The 2nd Eishockey-Bundesliga was the second tier of Ice hockey in Germany until 2012/13 and has since been replaced by DEL2. Starting in 2002, the league was organized by the ESBG (:de:Eishockeyspielbetriebsgesellschaft mbH), to which the league organization was outsourced from the DEB, the German ice hockey federation. In the 2012–13 season, it featured 13 teams.

History of the 2nd Ice Hockey Bundesliga The league was first introduced in the 1973–74 season as the second tier of German ice hockey, the level below the Ice hockey Bundesliga.

History up until 1994 From 1973–74 to 1980–81 the league operated as the single-conference 2nd Bundesliga In the 1981–82 season, it was divided into two conferences: 2nd Bundesliga Süd (southern division) and 2nd Bundesliga Nord (northern division) For the 1982–83 season, it returned to a single-conference league due to a lack of clubs interested in playing in the league Starting from the 1983–84 season until 1991–92, it was divided into the 2nd Bundesliga Süd and Nord again, with the top four clubs from each league meeting the bottom two Bundesliga clubs for a promotion round for two places in the Bundesliga In the seasons 1992–93 and 1993–94, the league operated as one single division again

From 1994 The large number of insolvencies of second division clubs in 1994 was the reason for the abolition of the 2nd Bundesliga and the introduction of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga with 18 teams, without promotion and relegation. A number of top clubs from the second division were admitted to the DEL.

Below the former 2nd Bundesliga, the Oberliga now became the highest league still under control of the DEB. The Oberliga was however renamed 1st Liga for the next couple of seasons, until returning to its old name.

From 1998 As the highest single-division for the DEB, a new league was formed in 1998, receiving the name "Bundesliga". The decision to name the new league "Bundesliga" led to conflicts between the Deutschen Eishockey-Bund and the Deutsche Eishockey Liga, since the DEL was of the opinion that it owned the right to call itself Bundesliga, being the highest league in the country. For this reason, the DEL logo also carries the name 1st Bundesliga in smaller letters below. Eventually, a compromise was reached, naming the new league 2nd Bundesliga instead.

From 1999 Since 1999, the league became the 2nd Bundesliga again, which is organized today by the Eishockeyspielbetriebsgesellschaft (ESBG). As in the DEL, the clubs must undergo a strict financial examination.

Despite this fact, some clubs still found themselves in financial difficulties throughout the season and had to withdraw, like the EC Bad Nauheim in the past. The Moskitos Essen and Eisbären Regensburg both declared insolvency on 15 April 2008, being unable to meet their debts. Both clubs were immediately relegated from the 2nd Bundesliga. Due to the structure of the 2nd Bundesliga, where all teams playing are separate companies operated by the mother club, the insolvency of one of those does not mean the club itself becomes insolvent.

In the 2008–09 season, the Tölzer Löwen had to declare insolvency and, despite coming second in the league, were relegated. Because the Füchse Duisburg had to return their DEL licence, the champion of the 2nd Bundesliga has the option of promotion to the DEL this season.

Promotion and relegation In November 2007, the DEL has introduced promotion to the league once more. The teams placed 15th and 16th in the DEL will play a best-of-seven series to determine which club faces the 2nd Bundesliga champion for a place in the league. There is however an ongoing dispute about those games as second division clubs can only have five foreign players on contract and therefore face a handicap in comparison to the DEL clubs with currently twelve. For now, the ESBG has declared that no club from the 2nd Bundesliga would take part in these matches and therefore no promotion/relegation with the DEL will take place.

The two bottom teams in the 2nd Bundesliga are relegated to the Oberliga and the top-two Oberliga teams promoted to this league.

League champions SeasonChampion1973–74ESV Kaufbeuren *1974–75EV Rosenheim *1975–76Augsburger EV *1976–77ESV Kaufbeuren1977–78Augsburger EV *1978–79Duisburger SC *1979–80ESV Kaufbeuren *1980–81ERC Freiburg *

* The Team promoted into the Eishockey-Bundesliga

SeasonSouthNorthChampionship Round1981–82EHC 70 MünchenDuisburger SC EHC Essen

SeasonRegular seasonPromotion Round1982–83ERC FreiburgERC Freiburg *

* The Team promoted into the Eishockey-Bundesliga

SeasonSouthNorthRelegationround Eishockey-Bundesliga1983–84SV BayreuthPreussen BerlinECD Iserlohn 11984–85SV Bayreuth Preussen Berlin SC Riessersee 1 1985–86Augsburger EV Preussen Berlin Eintracht Frankfurt 11986–87EHC Freiburg Preussen Berlin Preussen Berlin *1987–88EHC FreiburgKrefelder EV Preussen Berlin 11988–89SV Bayreuth Krefelder EV EHC Freiburg 1 1989–90SV Bayreuth ECD Sauerland EV Landshut 11990–91EHC Nürnberg ECD Sauerland ESV Kaufbeuren *1991–92Augsburger EVEC Kassel Dynamo Berlin * 1 denotes Bundesliga club taking part in the promotion round * denotes Team promoted into the Eishockey-Bundesliga

SeasonRegular seasonPlay-Offs1992–93Augsburger EVSB Rosenheim * 1993–94Augsburger EVAugsburger EV *1994–95 to 1997–98league did not exist1998–99ESC Moskitos EssenESC Moskitos Essen *1999–2000Düsseldorfer EG Düsseldorfer EG * 2000–01ERC Ingolstadt ERC Ingolstadt 2001–02ERC Ingolstadt REV Bremerhaven 2002–03SC Bietigheim-Bissingen EHC Freiburg2003–04EHC Wolfsburg EHC Wolfsburg 2004–05EHC Straubing EV Duisburg 2005–06REV Bremerhaven EHC Straubing 2006–07Kassel HuskiesEHC Wolfsburg 2007–08Kassel HuskiesKassel Huskies2008–09SC Bietigheim-Bissingen SC Bietigheim-Bissingen 2009–10SERC Wild WingsEHC München2010–11Ravensburg TowerstarsRavensburg Towerstars2011–12Landshut CannibalsLandshut Cannibals2012–13Bietigheim SteelersBietigheim Steelers

2nd Bundesliga standings

Club 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 Düsseldorfer EG 3 1 DEL DEL DEL DEL DEL DEL DEL DEL DEL DEL DEL DEL DEL Iserlohn RoostersIserlohner EC 6 6 DEL DEL DEL DEL DEL DEL DEL DEL DEL DEL DEL DEL DEL Ingolstadt PantherERC Ingolstadt 13 2 1 1 DEL DEL DEL DEL DEL DEL DEL DEL DEL DEL DEL Straubing TigersEHC Straubing 10 9 8 3 1 5 DEL DEL DEL DEL DEL DEL DEL Grizzly Adams WolfsburgEHC Wolfsburg 6 7 1 DEL4 8 2 DEL DEL DEL DEL DEL DEL EHC München 11 6 9 2 2 DEL DEL DEL Bietigheim SteelersSC Bietigheim-Bissingen 8 4 3 1 6 8 3 9 7 1 4 10 11 1 Schwenninger Wild WingsSchwenninger ERC DEL DEL DEL DEL DEL2 8 4 6 4 4 8 1 4 3 2 EV LandshutLandshut Cannibals DEL DEL5 4 4 6 2 5 2 5 8 1 3 Ravensburg TowerstarsEV Ravensburg 11 4 3 1 7 4 Fischtown PinguinsREV Bremerhaven 5 2 12 5 1 3 12 9 11 3 9 5 SB RosenheimStarbulls Rosenheim DEL DEL DEL DEL DEL DEL5 7 4 6 Heilbronner FalkenHeilbronner EC 10 9 2 4 5 91 3 3 6 2 2 7 Lausitzer FüchseES Weisswasser 15 12 9 8 14 7 13 13 13 6 8 13 6 8 Eispiraten CrimmitschauETC Crimmitschau 5 15 10 11 12 8 12 12 12 10 9 Dresdner EislöwenESC Dresden 7 11 11 9 6 13 10 Hannover IndiansEC Hannover Indians 13 9 8 111 ESV Kaufbeuren 13 11 13 9 14 10 5 5 12 SC Riessersee 8 11 66 13 3 14 5 10 7 2 12 13 Freiburger WölfeEHC Freiburg 5 3 8 10 6 DEL 9 101 7 14 111 Kassel HuskiesEJ Kassel DEL DEL DEL DEL DEL DEL DEL DEL 1 1 DEL DEL4 Duisburg FüchseEV Duisburg 14 9 5 2 DEL DEL DEL DEL1 Tölzer Löwen 9 4 3 7 116 12 12 12 13 1 Moskitos EssenESC Moskitos Essen 1 DEL DEL DEL1 10 14 8 6 2 Eisbären RegensburgEV Regensburg 12 10 7 3 4 7 10 2 EV Landsberg 10 14 1. EV Weiden 13 14 Rote Teufel Bad Nauheim 2 5 11 11 2 2 2 EC Wilhelmshaven 10 7 2 Erding JetsTSV 1862 Erding 11 12 Hamburg CrocodilesFTV Hamburg 14 7 3 EHC Harz-Braunlage 7 13 Grefrather EV 16 14 EHC Neuwied 12 157 GEC Nordhorn 4 167

Colour Result Gold Champion Silver Finalist Green Semi finalist Blue Quarter finalist Purple Preliminary round White not qualified for play-offsDELdenotes club played in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (I) 1 The team finished the regular season but due to having to declare insolvency they were relegated to the last place in the standings. 2 Team withdrew from the league because of financial reasons. 3 The Hamburg Crocodiles withdrew to the Oberliga after the 1999–2000 season. 4 The team was outclosed from the league. 5 The team leaves the league, when the licence was sold by the owner. 6 The team declared insolvency but finished the insolvency before the next season. 7 The club, which organized the team, collapsed for financial reasons.

See also Deutsche Eishockey Liga, the DEL Ice hockey Bundesliga DEL2 Oberliga Regionalliga Bavarian ice hockey leagues

References

External links Hockey Archives – International ice hockey website with tables and results (in French) Official website of the ESBG for the 2nd Bundesliga and Oberliga