Horse Racing stats man, Andy has contributed to OLBG for 18 years - An Ipswich fan and F1 fanatic, he also contributes EFL football and Motor Sport opinion.
2024-25 NLA Preview
We head into the 87th season of the Swiss League which is the eighth as the National League (NLA).
The ZSC Lions head in as defending champions, they have won ten titles and have only ever retained their title once.
That was in 2001 after winning it a year earlier, they have won four since (not including 2024) and failed to retain their title the following season.
The most successful team, HC Davos, will be desperate to put an end to their wait, with 31 league titles they have not won one since 2015, in fact, they have not made the finals in that time.
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How often do Favourites win in NLA?
How do the Favourites Compare?
The Swiss NLA comes out third on our list of successful favourites over the past five seasons when looking at six of the most popular leagues. With a win rate of 61.30% that means around 6 in every 10 favourites go on to win their matches in this league.
- Russian KHL: 62.82%
- Finnish Liiga: 62.61%
- Swiss NLA: 61.30%
- USA NHL: 60.82%
- German DEL: 60.61%
- Swedish SHL: 59.83%
Which teams are the most and least reliable?
The most reliable team when it comes to favourites in the NLA over the past five seasons is Piotta. They have a win rate of 65.28% when priced up by the bookmakers as favourites with 47 wins from a total of 72 games.
At the other end of the scale is EHC Kloten with a win rate of 35.71%. That has come from 14 games producing 5 wins, they are maybe the team in this league to avoid when they are priced up as favourites.
NLA Favourite Statistics by Season
| 2019-20 | 2020-21 | 2021-22 | 2022-23 | 2023-24 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home Favs | 59.66% | 59.04% | 68.50% | 59.54% | 62.99% |
| Away Favs | 45.90% | 67.03% | 66.99% | 54.31% | 57.84% |
| Overall Favs | 56.86% | 61.18% | 68.09% | 58.10% | 61.71% |
*Favourite statistics only include regular-season games
Past NLA Regular Season Winners
Of late, the regular season winners have a great record in the playoffs. Excluding the 2019-20 season when the playoffs did not take place, the last five regular season winners have all gone on to be crowned NLA Champions!
Here are the last ten regular-season champions and how they went on to perform in the playoffs.
| Season | Team (Points) | Playoff Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| 2023–24 | ZSC Lions (109) | NLA Champions |
| 2022–23 | Genève-Servette HC (101) | NLA Champions |
| 2021–22 | EV Zug (100) | NLA Champions |
| 2020–21 | EV Zug (119) | NLA Champions |
| 2019–20 | ZSC Lions (91) | Playoffs not completed |
| 2018–19 | SC Bern (101) | NLA Champions |
| 2017–18 | SC Bern (102) | Lost in Semi-Finals |
| 2016–17 | SC Bern (109) | NLA Champions |
| 2015–16 | ZSC Lions (98) | Lost in Quarter-Finals |
| 2014–15 | ZSC Lions (104) | Lost in Finals |
Past NLA Champions
HC Davos are by some distance the most successful team in the Swiss NLA with a total of 31 titles to their name, although they have not won one since 2015.
The closest team to them is SC Bern who have won 16 titles, some 15 behind HC Davos and only one other team is in the double-digits with ZSC Lions picking up 10 titles.
The last three finals have been very competitive with all three of them needing the maximum seven games to win the series.
Here are the last ten NLA Champions
| Year | Champions | Series | Runners-up |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023-24 | ZSC Lions | 4-3 | Lausanne HC |
| 2022-23 | Genève-Servette HC | 4-3 | EHC Biel |
| 2021-22 | EV Zug | 4-3 | ZSC Lions |
| 2020-21 | EV Zug | 3-0 | Genève-Servette HC |
| 2019-20 | No competition | ||
| 2018-19 | SC Bern | 4-1 | EV Zug |
| 2017-18 | ZSC Lions | 4-3 | HC Lugano |
| 2016-17 | SC Bern | 4-2 | EV Zug |
| 2015-16 | SC Bern | 4-1 | HC Lugano |
| 2014-15 | HC Davos | 4-1 | ZSC Lions |
2023-24 Playoff Bracket
Swiss National League Teams
2024-25 Teams in the NLA
| 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 |
Author Information
Andy Powell manages this Swiss National League (NLA) Preview & Betting Guide and other hockey content in this section of the site as well as the Ice Hockey Tipsters in the OLBG tipster competition in his role in the OLBG Expert Team. Andy meticulously updates the date and results for these pieces and is an erstwhile Penguins fan in the NHL. He provides Ice Hockey betting advice in our bookmaker reviews as well as providing a huge contribution to the Best Ice Hockey Betting Sites Guide.
Andy Powell
Content Editor
