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: 2024–25 EWHL season
Formerly	Elite Women's Hockey League, 2005–2019
Sport	Ice hockey
Founded	2004; 20 years ago (2004)
Founder	International Ice Hockey Federation
First season	2004–05
Director	Hungarian Ice Hockey Federation
President	Martin Kogler
No. of teams	11
Countries	Austria, Hungary, Italy, Kazakhstan, Poland, Slovakia
Headquarters	Göstingerstraße 111 Graz, Austria
Most recent champion(s)	HC ŠKP Bratislava (2023–24)
Most titles	EHV Sabres (6)
Sponsor(s)	Tippmix
International cup(s)	EWHL Super Cup
Official website	Official 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]

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

Source: ÖEHV^[8]

Former teams

Austria DEC Dragons Klagenfurt EHV Sabres Vienna Southern Stars SPG Sabres/Flyers United WE-V Flyers Belarus HK Pantera Minsk Croatia KHL Grič Zagreb Czech Republic HC Slavia Praha

Denmark Hvidovre IK Germany ESC Planegg-Würmtal OSC Eisladies Berlin Hungary Budapest Stars Hokiklub Budapest MAC Marilyn Budapest Italy HC Agordo HC Eagles Bolzano

Netherlands Netherlands women's national team Slovakia HC Slovan Bratislava HK Spišská Nová Ves MHK Martin ŽHK Poprad (Popradské Líšky) Slovenia HDK Maribor HK Gorenjska HK Olimpija Ljubljana HK Terme Maribor HK Triglav Kranj

Championship

#	Years	Gold	Silver	Bronze	No. of teams
1	2004	EHV Sabres	HK Terme Maribor	HC Agordo	8
2	2005–06	HC Slovan Bratislava	HK Terme Maribor	HC Eagles Bolzano	11
3	2006–07	HC Slovan Bratislava	The Ravens Salzburg	HK Terme Maribor	12
4	2007–08	Slavia Praha	The Ravens Salzburg	EHV Sabres	11
5	2008–09	Slavia Praha	OSC Berlin	ESC Planegg	8
6	2009–10	ESC Planegg	The Ravens Salzburg	EHV Sabres	6
7	2010–11	EHV Sabres	Slovan Bratislava	ESC Planegg	8
8	2011–12	EHV Sabres	Slovan Bratislava	HK Pantera Minsk	6
9	2012–13	HK Pantera Minsk	EHV Sabres	Salzburg Eagles	6
10	2013–14	EV Bozen Eagles	Neuberg Highlanders	EHV Sabres	7
11	2014–15	EHV Sabres	EV Bozen Eagles	Salzburg Eagles	6
12	2015–16	EHV Sabres	Salzburg Eagles	Aisulu Almaty	7
13	2016–17	EV Bozen Eagles	DEC Salzburg Eagles	HC ŠKP Bratislava	8
14	2017–18	EHV Sabres	EV Bozen Eagles	KMH Budapest	8
15	2018–19	KMH Budapest	EHV Sabres	EVB Eagles Südtirol	9
16	2019–20	KMH Budapest	MAC Budapest	Aisulu Almaty	10
17	2020–21	KMH Budapest	EHV Sabres	HC ŠKP Bratislava	9
18	2021–22	KMH Budapest	Aisulu Almaty	EHV Sabres	11
19	2022–23	Hokiklub Budapest	MAC Budapest	HC ŠKP Bratislava	10
20	2023–24	HC ŠKP Bratislava	Hokiklub Budapest	MAC Budapest	12

Source: ^[9][10]

Medals (Clubs)

	Club	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Medals
1	EHV Sabres	6	2	4	12
2	ŠKP Bratislava[a]	3	2	3	8
3	Hokiklub Budapest[b]	5	1	1	7
4	EVB Eagles Südtirol[c]	2	2	1	5
5	Slavia Praha	2	0	0	2
6	ESC Planegg	1	0	2	3
7	HK Pantera Minsk	1	0	1	2
8	DEC Salzburg Eagles[d]	0	5	2	7
9	MAC Budapest	0	2	2	4
9	HK Terme Maribor	0	2	1	3
10	Aisulu Almaty	0	1	2	3
11	OSC Berlin	0	1	0	1
11	Neuburg Highlanders	0	1	0	1
12	HC Eagles Bolzano	0	0	1	1
12	HC Agordo	0	0	1	1

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

Medals (Nations)

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Austria	6	9	6	21
2	Hungary	5	3	2	10
3	Slovakia	3	2	3	8
4	Italy	2	2	3	7
5	Czech Republic	2	0	0	2
6	Germany	1	1	2	4
7	Belarus	1	0	1	2
8	Slovenia	0	2	1	3
9	Kazakhstan	0	1	2	3
Totals (9 entries)		20	20	20	60

See also

• EWHL Super Cup
• IIHF European Women's Champions Cup
• Austria women's ice hockey Bundesliga
• German women's ice hockey Bundesliga

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.

External links

• Official website
• EWHL News
• European Women's Hockey Journal (in German)