# 2023–24 National League (ice hockey) season

The 2023–24 National League season is the 86th season of Swiss professional ice hockey and the seventh season as the National League (NL).
Genève-Servette HC is the defending champion.

## Teams

| 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 | 9,075 |
| 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 | Cornèr 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 | ZSC Lions | 52 | 31 | 4 | 8 | 9 | 167 | 110 | +57 | 109 | Advance to Playoffs |
| 2 | Fribourg-Gottéron | 52 | 28 | 7 | 4 | 13 | 175 | 124 | +51 | 102 | Advance to Playoffs |
| 3 | Lausanne HC | 52 | 25 | 5 | 6 | 16 | 158 | 126 | +32 | 91 | Advance to Playoffs |
| 4 | EV Zug | 52 | 21 | 9 | 6 | 16 | 161 | 135 | +26 | 87 | Advance to Playoffs |
| 5 | SC Bern | 52 | 20 | 8 | 9 | 15 | 145 | 144 | +1 | 85 | Advance to Playoffs |
| 6 | HC Davos | 52 | 23 | 5 | 6 | 18 | 156 | 126 | +30 | 85 | Advance to Playoffs |
| 7 | HC Lugano | 52 | 23 | 4 | 2 | 23 | 162 | 151 | +11 | 79 | Advance to Play-In |
| 8 | HC Ambrì-Piotta | 52 | 20 | 8 | 3 | 21 | 153 | 151 | +2 | 79 | Advance to Play-In |
| 9 | EHC Biel | 52 | 16 | 9 | 8 | 19 | 139 | 140 | −1 | 74 | Advance to Play-In |
| 10 | Genève-Servette HC | 52 | 19 | 6 | 5 | 22 | 140 | 155 | −15 | 74 | Advance to Play-In |
| 11 | SCL Tigers | 52 | 17 | 6 | 8 | 21 | 123 | 159 | −36 | 71 | |
| 12 | SC Rapperswil-Jona Lakers | 52 | 18 | 3 | 5 | 26 | 126 | 151 | −25 | 65 | |
| 13 | EHC Kloten | 52 | 12 | 5 | 6 | 29 | 108 | 177 | −69 | 52 | Advance to Playout |
| 14 | HC Ajoie | 52 | 8 | 4 | 7 | 33 | 111 | 175 | −64 | 39 | Advance to Playout |

### Statistics
#### Scoring leaders

The following shows the top ten players leading the league in points. 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 |
| Marcus Sörensen | Fribourg-Gottéron | 52 | 31 | 32 | 63 | +30 | 30 |
| Calvin Thürkauf | HC Lugano | 52 | 28 | 32 | 60 | +26 | 34 |
| Dominik Kahun | SC Bern | 47 | 15 | 35 | 50 | +5 | 6 |
| Michael Spacek | HC Ambrì-Piotta | 48 | 17 | 33 | 50 | +11 | 10 |
| Michael Joly | HC Lugano | 48 | 20 | 28 | 48 | +22 | 10 |
| Lucas Wallmark | Fribourg-Gottéron | 49 | 20 | 27 | 47 | +23 | 43 |
| Denis Malgin | ZSC Lions | 48 | 18 | 29 | 46 | +14 | 26 |
| Daniel Carr | HC Lugano | 39 | 17 | 29 | 46 | +21 | 63 |
| Sakari Manninen | Genève-Servette HC | 50 | 18 | 23 | 41 | -7 | 26 |
| Aleksi Saarela | SC Langnau | 50 | 18 | 23 | 41 | -13 | 8 |

#### 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.
| Player | Team(s) | GP | TOI | GA | Sv% | GAA |
| Simon Hrubec | ZSC Lions | 31 | 1879:53 | 61 | 92.96 | 1.95 |
| Reto Berra | Fribourg-Gottéron | 33 | 1993:41 | 65 | 92.85 | 1.96 |
| Luca Hollenstein | EV Zug | 18 | 1090:49 | 37 | 92.66 | 2.04 |
| Sandro Aeschlimann | HC Davos | 26 | 1567:57 | 54 | 92.62 | 2.07 |
| Leonardo Genoni | EV Zug | 21 | 1266:15 | 44 | 92.68 | 2.08 |

## Postseason
### Play-In
#### Bracket

| Round 1 | Round 1 | Round 1 | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 2 | Round 2 | Round 2 | Final Seeds | Final Seeds | Final Seeds |
| 7 | HC Lugano | 4 | 3 | | | | | HC Lugano | HC Lugano | No. 7 Seed |
| 8 | HC Ambrì-Piotta | 4 | 1 | | | | | EHC Bienne | EHC Bienne | No. 8 Seed |
| | | | | 8 | HC Ambrì-Piotta | 1 | 2 | | | |
| | | | | 9 | EHC Bienne | 1 | 4 | | | |
| 9 | EHC Bienne | 3 | 2 | | | | | | | |
| 10 | Genève-Servette HC | 2 | 2 | | | | | | | |

#### Rules

The teams ranked 7th to 10th at the end of the National League regular season compete in the play-in, with a view to obtaining one of the two qualifying places for the playoffs. The 7th faces the 8th and the 9th faces the 10th in a series of 2 matches with the higher ranked team starting away. The winner of the series is the one with the most points. In the event of a tie at the end of the two matches, the teams decide on overtime. This translates as follows: a team wins 1-0 the first match and loses 8-1 the second match, can qualify thanks to an overtime goal, with a goal difference of -5. If the higher ranked team starts away, it is to have the advantage in the decisive match.
The winner of the match between the 7th and 8th qualifies for the playoffs and faces the 2nd in the general ranking. The loser will face the winner of the match between the 9th and the 10th in a second round. The winner of this confrontation qualifies for the playoffs and faces the winner of the regular season. The two eliminated teams see their seasons end.

#### Round 1
##### (7) HC Lugano vs (8) HC Ambrì-Piotta

* HC Lugano won with 4 pts

##### (9) EHC Biel vs (10) Genève-Servette HC

* EHC Biel won with 4 pts

#### Round 2
##### (8) HC Ambrì-Piotta vs (9) EHC Bienne

* EHC Biel won with 4 pts

### Playoffs
#### Bracket

| Quarterfinals (best-of-7) | Quarterfinals (best-of-7) | Quarterfinals (best-of-7) | Semifinals (best-of-7) | Semifinals (best-of-7) | Semifinals (best-of-7) | Finals (best-of-7) | Finals (best-of-7) | Finals (best-of-7) |
| 1 | ZSC Lions | 4 | | | | | | |
| 9 | EHC Biel | 0 | | | | | | |
| 9 | EHC Biel | 0 | 1 | ZSC Lions | 4 | | | |
| | | | 4 | EV Zug | 0 | | | |
| 4 | EV Zug | 4 | 4 | EV Zug | 0 | | | |
| 5 | SC Bern | 3 | | | | | | |
| 5 | SC Bern | 3 | | | | 1 | ZSC Lions | 4 |
| | | | | | | 3 | Lausanne HC | 3 |
| 2 | HC Fribourg-Gottéron | 4 | | | | | | | 3 | Lausanne HC | 3 |
| 7 | HC Lugano | 3 | | | | | | |
| 7 | HC Lugano | 3 | 2 | HC Fribourg-Gottéron | 1 | | | |
| | | | 3 | Lausanne HC | 4 | | | |
| 3 | Lausanne HC | 4 | 3 | Lausanne HC | 4 | | | |
| 6 | HC Davos | 3 | | | | | | |

#### Quarter-Finals
##### (1) ZSC Lions vs (9) EHC Biel

* ZSC Lions won the series 4–0

##### (2) HC Fribourg-Gottéron vs (7) HC Lugano

* HC Fribourg-Gottéron won the series 4–3

##### (3) Lausanne HC vs (6) HC Davos

* Lausanne HC won the series 4–3

##### (4) EV Zug vs (5) SC Bern

* EV Zug won the series 4–3

#### Semi-Finals
##### (1) ZSC Lions vs (4) EV Zug

* ZSC Lions won the series 4–0

##### (2) HC Fribourg-Gottéron vs (3) Lausanne HC

* Lausanne HC won the series 4–1

#### Finals

* ZSC Lions won the series 4–3

### Team of Swiss champions

Goalkeepers: Šimon Hrubec, Robin Zumbühl
Defense: Phil Baltisberger, Patrick Geering, Scott Harrington, Dean Kukan, Mikko Lehtonen, Christian Marti, Dario Trutmann, Yannick Weber
Offense: Sven Andrighetto, Rūdolfs Balcers, Chris Baltisberger, Simon Bodenmann, Jesper Frödén, Derek Grant, Denis Hollenstein, Juho Lammikko, Denis Malgin, Willy Riedi, Vinzenz Rohrer, Reto Schäppi, Justin Sigrist, Yannick Zehnder
Coaching: Marc Crawford, Rob Cookson, Fabio Schwarz