The 2016–17 National League A season was the tenth ice hockey season of Switzerland's top hockey league, the National League A. Overall, it was the 79th season of Swiss professional hockey.
SC Bern went on to win its 15th NLA title as the defending champions by defeating EV Zug. It was the first time since the 2000–01 season when the defending champions (ZSC Lions) won back-to-back titles.
Teams
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 CIG de Malley 7,600 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 7,015
Coaching changes On September 22, 2016, Fribourg-Gottéron's Gerd Zenhäusern was relieved of his duties of head coach after posting a 1-1-1-3 record through 6 games this season. It was later announced that Larry Huras would take over the job for the remainder of the season.
On October 1, 2016, the SCL Tigers fired head coach Scott Beattie after posting a 1-0-2-7 record through 10 games this season. He eventually went on to coach his final game that same day against EHC Kloten, which Langnau won 5-3. On October 2, 2016, it was announced that Heinz Ehlers would be Langnau's new head coach for the remainder of the season and through the 2017–18 season should the team stay in the NLA.
On November 14, 2016, EHC Biel fired head coach Kevin Schlaepfer after posting an 8-0-2-11 record through 21 games this season. Mike McNamara who was coaching Biel junior team at the time, became the interim head coach for the main club.
On January 16, 2017, HC Lugano fired head coach Doug Shedden and assistant coach Pat Curcio after posting a 14-4-3-19 record through 40 games this season. It was later announced that Greg Ireland would replace Shedden at the helm of the team for the end of the season.
On January 30, 2017, HC Ambrì-Piotta parted ways with head coach Hans Kossmann after posting a 7-8-4-24 record through 43 games this season, sitting last in the NLA at the time. Gordie Dwyer will coach the team for the remainder of the season.
Arenas Lausanne played its final season at Malley before playing two seasons in a temporary arena which will be located in the old city's slaughterhouse. Meanwhile, their new 10,000-seat arena will be built on the site of the old Malley.
This was Fribourg's last season in the current BCF Arena before it undergoes major renovations in the spring of 2017, which will last for about two years and increase the capacity from 6,500 to 8,500. The team should still be able to play in the arena during the renovations.
Regular season
Player statistics
Regular season
Player Team SC Bern 50 25 30 55 +23 30 HC Fribourg-Gottéron 50 26 25 51 -2 16 HC Fribourg-Gottéron 44 16 35 51 -8 32 ZSC Lions 46 14 37 51 +30 14 EV Zug 50 23 26 49 +8 6 EHC Kloten 50 24 24 48 -1 28 HC Lugano 50 11 37 48 -11 30 EV Zug 47 17 30 47 +19 34 Lausanne HC 49 18 28 46 +9 8 ZSC Lions 50 18 27 45 +30 36
Playoffs
Player Team SC Bern 16 8 12 20 +2 12 SC Bern 16 8 12 20 +9 8 EV Zug 16 11 8 19 +1 12 SC Bern 16 7 11 18 +4 49 EV Zug 16 5 9 14 0 6 SC Bern 16 4 9 13 +9 2 HC Davos 10 7 5 12 +3 16 SC Bern 16 4 8 12 +3 33 SC Bern 16 5 6 11 +6 2 EV Zug 15 4 7 11 -4 41
Playoffs
References
External links