2021–22 ZhHL season

The 2021–22 ZhHL season was the seventh season of the Zhenskaya Hockey League (ZhHL) since the league was established in 2015. It was the 27th season in which the women's ice hockey Russian Championship was contested. SKIF Nizhny Novgorod were the regular season champions after leading the league standings from November onwards.^[1]

2021–22 ZhHL season
League	Zhenskaya Hockey League
Sport	Ice hockey
Duration	Regular season 22 September 2021 (2021-09-22)– 30 March 2022 Playoffs 6 April–26 April 2022 (2022-04-26)
Number of matches	178
Number of teams	10
TV partner(s)	KHL TV YouTube
Regular season
Season champions	SKIF Nizhny Novgorod
Top scorer	Anna Shokhina (Tornado)
Playoffs
Playoffs MVP	Michela Cava (KRS)
Finals champions	KRS Vanke Rays (2)
Runners-up	SKIF Nizhny Novgorod

The KRS Vanke Rays defeated SKIF Nizhny Novgorod in a sweep of the playoff finals to claim their second ZhHL Championship.

Teams

Team	Location	Home venue	Head coach	Captain
Agidel	Ufa	Ice Palace Salavat Yulaev	Denis Afinogenov	Maria Pechnikova
Belye Medveditsy	Chelyabinsk	Yunost Sport Palace	Igor Znarok	Natalya Vorontsova
Biryusa	Krasnoyarsk	Platinum Arena Krasnoyarsk	Alexander Vedernikov	Valeria Pavlova
Dinamo-Neva	Saint Petersburg	Sports Palace "SPBGBU CFMC and VO"	Yevgeni Bobariko	Alyona Andryushchenko
Ice Wings†	Yaroslavl	GUOR Ice Hockey Arena	Artur Nadrgulov
KRS Vanke Rays	Shenzhen	Shenzhen Dayun Arena	Brian Idalski	Baiwei Yu
	Mytishchi*	Mytishchi Arena*
MSMO 7.62	Voskresensk	Podmoskovie Ice Palace	Alexander Syrtsov	Alina Ichayeva
SKIF	Nizhny Novgorod	Nagorny	Igor Averkin	Angelina Goncharenko
SKSO	Yekaterinburg	Kurganovo Sports Complex/KRK Uralets	Sergei Chistyakov	Yekaterina Lebedeva
Tornado	Dmitrov	Sports Complex Dmitrov	Alexei Chistyakov	Anna Shokhina

*Temporary relocation for 2021–22 season; ^†Team folded after 19 games played

Standings

The regular season began on 22 September 2021 and concluded on 30 March 2022, with the eight most successful teams securing playoff berths.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Final Result
1	SKIF Nizhny Novgorod	36	28	3	1	4	149	45	+104	91	Playoff berth
2	KRS Vanke Rays	36	24	4	2	6	96	53	+43	82
3	Agidel Ufa	36	24	3	3	6	171	60	+111	81
4	Biryusa Krasnoyarsk	36	19	4	4	9	113	70	+43	69
5	Tornado Dmitrov	36	20	2	4	10	143	93	+50	68
6	Dinamo-Neva St. Petersburg	36	20	1	3	12	109	84	+25	65
7	MSMO 7.62 Voskresensk	36	10	2	2	22	73	118	−45	36
8	Belye Medveditsy Chelyabinsk	36	7	1	0	28	42	148	−106	23
9	SKSO Yekaterinburg	36	6	1	1	28	58	158	−100	21	Did not qualify
10	Ice Wings Yaroslavl	36	1	0	1	34	20	145	−125	4

Updated to match(es) played on 30 March 2022. Source: KHL^[2]

Player statistics

Scoring leaders

The following skaters lead the league in points at the conclusion of games played on 30 March 2022.^[3]

	Player	Team	Pos.	GP	G	A	Pts	+/−	PIM
1	Anna Shokhina	Tornado	F	34	31	52	83	26	16
2	Yelena Dergachyova	Tornado	F	34	14	42	56	26	20
3	Valeria Pavlova	Biryusa	F	32	31	21	52	25	16
4	Olga Sosina	Agidel	F	32	25	26	51	41	18
5	Landysh Falyakhova	SKIF	F	36	14	35	49	41	14
6	Aneta Tejralová	SKIF	D	36	10	36	46	40	16
7	Nina Pirogova	Tornado	D	34	15	29	44	15	38
8	Alyona Starovoitova	SKIF	F	36	23	20	43	33	28
9	Polina Bolgareva	Dinamo-Neva	F	34	22	21	43	20	35
10	Nicol Lucák Čupková	Agidel	F	23	14	29	43	38	41

The following players were the top goal scorers of teams not represented in the top ten of the league, listed with their overall league rank:

• 29. Alexandra Nesterova (F), MSMO 7.62: 34 GP, 14 G, 11 A, 25 Pts, −10, 28 PIM
• #. Anna Timofeyeva (F), SKSO: 34 GP, 18 G, 5 A, 23 Pts, −21, 4 PIM
• #. Kassy Betinol (F), KRS Vanke Rays: 22 GP, 10 G, 11 A, 21 Pts, +17, 14 PIM
• #. Tatyana Shatalova (F), Belye Medveditsy: 19 GP, 7 G, 7 A, 14 Pts, −4, 12 PIM
• #. Mariya Lobur (F), Ice Wings: 18 GP, 4 G, 7 A, 11 Pts, –42, 14 PIM

Top goaltenders

The following goaltenders lead the league in save percentage at the conclusion of games played on 30 March 2022, while playing a minimum of 840 minutes.^[4]

	Player	Team	GP	TOI	W	L	SO	SV%	GAA
1	Valeria Tarakanova	SKIF	16	946:00	14	1	4	.954	1.14
2	Maria Sorokina	Agidel	21	1088:16	16	3	8	.943	1.27
3	Valeria Merkusheva	SKIF	19	1056:43	14	4	6	.935	1.53
4	Dariya Gredzen	Biryusa	27	1619:16	10	12	1	.924	2.30
5	Diana Farkhutdinova	Dinamo-Neva	29	1621:01	16	11	3	.924	2.15
6	Anna Prugova	Agidel	17	1020:56	9	5	2	.920	2.12
7	Milena Tretyak	Belye Medveditsy	28	1713:32	5	24	1	.909	4.03
8	Anna Alpatova	MSMO 7.62	33	1778:16	9	20	2	.907	3.21
9	Yulia Volkova	Tornado	32	1996:44	20	11	1	.901	2.61
10	Ravilya Ainullova	SKSO	18	898:54	4	10	0	.877	4.07

Playoffs

The 2022 ZhHL playoffs began on 6 April. The KRS Vanke Rays claimed their second ZhHL Championship on 26 April after concluding a three game sweep of SKIF Nizhny Novgorod.^[5][6]

As of 26 April 2022

	Quarterfinals					Semifinals					Finals
	1	SKIF	2
	8	Belye Medveditsy	0
						1	SKIF	2
						6	Dinamo-Neva	0
	5	Biryusa	1
	4	Tornado	2
												KRS Vanke Rays	3
	(Pairings are reseeded after the first round)
												SKIF	0
	3	KRS Vanke Rays	2
	6	MSMO 7.62	0
						2	KRS Vanke Rays	2
						5	Tornado	1
	7	Agidel	1
	2	Dinamo-Neva	2

Quarterfinals

All game times in Moscow Time (UTC+03:00) (1) SKIF vs. (8) Belye Medveditsy

6 April 2022 16:30

Belye Medveditsy Chelyabinsk

0–2 (0–2, 0–0, 0–0)

SKIF Nizhny Novgorod

Yunost Sport Palace, Chelyabinsk Attendance: 115

Game reference
	Milena Tretyak	Goalies	Valeria Merkusheva	Referees: Yekaterina Kiselyova Alina Polyakova Linesmen: Oksana Vdovina Diana Mokhova
	0–1 14:21 – Starovoitova (Tejralová, Falyakhova) 0–2 17:28 – PP – Falyakhova (Tejralová, Kulishova)
	6 min	Penalties	4 min
	17	Shots	39

9 April 2022 11:15

SKIF Nizhny Novgorod

5–0 (1–0, 1–0, 3–0)

Belye Medveditsy Chelyabinsk

Konovalenko Sports Palace, Nizhny Novgorod Attendance: 310

Game reference
	Valeria Tarakanova	Goalies	Milena Tretyak	Referees: Yekaterina Kiselyova Alina Polyakova Linesmen: Oksana Vdovina Diana Mokhova
	Starovoitova (Tejralová) – SH –  10:50 1–0 Falyakhova (Starovoitova, Prokopenko) – 31:08 2–0 Ananyina – 52:02 3–0 Prokopenko (Ananyina) – 54:48 4–0 Garipova (Shmykova, Likhachyova) – 55:44 5–0
	6 min	Penalties	2 min
	44	Shots	16

(2) KRS Vanke Rays vs. (7) MSMO 7.62

6 April 2022 17:00

MSMO 7.62 Voskresensk

0–7 (0–2, 0–2, 0–3)

KRS Vanke Rays Shenzhen

Podmoskovie Ice Palace, Voskresensk Attendance: 64

Game reference
	Anna Alpatova	Goalies	Noora Räty	Referees: Elena Ivanova Elizaveta Kolchina Linesmen: Anastasia Vasilyeva Alina Moreva
	0–1 01:30 – Karvinen 0–2 15:05 – Cava (Tapani, Nordin) 0–3 37:38 – PP – Tapani (Cava) 0–4 39:08 – Karvinen (Tapani, Cava) 0–5 46:19 – Kilponen (Fang, Nikolayeva) 0–6 57:15 – Houston (Mills) 0–7 59:08 – PP – Tapani (Nordin)
	14 min	Penalties	10 min
	8	Shots	33

9 April 2022 14:00

KRS Vanke Rays Shenzhen

5–2 (1–0, 2–0, 2–2)

MSMO 7.62 Voskresensk

Mytishchi Arena, Mytishchi Attendance: 65

Game reference
	Noora Räty Anastasia Ropotova	Goalies	Anna Alpatova Sofya Larova	Referees: Elizaveta Kolchina Anastasiia Kurashova Linesmen: Viktoria Kozhevnikova Margarita Kiseleva
	Kilponen (Cava, Nordin) – SH – 08:43 1–0 Nordin (Karvinen, Cava) – 21:12 2–0 Nordin (Tapani, Cava) – 36:57 3–0 Pushkar (Houston) – 43:33 4–0 Nordin (Cava, Karvinen) – 43:59 5–0 5–1 47:02 – Nuyaksheva (Ichayeva) 5–2 56:57 – Shirshova
	6 min	Penalties	12 min
	49	Shots	12

(3) Agidel vs. (6) Dinamo-Neva

6 April 2022 13:00

Dinamo-Neva St. Petersburg

0–3 (0–1, 0–1, 0–1)

Agidel Ufa

Yubileyny Sports Palace, St. Petersburg Attendance: 125

Game reference
	Diana Farkhutdinova	Goalies	Maria Sorokina	Referees: Daria Abrosimova Darya Ermak Linesmen: Alina Vlasova Polina Danilova
	0–1 18:29 – Markova (Tyurina) 0–2 38:16 – PP – Sosina 0–3 51:07 – Rodnova (Sosina)
	8 min	Penalties	13 min
	24	Shots	25

9 April 2022 11:00

Agidel Ufa

0–2 (0–1, 0–1, 0–0)

Dinamo-Neva St. Petersburg

City Sports Palace, Ufa Attendance: 355

Game reference
	Anna Prugova	Goalies	Diana Farkhutdinova	Referees: Daria Abrosimova Darya Ermak Linesmen: Landysh Nurgalieva Aryna Orishchenko
	0–1 06:25 – Beloglazova (Ganeyeva, Kadirova) 0–2 26:37 – Prokopenko (Vafina)
	8 min	Penalties	4 min
	32	Shots	34

10 April 2022 13:00

Agidel Ufa

3–4 GWS (0–0, 1–1, 2–2) (OT: 0–0) (SO: 0–1)

Dinamo-Neva St. Petersburg

City Sports Palace, Ufa Attendance: 320

Game reference
	Maria Sorokina	Goalies	Diana Farkhutdinova	Referees: Daria Abrosimova Darya Ermak Linesmen: Landysh Nurgalieva Aryna Orishchenko
	0–1 22:40 – Alexandrova (Bulatova) Sosina (Korzhakova, Batalova) – 32:00 1–1 1–2 47:00 – Kadirova (Vafina, Smirnova) Batalova (Sosina) – PP – 49:48 2–2 Rodnova (Shibanova) – 54:01 3–2 3–3 58:01 – Vafina (Kadirova, Nikolayeva)
	Shibanova Markova Mitrofanova Batalova	Shootout	Beloglazova Bolgareva Bulatova Vafina
	12 min	Penalties	8 min
	46	Shots	25

(4) Biryusa vs. (5) Tornado

6 April 2022 17:00

Tornado Moscow Oblast

4–1 (0–0, 1–0, 3–1)

Biryusa Krasnoyarsk

SC Dmitrov, Dmitrov Attendance: 748

Game reference
	Yulia Volkova	Goalies	Darya Gredzen	Referees: Yana Zueva Arina Ustinova Linesmen: Yulia Lavelina Anastasia Letovaltseva
	Davletshina (Arkhipova, Malyavko) – 32:34 1–0 Shokhina (Dergachyova) – 40:55 2–0 2–1 42:53 – Pavlova (Dobrodeyeva) Shokhina (Savonina, Pirogova) – EN – 58:54 3–1 Shokhina (Polunina) – EN – 59:24 4–1
	25 min	Penalties	27 min
	10	Shots	8

9 April 2022 13:00

Biryusa Krasnoyarsk

3–2 OT (0–1, 1–0, 1–1) (OT: 1–0)

Tornado Moscow Oblast

Pervomaisky Ice Arena, Krasnoyarsk Attendance: 180

Game reference
	Darya Gredzen	Goalies	Yulia Volkova	Referees: Yana Zueva Arina Ustinova Linesmen: Yulia Lavelina Anastasia Letovaltseva
	0–1 18:57 – Shokhina (Pirogova, Akhmetova) Lifatova (Horálková, Pavlova) – 29:20 1–1 1–2 49:22 – Pirogova (Shkalyova, Shokhina) Pavlova (Lifatova) – PP – 52:51 2–2 Mitrofanova (Danilova) – 63:32 3–2
	6 min	Penalties	16 min
	30	Shots	27

10 April 2022 13:00

Biryusa Krasnoyarsk

2–3 OT (1–0, 1–1, 0–1) (OT: 0–1)

Tornado Moscow Oblast

Pervomaisky Ice Arena, Krasnoyarsk Attendance: 190

Game reference
	Darya Gredzen	Goalies	Yulia Volkova	Referees: Yana Zueva Arina Ustinova Linesmen: Yulia Lavelina Anastasia Letovaltseva
	Lifatova (Dobrodeyeva) – 11:16 1–0 Zenchenko (Danilova, Mitrofanova) – PP – 24:37 2–0 2–1 31:01 – Pirogova (Shmelyova) 2–2 42:01 – Malyavko (Savonina, Shokhina) 2–3 62:18 – PP – Pirogova
	10 min	Penalties	6 min
	28	Shots	32

Semifinals

All game times in Moscow Time (UTC+03:00) (1) SKIF vs. (6) Dinamo-Neva

14 April 2022 16:30

Dinamo-Neva St. Petersburg

2–3 (1–1, 1–0, 1–1)

SKIF Nizhny Novgorod

Yubileyny Sports Palace, Saint Petersburg Attendance: 150

Game reference
	Diana Farkhutdinova	Goalies	Valeria Merkusheva	Referees: Daria Abrosimova Elizaveta Kolchina Linesmen: Arina Orishchenko Landysh Nurgaliyeva
	0–1 08:49 – Malinovskaya (Ananyina, Falyakhova) Ganeyeva (Bolgareva, Vafina) – 11:32 1–1 Vafina – PP – 33:42 2–1 2–2 52:50 – Bratishcheva 2–3 56:28 – Starovoitova (Falyakhova, Tejralová)
	26 min	Penalties	45 min
	12	Shots	10

17 April 2022 13:00

SKIF Nizhny Novgorod

5–4 (0–1, 4–1, 1–2)

Dinamo-Neva St. Petersburg

KRK Nagorny, Nizhny Novgorod Attendance: 500

Game reference
	Valeria Tarakanova	Goalies	Diana Farkhutdinova	Referees: Darya Ermak Elizaveta Kolchina Linesmen: Polina Danilova Diana Mokhova
	0–1 16:30 – PS – Kadirova Falyakhova – PP – 21:37 1–1 1–2 36:14 – Bolgareva (Kadirova, Vafina) Falyakhova (Tejralová) – 37:48 2–2 Bratishcheva (Falyakhova) – 38:44 3–2 Falyakhova (Prokopenko) – 39:33 4–2 4–3 41:00 – Kadirova (Vafina) Malinovskaya – 41:45 5–3 5–4 54:34 – PP – Ganeyeva (Kadirova, Nikolayeva)
	6 min	Penalties	10 min
	47	Shots	26

(2) KRS Vanke Rays vs. (5) Tornado

15 April 2022 18:00

Tornado Moscow Oblast

3–2 (0–0, 2–2, 1–0)

KRS Vanke Rays Shenzhen

SC Dmitrov, Dmitrov Attendance: 740

Game reference
	Yulia Volkova	Goalies	Noora Räty	Referees: Yana Zueva Aryna Ustinova Linesmen: Julia Lavelina Oksana Vdovina
	0–1 20:28 – Cava Shkalyova (Dyupina, Nesterova) – 20:52 1–1 1–2 27:15 – Karvinen (Houston, Nordin) Shokhina (Dergachyova) – PP – 28:32 2–2 Belyakova (Dergachyova, Shokhina) – PP – 49:57 3–2
	12 min	Penalties	12 min
	27	Shots	31

18 April 2022 14:00

KRS Vanke Rays Shenzhen

5–2 (2–1, 3–1, 0–0)

Tornado Moscow Oblast

Mytishchi Arena, Mytishchi Attendance: 110

Game reference
	Noora Räty	Goalies	Yulia Volkova	Referees: Yana Zueva Aryna Ustinova Linesmen: Julia Lavelina Anastasia Letovaltseva
	Tapani (Liu, Cava) – 08:34 1–0 Karvinen (Cava, Tuominen) – PP – 09:43 2–0 2–1 19:28 – PP – Dergachyova Nordin (Cava) – 24:09 3–1 Cava – PP – 34:00 4–1 4–2 38:43 – Dergachyova (Pirogova, Shokhina) Cava (Tapani, Karvinen) – PP – 39:39 5–2
	31 min	Penalties	27 min
	14	Shots	22

19 April 2022 14:00

KRS Vanke Rays Shenzhen

4–1 (1–0, 3–0, 0–1)

Tornado Moscow Oblast

Mytishchi Arena, Mytishchi Attendance: 85

Game reference
	Noora Räty	Goalies	Yulia Volkova Veronika Komissarova	Referees: Yana Zueva Aryna Ustinova Linesmen: Julia Lavelina Anastasia Letovaltseva
	Nordin (Liu, Cava) – 16:02 1–0 Mills – 21:03 2–0 Miller (Houston, Karvinen) – 21:29 3–0 Karvinen (Tuominen) – PP – 31:44 4–0 4–1 47:49 – Dergachyova (Shokhina)
	14 min	Penalties	6 min
	24	Shots	43

Player statistics

Scoring leaders

The following players led the league in playoff point scoring at the conclusion of the semifinals on 19 April 2022.^[7]

	Nat	Player	Team	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1		Michela Cava	KRS Vanke Rays	5	4	9	13	6
2		Emma Nordin	KRS Vanke Rays	5	5	6	11	4
3		Anna Shokhina	Tornado	6	5	6	11	6
4		Michelle Karvinen	KRS Vanke Rays	5	5	5	10	6
5		Landysh Falyakhova	SKIF	4	5	4	9	8
6		Susanna Tapani	KRS Vanke Rays	5	3	4	7	2
6		Fanuza Kadirova	Dinamo-Neva	5	3	4	7	2
8		Yelena Dergachyova	Tornado	6	3	4	7	6
9		Alexandra Vafina	Dinamo-Neva	5	2	5	7	4
10		Aneta Tejralová	SKIF	4	0	7	7	2

The following players were the top goal scorers of teams not represented in the top ten of the league, listed with their overall league rank (if available):

• 15. Olga Sosina (F), Agidel: 3 GP, 2 G, 2 A, 4 Pts, 0 PIM
• 17. Valeria Pavlova (F), Biryusa: 2 GP, 2 G, 1 A, 3 Pts, 0 PIM
• –. Yulia Nuyaksheva (F), MSMO 7.62: 1 GP, 1 G, 0 A, 1 Pt, 0 PIM / Mariya Shirshova (F), MSMO 7.62: 1 GP, 1 G, 0 A, 1 Pt, 2 PIM^[8]

Belye Medveditsy was shutout in both games played and, as such, none of their players scored a point in the playoffs.

Top goaltenders

The following goaltenders lead the league in playoff save percentage at the conclusion of the semifinals on 19 April 2022.^[9]

	Player	Team	GP	TOI	W	L	SO	SV%	GAA
1	Valeria Merkusheva	SKIF	2	119:39	2	0	1	.953	1.00
2	Noora Räty	KRS Vanke Rays	5	273:56	4	1	0	.945	1.31
3	Maria Sorokina	Agidel	2	129:56	1	0	1	.939	1.39
4	Diana Farkhutdinova	Dinamo-Neva	5	307:31	1	3	1	.928	2.73
5	Milena Tretyak	Belye Medveditsy	2	119:37	0	2	0	.916	3.51
6	Dariya Gredzen	Biryusa	3	185:15	1	2	0	.915	2.27
7	Valeria Tarakanova	SKIF	2	119:39	2	0	1	.905	2.01
8	Yulia Volkova	Tornado	6	316:09	3	3	0	.892	3.23
9	Anna Alpatova	MSMO 7.62	2	83:29	0	2	0	.852	5.75

ZhHL Championship Finals

All game times in Moscow Time (UTC+03:00)

22 April 2022 (2022-4-22) 16:30

SKIF Nizhny Novgorod

1–3 (0–2, 1–1, 0–0)

KRS Vanke Rays Shenzhen

KRK Nagorny, Nizhny Novgorod Attendance: 370

Game reference
	Valeria Merkusheva	Goalies	Noora Räty	Referees: Daria Abrosimova Elizaveta Kolchina Linesmen: Oksana Vdovina Polina Danilova
	0–1 06:13 – Nordin (Cava) 0–2 14:57 – Kilponen (Tuominen) Kulishova (Provorova) – 26:18 1–2 1–3 29:49 – Cava (Kilponen, Nordin)
	10 min	Penalties	8 min
	19	Shots	40

23 April 2022 (2022-4-23) 13:00

SKIF Nizhny Novgorod

2–3 (1–1, 1–1, 0–1)

KRS Vanke Rays Shenzhen

KRK Nagorny, Nizhny Novgorod Attendance: 500

Game reference
	Valeria Tarakanova	Goalies	Noora Räty	Referees: Yana Zueva Arina Ustinova Linesmen: Landysh Nurgalieva Arina Orishchenko
	Prokopenko (Tejralová, Falyakhova) – PP – 10:16 1–0 1–1 16:03 – Tapani Likhachyova (Malinovskaya) – 25:27 2–1 2–2 29:37 – Nordin 2–3 58:00 – Cava
	0 min	Penalties	4 min
	36	Shots	22

26 April 2022 (2022-4-26) 14:00

KRS Vanke Rays Shenzhen

2–1 GWS (0–0, 1–0, 0–1) (OT: 0–0) (SO: 1–0)

SKIF Nizhny Novgorod

Mytishchi Arena, Mytishchi Attendance: 155

Game reference
	Noora Räty	Goalies	Valeria Merkusheva	Referees: Yana Zueva Arina Ustinova Linesmen: Julia Lavelina Anastasia Letovaltseva
	Miller (Karvinen) – SH – 36:42 1–0 1–1 43:00 – Kulishova (Bratishcheva, Tejralová)
	Tapani Houston Miller Cava	Shootout	Starovoitova Kulishova Tejralová
	12 min	Penalties	6 min
	43	Shots	41