# 2015–16 DEL2 season

The 2015–16 DEL2 season was the third season since the founding of the DEL2, the second tier of German ice hockey, set below the Deutsche Eishockey Liga.
The regular season started on 11 September 2015 and was completed on 1 March 2016, followed by the play-offs, which finished on 22 April 2016 with EC Kassel Huskies winning the league title.
In the 2015–16 season the league was the best-supported second-tier ice hockey league in Europe with an average of 2,688 spectators per game.

## Modus

Fourteen teams played a regular season where each team played the other twice home and away. The teams placed first to sixth directly qualified for the play-offs while the teams placed seventh to tenth played a pre-play-off in the best-of-three format. The remained of the play-offs were staged in a best-of-seven format. The teams placed eleventh to fourteenth qualified for the play-downs, also played in the best-of-seven format with the losers of the first round advancing to the second. The loser of the second round was nominally relegated, but Heilbronn retained its league place once more after the Fischtown Penguins were elevated to the DEL for the following season.
The league champion does not have the right for direct promotion to the Deutsche Eishockey Liga but, 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.
After DEL club Hamburg Freezers returned their licence in May 2016 the Fischtown Pinguins announced that they had applied for a DEL licence and were interested in taking up Hamburg's place in the league, with the DEL intending to keep the number of clubs in the league at 14. On 1 July 2016 it was announced that the Pinguins had been granted a DEL licence for 2016–17.

## Regular season

The regular season saw one new club in the league, EHC Freiburg while the Heilbronner Falken, originally relegated at the end of the 2014–15 season, remained in the league after EV Landshut was relegated for financial reasons.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Bietigheim Steelers | 52 | 34 | 3 | 3 | 12 | 207 | 130 | +77 | 111 | Advanced to playoffs |
| 2 | Fischtown Pinguins (P) | 52 | 31 | 7 | 4 | 10 | 203 | 135 | +68 | 111 | Advanced to playoffs |
| 3 | Ravensburg Towerstars | 52 | 24 | 10 | 0 | 18 | 202 | 136 | +66 | 92 | Advanced to playoffs |
| 4 | EC Kassel Huskies (C) | 52 | 23 | 8 | 7 | 14 | 201 | 164 | +37 | 92 | Advanced to playoffs |
| 5 | Löwen Frankfurt | 52 | 26 | 3 | 5 | 18 | 181 | 146 | +35 | 89 | Advanced to playoffs |
| 6 | EC Bad Nauheim | 52 | 24 | 4 | 8 | 16 | 158 | 158 | 0 | 88 | Advanced to playoffs |
| 7 | Dresdner Eislöwen | 52 | 23 | 6 | 5 | 18 | 193 | 164 | +29 | 86 | Advanced to pre-playoffs |
| 8 | Starbulls Rosenheim | 52 | 21 | 6 | 5 | 20 | 176 | 124 | +52 | 80 | Advanced to pre-playoffs |
| 9 | SC Riessersee | 52 | 18 | 5 | 6 | 23 | 165 | 176 | −11 | 70 | Advanced to pre-playoffs |
| 10 | Eispiraten Crimmitschau | 52 | 20 | 1 | 4 | 27 | 158 | 188 | −30 | 66 | Advanced to pre-playoffs |
| 11 | Lausitzer Füchse | 52 | 15 | 5 | 5 | 27 | 121 | 166 | −45 | 60 | Advanced to play-downs |
| 12 | ESV Kaufbeuren | 52 | 15 | 1 | 9 | 27 | 153 | 199 | −46 | 56 | Advanced to play-downs |
| 13 | EHC Freiburg | 52 | 14 | 4 | 5 | 29 | 128 | 179 | −51 | 55 | Advanced to play-downs |
| 14 | Heilbronner Falken | 52 | 7 | 6 | 3 | 36 | 131 | 225 | −94 | 36 | Advanced to play-downs |

## Playoffs
### Championship

The championship play-offs:
| First round | First round | First round | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Finals | Finals | Finals |
| | | | 1 | Bietigheim Steelers | 4 | | | | | | |
| 7 | Dresdner Eislöwen | 2 | 8 | SB Rosenheim | 1 | | | | | | |
| 10 | Crimmitschau | 1 | | | | 1 | Bietigheim Steelers | 4 | | | |
| | | | | | | 7 | Dresdner Eislöwen | 1 | | | |
| | | | 3 | Ravensburg | 4 | (Pairings are re-seeded after the first and second round) | (Pairings are re-seeded after the first and second round) | (Pairings are re-seeded after the first and second round) | | | |
| | | | 6 | EC Bad Nauheim | 1 | (Pairings are re-seeded after the first and second round) | (Pairings are re-seeded after the first and second round) | (Pairings are re-seeded after the first and second round) | | | |
| | | | | | | (Pairings are re-seeded after the first and second round) | (Pairings are re-seeded after the first and second round) | (Pairings are re-seeded after the first and second round) | 1 | Bietigheim Steelers | 0 |
| | | | | | | (Pairings are re-seeded after the first and second round) | (Pairings are re-seeded after the first and second round) | (Pairings are re-seeded after the first and second round) | 4 | EC Kassel Huskies | 4 |
| | | | 2 | Fischtown Pinguins | 3 | (Pairings are re-seeded after the first and second round) | (Pairings are re-seeded after the first and second round) | (Pairings are re-seeded after the first and second round) | | | |
| 8 | SB Rosenheim | 2 | 7 | Dresdner Eislöwen | 4 | (Pairings are re-seeded after the first and second round) | (Pairings are re-seeded after the first and second round) | (Pairings are re-seeded after the first and second round) | | | |
| 9 | SC Riessersee | 1 | | | | 3 | Ravensburg | 2 | | | |
| | | | | | | 4 | EC Kassel Huskies | 4 | | | |
| | | | 4 | EC Kassel Huskies | 4 | | | | | | |
| | | | 5 | Löwen Frankfurt | 0 | | | | | | |

### Relegation

The relegation play-offs:
| Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Finals | Finals | Finals |
| 9 | Lausitzer Füchse | 4 | | | |
| 12 | Heilbronner Falken | 1 | | | |
| 12 | Heilbronner Falken | 1 | 12 | Heilbronner Falken | 3 |
| | | | 10 | ESV Kaufbeuren | 4 |
| 10 | ESV Kaufbeuren | 3 | 10 | ESV Kaufbeuren | 4 |
| 11 | EHC Freiburg | 4 | | | |