# 2016–17 Swiss Handball League

The 2016–17 Nationalliga A (NLA) was the 68th season of the Swiss Handball League, Swiss's top-tier handball league. A total of ten teams contest this season's league, which began on 31 August 2016 and is scheduled to conclude in May 2017.
Kadetten Schaffhausen were the defending champions, having beaten Wacker Thun 3–2 in the previous season's playoff finals.

## Format

The competition format for the 2016–17 season consists of two phases, both played in a home-and-away double round-robin system. The first six teams qualifies for a first play-off round, while the last four plays relegation round. At the end of this second round, the first four teams of the play-off round plays elimination rounds.

## Teams

The following 10 clubs compete in the Nationalliga A during the 2016–17 season. Lakers Stäfa was relegated from the previous season and HSC Suhr Aarau was promoted from 2015-16 Nationalliga B.
| Team | City | Arena |
| BSV Bern Muri | Bern | Sporthalle Moos Gümligen |
| GC Amicitia Zürich | Zürich | Saalsporthalle |
| HC Kriens-Luzern | Kriens | Krauerhalle |
| HSC Suhr Aarau | Aarau | Schachenhalle |
| Kadetten Schaffhausen | Schaffhausen | BBC-Arena |
| Pfadi Winterthur | Winterthur | Eulachhalle |
| RTV 1879 Basel | Basel | Basel Rankhof |
| TSV Fortitudo Gossau | Gossau SG | Sporthalle Buchenwald |
| TSV St. Otmar St. Gallen | St. Gallen | Kreuzbleiche-Halle |
| Wacker Thun | Thun | Sporthalle Lachen |

## First phase
### Standings

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Kadetten Schaffhausen | 18 | 15 | 0 | 3 | 554 | 492 | +62 | 30 | Play-off Group |
| 2 | Pfadi Winterthur | 18 | 12 | 2 | 4 | 481 | 425 | +56 | 26 | Play-off Group |
| 3 | HC Kriens-Luzern | 18 | 12 | 1 | 5 | 498 | 455 | +43 | 25 | Play-off Group |
| 4 | Wacker Thun | 18 | 11 | 1 | 6 | 502 | 444 | +58 | 23 | Play-off Group |
| 5 | BSV Bern Muri | 18 | 7 | 3 | 8 | 468 | 458 | +10 | 17 | Play-off Group |
| 6 | HSC Suhr Aarau | 18 | 8 | 1 | 9 | 441 | 453 | −12 | 17 | Play-off Group |
| 7 | TSV St. Otmar St. Gallen | 18 | 7 | 1 | 10 | 487 | 534 | −47 | 15 | Relegation Group |
| 8 | GC Amicitia Zürich | 18 | 5 | 3 | 10 | 486 | 489 | −3 | 13 | Relegation Group |
| 9 | RTV 1879 Basel | 18 | 4 | 2 | 12 | 429 | 515 | −86 | 10 | Relegation Group |
| 10 | TSV Fortitudo Gossau | 18 | 1 | 2 | 15 | 467 | 548 | −81 | 4 | Relegation Group |

### Results

| Home \ Away | AAR | BAS | BER | GOS | KRI | SCH | STG | THU | WIN | ZUR |
| HSC Suhr Aarau | | 19–19 | 22–23 | 28–25 | 27–19 | 27–29 | 27–29 | 23–22 | 21–22 | 33–30 |
| RTV 1879 Basel | 35–24 | | 22–33 | 25–25 | 19–31 | 30–27 | 26–32 | 26–30 | 25–31 | 25–24 |
| BSV Bern Muri | 23–24 | 31–18 | | 28–28 | 19–27 | 30–31 | 29–20 | 23–28 | 25–24 | 21–21 |
| TSV Fortitudo Gossau | 25–27 | 24–23 | 24–28 | | 31–32 | 25–32 | 30–31 | 25–31 | 16–19 | 24–37 |
| HC Kriens-Luzern | 23–19 | 30–26 | 29–24 | 41–28 | | 33–27 | 25–23 | 28–29 | 27–25 | 28–28 |
| Kadetten Schaffhausen | 24–33 | 34–19 | 31–26 | 38–33 | 32–23 | | 35–26 | 28–22 | 29–26 | 30–29 |
| TSV St. Otmar St. Gallen | 25–21 | 27–30 | 29–36 | 33–29 | 24–22 | 28–37 | | 27–34 | 27–27 | 35–29 |
| Wacker Thun | 31–16 | 39–21 | 29–22 | 35–21 | 20–27 | 30–32 | 27–20 | | 22–22 | 31–28 |
| Pfadi Winterthur | 27–19 | 30–23 | 24–20 | 32–31 | 29–25 | 23–24 | 34–27 | 30–20 | | 26–19 |
| GC Amicitia Zürich | 22–31 | 24–17 | 27–27 | 28–23 | 25–28 | 29–34 | 36–24 | 25–22 | 25–30 | |

## Second phase

The points obtained during the regular season were kept for this second phase.

### Play-off group

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | SCH | WIN | KRI | THU | BER | AAR |
| 1 | Kadetten Schaffhausen | 28 | 21 | 2 | 5 | 849 | 757 | +92 | 44 | Play-offs | | 26–30 | 32–21 | 30–29 | 38–30 | 31–17 |
| 2 | Pfadi Winterthur | 28 | 20 | 3 | 5 | 755 | 656 | +99 | 43 | Play-offs | 28–30 | | 30–22 | 23–19 | 29–20 | 25–24 |
| 3 | HC Kriens-Luzern | 28 | 17 | 1 | 10 | 748 | 724 | +24 | 35 | Play-offs | 29–25 | 22–33 | | 21–23 | 30–26 | 25–23 |
| 4 | Wacker Thun | 28 | 16 | 2 | 10 | 758 | 693 | +65 | 34 | Play-offs | 25–25 | 21–23 | 33–28 | | 21–25 | 32–25 |
| 5 | BSV Bern Muri | 28 | 9 | 5 | 14 | 720 | 737 | −17 | 23 | | 30–30 | 24–30 | 22–29 | 28–31 | | 25–25 |
| 6 | HSC Suhr Aarau | 28 | 8 | 3 | 17 | 663 | 709 | −46 | 19 | | 26–28 | 23–23 | 22–23 | 21–22 | 16–22 | |

### Relegation group

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | TSV St. Otmar St. Gallen | 30 | 12 | 1 | 17 | 818 | 862 | −44 | 25 | |
| 2 | GC Amicitia Zürich | 30 | 10 | 4 | 16 | 809 | 825 | −16 | 24 | |
| 3 | TSV Fortitudo Gossau | 30 | 10 | 2 | 18 | 800 | 852 | −52 | 22 | Relegation Round |
| 4 | RTV 1879 Basel | 30 | 8 | 3 | 19 | 755 | 860 | −105 | 19 | Relegation |
| Home \ Away | STG | ZUR | GOS | BAS | STG | ZUR | GOS | BAS |
| TSV St. Otmar St. Gallen | | 25–26 | 31–29 | 34–30 | | 40–29 | 18–27 | 28–29 |
| GC Amicitia Zürich | 26–24 | | 29–30 | 27–32 | 28–24 | | 25–31 | 27–23 |
| TSV Fortitudo Gossau | 21–26 | 19–23 | | 27–22 | 28–24 | 30–29 | | 31–20 |
| RTV 1879 Basel | 26–29 | 30–30 | 29–30 | | 29–28 | 28–24 | 28–30 | |

## Play-offs

| Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Final | Final | Final | Final | Final |
| 1 | Kadetten Schaffhausen | 30 | 30 | 28 | | | | | | |
| 4 | Wacker Thun | 20 | 29 | 26 | | | | | | |
| 4 | Wacker Thun | 20 | 29 | 26 | | 1 | Kadetten Schaffhausen | 31 | 31 | 30 |
| | | | | | | 2 | Pfadi Winterthur | 18 | 26 | 28 |
| 3 | HC Kriens-Luzern | 30 | 20 | 25 | 22 | 2 | Pfadi Winterthur | 18 | 26 | 28 |
| 2 | Pfadi Winterthur | 21 | 23 | 26 | 25 | | | | | |

## Relegation Round

| 13 May 16:30 | Lakers Stäfa | 29–28 | TSV Fortitudo Gossau | Frohberg Stäfa, Oetwil am See |
| 20 May 17:30 | TSV Fortitudo Gossau | 26–21 | Lakers Stäfa | Sporthalle Buchenwald, Gossau SG |
TSV Fortitudo Gossau won 54-50 aggregate and stayed in Nationalliga A.