DEL 1997/98

	German ice hockey league
	◄ previous	1997/98 season	next ►
Master:	Adler Mannheim
Relegated:	Kaufbeurer Adler , Düsseldorfer EG (both withdrawal)
• DEL |  1st league ↓   |  2nd league ↓↓

The 1997/98 DEL season was the fourth season of the German Ice Hockey League . The defending champions Adler Mannheim became German champions , while the Kaufbeurer Adler withdrew from the league after the 15th match day and the Düsseldorfer EG after the season due to financial problems.

requirements

Attendees

augsburg polar bears Capitals Dusseldorf Frankfurt am Main Hanover kassel Kaufbeuren Cologne Krefeld Landshut Mannheim Nuremberg Oberhausen Rosenheim Schwenningen

Participant of the DEL 1997/1998

club	Location	Previous year	Championship round ↑ Relegation round ↓	Play-offs ↑ Play-downs ↓
Augsburg panther	augsburg	13.	5. ↓	1st round ↓
Berlin Capitals	Berlin	3.	5. ↑	Quarterfinals ↑
Polar bears Berlin	Berlin	5.	4. ↑	Semifinals ↑
Düsseldorfer EG	Dusseldorf	9.	3. ↓	1st round ↓
Frankfurt Lions	Frankfurt	10.	6. ↓	2nd round ↓
Kassel Huskies	kassel	4th	3. ↑	Vice champion ↑
Kaufbeurer eagle	Kaufbeuren	12.	7. ↓	1st round ↓
Cologne Sharks	Cologne	1.	2. ↑	Quarterfinals ↑
Krefeld penguins	Krefeld	8th.	2. ↓	Quarterfinals ↑
EV Landshut	Landshut	7th	1. ↓	Semifinals ↑
Adler Mannheim	Mannheim	2.	1. ↑	German master ↑
Nuremberg Ice Tigers	Nuremberg	15th	9. ↓	2nd round ↓
Revier lions Oberhausen 1	Oberhausen	16.	10. ↓	Relegation ↓
Starbulls Rosenheim	Rosenheim	6th	6. ↑	Quarterfinals ↑
Schwenninger Wild Wings	Villingen-Schwenningen	11.	4. ↓	1st round ↓
Hanover Scorpions	Wedemark	14th	8. ↓	Relegation ↓

¹ in the previous year Ratinger Löwen

Mode and rules

Initially, a single round was played with 28 games per team. Then the teams in places one to six played a championship round, while the remaining nine teams played the eight places in the play-off qualifying round in a qualifying round, in which the last two participants of the play-offs were played off.

Main round

Preliminary round

	Club	Sp	S.	U	OTN	N	Gates	Points
1.	Adler Mannheim (M)	28	20th	2	1	5	111: 74	43
2.	Düsseldorfer EG	28	20th	0	0	8th	113: 88	40
3.	EV Landshut	28	18th	2	1	7th	100: 64	39
4th	Frankfurt Lions	28	16	4th	1	7th	92:74	37
5.	Polar bears Berlin	28	15th	4th	0	9	97:79	34
6th	Cologne Sharks	28	14th	4th	1	9	104: 94	33
7th	Krefeld penguins	28	14th	2	1	11	85:84	31
8th.	Hanover Scorpions	28	12	3	2	11	88:96	29
9.	Schwenninger ERC Wild Wings	28	11	5	2	10	98: 100	29
10.	Berlin Capitals	28	11	2	4th	11	73:81	28
11.	Kassel Huskies	28	10	2	3	13	82:86	25th
12.	Nuremberg Ice Tigers	28	9	2	2	15th	93: 107	22nd
13.	Territory lions Oberhausen	28	9	3	1	16	81: 103	22nd
14th	Augsburg panther	28	10	0	2	16	78: 107	22nd
15th	Starbulls Rosenheim	28	3	1	0	24	70: 138	7th
16.	Kaufbeurer eagle	disqualified

Abbreviations: Sp = games, S = victories, OTN = defeats after extra time, N = defeats, (M) = defending champion
Explanations:     = qualification for the championship round,     = qualification for the qualification round,     = relegation

Championship round

	Club	Sp	S.	U	OTN	N	Gates	Points
1.	Polar bears Berlin	48	27	6th	1	14th	179: 139	61
2.	Frankfurt Lions	48	27	6th	1	14th	160: 126	61
3.	Cologne Sharks	48	26th	6th	2	14th	160: 147	60
4th	Adler Mannheim (M)	48	26th	3	3	16	170: 145	58
5.	Düsseldorfer EG	48	27	1	2	18th	166: 164	57
6th	EV Landshut	48	25th	4th	2	17th	148: 118	56

Abbreviations: Sp = games, S = wins, OTN = defeats after extra time, N = defeats, (M) = defending champion
Explanations:     = direct qualification for the play-offs

Qualifying round

	Club	Sp	S.	U	OTN	N	Gates	Points
1.	Hanover Scorpions	44	22nd	6th	2	14th	160: 142	52
2.	Berlin Capitals	44	19th	7th	4th	14th	136: 118	49
3.	Schwenninger ERC Wild Wings	44	19th	5	3	17th	157: 148	46
4th	Kassel Huskies	44	19th	3	4th	18th	140: 128	45
5.	Krefeld penguins	44	18th	6th	1	19th	126: 141	43
6th	Nuremberg Ice Tigers	44	18th	4th	2	20th	127: 154	42
7th	Augsburg panther	44	16	2	2	24	122: 160	36
8th.	Territory lions Oberhausen	44	14th	4th	1	25th	132: 184	33
9.	Starbulls Rosenheim	44	6th	3	0	35	105: 204	15th

Abbreviations: Sp = games, S = victories, OTN = defeats after overtime, N = defeats, (M) = defending champion
Explanations:     = qualification for the play-off qualification,     = relegation in sport

Best scorer

Source: del.org ; Abbreviations: Sp = games, T = goals, V = assists , pts = points, SM = penalty minutes; Fat: best value

player	team	Sp	T	V	Pt	SM
Len Soccio	Hanover Scorpions	44	18th	41	59	56
Mark MacKay	Schwenninger Wild Wings	44	19th	35	54	24
Jason Lafrenière	Hanover Scorpions	44	12	40	52	62
Mark Pederson	Hanover Scorpions	42	19th	33	52	57
Paul DiPietro	Kassel Huskies	44	20th	29	49	14th
Martin Jiranek	Nuremberg Ice Tigers	43	21st	29	50	20th
Roman Horák	Nuremberg Ice Tigers	44	23	24	47	18th
Gary Leeman	Hanover Scorpions	41	13	34	47	30th
Pierre Rioux	Augsburg panther	44	20th	25th	45	4th
Rich Chernomaz	Schwenninger Wild Wings	44	13	31	44	103
David Haas	Hanover Scorpions	44	17th	27	44	122
Joe West	Hanover Scorpions	41	26th	18th	44	68

category	Surname	team	number
Top goalkeeper	Petr Bříza	EV Landshut	2.41 goals conceded per game
Top defender	Marc West	Territory lions Oberhausen	42 scorer points

Qualification play-offs

The winners of the 2nd round qualified for the championship play-offs.

1 round

The first round of the play-offs qualification was played in the " Best-of-Five " mode.

			series	1	2	3	4th	5
Hanover Scorpions	-	Löwen district in Oberhausen	3-0	6: 2	5: 2	5: 4	-	-
Berlin Capitals	-	Augsburg panther	1: 3	3: 2	1: 3	0: 2	1: 4	-
Schwenninger ERC Wild Wings	-	Nuremberg Ice Tigers	3: 2	6: 2	4: 5 a.d.	5: 2	2: 4	6: 2
Kassel Huskies	-	Krefeld penguins	1: 3	3: 5	2: 5	5: 3	1: 2	-

2nd round

The 2nd round of the play-offs qualification was played in the " Best of Three " mode.

			series	1	2	3
Hanover Scorpions	-	Augsburg panther	2-0	4: 3	5: 2	-
Schwenninger ERC Wild Wings	-	Krefeld penguins	1: 2	4: 3	2: 6	2: 5

This qualified the Hannover Scorpions and the Krefeld Pinguine for the play-offs.

Best scorer

Source: del.org; Abbreviations: Sp = games, T = goals, V = assists , pts = points, SM = penalty minutes; Fat: best value

player	team	Sp	T	V	Pt	SM
Jackson Penney	Schwenninger Wild Wings	8th	7th	7th	14th	12
Mark MacKay	Schwenninger Wild Wings	8th	6th	7th	13	6th
John Walker	Krefeld penguins	6th	5	6th	11	4th
Vitali Karamnow	Krefeld penguins	6th	5	5	10	6th
David Haas	Hanover Scorpions	5	8th	1	9	10
Jason Lafrenière	Hanover Scorpions	5	3	5	8th	0
Martin Jiranek	Nuremberg Ice Tigers	4th	4th	4th	8th	4th
Wayne Hynes	Schwenninger Wild Wings	8th	0	7th	7th	10
Mike Stevens	Schwenninger Wild Wings	7th	3	4th	7th	30th
Dan Laperriere	Schwenninger Wild Wings	6th	3	4th	7th	2

Play-offs

Play-off tree

	Quarter finals					Semifinals					final
	5.	Polar bears Berlin	3
	7th	Krefeld penguins	0
						5.	Polar bears Berlin	3
						3.	EV Landshut	0
	6th	Cologne Sharks	0
	3.	EV Landshut	3
											5.	Polar bears Berlin	1
											1.	Adler Mannheim	3
	4th	Frankfurt Lions	3
	8th.	Hanover Scorpions	1
						4th	Frankfurt Lions	0
						1.	Adler Mannheim	3
	1.	Adler Mannheim	3
	2.	Düsseldorfer EG	0

All play-off rounds were played in the " Best-of-Five " mode.

Quarter finals

			series	1	2	3	4th	5
Polar bears Berlin	-	Krefeld penguins	3-0	4: 3 a.d.	4: 3 a.d.	5: 1	-	-
Frankfurt Lions	-	Hanover Scorpions	3: 1	4: 3 a.d.	4: 1	2: 4	4: 2	-
Cologne Sharks	-	EV Landshut	0: 3	3: 4 a.d.	1: 9	3: 4 n.p.	-	-
Adler Mannheim	-	Düsseldorfer EG	3-0	7: 2	4: 3	6: 1	-	-

Semifinals

			series	1	2	3	4th	5
Polar bears Berlin	-	EV Landshut	3-0	7: 4	2: 1	2-0	-	-
Frankfurt Lions	-	Adler Mannheim	0: 3	2: 6	1: 5	3: 4 n.p.	-	-

final

			series	1	2	3	4th	5
Polar bears Berlin	-	Adler Mannheim	1: 3	0: 2	2: 4	8: 7	1: 4	-

Thus, the Adler Mannheim became German champions for the third time in their club history and for the second time in a row and thus also rose to the DEL record champions.

Squad of the German champions

German champion Adler Mannheim

Goalkeepers: Klaus Merk , Mike Rosati , Christian Künast Defenders: Gordon Hynes , Paul Stanton , Christian Lukes , Mike Posma , Christopher Felix , Stéphane Richer , Martin Ulrich , Mike Pellegrims , Alexander Erdmann Attackers: Mario Gehrig , Pavel Gross , Dave Tomlinson , Philippe Bozon , Rob Cimetta , François Guay , Jochen Hecht , Ole Dahlström , Mike Hudson , Alexander Serikow , Christian Pouget , Ron Pasco , Dieter Kalt Head Coach: Lance Nethery

Best scorer

Source: del.org; Abbreviations: Sp = games, T = goals, V = assists , pts = points, SM = penalty minutes; Fat: best value

player	team	Sp	T	V	Pt	SM
Dave Tomlinson	Adler Mannheim	9	4th	10	14th	8th
Alexander Serikov	Adler Mannheim	9	9	5	14th	37
Andrew McKim	Polar bears Berlin	9	6th	5	11	6th
Paul Stanton	Adler Mannheim	9	4th	6th	10	18th
Philippe Bozon	Adler Mannheim	9	5	5	10	16
Mike Bullard	EV Landshut	6th	5	5	10	10
Christian Pouget	Adler Mannheim	9	2	7th	9	12
Stéphane Richer	Adler Mannheim	7th	3	6th	9	4th
Mikael Wahlberg	Polar bears Berlin	9	1	7th	8th	8th
Mike Hudson	Adler Mannheim	9	2	6th	8th	12

Web links

• All results and tables of the DEL 1997/98 at hockey-db.de
• DEL 1997/98 at hockeyarchives.info

Individual evidence

1. ↑ del.org, Top Scorer - Main Round 1997/98 ( Memento from July 31, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
2. ↑ del.org, Top Scorer - Qualification Playoffs 1997/98 ( Memento from July 31, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
3. ↑ del.org, Top Scorer - Playoffs 1997/98 ( Memento from July 31, 2014 in the Internet Archive )