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.
| Most recent season or competition: 2023–24 EWHL season | |
 | |
| Formerly | Elite Women's Hockey League, 2005–2019 |
|---|---|
| Sport | Ice hockey |
| Founded | 2004 |
| Founder | International Ice Hockey Federation |
| First season | 2004–05 |
| Director | Hungarian Ice Hockey Federation |
| President | Martin Kogler |
| No. of teams | 12 |
| 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]
Teams
2023–24 season
| Team name | Location | Home venue | Head coach |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aisulu Almaty |  Almaty | Baluan Sholak Sports Palace | Alexander Maltsev |
| Budapest Jégkorong Akadémia |  Budapest | Tüskesátor | Zoltán Fodor |
| DEC Salzburg Eagles | Salzburg | Eisarena Salzburg | Eva-Maria Verworner |
| EC Graz Huskies[6] | Graz | Merkur Eisstadion | Paul Mocher |
| EVB Eagles Südtirol |  Bolzano | PalaOnda | Stefano Daprà |
| HC ŠKP Bratislava | Bratislava | Zimný štadión Vladimíra Dzurillu (Ružinov) | Miroslav Mosnár |
| Hokiklub Budapest | Budapest | Tüskesátor | Levente Szilágyi |
| KEHV Lakers | Villach | Heidi Horten-Arena (Klagenfurt) | Günther Ropatsch |
| KSV Neuburg Highlanders | Neuberg an der Mürz | Eishalle Kapfenberg (Kapfenberg) | Philipp Holper |
| MAC Budapest | Budapest | Kisstadion | Andrea Kiss |
| SKN Sabres St. Pölten | Sankt Pölten | Sportzentrum NÖ | Stephan Brozovsky |
| TAURON Metropolia Silesia |  Katowice | OSIR Bytom (Bytom) | Zbigniew Wrobel |
Source: ÖEHV[7]
Former teams
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 |
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 |
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 | |