2002–03 Deutsche Eishockey Liga season
| 2002–03 Deutsche Eishockey Liga season | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| League | Deutsche Eishockey Liga |
| Sport | Ice Hockey |
| Number of teams | 14 |
| 2002-03 | |
| Season champions | Krefeld Pinguine |
The 2002–03 Deutsche Eishockey Liga season was the 9th season since the founding of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (English: 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.
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.
The two lastplaced teams, the Frankfurt Lions and Schwenninger ERC Wild Wings played a playdown best-of-seven series against relegation.
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.
Starting March 12, 2003, the quarterfinals were played in a best-of-seven series.
On March 28, 2003, the quarterfinals best-of-five series opened.
The big surprise was the loss of Eisbären Berlin (English: Berlin Polar Bears) to the Krefeld Pinguine (English: Krefeld Penguins). The Eisbären were considered a strong favorite as they finished the regular season with 109 points vs. the Penguins 78.
The final series started April 11, 2003 with a homegame for the Kölner Haie who were the higher placed team after the regular season.
With this, the 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.
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