European Women's Hockey League

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.

European Women's Hockey League
Current season, competition or edition:
Current sports event 2022–23 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 teams10
CountriesAustria, Hungary, Italy, Kazakhstan, Poland, Slovakia
HeadquartersGöstingerstraße 111
Graz, Austria
Most recent
champion(s)		Hungary KMH Budapest, 2021–22 (4)
Most titlesAustria EHV Sabres (6)
Sponsor(s)Tippmix
International cup(s)EWHL Super Cup
Official websiteOfficial website

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

2022–23 season
Team nameLocationHome venueHead coachCaptain
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 Frank Seewald Lisa Zöhrer
EVB Eagles Südtirol Italy Bolzano PalaOnda Stefano Daprà Valentina Bettarini
HK Budapest Hungary Budapest Tüskesátor Levente Szilágyi
Lakers Kärnten Austria Villach Eishalle Ferlach (Ferlach) Günther Ropatsch Alessandra Lopez
MAC Budapest Hungary Budapest Kisstadion András Kis Imola Horváth
Neuburg Highlanders Austria Neuberg an der Mürz Merkur Eisstadion (Graz)
Eishalle Kapfenberg (Kapfenberg)		 Philipp Holper Evelyn Hochegger
Silesian Metropolis Katowice Poland Katowice OSIR Bytom (Bytom) Zbigniew Wrobel Karolina Późniewska
ŠKP Bratislava Slovakia Bratislava Zimný štadión Vladimíra Dzurillu (Ružinov) Ľubomíra Kožanová Lucia Drábeková

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

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 KMH Budapest4015
3Slovakia ŠKP Bratislava[lower-alpha 1]2226
4Italy EVB Eagles Südtirol[lower-alpha 2]2215
5Czech Republic Slavia Praha2002
6Germany ESC Planegg1023
7Belarus HK Pantera Minsk1012
8Austria DEC Salzburg Eagles[lower-alpha 3]0527
9Slovenia HK Terme Maribor0213
10Kazakhstan Aisulu Almaty0123
11Hungary MAC Budapest0112
12Germany OSC Berlin0101
12Austria Neuburg Highlanders0101
13Italy HC Eagles Bolzano0011
13Italy HC Agordo0011

Notes:

  1. Includes record as Slovan Bratislava
  2. Includes record as EV Bozen Eagles
  3. Includes record as Ravens Salzburg/The Ravens Salzburg

See also

References

This article incorporates information from the existing French Wikipedia article at fr:Ligue élite féminine de hockey and the existing German Wikipedia article at de:European Women’s Hockey League; see their histories for attribution.

  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.
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