Today the third German ice hockey league starts with the official opening game ECDC Memmingen Indians against Erding Gladiators, before tomorrow Friday the teams of the Oberliga Nord begin their season. In the Northern Division, the clubs will be adapting to a new format that promises additional excitement. Similar to the Southern Division, the top scorer helmet will also be introduced in the North. Gold helmet identifies the best scorer of each team and is used in all competitive matches.
Eleven teams will be part of the 2025/2026 season Oberliga NordThus, a matchday consists of five matches; one team has a bye each day. On the first matchday, the Hannover Indians face the team, who begin their season two days later. All dates can be found at: https://deb-online.live/liga/herren/oberliga-nord/
Hannover Scorpions want Oberliga championship title
Last year, the Tilburg Trappers were the best participants in the main round of the North, relegating the Hannover Scorpions to second place. However, in the playoffs, the Scorpions performed better and made it to the finals. There, they fought a thrilling battle with the Bietigheim Steelers, which lasted seven matches. Four of these matches required extra time, and even in the seventh match, Bietigheim's goal advantage was only one goal. This year, the Scorpions will be making another attempt to win the coveted Oberliga championship title. But it will not be easy for the Hanoverians, because even in the Oberliga Nord There are some strong opponents and maybe even surprise teams like last year's KSW IceFighters Leipzig, who finished the main round in third place.
New mode with intermediate round
The eleven teams of the Oberliga Nord will initially play a double round robin. This means that each team will play 40 matches, split between two home and two away games against each league rival. The main round will end on January 30, 2026. A new feature will be an intermediate round, for which two groups will be formed. Group one will contain the teams that finished first to fifth in the main round. They will compete for home advantage in the playoffs. Group two will comprise the teams ranked sixth to eleventh in the main round. The main goal in this group is to reach the top three places, as these will qualify for the playoffs. All teams will carry over the points they earned previously in their groups, but the new constellation of playing against opponents of a similar level could create a completely new dynamic.
Playoff schedule
Due to the intermediate round, the pre-playoffs in the North are cancelled and after the intermediate round on March 3, 2026, the teams will go directly into the Oberliga Süd Interlocking round of 8 matches. These are scheduled as best-of-five and will take place from March 17 to March 2026, 20. From the quarterfinals to the final, only best-of-seven series will be played. The quarterfinals are scheduled from March 2 to April 2026, 4, the semifinals from April 17 to April 2026, 19, and the final from April 3 to May 2026, 3. The 2026 Oberliga champion will be announced by May XNUMX at the latest.
Jonas Schwarzfischer, league manager of the DEB: "The 2025/2026 Oberliga season promises a lot of excitement, enthusiasm and strong ice hockey; this applies to the north as well as the south. The new game format in the Oberliga Nord opens up additional opportunities, creates dynamism, and offers many interesting encounters. We look forward to a season in which we will once again be entertained by top-class sport."