Almost four months after losing the World Cup final, Swiss ice hockey fans will get their money's worth again this week with the start of the National League championship.
Who will manage to knock the ZSC Lions off their throne? It's just one of many, but probably the most important question to be answered in Swiss ice hockey stadiums over the next few months.
The first of 52 rounds of qualifying is scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday. ZSC starts its mission to defend the title with an away game against Biel. The regular season is interrupted by the national team breaks in November, December and February as well as the Spengler Cup in the week before the end of the year. The playoffs begin in mid-March. The first game of the final series is scheduled for April 15, 2025.
The format (with a play-in before the playoffs) remains unchanged - with good reason. The increase to 14 clubs and six foreigners two years ago has brought the country's best teams even closer together. Four different playoff finalists and six different semi-finalists in two years speak for themselves.
The National League product works. The bare figures also prove this. The past qualifiers brought the top league a record attendance of almost 2.6 million fans. It is quite possible that this will be surpassed again. After all, fans can expect a championship in which the rivals are on an equal footing, a winter in which dreams can be gently entertained in many places.
The games of the 1st round:
Tuesday, September 17: Ambri-Piotta - Rapperswil-Jona Lakers (7:45 p.m.). Biel - ZSC Lions (19.45). Davos - Kloten (19.45). Fribourg-Gottéron - Ajoie (19.45). Lausanne - Genève-Servette (19.45). Zug - Lugano (19.45).
Wednesday, September 18: Bern - SCL Tigers (19.45).
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