The DFEL 2022/2023 season starts on Saturday, October 1st, 2022. At the start, the runner-up from Memmingen welcomes the EC Bergkamen Eisbären Berlin compete against the Mad Dogs from Mannheim and the reigning German champions begin their season with a duel against ESC Planegg Würmtal. After the main round, which ends on February 19, 2023, the new German DFEL champion will be determined in the same manner as last season. “The playoffs last season showed how attractive the best-of-five mode is. We received a lot of positive feedback from all sides, especially from the players. It was therefore important to us to maintain the mode in the new season,” explains Nicholas Rausch, commercial manager DEB leagues.
New in the coming season is the return of DEB-Cup. This will be played in a main round with 16 teams in the well-known single elimination knockout mode. In addition to the six teams from the DFEL, a total of ten teams from the LEV area are active. The 1st Women's League North/East (NEV) receives two, the 2nd Women's League North (EHV NRW) three and the Women's State League Bayern/Baden Württemberg five starting places. The DFEL teams will all play away in the first round. In addition, there will be no meeting between the DFEL teams in the first round. In order to keep the effort and costs, especially for travel, as low as possible, the first round will be divided locally into the North and South clusters. “It is important to us to add a “new” element to the season with the cup competition,” says Marc Hindelang, DEB-Vice President, responsible for gaming operations DEB leagues, and continues: “The inclusion of the regional associations is an important sign for the development of women’s ice hockey in Germany, as we can only advance this together.”
Due to the IIHF Ice Hockey Women's World Championship taking place from August 25 to September 4 in Denmark, as well as the 2023 competition in Canada, which will then take place again in spring, and the U18 Women's World Championship in Sweden, which will also take place next spring, the DFEL match day planning was challenging for everyone involved. "In the upcoming season, we can expect exciting encounters again. Despite the difficult circumstances with two A World Championships and a U18 World Championship, we were able to put together an attractive schedule," says Markus Schubert, head of gaming operations at DEB.
This season, all DFEL games will be offered as LIVE streams via a new central platform. Further information about the new platform will be announced soon.
You can find the complete schedule for the DFEL season 2022/2023 here.