Long months of great effort lie behind everyone involved, but the goal has been achieved: This evening the North and South leagues start the 2020/21 season. The North season will go into play with the announced mode, while in the Oberliga Süd Some adjustments were necessary as a result of the latest political decisions regarding the situation in the corona pandemic. Due to the break in the game Bayernleague, it is no longer possible to carry out the interlocking round as planned.
The Oberliga Süd The single round will now be supplemented by another half round, which will run from January 22nd, 2021 to March 7th, 2021. Following this, between March 12th and 16th, there will be pre-play-offs for the teams in places seven to ten, as well as a so-called challenge round for the teams in places one to six (1st vs. 2nd, 3rd vs 4th, 5th vs. 6th) with return leg - the points are included in the table. Places eleven to 13 and the losers of the pre-play-offs will play a placement round; the play-offs will remain unchanged.
The Oberliga Nord No relegation is planned - the planned promotion will be the winner of the relegation round between the regional leagues West, North and East. If the relegation round is canceled, the regulations will be adjusted depending on the situation. Even in the south, due to the elimination of the interlocking round, no relegated team will be played and the situation must be assessed flexibly after the season due to corona.
The newcomers start in the north Hammer Eisbären and the Herforder eV with one home game each against the Saale Bulls Halle and the Rostock Piranhas, while the other newcomer EG Diez-Limburg during the Deutschland Cups has to play at the same time on Friday in the Rheinlandhalle against Krefelder EV 81. The Tilburg Trappers can currently only play their championship games in Germany and will be guests at the Hannover Indians for the opening match. In the duel with the Hammer Eisbären On Sunday, the home advantage was swapped, the Trappers will now host the Eisbären on December 4th (20 p.m.). On Sunday, there will also be a derby between the Hannover Scorpions and the Hannover Indians as well as the first duel between the promoted teams between Diez-Limburg and Herforder.
In the south there will be a duel between the Eisbären Regensburg and the ECDC Memmingen on Sunday. The Indians from Memmingen had to give up the Oberliga-South championship to the Eisbären Regensburg on the last match day last season. Newcomer HC Landsberg welcomes EV Füssen on the first match day, the second promoted team EHF Black Hawks Passau plays at SC Riessersee.
ALL GAMES! are broadcast by the clubs via Sprade TV. Live statistics are available via the DEB-Statistics partner game pitch can be viewed: https://www.gamepitch.de/deb
Clubs are advised to use the following testing procedure during the corona pandemic:
The Deutscher Eishockey-Bund strongly recommends rapid tests for all teams on match days, including the support staff, for league games. Due to the conditions in the major leagues, this is seen as the most practical solution; regular PCR tests are not feasible for many major league teams purely from an economic perspective. It is the responsibility of the clubs to inform players of the special caution that must be exercised in order to be able to play. Abnormalities and signs of illness should be checked using rapid tests. Players with a positive rapid test are not allowed to take part in the game and are instructed to confirm a positive rapid test with a PCR test.