2004–05 UPC-ligaen season

The 2004–05 UPC-ligaen was the sixty-fifth season of Norway's premier ice hockey league, Eliteserien, which as of this season became known as the UPC-ligaen after UPC had acquired the naming rights for five years. Vålerenga won both the League Championship and the Norwegian Championship, completing their nineteenth "double". A total of ten teams contested the league, including newcomers Comet who competed at the highest level for the first time.
The regular season commenced on 19 September 2004 and concluded on 20 February 2005. Vålerenga clinched their twenty-fifth league title after winning 3–2 in overtime against the Sparta Warriors on 17 February. This left them with an unassailable lead of seven points over the Trondheim Black Panthers, with only one round left to play. The result also confirmed Trondheim as runners-up ahead of the Storhamar Dragons.
The playoffs to determine the 2005 Norwegian Ice Hockey Champions were contested from 22 February to 20 March 2005. Vålerenga were crowned champions for the twenty-third time after defeating Trondheim by 4 games to 1 in the best-of-seven Final.
==Regular season==
===Final standings===
 	Team 	GP	W 	OTW	SOW	OTL	SOL	L 	GF 	GA 	Pts
1 	Vålerenga (C) 	42	26	4 	2 	0 	3 	7 	210	113	93
2 	Trondheim Black Panthers	42	25	1 	2 	1 	1 	12	154	101	83
3 	Storhamar Dragons 	42	24	0 	2 	1 	2 	13	138	87 	79
4 	Stjernen 	42	22	2 	2 	1 	1 	14	144	113	76
5 	Frisk Tigers 	42	20	3 	3 	0 	4 	12	143	137	76
6 	Sparta Warriors 	42	17	1 	3 	3 	1 	17	125	143	63
7 	Stavanger Oilers 	42	16	1 	0 	1 	4 	20	132	148	55
8 	Lillehammer 	42	11	0 	4 	2 	1 	24	116	161	44
9 	Comet 	42	11	0 	0 	2 	2 	27	109	174	37
10	Bergen Flyers 	42	6 	0 	2 	1 	1 	32	114	212	24
GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; OTW = Overtime Wins; OTL = Overtime Losses; SOW = Shootout Wins; SOL = Shootout Losses; PCT = Percent of possible points; GF = Goals For; GA = Goals Against; PIM = Penalties in Minutes; Pts = Points; C = ChampionsSource: hockey.no
===Statistics===
====Scoring leaders====
The following players led the league in points at the conclusion of the regular season.
Player 	Team 	GP	G 	A 	Pts	+/–	PIM
Ilya Dubkov 	Trondheim Black Panthers	42	27	42	69 	+32	52
Nick Smith 	Trondheim Black Panthers	38	28	32	60 	+32	81
Lars Erik Spets	Trondheim Black Panthers	42	29	26	55 	+33	12
Tomi Pöllänen 	Frisk Tigers 	40	19	32	51 	+18	22
Markku Takala 	Sparta Warriors 	41	19	31	50 	–8 	62
Tomáš Sršeň 	Lillehammer 	41	20	27	47 	0 	102
Teemu Kohvakka 	Stavanger Oilers 	42	18	24	42 	+8 	30
Tomi Suoniemi 	Stavanger Oilers 	37	16	25	41 	+14	39
Ondřej Steiner 	Stjernen 	37	16	24	40 	+9 	41
Michal Kaňka 	Lillehammer 	42	25	14	39 	+9 	20
Vegar Barlie 	Vålerenga 	37	19	20	39 	+24	22
Kenneth Larsen 	Vålerenga 	42	15	24	39 	+30	18
GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/– = Plus/minus; PIM = Penalty minutes
====Leading goaltenders====
The following goaltenders led the league in goals against average at the conclusion of the regular season.
Player 	Team 	GP	TOI 	W 	L 	GA	SO	Sv% 	GAA
Chris Mason 	Vålerenga 	20	1,203:56	- 	- 	36	1 	93.5	1.79
Jonas Norgren 	Storhamar Dragons 	35	2,028:03	21	14	61	6 	93.4	1.80
Joakim Wiberg 	Trondheim Black Panthers	31	1,847:22	- 	- 	73	2 	91.6	2.37
Kimmo Kytölaakso 	Stjernen 	38	2,243:44	- 	- 	95	4 	91.5	2.54
Arne Villy Skrøder	Sparta Warriors 	18	1,018:25	- 	- 	48	0 	90.2	2.83
GP = Games Played; TOI = Time On Ice (minutes); W = Wins; L = Losses; GA = Goals Against; SO = Shutouts; Sv% = Save Percentage; GAA = Goals Against Average
===Attendance===
Also see GET-ligaen seasons attendance
For the 2004–05 season, the league attendance totaled 292,711 spectators for an average of 1,394. This was a 9.3% increase from the previous season's total of 267,707 spectators and average of 1,275.
Team 	Arena 	Capacity	Total 	Games	Average	% of Capacity
Storhamar Dragons 	Hamar OL-Amfi 	6,091 	44,175	21 	2,104 	34.5%
Vålerenga 	Jordal Amfi 	4,450 	38,486	21 	1,833 	41.2%
Sparta Warriors 	Sparta Amfi 	3,707 	27,285	21 	1,299 	35.0%
Lillehammer 	Kristins Hall 	3,194 	23,679	21 	1,128 	35.3%
Bergen Flyers 	Bergenshallen 	3,000 	12,133	21 	578 	19.3%
Trondheim Black Panthers	Leangen Ishall	3,000 	39,076	21 	1,861 	62.0%
Stavanger Oilers 	Siddishallen 	2,582 	37,665	21 	1,794 	69.5%
Stjernen 	Stjernehallen 	2,473 	31,105	21 	1,481 	59.9%
Frisk Tigers 	Askerhallen 	2,400 	23,210	21 	1,105 	46.0%
Comet 	Halden Ishall 	1,200 	15,897	21 	757 	63.1%
Total 	Games	Average
292,711	210 	1,394
==Playoffs==
===Bracket===
Source: hockey.no
Norwegian Champions2005
Vålerenga23rd title
==Qualifying for UPC-ligaen 2005–06==
===Final standings===
 	Team 	GP	W	OTW	SOW	OTL	SOL	L	GF	GA	Pts
1	Comet (Q) 	6 	4	0 	1 	0 	0 	1	30	9 	14
2	Manglerud Star (Q)	6 	2	0 	1 	0 	1 	3	13	16	9
3	Bergen Flyers 	6 	3	0 	0 	0 	0 	3	17	20	9
4	Furuset 	6 	1	0 	0 	0 	1 	4	13	28	4
GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; OTW = Overtime Wins; OTL = Overtime Losses; SOW = Shootout Wins; SOL = Shootout Losses; PCT = Percentage of possible points; GF = Goals For; GA = Goals Against; PIM = Penalties in Minutes; Pts = Points; Q = QualifiedSource: speaker.no
===Game log===
Qualifying for UPC-ligaen 2005–06 Game Log	Qualifying for UPC-ligaen 2005–06 Game Log
Rounds 1–6
Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
Round 4
Round 5
Round 6	
==Awards==
All-Star team
The following players were selected to the 2004–05 UPC-ligaen All-Star team:
*Goaltender: Chris Mason (Vålerenga)
*Defenceman: Duane Harmer (Trondheim)
*Defenceman: Anders Myrvold (Vålerenga)
*Center: Ilya Dubkov (Trondheim)
*Winger: Lars Erik Spets (Trondheim)
*Winger: Nick Smith (Trondheim)
Other
*Coach of the year: Tommy Sandlin (Trondheim)
==Team Photos==
04-05Valerenga.jpg|Vålerenga Ishockey
==References==
Category:GET-Ligaen season
Category:2004 in hockey
Category:2005 in hockey