2017–18 National League (ice hockey) season

The 2017–18 National League season is the 80th season of Swiss professional ice hockey and the first season as the National League (NL). The change from National League A to National League was made at the end of the 2016–17 season.

2017–18 National League season
League	National League
Sport	Ice hockey
Duration	September 7, 2017 – March 5, 2018
Number of games	50
Number of teams	12
Regular season
Best record	SC Bern
Runners-up	EV Zug
Season MVP	Andrew Ebbett (SC Bern)
Top scorer	Dustin Jeffrey (Lausanne HC)
Playoffs
Semi-Final champions	ZSC Lions
Semi-Final runners-up	SC Bern
Semi-Final champions	HC Lugano
Semi-Final runners-up	EHC Biel
Swiss champion NLA
Champions	ZSC Lions
Runners-up	HC Lugano

ZSC Lions won their 9th NL title, defeating HC Lugano in game 7 of the finals. SC Bern won the regular season for the second consecutive year. EHC Kloten were relegated to the Swiss League, while SC Rapperswil-Jona Lakers won promotion to the NL for 2018–19.

Teams

HC Ambrì-Piotta

SC Bern

EHC Biel

HC Davos

Fribourg-Gottéron

Genève-Servette HC

EHC Kloten

Lausanne HC

HC Lugano

SCL Tigers

ZSC Lions

EV Zug

NL teams for the 2017–18 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	6,500
Genève-Servette HC	Geneva	Patinoire des Vernets	7,135
EHC Kloten	Kloten	Swiss Arena	7,719
Lausanne HC	Lausanne	Temporary Arena	6,700
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	7,200

Coaching changes

Off-season

Luca Cereda replaced Gordie Dwyer as head coach of HC Ambrì-Piotta for the 2017-18 season.^[1]

Mark French took over the helm of HC Fribourg-Gottéron for the 2017-18 season, replacing Larry Huras.^[2]

Craig Woodcroft was named head coach of Genève-Servette HC after Chris McSorley stepped down of the position and was named general manager of the team.^[3]

In-season

Dan Ratushny was fired by Lausanne on October 11, 2017, after posting a 3-0-3-4 record through 10 games this season. He led Lausanne to the playoffs at the conclusion of the 2016-17 regular season, his only season at the helm of this team. Yves Sarault, who was serving as head coach of Lausanne HC's junior team at the time, stepped in to fill the spot as interim head coach, before being named head coach through the end of the current season.^[4]

Pekka Tirkkonen was fired by EHC Kloten on October 16, 2017, following a five-game losing streak and after posting a 2-0-0-11 record through 13 games this season, sitting dead last in the National League. Niklas Gaellstedt who was serving as an assistant coach at the time, replaced Tirkkonen as head coach of the team for the time being.^[5] On October 24, 2017, Kevin Schlaepfer was named head coach of the team for the remainder of the season and through the 2019-20 season.^[6]

Mike McNamara was fired by EHC Biel on November 25, 2017, after a 3-0 loss to the last team in the standings, EHC Kloten, the previous day. McNamara posted an 8-2-2-12 record through 24 games this season, sitting 7th in the standings at the time. Martin Steinegger, the general manager of the organization, took over the helm of the team as interim head coach.^[7]

Arenas

HC Ambrì-Piotta is playing its final years in the old Valascia, as construction for their new building are set to begin in the spring of 2018 and should be ready in time for the 2020/21 NL season. The new Valascia will seat 7,000 people and will be located in the same area as the current one.^[8]

HC Davos' Vaillant Arena is set to undergo major renovation at the end of the season to upgrade most of the stands, the concourse and the locker rooms. The total capacity will not change and renovation will cost about CHF 22 million.^[9]

HC Fribourg-Gottéron's plans to rebuild the BCF Arena at the end of the 2016-17 season were postponed to after the current season. Construction which will cost about CHF 70 million will start in March 2018 and the arena's capacity will be increased from 6,500 to 8,500.^[10] Renovation will last 2 years and should be over in the summer of 2020.

The Patinoire des Vernets in Geneva is set to undergo minor renovation during the first national team break in November. The VIP area will be expanded to add an additional 170 seats and standing room on the north side will be brought closer to the ice rink.^[11]

This is Lausanne HC's first of two seasons playing in a temporary arena. The arena seats 6,700 people and cost CHF 11 million for the two seasons.^[12] The new arena will be ready for the 2019/20 season with a seating capacity of 10,000.

Due to popular demand, EV Zug had to increase the Bossard Arena's total capacity to 7,200. These seats are located against the boards, next to the penalty boxes and at ice level.^[13]

Regular season

Pos	Team	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	SC Bern	50	27	8	5	10	167	112	+55	102	Advance to Playoffs
2	EV Zug	50	23	10	2	15	153	122	+31	91
3	EHC Biel	50	24	5	7	14	150	124	+26	89
4	HC Lugano	50	26	3	2	19	159	130	+29	86
5	Fribourg-Gottéron	50	20	5	7	18	133	139	−6	77
6	HC Davos	50	21	3	6	20	134	156	−22	75
7	ZSC Lions	50	19	6	6	19	144	133	+11	75
8	Genève-Servette HC	50	16	8	7	19	132	153	−21	71
9	SCL Tigers	50	17	6	4	23	120	134	−14	67	Advance to Playouts[a]
10	Lausanne HC	50	15	4	10	21	149	169	−20	63
11	HC Ambrì-Piotta	50	14	5	5	26	136	168	−32	57
12	EHC Kloten	50	9	6	8	27	120	157	−37	47

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

Scoring leaders

Player	Team	GP	G	A	Pts	+/–	PIM
Dustin Jeffrey	Lausanne HC	50	13	44	57	+7	4
Fredrik Pettersson	ZSC Lions	46	26	24	50	+14	58
Viktor Stalberg	EV Zug	46	22	28	50	+14	18
Nicklas Danielsson	Lausanne HC	49	25	25	50	+11	64
Garrett Roe	EV Zug	44	12	37	49	+24	32
Andrew Ebbett	SC Bern	48	14	34	48	+13	10
Mark Arcobello	SC Bern	46	18	29	47	+10	39
Marc-Antoine Pouliot	EHC Biel	47	13	29	42	+22	89
Luca Fazzini	HC Lugano	48	19	23	42	+3	6
Matt D'Agostini	HC Ambrì-Piotta	47	19	22	41	-6	86

Leading goaltenders

The following goaltenders led the league in goals against average, provided that they have played at least 40% of their team's minutes.

Player	Team	GP	TOI	W	T	L	GA	SO	Sv%	GAA
Leonardo Genoni	SC Bern	46	2776	33	0	13	94	8	.929	2.03
Lukas Flüeler	ZSC Lions	32	1872	16	0	15	66	2	.919	2.12
Tobias Stephan	EV Zug	47	2858	31	0	16	109	5	.927	2.29
Barry Brust	Fribourg-Gottéron	38	2308	21	0	17	89	2	.926	2.29
Jonas Hiller	EHC Biel	47	2805	27	0	20	109	2	.926	2.33
Ivars Punnenovs	SC Langnau Tigers	39	2198	19	0	20	90	1	.918	2.46
Luca Boltshauser	EHC Kloten	41	2381	14	0	27	104	1	.918	2.62
Elvis Merzlikins	HC Lugano	42	2431	22	0	18	110	4	.921	2.72
Robert Mayer	Genève-Servette HC	32	1832	14	0	17	86	2	.909	2.81
Niklas Schlegel	ZSC Lions	20	1150	9	0	10	53	1	.897	2.77

Playoffs

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