2016–17 NLA season

The 2016–17 National League A season is the tenth ice hockey season of Switzerland's top hockey league, the National League A. Overall, it is the 79th season of Swiss professional hockey.

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
Regular Season
Playoffs
Swiss champion NLA

SC Bern is the defending champions.

Teams

HC Ambrì-Piotta

SC Bern

EHC Biel

HC Davos

Fribourg-Gottéron

Genève-Servette HC

EHC Kloten

Lausanne HC

HC Lugano

SCL Tigers

ZSC Lions

EV Zug

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NLA teams for the 2016–17 season

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.

Arenas

Lausanne is playing 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 is 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

Pos	Team	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	EV Zug	12	8	0	1	3	37	32	+5	25	Advance to Playoffs
2	ZSC Lions	13	6	2	3	2	36	28	+8	25
3	EHC Biel	12	7	0	1	4	42	27	+15	22
4	Lausanne HC	11	6	1	0	4	36	27	+9	20
5	SC Bern	11	5	1	2	3	35	29	+6	19
6	HC Lugano	12	5	1	2	4	37	37	0	19
7	EHC Kloten	11	4	2	2	3	34	34	0	18
8	Genève-Servette HC	12	4	2	2	4	31	33	−2	18
9	HC Davos	12	3	3	1	5	34	39	−5	16	Advance to Playouts
10	HC Ambrì-Piotta	13	1	5	2	5	32	37	−5	15
11	SCL Tigers	13	2	1	2	8	27	43	−16	10
12	Fribourg-Gottéron	12	1	2	2	7	27	42	−15	9

Updated to match(es) played on 10 October 2016. 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:

Playoffs

Quarter-Finals

Semi-Finals

Finals

(Pairings are re-seeded after the first round)

Other websites

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