ZURICH – SC Bern of the Swiss National League A is again the undisputed leader in European league attendance, for the seventh consecutive year. The club that plays out of the 16,789 PostFinance Arena averaged 15,939 fans during the 50-game 2007-2008 regular season.

This is the second highest average in European club hockey. The record, also set by SC Bern, is 15.994 from the 2005-2006 season. The 15,000-barrier has been surpassed only four times in European hockey, on all occasions by SC Bern.

The PostFinance Arena will be the main venue of the 2009 IIHF World Championship and also the site of the inaugural Victoria Cup on October 1, 2008. Click here for more information on the Victoria Cup event with the participation of the New York Rangers, European club champion Metallurg Magnitogorsk and host SC Bern.

German DEL-league’s Kolner Haie is the perennial number two, finishing in that position for the seventh consecutive year, this time with an average of 12,317 fans in the 18,355 KolnArena. The DEL plays a 56-game season.

Sweden’s Frolunda Indians (Gothenburg) and Germany’s Adler Mannheim are the only other European clubs who draw plus-10,000 crowds to their home games. The Swedish league plays a 55-game regular season.

All clubs mentioned above are in the race for participation in the inaugural Champions Hockey League, starting in the 2008-2009. SC Bern, as the regular season winner, has secured participation in the three-team qualifying tournament in September while the Kolner Haie, Frolunda Indians and Adler Mannheim need to win their respective national championships to qualify for the CHL. SC Bern lost to Fribourg-Gottéron in the opening round of the Swiss playoffs.

Click here for basic Champions Hockey League information.

Click here for the “Road to the CHL” page with the updated progress from all Top-7 European leagues.


Attendance figures in Europe's hockey leagues 2007-2008 <table><tbody><tr class="odd"><td></td><td>Club</td><td>Country</td><td>Average</td><td>Cap. %</td></tr><tr class="even"><td>1.</td><td>SC Bern</td><td>SUI</td><td align="right">15,939</td><td>94.94%</td></tr><tr class="odd"><td>2.</td><td>Kolner Haie (Cologne)</td><td>GER</td><td align="right">12,317</td><td>67.10%</td></tr><tr class="even"><td>3.</td><td>Frolunda Gothenburg</td><td>SWE</td><td align="right">11,688</td><td>97.04%</td></tr><tr class="odd"><td>4.</td><td>Adler Mannheim</td><td>GER</td><td align="right">11,639</td><td>85.58%</td></tr><tr class="even"><td>5.</td><td>Lokomitiv Yaroslavl</td><td>RUS</td><td align="right">8,995</td><td>99.40%</td></tr><tr class="odd"><td>6.</td><td>Hamburg Freezers</td><td>GER</td><td align="right">8,834</td><td>67.95%</td></tr><tr class="even"><td>7.</td><td>Avangard Omsk</td><td>RUS</td><td align="right">8,670</td><td>86.30%</td></tr><tr class="odd"><td>8.</td><td>Jokerit Helsinki</td><td>FIN</td><td align="right">8,591</td><td>63.81%</td></tr><tr class="even"><td>9.</td><td>HC Pardubice</td><td>CZE</td><td align="right">8,547</td><td>83.84%</td></tr><tr class="odd"><td>10.</td><td>Linkopings HC</td><td>SWE</td><td align="right">7,182</td><td>84.49%</td></tr><tr class="even"><td>11.</td><td>Sibir Novosibirsk</td><td>RUS</td><td align="right">7,133</td><td></td></tr><tr class="odd"><td>12.</td><td>Amur Khabarovsk</td><td>RUS</td><td align="right">7,100</td><td></td></tr><tr class="even"><td>13.</td><td>MODO Ornskoldsvik</td><td>SWE</td><td align="right">7,012</td><td></td></tr><tr class="odd"><td>14.</td><td>HV 71 Jonkoping</td><td>SWE</td><td align="right">7,002</td><td></td></tr><tr class="even"><td>15.</td><td>Farjestad Karlstad</td><td>SWE</td><td align="right">7,000</td><td></td></tr><tr class="odd"><td>16.</td><td>Djurgarden Stockholm</td><td>SWE</td><td align="right">6,623</td><td></td></tr><tr class="even"><td>17.</td><td>HIFK Helsinki</td><td>FIN</td><td align="right">6,573</td><td></td></tr><tr class="odd"><td>18.</td><td>DEG Metro Stars (Dusseldorf)</td><td>GER</td><td align="right">6,364</td><td></td></tr><tr class="even"><td>19.</td><td>ZSC Lions (Zurich)</td><td>SUI</td><td align="right">6,314</td><td></td></tr><tr class="odd"><td>20.</td><td>Metallurg Novokuznetsk</td><td>RUS</td><td align="right">6,267</td><td></td></tr><tr class="even"><td>21.</td><td>HC Kosice</td><td>SVK</td><td align="right">6,203</td><td></td></tr><tr class="odd"><td>22.</td><td>Sparta Prague</td><td>CZE</td><td align="right">6,158</td><td></td></tr><tr class="even"><td>23.</td><td>Ak Bars Kazan</td><td>RUS</td><td align="right">6,074</td><td></td></tr><tr class="odd"><td>24.</td><td>Frankfurt Lions</td><td>GER</td><td align="right">6,071</td><td></td></tr><tr class="even"><td>25.</td><td>Karpat Oulu</td><td>FIN</td><td align="right">6,055</td><td></td></tr></tbody></table>