The Tipos Extraliga (Slovak Extraliga) is the highest-level

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...

league in

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

. From the 2018–19 season to the 2020–21 season, the league included one or two teams from Hungary. In 2009, it was ranked by the

IIHF The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF; french: Fédération internationale de hockey sur glace; german: Internationale Eishockey-Föderation) is a worldwide governing body for ice hockey. It is based in Zurich, Switzerland, and has 83 m ...

as the fifth strongest league in Europe and in 2012, it was ranked by ''

The Hockey News ''The Hockey News'' (''THN'') is a Canadian-based ice hockey magazine. ''The Hockey News'' was founded in 1947 by Ken McKenzie and Will Cote and has since become the most recognized hockey publication in North America. The magazine has a readers ...

'' as the sixth-strongest league in the world behind the

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

KHL The Kontinental Hockey League (KHL; russian: Континентальная хоккейная лига (КХЛ), Kontinental'naya khokkeynaya liga) is an international professional ice hockey league founded in 2008. It comprises member clubs b ...

, Swedish Hockey League,

SM-liiga The SM-liiga (marketed as just Liiga from 2013 on), (Finnish for ''League'') colloquially called the Finnish Elite League in English or FM-ligan in Swedish, is the top professional ice hockey league in Finland. It is one of the six founding leagu ...

and

Czech Extraliga The Czech Extraliga ( cs, Extraliga ledního hokeje, ELH) is the highest-level ice hockey league in the Czech Republic. It was created by the 1993 split of the Czechoslovak First Ice Hockey League following the breakup of Czechoslovakia. The le ...

. However, it has dropped significantly since then, with the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 season, every team in the le ...

Swiss National League Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland *Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri *Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia *Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss International ...

and German DEL, among others, all now ranked higher. The name of the league is leased to sponsors and changes frequently. From 1993/94 to 1997/98, it was called ''Extraliga'', then the name changed to ''West Extraliga'' until the end of the 2000/01 season. In 2001/02, its name was ''Boss Extraliga''. From the 2002/03 season to 2004/05, the name was ''ST Extraliga'' and in 2005/06 to ''T-Com Extraliga''. On 16 January 2007, the name changed to ''Slovnaft Extraliga'' when a general sponsorship agreement with

Slovnaft Slovnaft is an oil refining company in Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukra ...

was signed, in 2011/12 it became the Tipsport Extraliga and Slovnaft Play-off, and since the 2015/16 season until the 2019/2020 season it was called the Tipsport liga and Slovnaft Play-off. The current name is Tipos Extraliga. The Slovak Extraliga is rooted in the

Czechoslovak Extraliga The Czechoslovak First Ice Hockey League was the elite ice hockey league in Czechoslovakia from 1936 until 1993, when the country split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The Slovak Extraliga and Czech Extraliga formed from the split. History ...

. The 1993/94 season was the first for the Slovak Extraliga after

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

split into the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

and

on 1 January 1993.

Game

Every regular season game is composed of three 20-minute periods, with an intermission of a maximum of 18 minutes between periods. If the game is tied following the 60-minute regulation time, a five-minute three-on-three sudden death

overtime Overtime is the amount of time someone works beyond normal working hours. The term is also used for the pay received for this time. Normal hours may be determined in several ways: *by custom (what is considered healthy or reasonable by society) ...

period is played. If a game is still tied after the overtime, a

shootout A shootout, also called a firefight or gunfight, is a fight between armed combatants using firearms. The term can be used to describe any such fight, though it is typically used to describe those that do not involve military forces or only invo ...

decides the winner of the game. In a shootout, the team that scores the most penalty 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.

Teams

2021–22 season

Season structure

The Tipos Extraliga season is divided into a

regular season In an organized sports league, a typical season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session: for example, in Major League Baseball the season lasts approximately from the last week of March to the last week of ...

from late September through the beginning of March, when teams play against each other in a pre-defined schedule, and

playoff The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

s from March to April, which is an elimination tournament at which two teams play against each other to win the best-of-seven series in order to advance to the next round. The winner of playoffs is crowned the Slovak champion, (''Slovenský majster'' in Slovak) and receives the Vladimir Dzurilla Trophy.

Regular season

The regular season is a round-robin, where each team plays 50 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 a best-of-five series and battle for the two remaining playoffs spots. The lowest ranked team after the regular season plays in a relegation series called Play-Out against the best team from the second-tier league Slovak 1. Liga. The two teams battle to win a best-of-seven series of Play-Out to qualify for the next Tipos Extraliga season. Before the 2018–19 season, the eight highest-ranked teams qualified for the playoffs. If two or more teams end up tied in points, the seeds are determined by the following tiebreaker format: #Head-to-head points

Play-In

Starting in the 2018–19 season, the four teams ranked 7–10 in the regular season play a best-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 receive home-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.

Playoffs

The Tipos Extraliga

playoffs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eit ...

is an elimination tournament, at which two teams battle to win a best-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 has home-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.

Play-Out (Relegation)

The lowest ranked team after the regular season plays in a relegation series called Play-Out against the winner of the second-tier league Slovak 1. Liga. The two teams battle to win a best-of-seven series of Play-Out to qualify for the next Tipos Extraliga season.

Names and sponsorship

Previous winners

Previous Slovak Extraliga regular season winners

*1994 –

Dukla Trenčín Dukla is a town and an eponymous municipality in southeastern Poland, in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship. As of December 2021, the town has a population of 2,017. The total area of the commune is . Dukla belongs to Lesser Poland, and until the P ...

*1995 –

*1996 – HC Košice *1997 –

*1998 – Slovan Bratislava *1999 – Slovan Bratislava *2000 – Slovan Bratislava *2001 – HKm Zvolen *2002 – HKm Zvolen *2003 – Slovan Bratislava *2004 –

*2005 – HKm Zvolen *2006 –

HK Nitra Hokejový Klub Nitra is a professional ice hockey club based in Nitra, Slovakia. The club has been a member of the Slovak Extraliga since the 2003–04 season and winner of Slovak Extraliga in the 2015–16 season. History The club was founded ...

*2007 – HC Košice *2008 – Slovan Bratislava *2009 – HC Košice *2010 – Slovan Bratislava *2011 – HC Košice *2012 – HC Košice *2013 – HKM Zvolen *2014 – HC Košice *2015 – HC Košice *2016 – HC Košice *2017 –

HC '05 Banská Bystrica Hockey Club '05 Banská Bystrica is a professional Slovak ice hockey club based in Banská Bystrica, Slovakia. They won 3 times Slovakian hockey league and 4 times Slovak 1. Liga, second–level ice hockey league in Slovakia. The team is nickname ...

*2018 –

*2019 –

*2020 –

*2021 – HKM Zvolen *2022 – Slovan Bratislava

Previous Slovak Extraliga playoffs winners (Slovak Champions)

*1994 –

*1995 – HC Košice *1996 – HC Košice *1997 –

*1998 – Slovan Bratislava *1999 – HC Košice *2000 – Slovan Bratislava *2001 – HKm Zvolen *2002 – Slovan Bratislava *2003 – Slovan Bratislava *2004 –

*2005 – Slovan Bratislava *2006 – MsHK Žilina *2007 – Slovan Bratislava *2008 – Slovan Bratislava *2009 – HC Košice *2010 – HC Košice *2011 – HC Košice *2012 – Slovan Bratislava *2013 – HKM Zvolen *2014 – HC Košice *2015 – HC Košice *2016 –

*2017 –

*2018 –

*2019 –

*2020 – ''Not held due to

COVID-19 pandemic in Slovakia The COVID-19 pandemic in Slovakia has resulted in confirmed cases of COVID-19 and deaths. The virus was confirmed to have spread to Slovakia on 6 March 2020 when Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini announced that a 52-year-old man was infected. ...

'' *2021 – HKM Zvolen *2022 – Slovan Bratislava

Video games

Teams from the league are playable in the video games

EA Sports EA Sports is a division of Electronic Arts that develops and publishes sports video games. Formerly a marketing gimmick of Electronic Arts, in which they tried to imitate real-life sports networks by calling themselves the "EA Sports Network ...

NHL series ''NHL'' (colloquially referred to as Chel) is a series of professional ice hockey simulation video games developed by EA Vancouver and published yearly by Electronic Arts under the EA Sports brand. The game is developed under license from the ...

only in NHL 2009.

References

External links

Official website
– Tipsport liga
SZĽH
– Slovak Ice-Hockey Federation {{Ice hockey in Slovakia Sports leagues established in 1993 1993 establishments in Slovakia Professional ice hockey leagues in Slovakia Professional ice hockey leagues in Hungary Multi-national ice hockey leagues in Europe Multi-national professional sports leagues Top tier ice hockey leagues in Europe