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Formerly | Czechoslovak First Ice Hockey League |
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Sport | Ice hockey |
Founded | 1993 |
No. of teams | 12 |
Country | Slovakia |
Most recent champion(s) | HK Nitra (2nd title) |
Most titles | HC Košice HC Slovan Bratislava (9 titles each) |
TV partner(s) | TV JOJ (Slovakia) Sport1 (Czechia, Hungary, Slovakia) |
Relegation to | Slovak 1. Liga |
Related competitions | Slovak 1. Liga Slovak 2. Liga |
Official website | hockeyslovakia.sk |
TheSlovak Extraliga, known as theTipos Extraliga since the2020–21 season for sponsorship reasons, is the highest-levelice hockey league inSlovakia. From2018–19 to 2020–21, the league included one or two teams from Hungary.[1]
Teams from the Extraliga can participate in theIIHF's annualChampions Hockey League (CHL). Participation is based on the strength of the various leagues in Europe (excluding theKHL). In the2022–23 CHL season, the Extraliga wasranked the No. 10 league in Europe, so the champion of the previous season competed in the CHL.
The 1993–94 season was the first of the Slovak Extraliga following thepeaceful dissolution ofCzechoslovakia midway through the1992–93 Czechoslovak Extraliga season – which allSlovak andCzech teams played to completion.
Every regular season game is composed of three 20-minute periods, with an intermission of a maximum of 18 minutes between periods.[2] If the game is tied following the 60-minute regulation time, a five-minute three-on-threesudden deathovertime period is played. If a game is still tied after the overtime, ashootout decides the winner of the game. In a shootout, the team that scores the mostpenalty shots out of five attempts wins the game. If a game is still tied after five penalty-shot rounds, the shootout continues round by round, until one team scores while the other team fails to score.
The Tipos Extraliga season is divided into aregular season from late September through the beginning of March, when teams play against each other in a pre-defined schedule, andplayoffs from March to April, which is an elimination tournament at which two teams play against each other to win thebest-of-seven series in order to advance to the next round. The winner of playoffs is crowned theSlovak champion, (Slovenský majster in Slovak) and receives the Vladimir Dzurilla Trophy.
The regular season is around-robin and each team plays 54 games. Three points are awarded for winning in regulation time, two points for winning in overtime or a shootout, one point for losing in overtime or a shootout, and zero points for losing in regulation time. At the end of the regular season, the team that finishes with the most points is crowned the league champion. The six highest-ranked teams by points qualify directly for the playoffs. The four teams ranked 7–10 play abest-of-five series and battle for the two remaining playoffs spots. The lowest ranked team after the regular season is a relegated to the second-tier leagueSlovenská hokejová liga.[3]
If two or more teams end up tied in points, the seeds are determined by the followingtiebreaker format:
Starting in the2018–19 season, the four teams ranked 7–10 in the regular season play abest-of-five series, known as play-in, and battle for the two remaining playoff spots. The seventh-ranked team faces the tenth-ranked team, and the eighth-ranked team faces the ninth-ranked team. The seventh-ranked team and the eighth-ranked team receivehome-ice advantage and play three of the five games at their home venue if it is necessary to determine a winner of the series. The winners of the two best-of-five series take the two remaining playoffs spots.[3]
The Tipos Extraligaplayoffs is an elimination tournament, at which two teams battle to win abest-of-seven series in order to advance to the next round. In the first round of the playoffs (quarterfinals), the top seed faces the lowest-ranked winner of the two best-of-three series (eighth seed, ninth seed or tenth seed); the second-ranked seed faces the other winner of the two best-of-five series; the third-ranked seed faces the sixth-ranked seed; and the fourth-ranked seed faces the fifth-ranked team. In the second round (semifinals), the teams are re-seeded, with the top remaining seed playing against the lowest remaining seed, and the other two remaining teams pairing up. In the third round (finals), the two remaining teams face each other.
In each series, the higher-ranked team of the two hashome-ice advantage. Four of the seven games are played at this team's home venue – the first and second, and, when necessary, the fifth and seventh games and all the other games are played at the lower-ranked team's home venue.
The name of the league is leased to sponsors and changes frequently. From 1993–94 to 1997–98, it was calledExtraliga, then the name changed toWest Extraliga until the end of the2000–01 season. In2001–02, its name wasBoss Extraliga. From2002–03 to2004–05, the name wasST Extraliga and in2005–06 the name wasT-Com Extraliga (same corporate sponsor, rebranded themselves). After starting the2006–07 season without a sponsorship, reverting to straightforward Extraliga, the name changed midway through the season toSlovnaft Extraliga, when a general sponsorship agreement withSlovnaft was signed on 16 January 2007; this name continued through the end of the2010–11 season. From2011–12 to2014–15, it carried the two part name Tipsport Extraliga and Slovnaft Play-off, reflecting a specific sponsorship arrangement for the playoffs; this name was slightly adjusted, starting with the2015–16 season, to Tipsport Liga and Slovnaft Play-off. The current name, starting 2020–21, is Tipos Extraliga.
Period | Name | Sponsor |
---|---|---|
1993–1997 | Extraliga | none |
1997–2001 | West Extraliga | West |
2001–2002 | BOSS Extraliga | BOSS |
2002–2005 | ST Extraliga | Slovak Telekom |
2005–2006 | T-Com Extraliga | T-Com |
2006–2007 (half-season) | Extraliga | none |
2007–2011 | Slovnaft Extraliga | Slovnaft |
2011–2015 | Tipsport Extraliga | Tipsport |
2015–2020 | Tipsport Liga | Tipsport |
2020– | Tipos Extraliga | Tipos |
Teams from the league are playable in the video gamesEA Sports'NHL series only inNHL 09.