page_title: Eishockey-Bundesliga
section_title: The 1980s
hierarchical_section_title: Eishockey-Bundesliga / History / The 1980s
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Der Siegesjubel der Spieler des EV Landshut nach dem entscheidenden Spiel um die deutsche Meisterschaft 1982/83 im Eishockey gegen den Mannheimer ERC English: Jubilation by the players of EV Landshut, a professional German hockey club, after winning the final play-off game against the Mannheimer ERC, therefore being German champion of hockey in 1982-83
context_page_description: The Eishockey-Bundesliga was formed in 1958 as the elite hockey competition in the Federal Republic of Germany, replacing the Oberliga in this position. From the 1994-95 season, it was in turn replaced by the Deutsche Eishockey Liga, which now also carries the name 1st Bundesliga in its logo. The DEL, originally administrated by the DEB, the German Ice Hockey Federation, became an independent league in 1997.
  With the German reunion, the Bundesliga became a truly nationwide league, initially including two teams from the former East Germany.
context_section_description: The highlight of the 1980–81 season should have been the introduction of play-offs to the league, for which the best eight teams qualified, and SC Riessesee's last-ever championship. However, the season was overshadowed by one of the biggest scandals in German ice hockey. The German consulate in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, had sent a message to the DEB highlighting that a number of Canadian ice hockey players were living and playing in Germany with fake German passports. Eventually, seven players at the Duisburger SC and three at the Kölner EC were found to have obtained fake passports, which were sold in a bar in Essen for DM 8,000. The DEB banned the guilty players and, eventually, deducted a large number of points from the two teams. At that stage the Kölner EC was already playing in the play-off quarter finals, which had to be repeated since the KEC was not qualified for them anymore after losing the points. Of the two new clubs, ESV Kaufbeuren qualified for the play-offs while EHC 70 München, successor to FC Bayern's ice hockey department, was relegated alongside the Duisburger SC. Apart from all this, the league also found itself in a row with the television broadcasters who refused to show games of teams with advertising on their shirts, with the clubs not backing down as they could not afford to lose the sponsorship money.
  The 1981–82 season saw a recovery of the league after the scandal of the previous year and the introduction of the sudden-death format in the play-offs. SB Rosenheim turned out to be the surprise team of the season, finishing fifth after the regular season. The team managed to reach the final where they defeated the Mannheimer ERC and took home their first ever-championship. Of the new teams, ERC Freiburg, like two years before, could not keep up and was relegated while local rivals Schwenninger ERC came close to qualifying for the play-offs. On the negative side, both VfL Bad Nauheim and Berliner SC became insolvent and dropped out of the league.
  The league shrunk in size in 1982–83, now having only ten teams again. A double round of home-and-away games, 36 each, was followed by the play-offs contested by the top eight. The EV Landshut was the surprise champions, the second title for the club after 1970. On both occasions, it was due to its coach, the Czech Karel Gut. Landshut's championship team was low-cost, with the lowest budged in years for a championship winning side, achieved through the fact that 20 of its players were local boys who had been born in Landshut. Apart from them, only Erich Kühnhackl and the two Canadian Laycock brothers were not born in Landshut. Only one club was relegated that season, the EV Füssen, the second-last of the league's founding members that played in it uninterruptedly since day one. Füssen became insolvent at the end of the season, restarted in the 2nd Bundesliga but never returned to the top flight again.
  In the 1983–84 season, the league once more made a slight modus change, introducing a round of two groups of four between the regular season and the play-offs and skipping the quarter finals instead. The final was won by the Kölner EC, defeating champions Landshut in five games. No club was relegated because ERC Freiburg, finishing seventh, went broke and folded, to reform as EHC Freiburg in the 2nd Bundesliga.
  In 1984–85 the league returned to the old system of a regular season of 36 games followed by the play-off quarter finals. The SB Rosenheim won its second title, again against the Mannheimer ERC. The EHC Essen-West was admitted to the league to replace the ERC Freiburg, but had to little time to prepare and was heavily outclassed, finishing the season in last place, with only eight points. The club was relegated and made room for the SV Bayreuth.
  From 1985 onwards, the second golden era of the Kölner EC began, winning three titles in a row. In 1985–86, the final was contested against the arch rival Düsseldorfer EG, who had just overcome a couple of lean seasons in regards to success and money. The KEC defeated the DEG in three games in the best of t
caption: EV Landshut celebrating the 1982–83 championship
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