2002–03 DEL season

{{Infobox sports season

| title = 2002–03 Deutsche Eishockey Liga season

| league = Deutsche Eishockey Liga

| sport = Ice hockey

| logo = Deutsche Eishockey Liga Logo 2001.svg

| pixels = 120px

| caption =

| duration =

| no_of_teams = 14

| no_of_games =

| attendance =

| TV =

| season = 2002-03

| season_champs = Krefeld Pinguine

| MVP =

| MVP_link =

| top_scorer =

| top_scorer_link =

| playoffs =

| playoffs_link =

| conf1 =

| conf1_link =

| conf1_champ =

| conf1-runner-up =

| conf2 =

| conf2_link =

| conf2_champ =

| conf2-runner-up =

| finals =

| finals_link =

| finals_champ =

| finals-runner-up =

| finals_MVP =

| finals_MVP_link =

| seasonslist = Deutsche Eishockey Liga#DEL seasons

| seasonslistnames = DEL

| prevseason_link = 2001–02 DEL season

| prevseason_year = 2001–02

| nextseason_link = 2003–04 DEL season

| nextseason_year = 2003–04

}}

The 2002–03 Deutsche Eishockey Liga season was the 9th season since the founding of the {{lang|de|Deutsche Eishockey Liga}} (German Ice Hockey League). The Krefeld Pinguine became German Champions. The Schwenninger ERC Wild Wings lost their license due to insolvency proceedings and the Frankfurt Lions were granted a stay in the league.

Regular season

The eight best-placed teams in the regular season would enter playoffs, while the last two teams would have to fight relegation in a playdown series.

class="wikitable" ! width="30" \| ! width="200" \| Team ! width="30" \| GP ! width="30" \| W ! width="30" \| SOW ! width="30" \| SOL ! width="30" \| L ! width="70" \| GF:GA ! width="70" \| Points
bgcolor=#BCD2EE align="center" \|1.	align="left"\|Eisbären Berlin	52	30	5	9	8	188:134	109
bgcolor=#BCD2EE align="center" \|2.	align="left"\|Kölner Haie	52	26	4	15	7	151:117	101
bgcolor=#BCD2EE align="center" \|3.	align="left"\|DEG Metro Stars	52	24	10	4	14	151:117	96
bgcolor=#BCD2EE align="center" \|4.	align="left"\|Adler Mannheim	52	25	8	3	16	152:129	94
bgcolor=#BCD2EE align="center" \|5.	align="left"\|Nürnberg Ice Tigers	52	23	7	6	16	133:127	89
bgcolor=#BCD2EE align="center" \|6.	align="left"\|Krefeld Pinguine	52	20	8	2	22	147:133	78
bgcolor=#BCD2EE align="center" \|7.	align="left"\|Kassel Huskies	52	19	7	7	19	118:127	78
bgcolor=#BCD2EE align="center" \|8.	align="left"\|Hamburg Freezers	52	17	10	6	19	154:152	77
bgcolor=#CAE1FF align="center" \|9.	align="left"\|Iserlohn Roosters	52	17	8	8	19	142:132	75
bgcolor=#CAE1FF align="center" \|10.	align="left"\|Hannover Scorpions	52	18	5	5	24	142:150	69
bgcolor=#CAE1FF align="center" \|11.	align="left"\|Augsburger Panther	52	16	6	6	24	127:146	66
bgcolor=#CAE1FF align="center" \|12.	align="left"\|ERC Ingolstadt	52	16	5	7	24	122:135	65
bgcolor=#EECFA1 align="center" \|13.	align="left"\|Frankfurt Lions	52	14	6	6	26	133:171	60
bgcolor=#EECFA1 align="center" \|14.	align="left"\|Schwenninger ERC Wild Wings	52	4	6	11	31	99:184	35

{{refbegin}}GP = Games played, W = Win, SOW = Shootout win, SOL = Shootout loss, L = Loss

{{legend2|#BCD2EE}} = Qualified for playoffs {{legend2|#CAE1FF}} = Season ended {{legend2|#EECFA1}} = Relegation playdown{{refend}}

Playdown

The two last-placed teams, the Frankfurt Lions and Schwenninger ERC Wild Wings played a playdown best-of-seven series against relegation.

class="wikitable" width="100%"

style="background-color:#c0c0c0;"

align="center"

| Frankfurt Lions

–

Schwenninger ERC Wild Wings

2:4

3:6

1:2

6:4

4:3

4:7

2:3

–

Despite the Lions having a 25-point advantage in the regular season, the Wild Wings won the playdown series. However, as insolvency proceedings against the Wild Wings opened, the DEL canceled their license and the Lions were allowed to stay in the league.

Playoffs

{{8TeamBracket

| team-width = 160

| RD1 = Quarterfinals

| RD2 = Semifinals

| RD3 = Finals

| RD1-seed1 = 1

| RD1-team1 = Eisbären Berlin

| RD1-score1 = 4

| RD1-seed2 = 8

| RD1-team2 = Hamburg Freezers

| RD1-score2 = 1

| RD1-seed3 = 3

| RD1-team3 = DEG Metro Stars

| RD1-score3 = 1

| RD1-seed4 = 6

| RD1-team4 = Krefeld Pinguine

| RD1-score4 = 4

| RD1-seed5 = 2

| RD1-team5 = Kölner Haie

| RD1-score5 = 4

| RD1-seed6 = 7

| RD1-team6 = Kassel Huskies

| RD1-score6 = 3

| RD1-seed7 = 4

| RD1-team7 = Adler Mannheim

| RD1-score7 = 4

| RD1-seed8 = 5

| RD1-team8 = Nürnberg Ice Tigers

| RD1-score8 = 1

| RD2-seed1 = 1

| RD2-team1 = Eisbären Berlin

| RD2-score1 = 1

| RD2-seed2 = 6

| RD2-team2 = Krefeld Pinguine

| RD2-score2 = 3

| RD2-seed3 = 2

| RD2-team3 = Kölner Haie

| RD2-score3 = 3

| RD2-seed4 = 4

| RD2-team4 = Adler Mannheim

| RD2-score4 = 0

| RD3-seed1 = 2

| RD3-team1 = Kölner Haie

| RD3-score1 = 2

| RD3-seed2 = 6

| RD3-team2 = Krefeld Pinguine

| RD3-score2 = 3

}}

=Quarterfinals=

Starting March 12, 2003, the quarterfinals were played in a best-of-seven series.

class="wikitable" width="100%"
style="background-color:#c0c0c0;" ! style="width:17.5%;" \| !! style="width:2.5%;" \| !! style="width:17.5%;" \| !! style="width:10%;" \| Game !! style="width:7.5%;" \| 1 !! style="width:7.5%;" \| 2 !! style="width:7.5%;" \| 3 !! style="width:7.5%;" \| 4 !! style="width:7.5%;" \| 5 !! style="width:7.5%;" \| 6 !! style="width:7.5%;" \| 7
align="center" \| Eisbären Berlin	–	Hamburg Freezers	4:1	5:2	5:6 SO	3:2	2:1	4:0	–	–
align="center" \| Kölner Haie	–	Kassel Huskies	4:3	1:3	3:1	2:1	4:5	4:1	2:3	5:1
align="center" \| DEG Metro Stars	–	Krefeld Pinguine	1:4	1:2	5:6 OT	1:0	2:5	1:4	–	–
align="center" \| Adler Mannheim	–	Nürnberg Ice Tigers	4:1	5:4	1:6	5:1	4:2	3:0	–	–

{{refbegin}}OT = Overtime; SO = Shootout{{refend}}

=Semifinals=

On March 28, 2003, the quarterfinals best-of-five series opened.

class="wikitable" width="80%"
style="background-color:#c0c0c0;" ! style="width:25%;" \| !! style="width:2.5%;" \| !! style="width:25%;" \| !! style="width:10%;" \| Game !! style="width:7.5%;" \| 1 !! style="width:7.5%;" \| 2 !! style="width:7.5%;" \| 3 !! style="width:7.5%;" \| 4 !! style="width:7.5%;" \| 5
align="center" \| Eisbären Berlin	–	Krefeld Pinguine	1:3	4:1	2:4	0:1	1:4	–
align="center" \| Kölner Haie	–	Adler Mannheim	3:0	3:2	5:3	4:3 OT	–	–

{{refbegin}}OT = Overtime; SO = Shootout{{refend}}

The big surprise was the loss of {{lang|de|Eisbären Berlin}} (Berlin Polar Bears) to the {{lang|de|Krefeld Pinguine}} (Krefeld Penguins). The Eisbären were considered a strong favorite as they finished the regular season with 109 points vs. the Penguins 78.

=Finals=

The final series started April 11, 2003 with a homegame for the Kölner Haie who were the higher placed team after the regular season.

class="wikitable" width="80%"

style="background-color:#c0c0c0;"

align="center"

| Kölner Haie

–

Krefeld Pinguine

2:3

2:5

2:3

3:2

3:2 OT

1:3

{{refbegin}}OT = Overtime; SO = Shootout{{refend}}

With this, the {{lang|de|Krefeld Pinguine}} won the German title for the second time in their history. They almost accomplished this feat with a playoff sweep; this was somewhat unexpected, as their regular season record was not indicative of the playoff performance.

Top players

class="wikitable" style="border: gray solid 1px; border-collapse: collapse;" width="75%"
align="center" style="background:#e0e0e0; font-weight:bold;" \| width="20%" \| Category	width="25%" \| Name	width="25%" \| Team	width="30%" \|Record
Most points	{{flagicon\|USA}} Mark Beaufait	Eisbären Berlin	54 Points
bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| Most goals	{{flagicon\|Austria}} Christoph Brandner	Krefeld Pinguine	28 Goals
Most assists	{{flagicon\|Canada}} Brad Purdie	Krefeld Pinguine	41 Assists
bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| Best goali	{{flagicon\|Canada}} Frédéric Chabot	Nürnberg Ice Tigers	0.945
Best defender	{{flagicon\|Canada}} Jeff Tory	Hamburg Freezers	46 Points

References

Ger

Category:Deutsche Eishockey Liga seasons