Swiss Ice Hockey National League Arenas

Ice-Hockey evolved towards the end of the 19th century in Canada based on predecessor sports like Bandy or Shinty which were imported from Europe. The first European national championship was held 1903 in Great Britain. The Swiss Ice Hockey Federation was founded 5 years later in 1908, and was in the same year one of 4 founding members of the International Ice Hockey Federation (today: 65 member associations) with its seat in Zurich. The first Swiss championship was 08/09 won by Bellerive Vevey. 1910 the first European Championship, and 1920 the first World Championship and Olympic Hockey tournaments were held.

While in the first years, the Swiss championship was dominated by teams from the Lake Geneva region, Canadian students from English clubs have helped to establish the sport in the alpine regions quite quickly. At the beginning of the 20-ies, these clubs from the Bernese and Grisons (Graubünden) mountains started to dominate the championship – one of these teams managed to stay successful until today and is the record champion: HC Davos (28 championship titles). Davos profited in this time from its rising importance as a spa and the introduction of the Spengler Cup, the most traditional and well-known international club tournament, held each year between Christmas and New Year’s Eve.

Team Canada captain Serge Aubin celebrating victory at the Spengler Cup 2007 in Davos:
http://www.eishockey.info/photos/20071231-serge-aubin.jpg


The mountain teams had a natural advantage in the beginning of hockey history, as they were able to sustain an ice rink during the whole winter thanks to the climatic conditions and therefore could train and play at home on a regular basis. It’s interesting to note that despite the new technologies available today, the countries with long and cold winters in at least part of their area are still the best hockey nations.

Shortly before WW II, mechanically-frozen ice rinks have been used in international competitions for the first time. After the war, these rinks have become more and more popular. The big wave of such new rinks built in Switzerland mainly in the 50-ies has offered the opportunity for clubs from the midlands to compete with the alpine teams. This started to pay off 10 years later when teams from Bern and Zurich started to win the championship more frequently.

After a spell of 6 consecutive championship titles by La Chaux-de-Fonds, the best team from the lower Jura mountain range in the north-west of the country, Swiss hockey landscape evolved in the following decades around three centers: the Bern region, the Zurich region and the alpine canton of Grisons. In these regions, Ice-Hockey became the number one sport. Later during the 80-ies, they were joined by Ticino as a fourth hockey region with the rise of Ambri-Piotta and Lugano.

The 70-ies saw the growing domination of the Soviet Union in international hockey competitions and some memorable “cold war duels” with Canada and the USA. In Switzerland, the 70-ies were the time of a construction wave. Following the example of Zurich and Geneva who had an indoor arena since the 50-ies, several other clubs started to cover their ice rink as well, and towards the end of the 70-ies, the roof became a mandatory criteria to enter/stay in the top leagues of Swiss hockey.

With the growing popularity, professionalism and commercialisation of hockey, the clubs from rural areas felt more and more the difficulties to keep pace with the rising teams from the cities. Some of these village-clubs were relegated in the competition or relegated on their own wish because of financial reasons. The most well-known example is EHC Arosa (9x Swiss champion) who relegated on their own wish to the 3rd Division in 1986 only 4 years after their last championship title. A film has been produced recently on this story.

However, as several examples show, such kind of development is not inevitable. Langnau, Ambri-Piotta and Davos are teams from rural areas that manage to compete with the top teams until today - the latter being even a top team themselves. These teams draw a lot of supporters from the surrounding villages in the same valley and also from neighbouring valleys which can be reasonably reached thanks to the well-developped public transportation system in the rural areas of Switzerland. Their supporter base goes way beyond state borders and language areas. These teams really also work hard with a lot of promotion activities in schools, shopping malls etc. in the surrounding villages and valleys in order to keep and expand their fan base.

The popular Geneva hockey club Servette-Genève is back in National League A since 2001. Also Lausanne and Basel have ambitious teams and a good support. So, one can say, that in hockey, nowadays, every region of Switzerland is represented and every important city has an ambitious team and enough local support, whereas in football, the support depends on the region and city. In Geneva, for example, the public and the local businessmen have lost the trust in the local football teams and their managements long ago and are not so interested in them anymore. Football is currently number 1 only in certain regions, notably St.Gallen, Luzern, Aarau and Basel. In all other regions, hockey is at least on the same level or more popular. The 1st Division in hockey had last year slightly more spectators than the football 1st Division (hockey: 1,9 million vs. football: 1,8 million). Also, the 2nd Hockey Division (National League B) is very well rooted and supported in many regions.

Ryan Gardner of ZSC Lions scoring in Champions Hockey League 08/09 semi-final:
http://archiv.hockeyfans.ch/telegramme/081210/zsc-fin_esp10.jpg


In 2008, the NLA managed to achieve new records in terms of spectators and TV coverage. It is one of the best hockey leagues in Europe. The Russia-based KHL is the best one, followed by the Swedish, Czech and Finnish leagues, but with the Swiss NLA being almost on the same level as them. This development has been supported by the work done in the education of players during the last decades and also by many great foreign players that have put their mark in the NLA with the world class duo Bykov/Khomutov at Fribourg-Gottéron during the 90-ies as one of the most outstanding examples. Many NHL players have played in Switzerland. These players enjoy the NLA fan support which is overall arguably the most frenetic worldwide, bringing “football atmosphere” to the hockey stadium.

Fans of SC Bern:
http://archiv.hockeyfans.ch/teams/bern/stadion13.jpg


The Swiss national team is ranked currently nr.7 by IIHF behind Canada, Russia, Sweden, Finland, Czech Republic and USA. The women are nr.5. This year, the World Championship with teams from 16 nations will take place in Switzerland, Postfinance Arena (Bern) and Kolping Arena (Zürich-Kloten). The participants are: Canada, Slovakia, Belarus, Hungary, Russia, Switzerland, Germany, France, Sweden, USA, Latvia, Austria, Finland, Czech Republic, Norway and Denmark. Parallely, the IIHF organizes men’s Division I (2 groups), Division II (2 groups) and Division III (1 group) tournaments with relegations and promotions. This means, 6 men’s tournaments in as many locations (plus youth and female tournaments).

2009 IIHF World Championship in Switzerland:
http://www.iihf.com/typo3temp/pics/adb27a8d51.jpg

http://www.iihf.com/channels/iihf-world-championship-oc09/home.html


Map of Switzerland:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ae/KARTE_schweiz_verwaltungsgliederung.png/800px-KARTE_schweiz_verwaltungsgliederung.png

National League A (1st Division)


Zurich

City Population: 350'000
Agglomeration: 1,13 million


NLA-Team: ZSC Lions
- founded 1930
- 6x champion (incl. 2008)
- Finalist of IIHF Champions Hockey League 08/09
- 2x winner of IIHF Continental cup
- 2x winner of Spengler Cup
- Original name of the club was “Zürcher SC”. In 1997, the club merged with the hockey-section of Grasshopper-Club Zürich to form the ZSC Lions.
- Championship 2008 (decisive game against Servette): http://www.sf.tv/sfsport/artikel.php?catid=sporteishockeyartikel&docid=20080410-03 , http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dzXGi6qc_E
- Well-known former players: Mark Streit, Wladimir Krutov, Marc Fortier, Michel Zeiter, Reijo Ruotsalainen, Mike Richards


NLA-Team: Kloten Flyers
- founded 1934
- 5x champion
- Promoted 1962 to the 1st Division and hasn’t been relegated since – Kloten is by far the team with the longest uninterrupted participation in National League A
- Kloten has an extraordinary youth section – the elite youth team won 19 Swiss Championships in the recent 50 years
- Kloten is a a town of appr. 20’000 inhabitants in the agglomeration of Zurich hosting the Zurich international airport, hence the name of the team.
- There is a big rivalry with the other Zurich team, ZSC Lions, whith the two stadiums located in a distance of only 6 km from eachother. Many school classes in and around Zurich are divided in two factions: ZSC-supporters and Kloten-supporters. The two teams differ among other things also in their styles of play which has been influenced by generations of foreign coaches and players which in the case of Kloten have been predominantly from Sweden, whereas the ZSC Lions have always been much more Canada-oriented.
- Well-known former players: Felix Hollenstein, Anders Eldebrink, Mikael Johansson, Kent Nilsson, Peter Schlagenhauf, Roman Wäger, Reto Pavoni, Ron Wilson, Tommy Sjödin, Marcel Jenni


Possible future Stadium: Zurich Dome / Glattbrugg Arena
- Capacity: 10’000 – 12’000
- ZSC Lions are not satisfied with their current arena Hallenstadion. Hockey is not the top priority of the Hallenstadion operators. They could easily operate the stadium without it and still have a full capacity utilization and be even more profitable. ZSC Lions are suffering each season from an unfavourable home games calendar. Furthermore, the facilities like eg. the cubicles are not suitable for hockey and much too small. And the team cannot participate in catering revenues. Since many years, the Lions have been pondering about building a new hockey-dedicated stadium, either alone, or together with Kloten Flyers. The Flyers are basically open for discussion but don’t feel the same level of urge to change their situation.
- During recent years, 10 sites have been considered as possible locations for the new hockey stadium, but so far none of the ideas has materialised.
- Current ideas include the project Zurich Dome in the south of the city center to replace the current indoor arena Saalsporthalle (cap.: 2’300 seats - used for handball, floorball, basketball etc.) with a new and bigger sports center including a hockey arena (10’000-12’000), handball arena (3’000-5’000) and a polysportive hall which could be used for a training ice rink, plus a few flats for elderly people. Saalsporthalle is very well connected with all kinds of public transportation including S-Bahn and tram lines. Next to the site the urban entertainment center Sihlcity opened in 2007. There would be interesting opportunities for synergies with this center.
- Another possible project is located in Glattbrugg on the new tram line which connects Zurich with the airport. It would be only a few hundred meters away both from the city border and the airport. But the local authorities in Glattbrugg have not been too excited about it yet.
- The project in Glattbrugg would be suitable as a common project of ZSC Lions and Kloten Flyers as it is geographically located in the middle of their respective current locations. The Zurich Dome however would be located on the other end of the city and would unlikely be an option for Kloten Flyers.

Zurich Dome

http://files.newsnetz.ch/story/1/0/0/10084271/10/topelement.jpg


Glattbrugg Arena

http://img411.imageshack.us/img411/8659/holberg01ox5.jpg

http://img236.imageshack.us/img236/1808/holberg02xa1.jpg


Current Stadium: Hallenstadion
- General Capacity: 13’000
- Hockey Capacity: 10’700
- Average attendance ZSC Lions 07/08: 7’500
- Maximum attendance ZSC Lions 07/08: 10’700
- Main venue of the Hockey World Championship 1953 and 1998
- Main venue of Handball European Championship 2006
- Venue of Female Volleyball Champions League Final Four 2007
- The building of the Hallenstadion had been completed in autumn 1939. At the time it was the biggest indoor sports stadium in Europe and it is still one of the biggest European multi-purpose indoor halls.
- Originally, it has been built as an indoor arena for cycling, but already in 1950, the ice-rink was added and it became the home venue of ZSC Lions. Before that, the club played 20 years in the mechanically-frozen ice open-air stadium Dolder on the Adlisberg hill which is still today the biggest open artificial ice rink in Europe.
- With a concert of Louis Armstrong in 1955, Hallenstadion started also its history as the key pop concert hall of the country with legendary gigs of Bob Marley, Jimi Hendrix, Beatles, Rolling Stones and the like. To play in front of a sell-out crowd in Hallenstadion has become synonymic to “success” on the Swiss market for any band.
- A multitude of events have established themselves meanwhile in the Hallenstadion calendar: operas, skating shows, general meetings, conferences, giant techno raves, international tv shows, the CSI Zürich (arguably the best indoor horseriding event worldwide) or boxing events like Ali vs. Blin 1971 or world championship Walujew vs. Holyfield 2008.
- Meanwhile, Hallenstadion is landmarked. It has been renovated in the years 2004-2005 and re-opened with a Dalai Lama meeting. The exterior is still basically the same, except an annex building which has been added. The major changes have been realised on the interior. Eg. a few boxes have been added and the built-in cycling track (for which Hallenstadion had originally been constructed) was moved out. Cycling is still part of the programme of the Hallenstadion calendar with the traditional “Six Days” - on a mobile race track now. But it’s not as popular anymore as it has been in the past and the organizers have more and more problems to keep it alive.
- Located next door to the Hallenstadion is the small ice-stadium KEBO used mainly as a public ice-skating rink. During the renovation of Hallenstadion, it was the home venue of ZSC Lions for one season.
- Also next door are the exhibition premises of “Messe Zürich”. The biggest fairs of the year use Hallenstadion as an additional venue.

http://www.sportalplus.com/photos/ch/07/10/aab42195237e7080e45082be33fdd39c.jpg

http://williswiss.files.wordpress.com/2007/10/1458144668_ce600b52f3.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2222/2403122939_a909bd8b42.jpg?v=0


Current Stadium: Kolping Arena
- League Capacity: 7’600
- World Championship 2009 Capacity: 6’000
- Average attendance Kloten Flyers 07/08: 5’100
- Maximum attendance Kloten Flyers 07/08: 7’600
- Venue of Hockey World Championship 2009 together with Postfinance Arena
- Summer training center for many NHL cracks
- Venue of Karate European Championship 2011
- The stadium is also used for general assemblies of multinational corporations
- Kolping arena was the main venue of the Floorball Worldchampionship 2004 drawing sell-out crowds on the days of the finals (Floorball is also called Innebändy or Unihockey – in Switzerland it’s the sport nr. 3)
- From 1997 to 2004, Kolping Arena hosted the WTA Swisscom Challenge, one of the top WTA tournaments (winners of the tournament during the Kolping Arena times among others: Lindsay Davenport, Venus Williams, Martina Hingis, Justine Henin)
- The Naming right has been sold for the first time at the beginning of this season (Kolping = health insurance company) for the next 7 years – traditional name of the arena located in a forest is “Schluefweg”
- Schluefweg was constructed in 1952 as an open-air “Forest Stadium” near the pond where ice-hockey was played first in Kloten in the beginning of the 20th century. The stadium was joined by an open-air public swimming-pool 2 years later. The ice-rink was covered with a roof in 1977, but was still open on two sides. From this time on, the venue was used not only for hockey, but also for other purposes like tennis, shows or exhibitions. 1978 an indoor swimming pool, other sports facilities and a conference center were added to the complex. Major renovations followed in 1982 and 1997 with an additional outdoor ice-rink, a new roof construction and the fourth stand. In summer 2008, the arena has been slightly renovated again, but with no influence on capacity.
- Perspectives: The stadium has been gradually adapted over the years. Kloten Flyers don’t have an urge to change, but if there arises an opportunity for a modern hockey-dedicated stadium in or near Kloten that could be run together with ZSC Lions, they would be open for discussion.

http://www.schluefweg.ch/de/images/469f22a1cae05.jpg

http://www.sportalplus.com/photos/ch/07/10/0f7061fd62b3f1f3a21a3fec6c72062a.jpg



Geneva

City Population: 180'000
Agglomeration: 780'000


NLA-Team: Genève-Servette HC
- HC Servette (a city district of Geneva) founded 1905, 1963 merger between HC Servette and HC Genève
- since 2001 back in the NLA, Genève-Servette is not legally or personally related with the Servette Football-Club
- the Canadian coach and manager Chris McSorley is at the same time one of the co-owners of the club
- Well-known former players: Reto Pavoni


Stadium: Les Vernets
- Capacity: 6’800
- Average attendance Servette 07/08: 5’600
- Maximum attendance Servette 07/08: 6’800
- Venue of the World Championship 1971
- In 1954, Servette started to play its home games on mechanically frozen ice. The indoor arena Les Vernets was inaugurated in 1958 together with the neighbouring indoor swimming pool and is currently step-by-step renovated until 2010. This year, the first boxes have opened.
- The stadium is mainly used for hockey, but also for discothèques and other events.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b4/CingriaMauriceVernetsGeneve02.jpg/800px-CingriaMauriceVernetsGeneve02.jpg

http://www.sportalplus.com/photos/ch/07/10/61d595e6b2eb65e3fc74aa9c63408b97.jpg



Davos

City Population: 10'000
Agglomeration: 10'000


NLA-Team: HC Davos
- founded 1921
- 28x champion (record)
- Organizer and 14x winner of Spengler Cup
- After some relegations to lower leagues, HC Davos plays since 1992 in NLA again.
- Davos is currently the only team from the state of Grisons playing on a top level – former state rival EHC Arosa (9x Swiss champion) from a remote touristic village has asked to be relegated to the 3rd Division in 1986 as it was not possible anymore for them to keep pace financially with professional hockey
- Well-known former players: Petteri Nummelin, Ron Wilson, Richard “Bibi” Torriani, Joe Thornton, Rick Nash, Jonas Hiller, Niklas Hagman, Alexandre Daigle, Kelly Kisio, Mark Streit, Jacques Soguel, Patrick Fischer


Stadium: Vaillant Arena
- Capacity: 7’100
- Average attendance HC Davos 07/08: 4’500
- Maximum attendance HC Davos 07/08: 7’100
- Davos on 1’600 m above sea level is the highest-located city of Europe and by surface (284 sqkm) the biggest municipality of Switzerland. The mountain town, featured in Thomas Mann’s novel “Der Zauberberg”, is well-known as a medical spa, touristic sports and conference center (eg. for the annual World Economic Forum). More than 20’000 beds in hotels, private rooms and vacation flats are available for tourists.
- Vaillant Arena is an impressive and beautiful stadium with wooden construction. It is known as “Eisstadion Davos”. In 2007, Vaillant (heating technology) has bought the naming rights for 12 years.
- The covered hockey stadium was inaugurated in 1981, after Davos had played already since 1960 in a mechanically frozen ice open-air stadium.
- The arena is the venue of the most traditional and well-known international club tournament worldwide, the Spengler Cup, which is held since 1923 and played during 6 days between Christmas and New Year’s Eve: http://www.spenglercup.ch/spenglercup/en/
- A natural ice rink – the biggest in Europe – is located next door to Vaillant Arena – and used for speed skating, but also normal skating, curling and hockey. Many speed skating world records have been achieved on this natural and open ice rink because of the good ice conditions and the high altitude of Davos (lower air drag).
- Perspectives: the stadium has been gradually renovated during the last years. In 2005, the turn was on the northern stand with new areas for VIP, the new restaurant “Nordside”, upgraded cubicles and a central video screen. The capacity has been reduced by 600. The next stand to be upgraded will be the southern one.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5d/Vaillant_Arena_Davos.JPG/800px-Vaillant_Arena_Davos.JPG

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8d/Innenaufnahme_Vaillant_Arena_Davos.JPG/800px-Innenaufnahme_Vaillant_Arena_Davos.JPG

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3c/HC_Davos_vs_Team_Canada.jpg/800px-HC_Davos_vs_Team_Canada.jpg



Fribourg

City Population: 30'000
Agglomeration: 100’000


NLA-Team: HC Fribourg-Gottéron
- founded 1937
- since 1980 Gottéron plays nonstop in the 1st Division. From 1993 -1995, Gottéron qualified 3 times in a row for the Playoff-Final but lost the series each time. Since 2003, the club had not qualified for the playoffs anymore, until last season, 07/08, when they reached the semi-finals by beating qualification winner and regional rival SC Bern.
- One of the highlights of club history were the 7 years between 1990 – 1997 when the magic Russian duo Bykov/Khomutov played for Gottéron.
- Well-known former players: Wjacheslaw “Slawa” Bykov, Andrej Khomutov, David Aebischer, Sergei Makarov, Mark Streit.


Stadium: Patinoire St-Léonard
- Capacity: 7’200
- Average attendance HC Fribourg-Gottéron 07/08: 5’700
- Maximum attendance HC Fribourg-Gottéron 07/08: 7’100
- Patinoire St-Léonard opened 1982. Before that, Gottéron played since 1950 in the lower town on an ice rink near the river.
- The stadium has been a venue of the Hockey World Championship 1985 and 1990.
- VIP rooms and some boxes have been added in 2004 which has reduced the capacity by 500 to 7’200.
- The stadium is known for its steep stands and closeness of the fans to the rink fostering a hot atmosphere.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/de/thumb/7/73/Patinoire_de_StLeonard_Aussen.JPG/800px-Patinoire_de_StLeonard_Aussen.JPG

http://www.ambri-fanatici.ch/images/stadien/fribourg.jpg

Bern

City Population: 120'000
Agglomeration: 300'000


NLA-Team: SC Bern
- founded 1893 / 1930
- 11x champion
- Since 1986 nonstop in the 1st Division
- Well-known former players: Alan Haworth, Reijo Ruotsalainen, Renato Tosio, Martin Steinegger, Daniel Brière, Dany Heatley, Patrick Juhlin.


Stadium: Postfinance Arena
- League Capacity (new): 17’100
- League Capacity 07/08: 16’800
- World Championship 09 Capacity: 10’000
- Average attendance SC Bern 07/08: 16’000
- Maximum attendance SC Bern 07/08: 16’800 (52 x sold out in the last 5 yrs.)
- Attendance of SC Bern is by far the biggest in Europe, with last seasons 16’000 average, SC Bern has set a European record for the fourth consecutive year in a row – in the new season 08/09, the average has been increased again to currently 16’300 which means an average utilization ratio of 95%.
- Postfinance Arena features the biggest standing area of hockey stadiums worldwide with a capacity of 10’400.
- Postfinance Arena (former names: Allmend, BernArena) located next to the football stadium Stade de Suisse Wankdorf has been renovated this year. An annex services building has been added with an underground ice rink (cap.: 500). The number of seats (especially VIP-seats) has been slightly increased and a new VIP-area built.
- The arena will be the main venue of Hockey World Championship 2009 and Figure Skating European Championship 2011. It was already the main venue of the Hockey World Championship 1971 and 1990.

http://www.djbobo.ch/upload/Curtis/FOTOS-2007/TOUR-VAMPIRES-2008/CH-Tourtermine_08/Bern/Arena_als_Modell.jpg

http://is.blick.ch/img/gen/4/a/HB4aIsAD_Pxgen_r_420x260.jpg

Stade de Suisse Wankdorf (next door to Postfinance Arena) hosting the Swiss Hockey League game SCL Tigers – SC Bern with a 30’000 record attendance in European Hockey:

http://www.scltigers.ch/tatze-derby/SCL%20Tigers%20Tatze-Derby%20Blog/715AE15D-A4D5-11DB-BA33-003065C6BFF0_files/34788963.jpg




Zug

City Population: 30'000
Agglomeration: 110’000

NLA-Team: EV Zug
- founded 1967
- predecessor club was Baarer Schlittschuh-Club (BSC) from the neighbouring town Baar, founded 1953, which renamed itself into Eissport-Verein Zug when they moved in 1967 to the new mechanically-frozen ice stadium Herti in Zug.
- 1x champion
- Well-known former players: Claude Lemieux, Oleg Petrov, Jorma Peltonen, Ivan Hlinka, Patrick Fischer


Future Stadium: Herti (new)
- Capacity: 7’100
- The building credit for the new stadium on the same lot like the old one was approved by the Zug citizens in a vote in February 2008. The project includes an open air ice rink, a highrise and 170 flats.
- The new stadium is u/c and will be finished in summer 2010.

http://www.stadtzug.ch/de/images/474d4ccf3a3cc.jpg

http://www.stadtzug.ch/de/images/474d4c6b56de0.jpg

http://www.stadtzug.ch/de/images/474d52695cba3.jpg


Current Stadium: Eisstadion Herti
- Capacity: 6’800
- Average League attendance EV Zug 07/08: 4’300
- Maximum League attendance EV Zug 07/08: 6’800
- The stadium has been built 1967, after the plan and the financing had been supported by the citizens. In the year 1976, the stadium has been covered by a roof.

http://archiv.hockeyfans.ch/teams/zug/stadion8.jpg

http://www.sportalplus.com/photos/ch/07/10/b0dcf3e0a77a4bcf7c0952490a5676ff.jpg

Herti ice stadium & ice rink 1967

http://www.stadtzug.ch/de/images/4368bf3bc2b24.jpg



Rapperswil-Jona

City Population: 30'000
Agglomeration: 50’000


NLA-Team: Rapperswil-Jona Lakers
- founded 1945
- promotion to 1st Division in 1994
- Well-known former players: Mike Richards, Mike Bullard, Doug Gilmour, Kristian Huselius, Mariusz Czerkawski.


Stadium: Diners Club Arena
- Capacity: 6’100
- Average League attendance Rapperswil-Jona Lakers 07/08: 5’000
- Maximum League attendance Rapperswil-Jona Lakers 07/08: 6’100
- Venue of the Champions League Final and Semi-Final games of ZSC Lions 08/09 – their home stadium Hallenstadion was/will be occupied by other events on these dates.
- The traditional name of the stadium is “Lido”. In 2006, it has been remodelled which has been partially financed by Diners Club (Credit Card), hence the renaming.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3037/2410574156_653a8c4638.jpg?v=0

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/230/468581607_bcffd05b25.jpg?v=0



Lugano

City Population: 60'000
Agglomeration: 130’000

NLA-Team: HC Lugano
- founded 1941
- 7x champion
- 2x European Cup finalist
- Since 1982 in NLA
- Lugano has always been a very ambitious team. Part of their fan base comes from nearby Italy. This year, HCL engaged again four NHL-players (Petteri Nummelin, John Pohl, Randy Robitaille, Patrick Thoresen).
- Well-known former players: Kent Johansson, Michael Nylander, Igor Larionov, Cristobal Huet, Ville Peltonen, Alex Tanguay, Jason Blake, Martin Gélinas, Jörg Eberle, Mats Näslund, Tommy Sjödin, Patrick Fischer, Sandro Bertaggia, Marcel Jenni.


Current Stadium: Resega
- League Capacity: 8’300
- Average attendance HC Lugano 07/08: 3’800
- Maximum attendance HC Lugano 07/08: 7’100
- Resega has re-opened in 1995 after 3 years of reconstruction. The original Resega open air stadium had been built in 1957 after many changes of location.

http://archiv.hockeyfans.ch/teams/lugano/stadion6.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3222/2850586338_bd96b26259.jpg?v=0



Langnau (i.E.)

Municipality Population: 9'000

NLA-Team: SCL Tigers
- founded 1946
- 1x champion
- Since 1998 back in the 1st Division.
- Well-known former players: Martin Gerber, Reto von Arx.

Possible future Stadium: Zeughausareal
- Capacity: 7’000
- There was a discussion to build the new stadium in or near the town of Burgdorf, around 20 km from Langnau, but it has been decided that the new stadium will be built in Langnau again, despite the smallness and remote location of the village. The most probable location is a former military warehouse. But there are still problems with the financing of the project, so meanwhile also in Langnau the combination “stadium with a shopping mall” is discussed.

http://www.fanclub-whitetiger.ch/neu/bilder/image.php?twg_album=Neues+Stadion%2FComputerbilder&twg_type=thumb&twg_show=Stadion-Langnau-06.jpg

http://files.newsnetz.ch/story/1/3/7/13707696/1/topelement.jpg


Current Stadium: Ilfishalle
- League Capacity: 6’500
- Average League attendance SCL Tigers 07/08: 5’300
- Maximum League attendance SCL Tigers 07/08: 6’500
- SC Langnau (former name of SCL Tigers) started on a natural ice rink and changed in 1959 to an artificial one. The Ilfishalle indoor stadium was inaugurated in 1976.

http://www.sportalplus.com/photos/ch/07/10/fafa4018b1de511870e7e3dc3c69dd0a.jpg

http://is.blick.ch/img/gen/u/n/HBunvPfr_Pxgen_r_800x530.jpg



Quinto

Municipality Population: 1'000

NLA-Team: HC Ambri-Piotta
- founded 1937
- IIHF Continental Cup winner 1999 and 2000
- Ambri (200 inhabitants) and Piotta are little Swiss villages belonging to the municipality of Quinto (totally 1’000 inhabitants) in the canton of Ticino. Quinto is located on the southern side of the most important Swiss alpine pass Gotthard. The village Piotta features the steepest funicular railway in Europe which heads up to the Ritom lake. The village Ambri hosts a small airport and the hockey stadium Valascia.
- In 1953, the Hockey Club Ambri-Piotta has sensationally managed for the first time to promote to the 1st Division – even though often struggling to secure the league, since 1985, the club hasn’t been relegated anymore! The team has become very popular allover Switzerland, especially in the northern part of Italian-speaking Ticino and in German-speaking Central Switzerland north of the Gotthard pass. HC Ambri-Piotta has 27 fan clubs and the average attendance is appr. 5 x as high as the population of Ambri and Piotta together.
- Not only have Enrico and Nello Celio from Quinto been members of the Swiss federal government in the middle of the 20th century, but also more than half a dozen Celio- brothers and cousins from the village have started a career as a professional Hockey player at HC Ambri-Piotta and some of them even played for the Swiss national team. Nicola Celio currently serves his 20th (!!) NLA season for HC Ambri-Piotta.
- Well-known former players: Mike Bullard, Dale McCourt, Corey Millen, Valeri Kamensky, Pauli Jaks, Oleg Petrov.

Possible future stadium: New Valascia
- Capacity: 7’000 – 10’000
- All-seater
- Multi-purpose indoor arena
- Projected opening: 2013
- Architect will most probably be Murray Beynon (built similar arenas in Toronto and Helsinki), but there are still some financial question marks to the project.

Current Stadium: La Valascia
- Capacity: 7’000
- Inaugurated in 1959
- Roof added in 1979
- Average League attendance HC Ambri-Piotta 07/08: 3’900
- Maximum League attendance HC Ambri-Piotta 07/08: 6’100
- Valascia has a roof but it’s the only Swiss stadium of the upper two Divisions that is still open on two sides – so it is usually getting cold on the stands.

http://www.ambri-fanatici.ch/images/curva/stadio_2.jpg

.http://www.blogticino.ch/grupporesaka/upload/ambri07.jpg



Biel-Bienne

City Population: 50’000
Agglomeration: 90’000

NLA-Team: EHC Biel
- founded 1939
- 3x champion
- Managed to promote back to the 1st Division in 2008.
- Well-known former players: Norman Dupont, Jakob “Köbi” Kölliker, Olivier Anken, Michel Riesen, Chris Chelios.

Future Stadium: Stades de Bienne
- Capacity: 7’000
- Perspectives: Biel plans to build until 2011 a Double-stadium “Stades de Bienne”, one for Football (6’000) and one for Hockey (7’000) right next to eachother and linked by a covered public place on the spot of the current hockey stadium “Eisstadion Biel” in Biel-Bözingen.
- In this context there is also a discussion about a new Light Rail Transit line which would connect the new stadia and other areas in the north-east of the town with the main train station, the lakeside and an existing line along the eastern shore of the Lake of Biel.

http://www.glsag.ch/Wettbewerbe/Stades%20de%20Bienne/image2.jpg

http://www.glsag.ch/Wettbewerbe/Stades%20de%20Bienne/image5.jpg

http://www.glsag.ch/Wettbewerbe/Stades%20de%20Bienne/image3.jpg


Current Stadium: Eisstadion Biel
- League Capacity: 7’000
- Average (National League B) attendance EHC Biel 07/08: 3’400
- Maximum (National League B) attendance FC Biel-Bienne 07/08: 7’000
- The indoor stadium opened in 1972. The previous open-air stadium had been inaugurated in 1959. Before this date, EHC Biel played on a natural ice field in the Gurzelen district.

http://www.ctssa.ch/pictures/headers/eisstadion.jpg

http://www.sportalplus.com/photos/ch/08/09/061a03fc9a8d4d8e53acfe220eef63ff.jpg

does SC Bern have the best fans?

does SC Bern have the best fans?

The most numerous fans. In terms of "quality" most teams are on a similar level (including also some from the 2nd Division teams).

The passion of European club hockey is beautiful. I love the fact that Bern has a massive standing area for the real fans. Here in Toronto, tickets are so expensive that tickets are beyond the means of an average person and the waiting list for season tickets is about 50 years. The result is 20,000 corporate CEO's and stockbrokers in the stands that spend the whole game on their mobile phones eating caviare and sipping champagne. Meanwhile, the real fans gather at bars and houses to watch on TV. It's a shame.

The passion of European club hockey is beautiful. I love the fact that Bern has a massive standing area for the real fans. Here in Toronto, tickets are so expensive that tickets are beyond the means of an average person and the waiting list for season tickets is about 50 years. The result is 20,000 corporate CEO's and stockbrokers in the stands that spend the whole game on their mobile phones eating caviare and sipping champagne. Meanwhile, the real fans gather at bars and houses to watch on TV. It's a shame.

The main reason for this is of course the tremendous passion for this sport in Canada. You would need indoor stadiums with 50'000 places or more in some cities, I guess. ;)

Is ice hockey as popular as association football in Switzerland?

Is ice hockey as popular as association football in Switzerland?

Yes, it's on the same level.

In 07/08, the 1st Division hockey league had in total slightly more stadium spectators than the 1st Division football league. The average nr. of spectators per game is higher in football in the 1st Division, but not in the 2nd Division.

In Free TV, there are more football live games because international competitions have so far been much more attractive in football. On the other hand, there are more game summaries on hockey, simply because there are more hockey games. The same is true concerning live games on Pay-TV. And there is definitely also much more live coverage of hockey games on the radio (national and regional).

So, making it short, day-by-day coverage (quantity) is bigger concerning hockey. But the maximas are reached by football - special games on national or international level, eg. national Cup Final, national team games, world championship etc...

Nice compilation of the Ice hockey arenas in Switzerland..
Is there any hockey competitions between the european hockey teams?
or only in their leagues?

As I know, SC Bern has the highest average in Europe, with 16'000 spectators!

I think football is more popular than icehockey, it depends the city, but of course there are more spectators at football games, than at icehockey games.

Maybe the average is so high because there are more games in the NLA then in the Super league!

With the playoffs an playouts, there are a lot of additional games....

Nice compilation of the Ice hockey arenas in Switzerland..
Is there any hockey competitions between the european hockey teams?
or only in their leagues?

Check out here:
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=789036
http://www.iihf.com/home-of-hockey/club-events/champions-hockey-league.html

I think football is more popular than icehockey, it depends the city, but of course there are more spectators at football games, than at icehockey games.

The average number of spectators in the 1st Division is higher. But not in other Divisions. And the total number of spectators in the 1st Division was lower than icehockey in 07/08 - 1.8 million vs. 1.9 million.

Once again an incredible posting by you railcity!

I wonder why would Kloten consider sharing an arena with ZSC? Why would they abandon their current arena?

Btw where did you get the capacity for Resega? I think it is 7800 or 8000, not 8300.

St. Jakob Arena - Home of EHC Basel (NLB)

Basel
City population - 180`000
Agglomeration - 800`000
St. Jakob Arena - 6`600

http://www.judobasel.com/uploads/pics/Funkt07-024.jpg

http://archiv.hockeyfans.ch/teams/basel/bg6_800.jpg

http://www.basel.ch/pictures/full/16524/st._jakob-arena_-_innen_01.jpg

http://www.basel.ch/pictures/full/16525/st._jakob-arena_innen_-_03.jpg

Once again an incredible posting by you railcity!

Thanks!


I wonder why would Kloten consider sharing an arena with ZSC? Why would they abandon their current arena?

They receive only a part of the catering revenues at Kolping Arena, the location in the middle of the forest is far from ideal and the arena is in general okay, but not very modern. There can be reasons to change for them, but it would have to be good reasons. The situation is not bad for them, but also not ideal.


Btw where did you get the capacity for Resega? I think it is 7800 or 8000, not 8300.

You're right, there are various numbers in different sources. Hockeyarenas.net and German language wikipedia say 8'250. The city homepage means 8'000.

I am thinking about adopting SC Bern as my fav Euro ice hockey team.... Soley based on their supporters...

Great photos

I am thinking about adopting SC Bern as my fav Euro ice hockey team.... Soley based on their supporters...

As I'm a supporter of SC Bern I'd like to show you two videos about the fans from my team. If you'd like more stuff like pics and videos send me a pm so I don't have to spam this beautiful thread.

Some impressions from home and away games (crappy music)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8TGjZjJZKA

This video is from our last championship back in 2004. We won the last game away in overtime. The team came back to Bern at around 4 in the morning and there were over 10.000 fans to welcome them.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmUdyMNMqcM

As I'm a supporter of SC Bern I'd like to show you two videos about the fans from my team. If you'd like more stuff like pics and videos send me a pm so I don't have to spam this beautiful thread.


This video is from our last championship back in 2004. We won the last game away in overtime. The team came back to Bern at around 4 in the morning and there were over 10.000 fans to welcome them.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmUdyMNMqcM

this video has sold me. SC Bern is my new Euro hockey team. If I tried to support my Rangers like thather ein NYC I'd be arrested.

National League A this season reached a new attendance record during the qualification stage (50 rounds). The total number of spectators increased by 9% to 1.82 million. Capacity utilisation increased to 75% (by 6%). Nine out of twelf teams welcomed more spectators than last season and the promoted team EHC Biel had double as much spectators than last seasons relegated team from Basel. SC Bern is still the most popular team in Europe with an average attendance of 16'172 which surely will still increase in the Playoffs stage.

6'073 on average, compared to 5'538 last season. Not bad!
And this is only for qualification stage, in the playoffs it's of course quite a lot higher.

Currently (24 April - 10 May) the 2009 IIHF World Championship is held in Switzerland. The venues are Postfinance Arena (Berne) and the Kloten Arena in the suburbs of Zurich. Both are traditional arenas. Postfinance Arena has been experiencing a small facelift recently while keeping its historical character. The biggest part of the standing areas have been temporarily converted to seats and media facilities, so the capacity during the WC is 11'400 for Postfinance Arena and 6'700 for the Kloten Arena (normally known as Kolping Arena or Schluefweg).

Berne - Postfinance Arena

http://www.postfinancearena.ch/images/content/pfa_illu1.jpg

http://www.postfinancearena.ch/images/content/pic_iihf-sui1.jpg


Kloten Arena

http://www.sf.tv/webtool/data/pics/sporteventseishockeywmartikel/eh_wm_kloten1_szqk_2.jpg

http://www.sf.tv/webtool/data/pics/sporteventseishockeywmartikel/eh_wm_kloten2_szqk.jpg

New Herti stadium in Zug u/c

v/_vkCmYgg81g

Great thread, how about continuing it with NLB? ;)