2003–04 DEL season
The 2003–04 Deutsche Eishockey Liga season was the 10th season since the founding of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (German Ice Hockey League). The Frankfurt Lions became German Champions, and the Wölfe Freiburg (Freiburg Wolves) were relegated back to the 2. Bundesliga after a single season.
| 2003-04 Deutsche Eishockey Liga season | |
|---|---|
 | |
| League | Deutsche Eishockey Liga |
| Sport | Ice hockey |
| Number of teams | 14 |
| 2003-04 | |
| Season champions | Frankfurt Lions |
A visible change for the fans was the league corporate sponsorship by the German Yellow Pages (de:Gelbe Seiten) who signed a 3-year agreement, later extended ending 2009.
Regular season
The regular season start was on September 4, 2003. The first 8 teams qualified for the playoffs, the last two are to go into playdowns, to determine which team will be relegated.
| Team | GP | Win | SOW | SOL | Lost | GF:GA | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Eisbären Berlin | 52 | 29 | 5 | 6 | 12 | 171:126 | 103 |
| 2. | Nürnberg Ice Tigers | 52 | 26 | 8 | 2 | 16 | 179:128 | 96 |
| 3. | Hamburg Freezers | 52 | 28 | 4 | 3 | 17 | 151:115 | 95 |
| 4. | Kölner Haie | 52 | 26 | 3 | 9 | 14 | 160:134 | 93 |
| 5. | Frankfurt Lions | 52 | 26 | 5 | 4 | 17 | 177:148 | 92 |
| 6. | Adler Mannheim | 52 | 26 | 4 | 6 | 16 | 151:124 | 92 |
| 7. | ERC Ingolstadt | 52 | 28 | 3 | 2 | 19 | 132:118 | 92 |
| 8. | DEG Metro Stars | 52 | 24 | 4 | 2 | 22 | 141:129 | 82 |
| 9. | Augsburger Panther | 52 | 21 | 5 | 5 | 21 | 180:177 | 78 |
| 10. | Krefeld Pinguine | 52 | 16 | 6 | 4 | 26 | 127:149 | 64 |
| 11. | Kassel Huskies | 52 | 16 | 6 | 4 | 26 | 129:166 | 64 |
| 12. | Iserlohn Roosters | 52 | 14 | 5 | 7 | 26 | 137:169 | 59 |
| 13. | Hannover Scorpions | 52 | 13 | 2 | 5 | 32 | 127:175 | 48 |
| 14. | Wölfe Freiburg | 52 | 7 | 4 | 5 | 36 | 142:241 | 34 |
Color code: = Direct Playoff qualification, = Season ends, = Playdown/Relegation
Playdowns
The two lowest placed teams Hannover Scorpions and Wölfe Freiburg played a Best-of-seven series play-down starting March 10, 2004.
| Game | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hannover Scorpions | – | Wölfe Freiburg | 4:1 | 5:2 | 2:6 | 2:1 OT | 4:0 | 1:0 | – | – |
The Wölfe Freiburg had to leave the DEL after only one season, returning to the 2. Bundesliga.
Playoffs
| Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Finals | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Eisbären Berlin | 4 | ||||||||||||
| 8. | DEG Metro Stars | 0 | ||||||||||||
| 1. | Eisbären Berlin | 3 | ||||||||||||
| 7. | ERC Ingolstadt | 0 | ||||||||||||
| 2. | Nürnberg Ice Tigers | 2 | ||||||||||||
| 7. | ERC Ingolstadt | 4 | ||||||||||||
| 1. | Eisbären Berlin | 1 | ||||||||||||
| 5. | Frankfurt Lions | 3 | ||||||||||||
| 3. | Hamburg Freezers | 4 | ||||||||||||
| 6. | Adler Mannheim | 2 | ||||||||||||
| 3. | Hamburg Freezers | 2 | ||||||||||||
| 5. | Frankfurt Lions | 3 | ||||||||||||
| 4. | Kölner Haie | 2 | ||||||||||||
| 5. | Frankfurt Lions | 4 | ||||||||||||