2016–17 NLA season

	2016–17 National League A season
League	National League A
Sport	Ice hockey
Duration	September 7, 2016 – February 25, 2017
Number of games	50
Number of teams	12
Total attendance	2,064,737 (6,882 per game)
Regular season
Best record	SC Bern
Runners-up	ZSC Lions
Season MVP	Mark Arcobello; (SC Bern)
Top scorer	Mark Arcobello; (SC Bern)
Playoffs
Semi-Final champions	SC Bern
Semi-Final runners-up	HC Lugano
Semi-Final champions	EV Zug
Semi-Final runners-up	HC Davos

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.^[1]^[2]

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.^[3]

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.^[4]

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.^[5]

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.^[6]

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 dead last in the NLA at the time. Gordie Dwyer will coach the team for the remainder of the season.^[7]

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.^[8]

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.^[9]

Regular season[]

Pos	Team	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	SC Bern	50	31	6	4	9	160	114	+46	109	Advance to Playoffs
2	ZSC Lions	50	26	9	8	7	166	115	+51	104
3	EV Zug	50	28	3	6	13	153	122	+31	96
4	Lausanne HC	50	23	5	1	21	154	139	+15	80
5	HC Davos	50	22	4	4	20	152	135	+17	78
6	Genève-Servette HC	50	18	4	11	17	135	140	−5	73
7	HC Lugano	50	19	6	4	21	142	155	−13	73
8	EHC Biel	50	21	2	3	24	146	140	+6	70
9	EHC Kloten	50	14	5	10	21	142	162	−20	62	Advance to Playouts^{[lower-alpha 1]}
10	SCL Tigers	50	16	4	3	27	124	154	−30	59
11	Fribourg-Gottéron	50	12	5	2	31	130	177	−47	48
12	HC Ambrì-Piotta	50	9	8	5	28	113	164	−51	48

Updated to match(es) played on 25 February 2017. 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:

↑ National League-Spielpläne sind bekannt (de). SIHF (June 17, 2016). Retrieved on June 29, 2016.
↑ Meisterschaft / Cup / CHL NLA /// Championnat / Coupe / CHL LNA - Saison 2016/17 (de). SIHF. Retrieved on June 29, 2016.
↑ Gerd Zenhäusern new Head of Development - Larry Huras new head coach of HCFG? (2016-09-22). Retrieved on 2016-09-22.
↑ Ehlers reportedly agrees to become the SCL Tigers' new head coach, Beattie to stay as assistant coach? (2016-10-02). Retrieved on 2016-10-02.
↑ Kevin Schlaepfer no longer head coach of EHC Biel (2016-11-14). Retrieved on 2016-11-14.
↑ HC Lugano fires Shedden and Curcio, Greg Ireland and Jussi Silander to replace them (2017-01-16). Retrieved on 2017-01-16.
↑ Hans Kossmann fired by HCAP, Gordie Dwyer to replace him? (2017-01-30). Retrieved on 2017-01-30.
↑ Lausanne HC will have to play in exile for two seasons (2016-07-05). Retrieved on 2016-08-20.
↑ Increased capacity - HC Fribourg Gottéron presents renovation plan for their stadium (2016-06-24). Retrieved on 2016-08-20.

Player statistics[]

Regular season[]

Player	Team	GP	G	A	Pts	+/–	PIM
Arcobello, MarkMark Arcobello	style="text-align:left;"\| SC Bern	50	25	30	55	+23	30
Sprunger, JulienJulien Sprunger	style="text-align:left;"\| HC Fribourg-Gottéron	50	26	25	51	-2	16
Cervenka, RomanRoman Červenka	style="text-align:left;"\| HC Fribourg-Gottéron	44	16	35	51	-8	32
Nilsson, RobertRobert Nilsson	style="text-align:left;"\| ZSC Lions	46	14	37	51	+30	14
Martschini, LinoLino Martschini	style="text-align:left;"\| EV Zug	50	23	26	49	+8	6
Shore, DrewDrew Shore	style="text-align:left;"\| EHC Kloten	50	24	24	48	-1	28
Klasen, LinusLinus Klasen	style="text-align:left;"\| HC Lugano	50	11	37	48	-11	30
McIntyre, DavidDavid McIntyre	style="text-align:left;"\| EV Zug	47	17	30	47	+19	34
Jeffrey, DustinDustin Jeffrey	style="text-align:left;"\| Lausanne HC	49	18	28	46	+9	8
Thoresen, PatrickPatrick Thoresen	style="text-align:left;"\| ZSC Lions	50	18	27	45	+30	36

Playoffs[]

Player	Team	GP	G	A	Pts	+/–	PIM
Arcobello, MarkMark Arcobello	style="text-align:left;"\| SC Bern	16	8	12	20	+2	12
Ebbett, AndrewAndrew Ebbett	style="text-align:left;"\| SC Bern	16	8	12	20	+9	8
McIntyre, DavidDavid McIntyre	style="text-align:left;"\| EV Zug	16	11	8	19	+1	12
Rüfenacht, ThomasThomas Rüfenacht	style="text-align:left;"\| SC Bern	16	7	11	18	+4	49
Diaz, RaphaelRaphael Diaz	style="text-align:left;"\| EV Zug	16	5	9	14	0	6
Lasch, RyanRyan Lasch	style="text-align:left;"\| SC Bern	16	4	9	13	+9	2
Wieser, DinoDino Wieser	style="text-align:left;"\| HC Davos	10	7	5	12	+3	16
Moser, SimonSimon Moser	style="text-align:left;"\| SC Bern	16	4	8	12	+3	33
Untersander, RamonRamon Untersander	style="text-align:left;"\| SC Bern	16	5	6	11	+6	2
Immonen, JarkkoJarkko Immonen	style="text-align:left;"\| EV Zug	15	4	7	11	-4	41

Playoffs[]

Quarter-Finals			Semi-Finals			Finals

1	SC Bern	4
8	EHC Biel	1
			1	SC Bern	4

			7	HC Lugano	1
2	ZSC Lions	2

7	HC Lugano	4
	(Pairings are re-seeded after the first round)					1	SC Bern	4
						3	EV Zug	2
3	EV Zug	4
6	Genève-Servette HC	0
			3	EV Zug	4

			5	HC Davos	2
4	Lausanne HC	0

5	HC Davos	4

References[]

External links[]

Official website (in German)
Official website (in French)

National League A Seasons

1937-38 • 1938-39 • 1939-40 • 1940-41 • 1941-42 • 1942-43 • 1943-44 • 1944-45 • 1945-46 • 1946-47 • 1947-48 • 1948-49 • 1949-50 • 1950-51 • 1951-52 • 1952-53 • 1953-54 • 1954-55 • 1955-56 • 1956-57 • 1957-58 • 1958-59 • 1959-60 • 1960-61 • 1961-62 • 1962-63 • 1963-64 • 1964-65 • 1965-66 • 1966-67 • 1967-68 • 1968-69 • 1969-70 • 1970-71 • 1971-72 • 1972-73 • 1973-74 • 1974-75 • 1975-76 • 1976-77 • 1977-78 • 1978-79 • 1979-80 • 1980-81 • 1981-82 • 1982-83 • 1983-84 • 1984-85 • 1985-86 • 1986-87 • 1987-88 • 1988-89 • 1989-90 • 1990-91 • 1991-92 • 1992-93 • 1993-94 • 1994-95 • 1995-96 • 1996-97 • 1997-98 • 1998-99 • 1999-00 • 2000-01 • 2001-02 • 2002-03 • 2003-04 • 2004-05 • 2005-06 • 2006-07 • 2007-08 • 2008-09 • 2009-10 • 2010-11 • 2011–12 • 2012–13 • 2013–14 • 2014–15 • 2015–16 • 2016–17 • 2017–18 • 2018–19 • 2019–20 • 2020–21 • 2021–22 • 2022–23

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[1] National League-Spielpläne sind bekannt (de). SIHF (June 17, 2016). Retrieved on June 29, 2016.

[2] Meisterschaft / Cup / CHL NLA /// Championnat / Coupe / CHL LNA - Saison 2016/17 (de). SIHF. Retrieved on June 29, 2016.

[3] Gerd Zenhäusern new Head of Development - Larry Huras new head coach of HCFG? (2016-09-22). Retrieved on 2016-09-22.

[4] Ehlers reportedly agrees to become the SCL Tigers' new head coach, Beattie to stay as assistant coach? (2016-10-02). Retrieved on 2016-10-02.

[5] Kevin Schlaepfer no longer head coach of EHC Biel (2016-11-14). Retrieved on 2016-11-14.

[6] HC Lugano fires Shedden and Curcio, Greg Ireland and Jussi Silander to replace them (2017-01-16). Retrieved on 2017-01-16.

[7] Hans Kossmann fired by HCAP, Gordie Dwyer to replace him? (2017-01-30). Retrieved on 2017-01-30.

[8] Lausanne HC will have to play in exile for two seasons (2016-07-05). Retrieved on 2016-08-20.

[9] Increased capacity - HC Fribourg Gottéron presents renovation plan for their stadium (2016-06-24). Retrieved on 2016-08-20.

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