EHC Biel-Bienne is a professional
ice hockey
Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) 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. Tw ...
club based in the bilingual city of
Biel/Bienne
Biel/Bienne (official bilingual wording; German language, German: ''Biel'' ; French language, French: ''Bienne'' ; Bernese German, locally ; ; ; ) is a bilingual city in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. With over 55,000 residents, it is the ...
,
Switzerland
Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
and plays in the
National League
National League often refers to:
*National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada
*National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...
(NL). Since the city of Biel is completely bilingual, alongside the
German name EHC Biel (Abbr: EHCB) the team also has a
French name, HC Bienne (Abbr: HCB). The team plays its home games in the 6,521-seat
Tissot Arena.
History
EHC Biel played in lower Swiss ice hockey leagues until they got
promoted in the second-tier
Swiss League
The Swiss League, also known as the Sky Swiss League for sponsorship reasons, is the second tier of the main professional ice hockey league in Switzerland, behind the National League (ice hockey), National League. The winners of the league each ...
in 1960. In 1975 EHC Biel won the
Swiss League
The Swiss League, also known as the Sky Swiss League for sponsorship reasons, is the second tier of the main professional ice hockey league in Switzerland, behind the National League (ice hockey), National League. The winners of the league each ...
-title and got promoted to the first level, the
National League
National League often refers to:
*National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada
*National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...
. During the 20 years between 1975 and 1995 the club won three national championships in 1978, 1981 and 1983 under three coaches (František Vanek, Ed Reigle, Kent Ruhnke). After the
relegation
Promotion and relegation is used by sports leagues as a process where teams can move up and down among divisions in a league system, based on their performance over a season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are sometimes call ...
in 1995 EHC Biel had to wait 13 years until their return to the NL. After three consecutive championship victories in the second-tier Swiss League, EHC Biel was reinstated into the NL, winning the promotion/relegation best of 7 series against EHC Basel 4-0 in 2008.
A strong local rivalry exists with the
SCL Tigers
The 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 6,050-seat Emmental Versicherung Arena, which is currently one of the sm ...
,
SC Bern
Schlittschuh Club Bern ('' Ice-skating Club Bern'' in English) is a professional ice hockey
Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rin ...
,
EHC Olten, and
HC Ajoie. Games between these teams often attract sell-out crowds.
During the
2012–13 NHL lockout, Biel were strengthen by the acquisitions of
NHL
The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...
All-Stars
Tyler Seguin and
Patrick Kane. They were joined by future NHL players, goalkeeper
Reto Berra and winger
Nikolaj Ehlers.
Honors
Champions
*
NL Championship ''(3)'': 1978, 1981, 1983
*
SL Championship ''(5)'': 1975, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008
Players
Current roster
Updated 30 September 2024.
Notable alumni
*
Jean-Jacques Aeschlimann
*Olivier Anken
*Mauro Beccarelli
*Gaetan Boucher
*Gino Cavallini
*
Chris Chelios
*Gilles Dubois
*Daniel Dubuis
*Normand Dupont
*
Heinz Ehlers
*
Rico Fata
*Pierre-Alain Flotiront
*René Furler
*Paul Gagné
*
Gaston Gingras
*
Richmond Gosselin
*
Shawn Heaphy
*
Jonas Hiller
*Barry Jenkins
*Ramil Juldashew
*
Patrick Kane
*Willy Kohler
*
Jakob Kölliker
*Francis Lardon
*Steve Latinovitch
*Marc Leuenberger
*Bob Lindberg
*
Kevin Lötscher
*Urs Lott
*Serge Martel
*Serge Meyer
*Cyrill Pasche
*Guido Pfosi
*Dan Poulin
*Jörg Reber
*
Michel Riesen
*Valeri Schirjajew
*Kevin Schläpfer
*Björn Schneider
*Sven Schmid
*
Tyler Seguin
*
Jiri Slegr
*Laurent Stehlin
*
Martin Steinegger
*
Alexandre Tremblay
*
Marko Tuomainen
*Claude Vilgrain
*Marco Wegmüller
*Daniel Widmer
*Bernhard Wist
*Aldo Zenhäusern
References
External links
EHC Biel official websiteWebsite Fanclub Fire-LordsWebsite Fanclub SeeschwalbeWebsite Fanclub Red Youngs 05Website A2 Supporter Club EHC BielBlog "Fan du HC Bienne"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Biel, EHC
Ice hockey teams in Switzerland
Sport in Biel/Bienne