3:2 6:3 3:6 4:1 1:2 4:0 3:5 5:2 2:5 5:4S 1:4 3:4O 7:3 4:7 3:4O HNF 6:5S 4:2 2:0 2:1 1:2O 3:2 1:4 2:3S 2:6 1:2 1:2 8:3 3:4 5:8 5:8 3:4S 3:2O 0:4 5:2 5:3 5:2 2:1 2:1 1:2 0:3 3:2 EPC 7:1 2:5 3:6 3:1 3:2O 1:3 7:2 0:5 3:6 3:2 3:5 1:3 5:4O 0:2 4:7 7:3 2:3 3:2O 4:1 6:2 6:4 7:3 1:5 2:4 3:1 2:3 ECT 2:3 3:5 3:2 2:3 3:2 1:3 5:2 5:4O 3:2 3:4O 3:4 2:1O 2:3S Note: O Overtime; S Shootout

Standings

PosTeam1.SC Riessersee (P) (R)5229521114103196149+4746417-4-2-312-3-0-112.Bietigheim Steelers (C)5227524410103186155+3174616-4-3-311-3-5-73.Löwen Frankfurt 522542711395207174+3388512-3-6-513-3-2-84.ESV Kaufbeuren522440601886174130+4453314-3-0-910-1-6-95.EC Bad Nauheim522432122085163166-349915-3-2-69-2-1-146.EC Kassel Huskies522162501884180160+2065814-5-1-67-3-4-127.Ravensburg Towerstars522132422079190168+2257614-2-2-87-3-4-128.Dresdner Eislöwen522221502277155164-959413-2-1-109-1-4-129.Heilbronner Falken521942512175167167+08299-2-4-1110-4-2-1010.Eispiraten Crimmitschau521961212374158181-2369610-3-1-129-4-2-1111.Lausitzer Füchse521921722172148172-2456311-1-6-88-2-3-1312.EHC Freiburg521631222860142176-346897-3-3-139-1-1-1513.Tölzer Löwen521340323052156199-4363710-3-2-113-1-3-1914.Bayreuth Tigers 521042323147134195-615298-3-1-142-3-4-17 Championship playoffsChampionship playoff qualifiersRelegation playoffs Points rules: 3 points for regulation win; 2 points for OT or SO win; 1 point for OT or SO loss; 0 points for regulation loss Tie-break rules: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head number of goals scored. (C) Champions; (P) Premiers; (R) Relegated Source:

Top scorers

Name Team +/− Richard Mueller SC Riessersee 51 36 44 80 20 +33 Andreas Driendl SC Riessersee 48 30 49 79 38 +34 Matt McKnight Bietigheim Steelers 52 34 44 78 16 +14 Jordan Knackstedt ETC Crimmitschau 51 22 46 68 122 +15 Shawn Weller Bietigheim Steelers 50 25 42 67 140 +14 Sami Blomqvist ESV Kaufbeuren 52 31 35 66 26 +26 C.J. Stretch Löwen Frankfurt 50 28 37 65 72 +30 Tyler McNeely Bietigheim Steelers 47 22 43 65 68 +12 Charlie Sarault ESV Kaufbeuren 51 21 44 65 12 +20 Robbie Czarnik ETC Crimmitschau 52 37 27 64 50 +16 Source:

Top goaltenders

Name Team Stefan Vajs ESV Kaufbeuren 43 8 2508:23 98 2.34 1271 1173 92.29% Marcel Melichercik Heilbronner Falken 26 1 1528:50 70 2.75 877 807 92.02% Jonas Langmann Ravensburg Towerstars 46 1 2765:19 138 2.99 1664 1526 91.71% Mirko Pantkowski EC Kassel Huskies 24 1 1349:59 62 2.76 736 674 91.58% Miroslav Hanuljak EHC Freiburg 44 2 2627:10 135 3.08 1590 1455 91.51% Hannibal Weitzmann Löwen Frankfurt 20 0 1030:01 49 2.85 576 527 91.49% Ilya Sharipov Bietigheim Steelers 30 2 1816:24 79 2.61 926 847 91.47% Olivier Roy ETC Crimmitschau 21 0 1192:30 62 3.12 727 665 91.47% Markus Keller EC Kassel Huskies 32 1 1779:49 88 2.97 1024 936 91.41% Marco Eisenhut Dresdner Eislöwen 42 1 2435:11 122 3.01 1416 1294 91.38% Tomas Vosvrda Bayreuth Tigers 41 1 2384:17 138 3.47 1571 1433 91.22% Note: To qualify for this list, goaltenders need to have played a minimum of 20 matches Source:

Playoffs

Championship The championship play-offs:

The qualifiers for the playoffs ran between 6 March 2018 to 9 March 2018. Four teams (7v10 and 8v9) competed in best of three series’. The two winning teams advanced to the championship playoffs. In 2018, the two lower ranked teams in the qualifiers, ETC Crimmitschau and Heilbronner Falken, won their series and advanced to the playoffs. Dresdner Eislöwen and Ravensburg Towerstars were knocked out and their season ended.

The championship playoffs ran between 13 March 2018 to 22 April 2018. Eight teams competed in best of seven series'. The series winning teams advanced through from the quarter-finals to the final. In 2018, the top two seeds SC Riessersee and Bietigheim Steelers each won their quarter and semi-finals to reach the final. The Steelers defeated the league premiers 4-1 in the finals series to secure the division 2 championship title, their second DEL2 championship trophy.

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

Relegation The relegation play-offs:

The relegation playoffs is contested between the four teams who finish bottom of the regular season standings. Run between 13 March 2018 and 6 April 2018, the four teams play best of seven series’. The teams that lose their first round advance to the second round. The winners secure their DEL2 status and avoid relegation. Whoever loses the second round is relegated to Oberliga. The 2018 edition would have seen Bayreuth Tigers relegated to Oberliga after losing their first round series 3-4 against Lausitzer Füchse before losing in five matches against Tölzer Löwen in the second round. However the Tigers were saved from relegation due to SC Riessersee not being granted a DEL2 licence in the summer of 2018. Instead, Riessersee was subsequently relegated to Oberliga.

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

References

External links

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