Over the last year, the PWHL has been the talk of the women's hockey world, and for good reason. But when it comes to growing women's hockey globally, there were fewer roster spots this season than the year before. The gap in international competition has closed among the top eight nations in the world, but remains large beyond this group.
When it comes to leagues beyond the PWHL, the SDHL, NCAA, U Sports, and SWHL remain the top loops, but there's perhaps no league in the world more important to the growth of women's hockey than the EWHL.
The EWHL, or European Women's Hockey League, features teams from six nations, all among the next tier of women's hockey nations. With teams in Hungary, Slovakia, Italy, Austria, Poland, and Kazakhstan, the EWHL is loaded with national team players. Notable alumni of the league include Denisa Krisova (PWHL Minnesota), Anna Meixner (PWHL Ottawa), Theresa Schafzahl (PWHL Boston), along with Fanni Gasparics, who played last season with PWHL Ottawa, and Jess Jones who played last season with PWHL Toronto.
The multi-national set up of the EWHL, should the league find a way to increase the talent base using import players from North America, and through building more members from other European nations, could be the biggest boost women's hockey has received. This year, the league has grabbed notable professional players including Kristin Della Rovere, who played last season with PWHL Ottawa before signing this offseason with Bolzano. Justine Reyes, a former PHF standout also signed with the Italian club, and several NCAA and U Sports grads also inked in the league.
The EWHL does not currently feature teams from Germany or Czechia, two top nations internationally who border existing nations in the league, but both countries have participated in the EWHL in the past. In fact, in the early years of the EWHL which was founded in 2004, Czechia's Slavia Praha won back-to-back titles in 2008 and 2009, followed by Germany's ESC Planegg winning in 2010. Other nations including Belarus, Denmark, Netherlands, Croatia, and Slovenia have also had member clubs in the league in the past. In 2010-2011 and 2011-2012, the Netherlands even entered their national team to the league.
Last season, former North American pros like Reka Debasi and Hayley Williams were in the top 10 of league scoring.
To grow women's hockey beyond the current top grouping, the IIHF and PWHL focusing on building relationships with the EWHL to move more talent, and bring in other nations to the league would go a long way. Currently, Czechia and Slovakia feature no competitive women's leagues. Despite this, Czechia has finished winning bronze, bronze, and fourth in the last three World Championships, and Slovakia has made gains, and has some of the top young talent in the world emerging from the nation.
The league did combine some competition, in what they called the SuperCup with teams from Switzerland and Germany in recent seasons, and more of that collaboration could spark immense growth.
The potential is there for the EWHL. The league, along with Sweden's SDHL, Switzerland's SWHL, Finland's Naisten Liiga, and Germany's DFEL are the main competitive leagues for women in Europe. Only the SDHL and SWHL however are drawing top talent at the moment, but the EWHL is beginning to make gains on that front, and with the PWHL, more women will look for opportunities overseas to prolong their careers. The EWHL, with support from the PWHL and IIHF could become a prime target for players, and if done properly, it could spark exponential growth in the international game.
No league in the world features the participation of clubs from more nations than the EWHL. For this, and the EWHL's immense potential to grow international parity, the European Women's Hockey League is a loop to watch, and could be the most important women's hockey league in the world.
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