The 2019/20 Oberliga season was the 61st season of the Oberliga, the third-tier of German ice hockey. The Oberliga operated with two regional leagues, North and South. 24 teams competed in the season that spanned from 28 September 2019 till 11 March 2020. The regular season and championship playoff qualifiers was completed, but the season was then cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the remainder of the Oberliga season was cancelled by DEB. The championship playoffs were not contested so no Oberliga champion was named. There was also no sporting promotion or relegation, with ERC Sonthofen the only team to be relegated due to the club entering insolvency. Tilburg Trappers were crowned Oberliga North premiers, while Eisbären Regensburg were crowned Oberliga South premiers.

Teams

Oberliga North Teams: 2019–20 SeasonTeamLocationArenaCapacityFoundedJoined league City State Füchse Duisburg Duisburg North Rhine-Westphalia Scania Arena 4,800 1971 2010 Black Dragons Erfurt Erfurt Thuringia Kartoffelhalle Erfurt 1,200 2010 2010 Moskitos Essen Essen North Rhine-Westphalia Eissporthalle Essen-West 3,850 1994 2015 Saale Bulls Halle Halle (Saale) Saxony-Anhalt Eissporthalle Halle 2,200 2004 2010 Hamburg Crocodiles Hamburg Hamburg Eisland Farmsen 2,300 1990 2010 Hannover Indians Hannover Lower Saxony Eisstadion am Pferdeturm 4,608 1948 2013 Hannover Scorpions Hannover Lower Saxony Eishalle Langenhagen 3,800 1996 2013 Herner EV 2007 Herne North Rhine-Westphalia Gysenberghalle 3,700 2007 2012 Krefeld Pinguine U23 Krefeld North Rhine-Westphalia König Palast 9,000 1995 2011 IceFighters Leipzig Leipzig Saxony Kohlrabizirkus Eisarena 2,500 2010 2010 Rostock Piranhas Rostock Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Eishalle Rostock 2,000 1990 2010 Tilburg Trappers Tilburg North Brabant IJssportcentrum Tilburg 2,500 1938 2015

Three Regionalliga teams declined promotion to Oberliga North (ECW Sande, Herford EV and Schönheider Wolves). DEL team, Krefeld EV applied for a licence for their U23 team to compete in Oberliga North, this was accepted. EC Harzer Falken withdrew from the league after beginning insolvency proceedings. ECC Preussen Berlin had the chance to apply for a licence, even though they were relegated from the previous season but they could not meet the conditions so remained in Regionlliga Ost.

Oberliga South Teams: 2019–20 SeasonTeamLocationArenaCapacityFoundedJoined league City State EV Füssen Füssen Bavaria Bundesleistungszentrum 4,700 1922 2019 Höchstadter EC Höchstadt Bavaria Eisstadion Höchstadt 2,000 1993 2018 ECDC Memmingen Memmingen Bavaria Eissportstadion am Hühnerberg 3,850 1992 2017 EV Lindau Islanders Lindau Bavaria Eichwaldstadion 1,100 1976 2016 EC Peiting Peiting Bavaria Eisstadion Peiting 2,500 1973 2000 SC Riessersee Garmisch-Partenkirchen Bavaria Olympia-Eissport-Zentrum 6,926 1920 2018 ERC Sonthofen 1999 Sonthofen Bavaria Eissporthalle Sonthofen 2,860 1999 2014 Eisbären Regensburg Regensburg Bavaria Donau Arena 4,961 1962 2010 Starbulls Rosenheim Rosenheim Bavaria Emilo Stadion 4,750 2000 2017 Selber Wölfe Selb Bavaria Hutschenreuther Eissporthalle 4,082 2004 2010 Blue Devils Weiden Weiden Bavaria Eisstadion Weiden 2,560 1985 2012 Deggendorfer SC Deggendorf Bavaria Eissporthalle an der Trat 4,000 2002 2019

Deggendorf SC joined Oberliga South for 2019/20 after being relegated from DEL2. EV Landshut left the league after being promoted to DEL2. EV Füssen joined the league from the Bayernliga while EHC Waldkraiburg went the other direction. The champions of Regionalliga Südwest, SC Bietigheim-Bissingen were not eligible for promotion to Oberliga South due to their first team playing in DEL2 (Bietigheim Steelers)

Oberliga North

Oberliga North ran from 21 September 2019 till 10 March 2020. The league operated with a 44 match (4 matches against each team) regular season. The top six teams automatically qualified for the championship & promotion playoffs. The next four teams advanced to the qualification playoffs for two spots in the championship playoffs. The team finishing eleventh, had their season end after the regular season while the team that finished twelfth, was relegated to the Regionalliga. Tilburg Trappers topped the league standings at the end of the regular season, being crowned Oberliga North premiers. Krefeld EV U23's finished last and would have been relegated until the league decided to suspend all promotion and relegation for the season due to COVID-19 ending the season early.

Regular season

Qualification playoffs

Teams finishing seventh to tenth play best of three match series in the qualification playoffs to determine the final two places from Oberliga North in the Championship playoffs. The matches occurred between 6 March and 10 March 2020.

Qualified for Championship playoffs Team 1Team 2Series resultMatch 1Match 2Match 3Saale Bulls Halle ESC Moskitos Essen 2:0 7–2 5–4 – Füchse Duisburg Rostock Piranhas 1:2 3–2 3–4 2–3 (OT)

Oberliga South

Oberliga South ran from 27 September 2019 till 8 March 2020. The league was broken into two stages. Stage one, the regular season, had all twelve teams compete in a home and away round before splitting into two regional groups for a second home and away round for a total of 32 matches. The top ten teams advanced to the Oberliga South qualification round to determine the league premier and eight qualifiers for the Oberliga championship playoffs. The bottom two teams advanced to the relegation playoffs with six Bayernliga teams. Memmingen Indians finished top of the regular season but Eisbären Regensburg topped the fifty match qualification round to claim the Oberliga South premiership. ERC Sonthofen Bulls and Höchstadter EC finished in the bottom two, but the relegation playoffs were cancelled due to COVID-19, so neither team was relegated on sporting performance. However, ERC Sonthofen declared bankruptcy and withdrew from the league, confirming their relegation next season.

Regular season

Group A#Team1EV Füssen2ECDC Memmingen3EV Lindau Islanders4EC Peiting5SC Riessersee6ERC Sonthofen Bulls Group B#Team1Eisbären Regensburg2Starbulls Rosenheim3Selber Wölfe4Höchstadter EC51. EV Weiden6Deggendorfer SC

Qualification round

Championship playoffs

The championship playoffs to determine the Oberliga champion and promotion to DEL2 did not go ahead for the 2019/20 season. All ice hockey in Germany was cancelled on 11 March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Qualified teams North#Team1Eisbären Regensburg2ECDC Memmingen3SC Riessersee4Deggendorfer SC5Starbulls Rosenheim6EC Peiting7EV Füssen8Selber Wölfe South#Team1Tilburg Trappers2Herner EV 20073Hamburg Crocodiles4Hannover Indians5Icefighters Leipzig6Hannover Scorpions7Saale Bulls Halle8Rostock Piranhas

References

External links

Official website Elite Prospects home