# 2023–24 SWHL A season

The 2022–23 Swiss League season was the 37th season of the Swiss Women's League A.

## Teams

Winning the SWHL-B championship, the HC Fribourg-Gottéron Ladies is promoted to SWHL-A
The major Swiss hockey clubs are showing more and more interest in women's hockey. The EV Zug created a women's team with an impressive budget of 1.2 million CHF. The League authorizes them to take part in the SWHL-B championship. In response, SC Bern took EV Bomo Thun under its wing. SC Bern Frauen will now play at the PostFinance Arena. The HC Davos also agrees with the HC Thurgau to move its team from the Indians to the Eisstadion Davos, under the name HC Davos Ladies.
| Team | Trainer | City | Arena | Capacity |
| HC Ambrì-Piotta Girls | Benjamin Rogger, Christian Agustoni | Quinto | Nuova Valascia | 6,675 |
| SC Bern Frauen | Thomas Zwahlen, Petra Melicherikova | Bern | PostFinance Arena | 17,031 |
| HC Davos Ladies | Andrea Kröni, Marc Kröni, Emanuel Karrer | Davos | Eisstadion Davos | 7,080 |
| HC Fribourg-Gottéron Ladies | Valentin Dufour, Fabrice Vadi | Fribourg | BCF Arena | 9,075 |
| SC Langenthal Ladies | Jürg Langenegger, Nicola Minder | Langenthal | Schoren Halle | 4,320 |
| Ladies Team Lugano | Massimo Fedrizzi | Lugano | Cornèr Arena | 7,200 |
| HC Université Neuchâtel Dames | Yan Gigon | Neuchâtel | Patinoire du Littoral | 7,000 |
| ZSC Lions Frauen | Angela Frautschi, Cyndy Kenyon | Zürich | Kunsteisbahn Oerlikon | 1,700 |

## Regular season

The regular season started on 16 September 2023 and ended on 25 February 2024. The regular season is played at the national level in the form of a round of five matches, that is to say that each of the eight teams plays 28 matches. The first four in the ranking in the regular season compete in the playoffs (best of 5), the four last team compete in a ranking round. The Swiss SWHL-B champions will be promoted directly to the WL for the 2024/25 season. The SWHL-B runner-up plays a league qualifier against the loser of the WL ranking round. If the SWHL-B champion does not wish to be promoted, the runner-up will be promoted directly and no WL member will be relegated. If SWHL-B champions and runners-up do not wish to be promoted, there will be no promotion or relegation from WL to SWHL-B.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | SC Bern Frauen | 28 | 23 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 139 | 47 | +92 | 72 | Advance to Playoffs |
| 2 | ZSC Lions Frauen | 28 | 21 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 122 | 47 | +75 | 68 | Advance to Playoffs |
| 3 | HC Ambrì-Piotta Girls | 28 | 19 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 123 | 66 | +57 | 60 | Advance to Playoffs |
| 4 | HC Université Neuchâtel Dames | 28 | 13 | 1 | 2 | 12 | 86 | 82 | +4 | 43 | Advance to Playoffs |
| 5 | HC Davos Ladies | 28 | 11 | 2 | 1 | 14 | 69 | 76 | −7 | 38 | Advance to Ranking Round |
| 6 | HC Fribourg-Gottéron Ladies | 28 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 18 | 75 | 112 | −37 | 29 | Advance to Ranking Round |
| 7 | Ladies Team Lugano | 28 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 21 | 45 | 150 | −105 | 17 | Advance to Ranking Round |
| 8 | SC Langenthal Ladies | 28 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 27 | 106 | −79 | 9 | Advance to Ranking Round |

### Statistics
#### Scoring leaders

The following shows the top ten players who led the league in points, at the conclusion of the regular season. 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 |
| Estelle Duvin | SC Bern Frauen | 28 | 35 | 32 | 67 | 18 |
| Maija Otamo | SC Bern Frauen | 28 | 22 | 36 | 58 | 8 |
| Fanny Rask | HC Ambrì-Piotta Girls | 28 | 18 | 37 | 55 | 34 |
| Sinja Leemann | ZSC Lions Frauen | 28 | 25 | 27 | 52 | 8 |
| Theresa Knutson | HC Ambrì-Piotta Girls | 28 | 30 | 19 | 49 | 6 |
| Eleri MacKay | HC Fribourg-Gottéron Ladies | 28 | 19 | 21 | 40 | 6 |
| Emma Ingold | SC Bern Frauen | 28 | 15 | 21 | 36 | 8 |
| Romy Eggimann | HC Ambrì-Piotta Girls | 27 | 19 | 16 | 35 | 34 |
| Jenna Suokko | SC Bern Frauen | 27 | 16 | 16 | 32 | 37 |
| Jenna Kaila | HC Ambrì-Piotta Girls | 25 | 21 | 10 | 31 | 12 |

#### 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 | GAA |
| Sandy Heim | ZSC Lions Frauen | 16 | 824 | 17 | 1,24 |
| Alexandra Lehmann | SC Bern Frauen | 14 | 787 | 18 | 1,37 |
| Laura De Bastiani | ZSC Lions Frauen | 17 | 864 | 27 | 1,88 |
| Saskia Maurer | SC Bern Frauen | 15 | 864 | 27 | 1,88 |
| Sofia Decristophoris | HC Ambrì-Piotta Girls | 23 | 1363 | 46 | 2,03 |

## Playoffs
### Bracket

| Semi-finals (best-of-5) | Semi-finals (best-of-5) | Semi-finals (best-of-5) | Finals (best-of-5) | Finals (best-of-5) | Finals (best-of-5) |
| 1 | SC Bern Frauen | 3 | | | |
| 4 | HC Université Neuchâtel Dames | 0 | | | |
| 4 | HC Université Neuchâtel Dames | 0 | 1 | SC Bern Frauen | 2 |
| | | | 2 | ZSC Lions Frauen | 3 |
| 2 | ZSC Lions Frauen | 3 | 2 | ZSC Lions Frauen | 3 |
| 3 | HC Ambrì-Piotta Girls | 1 | Game for 3rd place (best-of-1) | Game for 3rd place (best-of-1) | Game for 3rd place (best-of-1) |
| | | | 3 | HC Ambrì-Piotta Girls | 5 |
| | | | 4 | HC Université Neuchâtel Dames | 4 |

### Semi-Finals
#### (1) SC Bern Frauen vs. (4) HC Université Neuchâtel Dames

* SC Bern Frauen won the series 3–0.

#### (2) ZSC Lions Frauen vs. (3) HC Ambrì-Piotta Girls

* ZSC Lions Frauen won the series 3–1.

### Game for 3rd place

* HC Ambrì-Piotta Girls won the game and finish at the 3rd place.

### Finals

* ZSC Lions Frauen won the series 3–2.

### Team of Swiss champions

Goalkeepers: Laura De Bastiani, Sandy Heim
Defense: Alessia Baechler, Christine Deaudelin, Skylar Fontaine, Zoé Mächler, Jana Peter, Shannon Sigrist, Aurela Thalmann
Offense: Jil Aschwanden, Sara Bachmann, Mara Frey, Nora Harju, Kristina Kontny, Tereza Lahova, Sinja Leemann, Renee Lendi, Alina Marti, Lisa Rüedi, Vanessa Schaefer, Dominique Scheurer
Coaching: Angela Frautschi, Cyndy Kenyon

## Awards

* Most Valuable Player : Estelle Duvin (SC Bern Frauen)
* Best forward : Estelle Duvin (SC Bern Frauen) and Fanny Rask (HC Ambrì-Piotta Girls)
* Best defender : Josefine Holmgren (HC Ambrì-Piotta Girls)
* Best goalkeeper : Saskia Maurer (SC Bern Frauen)
* Best rookie : Leoni Balzer (HC Davos Ladies)
* Best coach : Thomas Zwahlen (SC Bern Frauen)

## Ranking Round

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | HC Davos Ladies | 6 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 22 | 9 | +13 | 15 | Saison Ended |
| 2 | HC Fribourg-Gottéron Ladies | 6 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 33 | 9 | +24 | 15 | Saison Ended |
| 3 | SC Langenthal Ladies | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 16 | 17 | −1 | 6 | Saison Ended |
| 4 | Ladies Team Lugano | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 37 | −36 | 0 | Advance to Relegation round |
The Ladies Team Lugano, after having recorded numerous departures at the start of this season, has experienced a lot of difficulty during this season. Finishing last in the championship with a very limited contingent, the leaders preferred to give up playing in the relegation round and accepted being relegated to the green carpet. The champion of the SWHL-B, the EV Zug Women therefore advances to the SWHL-A.