# 1995–96 DEL season

The 1995–96 Deutsche Eishockey Liga season was the 2nd season of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (German Ice Hockey League).
As a replacement for the Maddogs München, the SC Riessersee moved up from the 2nd Bundesliga. However, continuing the financial unrest in the German Ice Hockey, SC Riessersee, as well as ESG Sachsen Weißwasser and EC Hannover had to leave the league. Düsseldorfer EG won the German championship by becoming the second DEL champion.
The corporate sponsor, the Krombacher Brewery, continued their engagement, albeit now less prominently featured on the league logo. The sponsorship agreement ended after this season.

## Regular season

In the main round the 18 teams played a home-and-away schedule and, in regional groups, a second single round. After this, the play-off round of the last sixteen in the mode best of seven took place . The semi-finals and final were played in the mode best of five. The hope to be able to avoid the troubles of the old Bundesliga by stricter financial controls did not materialise in the first season. EC Hedos München, the Bundesliga's last champion, now renamed Mad Dogs Munich, folded on 18 December 1994.
| | Club | GP | Win | Tie | Loss | OTL | GF:GA | Points |
| 1. | Kölner Haie | 50 | 37 | 4 | 8 | 1 | 261:121 | 79 |
| 2. | Preussen Devils Berlin | 50 | 35 | 7 | 6 | 2 | 219:107 | 79 |
| 3. | Düsseldorfer EG | 50 | 36 | 4 | 9 | 1 | 228:127 | 77 |
| 4. | EV Landshut | 50 | 35 | 1 | 11 | 0 | 222:127 | 77 |
| 5. | Schwenninger Wild Wings | 50 | 30 | 6 | 12 | 2 | 214:150 | 68 |
| 6. | Adler Mannheim | 50 | 29 | 7 | 12 | 2 | 195:163 | 67 |
| 7. | Krefeld Pinguine | 50 | 26 | 5 | 18 | 1 | 169:154 | 58 |
| 8. | Frankfurt Lions | 50 | 22 | 5 | 20 | 3 | 189:162 | 52 |
| 9. | EC Kassel Huskies | 50 | 19 | 12 | 17 | 2 | 149:148 | 52 |
| 10. | Ratinger Löwen | 50 | 21 | 3 | 23 | 3 | 181:195 | 48 |
| 11. | Nürnberg Ice Tigers | 50 | 16 | 8 | 24 | 2 | 143:179 | 42 |
| 12. | Augsburger Panther | 50 | 17 | 6 | 25 | 2 | 163:180 | 42 |
| 13. | SB Rosenheim | 50 | 16 | 6 | 25 | 3 | 158:195 | 41 |
| 14. | SC Riessersee | 50 | 16 | 4 | 29 | 1 | 147:213 | 37 |
| 15. | Kaufbeurer Adler | 50 | 13 | 6 | 30 | 1 | 145:228 | 33 |
| 16. | EC Hannover | 50 | 12 | 4 | 34 | 0 | 138:251 | 28 |
| 17. | EHC Eisbären Berlin | 50 | 11 | 3 | 34 | 2 | 125:236 | 27 |
| 18. | ESG Sachsen Weißwasser | 50 | 9 | 3 | 38 | 0 | 126:236 | 21 |

## Playoffs

All playoff rounds were played in as a best-of-five series.
| First round | First round | First round | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | | Finals | Finals | Finals |
| 1. | Kölner Haie | 3 | | | | | | | | | | |
| 16. | EC Hannover | 0 | | | | | | | | | | |
| 16. | EC Hannover | 0 | 1. | Kölner Haie | 3 | | | | | | | |
| | | | 12. | Augsburger Panther | 0 | | | | | | | |
| 5. | Schwenninger ERC Wild Wings | 1 | 12. | Augsburger Panther | 0 | | | | | | | |
| 12. | Augsburg Panther | 3 | | | | | | | | | | |
| 12. | Augsburg Panther | 3 | | | | 1. | Kölner Haie | 3 | | | | |
| | | | | | | 4. | EV Landshut | 1 | | | | |
| 4. | EV Landshut | 3 | | | | | | | 4. | EV Landshut | 1 | | | | |
| 13. | Starbulls Rosenheim | 1 | | | | | | | | | | |
| 13. | Starbulls Rosenheim | 1 | 4. | EV Landshut | 3 | | | | | | | |
| | | | 6. | Adler Mannheim | 0 | | | | | | | |
| 6. | Adler Mannheim | 3 | 6. | Adler Mannheim | 0 | | | | | | | |
| 11. | Nürnberg Ice Tigers | 2 | | | | | | | | | | |
| 11. | Nürnberg Ice Tigers | 2 | | | | | | | | 1. | Kölner Haie | 1 |
| | | | | | | | | | | 3. | Düsseldorfer EG | 3 |
| 3. | Düsseldorfer EG | 3 | | | | | | | | | | | 3. | Düsseldorfer EG | 3 |
| 14. | SC Riessersee | 0 | | | | | | | | | | |
| 14. | SC Riessersee | 0 | 3. | Düsseldorfer EG | 3 | | | | | | | |
| | | | 7. | Krefeld Pinguine | 0 | | | | | | | |
| 7. | Krefeld Pinguine | 3 | 7. | Krefeld Pinguine | 0 | | | | | | | |
| 10. | Ratinger Löwen | 0 | | | | | | | | | | |
| 10. | Ratinger Löwen | 0 | | | | 2. | Preußen Devils Berlin | 0 | | | | |
| | | | | | | 3. | Düsseldorfer EG | 3 | | | | |
| 2. | Preußen Devils Berlin | 3 | | | | | | | 3. | Düsseldorfer EG | 3 | | | | |
| 15. | Kaufbeurer Adler | 0 | | | | | | | | | | |
| 15. | Kaufbeurer Adler | 0 | 2. | Preußen Devils Berlin | 3 | | | | | | | |
| | | | 9. | EC Kassel Huskies | 2 | | | | | | | |
| 8. | Frankfurt Lions | 0 | 9. | EC Kassel Huskies | 2 | | | | | | | |
| 9. | EC Kassel Huskies | 3 | | | | | | | | | | |

### First round

The even the chances, and enable the worse-placed team two home-games, the games were played in a Home-Away-Away-Home-Home series. This led to the Frankfurt Lions having only 1 home game, despite being the better placed team.
| | | | Game | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| Kölner Haie | - | EC Hannover | 3:0 | 6:1 | 9:2 | 7:1 | – | – |
| Preußen Devils | - | Kaufbeurer Adler | 3:0 | 7:2 | 8:3 | 11:2 | – | – |
| Düsseldorfer EG | - | SC Riessersee | 3:0 | 6:1 | 3:2 | 6:3 | – | – |
| EV Landshut | - | Starbulls Rosenheim | 3:1 | 7:0 | 4:2 | 3:5 | 5:1 | – |
| Schwenninger ERC Wild Wings | - | Augsburger Panther | 1:3 | 6:3 | 3:9 | 1:3 | 4:5 OT | – |
| Adler Mannheim | - | Nürnberg Ice Tigers | 3:2 | 4:5 OT | 2:1 | 0:2 | 3:0 | 2:1 OT |
| Krefeld Pinguine | - | Ratinger Löwen | 3:0 | 5:1 | 3:2 OT | 4:2 | – | – |
| Frankfurt Lions | - | EC Kassel Huskies | 0:3 | 3:4 | 3:4 | 1:2 | – | – |

### Quarterfinals

| | | | Game | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| Kölner Haie | - | Augsburger Panther | 3:0 | 8:5 | 5:3 | 7:3 | – | – |
| Preußen Devils Berlin | - | EC Kassel Huskies | 3:2 | 3:4 OT | 4:3 | 5:1 | 4:5 OT | 3:1 |
| Düsseldorfer EG | - | Krefeld Pinguine | 3:0 | 4:1 | 5:4 | 7:5 | – | – |
| EV Landshut | - | Adler Mannheim | 3:0 | 3:2 | 4:1 | 3:2 OT | – | – |

### Semifinals

| | | | Game | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| Kölner Haie | - | EV Landshut | 3:1 | 4:2 | 6:5 | 6:9 | 5:4 OT | – |
| Preußen Devils Berlin | - | Düsseldorfer EG | 0:3 | 5:6 | 2:5 | 0:6 | – | – |

### Finals

| | | | Game | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| Kölner Haie | - | Düsseldorfer EG | 1:3 | 7:4 | 1:5 | 0:5 | 2:4 | – |
With the last game, Düsseldorfer EG became the second DEL Champion and German Champions for the 8th time in the club history.