European Women's Hockey League
Upcoming season or competition:
Current sports event 2023–24 EWHL season
FormerlyElite Women's Hockey League, 2005–2019
SportIce hockey
Founded2004 (2004)
FounderInternational Ice Hockey Federation
Inaugural season2004–05
DirectorHungarian Ice Hockey Federation
PresidentMartin Kogler
No. of teams12
CountriesAustria, Hungary, Italy, Kazakhstan, Poland, Slovakia
HeadquartersGöstingerstraße 111
Graz, Austria
Most recent
champion(s)
Hungary HK Budapest
(2022–23)
Most titlesAustria EHV Sabres (6)
Sponsor(s)Tippmix
International cup(s)EWHL Super Cup
Official websiteOfficial website

The European Women's Hockey League, abbreviated EWHL, is an international ice hockey league. Created as the Elite Women's Hockey League in 2004 by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), the EWHL comprises clubs from several countries in Central Europe and one team from Kazakhstan, and is played in parallel to national championships.

History

The EWHL was created in 2004 on the same principle as the men's ice hockey Interliga. For its first season, the EWHL featured teams from Austria, Hungary, Italy and Slovenia. Teams from additional countries joined the league during the following seasons, including HC Slovan Bratislava from Slovakia in 2005, KHL Grič Zagreb from Croatia in 2006, and HC Slavia Praha from the Czech Republic in 2007. In the 2008–09 season, the Italian and Hungarian teams gave way to two clubs from Germany, OSC Berlin and ESC Planegg. During the 2010–11 and 2011–12 seasons, the Netherlands national team participated in the EWHL.[1]

Before the 2019–20 season, the Elite Women's Hockey League was renamed, becoming the European Women's Hockey League to reflect its unique position within European women's ice hockey.[2] Also, the Polish women's national team joined the league in 2019, playing as the Silesia Brackens and later under the name Silesian Metropolis Katowice.[3] The Hungarian team KMH Budapest rejoined the league, and MAC Budapest was added.

The EWHL is mostly played in a championship format with home and away matches, with the exception of the 2005–06 season where the teams were distributed in two regional divisions followed by qualifying rounds. For the 2010–11 season, the regular season was followed by a play-off between the four teams at the top of the league table.

Though they joined the league in the 2015–16 season, Kazakh team Aisulu Almaty has played only two EWHL games from their home arena, Baluan Sholak Sports Palace in Almaty, due to the significant travel distance. The 2019–20 season provided the first opportunity for Aisulu to play EWHL matches in front of a home crowd, when they hosted the EHV Sabres for a two game series during 19–20 October 2019.[4]

Since the 2019–20 season, the Hungarian Ice Hockey Federation has overseen the league. The league president is Martin Kogler.[5]

Teams

2023–24 season

Team nameLocationHome venueHead coach
Aisulu Almaty Kazakhstan Almaty Baluan Sholak Sports Palace Alexander Maltsev
Budapest Jégkorong Akadémia Hungary Budapest Tüskesátor Zoltán Fodor
DEC Salzburg Eagles Austria Salzburg Eisarena Salzburg Eva-Maria Verworner
EC Graz Huskies[6] Austria Graz Merkur Eisstadion Paul Mocher
EVB Eagles Südtirol Italy Bolzano PalaOnda Stefano Daprà
HC ŠKP Bratislava Slovakia Bratislava Zimný štadión Vladimíra Dzurillu (Ružinov) Miroslav Mosnár
Hokiklub Budapest Hungary Budapest Tüskesátor Levente Szilágyi
KEHV Lakers Austria Villach Heidi Horten-Arena (Klagenfurt) Günther Ropatsch
KSV Neuburg Highlanders Austria Neuberg an der Mürz Eishalle Kapfenberg (Kapfenberg) Philipp Holper
MAC Budapest Hungary Budapest Kisstadion Andrea Kiss
SKN Sabres St. Pölten Austria Sankt Pölten Sportzentrum NÖ Stephan Brozovsky
TAURON Metropolia Silesia Poland Katowice OSIR Bytom (Bytom) Zbigniew Wrobel

Source: ÖEHV[7]

Former teams

Championship

Years 1st place, gold medalist(s) Gold 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Silver 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Bronze No. of teams
2004 Austria
EHV Sabres
Slovenia
HK Terme Maribor
Italy
HC Agordo
8
2005–06 Slovakia
HC Slovan Bratislava
Slovenia
HK Terme Maribor
Italy
HC Eagles Bolzano
11
2006–07 Slovakia
HC Slovan Bratislava
Austria
The Ravens Salzburg
Slovenia
HK Terme Maribor
12
2007–08 Czech Republic
Slavia Praha
Austria
The Ravens Salzburg
Austria
EHV Sabres
11
2008–09 Czech Republic
Slavia Praha
Germany
OSC Berlin
Germany
ESC Planegg
8
2009–10 Germany
ESC Planegg
Austria
The Ravens Salzburg
Austria
EHV Sabres
6
2010–11 Austria
EHV Sabres
Slovakia
Slovan Bratislava
Germany
ESC Planegg
8
2011–12 Austria
EHV Sabres
Slovakia
Slovan Bratislava
Belarus
HK Pantera Minsk
6
2012–13 Belarus
HK Pantera Minsk
Austria
EHV Sabres
Austria
Salzburg Eagles
6
2013–14 Italy
EV Bozen Eagles
Austria
Neuberg Highlanders
Austria
EHV Sabres
7
2014–15 Austria
EHV Sabres
Italy
EV Bozen Eagles
Austria
Salzburg Eagles
6
2015–16 Austria
EHV Sabres
Austria
Salzburg Eagles
Kazakhstan
Aisulu Almaty
7
2016–17 Italy
EV Bozen Eagles
Austria
DEC Salzburg Eagles
Slovakia
HC ŠKP Bratislava
8
2017–18 Austria
EHV Sabres
Italy
EV Bozen Eagles
Hungary
KMH Budapest
8
2018–19 Hungary
KMH Budapest
Austria
EHV Sabres
Italy
EVB Eagles Südtirol
9
2019–20 Hungary
KMH Budapest
Hungary
MAC Budapest
Kazakhstan
Aisulu Almaty
10
2020–21 Hungary
KMH Budapest
Austria
EHV Sabres
Slovakia
ŠKP Bratislava
9
2021–22 Hungary
KMH Budapest
Kazakhstan
Aisulu Almaty
Austria
EHV Sabres
11
2022–23 Hungary
Hokiklub Budapest
Hungary
MAC Budapest
Slovakia
ŠKP Bratislava
10

Source: [8]

Medal table by club

Club 1st place, gold medalist(s) Gold 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Silver 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Bronze Medals
1Austria EHV Sabres62412
2Hungary Hokiklub Budapest[lower-alpha 1]5016
3Slovakia ŠKP Bratislava[lower-alpha 2]2237
4Italy EVB Eagles Südtirol[lower-alpha 3]2215
5Czech Republic Slavia Praha2002
6Germany ESC Planegg1023
7Belarus HK Pantera Minsk1012
8Austria DEC Salzburg Eagles[lower-alpha 4]0527
9Hungary MAC Budapest0213
9Slovenia HK Terme Maribor0213
10Kazakhstan Aisulu Almaty0123
11Germany OSC Berlin0101
11Austria Neuburg Highlanders0101
12Italy HC Eagles Bolzano0011
12Italy HC Agordo0011
  1. Includes record as KMH Budapest
  2. Includes record as Slovan Bratislava
  3. Includes record as EV Bozen Eagles
  4. Includes record as Ravens Salzburg/The Ravens Salzburg

See also

References

  1. The Netherlands wishing to offer more competitive matches to their top Women players. Source: EWHL Website
  2. "EWHL-Premiere in Sterzing". EV Bozen Hockey Academy (in German). 8 September 2019. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
  3. Krzywicki, Benjamin (27 June 2019). "Three Polish National Teams to Play In Foreign Leagues". Polish Puck. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
  4. Manninen, Henrik (19 October 2019). "EWHL goes to Central Asia". International Ice Hockey Federation. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
  5. "EWHL to move under the HIHF". visegradhockey.hu. 11 June 2019. Retrieved 4 September 2020.
  6. O'Brien, Derek (9 November 2023). "Barbier bringing her knowledge to the next generation". International Ice Hockey Federation. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
  7. "European Women's Hockey League: 2023/24 Tabelle". Austrian Ice Hockey Association (in German). Retrieved 4 November 2023.
  8. "EWHL League Champion 2022-23: Hokiklub Budapest". European Women's Hockey League. 27 March 2023. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.