A Guide to International Women's Hockey For North Americans
What are the major leagues outside of the PWHL?
If you’re relatively new to women’s hockey, you may be looking at the landscape of where your favorite players have competed and have seen a whole bunch of acronyms that made no sense. Is it good if a player was the top scorer in the PWIOERIWEJRWHL? Is it normal for a child to be playing at an elite club level?
North America has one professional league and four main collegiate leagues: NCAA Division I, NCAA Division III, USports, and ACHA. International leagues get a little more complex. A lot of the European women’s hockey leagues have relegation and promotion, thus allowing for multiple tiers of leagues. Some teams play in multiple leagues. Leagues often team up to do tournaments together. The opportunities are exciting, but can be overwhelming to North Americans looking to do a deeper dive into women's hockey. This handy guide for navigating the women’s hockey landscape will help you understand where your favorite players may be coming from or leaving for.
Svenska Damhockeyligan (SDHL)
Location: Sweden
Who plays here?: Just over half the league is Swedish, with teams offering a significant number of opportunities to import players from all over the world. Typically the age range is 16-40. Of the North Americans, we see a decent mix of former USports and NCAA Division one players here. A few players who have played in the CWHL or PHF now play here, such as Justine Reyes, Autumn MacDougall, and Taylor House.
How much overlap could we see with PWHL and collegiate hockey?: The SDHL is the league that has the most overlap with the PWHL and NCAA. Many of the top players in women’s hockey currently play there or have played in the SDHL, from legends like Riika Sallinen and Florence Schelling to current stars like Jenni Hiirikoski and Hanna Olsson. Many current PWHL players have spent time in the SDHL, including Kennedy Marchment, Sidney Morin, and Kateřina Mrázová.
The top players in the SDHL are top free agent targets for PWHL teams. However, the SDHL is also the league that the PWHL will compete with for signing top European players, especially due to the PWHL’s current lack of roster spots, ice time, and higher end contracts. Michelle Karvinen and Haruka Toko are two players who PWHL teams may have been interested in but have already signed extensions with their respective SDHL teams. As for college, we have seen a significant increase in European players (not just Swedes!) compete in the SDHL during their teenage years before making the jump to collegiate hockey.
Brief introduction: Svenska Damhockeyligan (SDHL) is the most prominent hockey league outside of North America . The league is host to ten teams that play 36 regular season games and a playoff tournament, and has a second tier league below it called the Nationella Damhockeyligan (NDHL/Division 1) that teams can be relegated to or promoted from. Below that are several other leagues with small, local clubs and some specializing in under 18 play and development, but that is not something the average fan needs to look into much. Per Mike Murphy of The Ice Garden, some players are paid, some aren’t, there is no salary cap or league minimum or maximum when it comes to either payment or term. Players are not allowed to disclose salary, and while not confirmed, it’s commonly accepted that some teams pay, some don’t, and some teams pay more than others. Most export players receive living arrangements with living expenses paid.
Recent seasons of Svenska Damhockeyligan have been dominated by the league’s most Northern club, Luleå. They’ve won 6 of the last 7 possible championships (excluding the covid canceled finals,) and their success can be attributed to a relatively consistent core of players: Jenni Hiirikoski, Ronja Salvolainen, Emma Nordin, Petra Nieminen, Noora Tulus, Viivi Vainikka, and Sara Grahn. A lot of those players have been around since the team’s inception in 2015, others have played there for 3+ seasons, and many of them are on the Finnish national team, where Luleå draws a lot of its talent from. Competing clubs Brynäs, Modo Hockey, and Linköping have come close to challenging for the title over the last few seasons and even finished higher in regular season standings from time to time, but none have been able to dethrone Luleå yet.
Where to watch: The SDHL website can be found here where each header game has an option to stream, though is restricted to Sweden. The good news is if you are in Sweden, this package should give you options to also watch the SHL and some other leagues. In the past, there have been streaming services outside of Sweden, but none seem to exist for the 2023-2024 season unless you want to use a VPN. However, all game highlights are put on the SDHL’s Youtube and LiveSport has game by game updates in English if you’re just looking for scores, standings, and goals/assists.
Swiss Women’s Hockey League (SWHL A) AKA PostFinance Women League + the SWHL B
Location: Switzerland
Who plays here?: Mostly Swiss and Italian players, with a small number of other exports. Players can be as young as 14 and typically aren’t older than 40, but there’s been the occasional player who is between 40-50 years old. You may also recognize some former PHF depth players, such as Theresa Knutson, Maddie Truax, or Leah Marino in this league.
PWHL and college overlap: Due to the fact that the SWHL also serves as player development for the national team and has a lot of young players, almost all Swiss players spend at least a significant portion of their early career here, with many returning at some point in their senior careers. SWHL alumni includes legends like Alina Müller and Phoebe Staenz, and superstar Lara Stalder returned to the league after spending a few seasons in the SDHL in order to help grow the game in her home country. A handful of French and Italian national team players develope here as well, and more and more have been choosing the NCAA/USports path when they turn 18. Currently there are a few adult players PWHL teams may pursue as free agents, such as Estelle Duvin, Fanny Rask, Tanner Gates, and Skylar Fontaine, but I would not expect a significant crossover. Lara Stalder would certainly be the most sought after free agent, but it seems unlikely for her to leave the league anytime soon.
Brief introduction: Okay, this league actually isn’t called the SWHL anymore. It’s either just the Women’s League or the PostFinance Women League. But “The Women’s League” is confusing in the context of a post about a bunch of women’s leagues and I’m not calling it the PostFinance Women League. So SWHL it is.
Currently there are 8 teams in SWHL A (they’ve added 2 over the past 2 seasons! yay!) and 10 in SWHL B. For SWHL A there are 28 games in the regular season and for SWHL B there are 18. As with the SDHL, the SWHL follows a relegation format where the two lowest teams in the SWHL A play a best of five series, then the loser of that plays the winner of SWHL B in a best of three series to determine a winner. There is also a SWHL C and SWHL D that follow a similar format. Recently, we have seen more teams in SWHL B or even lower decide to more seriously commit to getting promoted.
The ZSC Lions Frauen and Ladies Team Lugano have been the most successful teams in recent seasons, though Ladies Team Lugano is a little lower in the standings this year. We’ve also seen new teams such as HC Ambrì-Piotta Girls rise in the rankings in recent years and go from SWHL D to one of the top teams in SWHL A.
Overall, the SWHL has undergone a lot of change in the past few seasons and is in a bit of a strange place. The financial service PostFinance became the main sponsor in 2022 and there has been an increase in funding, marketing, and infrastructure as a result. The growth is good, but also means that the league is kind of in a transitional state. For example, a historic team, the aforementioned Ladies Lugano, folded then resurrected within a few months (which explains the aforementioned down year.) Another consequence of the increased profile and competitiveness of the league within the regulation/promotion structure, is some imbalance within the league play until teams have the opportunity for promotions. For example, the EVZ Women’s Team/Zug Women which restarted operations this year and immediately put a lot of funding into their team, bringing some of the top players from the SWHL and nearby leagues to their roster. Because this is EVZ’s first year back, they started in SWHL B. They’ve been rewarded by going undefeated this year and drawing a crowd of over a thousand to their game. However, they are also head and shoulders above the rest of the competition in SWHL B, as demonstrated by maybe the most insane statline of all time:
(via Elite Prospects)
Safe to say, we will be seeing EVZ in the top league soon.
While I have not been able to find exact answers on what pay looks like in 2024 for these players, an article from The Ice Garden (Mike Murphy) in 2020 about Swiss hockey star Phoebe Staenz notes how the local players had to pay to play. The imports got their expenses covered, and that was the extent of anyone getting payment. However, it does seem like teams are increasing their financial commitment. For example, EVZ reportedly committed a budget of 1.2 million francs and independent facilities, so hopefully we will see that translate to more players being paid soon.
Where to watch: Red Sport has all the games, it’s available in North America, and it’s free!
European Women’s Hockey League (EWHL)
Location: Central and Eastern Europe. Most teams are in Austria and Hungary, but Italy, Kazakhstan, Poland, and Slovakia all have teams in this league
Who plays here?: In addition to players from all the countries listed above, the EWHL sees a lot of imports. Austrian and Hungarian players make up about half the league. There’s a handful of North American players, and a few from some countries typically underrepresented in women’s hockey: Bosnia, Romania, Serbia, Latvia, Slovenia. Player ages typically range from 13 to 40, but the league has a strong emphasis on development and tends to skew younger. A lot of former NCAA Division III players and USports players have excelled in the EWHL. Former PHF players Hayley Williams (also a CWHL legend!), Janka Hlinka, Amy Budde, and Antonia Matzka play here.
PWHL and College overlap: Historically, there’s been a decent amount of overlap between PHF/CWHL/EWHL, but as it stands it’s likely that the majority of EWHL alumni we will see in the PWHL will be young national team players from Slovakia/Austria/Hungary/etc who play in the EWHL from their ages 13-18 season before going to college and being drafted out of university, and not many from adult free agents signing from the EWHL. PWHL players Fanni Garát-Gasparics and Theresa Schafzahl both developed in this league.
Brief introduction: This is one of the most fun leagues, in my opinion, due to the cross country competition. The format is similar to the Champions Hockey league, where many of the teams compete in their domestic leagues as well as in the EWHL. The EWHL was started by the IIHF and now is run by the Hungarian Ice Hockey Association.
Currently, there are 12 teams in the league, with every team playing each other twice for a total of 22 games. Following the regular season, is a playoff tournament with the top 8 teams. Gold, silver, and bronze medals are awarded at the end of the season. Unlike the previous two leagues, the EWHL does not have relegation. The last few seasons, HK Budapest (formerly KMH Budapest) has won gold, but SKN Sabres St.Pölten (formerly known as EHV Sabres) have been the most historically successful.
Other than HK’s success in recent years, a lot changes year over year in the EWHL. The number of teams in the league has been different every year for the past five years. Sometimes countries will just pop in and out of this league; there’s been Czech teams, German teams, a team from Netherlands, and others. Some also only participate in the EWHL SuperCup, which is sort of a separate tournament comprising mostly of EWHL teams to allow them to compete against teams in other leagues, such as ones from the SWHL (PostFinance Women League). Team performances can also change drastically each year; last year Silesian Metropolis (Poland) won only 4 games, this year they’ve won 15 of their 22 matches.
I struggled to find information about the league and payment. One article from Syracuse University by Margie Chetney from 2015 mentions “The players are paid a salary plus stipends for housing and utilities,” but it’s likely that only applies to import players. Another aspect affecting pay is that a significant number of players are under 18, with some teams focusing more on development than others. For example, Budapest JA only has 9 players over the age of 18, whereas Aisulu Almaty is a team made up entirely of adults and requires significantly longer travel than other teams where they’re away from home for weeks on end. There’s a good chance that contracts look very different for the two teams, but I’ve been unable to verify anything concrete.
Where to watch: Oh boy. As said earlier, the thing about the EWHL is the operations are very much left in the hands of each individual team.
Some teams, like the Silesian Metropolis, have all their games on Poland’s dedicated hockey Youtube. A lot of the games are on Media KMH’s Youtube, particularly the Hungarian teams. Eagles Südtirol Alto Adige also live streams their games on Youtube. Some games are streamed on Eishockey, a paid service, but you should be able to watch the bulk of the games between the three Youtube channels linked.
Naisten Liiga
Where: Finland
Who plays here?: Primarily just Finnish players, there are a lot less imports than other leagues. Ages range from about 14-40. However, imports do exist in this league and it’s a popular spot for Czechs. A few former PHF players like Kassidy Sauvé, Iveta Klimášová, Emma Nuutinen, and Minttu Tuominen are here.
PWHL and College overlap: All Finnish players are most likely going to play here around the ages of 14-20, so if you see a Finnish star in the NCAA/USports or PWHL, they almost definitely played at least a season in Naisten Liiga. Several players in this league are certainly getting calls from PWHL teams about next year - Michaela Pejzlová, Sanni Vanhanen, and Elisa Holopainen, notably.
Brief introduction: One of the longest running leagues, Naisten Liiga began in 1982 and currently is home to 9 teams who play each other 4 times for a total of 32 games in a season. The top 8 teams in the standings then play 3 rounds of best of 5 series for the playoffs and are awarded gold, silver, and bronze. The last place team plays a relegation series against the two top teams of the lower league, called Naisten Mestis. Naisten Liiga is usually home to ten teams, but the sudden surprise folding of Lukko Naiset in 2023 has created an uneven table and caused only one team from Naisten Liiga to face relegation rather than two.
Kiekko-Espoo Blues run the league and feature more of the national team players, but last year we had a change with HIFK winning. This was controversial, as their top scorer Michaela Pejzlová apparently did not have the proper license renewed to play, but who among us has not forgotten to submit some paperwork.
Naisten Liiga is not paid, and players pay to play, which is why a lot of national team players end up in the SDHL instead. The article linked from YLE’s Paavo Forseberg and Simo Leinonen discusses new league president Henni Laaksonen’s hope to have that change in five years, but no concrete plans have been set in motion. Right now, her focus is on increasing marketing and visibility.
Where to watch: Game are available to watch at leijonat.tv, but are pay per view.
Other Leagues You Should Know
You don’t need the full rundown, but you should be familiar with these
Zhenskaya Hockey League (ZhHL) aka Women’s Hockey League, located in Russia: So currently there's a war going on and you’re just not going to see much crossover at the moment, and with IIHF sanctions you won’t see a lot of Russian players in international competitions. But there used to be! While only a combined 11 Russian players have ever played Division I/Division III/USports, a lot of prominent women’s hockey players have played in the ZhHL. From Russian women’s hockey legends like Olga Sosina to rising European stars like Fanni Garát-Gasparics to US National team mainstays like Alex Carpenter, the league has seen a lot. One of the main reasons for this was the inclusion of Chinese team KRS Shenzhen, who joined after the CWHL folded and had a lot of import spots that they paid extremely well, but in general the ZhHL is lauded for better playing conditions than some of its neighbors. An interview with Alex Carpenter from ESPN’s Emily Kaplan talks about the professionalism of the league. She also states that she believes that the Russian players also get paid in addition to the imports, but I haven’t found anything confirming that from a Russian player.
Nationella Damhockeyligan ( NDHL) / Division 1, located in Sweden: The second tier of women’s hockey in Sweden, which I would like to make note of for a few reasons. The league is not purely developmental, but hosts a lot of under 18 talent, so if you’re interested in European women’s hockey prospects this league is essential. However, a lot of adults play in this league as well, including a number of former CWHL/PHF players. Additionally, there’s a LOT of USports players here, so if you are getting into Canadian University hockey, you may want to keep up with this league as well.
Deutsche Fraueneishockey-Liga (DFEL), located in Germany: As Germany continues to grow its women’s hockey program, the DFEL will be interesting to keep an eye on. The league also is home to a lot of Dutch players. The number of import players has decreased over time, but the number of German players coming to the NCAA has increased. This year alone, we have five Germany players in Division I and four in Division III.