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, 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. Fans were excluded from attending matches. The DEL2 board agreed to suspend relegation to the Oberliga for the season, resulting in no relegation play-offs being contested. The season also marked the first time the league implemented promotion to DEL.
Teams
In 2020–21 the DEL2 had 14 teams competing in the league.
2020–21 DEL2 teamsTeam City Arena Head coach Captain EC Bad Nauheim Bad Nauheim Colonel-Knight-Stadion Hannu Järvenpää Marc El-Sayed Tölzer Löwen Bad Tölz Hacker-Pschorr-Arena Kevin Gaudet Philipp Schlager Bayreuth Tigers Bayreuth Kunsteisstadion Petri Kujala Ivan Kolozvary Bietigheim Steelers Bietigheim-Bissingen EgeTrans Arena Daniel Naud Nikolai Goc Eispiraten Crimmitschau Crimmitschau Eisstadion im Sahnpark Mario Richer Adrian Grygiel Dresdner Eislöwen Dresden EnergieVerbund Arena Andreas Brockmann Thomas Pielmeier Löwen Frankfurt Frankfurt Eissporthalle Frankfurt Franz-David Fritzmeier Adam Mitchell EHC Freiburg Freiburg Franz Siegel Stadion Peter Russell Philipp Rießle Heilbronner Falken Heilbronn Kolbenschmidt Arena Bill Stewart Derek Damon EC Kassel Huskies Kassel Eissporthalle Kassel Tim Kehler Denis Shevyrin ESV Kaufbeuren Kaufbeuren Erdgas Schwaben Arena Rob Pallin Tyler Spurgeon EV Landshut Landshut Eisstadion am Gutenbergweg Leif Carlsson Tim Brunnhuber Lausitzer Füchse Weißwasser Eisstadion Weißwasser Corey Neilson Clarke Breitkreuz Ravensburg Towerstars Ravensburg Eissporthalle Ravensburg Rich Chernomaz Vincenz Mayer
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.
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.
Regular season
Results
Standings
Top scorers These are the top-ten scorers in DEL2 for the 2020–21 season. (Table is created at the conclusion of the DEL2 regular season)
Top goaltenders These are the top-ten goaltenders in DEL2 for the 2020–21 season. (Table is created at the conclusion of the DEL2 regular season)
Playoffs
Due to the ongoing coronavirus situation, the relegation play-offs were suspended for the season. 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.
Championship The championship playoffs reference:
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.
Note: All numbers represent series results, not a match score
References
External links
Official website