GET-ligaen

GET-ligaen

Current season, competition or edition: 2016–17 GET-ligaen season
GET-ligaen / Ligaen
Formerly	2004–2006 UPC-ligaen 1990–2004 Eliteserien 1934–1990 1. divisjon
Sport	Ice hockey
Inaugural season	1935
No. of teams	10
Country	Norway
Most recent champion(s)	Stavanger Oilers
Most titles	Vålerenga (26 titles)
TV partner(s)	TV 2 Sport
Relegation to	First Division
Official website	GET-ligaen

GET-ligaen (English: the GET-league) is the premier Norwegian ice hockey league, organised by the Norwegian Ice Hockey Association.^[1] In Champions Hockey League, where sponsored league names are not allowed, the league is known as Ligaen.^[2]

The league works on the premise of promotion and relegation, so the two teams who placed last must play the top two teams from First Division (the league ranked immediately below GET-ligaen) for the rights to play in next GET-ligaen season.

History

The Norwegian Ice Hockey Association (NIHF) was founded on 16 September 1934. The same season also saw the debut of a national league for ice hockey. It was then known as 1. divisjon (1st division), a name it held until 1990, when the elite clubs broke away and formed a new top league, Eliteserien (The Elite League). In 2004, telecommunications company UPC bought the naming rights for the league. UPC Norway changed its name to GET in 2006 and hence the name of the league was also altered.

Season structure

The GET-ligaen season is divided into a regular season, lasting from mid September to the first week of March, and a postseason, consisting of the Norwegian Championship playoffs, and qualification for the league in the following season. During the regular season, clubs play each other in a predefined schedule. The Norwegian Championship, which is contested in March and April, is an elimination tournament where two clubs play each other in a best-of-seven series in order to advance to the next round. The final remaining team is crowned the Norwegian champion. Teams not qualified for the playoffs must compete with the best teams from the second league level—1. divisjon—for the right to play in next season's GET-ligaen.

Regular season

The league's regular season is organized according to a quintuple round robin format implemented ahead of the 2008–09 season.^[3] Clubs play each other five times, at least twice at home and twice away, for a total of 45 games per team. The right to play the fifth game at home is awarded on a rotational basis determined by the final standings in 2007–08. The five highest ranked clubs were awarded a third home game in 2008–09; the other five clubs would then get an extra home game in 2009–10, and from then on, every other season. However, because of the bankruptcy of Comet in October 2009 and reduction to nine teams for that season, a sixth round robin was added to the schedule so that all teams played an equal number of home and away games, amounting to 48 in total.^[4]

Points are awarded for each game, where three points are awarded for a win in regulation time, two points for win in overtime or a shootout and one point for a loss in overtime or a shootout. No points are awarded for a loss in regulation time. Teams are ranked by total points; if two or more teams have an equal number of points, they are separated using head to head records, then goal difference head to head and goals scored head to head. If two or more teams are still ranked equally, goal difference and goals scored in all 45 games are used to break the tie.^[5] At the end of the regular season, the team that finishes with the most points is crowned league champion.

Playoffs

The Norwegian Ice Hockey Championship, or playoffs, is contested by the eight best teams in the league following the conclusion of the regular season. There are three rounds, each played as a best-of-seven series; the winner advances to the next round, while the loser is eliminated from the tournament. In the first round, or quarter-finals, the highest seed chooses which of the two lowest seeds to be matched against. The highest remaining seed then chooses between the two lowest remaining seeds until all teams have an opponent. In the second round, or semi-finals, the teams are re-seeded, with the highest remaining seed again being allowed to choose which of the two lowest remaining seeds to play against. The remaining teams pair off in the other semi-final, and the winner of each series advances to the finals.^[5]

In each round the higher-ranked team is said to be the team with the home ice advantage. Four of the seven games are played at this team's home venue—the first and third, and, when necessary, the fifth and seventh games—with the other games played at the lower-ranked team's home venue. In the finals, the team with the most points during the regular season is given home-ice advantage.^[5]

Relegation

The two lowest ranked teams after the regular season are in danger of being relegated and will have to play in a qualification tournament along with the two highest ranked teams from the 1. divisjon. All four teams must agree to play in the GET-ligaen (if promoted) before they are allowed to participate in qualifying. If a team is unable, for whatever reason, to make such a commitment, the position is offered to another team in the 1. divisjon. The tournament is played in March and is organized according to a double round robin format: each club plays the others twice, home and away, for a total of six games. The points system and ranking method used are the same as in the GET-ligaen. At the end of the tournament, the winner and runner-up qualify for next GET-ligaen season, while the other two are demoted to (or remain in) the 1. divisjon.^[5]

Teams

The following ten clubs will compete in the GET-ligaen during the 2016–17 -season.

Team City/Area Arena Capacity Coach Current Teams Frisk Asker Asker Askerhallen 2,400 Sune Bergman Kongsvinger Knights Kongsvinger Kongsvinger Ishall 2,000 Janne Saaavalainen Lillehammer Lillehammer Kristins Hall 3,194 Mikael Kvarnström Lørenskog Lørenskog Lørenskog Ishall 2,450 Kenneth Larsen Manglerud Star Oslo Manglerudhallen 2,000 David Livingston Sparta Warriors Sarpsborg Sparta Amfi 3,450 Lenny Eriksson Stavanger Oilers Stavanger DNB Arena 4,377 Pål Gulbrandsen Stjernen Fredrikstad Stjernehallen 2,473 Jarmo Tolvanen Storhamar Hamar CC Amfi 7,000 Sjur Robert Nilsen Vålerenga Oslo Jordal Amfi 4,450 Roy Johansen Notable Former Teams Bergen IK Bergen Bergenshallen 3,000 Comet Halden Halden Ishall 2,200 Furuset Oslo Furuset Forum 1,498 Hasle-Løren Oslo Lørenhallen 1,500 Rosenborg Trondheim Leangen Ishall 3,000 defunct Trondheim Black Panthers Trondheim Leangen Ishall 3,500 defunct Tønsberg Vikings Tønsberg Tønsberg Ishall 400 defunct Spektrum Flyers Oslo Oslo Spektrum 6,500 defunct Forward/Gamlebyen Oslo

Frisk Asker Lillehammer Lørenskog Kongsvinger Sparta Stavanger Stjernen Storhamar Oslo: Manglerud Vålerenga GET-ligaen teams

Seasons

GET-ligaen awards and statistics

The Norwegian Ice Hockey Federation and the teams' organisation (NTH) announce a number of awards, among others Gullpucken (the best Norwegian player of the season, regardless of league) and the Most Valuable Player (MPV) from the GET-ligaen playoffs.

Playoff Most Valuable Player winners

Recent Attendance

Season	Regular season	Playoffs
2008/09	1,374	1,971
2009/10	1,468	1,790
2010/11	1,460	1,904
2011/12	1,456	1,944
2012/13	1,634	2,209
2013/14	1,734	2,665
2014/15	1,865	3,144
2015/16	1,933	2,755

Note: Average attendance only.

Pre-2009 attendance

Norwegian Champions

Titles by team

Notes

See also

• List of ice hockey teams in Norway
• List of ice hockey rivalries in Norway

References

External links

• GET-ligaen at NIHF (in Norwegian)
• GET-ligaen at GetLive.no (in Norwegian)