The 2004–05 UPC-ligaen was the 66th season of Norway's premier ice hockey league, Eliteserien, which as of this season became known as the UPC-ligaen after UPC had acquired the naming rights for five years. Vålerenga won both the League Championship and the Norwegian Championship, completing their nineteenth "double". A total of ten teams contested the league, including newcomers Comet who competed at the highest level for the first time.
The regular season commenced on 19 September 2004 and concluded on 20 February 2005. Vålerenga clinched their twenty-fifth league title after winning 3–2 in overtime against the Sparta Warriors on 17 February. This left them with an unassailable lead of seven points over the Trondheim Black Panthers, with only one round left to play. The result also confirmed Trondheim as runners-up ahead of the Storhamar Dragons.
The playoffs to determine the 2005 Norwegian Ice Hockey Champions were contested from 22 February to 20 March 2005. Vålerenga were crowned champions for the twenty-third time after defeating Trondheim by 4 games to 1 in the best-of-seven Final.
Regular season
Final standings TeamGP W OTW SOW OTL SOL L GF GA Pts 1Vålerenga (C)42264203721011393 2Trondheim Black Panthers422512111215410183 3Storhamar Dragons42240212131388779 4Stjernen422222111414411376 5Frisk Tigers422033041214313776 6Sparta Warriors421713311712514363 7Stavanger Oilers421610142013214855 8Lillehammer421104212411616144 9Comet42110022271091743710Bergen Flyers42602113211421224 GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; OTW = Overtime Wins; OTL = Overtime losses; SOW = Shootout Wins; SOL = Shootout losses; PCT = Percent of possible points; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; PIM = Penalties in minutes; Pts = Points; C = ChampionsSource: hockey.no
Statistics
Scoring leaders The following players led the league in points at the conclusion of the regular season. Player Team GP G A Pts +/– PIM Ilya Dubkov Trondheim Black Panthers 42 27 42 69 +32 52 Nick Smith Trondheim Black Panthers 38 28 32 60 +32 81 Lars Erik Spets Trondheim Black Panthers 42 29 26 55 +33 12 Tomi Pöllänen Frisk Tigers 40 19 32 51 +18 22 Markku Takala Sparta Warriors 41 19 31 50 −8 62 Tomáš Sršeň Lillehammer 41 20 27 47 0 102 Teemu Kohvakka Stavanger Oilers 42 18 24 42 +8 30 Tomi Suoniemi Stavanger Oilers 37 16 25 41 +14 39 Ondřej Steiner Stjernen 37 16 24 40 +9 41 Michal Kaňka Lillehammer 42 25 14 39 +9 20 Vegar Barlie Vålerenga 37 19 20 39 +24 22 Kenneth Larsen Vålerenga 42 15 24 39 +30 18GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/– = Plus–minus; PIM = Penalty minutes
Leading goaltenders The following goaltenders led the league in goals against average at the conclusion of the regular season. Player Team GP TOI W L GA SO Sv% GAA Chris Mason Vålerenga 20 1,203:56 – – 36 1 93.5 1.79 Jonas Norgren Storhamar Dragons 35 2,028:03 21 14 61 6 93.4 1.80 Joakim Wiberg Trondheim Black Panthers 31 1,847:22 – – 73 2 91.6 2.37 Kimmo Kytölaakso Stjernen 38 2,243:44 – – 95 4 91.5 2.54 Arne Villy Skrøder Sparta Warriors 18 1,018:25 – – 48 0 90.2 2.83GP = Games played; TOI = Time on ice (minutes); W = Wins; L = Losses; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; Sv% = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average
Attendance
For the 2004–05 season, the league attendance totaled 292,711 spectators for an average of 1,394. This was a 9.3% increase from the previous season's total of 267,707 spectators and average of 1,275.
Team Arena Capacity Total Games Average % of Capacity Storhamar Dragons Hamar OL-Amfi 6,091 44,175 21 2,104 34.5% Vålerenga Jordal Amfi 4,450 38,486 21 1,833 41.2% Sparta Warriors Sparta Amfi 3,707 27,285 21 1,299 35.0% Lillehammer Kristins Hall 3,194 23,679 21 1,128 35.3% Bergen Flyers Bergenshallen 3,000 12,133 21 578 19.3% Trondheim Black Panthers Leangen Ishall 3,000 39,076 21 1,861 62.0% Stavanger Oilers Siddishallen 2,582 37,665 21 1,794 69.5% Stjernen Stjernehallen 2,473 31,105 21 1,481 59.9% Frisk Tigers Askerhallen 2,400 23,210 21 1,105 46.0% Comet Halden Ishall 1,200 15,897 21 757 63.1%
TotalGamesAverage292,7112101,394
Playoffs
Bracket
Source: hockey.no
Qualifying for UPC-ligaen 2005–06
Final standings TeamGP W OTW SOW OTL SOL L GF GA Pts 1Comet (Q)640100130914 2Manglerud Star (Q)620101313169 3Bergen Flyers630000317209 4Furuset610001413284 GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; OTW = Overtime Wins; OTL = Overtime losses; SOW = Shootout Wins; SOL = Shootout losses; PCT = Percentage of possible points; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; PIM = Penalties in minutes; Pts = Points; Q = QualifiedSource: speaker.no
Game log
|Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
Round 4
Round 5
Round 6
Awards All-Star team
The following players were selected to the 2004–05 UPC-ligaen All-Star team: Goaltender: Chris Mason (Vålerenga) Defenceman: Duane Harmer (Trondheim) Defenceman: Anders Myrvold (Vålerenga) Center: Ilya Dubkov (Trondheim) Winger: Lars Erik Spets (Trondheim) Winger: Nick Smith (Trondheim)
Other Coach of the year: Tommy Sandlin (Trondheim)
References