Game mode adjusted again, scoring system defined: After joint video conferences with the South and North leagues, the Deutscher Eishockey-Bund has charted the path to the end of the 2020/21 season. In addition, the clubs of both seasons agreed on a fixed start for all remaining Sunday game days; the games will all start at the same time at 24 p.m. from January 17th.
In the Oberliga Süd The end of the main round was postponed from March 7th to March 16th, and the scheduled challenge and placement rounds were held in the Oberliga Süd remains open for the time being - depending on the situation regarding spectator restrictions and the further course of the season. The southern clubs agreed to shorten the play-off quarter-final series from best-of-seven to best-of-five. The pre-play-offs should take place in “best-of-two” instead of “best-of-three” relegation mode. In the event that game cancellations continue to be taken into account, three new alternative dates will be created by the end of the season, because the priority is first of all to complete a complete main round. In the north, no adjustments were made due to the tight schedule.
In addition, everyone involved agreed on a uniform scoring standard if the main round cannot be completed in full. In the final table of the main round in the Oberliga Süd Only those clubs that have played at least 75 percent of the scheduled main round games will be considered for play-off and pre-playoff participation - compared to the club that has the most games. In the Oberliga Nord Due to the overall higher number of games, the reference value is 66 percent of the games of the club with the most games.
In this case, the placement in the final table is initially based on the points quotient (number of points divided by the number of scored games, rounded to two decimal places). If this does not result in a clear order, the goal difference is used (quotient of the goal difference divided by the number of games counted, also rounded to two decimal places). If there is no difference here either, Art. 23 Para. 3 b) of the game regulations applies and the direct comparison is used.
Until the current game weekend the Oberliga Süd Exactly half of the maximum 234 main round games have been completed, which is 78,5 percent of the scheduled matches. In the Oberliga Nord 118 of 133 scheduled games have been played so far, which corresponds to 88,7 percent. However, they are planning Oberliga Nord through a different mode with a total of 312 games in the main round, which is why it only accounts for around 38 percent of the games to be completed.
DEB-League leader Markus Schubert: “We have worked constructively on these agreements with all major league teams in a truly cooperative manner. Everyone was extremely interested in finding a common path and showed themselves to be extremely flexible when it came to the further development of this exceptionally demanding season. The clubs are extremely keen to ensure that this season ends in a dignified and fair manner and we believe these decisions have created the conditions for this. The DEB is very grateful to the clubs for this unified approach and willingness to cooperate.”