The National Ice Hockey League () is the top men's professional ice hockey league in Spain. Its governing body is the Royal Spanish Ice Sports Federation.
History Liga Nacional de Hockey Hielo was established in 1972 as the Superliga Española de Hockey Hielo. There were six founding teams which participated in the first season, 1972–73: Real Sociedad, CH Jaca, CH Valladolid, CG Puigcerdà, CH Madrid and CF Barcelona.1972–73 season schedule
In 2011, the league was composed of eight teams, but due to financial problems with almost all the clubs, the league reduced the number of participants year after year until only five of them were left. In order to grow ice hockey in Spain, in the 2021/2022 season two teams composed of non-Spanish players and one composed of Spanish players joined the league, bringing the number of teams back to eight, with the door open to new ones in the future.
HC Porto, led by the Portugal national team coach Jim Aldred, joined the league in 2023. HC Porto was ineligible to compete for the Spanish championship, and played its "home" games at the arena of the opposing team.
Competition
Format The regular season of Liga Nacional de Hockey Hielo takes place between September and February, with every team playing each other three times (two in home and one away or one home and two away) for a total of 21 matches. Points are awarded according to the following: 3 points for a win 2 points for a win in extra time 1 point for a loss in extra time 0 points for a loss
Playoffs Upon completion of the regular season, the top four teams play in the championship playoffs. The playoffs are a best of three series, in the semifinals (where 4th plays against 1st, and 3rd plays against 2nd), and a best of five in the final.
Champions by season
1973: Real Sociedad HH 1974: Real Sociedad HH 1975: Real Sociedad HH 1976: CHH Txuri Urdin 1977: Casco Viejo Bilbao 1978: Casco Viejo Bilbao 1979: Casco Viejo Bilbao 1980: CHH Txuri Urdin 1981: Casco Viejo Bilbao 1982: Casco Viejo Bilbao 1983: Casco Viejo Bilbao 1984: CH Jaca 1985: CHH Txuri Urdin 1986: CG Puigcerdà 1987: FC Barcelona (1) 1988: FC Barcelona (2) 1989: CG Puigcerdà 1990: CHH Txuri Urdin 1991: CH Jaca 1992: CHH Txuri Urdin
1993: CHH Txuri Urdin 1994: CH Jaca 1995: CHH Txuri Urdin 1996: CH Jaca 1997: FC Barcelona 1998: Majadahonda HC 1999: CHH Txuri Urdin 2000: CHH Txuri Urdin 2001: CH Jaca 2002: FC Barcelona 2003: CH Jaca 2004: CH Jaca 2005: CH Jaca 2006: CG Puigcerdà 2007: CG Puigcerdà 2008: CG Puigcerdà 2009: FC Barcelona 2010: CH Jaca 2011: CH Jaca 2012: CH Jaca
2013: Escor Auto Avendaño 2014: Escor BAKH 2015: CH Jaca 2016: CH Jaca 2017: Txuri Urdin 2018: Txuri Urdin 2019: Txuri Urdin 2020: CG Puigcerdà 2021: FC Barcelona 2022: FC Barcelona 2023: CH Jaca 2024: CH Jaca 2025: CG Puigcerdà 2026: CH Jaca
(1) Under 20 category
(2) Under 21 category
Titles by team Club Titles Year Jaca 16 1984, 1991, 1994, 1996, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2016, 2023, 2024, 2026 CHH Txuri Urdin 12 1976, 1980, 1985, 1990, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1999, 2000, 2017, 2018, 2019 FC Barcelona 7 1987, 1988, 1997, 2002, 2009, 2021, 2022 CG Puigcerdà 7 1986, 1989, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2020, 2025 CH Casco Viejo Bilbao (CH Vizcaya) 6 1977, 1978, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1983 Real Sociedad 3 1973, 1974, 1975 CD Hielo Bipolo 2 2013, 2014 Majadahonda HC 1 1998
References
External links Federación Española de Deportes de Hielo Hockey sobre Hielo Website