The Oberliga Nord is ready for the playoffs with the South Division; the intermediate round is over. The Hannover Scorpions have secured the title of Oberliga Nord-Championship secured; the fight for the last playoff spot was highly tense for a long time.
This season the format changed Oberliga Nord from the one who Oberliga Süd However, in the north, an intermediate round was added after the main round. The top five teams from the main round formed Group 1, and the teams from sixth place onward formed Group 2. While the participants in Group 1 were guaranteed playoff qualification, the teams in Group 2 had to finish in the top three to qualify for the playoffs.
Hanover Scorpions Oberliga Nord-Master
The Hannover Scorpions entered the intermediate round as the top team in the regular season standings and lived up to their favorite status. They celebrated six wins in eight intermediate round games, suffering only one defeat each against the Hannover Indians and the Tilburg Trappers. Furthermore, they boasted the best power play of the intermediate round, with every fourth power play resulting in a Scorpions goal. And with Fabian Gensicke and Patrick Berger, who joined the Scorpions on February 15th, they had a formidable attacking lineup. Fanquote best Goalies this group in the box of NiedersachsenTilburg and the Indians battled for second and third place in the group; the duel ultimately went in favor of the Dutch team. Tilburg recorded four wins and four losses, while the Indians managed one fewer win and suffered one more defeat in the intermediate round.
The Füchse Duisburg And the Saale Bulls Halle fought until the very end for fourth place, which would mean home-ice advantage in the round of 16. Halle gave it their all on the final matchday and beat the Indians 4-3. But Duisburg hadn't given up either, winning 7-1 in Tilburg and thus securing fourth place in the final group standings. With Philippe Sanche and Luis Üffing, the Foxes had the two top scorers in their intermediate round group; both, along with Pascal Aquin of the Scorpions and William Jerry of the Indians, were also the top goal scorers in Group 1. The overall top scorer across both groups in the regular and intermediate rounds, and therefore officially the top scorer of the Oberliga Nord However, his name is Phillip Marinaccio of the Tilburg Trappers.
Herford Ice Dragons surprise
In group two there were the Hammer Eisbären and the KSW IceFighters Leipzig From the outset, the two teams had the best chances of reaching the playoffs based on their previous performances. Both celebrated five wins and suffered five losses, which was enough for first and second place in their group and the associated playoff eligibility. Hamm was able to rely on, among others, Fabio Frick, the top-scoring defenseman in his intermediate round group.
However, in many other statistics within this group, neither Hamm nor Leipzig had the edge, but rather the Herford Ice Dragons. They entered the intermediate round tied on points with last-place Rostock Piranhas, finishing second-to-last in the regular season, but then found their form. They racked up the most wins, had the best power play, the best penalty kill, the best scoring efficiency, and Ryley Lindgren was the top scorer in intermediate round group two. Nevertheless, Herford had to fight hard, as they were neck and neck with the TecArt Black Dragons Erfurt, the Rostock Piranhas, and the Herne EV Miners for much of the game. In the end, they finished one point ahead of Erfurt, with Rostock and Herne close behind in fifth and sixth place, respectively.
The round of 16 starts on Sunday.
Now the qualified teams must prepare for the round of 16 matches against the clubs of Oberliga Süd to get ready. In the South, the final decision on which eight teams will advance to the playoffs will be made this coming Friday. The round of 16 begins on March 8th and will be played in a best-of-five format.