With the opening game of the ESC Moskitos Essen against the newcomer EV Duisburg starts the Oberliga Nord on September 22, 2022 in the new season. The first match day for all other clubs Oberliga Nord was set for September 23, 2022. Exactly one week later, on September 30th Oberliga Süd their gaming operations. The Tölzer Löwen, the sporting relegated team from the DEL2, welcome last year's finalists ECDC Memmingen Indians at the start of the league. Newly promoted EHC Klostersee begins the season in Upper Palatinate with the Blue Devils from Weiden, before the home premiere against the EV Lindau Islanders is on the program.
The 15 teams of the Oberliga Nord play 392 main round games during the season (56 per team), the 13 teams from the south play 312 games in their main round. Due to the odd number of teams, one team has to take a break every game day. “The key with an odd number of teams means that we had to use a 16 or 14 team game plan,” explained Markus Schubert, Head of Match Operations at the Deutscher Eishockey-Bund (DEB). “This made additional appointments necessary. Especially in the north, the limited season means there are more games during the week.” As a safeguard, the points quotient remains anchored in the implementing regulations and will be activated if there are game cancellations that can no longer be made up.
The main round ends in both leagues on March 5, 2023. Immediately afterwards, the teams enter a pre-playoffs phase with the “Best of Three” mode. The subsequent play-off series to determine the Oberliga champions will be played in “Best of Five” mode. “The sporting level of the league has risen continuously in recent years. She has further established herself as a serious third professional force in German ice hockey. The numerous traditional clubs that have found their home in the upper league and their large size also contribute to this Fancommunity make up a significant part of the attractiveness of this league. The coming season is likely to be one of the most exciting and high-quality in recent years,” says Marc Hindelang, DEB-Vice President, responsible for gaming operations DEB leagues.
You can find the complete schedule here: Oberliga Süd | Oberliga Nord