2020–21 DEL season
# 2020–21 DEL season

The 2020–21 Deutsche Eishockey Liga season was the 27th season since the founding of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the league announced 13 November 2020 as the start date, which was later postponed to a later date. On 19 November 2020, the DEL announced that the season would start on 17 December 2020.

Eisbären Berlin won their eighth title, after defeating the Grizzlys Wolfsburg in three games.

## Format

The season saw the same 14 teams as last year, as all teams were given a license. Adler Mannheim will be the defending champions from the 2018–19 DEL season as the 2019–20 season was ended after the regular season. At that point, EHC Red Bull München, who won three consecutive DEL titles until Mannheim’s 2019 triumph (a 4–1 series win against Munich), were the league leaders and had clinched the first seed for the DEL playoffs.

This season would have marked the return of promotion and relegation, as the last placed team would have been relegated to the second tier DEL2 and the 2020–21 DEL2 champions would have replaced them for the 2021–22 season DEL. On 23 October 2020, the relegation rule was moved to next season. Still, the DEL2 champion can be promoted at the end of this season, so next season could be played with 15 teams. The 14 teams played the regular season in two groups (North and South). They played the teams from the same group four times and the teams from the other group twice. After that, the top four clubs from both groups advanced to the playoffs. The quarterfinals were played within the group before, from the semifinals on, it was mixed. All playoff rounds were best of three.

## Teams

| Team | City | Arena | Capacity |
| - | - | - | - |
| Augsburger Panther | Augsburg | Curt Frenzel Stadium | 6,218 |
| Eisbären Berlin | Berlin | Mercedes-Benz Arena | 14,200 |
| Fischtown Pinguins | Bremerhaven | Eisarena Bremerhaven | 4,674 |
| Düsseldorfer EG | Düsseldorf | ISS Dome | 13,400 |
| ERC Ingolstadt | Ingolstadt | Saturn Arena | 4,815 |
| Iserlohn Roosters | Iserlohn | Eissporthalle Iserlohn | 5,000 |
| Kölner Haie | Cologne | Lanxess Arena | 18,500 |
| Krefeld Pinguine | Krefeld | König Palast | 9,000 |
| Adler Mannheim | Mannheim | SAP Arena | 13,600 |
| EHC Red Bull München | Munich | Olympia Eishalle | 6,256 |
| Nürnberg Ice Tigers | Nuremberg | Arena Nürnberger Versicherung | 7,810 |
| Schwenninger Wild Wings | Villingen-Schwenningen | Helios Arena | 6,215 |
| Straubing Tigers | Straubing | Eisstadion am Pulverturm | 6,000 |
| Grizzlys Wolfsburg | Wolfsburg | Eis Arena Wolfsburg | 4,660 |

## Regular season

### Intra-groups games

| Home \ Away | AUG | BER | BRE | DÜS | ING | ISE | KÖL | KRE | MAN | MUN | NÜR | SCH | STR | WOL |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Augsburger Panther | | 6–5 | 5–2 | 1–7 | | 2–5 | 4–2 | 5–0 | | | | | | 1–4 |
| Eisbären Berlin | 5–3 | | | | 1–0 | | | | 1–3 | 0–5 | 4–3 | 6–2 | 1–0 | |
| Fischtown Pinguins | 8–1 | | | | 5–2 | | | | 5–0 | 1–2 | 4–2 | 5–2 | 0–4 | |
| Düsseldorfer EG | 5–3 | | | | 5–4 | | | | 2–3 | 3–2 | 4–1 | 5–2 | 0–4 | |
| ERC Ingolstadt | | 4–3 | 3–2 | 4–3 | | 2–3 | 3–2 | 6–3 | | | | | | 1–3 |
| Iserlohn Roosters | 3–4 | | | | 3–0 | | | | 2–4 | 8–3 | 3–2 | 3–2 | 0–5 | |
| Kölner Haie | 2–1 | | | | 4–3 | | | | 2–3 | 2–5 | 6–3 | 2–4 | 4–5 | |
| Krefeld Pinguine | 0–3 | | | | 5–6 | | | | 0–1 | 1–8 | 0–3 | 1–2 | 0–4 | |
| Adler Mannheim | | 1–4 | 1–2 | 3–0 | | 2–1 | 5–1 | 4–2 | | | | | | 2–1 |
| EHC Red Bull München | | 4–1 | 6–2 | 6–1 | | 4–2 | 6–2 | 9–2 | | | | | | 4–3 |
| Nürnberg Ice Tigers | | 1–3 | 3–1 | 6–5 | | 7–3 | 3–2 | 5–3 | | | | | | 2–1 |
| Schwenninger Wild Wings | | 4–2 | 4–5 | 3–2 | | 3–2 | 5–3 | 5–6 | | | | | | 4–1 |
| Straubing Tigers | | 1–3 | 5–2 | 0–4 | | Cancelled | 3–5 | 3–1 | | | | | | 2–4 |
| Grizzlys Wolfsburg | 1–4 | | | | 6–3 | | | | 0–1 | 5–1 | 4–3 | 5–3 | 2–4 | |

* 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 Overtime
* 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 Shootout

## Playoffs

All rounds were played in a best of three format. The first round was played in the regional group.

### Bracket

| Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | | | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Finals | Finals | Finals |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| N1 | Eisbären Berlin | 2 | | | | | | | | |
| N4 | Iserlohn Roosters | 1 | | | | | | | | |
| N4 | Iserlohn Roosters | 1 | | | N1 | Eisbären Berlin | 2 | | | |
| | | | | | S3 | ERC Ingolstadt | 1 | | | |
| N2 | Fischtown Pinguins | 1 | | | S3 | ERC Ingolstadt | 1 | | | |
| N3 | Grizzlys Wolfsburg | 2 | | | | | | | | |
| N3 | Grizzlys Wolfsburg | 2 | | | | | | N1 | Eisbären Berlin | 2 |
| (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | N1 | Eisbären Berlin | 2 |
| (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | N3 | Grizzlys Wolfsburg | 1 |
| S1 | Adler Mannheim | 2 | | | | | | | | | N3 | Grizzlys Wolfsburg | 1 |
| S4 | Straubing Tigers | 1 | | | | | | | | |
| S4 | Straubing Tigers | 1 | | | S1 | Adler Mannheim | 1 | | | |
| | | | | | N3 | Grizzlys Wolfsburg | 2 | | | |
| S2 | EHC Red Bull München | 0 | | | N3 | Grizzlys Wolfsburg | 2 | | | |
| S3 | ERC Ingolstadt | 2 | | | | | | | | |

### Quarterfinals

The quarterfinals were played between 20 and 24 April 2021 in a best-of-three mode.

**Eisbären Berlin vs Iserlohn Roosters**

* Berlin won series 2–1

**Fischtown Pinguins vs Grizzlys Wolfsburg**

* Wolfsburg won series 2–1

**Adler Mannheim vs Straubing Tigers**

* Mannheim won series 2–1

**EHC Red Bull München vs ERC Ingolstadt**

* Ingolstadt won series 2–0

### Semifinals

The semifinals were played between 26 and 29 April 2021 in a best-of-three format.

**Eisbären Berlin vs ERC Ingolstadt**

* Berlin won series 2–1

**Adler Mannheim vs Grizzlys Wolfsburg**

* Wolfsburg won series 2–1

### Final

The final was played between 2 and 7 May 2021 in a best-of-three format.

* Berlin won series 2–1

## Awards and statistics

### Awards

The awards were announced on 2 May 2021.

| Award | Player |
| - | - |
| Player of the year | Marcel Noebels |
| Goaltender of the year | Joacim Eriksson |
| Defenceman of the year | Marcel Brandt |
| Forward of the year | Marcel Noebels |
| Rookie of the year | Florian Elias |
| Coach of the year | Thomas Popiesch |
| Finals MVP | Ryan McKiernan |

### Scoring leaders

List shows the top skaters sorted by points, then goals.

| Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | +/− | PIM | POS |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Joe Whitney | Iserlohn Roosters | 37 | 21 | 24 | 45 | 0 | 22 | F |
| Casey Bailey | Iserlohn Roosters | 37 | 20 | 24 | 44 | +3 | 56 | F |
| Jason Akeson | Kölner Haie | 38 | 12 | 32 | 44 | +2 | 8 | F |
| Chris Bourque | EHC Red Bull München | 38 | 7 | 35 | 42 | +23 | 26 | F |
| Marcel Noebels | Eisbären Berlin | 36 | 6 | 35 | 42 | +17 | 12 | F |
| Trevor Parkes | EHC Red Bull München | 38 | 23 | 18 | 41 | +22 | 16 | F |
| Matt White | Eisbären Berlin | 38 | 19 | 20 | 39 | +15 | 10 | F |
| Alexandre Grenier | Iserlohn Roosters | 35 | 12 | 27 | 39 | −1 | 12 | F |
| Yasin Ehliz | EHC Red Bull München | 38 | 19 | 19 | 38 | +19 | 28 | F |
| Jon Matsumoto | Kölner Haie | 37 | 16 | 22 | 38 | +7 | 22 | F |

### Leading goaltenders

Only the top five goaltenders, based on save percentage, who have played at least 40% of their team's minutes, are included in this list.

| Player | Team | TOI | GA | GAA | SA | Sv% | SO |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Felix Brueckmann | Adler Mannheim | 1096 | 28 | 1.53 | 437 | 93.6 | 4 |
| Joacim Eriksson | Schwenninger Wild Wings | 1812 | 74 | 2.45 | 1074 | 93.1 | 2 |
| Tomáš Pöpperle | Fischtown Pinguins | 743 | 29 | 2.34 | 382 | 92.4 | 0 |
| Dustin Strahlmeier | Grizzlys Wolfsburg | 1402 | 49 | 2.10 | 636 | 92.3 | 2 |
| Mathias Niederberger | Eisbären Berlin | 1609 | 57 | 2.13 | 735 | 92.2 | 5 |
