Point by point: 8.5 million for up-and-coming ice hockey players

The PostFinance Top Scorers have already earned over 8.5 million francs for the clubs’ junior divisions. The 9 million franc mark could be cracked on 11 March 2026 when the Top Scorers of the 2025/26 season are honoured in the new festival hall on the Bernexpo site. For every point scored by the Top Scorers in the men’s National League – whether goal or assist – PostFinance pays 300 francs. Since the 2023/24 season, PostFinance has also been awarding prizes to the Top Scorers in the highest women’s league. For the women, a fixed amount of 150,000 francs will be distributed among the eight clubs in the PostFinance Women’s League to ensure that all Top Scorers receive the same amount of money for their club’s junior section. The measure is intended to help advance the professionalization of women’s ice hockey in Switzerland and to strengthen the league in general.

While the applause at the award ceremony may be for the stars, the actual winner will be the juniors. Clubs are obliged to invest the money in their work with young talent. They are held accountable for its use on an annual basis. A look at a selection of implemented projects shows the extent to which ice hockey is being promoted in the regions.

More transport in Ambri, lower costs in Lausanne and Bienne

Recruiting and transporting up-and-coming ice hockey talent is a major challenge in Ambrí. HC Ambrí-Piotta’s catchment area is full of winding roads and stretches on both sides of the Gotthard, from the Maggia Valley to Central Switzerland. This makes logistics time-consuming. Thanks to the goals and assists of that year’s Top Scorer Michael Spacek, HCAP was able to finance a minibus in the summer of 2024. Since then, ice hockey-loving girls and boys from the surrounding area have been chauffeured to the Gottardo Arena for training sessions.

In the same year, HC Davos Ladies invested the Top Scorer funds in Girls Projekt Ost: this is a support programme that supports girls in the age brackets U9 to U19 throughout Eastern Switzerland in their development on and off the ice.

In recent years, EV Zug has used its Top Scorer funds to provide even broader support and cover the salary costs of skating coaches, mental coaches and physiotherapists for its junior teams.

Before it is possible to promote children in ice hockey, they must come into contact with the sport in the first place. One obstacle to entry is the high cost of the equipment. Thanks to support from Finland, children in Vaud and Seeland can try out ice hockey without their parents having to shoulder high expenses: Lausanne invested the bonus from 2023/24 Top Scorer Antti Suomela in the equipment of the ice hockey school and the 2024/25 bonus (Top Scorer Toni Rajala) in EHC Biel. Meanwhile, the goals and assists of Rapperswil’s Malte Strömwall ensured that the Lakers’ junior goalies were properly equipped.