2018–19 National League (ice hockey) season

The 2018–19 National League season was the 81st season of Swiss professional ice hockey and the second season as the National League (NL).

2018–19 National League season
League	National League
Sport	Ice hockey
Duration	September 21, 2018 – March 4, 2019
Number of games	50
Number of teams	12
Regular season
Best record	SC Bern
Runners-up	EV Zug
Season MVP	Dominik Kubalík (HC Ambrì-Piotta)
Top scorer	Dominik Kubalík (HC Ambrì-Piotta)
Playoffs
Semi-Final champions	SC Bern
Semi-Final runners-up	EHC Biel
Semi-Final champions	EV Zug
Semi-Final runners-up	Lausanne HC
Swiss champion NL
Champions	SC Bern
Runners-up	EV Zug

ZSC Lions were the defending Swiss national champions, however missed the playoffs altogether.

SC Bern won the regular season for a third consecutive year, and went on to defeat regular season runners-up EV Zug in the playoff finals 4–1 to claim their 16th Swiss championship, and third in four years.

The qualification series between SC Rapperswil-Jona Lakers and SC Langenthal was not played, due to SC Langenthal's home arena not meeting NL requirements, therefore SC Rapperswil-Jona Lakers would remain in the NL for the 2019–20 season.^[1]

Teams

HC Ambrì-Piotta

SC Bern

EHC Biel

HC Davos

Fribourg-Gottéron

Genève-Servette HC

Lausanne HC

HC Lugano

SCL Tigers

SC Rapperswil-Jona Lakers

ZSC Lions

EV Zug

NL teams for the 2018–19 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
Lausanne HC	Lausanne	Temporary Arena	6,700
HC Lugano	Lugano	Pista La Resega	7,800
SCL Tigers	Langnau im Emmental	Ilfis Stadium	6,000
SC Rapperswil-Jona Lakers	Rapperswil	Diners Club Arena	6,200
ZSC Lions	Zürich	Hallenstadion	11,200
EV Zug	Zug	Bossard Arena	7,200

Regular season

Pos	Team	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	SC Bern	50	31	3	2	14	143	99	+44	101	Advance to Playoffs
2	EV Zug	50	30	1	5	14	159	115	+44	97
3	Lausanne HC	50	25	2	3	20	141	126	+15	82
4	EHC Biel	50	24	2	3	21	149	138	+11	79
5	HC Ambrì-Piotta	50	21	6	4	19	138	140	−2	79
6	SCL Tigers	50	22	4	4	20	132	126	+6	78
7	HC Lugano	50	24	2	2	22	160	141	+19	78
8	Genève-Servette HC	50	21	4	4	21	137	150	−13	75
9	ZSC Lions	50	19	6	5	20	129	132	−3	74	Advance to Playouts[a]
10	Fribourg-Gottéron	50	22	3	2	23	125	125	0	74
11	HC Davos	50	14	4	1	31	121	167	−46	51
12	SC Rapperswil-Jona Lakers	50	9	1	3	37	92	167	−75	32

Source: NLA
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) higher number of points earned in games between the tied teams; 3) goal difference; 4) number of goals scored; 5) goal difference in games between the tied teams; 6) number of goals scored in games between the tied teams; 7) higher number of away goals scored; 8) higher number of away goals scored in games between the tied teams; 9) NL committee decision. Rules
Notes:

1. Relegation Playoffs

Player statistics

Scoring leaders

The following players led the league in points, at the conclusion of the regular season.^[2] If two or more skaters are tied (i.e. same number of points, goals and played games), all of the tied skaters are shown.

Player	Team	GP	G	A	Pts	+/–	PIM
Dominik Kubalík	HC Ambrì-Piotta	50	25	32	57	+5	18
Mark Arcobello	SC Bern	49	21	32	53	+20	79
Grégory Hofmann	HC Lugano	50	30	21	51	+15	24
Toni Rajala	EHC Biel	50	27	21	48	+8	36
Dustin Jeffrey	Lausanne HC	44	15	31	46	+9	10
Chris DiDomenico	SCL Tigers	48	10	36	46	+5	134
Lino Martschini	EV Zug	50	22	22	44	+14	6
Harri Pesonen	SCL Tigers	50	21	22	43	+1	40
Dominic Zwerger	HC Ambrì-Piotta	49	17	25	42	-6	30
Raffaele Sannitz	HC Lugano	48	11	29	40	+11	64

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, at the conclusion of the regular season.^[3]

Player	Team	GP	TOI	W	WO	LO	L	GA	SO	Sv%	GAA
Leonardo Genoni	SC Bern	43	2499	27	1	1	12	77	10	.933	1.85
Reto Berra	Fribourg-Gottéron	45	2632	19	2	1	21	97	3	.920	2.21
Tobias Stephan	EV Zug	36	2050	18	0	3	11	76	5	.925	2.22
Sandro Zurkirchen	Lausanne HC	36	2166	18	1	1	13	82	2	.927	2.27
Niklas Schlegel	ZSC Lions	26	1413	8	2	2	8	56	3	.914	2.38

Playoffs

	Quarter-Finals					Semi-Finals					Finals
	1	SC Bern	4
	8	Genève-Servette HC	2
						1	SC Bern	4
						4	EHC Biel	3
	4	EHC Biel	4
	5	HC Ambrì-Piotta	1
											1	SC Bern	4
	(Pairings are reseeded after the first round)
											2	EV Zug	1
	2	EV Zug	4
	7	HC Lugano	0
						2	EV Zug	4
						3	Lausanne HC	1
	3	Lausanne HC	4
	6	SCL Tigers	3

Relegation playoffs – Playouts

Ranking round

Pos	Team	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Fribourg-Gottéron	56	26	3	3	24	146	138	+8	87
2	ZSC Lions	56	21	7	5	23	141	152	−11	82
3	HC Davos	56	15	4	1	36	135	185	−50	54
4	SC Rapperswil-Jona Lakers	56	13	1	3	39	108	179	−71	44

Source: NLA
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) higher number of points earned in games between the tied teams; 3) goal difference; 4) number of goals scored; 5) goal difference in games between the tied teams; 6) number of goals scored in games between the tied teams; 7) higher number of away goals scored; 8) higher number of away goals scored in games between the tied teams; 9) NL committee decision. Rules

Playout final

HC Davos 4–1 SC Rapperswil-Jona Lakers (3–2, 5–3, 2–3, 5–3, 3–1) ^[4]

League Qualification

2018–19 Swiss League champions SC Langenthal's home arena Schoren Halle did not comply with the National League's requirements, and if promoted they would therefore have had to play their home games at an alternative arena. Initially SC Langenthal announced that they would still play the league qualification despite not intending to gain promotion.^[5] However on April 5, SC Langenthal announced that they would not be contesting the League Qualification, meaning SC Rapperswil-Jona Lakers would remain in the National League for the 2019–20 season.^[6]