# 1997–98 DEL season

The 1997–98 Deutsche Eishockey Liga season was the 4th season of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (German Ice Hockey League).
Adler Mannheim became the DEL Champion for the second time in a row, winning a German title for the third time in their history. The season had its share of instability. After the 15th regular season round, the Kaufbeurer Adler were insolvent and the Düsseldorfer EG left the league after season end.

## Regular season

As in the previous season two rounds/phases were played. In the first round, all teams played one home and one away game with each other for a total of 28 rounds. The first 6 placed teams continued playing for the playoff placements German: Meisterrunde). The 9 last placed teams had to fight it out for the last 2 playoff spots.

### Phase I

| | Team | GP | W | T | L | OTL | GF:GA | Points |
| 1. | Adler Mannheim | 28 | 20 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 111:74 | 43 |
| 2. | Düsseldorfer EG | 28 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 113:88 | 40 |
| 3. | EV Landshut | 28 | 18 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 100:64 | 39 |
| 4. | Frankfurt Lions | 28 | 16 | 4 | 1 | 7 | 92:74 | 37 |
| 5. | Eisbären Berlin | 28 | 15 | 4 | 0 | 9 | 97:79 | 34 |
| 6. | Kölner Haie | 28 | 14 | 4 | 1 | 9 | 104:94 | 33 |
| 7. | Krefeld Pinguine | 28 | 14 | 2 | 1 | 11 | 85:84 | 31 |
| 8. | Hannover Scorpions | 28 | 12 | 3 | 2 | 11 | 88:96 | 29 |
| 9. | Schwenninger ERC Wild Wings | 28 | 11 | 5 | 2 | 10 | 98:100 | 29 |
| 10. | Berlin Capitals | 28 | 11 | 2 | 4 | 11 | 73:81 | 28 |
| 11. | Kassel Huskies | 28 | 10 | 2 | 3 | 13 | 82:86 | 25 |
| 12. | Nürnberg Ice Tigers | 28 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 15 | 93:107 | 22 |
| 13. | Revierlöwen Oberhausen | 28 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 16 | 81:103 | 22 |
| 14. | Augsburger Panther | 28 | 10 | 0 | 2 | 16 | 78:107 | 22 |
| 15. | Starbulls Rosenheim | 28 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 24 | 70:138 | 7 |
| 16. | Kaufbeurer Adler | disqualified | disqualified | disqualified | disqualified | disqualified | disqualified | disqualified |

### Phase II - "Meisterrunde"

| | Team | GP | W | T | L | OTL | GF:GA | Points |
| 1. | Eisbären Berlin | 48 | 27 | 6 | 1 | 14 | 179:139 | 61 |
| 2. | Frankfurt Lions | 48 | 27 | 6 | 1 | 14 | 160:126 | 61 |
| 3. | Kölner Haie | 48 | 26 | 6 | 2 | 14 | 160:1474 | 60 |
| 4. | Adler Mannheim | 48 | 26 | 3 | 3 | 16 | 170:145 | 58 |
| 5. | Düsseldorfer EG | 48 | 27 | 1 | 2 | 18 | 166:164 | 57 |
| 6. | EV Landshut | 48 | 25 | 4 | 2 | 17 | 148:118 | 56 |

### Phase II

Two teams qualified for the playoff spots 7 and 8.
| | Team | GP | W | T | L | OTL | GF:GA | Points |
| 1. | Hannover Scorpions | 44 | 22 | 6 | 2 | 14 | 160:142 | 52 |
| 2. | Berlin Capitals | 44 | 19 | 7 | 4 | 14 | 136:119 | 49 |
| 3. | Schwenninger ERC Wild Wings | 44 | 19 | 5 | 3 | 17 | 157:148 | 46 |
| 4. | Kassel Huskies | 44 | 19 | 3 | 4 | 18 | 140:128 | 45 |
| 5. | Krefeld Pinguine | 44 | 18 | 6 | 1 | 19 | 126:141 | 43 |
| 6. | Nürnberg Ice Tigers | 44 | 18 | 4 | 2 | 20 | 126:141 | 42 |
| 7. | Augsburger Panther | 44 | 16 | 2 | 2 | 24 | 122:160 | 36 |
| 8. | Revierlöwen Oberhausen | 44 | 14 | 4 | 1 | 25 | 132:184 | 33 |
| 9. | Starbulls Rosenheim | 44 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 35 | 105:204 | 15 |

#### Round 1 playoff qualifications

The first round of playoff qualifications was played as a best-of-five series.
| | | | Game | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| Hannover Scorpions | – | Revier Löwen Oberhausen | 3:0 | 6:2 | 5:2 | 5:4 | – | – |
| Berlin Capitals | – | Augsburger Panther | 1:3 | 3:2 | 1:3 | 0:2 | 1:4 | – |
| Schwenninger ERC Wild Wings | – | Nürnberg Ice Tigers | 3:2 | 6:2 | 4:5 OT | 5:2 | 2:4 | 6:2 |
| Kassel Huskies | – | Krefeld Pinguine | 1:3 | 3:5 | 2:5 | 5:3 | 1:2 | – |

#### Round 2 Playoff Qualifications

The second round of playoff qualifications was played as a best-of-three series.
| | | | Game | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Hannover Scorpions | – | Augsburger Panther | 2:0 | 4:3 | 5:2 | – |
| Schwenninger ERC Wild Wings | – | Krefeld Pinguine | 1:2 | 4:3 | 2:6 | 2:5 |
The Hannover Scorpions and Krefeld Pinguine qualified for the playoffs.

## Playoff

The playoffs were played in a best-of-five format.
| Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Finals | Finals | Finals |
| 5 | Eisbären Berlin | 3 | | | | | | |
| 7 | Krefeld Pinguine | 0 | | | | | | |
| 7 | Krefeld Pinguine | 0 | 5 | Eisbären Berlin | 3 | | | |
| | | | 3 | EV Landshut | 0 | | | |
| 6 | Kölner Haie | 0 | 3 | EV Landshut | 0 | | | |
| 3 | EV Landshut | 3 | | | | | | |
| 3 | EV Landshut | 3 | | | | 5 | Eisbären Berlin | 1 |
| | | | | | | 1 | Adler Mannheim | 3 |
| 4 | Frankfurt Lions | 3 | | | | | | | 1 | Adler Mannheim | 3 |
| 8 | Hannover Scorpions | 1 | | | | | | |
| 8 | Hannover Scorpions | 1 | 4 | Frankfurt Lions | 0 | | | |
| | | | 1 | Adler Mannheim | 3 | | | |
| 1 | Adler Mannheim | 3 | 1 | Adler Mannheim | 3 | | | |
| 2 | Düsseldorfer EG | 0 | | | | | | |

### Quarterfinals

| | | | Game | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| Eisbären Berlin | – | Krefeld Pinguine | 3:0 | 4:3 OT | 4:3 n.V. | 5:1 | – | – |
| Frankfurt Lions | – | Hannover Scorpions | 3:1 | 4:3 OT | 4:1 | 2:4 | 4:2 | – |
| Kölner Haie | – | EV Landshut | 0:3 | 3:4 OT | 1:9 | 4:3 SO | – | – |
| Adler Mannheim | – | Düsseldorfer EG | 3:0 | 7:2 | 4:3 | 6:1 | – | – |

### Semifinals

| | | | Game | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| Eisbären Berlin | – | EV Landshut | 3:0 | 7:4 | 2:1 | 2:0 | – | – |
| Frankfurt Lions | – | Adler Mannheim | 0:3 | 2:6 | 1:5 | 3:4 SO | – | – |

### Finals

| | | | Game | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| Eisbären Berlin | – | Adler Mannheim | 1:3 | 0:2 | 2:4 | 8:7 | 1:4 | – |
With the last game, Adler Mannheim became repeat DEL Champion and won the German Champion title for the third time in the club's history.

## Player awards

| Category | Name | Team | Record |
| Most points | Mark MacKay | Schwenninger ERC Wild Wings | 57 Points |
| Best goalie | Petr Bříza | EV Landshut | 2.41 Goals-Against-Average |
| Best defender | Marc West | Revierlöwen Oberhausen | 42 Points |