The Zhenskaya Hockey League (ZhHL; russian: Женская хоккейная лига, translit=Zhenskaya khokkeynaya liga, translation=Women's Hockey League), officially called the Women's Hockey League (WHL), is a professional
ice hockey
Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...
league in Eurasia, currently comprising nine teams: eight from Russia and one from China. The league is also known as the PariMatch Women's Hockey League for sponsorship reasons.
The league was founded via a joint partnership of the
Kontinental Hockey League
The Kontinental Hockey League (KHL; russian: Континентальная хоккейная лига (КХЛ), Kontinental'naya khokkeynaya liga) is an international professional ice hockey league founded in 2008. It comprises member clubs ba ...
(KHL) and the
Ice Hockey Federation of Russia
The Ice Hockey Federation of Russia (russian: Федерация хоккея России, ''Federatsiya Khokkeya Rossii'') is the governing body overseeing ice hockey in Russia. In 2019 Russia had 110,624 ice hockey players registered with its ...
(FHR) on 19 June 2015. It replaced the Russian Women's Hockey League (RWHL), which had been founded in 1995 and was operated by the FHR alone.
History
The creation of the Zhenskaya Hockey League was announced on 12 September 2014 at a meeting of
Alexander Medvedev
Alexander Ivanovich Medvedev (russian: Александр Иванович Медведев, ) (born 14 August 1955 in Shakhtyorsk, Sakhalin Oblast) is the current Deputy Chairman of the Management Committee of Russian energy company Gazprom ...
, president of the
Ice Hockey Federation of Russia
The Ice Hockey Federation of Russia (russian: Федерация хоккея России, ''Federatsiya Khokkeya Rossii'') is the governing body overseeing ice hockey in Russia. In 2019 Russia had 110,624 ice hockey players registered with its ...
(FHR), and
Vladislav Tretiak
Vladislav Aleksandrovich Tretiak, Meritorious Service Decoration (Canada), MSM ( rus, links=no, Владислав Александрович Третьяк, p=trʲɪˈtʲjak; born 25 April 1952) is a Russian former goaltender for the Soviet Un ...
, president of the
Kontinental Hockey League
The Kontinental Hockey League (KHL; russian: Континентальная хоккейная лига (КХЛ), Kontinental'naya khokkeynaya liga) is an international professional ice hockey league founded in 2008. It comprises member clubs ba ...
(KHL). The parties expressed their readiness to jointly establish the ZhHL and to achieve the dream of taking women's hockey in Russia to a new level of development. However, the FHR established the Zhenskaya Hockey League independently. There was a meeting with representatives of different Russian women's hockey teams on 2 July 2014. On the same day, the Honored Master of Sports,
Alexei Yashin
Alexei Valeryevich Yashin (russian: Алексей Валерьевич Яшин; born 5 November 1973) is a Russian former professional ice hockey centre who played 12 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Ottawa Senators and New ...
, was elected as president of the league while Yevgeny Chizhmin was appointed as the league's executive director.
However, the process of creating the league stalled because of a disagreement of the
KHL
The Kontinental Hockey League (KHL; russian: Континентальная хоккейная лига (КХЛ), Kontinental'naya khokkeynaya liga) is an international professional ice hockey league founded in 2008. It comprises member clubs b ...
with the fact that the Ice Hockey Federation of Russia established the league without reaching an agreement with the KHL, and on 22 December 2014, Alexei Yashin said in an interview with Championat.com: "While all this is a little suspended, what will happen next is hard for me to say. The management has made such a decision about changes in the KHL, which is what it is. I have a very good relationship with Alexander Ivanovich Medvedev. I think he did a lot for our hockey. I have not talked with
Dmitry Chernyshenko
Dmitry Nikolayevich Chernyshenko (russian: Дмитрий Николаевич Чернышенко; born 20 September 1968) is a Russian businessman and politician serving as Deputy Prime Minister of Russia for Tourism, Sport, Culture and Comm ...
yet. As for the women's league, when we talked, there was a certain situation that the KHL, FHR and Ruslan Gutnov would participate in the creation and development of this project. Now, while this process has slowed down, it's difficult for me to talk about terms."
The KHL, with the FHR, returned to the subject of the ZhHL in 2015. On 23 April 2015, the FHR Executive Committee voted to transfer the rights to host the women's ice hockey Russian Championship to the KHL. On 19 June 2015, the KHL established the Zhenskaya Hockey League, holding a presentation of a new league in the
Ministry of Sport of Russia. On 8 September 2015, after the first matches of the championship of the ZhHL, the Board of Directors of the KHL approved the Rules of the League Championship.
Prior to the 2016–17 season, an eighth team, Dinamo Kursk, was supposed to added to compete in the league. However, on 5 September 2016, despite the league taking all possible measures to ensure they would take part, Dinamo Kursk ultimately withdrew from the competition due to unresolved organizational and logistical issues. On 25 July 2019, the
Shenzhen KRS Vanke Rays
The Shenzhen Kunlun Red Star () or the Shenzhen KRS () are a professional ice hockey team in the Zhenskaya Hockey League (ZhHL). They are based in Shenzhen, Guangdong, China and their home is Shenzhen Dayun Arena.
In response to heightened ent ...
announced it was joining the ZhHL for the 2019–20 season.
Teams
2022–23 season
*''
Temporary relocation since 2021–22 season''
Source:
Russian Champions
*1996 : Luzhniki Moscow (HC SKIF)
*1997 : CSK VVS Moscow (HC SKIF)
*1998 : CSK VVS Moscow (HC SKIF)
*1999 : Viking Moscow (HC SKIF)
*2000 : Spartak-Mercury Yekaterinburg
*2001 : SKIF Moscow (HC SKIF)
*2002 : SKIF Moscow (HC SKIF)
*2003 : SKIF Moscow (HC SKIF)
*2004 : SKIF Moscow (HC SKIF)
*2005 : SKIF Moscow (HC SKIF)
*2006 : HC Tornado
*2007 : HC Tornado
*2008 : SKIF Nizhny Novgorod (HC SKIF)
*2009 : HC Tornado
*2010 : SKIF Nizhny Novgorod (HC SKIF)
*2011 : HC Tornado
*2012 : HC Tornado
*2013 : HC Tornado
*2014 : SKIF Nizhny Novgorod (HC SKIF)
*2015 : HC Tornado
*2016 : HC Tornado
*2017 : HC Tornado
*2018 : Agidel Ufa
*2019 : Agidel Ufa
*2020 : KRS Vanke Rays
*2021 : Agidel Ufa
*2022 : KRS Vanke Rays
Russian Champions by season
All-time Russian Championship titles
References
External links
Official website(in Russian)
*
*
Zhenskaya Hockey Leagueat EliteProspects.com
at Eurohockey.com
{{Top sport leagues in Russia
Women
A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or Adolescence, adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female hum ...
Women's ice hockey leagues in Europe
Lea
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Places Australia
* Lea River, Tasmania, Australia
* Lake Lea, Tasmania, from which the Lea River flows
* RAAF Base Learmonth, IATA airport code "LEA"
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Women's sports leagues in Russia
Professional ice hockey leagues in Russia