Swiss A or the National League A is a professional league of ice hockey in Switzerland. Nestled at the topmost of the Swiss league system tier, the Swiss A was founded in 1916. It was not known as the Swiss A in previous years, instead, it went under the official name of Nationalliga A.
The NLA is known as the oldest active ice hockey league all over the world. Their activity began as early as 1909, but was fully established by 1916. It did not start off as organized as it currently is today. In fact, it was still called the Swiss International Championship back in 1909.

Sport | Hockey |
Country |
Switzerland ![]() |
Founded | 1916 |
Teams | 1 |
Teams promoted / relegated | 0 |
The National League A consists of 12 teams competing against each other. During a regular season, there are 44 games held for the teams’ competition. The teams battle each other in an attempt to reach the top 8 of all the teams. The said highest 8 teams would then be pitted against each other during the playoff season.
During the playoff season, there are three rounds wherein the teams would play against each other – the quarterfinals, semifinals and then finals. Each of these three rounds plays on a best-of-seven basis. At the end of the playoff season, the bottom four teams of the competition get to play once more during the play outs. The defeated team during the play outs will then face the champion team of the NLB or the National League B.
The Swiss love ice hockey. This can be proven by way of their continued patronage to the sport since it began during the early 1900s. Although the National League A has not retained its once high level of prominence, it is still considered as one of the best leagues in ice hockey.
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