European Women's Hockey League

The European Women's Hockey League or EWHL, called the Elite Women's Hockey League during 2004 to 2019, is an international league for top women's ice hockey clubs. Created 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
Upcoming season or competition:
2020–21 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 teams9
CountriesAustria, Hungary, Italy, Kazakhstan, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia
HeadquartersGöstingerstraße 111
Graz, Austria
Most recent
champion(s)		 KMH Budapest, 2019–20
Most titles EHV Sabres Wien (6)
International cup(s)EWHL Super Cup
Official websiteewhl.com

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. During the following seasons, women's teams from Slovakia (2005), Croatia (2006) and the Czech Republic (2007) joined the league. In 2008, the Italian and Hungarian teams gave way to two clubs from Germany. 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 hockey.[2] Also, the Polish women's national team joined the league in 2019, playing as the Silesia Brackens.[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

2020–21 season

Former teams

Championship
Years Gold Silver Bronze Teams
2004
EHV Sabres
HK Terme Maribor
HC Agordo		 8
2005–06
HC Slovan Bratislava
HK Terme Maribor
HC Eagles Bolzano		 11
2006–07
HC Slovan Bratislava
EC Ravens Salzburg
HK Terme Maribor		 12
2007–08
HC Slavia Praha
EC Ravens Salzburg
EHV Sabres		 11
2008–09
HC Slavia Praha
OSC Berlin
ESC Planegg		 8
2009–10
ESC Planegg
EC Ravens Salzburg
EHV Sabres		 6
2010–11
EHV Sabres
HC Slovan Bratislava
ESC Planegg		 8
2011–12
EHV Sabres
HC Slovan Bratislava
HK Pantera Minsk		 6
2012–13
HK Pantera Minsk
EHV Sabres
DEC Salzburg Eagles		 6
2013–14
EV Bolzano Eagles
Neuberg Highlanders
EHV Sabres		 7
2014–15
EHV Sabres
EV Bolzano Eagles
DEC Salzburg Eagles		 6
2015–16
EHV Sabres
DEC Salzburg Eagles
Aisulu Almaty		 7
2016–17
EV Bolzano Eagles
DEC Salzburg Eagles
HC ŠKP Bratislava		 8
2017–18
EHV Sabres
EV Eagles Südtirol
KMH Budapest		 8
2018–19
KMH Budapest
EHV Sabres
EV Eagles Südtirol		 9
2019–20
KMH Budapest
MAC Budapest
Aisulu Almaty		 10

Medal table by Club
# Club Gold Silver Bronze Medals
1
EHV Sabres		61310
2
HC Slovan Bratislava/HC ŠKP Bratislava		2215
3
HC Slavia Praha		2002
4
EV Bolzano Eagles/EV Eagles Südtirol		1214
5
KMH Budapest		2013
6
ESC Planegg		1023
7
HC Eagles Bolzano		1012
-
HK Pantera Minsk		1012
9
DEC Salzburg Eagles/EC Ravens Salzburg		0527
10
HK Terme Maribor		0213
11
OSC Berlin		0101
12
Aisulu Almaty		0022
13
HC Agordo		0011
-
MAC Budapest		0011

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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