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The National League (NL) is a professional ice hockey league in Switzerland and is the top tier of the Swiss league system. Prior to the 2017–18 season, the league was known as National League A.[1] During the 2018–19 season, the league had an average of 6,949 spectators per game which is the highest among European leagues (ahead of the KHL with 6,397 and the DEL with 6,215). The capital city's club SC Bern has been ranked first of all European clubs for 18 seasons and had an average attendance of 16,290 after the regular season. The ZSC Lions are another club in the top ten of European ice hockey attendance, ranking seventh with 9,694 spectators.[2]
Current season, competition or edition: 2023–24 National League (ice hockey) season | |
 | |
| Formerly | NDA 1938–1999 Nationalliga A 1999–2007 National League A 2007–2017 National League 2017–present |
|---|---|
| Sport | Ice hockey |
| Founded | 1938; 86 years ago (1938) |
| CEO | Denis Vaucher |
| No. of teams | 14 |
| Country | Switzerland |
| Most recent champion(s) | Genève-Servette HC (2022–23) |
| Most titles | HC Davos (31 titles) |
| TV partner(s) | MySports SRG |
| Relegationto | Swiss League |
| International cup(s) | Champions Hockey League |
| Related competitions | Swiss League |
| Official website | National League |
Teams from the NL participate in the IIHF's annual Champions Hockey League (CHL), competing for the European Trophy. Participation is based on the strength of the various leagues in Europe (excluding the European/Asian Kontinental Hockey League). Going into the 2022–23 CHL season, the NL was ranked the No. 2 league in Europe, allowing it to send its top five teams to compete in the CHL.
During the regular season, each of the 14 teams play 52 games. The top eight teams after the regular season qualify for the playoffs to determine the Swiss champion in best-of-seven series. The bottom four teams in the standings play a relegation tournament, called playouts, in which each team retains their regular season points and play an additional six matches. Following those matches, the two bottom ranked teams will play each other in a best-of-seven series, with the loser then playing the winner of the Swiss League playoffs in a best-of-seven series for a spot in the successive NL season.[3]
| Team | Location | Arena | Capacity | Founded | Joined league | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| City | Canton | |||||
| HC Ajoie | Porrentruy |  Jura
|
Raiffeisen Arena | 5,078 | 1973 | 2021 |
| HC Ambrì-Piotta | Ambrì |  Ticino
|
Gottardo Arena | 6,775 | 1937 | 1985 |
| SC Bern | Bern |  Bern
|
PostFinance Arena | 17,031 | 1931 | 1986 |
| EHC Biel | Biel/Bienne | Bern
|
Tissot Arena | 6,562 | 1939 | 2008 |
| HC Davos | Davos |  Grisons
|
Eisstadion Davos | 6,800 | 1921 | 1993 |
| Fribourg-Gottéron | Fribourg |  Fribourg
|
BCF Arena | 9,095 | 1938 | 1980 |
| Genève-Servette HC | Geneva |  Geneva
|
Patinoire des Vernets | 7,135 | 1905 | 2001 |
| EHC Kloten | Kloten |  Zürich
|
Stimo Arena | 7,600 | 1934 | 2022 |
| Lausanne HC | Lausanne |  Vaud
|
Vaudoise Aréna | 9,600 | 1922 | 2013 |
| HC Lugano | Lugano | Ticino
|
Cornèr Arena | 7,800 | 1941 | 1981 |
| SC Rapperswil-Jona Lakers | Rapperswil-Jona |  St. Gallen
|
St. Galler Kantonalbank Arena | 6,100 | 1945 | 2018 |
| SCL Tigers | Langnau im Emmental | Bern
|
Emmental Versicherung Arena | 6,000 | 1946 | 2015 |
| ZSC Lions | Zürich | Zürich
|
Swiss Life Arena | 12,000 | 1930 | 1989 |
| EV Zug | Zug |  Zug
|
Bossard Arena | 7,200 | 1967 | 1987 |
The current gentlemen's agreement allows teams to dress a maximum of six non-Swiss players for each game. There is no official rule as it would be against Swiss laws to limit foreign workers in a given enterprise. This agreement is not directly related to Swiss citizenship as players with different nationalities but with Swiss player-licenses are considered Swiss players, thus they do not count as import players. Current examples of this scenario are Deniss Smirnovs and Eliot Berthon with Genève-Servette HC and Floran Douay and Ronalds Ķēniņš with Lausanne HC. They all play with Swiss player-licenses as they have spent a good majority of their childhoods playing hockey with junior teams in Switzerland yet they do not possess Swiss citizenships. Such players would not be able to play in the NL if it was not for their Swiss player-licenses as they would not be considered good enough to use an import player spot on any team. Those spots are usually reserved for players who have had good NHL careers or players with great stats and performances in the AHL, SHL, KHLorLiiga.
The subject of import players has been and still is a huge subject of debates among team owners and GMs. Some of them wish to allow more import players per game in order to reduce the salaries of star Swiss players and the others want to keep that limit lower to allow more Swiss players to play on special units and have top roles on their teams.[4][5]
NL games are only available in Switzerland and MySports is the league's official broadcaster, airing all regular season and playoffs games. MySports pays CHF 35 million per year to broadcast NL games and selected SL games.[6] Games are available with German, French and Italian commentaries.
Starting with the 2022/23 season, one game will be broadcast live and for free every week on local TVs on Sunday night with a puck drop set to 8pm.
The SRG SSR airs regular season games highlights after each round and two selected games per playoff night in all three languages. Additionally, talk-shows are broadcast live on all 3 channels after each game night, featuring former Swiss players like Gil Montandon, Marco BührerorMark Streit.
Swiss National Championship Serie A (1909–1937)
| Club | Winners | Winning years |
|---|---|---|
| HC Davos | 31 | 1926, 1927, 1929, 1930, 1931, 1932, 1933, 1934, 1935, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1941, 1942, 1943, 1944, 1945, 1946, 1947, 1948, 1950, 1958, 1960, 1984, 1985, 2002, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2015 |
| SC Bern | 16 | 1959, 1965, 1974, 1975, 1977, 1979, 1989, 1991, 1992, 1997, 2004, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2017, 2019 |
| ZSC | 10 | 1936, 1949, 1961, 2000, 2001, 2008, 2012, 2014, 2018, 2024 |
| EHC Arosa | 9 | 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1980, 1982 |
| HC Lugano | 7 | 1986, 1987, 1988, 1990, 1999, 2003, 2006 |
| HC La Chaux-de-Fonds | 6 | 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973 |
| EHC Kloten | 5 | 1967, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996 |
| HC Bellerive Vevey | 3 | 1909, 1919, 1920 |
| HC Bern | 3 | 1916, 1917, 1918 |
| EHC St. Moritz | 3 | 1922, 1923, 1928 |
| EHC Biel | 3 | 1978, 1981, 1983 |
| EV Zug | 3 | 1998, 2021, 2022 |
| HC Les Avants | 2 | 1912, 1913 |
| HC Rosey-Gstaad | 2 | 1921, 1925 |
| HC Villars | 2 | 1963, 1964 |
| HC La Villa Lausanne | 1 | 1910 |
| Club des patineurs de Lausanne | 1 | 1911 |
| HC Château-d’Œx | 1 | 1924 |
| EHC Visp | 1 | 1962 |
| Grasshopper-Club Zürich | 1 | 1966 |
| SC Langnau | 1 | 1976 |
| Genève-Servette HC | 1 | 2023 |
