European Women's Hockey League

Last updated

European Women's Hockey League
Current season, competition or edition:
Hockey current event.svg 2024–25 EWHL season
European Women's Hockey League logo.svg
FormerlyElite Women's Hockey League, 2005–2019
Sport Ice hockey
Founded2004;21 years ago (2004)
Founder International Ice Hockey Federation
First season2004–05
Director Hungarian Ice Hockey Federation
PresidentMartin Kogler
No. of teams11
CountriesAustria, Hungary, Italy, Kazakhstan, Poland, Slovakia
HeadquartersGöstingerstraße 111
Graz, Austria
Most recent
champion(s)		 Flag of Kazakhstan.svg Aisulu Almaty
(2024–25)
Most titles Flag of Austria.svg EHV Sabres (6)
Sponsor(s) Tippmix
International cup(s) EWHL Super Cup
Official website Official 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.

Contents

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]

In March 2023, a group of eighteen players founded the European Women's Hockey League Players' Association (EWHLPA). The organization's driving purpose is to address players' concerns and advocate for changes on players' behalf, while also playing an active role in the development of the league. [6]

Teams

2024–25 season

Team nameLocationHome venueHead coach
Aisulu Almaty Flag of Kazakhstan.svg Almaty Baluan Sholak Sports Palace Alexander Maltsev
Budapest Jégkorong Akadémia Flag of Hungary.svg Budapest Tüskesátor Norbert Zaka
DEC Salzburg Eagles Flag of Austria.svg Salzburg Eisarena Salzburg Eva-Maria Verworner
EC Graz Huskies [7] Flag of Austria.svg Graz Merkur Eisstadion Paul Mocher
EVB Eagles Südtirol Flag of Italy.svg Bolzano PalaOnda Stefano Daprà
HK PSRŽ Bratislava Flag of Slovakia.svg Bratislava Zimný štadión Vladimíra Dzurillu (Ružinov) Miroslav Mosnár
Lakers Kärnten Flag of Austria.svg Villach Heidi Horten-Arena (Klagenfurt) Günther Ropatsch
MAC Budapest Flag of Hungary.svg Budapest Kisstadion Zoltán Fodor
Metropolia Silesia Flag of Poland.svg Katowice OSIR Bytom (Bytom) Zbigniew Wrobel
Neuburg Highlanders Flag of Austria.svg Neuberg an der Mürz Eishalle Kapfenberg (Kapfenberg) David Picka
SKN Sabres St. Pölten Flag of Austria.svg Sankt Pölten Sportzentrum NÖ  [ de ] Stephan Brozovsky

Source: ÖEHV [8]

Former teams

Champions

#YearsGold medal icon.svg GoldSilver medal icon.svg SilverBronze medal icon.svg BronzeNo. of teams
1 2004 Flag of Austria.svg EHV Sabres Flag of Slovenia.svg HK Terme Maribor Flag of Italy.svg HC Agordo 8
2 2005–06 Flag of Slovakia.svg HC Slovan Bratislava Flag of Slovenia.svg HK Terme Maribor Flag of Italy.svg HC Eagles Bolzano 11
3 2006–07 Flag of Slovakia.svg HC Slovan Bratislava Flag of Austria.svg The Ravens Salzburg Flag of Slovenia.svg HK Terme Maribor 12
4 2007–08 Flag of the Czech Republic.svg Slavia Praha Flag of Austria.svg The Ravens Salzburg Flag of Austria.svg EHV Sabres 11
5 2008–09 Flag of the Czech Republic.svg Slavia Praha Flag of Germany.svg OSC Berlin Flag of Germany.svg ESC Planegg 8
6 2009–10 Flag of Germany.svg ESC Planegg Flag of Austria.svg The Ravens Salzburg Flag of Austria.svg EHV Sabres 6
7 2010–11 Flag of Austria.svg EHV Sabres Flag of Slovakia.svg Slovan Bratislava Flag of Germany.svg ESC Planegg 8
8 2011–12 Flag of Austria.svg EHV Sabres Flag of Slovakia.svg Slovan Bratislava Flag of Belarus.svg HK Pantera Minsk 6
9 2012–13 Flag of Belarus.svg HK Pantera Minsk Flag of Austria.svg EHV Sabres Flag of Austria.svg Salzburg Eagles 6
10 2013–14 Flag of Italy.svg EV Bozen Eagles Flag of Austria.svg Neuberg Highlanders Flag of Austria.svg EHV Sabres 7
11 2014–15 Flag of Austria.svg EHV Sabres Flag of Italy.svg EV Bozen Eagles Flag of Austria.svg Salzburg Eagles 6
12 2015–16 Flag of Austria.svg EHV Sabres Flag of Austria.svg Salzburg Eagles Flag of Kazakhstan.svg Aisulu Almaty 7
13 2016–17 Flag of Italy.svg EV Bozen Eagles Flag of Austria.svg DEC Salzburg Eagles Flag of Slovakia.svg HC ŠKP Bratislava 8
14 2017–18 Flag of Austria.svg EHV Sabres Flag of Italy.svg EV Bozen Eagles Flag of Hungary.svg KMH Budapest 8
15 2018–19 Flag of Hungary.svg KMH Budapest Flag of Austria.svg EHV Sabres Flag of Italy.svg EVB Eagles Südtirol 9
16 2019–20 Flag of Hungary.svg KMH Budapest Flag of Hungary.svg MAC Budapest Flag of Kazakhstan.svg Aisulu Almaty 10
17 2020–21 Flag of Hungary.svg KMH Budapest Flag of Austria.svg EHV Sabres Flag of Slovakia.svg HC ŠKP Bratislava 9
18 2021–22 Flag of Hungary.svg KMH Budapest Flag of Kazakhstan.svg Aisulu Almaty Flag of Austria.svg EHV Sabres 11
19 2022–23 Flag of Hungary.svg Hokiklub Budapest Flag of Hungary.svg MAC Budapest Flag of Slovakia.svg HC ŠKP Bratislava 10
20 2023–24 Flag of Slovakia.svg HC ŠKP Bratislava Flag of Hungary.svg Hokiklub Budapest Flag of Hungary.svg MAC Budapest 12
21 2024–25 Flag of Kazakhstan.svg Aisulu Almaty Flag of Austria.svg Sabres St. Pölten Flag of Slovakia.svg HK PSRŽ Bratislava 11

Source: [9] [10] [11]

All-time medal count

Clubs

ClubGold medal icon.svg GoldSilver medal icon.svg SilverBronze medal icon.svg BronzeTotal
1 Flag of Austria.svg SKN Sabres St. Pölten [a] 64414
2 Flag of Slovakia.svg ŠKP Bratislava [b] 3238
3 Flag of Hungary.svg Hokiklub Budapest [c] 5117
4 Flag of Italy.svg EVB Eagles Südtirol [d] 2215
5 Flag of Kazakhstan.svg Aisulu Almaty 1124
6 Flag of the Czech Republic.svg Slavia Praha 2002
7 Flag of Germany.svg ESC Planegg 1023
8 Flag of Belarus.svg HK Pantera Minsk 1012
9 Flag of Austria.svg DEC Salzburg Eagles [e] 0527
10 Flag of Hungary.svg MAC Budapest 0224
10 Flag of Slovenia.svg HK Terme Maribor 0213
11 Flag of Germany.svg OSC Berlin 0101
11 Flag of Austria.svg Neuburg Highlanders 0101
12 Flag of Italy.svg HC Eagles Bolzano 0011
12 Flag of Italy.svg HC Agordo 0011
  1. ↑ Includes record as EHV Sabres
  2. ↑ Includes record as Slovan Bratislava
  3. ↑ Includes record as KMH Budapest
  4. ↑ Includes record as EV Bozen Eagles
  5. ↑ Includes record as Ravens Salzburg/The Ravens Salzburg

Nations

RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1Flag of Austria.svg  Austria 610622
2Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary 53210
3Flag of Slovakia.svg  Slovakia 3249
4Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 2237
5Flag of the Czech Republic.svg  Czech Republic 2002
6Flag of Germany.svg  Germany 1124
Flag of Kazakhstan.svg  Kazakhstan 1124
8Flag of Belarus.svg  Belarus 1012
9Flag of Slovenia.svg  Slovenia 0213
Totals (9 entries)21212163

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. ↑ Kennedy, Ian (17 August 2023). "EWHL Members Form Players' Association". The Hockey News . Retrieved 13 October 2024.
  7. ↑ O'Brien, Derek (9 November 2023). "Barbier bringing her knowledge to the next generation". International Ice Hockey Federation . Retrieved 18 December 2023.
  8. ↑ "European Women's Hockey League: 2023/24 Tabelle". Austrian Ice Hockey Association (in German). Retrieved 4 November 2023.
  9. ↑ "EWHL League Champion 2022-23: Hokiklub Budapest". European Women's Hockey League. 27 March 2023. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
  10. ↑ "EWHL League Champion 2023-24: HC SKP Bratislava". European Women's Hockey League (in English and German). 16 March 2024. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
  11. ↑ "Aisulu Almaty Crowned EWHL Champion 2024/24". European Women's Hockey League. 23 March 2025. Retrieved 15 April 2025.
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