2022–23 National League (ice hockey) season

The 2022–23 National League season was the 85th season of Swiss professional ice hockey and the sixth season as the National League (NL).

2022–23 National League season
LeagueNational League
SportIce hockey
DurationSeptember 14, 2022 – March 4, 2023
Number of games52
Number of teams14
Regular season
Best recordGenève-Servette HC
  Runners-upEHC Biel
Top scorerRoman Červenka
Playoffs
Swiss champion NL
ChampionsGenève-Servette HC (1st title)
  Runners-upEHC Biel

With a 52-game regular season remaining intact, 14 teams were announced to be participating in the campaign, marking the return of EHC Kloten after four years, following promotion from the Swiss League.[1][2] The 2022–23 season begin the new league sponsorship partnership with Yuh Financial.[3][4]

In the postseason, the quarterfinals and semifinals of the NL playoffs are split and featured on alternative days and in the NL playout finals, four foreign player licenses were allowed to participate on each team in the series against the playout loser and Swiss League champion.[5]

Teams
NL teams for the 2022–23 season
Team City Arena Capacity
HC Ajoie Porrentruy Raiffeisen Arena 5,078
HC Ambrì-Piotta Ambrì Gottardo Arena 6,775
SC Bern Bern PostFinance Arena 17,031
EHC Biel Biel/Bienne Tissot Arena 6,562
HC Davos Davos Eisstadion Davos 6,547
Fribourg-Gottéron Fribourg BCF Arena 9,009
Genève-Servette HC Geneva Patinoire des Vernets 7,135
EHC Kloten Kloten Stimo Arena 7,624
Lausanne HC Lausanne Vaudoise Aréna 9,600
HC Lugano Lugano Cornér Arena 7,800
SCL Tigers Langnau im Emmental Ilfis Stadium 6,000
SC Rapperswil-Jona Lakers Rapperswil St. Galler Kantonalbank Arena 6,100
ZSC Lions Zürich Swiss Life Arena 12,000
EV Zug Zug Bossard Arena 7,200

Regular season

Standings
Pos Team Pld W OTW OTL L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Genève-Servette HC 52 27 6 8 11 185 140 +45 101 Advance to Playoffs
2 EHC Biel 52 29 5 4 14 174 132 +42 101
3 SC Rapperswil-Jona Lakers 52 25 6 5 16 183 133 +50 92
4 ZSC Lions 52 24 6 4 18 150 123 +27 88
5 HC Davos 52 18 9 11 14 149 138 +11 83
6 EV Zug 52 21 6 7 18 165 154 +11 82
7 Fribourg-Gottéron 52 23 2 8 19 155 136 +19 81 Advance to Pre-playoffs
8 SC Bern 52 16 9 8 19 150 158 −8 74
9 EHC Kloten 52 19 5 6 22 140 173 −33 73
10 HC Lugano 52 20 5 2 25 147 163 −16 72
11 Lausanne HC 52 17 7 6 22 139 160 −21 71
12 HC Ambrì-Piotta 52 13 11 5 23 151 163 −12 66
13 SCL Tigers 52 15 4 7 26 124 167 −43 60 Advance to Playout
14 HC Ajoie 52 10 6 6 30 120 192 −72 48
Source: NL
Rules for classification: 1) points per game 2) greater number of games played 3) greater number of away games played 4) head-to-head points

Scoring leaders

The following shows the top ten players who led the league in points, at the conclusion of the regular season.[6] If two or more skaters are tied (i.e. same number of points, goals and played games), all of the tied skaters are shown.

Player Team GP G A Pts +/– PIM
Czech Republic Roman Červenka SC Rapperswil-Jona Lakers 43 16 43 59 +21 60
Sweden Linus Omark Genève-Servette HC 52 16 40 56 +3 40
Canada Chris DiDomenico SC Bern 46 23 30 53 +7 65
Switzerland Tyler Moy SC Rapperswil-Jona Lakers 52 24 27 51 +10 30
Finland Valtteri Filppula Genève-Servette HC 46 17 34 51 +19 62
Czech Republic Jan Kovář EV Zug 52 20 30 50 +4 26
Czech Republic Michael Špaček HC Ambri-Piotta 50 14 36 50 -1 8
Canada Jonathan Ang EHC Kloten 52 20 29 49 -5 44
Finland Miro Aaltonen EHC Kloten 51 19 30 49 +1 20
Canada Daniel Winnik Genève-Servette HC 47 18 28 46 +24 32

Leading goaltenders

The following shows the top five goaltenders who 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.[7]

Player Team(s) GP TOI GA Sv% GAA
Czech Republic Šimon Hrubec ZSC Lions 33 1936:31 72 92.65 2.23
Switzerland Melvin Nyffeler SC Rapperswil-Jona Lakers 42 2472:27 94 91.49 2.28
Finland Harri Säteri EHC Biel 35 2019:05 77 92.27 2.29
Switzerland Robert Mayer Genève-Servette HC 25 1455:33 56 91.32 2.31
Switzerland Connor Hughes HC Fribourg-Gottéron 36 1967:20 76 90.74 2.32

Playoffs

Bracket
Pre-Playoffs
(best-of-3) 		Quarter-finals
(best-of-7) 		Semi-finals
(best-of-7) 		Finals
(best-of-7)
1 Genève-Servette HC 4
7 HC Fribourg-Gottéron 0 10 HC Lugano 2
10 HC Lugano 2 1 Genève-Servette HC 4
6 EV Zug 1
2 EHC Biel 4 (Pairings are re-seeded after the first and second rounds)
8 SC Bern 2
1 Genève-Servette HC 4
2 EHC Biel 3
3 SC Rapperswil-Jona Lakers 2
8 SC Bern 2 6 EV Zug 4
9 EHC Kloten 1 2 EHC Biel 4
4 ZSC Lions 0
4 ZSC Lions 4
5 HC Davos 1

Relegation playoffs

Playouts

SCL Tigers, who finished 13th in the regular season, and HC Ajoie, who finished 14th in the regular season, played in a best-of-seven playout series, which determined the team that would retain its place in the NL for the 2023–24 season. SCL Tigers won the series in six games (4–2).

League qualification

After losing in the playout series, HC Ajoie played in a best-of-seven league qualification series against HC La Chaux-de-Fonds, who won the Swiss League in the 2022–23 season. HC Ajoie won the series in six games (4–2).

References
  1. "On the trail of the perfect schedule" (in German). National League. 15 September 2022. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
  2. "NL: Still with 14 teams" (in German). National League. 1 November 2022. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
  3. "Yuh becomes the new league sponsor" (in German). National League. 24 February 2022. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
  4. "52 rounds and more free TV then ever before!" (in German). National League. 16 June 2022. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
  5. "NL starts in two week; what's new?" (in German). National League. 1 September 2022. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
  6. "Player stats". SIHF. Retrieved 25 September 2022.
  7. "Goalie stats". SIHF. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
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