2025–26 National League (ice hockey) season

2025–26 National League season
League	National League
Sport	Ice hockey
Duration	September 09, 2025 – March 09, 2026
Number of games	52
Number of teams	14
Regular season
Playoffs
National League seasons
← 2024–25 2026–27 →

The 2025-26 National League season is the 88th season of Swiss professional ice hockey and the eighth season as the National League (NL). The ZSC Lions are the defending champion.

4 teams from the NL are qualified for 2025-26 Champions Hockey League (CHL), those teams being the ZSC Lions, Lausanne HC, SC Bern, and EV Zug. ^[1]

The teams did not change from the 2024-25 season as HC Ajoie won the relegation match against EHC Visp, the winner of the Swiss League. ^[2]

Teams

HC Ambrì-Piotta

HC Ajoie

SC Bern

EHC Biel

HC Davos

Fribourg-Gottéron

Genève-Servette HC

EHC Kloten

Lausanne HC

HC Lugano

SCL Tigers

SC Rapperswil-Jona Lakers

ZSC Lions

EV Zug

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NL teams for the 2024–25 season

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	SWISS 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

Standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	HC Ajoie	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Advance to Playoffs, Regular season winners and Champions Hockey League
2	HC Ambrì-Piotta	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Advance to Playoffs and Champions Hockey League
3	SC Bern	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Advance to Playoffs
4	EHC Biel	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
5	HC Davos	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
6	HC Fribourg-Gottéron	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
7	Genève-Servette HC	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Advance to Play-in
8	EHC Kloten	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
9	Lausanne HC	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
10	HC Lugano	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
11	SC Rapperswil-Jona Lakers	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
12	SCL Tigers	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
13	ZSC Lions	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Advance to Playouts
14	EV Zug	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Source:
Rules for classification: 1) points per game 2) greater number of games played 3) greater number of away games played 4) head-to-head points

Postseason

At the end of the regular season, the 6 teams with the most points advance to the playoffs, the next 4 advance to the play-ins for a chance to qualify to the playoffs. The 2 teams with the least point go to the playouts. The loser of the series has to face the winner of the Swiss League and are relegated to the Swiss League if they lose (the winning team being promoted).

Play-in stage

Each round of the play-ins is played in 2 matches, one at each team's home arena, using aggregate scoring (the winner is defined by the total score of the 2 matches). The games are only played on regulation time (no overtime). If the total score at the end of regulation of the second match is even, endless overtime is played. The first game is played at the home arena of the team with the lowest regular season ranking.

In the first round, the 7th seed faces the 8th and the 9th faces the 10th. The winner of the match between the 7th and 8th qualifies for the playoffs. The loser faces the winner of the match between 9th and 10th in the second round. The winner of the second round qualifies for the playoffs. Of the 2 teams qualified, the one with the better regular season ranking faces the second seed in the first round of playoffs. The other team faces the first seed. ^[3]

	Round 1							Round 2							Final Seeds
	7																No. 7 Seed
	8																No. 8 Seed
	9
	10

Playoffs

The playoffs are played in a single elimination bracket, each round being a best of seven. The seeding is decided based on the regular season ranking. The teams play every other game at their home arena, the team with the higher regular season ranking getting the advantage for the first game.

	Quarterfinals (best-of-7)					Semifinals (best-of-7)					Finals (best-of-7)
	1
	8
	2
	7
	(Pairings are reseeded after the first round)
	3
	6
	4
	5

Playouts

The 2 teams in the NL with the least regular season point go to the Playouts. They play a 7 game series, the loser of which has to play against the winner of the Swiss League. The loser of this series goes to the Swiss League and the winner to the National League.

	Semifinal					Final
	13
	14

References

1. "Teams". championshockeyleague.com. 27 August 2025. Retrieved 17 August 2025.
2. "Playouts 2024/25". nationalleague.com. 10 April 2025. Retrieved 17 August 2025.
3. "Tournament rulebook" (in French). Retrieved 3 December 2024.