2002-03 DEL season

The 2002-03 Deutsche Eishockey Liga season was the 9th season since the founding of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (German Ice Hockey League). The Krefeld Pinguine became German Champions. The Schwenninger ERC Wild Wings lost their license due to insolvency proceedings and the Frankfurt Lions were granted a stay in the league.
==Regular Season==
The eight best placed teams in the regular season would enter playoffs, while the last two teams would have to fight relegation in a playdown series.
 	Team 	GP	W 	SOW	SOL	L 	GF:GA 	Points
1. 	Eisbären Berlin 	52	30	5 	9 	8 	188:134	109
2. 	Kölner Haie 	52	26	4 	15 	7 	151:117	101
3. 	DEG Metro Stars 	52	24	10 	4 	14	151:117	96
4. 	Adler Mannheim 	52	25	8 	3 	16	152:129	94
5. 	Nürnberg Ice Tigers 	52	23	7 	6 	16	133:127	89
6. 	Krefeld Pinguine 	52	20	8 	2 	22	147:133	78
7. 	Kassel Huskies 	52	19	7 	7 	19	118:127	78
8. 	Hamburg Freezers 	52	17	10 	6 	19	154:152	77
9. 	Iserlohn Roosters 	52	17	8 	8 	19	142:132	75
10.	Hannover Scorpions 	52	18	5 	5 	24	142:150	69
11.	Augsburger Panther 	52	16	6 	6 	24	127:146	66
12.	ERC Ingolstadt 	52	16	5 	7 	24	122:135	65
13.	Frankfurt Lions 	52	14	6 	6 	26	133:171	60
14.	Schwenninger ERC Wild Wings	52	4 	6 	11 	31	99:184 	35
GP = Games played, W = Win, SOW = Shootout Win, SOL = Shootout loss, L = Loss
     = Qualified for playoffs     = Season ended     = Relegation playdown
== Playdown ==
The two lastplaced teams, the Frankfurt Lions and Schwenninger ERC Wild Wings played a playdown best-of-seven series against relegation.
 	 	 	Game	1 	2 	3 	4 	5 	6 	7
Frankfurt Lions	–	Schwenninger ERC Wild Wings	2:4 	3:6	1:2	6:4	4:3	4:7	2:3	–
Despite the Lions having a 25 point advantage in the regular season, the Wild Wings won the playdown series. However, as insolvency proceedings against the Wild Wings opened, the DEL canceled their license and the Lions were allowed to stay in the league.
==Playoffs==
=== Quarterfinals ===
Staring March 12th, 2003, the quarterfinals were played in a best-of-seven series.
 	 	 	Game	1 	2 	3 	4 	5 	6 	7
Eisbären Berlin	–	Hamburg Freezers 	4:1 	5:2	5:6 SO	3:2	2:1	4:0	– 	–
Kölner Haie 	–	Kassel Huskies 	4:3 	1:3	3:1 	2:1	4:5	4:1	2:3	5:1
DEG Metro Stars	–	Krefeld Pinguine 	1:4 	1:2	5:6 OT	1:0	2:5	1:4	– 	–
Adler Mannheim 	–	Nürnberg Ice Tigers	4:1 	5:4	1:6 	5:1	4:2	3:0	– 	–
 OT = Overtime; SO = Shootout
=== Semifinals ===
On March 28th, 2003, the quarterfinals best-of-five series opened.
 	 	 	Game	1 	2 	3 	4 	5
Eisbären Berlin	–	Krefeld Pinguine	1:3 	4:1	2:4	0:1 	1:4	–
Kölner Haie 	–	Adler Mannheim 	3:0 	3:2	5:3	4:3 OT	– 	–
 OT = Overtime; SO = Shootout
The big surprise was the loss of Eisbären Berlin (Berlin Polar Bears) to the Krefeld Pinguine (Krefeld Penguins). The Eisbären were considered a strong favorite as the finished the regular season with 109 points vs. the Pinguines 78.
=== Finals ===
The final series started April 11th, 2003 with a homegame for the Kölner Haie who were the higher placed team after the regular season.
 	 	 	Game	1 	2 	3 	4 	5
Kölner Haie	–	Krefeld Pinguine	2:3 	2:5	2:3	3:2	3:2 OT	1:3
 OT = Overtime; SO = Shootout
With this, the Krefeld Pinguine won the German title for the second time in their history. They almost accomplished this feat with a playoff sweep; this was somewhat unexpected, as their regular season record was not indicative of the playoff performance.
== Top players ==
Category 	Name 	Team 	Record
Most points 	Mark Beaufait 	Eisbären Berlin 	54 Points
Most goals 	Christoph Brandner	Krefeld Pinguine 	28 Goals
Most assists 	Brad Purdie 	Krefeld Pinguine 	41 Assists
Best goalie 	Frederic Chabot 	Nürnberg Ice Tigers	0.945
Best defender	Jeff Tory 	Hamburg Freezers 	46 Points
==Team Photos==
02-03EisBer.jpg|Eisbären Berlin
02-03FraLio.jpg|Frankfurt Lions
02-03ERCIng.jpg|ERC Ingolstadt
==References==
Category:2002 in hockey
Category:2003 in hockey
Category:Deutsche Eishockey Liga season