Ten years of Ukraine Hockey League - Part 1

In the past few months, events and passions have been raging around the Ukrainian ice hockey championship. However, is there a historical foundation under this conflict? We have analyzed the last 10 seasons and are ready to talk about how Ukrainian hockey has developed (or not developed) in the last 10 years - from hockey players to broadcasts.

Over the past 10 years, the national ice hockey championship of Ukraine has been held by five different organizers, and from the 2016/17 season to the present day, the championship is held under the auspices of the Ukrainian Hockey League.

Season 2011/12. Organizer: Professional Hockey League

The starting point of our immersion in the history of the national championship of Ukraine for the last 10 years will be the 2011/12 season, which was held under the auspices of the Professional Hockey League. 8 clubs took part in the regular season, playing a total of 168 matches. 174 Ukrainians were included in the teams' application, 149 of whom have played more than 10 matches. At the same time, the number of foreign playerswas also significant. In the 2011/12 season, 113 foreign players played, which made up 35% of the total number of hockey players announced for the season.

It is important to note that the lion's share of foreign athletes were players from the Russian Federation - 77, which is 27% of all hockey players announced for the season. At the same time, 11 players were called up from the Ukrainian championship to the national team of the country, which this year dropped from Division 1A in a lower class.

Season 2012/13. Organizer: Professional Hockey League

For a number of reasons, in the next season the PHL failed to keep the same number of participants in the championship. The second consecutive season under the auspices of the PHL was held with the participation of 7 clubs, which played 126 matches in the regular season. 131 Ukrainian hockey players were included in the teams' applications for the 2012/13 season, but an impressive number of them played less than 10 matches on the ice.

29% of our compatriots were left without proper playing practice. But the number of foreign hockey players was still significant, 108 players from other countries played in the Ukrainian championship - 45% of the total number of declared players. The overwhelming majority of them were Russians - 76, or 32% of the total number of players announced for the season. At the same time, 18 hockey players were recruited from the PHL championship to the national team that won the home world championship in Division 1B in Donetsk.

Season 2013/14. Organizer: Ice Hockey Federation of Ukraine

Another crisis happened to the national championship in the 2013/14 season, when the Ukrainian Ice Hockey Federation became the organizer of the national championship. Then only 5 teams took part in the drawing, instead of 7 a year earlier. At the same time, the clubs played only 60 matches in the regular season.

At the same time, 104 Ukrainian hockey players were included in the teams' application, 94 of whom played more than 10 matches - this is 71% of the total number of players announced for the season. And although the number of foreign playersdropped significantly to 23 foreigners, only 4 of our compatriots were recruited to the Ukrainian national team, which took 4th place in Division 1A.

Season 2014/15. Ice Hockey Federation of Ukraine

The downward trend in the number of participants in the Ukrainian Championship continued in the 2014/15 season, for the last time held under the auspices of the FHU. The composition of the teams playing in the set of medals was reduced to an indecent number - 4. Even more obscene for professional hockey was the total number of matches played by all teams in the regular season - only 24 games (12 per club). Of course, over the past 10 years, this is an anti-record. That season is the shortest ice hockey championship in Ukraine, so there can be no question of playing practice for Ukrainian hockey players.

Surprisingly, more than half of our compatriots did not find a place in the squad even in this sparse season for the number of matches. And although 107 Ukrainian players were included in the applications of 4 teams, only 49 of Ukrainian hockey players played more than 10 matches. In other words, of the total number of athletes from Ukraine announced for the season, 54% did not go on the ice for the main part of the season. And this despite the fact that only 2 foreign playersplayed in the championship. But the national team of Ukraine, which again flew to Division 1B, did not include a single player representing the main championship of Ukraine.

Season 2015/16. Organizer: Hockey Extra League

A step forward after three years of systematic regression was the 2015/16 season, held under the auspices of the HEL. It was attended by 8 teams that played 168 regular season matches. 217 Ukrainian hockey players and 12 foreign players were included in the club applications for the season, of which 188 played more than 10 matches. And 15 players were recruited from the Ukrainian championship to the national team, that won in Division 1B.

Season 2016/17. Organizer: Ukrainian Hockey League

The 2016/17 season became the starting point for the newly formed Ukrainian Hockey League, which turned out to be the most stable organizer of the country's national championship over the past 10 years. Six teams took part in their debut season in the League, playing a total of 120 regular season matches.

At the same time, 171 Ukrainian hockey players were included in the clubs' application, 136 of which played more than 10 matches. At the same time, 37 foreign players took part in the championship, the percentage of which to the total number of championship players was 18%. At the same time, a record number of players from the Ukrainian championship - 22 - were called to the national team of Ukraine, which dropped 3 times in 6 years in class.

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