2004–05 UPC-ligaen season


The 2004–05 UPC-ligaen was the 66th season of Norway's premier ice hockey league, Eliteserien, which as of this season became known as the UPC-ligaen after UPC had acquired the naming rights for five years. Vålerenga won both the League Championship and the Norwegian Championship, completing their nineteenth "double". A total of ten teams contested the league, including newcomers Comet who competed at the highest level for the first time.
The regular season commenced on 19 September 2004 and concluded on 20 February 2005. Vålerenga clinched their twenty-fifth league title after winning 3–2 in overtime against the Sparta Warriors on 17 February. This left them with an unassailable lead of seven points over the Trondheim Black Panthers, with only one round left to play. The result also confirmed Trondheim as runners-up ahead of the Storhamar Dragons.
The playoffs to determine the 2005 Norwegian Ice Hockey Champions were contested from 22 February to 20 March 2005. Vålerenga were crowned champions for the twenty-third time after defeating Trondheim by 4 games to 1 in the best-of-seven Final.

Regular season

Final standings

GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; OTW = Overtime Wins; OTL = Overtime Losses; SOW = Shootout Wins; SOL = Shootout Losses; PCT = Percent of possible points; GF = Goals For; GA = Goals Against; PIM = Penalties in Minutes; Pts = Points; C = Champions
Source:

Statistics

Scoring leaders

The following players led the league in points at the conclusion of the regular season.
PlayerTeamGPGAPts+/–PIM
Ilya DubkovTrondheim Black Panthers42274269+3252
Nick SmithTrondheim Black Panthers38283260+3281
Lars Erik SpetsTrondheim Black Panthers42292655+3312
Tomi PöllänenFrisk Tigers40193251+1822
Markku TakalaSparta Warriors41193150−862
Tomáš SršeňLillehammer412027470102
Teemu KohvakkaStavanger Oilers42182442+830
Tomi SuoniemiStavanger Oilers37162541+1439
Ondřej SteinerStjernen37162440+941
Michal KaňkaLillehammer42251439+920
Vegar BarlieVålerenga37192039+2422
Kenneth LarsenVålerenga42152439+3018
GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/– = Plus/minus; PIM = Penalty minutes

Leading goaltenders

The following goaltenders led the league in goals against average at the conclusion of the regular season.
PlayerTeamGPTOIWLGASOSv%GAA
Chris MasonVålerenga201,203:56––36193.51.79
Jonas NorgrenStorhamar Dragons352,028:03211461693.41.80
Joakim WibergTrondheim Black Panthers311,847:22––73291.62.37
Kimmo KytölaaksoStjernen382,243:44––95491.52.54
Arne Villy SkrøderSparta Warriors181,018:25––48090.22.83
GP = Games Played; TOI = Time On Ice ; W = Wins; L = Losses; GA = Goals Against; SO = Shutouts; Sv% = Save Percentage; GAA = Goals Against Average

Attendance

For the 2004–05 season, the league attendance totaled 292,711 spectators for an average of 1,394. This was a 9.3% increase from the previous season's total of 267,707 spectators and average of 1,275.
TeamArenaCapacityTotalGamesAverage% of Capacity
Storhamar DragonsHamar OL-Amfi6,09144,175212,10434.5%
VålerengaJordal Amfi4,45038,486211,83341.2%
Sparta WarriorsSparta Amfi3,70727,285211,29935.0%
LillehammerKristins Hall3,19423,679211,12835.3%
Bergen FlyersBergenshallen3,00012,1332157819.3%
Trondheim Black PanthersLeangen Ishall3,00039,076211,86162.0%
Stavanger OilersSiddishallen2,58237,665211,79469.5%
StjernenStjernehallen2,47331,105211,48159.9%
Frisk TigersAskerhallen2,40023,210211,10546.0%
CometHalden Ishall1,20015,8972175763.1%

TotalGamesAverage
292,7112101,394

Playoffs

Bracket

Source:
Norwegian Champions
2005
Vålerenga
23rd title

Qualifying for UPC-ligaen 2005–06

Final standings

GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; OTW = Overtime Wins; OTL = Overtime Losses; SOW = Shootout Wins; SOL = Shootout Losses; PCT = Percentage of possible points; GF = Goals For; GA = Goals Against; PIM = Penalties in Minutes; Pts = Points; Q = Qualified
Source:

Game log

Awards

All-Star team
The following players were selected to the 2004–05 UPC-ligaen All-Star team:
Other