Everything you need to know about the eNationalleague

E-sports have been around for years, but it’s only in the last few years that there’s been a way to measure your ability at a national level in an NHL game. Now there’s the eNationalleague that takes gaming competitions to the next level. The third season is currently underway and now’s the perfect time to start following the digital action. Find out everything you need to know about this exciting development here.

The eNationalleague (eNL) is the Swiss National League’s official e-sports venture, bringing together players from all over Switzerland. Launched by MySports, the Sunrise ice-hockey sports channel, in collaboration with the National League, it focuses on competitive NHL, the ice-hockey simulator that is released each year on all popular gaming consoles. Every year, ice-hockey fans have the opportunity to compete in qualifying tournaments as representatives of their favorite club in the eNationalleague. And by the way, all clubs currently playing in the National League also feature in the eNationalleague!

After that, the process is similar to the traditional hockey played in the National League. The representatives of each club compete with each other over several weeks to win valuable points to secure a good place in the league table. This is followed by the pre-playoffs and finally the top four teams in the eNationalleague compete in the play-offs to determine the ranking of the top four.

The current season is already well underway and is now entering the really thrilling phase. 2022/2023 will be the first season to feature a last-team-standing round, in which teams from the seventh to fourteenth places will also have a chance to qualify for the play-offs. That’s the stage the season is at now.

At the end of the regular season, the teams finished in the following positions in the table:

1. Lausanne HC

2. HC Fribourg Gottéron

3. EV Zug

4. HC Lugano

5. EHC Biel-Bienne

6. HC Davos

7. SC Bern

8. ZSC Lions

9. EHC Kloten

10. HC Ajoie

11. Genève-Servette HC

12. SC Rapperswil-Jona Lakers

13. SCL Tigers

14. HC Ambri-Piotta

It’s also really exciting to see that the positions in the table are quite different to those for the traditional hockey played in the National League. So if your ice-hockey club had a bad season, there’s still the opportunity to win the title in the eNationalleague!

For example, HC Lausanne, that was only ranked eleventh in the National League at the end of the season and therefore missed out on the play-offs, finished top of the table in the eNationalleague!

After the last-team-standing phase, the eNLA format will switch to high-quality live programs that will also be broadcast on television. You can watch the gaming action live every Monday evening on the ice-hockey channel MySports Eins and on the MySports Twitch channel.

The regular eNationalleague season will be broadcast on the Twitch channels of each of the participating clubs. Twitch is a live-streaming platform that broadcasts lots of gaming content.

Even though when the eNationalleague began, there were unwarranted concerns that the e-sports venture could replace the traditional sport, right from the start the intention was that the eNationalleague would complement the existing competition. As an ice-hockey fan, the advantage of the eNLA is that you can see even more action from the sport you love. Even though the games are virtual, they’re extremely exciting and thrilling. That’s why the sport’s definitely worth watching!

At the moment, as the play-offs are rapidly approaching and the league is stepping up its live broadcasts, comment and analysis, the format is being greatly enhanced. Even if you’re a newbie, it’s well worth taking a look at the digital world of sport.

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