Women's League (Switzerland) Explained

Women's League
Upcoming Season:2024–25 PFWL season
Sport:Ice hockey
Inaugural:1986–87
Teams:8
Champion:ZSC Lions Frauen
Champ Season:2023–24
Most Champs:ZSC Lions Frauen (12 titles)
Confed Cup:EWHL Super Cup
European Women's Champions Cup (2004–2015)

The Women's League, also known as the PostFinance Women's League (PFWL)[1] for sponsorship reasons, is the premier ice hockey league in the Swiss Women's Hockey League (SWHL) system.[2] The league was founded in 1986 as the, abbreviated LKA, and was also officially known as the in French and the in Italian, both abbreviated as LNA. During 2014 to 2019, the league was called the Swiss Women's Hockey League A, abbreviated SWHL A; the abbreviation has been used by the league following the 2019 name change. An amateur league, it is organized by the, an organ of the Swiss Ice Hockey Federation.

History

With the creation of several women's ice hockey clubs in the early 1980s, the Swiss Ice Hockey Federation chose to incorporate women's hockey within the scope of its governance in 1984. During the 1985–86 season, an unofficial club championship was played. The following season, the first official championship tournament, called ('Performance Class A'), was organized and the victors, the Kloten Specials of EHC Kloten, became the first Swiss Champions in women's ice hockey.

With the growing interest and participation in ice hockey among Swiss women, a second tier league, called the (LKB), was established from the 1988–89 season. Two years later, league rules were changed to allow foreign players and several big names in international women's hockey opted to play with Swiss teams, including Canadian national team forwards Andria Hunter and France Saint-Louis, and Finnish national team phenom Riikka Sallinen. The arrival of imports coincided with the rise to dominance of SC Lyss, who won four titles in five years from 1991–92 to 1996–97. The women's section had become an independent club, the DHC Lyss, when they won their fourth title in 1997. In 1995, a third level league, the (LKC), was introduced.

From the 2001–02 season onward, a final four tournament is held to determine the Swiss Champion. SC Reinach, the 2001 champions, retained their title in the league's inaugural final four in 2002 and followed it up with a third consecutive victory in 2003. Playoffs were introduced in the 2005–06 season and the HC Lugano Ladies Team and ZSC Lions Frauen dominated in the playoff era, with one of the two teams winning the championship in all but one year since format change.[3]

Format

Starting from the 2010–11 season, the participating teams play against each other four times in two home-and-away rounds. At the end of the first round, the each team's total of points is cut by half. Once the second round is completed, the top ranking teams qualify for the play-offs which are in a best-of-five format, excepted the third place game played on a one-off match. The finals winner is declared Swiss Champion. Meanwhile, the teams finishing in the bottom two positions dispute a best-of-five playdown. The loser then faces the second tier champions in a best-of-three games series, the winner getting to play the following season in the top tier.

Teams

HC Fribourg-Gottéron Ladies of HC Fribourg-Gottéron joined the league in 2023, increasing the number of teams to eight for the 2023–24 season.[4]

During summer 2023, EV Bomo Thun, a previously independent club, merged into SC Bern and the team was renamed SC Bern Frauen. The HC Thurgau Ladies team left HC Thurgau to move under the oversight of HC Davos and were renamed HC Davos Ladies.

In March 2023, HC Ladies Lugano announced the club had insufficient finances and was ceasing operations[5] but they unexpectedly began pre-season training in August 2023, after securing a sponsorship deal with an investment company.[6] After finishing seventh of eight teams in the 2023–24 season, the club announced its definitive closure, citing "insurmountable financial difficulties."[7]

EV Zug (EVZ) announced the creation of the EVZ Women's Team in November 2022 and the team was officially launched ahead of the 2023–24 season.[8] With a budget of 1.2 million francs for the "," EV Zug was able to attract elite players and staff, including Swiss ice hockey icon Daniela Diaz and international phenom and Swiss national team captain Lara Stalder.[9] The team made a commanding debut in the SWHL B, claiming ten victories across their first ten games and conceding just one goal while scoring 178 goals during that period.[10] [11] At season's end, the EVZ Women's Team won the SWHL B championship and were poised to face the loser of the SWHL A play-down in the Women's League qualification series but the voluntary relegation of HC Ladies Lugano made it possible for the team to gain automatic promotion.[12] [13]

Current teams

The following teams are participating in the 2024–25 season of the Women's League.

TeamLocationHome venueHead coachCaptain
SC Bern Frauen BernPostFinance Arena
HC Davos Ladies DavosEisstadion Davos
HC Fribourg-Gottéron Ladies FribourgEishalle Campus Perspektiven, Huttwil[14]
SC Langenthal Damen Langenthal
Neuchâtel Hockey Academy NeuchâtelPatinoires du Littoral
HC Ambrì-Piotta Girls QuintoNuova Valascia &<br>Christian Augustoni[15]
EV Zug Women's Team ZugBossard Arena
ZSC Lions Frauen ZürichKunsteisbahn Heuried

Swiss Champions

  • 1986–87 – EHC Kloten Specials
  • 1987–88 – EHC Kloten Specials
  • 1988–89 – Grasshopper Club Zürich
  • 1989–90 – Grasshopper Club Zürich
  • 1990–91 – Grasshopper Club Zürich
  • 1991–92 – EHC Bülach
  • 1992–93 – SC Lyss
  • 1993–94 – DHC Langenthal
  • 1994–95 – SC Lyss
  • 1995–96 – SC Lyss
  • 1996–97 – DHC Lyss
  • 1997–98 – EV Zug Damen
  • 1998–99 – EV Zug Damen
  • 1999–2000 – DSC St. Gallen
  • 2000–01 – SC Reinach
  • 2001–02 – SC Reinach
  • 2002–03 – SC Reinach
  • 2003–04 – EV Zug
  • 2004–05 – EV Zug
  • 2005–06 – Ladies Team Lugano
  • 2006–07 – Ladies Team Lugano
  • 2007–08 – DHC Langenthal
  • 2008–09 – Ladies Team Lugano
  • 2009–10 – Ladies Team Lugano
  • 2010–11 – ZSC Lions Frauen[16]
  • 2011–12 – ZSC Lions Frauen
  • 2012–13 – ZSC Lions Frauen
  • 2013–14 – Ladies Team Lugano

Titles by teams

TeamTitlesYears
1 ZSC Lions Frauen (prev. Grasshopper Club Zürich) 12 1989, 1990, 1991, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2022, 2023, 2024
2 HC Ladies Lugano (prev. Ladies Team Lugano) 8 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2014, 2015, 2019, 2021
3 4 1998, 1999, 2004, 2005
4 1993, 1995, 1996, 1997
5 3 2001, 2002, 2003
6 2 1994, 2008
2 1987, 1988
8 DSC St. Gallen1 2000
EHC Bülach1 1992

Awards

Woman of the Year

The Woman of the Year award honours the best active Swiss player, whether she plays in the Swiss league or elsewhere.[17] [18] First awarded by the Swiss Ice Hockey Federation in the 2005–06 season.[19]

Most Valuable Player

First awarded in the 2009–10 season to the most valuable player of each team in the Swiss Championship playoff final.[18] [22]

Others women's competitions in Switzerland

Second division (SWHL B)

The SWHL B, previously known as the (LKB) in German, the (LNB) in French and the in Italian, is the second tier of the Swiss Women's Hockey League system.

The team finishing first is declared SWHL B champion and qualifies for a best-of-three playoff against the loser of the top league playdown. The team finishing last is relegated in the lower division.

The ten teams taking part in the 2023–24 season[23] [24] are:

Third division (SWHL C)

The SWHL C, previously known as the (LKC) in German, the (LNC) in French and the in Italian, is the third tier of the Swiss Women's Hockey League system.

The team finishing first is declared SWHL C champion and is promoted to SWHL B.

For the 2023–24 season, there are fifteen participating teams:[25]

Fourth division (SWHL D)

The SWHL D is the fourth tier of the Swiss Women's Hockey League system.

For the 2023–24 season, there are fifteen participating teams:[26]

Swiss Women's Cup

It is also called Ochsner Hockey Swiss Women Cup for sponsorship reasons.

See also

References

  1. Web site: Douxchamps . Margot . La PFWL en playoffs ! . . 14 June 2024 . fr-FR . 29 February 2024.
  2. Web site: 2022-12-13 . News . 2022-12-18 . . de . Press release.
  3. Web site: Müller. Barbara. Kontinuierlicher Aufschwung des Schweizer Fraueneishockeys. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20110827190019/http://sport.winterthur.ch/fileadmin/user_upload/Sportamt/Sportamt_Medien/Eishalle_Deutweg/Aufschwung_Fraueneishockey.pdf. 2011-08-27. 2011-04-13. sport.winterthur.ch. de.
  4. Web site: Women's League – Clubs . 2023-10-06 . . de.
  5. News: Hopkins . Simon . Swiss HC Ladies Lugano Cease Operations . 6 October 2023 . The Ice Garden . 17 March 2023 . en.
  6. News: Hopkins . Simon . Swiss team HC Ladies Lugano return . 6 October 2023 . The Ice Garden . 18 August 2023 . en.
  7. Web site: Chiusura Ladies Lugano . Hockey Club Ladies Lugano . 28 April 2024 . it . 24 April 2024 . Press release.
  8. News: Zurfluh . Philipp . Der EV Zug kann ein Frauenteam in der zweithöchsten Liga stellen . 28 April 2024 . . 27 November 2022 . de.
  9. News: Vandenbrouck . Nicole . Der EVZ setzt neue Massstäbe im Frauen-Hockey . 28 April 2024 . . 24 January 2023 . de-ch.
  10. News: Berger . Nicola . Der EVZ reiht Kantersieg an Kantersieg – und warum dies dem Nationalteam nicht hilft . 28 April 2024 . . 16 October 2023 . de-CH.
  11. News: Bürgler . Adrian . "Niemand ist glücklich" – die EVZ-Frauen dominieren ihre Liga nach Belieben . 28 April 2024 . . 9 December 2023 . de.
  12. News: Biermayr . Raphael . Die EVZ-Frauen treffen in der Ligaqualifikation auf die Lugano Ladies . 28 April 2024 . . 18 March 2024 . de-ch.
  13. News: Cecchet . Renato . "Ich hoffe, andere Organisationen folgen bald unserem Beispiel" . 28 April 2024 . . 27 March 2024 . de-ch.
  14. Web site: Several changes for the Fribourg-Gottéron Ladies . Swiss Hockey News . 14 June 2024 . en-gb . 23 April 2024 . Press release.
  15. Web site: Ingaggi e rinnovi per le HCAP Girls . Hockey Club Ambrì-Piotta . 14 June 2024 . it-it . 14 June 2024 . Press release.
  16. Web site: Patton. Kelly. The ZSC Lions Are Crowned Swiss Champions. 2011-04-10. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20120312231901/http://www.womenshockeylife.com/blogs_view_dsp.cfm?BlogId=265&CatId=6. 2012-03-12. Women's Hockey Life. en.
  17. Web site: Archiv Woman of the year . https://web.archive.org/web/20180228034956/https://www.sihf.ch/de/women/auszeichnungen/archiv-woman-of-the-year/ . 2018-02-28 . 2022-08-09 . Swiss Ice Hockey Federation . de.
  18. Web site: Women > Auszeichnungen . Swiss Ice Hockey Federation . 2022-08-09 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180331205244/https://www.sihf.ch/de/women/auszeichnungen/ . 2018-03-31 . de . dead.
  19. Web site: Awards - Swiss Ice Hockey Woman of the Year . 2022-08-10 . Elite Prospects . en.
  20. Web site: 2021-09-04 . Swiss Ice Hockey Awards 2021 . 2022-08-10 . Swiss Ice Hockey Federation . de.
  21. Web site: 2022-07-29 . Swiss Ice Hockey Awards 2022 . 2022-08-10 . Swiss Ice Hockey Federation . de.
  22. Web site: Archiv MVP . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20180302164010/https://www.sihf.ch/de/women/auszeichnungen/archiv-mvp/ . 2018-03-02 . 2022-08-09 . Swiss Ice Hockey Federation . de.
  23. Web site: Frauenligen – SWHL B. 2023-10-21. Swiss Ice Hockey Federation. de.
  24. Web site: Swiss Women's Hockey League B. 2023-10-21. Elite Prospects.
  25. Web site: Frauenligen – SWHL C. 2023-10-21. Swiss Ice Hockey Federation. de.
  26. Web site: Frauenligen – SWHL D. 2023-10-21. Swiss Ice Hockey Federation. de.

External links