2023-2024 International Women's Hockey Recap

A look at this year in the SDHL, EWHL, SWHL/PostFinance Women League, and Naisten Liiga

While the PWHL waits for the Women’s Worlds Championship to end and playoffs to begin, overseas leagues have wrapped up their seasons and crowned their victors. Previously, I wrote an introduction to overseas women’s hockey leagues and their level of play, but wanted to take a look at the results of the 2024 season and a few storylines from each league to highlight. We won’t get to every stat, top player, or major transaction, but here are a few main events that happened in women’s hockey outside of North America this year. 

Svenska Damhockeyligan (SDHL)

You’re never going to believe this, but Luleå HF won the championship, going undefeated in the playoffs for their sixth straight title. The core of Finland’s top players and Swedish national team stars were led by Petra Nieminen, who had the most goals in the regular and the most points in the playoffs, including a hat trick in one game and this short handed goal in their championship clinching game: 

AIK was relegated, while HV71 survived to stay in the SDHL and promptly fired their coach after a disappointing season. Skellefteå AIK won promotion to move from the tier two league, Nationella Damhockeyligan, to the SDHL. Last season’s promoted team, Frölunda HC, made an impact in their first top division season by making it all the way to the semifinals despite being hampered with injuries from star players. 

Here are three narratives from this SDHL season you should know about;

• The rise of Ebba Svensson Träff: Last season, Ebba Svensson Träff finished with a .905 save percentage in 23 games and a weak postseason performance. Svensson Träff followed her weak 2022-2023 performance with a breakout season and finished with the highest save percentage in the SDHL, a .938, in 25 games. Her season would unfortunately end with injury after just one playoff game, but her stellar performance during the season would get her two starts during international play with Sweden’s Senior National Team. The 19 year old goaltender faced the second most shots in the league (776) despite being fourth in minutes played (1503:51.) For Svensson Träff to own the highest save percentage in a league with names like Klára Peslarová, Andrea Brändli, and Stephanie Neatby after having one of the lowest in the leagues last year shows tremendous growth on her part and should lead to more Swedish National Team appearances. 

• Increase in the number of Japanese players: The SDHL went from zero Japanese players two years ago to seven this year. Haruka Toko, Ayaka Hitosato, Hikaru Yamashita, Mei Miura, Kanami Seki, Fumika Sasano, and Suzu Matsuya all were regular players for their respective teams this season, many of them playing internationally for the first time. Haruka Toko was one of the SDHL’s star players, being over a point per game in her second season with Linköping HC. Toko’s sister, Ayaka Hitosato, was Linköping’s highest scoring defender. 

• Up and Coming Talent: Adela Sapovalivova, Ebba Hedqvist, Tereza Plosová, Hilda Svensson, Mira Jungåker, Felicia Frank, and Maja Helge were all players 18 or under who were key contributors to their teams. Most of these players are confirmed as playing in the NCAA next year: Frank will go to Quinnipiac, Plosová to University of Minnesota, Svensson and Mira Jungåker to Ohio State University. The increase of international players in the NCAA is always a great thing, but their respective SDHL teams will need to find a way to replace their offense. 

Naisten Liiga

Are Kiekko-Espoo in their flop era? Not really, but this is the second year in a row that HIFK has beat them in the finals, despite Kiekko-Espoo returning to the top of the table in the regular season. Even though Naisten Liiga leading goal scorer Michaela Pejzlová was held to “only” two goals and a point per game in the playoffs, Julia Liikala, Sanni Vanahan, and Clara Rozier provided enough offense to give HIFK the win. Lukko’s last minute folding meant there was no relegation tournament this year. 

Three major storylines for Naisten Liiga;

1. Elisa Holopainen missed 13 games and still finished fifth in points: In 19 games, Holopainen had 32 goals and 25 assists for a total of 57 points, or 3 points per game on average. She accomplished all of this while coming back from an injury that sidelined her for over 6 months in 2023. Holopainen had 12 more goals than the next highest player on her team, KalPa, who has talented roster but does not have the same depth that Kiekko-Espoo and HIFK do. If KalPa was to medal, they were going to need Holopainen to drive their offense, and she did just that by securing a bronze medal victory against HPK. Holopainen scored 9 goals in Naisten Liiga’s postseason in her 8 games played. Unfortunately for fans of KalPa and Naisten Liiga, Holopainen will not return next year, as SDHL club Frölunda announced they’ve signed her. Look out for up and coming Finnish star Emma Ekoluoma to step into Holopainen’s role as one of Naisten Liiga’s most exciting, young, homegrown talents. 

2. Team Australia’s Up and Coming Goaltender: 19 year old Australian-Polish goaltender Olivia Last made a big splash this year, being named to Naisten Liiga’s first all star team. While her numbers aren’t exactly eye popping, her position as the starting goaltender on TPS, the second to last place team in the league, was the definition of “no help.” Most importantly, she showed significant improvements positionally as a goaltender, managing one of the highest workloads in the league and earning 3 shutouts during the season. Last has already started some senior games for Team Australia during their world championships, and will be a huge part of their international plans going forward.

3. Julia Zielinska Breakout Earns Her NCAA Spot: Julia Zielinska will become the first Polish woman to play NCAA hockey next year, in part thanks to her spectacular year in Naisten Liiga. The Bemidji State commit has been playing in Finland since she was 15, and put up 12 points and 16 assists in 29 games with Kiekko-Espoo. She developed alongside and produced similarly to Nelli Laitinen, a former Kiekko-Espoo player two years older than Zielinska who has become a key part of the University of Minnesota hockey team. 

European Women’s Hockey League (EWHL) 

SKP Bratislava are champions for the first time since 2018, after upsetting HK Budapest in the finals! The win is even more impressive as SKP Bratislava is one of the few teams with no import players, with a roster of all Slovakians. The hero for Bratislava was 24 year old goaltender Andrea Risianova, who joined the team at the end of the season, played 8 games, and then put up an insane .972 save percentage and 3 shutout performance in 6 playoff games to steal the championship. The playoffs were all around chaotic, with EC Graz Huskies, a team primarily composed of junior players and who finished seventh in the standings, making it all the way to the Bronze games. As for the EWHL supercup, a separate tournament that includes teams both from and outside of the EWHL, ECDC Memmingen won their first super cup since 2017. 

There were upsets, tears, and triumphs, but here are three storylines that stood out;

1. Ema Tothova is the number one name to know: The 16 year old Slovakian forward was third in the league in scoring with 30 points in 20 games. She’s currently playing for the senior team at the Division IB Women’s World Championship and was a point per game at the tournament to help Slovakia earn promotion. I don’t know what her plans for the future look like, but she should be receiving offers to play collegiate. Here is one of her many goals from staying strong on the puck and getting through defenders on a net drive, this one from the most recent Division IB Women’s World Championship;

2. Martyna Sass shines in starting role: In the past, goaltender Martyna Sass has split her time between the Slovakian domestic league and playing for her native country Poland’s Silesian Metropolis team in the EWHL. 2023-2024 was her first season as a full time starter for Silesian Metropolis and she finished with a .941 save percentage, the best in the EWHL. Her efforts helped Silesian Metropolis go undefeated for the first two months of the season and finish third in the regular season standings, their best finish since joining the EWHL. 

3. Magdalena Luggin Breakout Year; Everyone loves two things- siblings and goaltenders. What if I told you Austria has two great goaltenders who are also siblings? While her older sibling, Selma, was playing in the SDHL, Magdalena Luggin played her first full all ages season with SKN Sabres St.Pölten and finished with a .933 save percentage in 18 starts, good for third highest in the league. Selma Luggin holds the record for best save percentage in a season (minimum 10 games) in the EWHL, and it’ll be interesting to see if Magdalena can etch her name alongside Selma’s and if she’ll look to the SDHL for the next steps of her career. 

PostFinance Women League / SWHL A + B

ZSC Lions Fraun won their third straight championship, despite not getting the regular season title this year. Ladies Team Lugano was relegated, something not quite unexpected given their sudden folding-then-rebirth, but still jarring to see a team with so much success get relegated. In more expected news, EVZ was promoted. 

In honor of the end of the SWHL season, let us revisit the funniest stat line of all time before looking at some storylines;

Lara Stalder remains at large for destroying goaltenders all around Switzerland.

1. HC Ambrì-Piotta Girls Turnaround: A lot of teams landed in drastically different spots on the table than they did the year prior, but no one had a bigger improvement than HC Ambrì-Piotta. From winning one game last year and narrowly avoiding relegation to finishing in third with 19 wins, Ambrì-Piotta remodeled their roster and came out a more cohesive team. They kept several core players such as Ukrainian National Team star Daria Tsymyrenko, who continued to show her talents as a playmaker, and retained their leading scorer from 2023, Nicole Andenmatten. However, they also recruited from Ladies Team Lugano players who were unsure of their future with a team in turmoil and were able to land top Swiss goaltender Sofia Decristophoris and the league’s veteran goal scorer Romy Eggimann. Finally, they landed some more major import talent with names like Fanny Rask, Jenna Kaila, and Theresa Knutson, all of who would finish the year in the top ten of league scoring. HC Ambrì-Piotta Girls got significantly older, in a good way, this year by bringing on players with more experience but still in the prime of their hockey career- the average age of the roster went from 18 years old to 23 years old. Investing in talent and experienced, successful veterans provided good models for the younger player on the team and led to a successful season. 

2. Estelle Duvin: 2023-2024 was a good season for French hockey. Chloé Aurard was drafted to PWHL New York. Clara Rozier (who’s rumored to be joining the SWHL) was named playoff MVP for Naisten Liiga. But no one had a better year than Estelle Duvin. She was named Swiss Hockey News’s MVP of the year, after winning best forward last year in a poll that included fellow players and coaches. She led the league in goals and points, and it wasn’t close. Estelle’s story is particularly interesting - she has always dominated international play for France, and was good, but never great or a prolific goal scorer during her USports career, taking on a more depth and defensive role. Once she went pro - first in Finland, then in Switzerland - she was put into top six roles once more and excelled, finishing top two in scoring in both leagues she's played in every year she’s played in them. The seamless way she has transitioned to various roles, teams, and leagues during her career and succeeded shows what a talented player she is. 

3. Matilde Fantin; Maybe this is cheating a little, as she only ended up playing four games in SWHL A, but I am absolutely fascinated by Matilde Fantin. The 17 year old forward captained Italy’s U18 team and posted 11 points in 5 games. During her brief flashes in SWHL A and Switzerland’s National cup, where she competed along veterans, she’s been at almost a point per game basis.  Here’s her first goal of a hat trick in her first game of the U18 tournament this year, and may we have many more sick goals from her next year, whether that be in the SWHL, Team Italy, or somewhere else. 

A Look Ahead

The late PWHL draft in June means a lot is up in the air about what these leagues may look like next year. We’ve already seen some major transactions. Naisten Liiga stars Michaela Pejzlova, Julia Liikala and Clara Rozier are joining the SWHL, with an increased financial commitment from the league drawing in more players. As previously mentioned, Elisa Holopainen will also be on the move from Naisten Liiga to the SDHL along with Sanni Rantala. Significant roster turnover and league changes are going to be the story of the summer. 

Women’s hockey continues to grow around the world, and it extends beyond even the leagues mentioned here. From Russia to Germany to China, we’re seeing leagues grow and change and strengthen. Cheers to a great 2023-2024 season coming to an end, and here’s to an even better 2024-2025.