Start date for German league in doubt

Today it was announced that Germany's top ice hockey league, the DEL, will be postponing the start of their 2020-21 season to the mid-December. The DEL was set to start the new season on November 13th, but due to restrictions around large gatherings, it was not financially viable for them to begin in November. The current restrictions from the German government limit sporting events to only having a 20% capacity on attendance. The DEL consists of 14 teams, who have an average of 8,596 capacity in their arenas. With the current restrictions in place, the average attendance would only allow for just over 1,700. Of course this would vary depending on each team, but this is just the average. Some teams, such as Kolner Haie have a capacity of 18,500 which would allow for 3,700 fans.

Several NHL prospects are currently on loan to teams in the DEL, such as Dominik Bokk, Moritz Seider, Alex Turcotte, and Akil Thomas. With the news of the league's postponement, it will be interesting to see if these prospects get sent on loans elsewhere in Europe or are brought back to North America. The AHL is aiming for a December start, so its possible these players end up playing for their NHL team's affiliate rather than another team in Europe.

If you aren't familiar with the DEL, it is the top professional ice hockey league in Germany. It was founded in 1994, and consists of 14 teams, the most successful being the Eisbaren Berlin and Alder Mannheim who both have seven titles each. Alder Mannheim was also the home to the top ranked European skater for the 2020 NHL entry draft, Tim Stutzle.

The Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL) has postponed the start of their season from November 13th until mid-December at the earliest due to COVID-19.

It would not be financially viable for the league to move forward with the current restrictions of 20% fan capacity. pic.twitter.com/GRyATsYB8s— Complete Hockey News (@CompleteHkyNews) October 2, 2020

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