1996–97 DEL season

The 1996–97 Deutsche Eishockey Liga season was the 3rd season of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga ().
Adler Mannheim became the DEL Champion, winning a German title for the second time in their history. Both the Ratinger Löwen and Wedemark Scorpions earned their keep in the league playing against 1st League EHC Neuwied and TSV Erding.
The Bosman ruling, a 1995 decision of the European Court of Justice regarding the movement of labor in soccer, had profound influence on the league. The old Bundesliga had national character: German clubs competing for the German title with mostly German players. After the ruling European Union players were excluded from the "foreign" player quota. Within a year, the DEL teams employed 97 EU players and lowered their costs significantly, enabling the smaller teams to compete more effectively. The frequent player moves were not viewed positively by the fans.
Another visible change for the fans was the change in corporate sponsorship. The Krombacher Brewery ended their agreement with the league, resulting in a change in the league logo design. The league would not have a corporate sponsor again until 2003, when the German Yellow Pages () signed two consecutive 3-year agreements.
==Regular season==
The mode of play changed for this season. In the first round, all teams played one home and one away game with each other for a total of 30 rounds. The first 6 placed teams continued playing for the playoff placements ), and the teams 7-16 played to against relegation/playdowns (), with only the 2 bestplaced teams in this group being eligible for playoffs.
===Phase I===
 	Team 	GP	W 	T	L 	OTL	GF:GA 	Points
1. 	Kölner Haie 	30	22	1	7 	2 	157:91 	47
2. 	Adler Mannheim 	30	20	3	7 	1 	130:74 	44
3. 	Berlin Capitals 	30	17	4	9 	2 	107:79 	40
4. 	Kassel Huskies 	30	18	2	10	1 	121:102	39
5. 	EHC Eisbären Berlin 	30	18	3	9 	0 	118:91 	39
6. 	Star Bulls Rosenheim 	30	16	2	12	3 	111:113	37
7. 	EV Landshut 	30	16	1	13	3 	125:77 	36
8. 	Krefeld Pinguine 	30	15	0	15	3 	105:108	33
9. 	Düsseldorfer EG 	30	15	2	13	0 	93:90 	32
10.	Frankfurt Lions 	30	13	3	14	1 	85:88 	30
11.	Schwenninger ERC Wild Wings	30	13	1	16	3 	114:128	30
12.	Kaufbeurer Adler 	30	12	2	16	3 	112:157	29
13.	Augsburger Panther 	30	11	4	15	1 	91:114 	27
14.	Wedemark Scorpions (N) 	30	8 	1	21	2 	95:134 	19
15.	Nürnberg Ice Tigers 	30	5 	3	22	0 	90:148 	13
16.	Ratinger Löwen 	30	4 	2	24	2 	74:134 	12
GP = Games, W = Win, T = Tie, L = Loss, OTL = Overtime loss, GF:GA = Goals For : Goals Against
     = Continue play for playoff spots,     = Continue play against relegation
===Phase II - "Meisterrunde"===
 	Team 	GP	W 	T	L 	OTL	GF:GA 	Points
1.	Adler Mannheim 	50	35	5	10	1 	212:123	76
2.	Kölner Haie 	50	36	2	12	2 	235:142	76
3.	Kassel Huskies 	50	27	4	19	1 	190:167	59
4.	EHC Eisbären Berlin 	50	26	4	20	1 	177:163	57
5.	Berlin Capitals 	50	23	6	21	3 	162:149	55
6.	Star Bulls Rosenheim	50	20	2	28	5 	171:209	47
GP = Games, W = Win, T = Tie, L = Loss, OTL = Overtime loss, GF:GA = Goals For : Goals Against
===Phase II - "Relegationsrunde"===
The first two placed teams qualified for the playoff spots 7 and 8.
 	Team 	GP	W 	T	L 	OTL	GF:GA 	Points
1. 	EV Landshut 	48	29	3	16	3 	202:122	64
2. 	Krefeld Pinguine 	48	28	2	18	3 	198:166	61
3. 	Düsseldorfer EG 	48	28	2	18	0 	164:138	58
4. 	Schwenninger ERC Wild Wings	48	23	1	24	5 	200:191	52
5. 	Augsburger Panther 	48	21	5	22	1 	176:181	48
6. 	Frankfurt Lions 	48	21	4	23	1 	136:142	47
7. 	Kaufbeurer Adler 	48	17	3	28	3 	166:252	40
8. 	Wedemark Scorpions 	48	12	1	35	3 	150:231	28
9. 	Nürnberg Ice Tigers 	48	9 	6	33	1 	149:229	25
10.	Ratinger Löwen 	48	9 	2	37	2 	136:219	22
GP = Games, W = Win, T = Tie, L = Loss, OTL = Overtime loss, GF:GA = Goals For : Goals Against
Color code:     = Playoff     = Playdowns
==Playdowns==
=== First Round===
The first round was played in the best-of-seven mode.
 	 	 	Game	1 	2 	3 	4 	5 	6 	7
Düsseldorfer EG 	-	Ratinger Löwen 	4:0 	5:1	5:3	2:0	6:2	– 	– 	–
Schwenninger Wild Wings	-	Nürnberg Ice Tigers	4:1 	4:1	2:3	6:1	5:3	11:3	– 	–
Augsburger Panther 	-	Wedemark Scorpions 	4:0 	7:1	2:1	5:4	5:3	– 	– 	–
Frankfurt Lions 	-	Kaufbeurer Adler 	2:4 	3:2	3:6	4:3	3:6	2:5 	1:4	–
===Second round===
The second round was played in a best-of-five mode.
 	 	 	Game	1 	2 	3 	4 	5
Wedemark Scorpions	-	Nürnberg Ice Tigers	1:3 	4:6	4:6	5:2	2:5	–
Frankfurt Lions 	-	Ratinger Löwen 	3:0 	6:1	5:4	5:3	– 	–
Wedemark Scorpions (now known as Hannover Scorpions) and Ratinger Löwen () had to play against the first two placed teams of the second league.
===Relegation===
The relegation round was played in a best-of-three mode.
 	 	 	Game	1 	2 	3
EHC Neuwied 	-	Ratinger Löwen	0:2 	2:4 	3:10	–
Wedemark Scorpions	-	TSV Erding 	2:0 	10:2	9:5 	–
Both the Ratinger Löwen and Wedemark Scorpions earned their keep in the DEL.
==Playoffs==
All playoff rounds were played in as a best-of-five series, with the better placed team playing Home-Away-Home-Away-Home.
===Quarterfinals===
 	 	 	Game	1 	2 	3 	4 	5
Adler Mannheim 	-	Krefeld Pinguine 	3:0 	4:1	4:1	8:4	– 	–
Kölner Haie 	-	EV Landshut 	1:3 	6:3	3:4	2:4	1:3	–
Kassel Huskies 	-	Starbulls Rosenheim	3:0 	6:1	4:1	5:4	– 	–
EHC Eisbären Berlin	-	Berlin Capitals 	3:1 	4:3	3:4	5:0	4:1	–
===Semifinals===
 	 	 	Game	1 	2 	3 	4 	5
Adler Mannheim	-	EV Landshut 	3:0 	7:5	2:4	4:3	– 	–
Kassel Huskies	-	EHC Eisbären Berlin	3:1 	4:2	4:5	6:3	3:1	–
===Finals===
 	 	 	Game	1 	2 	3 	4	5
Adler Mannheim	-	Kassel Huskies	3:0 	5:4	5:2	4:2	–	–
With the last game, the Adler Mannheim became first time DEL Champion and won the German Champion title for the 2nd 8th time in the club history.
==Team Photos==
96-97EisBer.jpg|Eisbären Berlin
96-97FraLio.jpg|Frankfurt Lions
96-97KasHus.jpg|Kassel Huskies
==References==
DEL
DEL