2003–04 DEL season
The 2003–04 Deutsche Eishockey Liga season was the 10th season since the founding of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (English: German Ice Hockey League). The Frankfurt Lions became German Champions, and the Wölfe Freiburg (English: 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 (German: 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 | ||||||||||||