2nd Bundesliga

The 2nd Eishockey-Bundesliga was the second tier of ice hockey in Germany Until 2013. It was organised by the DEB, the German Ice Hockey Federation. In 2013, it was replaced by the DEL2.
== History of the 2nd Ice Hockey Bundesliga ==
The league was first introduced in the 1973-74 season as the second tier of German ice hockey, the level below the Ice hockey Bundesliga.
=== History up until 1994 ===
* From 1973-74 up until 1980-81 the league operated as the single-conference 2nd Bundesliga
* In the 1981-82 season, it was divided into two conferences: 2nd Bundesliga Süd (southern division) and 2nd Bundesliga Nord (northern division)
* For the 1982-83 season, it returned to a single-conference league due to a lack of clubs intresstet in playing in the league
* Starting from the 1983-84 season until 1991-92, it was divided into the 2nd Bundesliga Süd and Nord again, with the top four clubs from each league meeting the bottom two Bundesliga clubs for a promotion round for two places in the Bundesliga
* In the seasons 1992-93 and 1993-94, the league operated as one single division again
===From 1994 ===
The large number of insolvencies of second division clubs in 1994 was the reason for the abolition of the 2nd Bundesliga and the introduction of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga with 18 teams, without promotion and relegation. A number of top clubs from the second division were admitted to the DEL.
Below the former 2nd Bundesliga, the Oberliga now became the highest league still under control of the DEB. The Oberliga was however renamed 1st Liga for the next couple of seasons, until returning to its old name.
===From 1998 ===
As the highest single-division for the DEB, a new league was formed in 1998, receiving the name "Bundesliga". The decision to name the new league "Bundesliga" led to conflicts between the Deutschen Eishockey-Bund and the Deutsche Eishockey Liga, since the DEL was of the opinion that it owned the right to call itselve Bundesliga, being the highest league in the country. For this reason, the DEL logo also carries the name 1st Bundesliga in smaller letters below. Eventually, a compromise was reached, naming the new league 2nd Bundesliga instead.
=== From 1999 ===
Since 1999, the league became the 2nd Bundesliga again, which is organized today by the Eishockeyspielbetriebsgesellschaft (ESBG). As in the DEL, the clubs must undergo a strict financial examination. 
Despite this fact, some clubs still found themslves in financial difficulties throughout the season and had to withdraw, like the EC Bad Nauheim in the past. The Moskitos Essen and Eisbären Regensburg both declared bankruptcy on 15 April 2008, being unable to meet their debts. Both clubs were immediately relegated from the 2nd Bundesliga. Due to the structure of the 2nd Bundesliga, where all teams playing are separate companies operated by the mother club, the insolvency of one of those does not mean the club itselve becomes insolvent.
In the 2008-09 season, the Tölzer Löwen had to declare insolvency and, despite coming second in the league, were relegated. Because the Füchse Duisburg had to return their DEL licence, the champion of the 2nd Bundesliga has the option of promotion to the DEL this season.
==Promotion and relegation==
In November 2007, the DEL has introduced promotion to the league once more. The teams placed 15th and 16th in the DEL will play a best-of-seven series to determined which club faces the 2nd Bundesliga champion for a place in the league. There is however an ongoing dispute about those games as second division clubs can only have five foreign players on contract and therefore face a handicap in comparison to the DEL clubs with currently twelve. For now, the ESBG has declared that no club from the 2nd Bundesliga would take part in these matches and therefore no promotion/relegation with the DEL will take place.
The two bottom teams in the 2nd Bundesliga are relegated to the Oberliga and the top-two Oberliga teams promoted to this league.
==League champions ==
Season 	Champion
1973-74	ESV Kaufbeuren
1974-75	EV Rosenheim
1975-76	Augsburger EV
1976-77	ESV Kaufbeuren
1977-78	Augsburger EV
1978-79	
1979-80	ESV Kaufbeuren
1980-81	ERC Freiburg
Season 	South 	North 	Championship Round
1981-82	EHC 70 München	Duisburger SC	EHC Essen
Season 	Regular Season	Promotion Round
1982-83	ERC Freiburg 	ERC Freiburg
 
Season 	South 	North 	Promotion round
1983-84	SV Bayreuth 	Preussen Berlin	ECD Iserlohn *
1984-85	SV Bayreuth 	Preussen Berlin	SC Riessersee *
1985-86	Augsburger EV	Preussen Berlin	Eintracht Frankfurt
1986-87	EHC Freiburg 	Preussen Berlin	Preussen Berlin
1987-88	EHC Freiburg 	Krefelder EV 	Preussen Berlin *
1988-89	SV Bayreuth 	Krefelder EV 	EHC Freiburg *
1989-90	SV Bayreuth 	ECD Sauerland 	EV Landshut *
1990-91	EHC Nürnberg 	ECD Sauerland 	ESV Kaufbeuren *
1991-92	Augsburger EV	EC Kassel 	Dynamo Berlin
* * denotes Bundesliga club taking part in the promotion round
Season 	Regular Season 	Play-Offs
1992-93 	Augsburger EV 	SB Rosenheim
1993-94 	Augsburger EV 	Augsburger EV
 	 	
1998-99 	ESC Moskitos Essen 	ESC Moskitos Essen
1999-2000	Düsseldorfer EG 	Düsseldorfer EG
2000-01 	ERC Ingolstadt 	ERC Ingolstadt
2001-02 	ERC Ingolstadt 	REV Bremerhaven
2002-03 	SC Bietigheim-Bissingen	EHC Freiburg
2003-04 	EHC Wolfsburg 	EHC Wolfsburg
2004-05 	EHC Straubing 	EV Duisburg
2005-06 	REV Bremerhaven 	EHC Straubing
2006-07 	Kassel Huskies 	EHC Wolfsburg
2007-08 	Kassel Huskies 	Kassel Huskies
2008-09 	SC Bietigheim-Bissingen	SC Bietigheim-Bissingen
==Placings in the 2nd Bundesliga 1999 to 2009==
Club 	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010
Düsseldorfer EG 	3 	1 	DEL 	DEL 	DEL 	DEL 	DEL 	DEL 	DEL 	DEL 	DEL 	
Iserlohn Roosters 	6 	6 	DEL 	DEL 	DEL 	DEL 	DEL 	DEL 	DEL 	DEL 	DEL 	
Ingolstadt Panther 	13 	2 	1 	1 	DEL 	DEL 	DEL 	DEL 	DEL 	DEL 	DEL 	
EV Duisburg 	 	 	 	14 	9 	5 	2 	DEL 	DEL 	DEL 	DEL 	
Straubing Tigers 	 	 	10 	9 	8 	3 	1 	5 	DEL 	DEL 	DEL 	
EHC Wolfsburg 	 	 	 	6 	7 	1 	DEL 	8 	2 	DEL 	DEL 	
Kassel Huskies 	DEL 	DEL 	DEL 	DEL 	DEL 	DEL 	DEL 	DEL 	1 	1 	DEL 	
Landshut Cannibals 	DEL 	 	 	 	4 	4 	6 	2 	5 	2 	5 	
Heilbronner Falken 	10 	9 	2 	4 	5 	9 	 	 	 	3 	3 	
Schwenninger Wild Wings	DEL 	DEL 	DEL 	DEL 	DEL 	8 	4 	6 	4 	4 	8 	
SC Riessersee 	8 	11 	6 	13 	3 	14 	 	 	 	5 	10 	
Moskitos Essen 	1 	DEL 	DEL 	DEL 	 	 	10 	14 	8 	6 2 	 	
SC Bietigheim-Bissingen	 	8 	4 	3 	1 	6 	8 	3 	9 	7 	1 	
ETC Crimmitschau 	 	 	 	5 	15 	10 	11 	 	12 	8 	12 	
EHC München 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	11 	6 	9 	2 	
Eisbären Regensburg 	 	 	 	12 	10 	7 	3 	4 	7 	10 2	 	
EV Ravensburg 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	11 	4 	
REV Bremerhaven 	 	 	5 	2 	12 	 	5 	1 	3 	12 	9 	
Lausitzer Füchse 	15 	12 	9 	8 	14 	 	7 	13 	13 	13 	6 	
EV Landsberg 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	10 	14 	 	
Dresdner Eislöwen 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	7 	11 	 	11 	
ESV Kaufbeuren 	 	 	 	 	13 	11 	13 	9 	14 	 	 	
Freiburger Wölfe 	5 	3 	8 	10 	6 	DEL 	9 	10 	 	 	7 	
Tölzer Löwen 	9 	4 	3 	7 	11 	12 	12 	12 	 	 	13 1	
1. EV Weiden 	 	 	 	 	 	13 	14 	 	 	 	 	
Rote Teufel Bad Nauheim	2 	5 	11 	11 	2 	2 2 	 	 	 	 	 	
EC Wilhelmshaven 	 	10 	7 2 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Erding Jets 	11 	 	12 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Hamburg Crocodiles 	14 	7 3 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
EHC Harz-Braunlage 	7 	13 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Grefrather EV 	16 	14 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
EHC Neuwied 	12 	15 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
GEC Nordhorn 	4 	16 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
{| border=0 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0>
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Colour	Result
Gold 	Champion
Silver	Finalist
Green 	Semi finalist
Blue 	1st round
Purple	Preliminary round
White 	not qualified for play-offs
DEL 	denotes club played in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (I)
* 1 The Tölzer Löwen finished second in the regular season but due to having to declare insolvency they were relegated to the last place in the standings.
* 2 Team withdrew to from the league because of financial reasons.
* 3 The Hamburg Crocodiles withdrew to the Oberliga after the 1999-2000 season.
==See Also==
List of 2nd Bundesliga seasons
==Sources==
* Hockey Archives - International ice hockey website with tables and results (in French)
* Official website of the ESBG for the 2nd Bundesliga and Oberliga
Category:Ice hockey leagues
Category:Ice hockey in Germany