2019–20 National League (ice hockey) season explained

2019–20 National League season
League:National League
Sport:Ice hockey
Duration:September 13, 2019 – February 29, 2020
No Of Games:50
No Of Teams:12
Season:Regular season
Season Champ Name:Best record
Season Champs:ZSC Lions
Second Place:EV Zug
Mvp:Pius Suter
(ZSC Lions)
Top Scorer:Pius Suter
(ZSC Lions)
Playoffs:Playoffs
Conf1:Semi-Final
Conf2:Semi-Final
Finals:Swiss champion NL
Seasonslistnames:National League
Prevseason Link:2018–19 NL season
Prevseason Year:2018–19
Nextseason Link:2020–21 NL season
Nextseason Year:2020–21

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

TeamCityArenaCapacity
HC Ambrì-PiottaAmbrìValascia6,500
SC BernBernPostFinance-Arena17,031
EHC BielBiel/BienneTissot Arena6,521
HC DavosDavosVaillant Arena6,800
Fribourg-GottéronFribourgBCF Arena6,500
Genève-Servette HCGenevaPatinoire des Vernets7,135
Lausanne HCLausanneVaudoise Aréna10,000
HC LuganoLuganoPista La Resega7,800
SCL TigersLangnau im EmmentalIlfis Stadium6,000
SC Rapperswil-Jona LakersRapperswilDiners Club Arena6,200
ZSC LionsZürichHallenstadion11,200
EV ZugZugBossard Arena7,200

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.

PlayerTeamdata-sort-type="number" style="width: 4em;"
50 30 23 53 +23 16
50 15 33 48 0 22
ZSC Lions 44 13 35 48 +15 20
50 24 23 47 +14 40
50 23 23 46 +7 10
EV Zug 50 14 31 45 +19 48
48 23 21 44 -8 34
49 22 22 44 +19 48
46 20 22 42 -4 26
48 18 24 42 +13 44

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]

PlayerTeam
Lausanne HC402284172410824.9242.15
SC Bern27163410428602.9262.20
EV Zug392306173310875.9172.26
Fribourg-Gottéron4426161552191032.9242.36
Genève-Servette HC321875123410741.9142.37

Relegation playoffs – Playouts

Ranking round

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.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Coronavirus - Federal Council bans major events until March 15 . swisshockeynews.ch . 1 March 2020.
  2. Web site: Over and out - Clubs put an early end to the 2019-20 season . swisshockeynews.ch . 12 March 2020.
  3. Web site: Player stats . SIHF.ch . 28 September 2019 . de.
  4. Web site: Goalie stats . SIHF.ch . 28 September 2019 . de.