2015–16 NLA season

The 2015–16 National League A season was the ninth ice hockey season of Switzerland's top hockey league, the National League A. Overall, it was the 78th season of Swiss professional hockey.^[1]

2015–16 National League A season
League	National League A
Sport	Ice hockey
Duration	September 9, 2015 – February 27, 2016
Number of games	50
Number of teams	12
Regular season
Best Record	ZSC Lions
Runners-up	HC Davos
Top scorer	Pierre-Marc Bouchard (EV Zug)
Playoffs
Semi-Final champions	SC Bern
Semi-Final runners-up	HC Davos
Semi-Final champions	HC Lugano
Semi-Final runners-up	Genève-Servette HC
Swiss champion NLA
Champions	SC Bern
Runners-up	HC Lugano

SC Bern went on to win the championship by defeating HC Lugano. This title is the team's 14th in its history at the top division of Switzerland's ice hockey championship.

Teams

HC Ambrì-Piotta

SC Bern

EHC Biel

HC Davos

Fribourg-Gottéron

Genève-Servette HC

Kloten Flyers

Lausanne HC

HC Lugano

SCL Tigers

ZSC Lions

EV Zug

NLA teams for the 2015–16 season

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	6,700
Genève-Servette HC	Geneva	Patinoire des Vernets	7,135
Kloten Flyers	Kloten	Kolping 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	6,050
ZSC Lions	Zürich	Hallenstadion	11,200
EV Zug	Zug	Bossard Arena	7,015

Regular season

Pos	Team	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	ZSC Lions	50	29	2	7	12	173	125	+48	98	Advance to Playoffs
2	HC Davos	50	25	7	2	16	181	142	+39	91
3	Genève-Servette HC	50	25	6	2	17	160	138	+22	89
4	EV Zug	50	24	5	6	15	161	138	+23	88
5	HC Lugano	50	21	6	5	18	157	150	+7	80
6	Fribourg-Gottéron	50	22	2	5	21	148	154	−6	75
7	Kloten Flyers	50	20	5	2	23	154	150	+4	72
8	SC Bern	50	16	5	9	20	152	162	−10	67
9	Lausanne HC	50	17	6	4	23	123	143	−20	67	Advance to Playouts[a]
10	HC Ambrì-Piotta	50	18	2	8	22	144	166	−22	66
11	SCL Tigers	50	14	6	3	27	135	173	−38	57
12	EHC Biel	50	11	6	5	28	128	175	−47	50

Updated to match(es) played on 28 February 2016. Source: NLA
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:

1. Relegation Playoffs

Player statistics

Regular season

Player	Team	GP	G	A	Pts	+/–	PIM
Pierre-Marc Bouchard	EV Zug	49	12	55	67	+6	20
Perttu Lindgren	HC Davos	50	22	40	62	+34	20
Lino Martschini	EV Zug	50	26	28	54	+6	6
Cory Conacher	SC Bern	48	22	30	52	0	68
Robert Nilsson	ZSC Lions	48	12	40	52	+22	16
Marc Wieser	HC Davos	50	24	25	49	+24	20
Linus Klasen	HC Lugano	49	14	35	49	+7	18
Fredrik Pettersson	HC Lugano	50	26	22	48	+4	52
Josh Holden	EV Zug	48	18	30	48	+7	20
Auston Matthews	ZSC Lions	36	24	22	46	+16	6

Playoffs

	Quarter-Finals					Semi-Finals					Finals
	1	ZSC Lions	0
	8	SC Bern	4
						2	HC Davos	1
						8	SC Bern	4
	2	HC Davos	4
	7	Kloten Flyers	0
											8	SC Bern	4
	(Pairings are reseeded after the first round)
											5	HC Lugano	1
	3	Genève-Servette HC	4
	6	Fribourg-Gottéron	1
						3	Genève-Servette HC	2
						5	HC Lugano	4
	4	EV Zug	0
	5	HC Lugano	4

Relegation playoffs – Playouts

1st round

Pos	Team	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Lausanne HC	56	20	6	4	26	140	155	−15	76
2	HC Ambrì-Piotta	56	21	2	8	25	164	188	−24	75
3	EHC Biel	56	16	6	5	29	143	185	−42	65
4	SCL Tigers	56	15	6	3	32	153	199	−46	60

Updated to match(es) played on 28 February 2016. Source: NLA
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.

2nd round

(3) EHC Biel vs. (4) SCL Tigers

19 March 2016 19:45

EHC Biel

6–1 (1–1, 3–0, 2–0)

SCL Tigers

Tissot Arena, Biel/Bienne Attendance: 5,454

Game reference
	S. Rytz, L. Meili	Goalies	D. Ciaccio	Referees: Andreas Fischer Marcus Vinnerborg Linesmen: Balazs Kovacs Michael Tscherrig
	D. Steiner (A. Huguenin (PP) 7:03 1–0 1–1 15:50 T. Bucher (C. DiDomenico, K. Clark) D. Moss (A. Dostoinov, M. Macenauer) (PP) 22:23 2–1 M Dufner (R. Earl) (SH) 29:48 3–1 D. Moss (M. Macenauer, A. Spylo) (PP) 37:54 4–1 R. Herburger (J. Schmutz, R. Earl) 40:13 5–1 J. Schmutz (R. Herburger) 54:06 6–1
	34 min	Penalties	44 min
	33	Shots	33

22 March 2016 19:45

SCL Tigers

1–0 (1–0, 0–0, 0–0)

EHC Biel

Ilfis Stadium, Langnau im Emmental Attendance: 5,377

Game reference
	D. Ciaccio	Goalies	L. Meili	Referees: Andreas Koch Daniel Stricker Linesmen: Nicolas Fluri Peter Küng
	M. Stettler (Y. Müller, S. Moggi) (PP) 11:31 1–0
	4 min	Penalties	20 min
	35	Shots	43

24 March 2016 19:45

EHC Biel

3–0 (1–0, 1–0, 1–0)

SCL Tigers

Tissot Arena, Biel/Bienne Attendance: 6,238

Game reference
	L. Meili	Goalies	D. Ciaccio	Referees: Didier Massy Marco Prugger Linesmen: Nicolas Fluri Peter Küng
	A. Dostoinov (D. Steiner) 1:44 1–0 J. Schmutz (R. Herburger, R. Earl) 24:35 2–0 R. Earl (D. Moss, M. Macenauer) (PP) 42:26 3–0
	12 min	Penalties	28 min
	46	Shots	15

26 March 2016 19:45

SCL Tigers

6–5 (0–0, 3–1, 3–4)

EHC Biel

Ilfis Stadium, Langnau im Emmental Attendance: 6,000

Game reference
	D. Ciaccio	Goalies	L. Meili	Referees: Tobias Wehrli Marc Wiegand Linesmen: Roger Bürgi Simon Wüst
	V. Koistinen (C. DiDomenico, K. Hecquefeuille) (PP) 27:05 1–0 S. Lindemann (E. Chiriaev, L. Haas) 34:00 2–0 K. Hecquefeuille (K. Clark, C. DiDomenico) (PP) 35:09 3–0 3–1 38:22 M. Macenauer (D. Sutter, D. Moss) (PP) 3–2 41:11 M. Macenauer (M. Dufner, D. Moss) Y.-L. Albrecht (K. Clark) 42:27 4–2 4–3 44:59 R. Earl (D. Moss, M. Macenauer) (PP) 4–4 48:05 G. Haas (D. Moss, A. Huguenin) S. Moggi (C. DiDomenico, M. Zryd) 52:13 5–4 L. Haas (E. Chiriaev, S. Wyss) 6–4 6–5 59:19 G. Haas (R. Earl, M. Macenauer) (PP)
	16 min	Penalties	16 min
	42	Shots	39

28 March 2016 16:30

EHC Biel

1–3 (0–1, 1–1, 0–1)

SCL Tigers

Tissot Arena, Biel/Bienne Attendance: 6,319

Game reference
	L. Meili	Goalies	D. Ciaccio	Referees: Danny Kurmann Didier Massy Linesmen: Balazs Kovacs Michael Tscherrig
	0–1 3:54 Y.-L. Albrecht (M. Zryd, K. Clark) 24:07 M. Tschantré (D. Moss, (R. Earl) (PP) (24:07) 1–1 1–2 31:15 T. Nüssli (K. Clark, M. Zryd) 1–3 59:53 S. Lindemann (S. Wyss, M. Ronchetti) (PP)
	12 min	Penalties	16 min
	49	Shots	27

31 March 2016 19:45

SCL Tigers

4–3 OT (2–0, 1–1, 0–2, 1–0)

EHC Biel

Ilfis Stadium, Langnau im Emmental Attendance: 6,000

Game reference
	D. Ciaccio	Goalies	L. Meili	Referees: Stefan Eichmann Daniel Stricker Linesmen: Roger Bürgi Simon Wüst
	1:50 C. DiDomenico (K. Clark) (PP) 1–0 7:40 T. Nüssli (Y.-L. Albrecht, K. Clark) 2–0 2–1 26:25 J. Fröhlicher (R. Herburger, R. Earl) 31:03 K. Hecquefeuille (C. DiDomenico, T. Nüssli) (PP) 3–1 3–2 42:28 R. Herburger (M. Rossi, D. Sutter) 3–3 58:24 R. Earl (A. Huguenin) (SH) 71:19 T. Bucher (K. Hecquefeuille, C. DiDomenico) 4–3
	8 min	Penalties	10 min
	38	Shots	45

SCL Tigers won series 4–2

3rd round – League Qualification

In League Qualification series EHC Biel were supposed to play against HC Ajoie, who won the 2015–16 National League B playoffs, but the series were cancelled after HC Ajoie have not handed in their application for a promotion to next year's NLA season.^[2][3][4]