2018–19 DEL2 season

The 2018–19 DEL2 season was the sixth season since the founding of the DEL2, the second tier of German ice hockey, set below the Deutsche Eishockey Liga. The season ran from 14 September 2018 till 28 April 2019. Löwen Frankfurt was crowned league premiers by finishing top of the regular season standings. Ravensburg Towerstars caused an upset by claiming the championship title by defeating Löwen Frankfurt 4-2 in the final series. Promoted team, Deggendorfer SC, was unable to survive in DEL2 and was relegated after losing the relegation playoffs final 3-4 against Wölfe Freiburg.

2018–19 DEL2 season
League	DEL2
Sport	Ice Hockey
Duration	14 September 2018 – 28 April 2019
Number of games	364 (52 per team)
Number of teams	14
TV partner(s)	Sprade TV eoTV
Regular season
Season champions	Löwen Frankfurt
Season MVP	Matt McKnight (Steelers)
Top scorer	Roope Ranta (Falken)
Relegated to Oberliga	Deggendorfer SC
Playoffs
Champions	Ravensburg Towerstars
Runners-up	Löwen Frankfurt
Finals MVP	Jonas Langmann (Towerstars)

Modus

Fourteen teams competed in the 2018–19 DEL2 regular season. Deggendorfer SC 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 follow 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. In 2018, the two leagues signed a new agreement to reintroduce an automatic promotion and relegation system to start in 2020–21.

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

ESV

ECN

ECK

RVT

DRE

HNF

EPC

LFX

FRB

ECT

BTT

DSC

SCB

FRA

ESV

ECN

ECK

RVT

DRE

HNF

EPC

LFX

FRB

ECT

BTT

DSC

2:4

4:2

5:3

3:8

4:5S

3:4O

6:1

6:3

2:5

2:4

6:3

2:3O

4:2

SCB

4:3O

3:5

3:0

3:0

4:1

6:3

4:3O

6:7O

5:1

5:1

5:0

6:3

4:5O

2:3

5:2

3:4

5:2

4:7

3:1

5:3

4:3

5:4O

5:0

9:2

10:4

1:4

FRA

5:4O

3:2O

3:4O

1:2

8:1

6:1

6:2

9:1

5:1

4:1

4:3

3:4

5:4

3:4O

4:3

7:3

2:1O

1:4

1:4

7:2

6:2

4:6

1:0

7:1

3:2O

9:2

ESV

4:3

6:3

4:3

2:1

3:2

3:5

1:5

9:1

2:5

3:4

3:4O

3:4

6:3

5:3

3:4O

3:5

3:4

7:5

5:4

3:4S

5:0

2:3O

2:5

4:2

5:1

5:2

ECN

3:5

5:4S

0:3

1:0

6:3

6:2

9:5

6:3

5:3

4:0

6:2

3:2

5:1

1:6

0:4

0:1

2:3

2:6

0:2

4:2

1:2

5:2

1:2S

6:2

4:5O

6:2

ECK

4:2

4:1

2:3

3:6

5:2

6:2

5:4O

4:8

3:2

5:2

5:1

6:1

3:1

8:5

1:2

4:3

4:2

3:5

8:1

3:2O

7:2

9:2

5:2

5:4O

7:1

5:1

RVT

2:4

3:1

6:1

5:4O

3:1

2:3O

5:3

5:6O

3:4O

3:0

3:4

2:3

4:3O

6:5

2:5

2:1

3:1

2:5

4:0

3:6

3:4

1:2O

6:3

3:1

3:4O

4:1

DRE

2:5

6:3

6:3

4:2

6:1

3:2

2:6

3:2O

3:4S

3:6

6:2

5:4

3:2

3:5

4:3O

2:3

3:2

2:4

2:5

5:2

3:2

7:6O

7:6O

3:2O

3:2

5:7

HNF

4:3S

3:6

3:4

8:3

3:1

3:4S

3:4O

7:4

5:4

3:0

2:1

6:1

9:1

3:2

2:3S

2:3

6:3

5:2

3:5

11:4

2:5

1:4

4:2

6:3

1:6

3:4

EPC

4:7

4:5S

2:1

3:4

1:5

4:1

6:1

6:3

4:3

5:4

6:3

2:6

6:3

0:3

2:6

2:4

3:2

4:1

5:4

1:0

8:5

5:4

5:4O

2:3O

1:2S

4:2

LFX

3:2

1:2S

6:3

2:4

2:0

4:0

6:2

3:2

3:4

4:1

7:0

1:2O

4:1

2:4

3:1

0:1O

4:0

0:1

2:3

5:4

4:6

5:2

3:2

3:6

5:3

1:3

FRB

2:0

4:6

4:1

0:2

1:2S

2:3

3:4O

2:5

4:1

1:2

3:1

4:2

6:1

3:4O

6:2

2:4

3:4S

4:3

3:7

3:2

7:4

0:3

1:4

5:0

5:2

5:1

ECT

4:7

4:3S

1:2

2:1S

2:3O

1:4

4:3

2:1

3:2S

4:3O

7:3

5:6

3:2

2:3

1:2

5:6O

2:3

3:1

4:5

4:1

4:5

0:5

4:6

4:2

4:2

0:7

BTT

4:3

5:2

4:2

4:7

4:1

5:3

3:5

6:3

5:2

2:4

4:3

3:2O

6:7

1:9

1:5

1:4

2:5

4:2

3:5

3:5

7:5

6:5O

2:4

5:4S

3:5

7:5

DSC

2:0

4:5

4:5

2:1O

2:3

2:7

5:2

7:4

5:6S

4:0

3:2S

2:4

2:0

Note: ^O Overtime; ^S Shootout

Standings

Pos	Team	GP	W	OTW	SOW	OTL	SOL	L	PTS	GF	GA	GD	PIM	HF	AF
1.	Löwen Frankfurt (P)	52	26	4	3	3	2	14	97	211	153	+58	699	16-3-1-6	10-4-4-8
2.	Bietigheim Steelers	52	26	4	0	5	2	15	93	208	161	+47	601	14-2-5-5	12-2-2-10
3.	Ravensburg Towerstars (C)	52	26	4	2	3	0	17	93	209	163	+46	680	14-4-3-5	12-2-0-12
4.	ESV Kaufbeuren	52	27	4	0	3	0	18	92	178	153	+25	599	14-2-2-8	13-2-1-10
5.	Lausitzer Füchse	52	25	4	1	5	2	15	92	174	155	+19	568	16-1-4-5	9-4-3-10
6.	EC Bad Nauheim	52	26	1	2	4	2	17	90	187	165	+22	663	17-1-3-5	9-2-3-12
7.	EC Kassel Huskies	52	22	2	1	2	1	24	75	146	145	+1	577	13-1-2-10	9-2-1-14
8.	Heilbronner Falken	52	19	4	2	4	1	22	74	204	206	-2	789	12-5-2-7	7-1-3-15
9.	Dresdner Eislöwen	52	20	5	0	2	1	24	73	165	191	-26	618	15-1-3-7	5-4-0-17
10.	Eispiraten Crimmitschau	52	20	2	1	2	3	24	71	186	212	-26	634	14-0-2-10	6-3-3-14
11.	Bayreuth Tigers	52	18	5	1	2	0	26	68	170	196	-26	556	12-1-1-12	6-5-1-14
12.	Tölzer Löwen	52	15	3	3	5	1	25	63	152	196	-44	750	11-4-3-8	4-2-3-17
13.	EHC Freiburg	52	16	0	1	4	3	28	57	134	171	-37	500	12-0-3-11	4-1-4-17
14.	Deggendorfer SC (R)	52	14	3	2	1	1	31	54	161	218	-37	704	8-4-1-13	6-1-1-18

Championship playoffs

Championship playoff qualifiers

Relegation 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	GP	G	A	PTS	PIM	+/−
Roope Ranta	Heilbronner Falken	51	31	48	79	65	+2
Matt McKnight	Bietigheim Steelers	51	26	53	79	28	−1
Dustin Sylvester	EC Bad Nauheim	52	26	45	71	78	−1
Jordan Knackstedt	Dresdner Eislöwen	51	21	50	71	119	+3
Sami Blomqvist	ESV Kaufbeuren	50	39	31	70	32	+11
Adam Mitchell	Löwen Frankfurt	51	23	47	70	50	+11
Greg Gibson	Heilbronner Falken	51	35	31	66	44	+12
Derek Damon	Heilbronner Falken	52	18	45	63	68	+3
Rob Flick	Eispiraten Crimmitschau	52	34	27	61	98	−5
Norman Hauner	Bietigheim Steelers	51	32	29	61	26	+7
Stephen MacAulay	Tölzer Löwen	51	25	36	61	48	−9

Source:

Top goaltenders

Name	Team	GP	SO	MP	GA	GAA	SH	SV	SV%
Leon Hungerecker	EC Kassel Huskies	23	0	1251:47	54	2.59	720	666	92.50%
Marcel Melichercik	EC Kassel Huskies	27	1	1503:33	74	2.95	925	851	92.00%
Jonas Langmann	Ravensburg Towerstars	45	1	2652:49	130	2.94	1523	1393	91.46%
Jimmy Hertel	EHC Freiburg	21	1	1138:00	54	2.85	617	563	91.25%
Olafr Schmidt	Lausitzer Füchse	31	3	1683:33	71	2.53	809	738	91.22%
Matthias Nemec	EHC Freiburg	34	1	1954:36	103	3.16	1153	1050	91.07%
Felix Bick	Löwen Frankfurt	38	3	2224:24	104	2.81	1159	1055	91.03%
Ilya Sharipov	Bietigheim Steelers	26	2	1501:58	70	2.80	762	692	90.81%
Ilya Andryukhov	Löwen Frankfurt	21	0	1197:54	51	2.55	551	500	90.74%
Mirko Pantkowski	Heilbronner Falken	41	0	2343:12	134	3.43	1440	1306	90.69%
Ben Meisner	Tölzer Löwen	43	1	2351:46	132	3.37	1381	1249	90.44%

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 8 March 2019 to 12 March 2019. Four teams (7v10 and 8v9) competed in best of three series’. The two winning teams advanced to the championship playoffs. In 2019, the two lower ranked teams in the qualifiers, Dresdner Eislöwen and ETC Crimmitschau, won their series and advanced to the playoffs. Kassel Huskies and Heilbronner Falken were knocked out and their season ended.

The championship playoffs ran between 15 March 2019 to 28 April 2019. Eight teams competed in best of seven series'. The series winning teams advanced through from the quarter-finals to the final. In 2019, the top seed Löwen Frankfurt dominated their quarter and semi-finals to reach the final. However, they lost the final series 4-2 to third seed Ravensburg Towerstars. The Towerstars claimed their second division 2 championship and their first DEL2 championship trophy.

	First round					Quarterfinals					Semifinals					Finals
						1	Löwen Frankfurt	4
	8	Heilbronner Falken	1			8	ETC Crimmitschau	1
	9	Dresdner Eislöwen	2								1	Löwen Frankfurt	4
											7	Dresdner Eislöwen	0
						3	Ravensburg	4			(Pairings are re-seeded after the first and second round)
						6	EC Bad Nauheim	0
																1	Löwen Frankfurt	2
																3	Ravensburg	4
						2	Bietigheim Steelers	3
	7	EC Kassel Huskies	1			7	Dresdner Eislöwen	4
	10	ETC Crimmitschau	2								3	Ravensburg	4
											4	ESV Kaufbeuren	1
						4	ESV Kaufbeuren	4
						5	Lausitzer Füchse	3

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 15 March 2019 and 16 April 2019, 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 2019 edition saw Deggendorfer SC relegated to Oberliga after losing their first round series 4-0 against Bayreuth Tigers before going to the wire but ultimately losing the seventh match against Wölfe Freiburg in the second round.

	Semifinals					Finals
	11	Bayreuth Tigers	4
	14	Deggendorfer SC	0
						13	Wölfe Freiburg	4
						14	Deggendorfer SC	3
	12	Tölzer Löwen	4
	13	Wölfe Freiburg	3

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

External links

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