2019–20 NL season

The 2019–20 National League season was the 82nd season of Swiss professional ice hockey and the third season as the National League (NL).

2019–20 National League season
LeagueNational League
SportIce hockey
DurationSeptember 13, 2019 – February 29, 2020
Number of games50
Number of teams12
Regular season
Best recordZSC Lions
Runners-upEV Zug
Season MVPPius Suter
(ZSC Lions)
Top scorerPius Suter
(ZSC Lions)
Playoffs
Swiss champion NL

ZSC Lions won the regular season, defeating EV Zug in the final round of matches.

SC Bern were the defending champions and three-time defending regular season winners, however for the second consecutive year the defending champion failed to make the playoffs.

Due to the 2018–19 league qualification series not being contested, the participating teams remained the same as the previous season.

The season was affected by the 2020 coronavirus outbreak in Switzerland, with the final two rounds of regular season games taking place without crowds, and the start of the playoffs postponed.[1] On March 12, the National League committee announced that the playoffs would be cancelled, due to the ban on sporting events in the canton of Ticino.[2]

Teams
NL teams for the 2019–20 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 Vaudoise Aréna 10,000
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 ZSC Lions 50 23 8 6 13 166 124 +42 91 Advance to Playoffs
2 EV Zug 50 23 7 7 13 147 124 +23 90
3 HC Davos 50 22 9 5 14 159 142 +17 89
4 Genève-Servette HC 50 24 6 5 15 140 116 +24 89
5 EHC Biel 50 19 6 9 16 151 144 +7 78
6 Lausanne HC 50 20 4 7 19 136 131 +5 75
7 Fribourg-Gottéron 50 17 10 2 21 122 136 −14 73
8 HC Lugano 50 19 4 4 23 125 139 −14 69
9 SC Bern 50 15 7 9 19 131 142 −11 68 Advance to Playouts[lower-alpha 1]
10 HC Ambrì-Piotta 50 15 5 8 22 120 136 −16 63
11 SCL Tigers 50 15 4 10 21 117 148 −31 63
12 SC Rapperswil-Jona Lakers 50 11 7 5 27 129 161 −32 52
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.[3] 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
Pius SuterZSC Lions50302353+2316
Mark ArcobelloSC Bern50153348022
Garrett RoeZSC Lions44133548+1520
Grégory HofmannEV Zug50242347+1440
Toni RajalaEHC Biel50232346+710
Jan KovářEV Zug50143145+1948
Kevin ClarkSC Rapperswil-Jona Lakers48232144-834
Daniel WinnikGenève-Servette HC49222244+1948
Matt D'AgostiniHC Ambrì-Piotta46202242-426
Harri PesonenSCL Tigers48182442+1344

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.[4]

Player Team GP TOI W WO LO L GA SO Sv% GAA
Tobias Stephan Lausanne HC 40 2284 17 2 4 10 82 4 .924 2.15
Tomi Karhunen SC Bern 27 1634 10 4 2 8 60 2 .926 2.20
Leonardo Genoni EV Zug 39 2306 17 3 3 10 87 5 .917 2.26
Reto Berra Fribourg-Gottéron 44 2616 15 5 2 19 103 2 .924 2.36
Robert Mayer Genève-Servette HC 32 1875 12 3 4 10 74 1 .914 2.37

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

Relegation playoffs – Playouts

Ranking round
Pos Team Pld W OTW OTL L GF GA GD Pts
1 SC Bern 50 15 7 9 19 131 142 −11 68
2 HC Ambrì-Piotta 50 15 5 8 22 120 136 −16 63
3 SCL Tigers 50 15 4 10 21 117 148 −31 63
4 SC Rapperswil-Jona Lakers 50 11 7 5 27 129 161 −32 52
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

Venues

This is Lausanne HC's first season in the Vaudoise Aréna, replacing Patinoire de Malley where they played from 1984 to 2017 and two seasons from 2017 to 2019 in the temporary 6,700-seat Malley 2.0. The team played its first regular-season game in the new venue on September 24, 2019, against Genève-Servette HC.

This is HC Fribourg-Gottéron's final season in the under-renovation BCF Arena. Starting with the 2020–21 season, the arena will have been completely renovated and the seating capacity will have shifted from 6,500 to 8,500.

References
  1. "Coronavirus - Federal Council bans major events until March 15". swisshockeynews.ch. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  2. "Over and out - Clubs put an early end to the 2019-20 season". swisshockeynews.ch. Retrieved 12 March 2020.
  3. "Player stats" (in German). SIHF.ch. Retrieved 28 September 2019.
  4. "Goalie stats" (in German). SIHF.ch. Retrieved 28 September 2019.
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