The 2016–17 National League A season was the tenth

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two o ...

season of Switzerland's top hockey league, the

National League A The National League (NL) is a professional ice hockey league in Switzerland and is the top tier of the Swiss league system. Prior to the 2017–18 season, the league was known as National League A. During the 2018–19 season, the league ha ...

. Overall, it was the 79th season of Swiss professional hockey.

SC Bern Schlittschuh Club Bern (''Ice-skating Club Bern'' in English) is an ice hockey team based in Bern, Switzerland. They play in the National League (NL), the top tier of the Swiss hockey league system. For the 18th year in a row, the club is the most ...

went on to win its 15th NLA title as the defending champions by defeating

EV Zug EV Zug is a professional men's ice hockey team from Zug, Switzerland. It is a member of the National League and plays its home games at the Bossard Arena. History EV Zug won its first championship in the 1997–98 season, and the second one in ...

. It was the first time since the 2000–01 season when the defending champions (

ZSC Lions The Zürcher Schlittschuh Club Lions (ZSC Lions) are a professional ice hockey team located in Zürich, Switzerland, playing in the National League (NL). Their home arena is the 12,000-seat Swiss Life Arena. The team was founded in 1930 and pla ...

) won back-to-back titles.

Teams

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 Larry Robert Huras, (born July 8, 1955) is a Canadians, Canadian professional ice hockey coach and a former player. He most recently served as head coach of HC Fribourg-Gottéron of the Swiss top-flight National League A, NLA. Playing career Hu ...

would take over the job for the remainder of the season. On October 1, 2016, the

SCL Tigers SC Langnau Tigers are a professional ice hockey team from Langnau im Emmental, Switzerland. They play in the National League (NL). The team plays its home games in the 6,000-seat Ilfis Stadium, which is currently one of the smallest arenas in the ...

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 EHC Kloten is an ice hockey team based in the city of Kloten in Switzerland. The team plays in the National League (NL). It has one of the best youth systems in Swiss ice hockey as its youth teams have won 19 championships during the last 50 yea ...

, which Langnau won 5-3. On October 2, 2016, it was announced that

Heinz Ehlers Heinz Ehlers (born January 25, 1966) is a Danish professional ice hockey coach and former ice hockey player. He was most recently the head coach of the SCL Tigers in the National League A (NLA) and the Denmark national hockey team. Ehlers was se ...

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 EHC Biel-Bienne is a professional ice hockey club based in the bilingual city of Biel/Bienne, Switzerland and plays in the National League (NL). Since the city of Biel is completely bilingual, alongside the German name EHC Biel (Abbr: EHCB) the te ...

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 Hockey Club Lugano, often abbreviated to HC Lugano or HCL, is a professional ice hockey club based in Lugano, Switzerland. The team competes in the National League (NL) and has won seven Swiss championships. History The founding of HC Lugano too ...

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 Hockey Club Ambrì-Piotta is a Swiss professional ice hockey club and a member of the National League (NL). The club was founded September 19, 1937, and is also known as "Bianco-Blu" (English: white and blues). Though they have never won the leagu ...

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.

Arenas

Lausanne Lausanne ( , , , ) ; it, Losanna; rm, Losanna. is the capital and largest city of the Swiss French speaking canton of Vaud. It is a hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, about halfway between the Jura Mountains and the Alps, and fac ...

played its final season at

Malley Malley is a surname. It may refer to: People *Alex Malley, former chief executive of CPA Australia * Bill Malley, American production designer and art director *Bill Malley (golfer) (born 1952), American professional golfer * Connor Malley (born 20 ...

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

Playoffs

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:2016-17 NLA season 1

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri *Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internati ...

National League (ice hockey) seasons