2016–17 NLA season facts for kids
Quick facts for kids 2016–17 National League A season |
|
|---|---|
| League | National League A |
| Sport | Ice hockey |
| Duration | September 7, 2016 – February 25, 2017 |
| Number of games | 50 |
| Number of teams | 12 |
| Regular Season | |
| Playoffs | |
| Swiss champion NLA | |
| NLA seasons | |
|
← 2015–16 |
2017–18 → |
The 2016–17 National League A season was an exciting year for ice hockey in Switzerland. This was the tenth season of Switzerland's top hockey league, known as the National League A (NLA). Overall, it was the 79th time Swiss professional hockey teams competed at this level.
SC Bern was the team that won the championship the year before, so they were the defending champions for this season.
Contents
Teams in the League
The National League A is home to some of Switzerland's best ice hockey teams. For the 2016–17 season, there were 12 teams competing. These teams are located all over Switzerland, bringing hockey action to many different cities.
Here is a list of the teams, their home cities, the arenas where they play, and how many fans their arenas can hold:
| Team | City | Arena | Capacity |
|---|---|---|---|
| HC Ambrì-Piotta | Ambrì | Valascia | 6,500 |
| SC Bern | Bern | PostFinance-Arena | 17,031 |
| EHC Biel | Biel/Bienne | Tissot Arena | 6,521 |
| HC Davos | Davos | Vaillant Arena | 6,800 |
| Fribourg-Gottéron | Fribourg | BCF Arena | 6,500 |
| Genève-Servette HC | Geneva | Patinoire des Vernets | 7,135 |
| EHC Kloten | Kloten | Swiss Arena | 7,719 |
| Lausanne HC | Lausanne | CIG de Malley | 7,600 |
| HC Lugano | Lugano | Pista La Resega | 7,800 |
| SCL Tigers | Langnau im Emmental | Ilfis Stadium | 6,000 |
| ZSC Lions | Zürich | Hallenstadion | 11,200 |
| EV Zug | Zug | Bossard Arena | 7,015 |
Coaching Changes During the Season
Sometimes, if a team isn't doing well, the head coach might be replaced. This happened to a couple of teams during the 2016–17 season.
- On September 22, 2016, Fribourg-Gottéron changed their head coach. Gerd Zenhäusern left the job because the team had only won one game out of six. Larry Huras took over as the new coach for the rest of the season.
- On October 1, 2016, the SCL Tigers also changed their coach. Scott Beattie was replaced after his team won only one game out of ten. He coached his last game that same day, which the Tigers actually won 5-3 against EHC Kloten. The next day, Heinz Ehlers was announced as the new head coach for the rest of that season and the next one, if the team stayed in the NLA.
Arena Updates
Hockey arenas are important for teams and fans. Sometimes, they get updated or new ones are built.
- The Lausanne team played its last season at the Malley arena. They planned to play in a temporary arena for two seasons. This was while a brand new, larger arena for 10,000 fans was being built where the old Malley arena used to be.
- Fribourg also played its last season in their current BCF Arena before it got a big makeover. Starting in spring 2017, the arena was planned to be renovated for about two years. This would increase its seating from 6,500 to 8,500. The team was still able to play games there during the construction.
The Regular Season Games
The "regular season" is when all the teams play against each other to earn points. The teams with the most points at the end of the regular season get to go to the playoffs. The table below shows how the teams were doing early in the season, as of October 10, 2016.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | EV Zug | 12 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 37 | 32 | +5 | 25 | Advance to Playoffs |
| 2 | ZSC Lions | 13 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 36 | 28 | +8 | 25 | |
| 3 | EHC Biel | 12 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 42 | 27 | +15 | 22 | |
| 4 | Lausanne HC | 11 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 36 | 27 | +9 | 20 | |
| 5 | SC Bern | 11 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 35 | 29 | +6 | 19 | |
| 6 | HC Lugano | 12 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 37 | 37 | 0 | 19 | |
| 7 | EHC Kloten | 11 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 34 | 34 | 0 | 18 | |
| 8 | Genève-Servette HC | 12 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 31 | 33 | −2 | 18 | |
| 9 | HC Davos | 12 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 34 | 39 | −5 | 16 | Advance to Playouts |
| 10 | HC Ambrì-Piotta | 13 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 32 | 37 | −5 | 15 | |
| 11 | SCL Tigers | 13 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 27 | 43 | −16 | 10 | |
| 12 | Fribourg-Gottéron | 12 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 27 | 42 | −15 | 9 |
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) a higher number of wins in the regular time; 3) a higher number of wins in overtime and shootouts; 4) goal difference; 5) number of goals scored; 6) drawing of lots.
Notes:
The rules for how teams are ranked are:
- Teams get points for winning games.
- If points are tied, the team with more wins in regular time ranks higher.
- If still tied, wins in overtime or shootouts count next.
- Then, the difference between goals scored and goals against is used.
- After that, the total number of goals scored.
- Finally, if everything else is still tied, they draw lots (like picking names from a hat).
The teams that finish at the top of the standings (marked with "A" in the table) move on to the Playoffs. The teams at the bottom (marked with "D") go to the Playouts, which are games to decide if they stay in the top league or move down.
Playoffs
The playoffs are the most exciting part of the season! After the regular season, the top teams compete in a knockout tournament. This means that if a team loses, they are out of the competition. The goal is to win all the playoff rounds to become the Swiss champion.
The bracket below shows how the playoff games are set up, from the Quarter-Finals to the Finals. The team that wins the Finals becomes the champion of the National League A season.
| Quarter-Finals | Semi-Finals | Finals | |||||||||||
| (Pairings are re-seeded after the first round) | |||||||||||||
