# 2021–22 ZhHL season

The 2021–22 ZhHL season was the seventh season of the Zhenskaya Hockey League (ZhHL) since the league was established in 2015. It was the 27th season in which the women's ice hockey Russian Championship was contested. SKIF Nizhny Novgorod were the regular season champions after leading the league standings from November onwards.
The KRS Vanke Rays defeated SKIF Nizhny Novgorod in a sweep of the playoff finals to claim their second ZhHL Championship.

## Teams

| Team | Location | Home venue | Head coach | Captain |
| Agidel | Ufa | Ice Palace Salavat Yulaev | Denis Afinogenov | Maria Pechnikova |
| Belye Medveditsy | Chelyabinsk | Yunost Sport Palace | Igor Znarok | Natalya Vorontsova |
| Biryusa | Krasnoyarsk | Platinum Arena Krasnoyarsk | Alexander Vedernikov | Valeria Pavlova |
| Dinamo-Neva | Saint Petersburg | Sports Palace "SPBGBU CFMC and VO" | Yevgeni Bobariko | Alyona Andryushchenko |
| Ice Wings$^†$ | Yaroslavl | GUOR Ice Hockey Arena | Artur Nadrgulov | |
| KRS Vanke Rays | Shenzhen | Shenzhen Dayun Arena | Brian Idalski | Baiwei Yu |
| KRS Vanke Rays | Mytishchi* | Mytishchi Arena* | Brian Idalski | Baiwei Yu |
| MSMO 7.62 | Voskresensk | Podmoskovie Ice Palace | Alexander Syrtsov | Alina Ichayeva |
| SKIF | Nizhny Novgorod | Nagorny | Igor Averkin | Angelina Goncharenko |
| SKSO | Yekaterinburg | Kurganovo Sports Complex/KRK Uralets | Sergei Chistyakov | Yekaterina Lebedeva |
| Tornado | Dmitrov | Sports Complex Dmitrov | Alexei Chistyakov | Anna Shokhina |
*Temporary relocation for 2021–22 season; $^†$Team folded after 19 games played

## Standings

The regular season began on 22 September 2021 and concluded on 30 March 2022, with the eight most successful teams securing playoff berths.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Final Result |
| 1 | SKIF Nizhny Novgorod | 36 | 28 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 149 | 45 | +104 | 91 | Playoff berth |
| 2 | KRS Vanke Rays | 36 | 24 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 96 | 53 | +43 | 82 | Playoff berth |
| 3 | Agidel Ufa | 36 | 24 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 171 | 60 | +111 | 81 | Playoff berth |
| 4 | Biryusa Krasnoyarsk | 36 | 19 | 4 | 4 | 9 | 113 | 70 | +43 | 69 | Playoff berth |
| 5 | Tornado Dmitrov | 36 | 20 | 2 | 4 | 10 | 143 | 93 | +50 | 68 | Playoff berth |
| 6 | Dinamo-Neva St. Petersburg | 36 | 20 | 1 | 3 | 12 | 109 | 84 | +25 | 65 | Playoff berth |
| 7 | MSMO 7.62 Voskresensk | 36 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 22 | 73 | 118 | −45 | 36 | Playoff berth |
| 8 | Belye Medveditsy Chelyabinsk | 36 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 28 | 42 | 148 | −106 | 23 | Playoff berth |
| 9 | SKSO Yekaterinburg | 36 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 28 | 58 | 158 | −100 | 21 | Did not qualify |
| 10 | Ice Wings Yaroslavl | 36 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 34 | 20 | 145 | −125 | 4 | Did not qualify |

## Player statistics
### Scoring leaders

The following skaters lead the league in points at the conclusion of games played on 30 March 2022.
| | Player | Team | Pos. | GP | G | A | Pts | +/− | PIM |
| 1 | Anna Shokhina | Tornado | F | 34 | 31 | 52 | 83 | 26 | 16 |
| 2 | Yelena Dergachyova | Tornado | F | 34 | 14 | 42 | 56 | 26 | 20 |
| 3 | Valeria Pavlova | Biryusa | F | 32 | 31 | 21 | 52 | 25 | 16 |
| 4 | Olga Sosina | Agidel | F | 32 | 25 | 26 | 51 | 41 | 18 |
| 5 | Landysh Falyakhova | SKIF | F | 36 | 14 | 35 | 49 | 41 | 14 |
| 6 | Aneta Tejralová | SKIF | D | 36 | 10 | 36 | 46 | 40 | 16 |
| 7 | Nina Pirogova | Tornado | D | 34 | 15 | 29 | 44 | 15 | 38 |
| 8 | Alyona Starovoitova | SKIF | F | 36 | 23 | 20 | 43 | 33 | 28 |
| 9 | Polina Bolgareva | Dinamo-Neva | F | 34 | 22 | 21 | 43 | 20 | 35 |
| 10 | Nicol Lucák Čupková | Agidel | F | 23 | 14 | 29 | 43 | 38 | 41 |
The following players were the top goal scorers of teams not represented in the top ten of the league, listed with their overall league rank:
* 29. Alexandra Nesterova (F), MSMO 7.62: 34 GP, 14 G, 11 A, 25 Pts, −10, 28 PIM
* #. Anna Timofeyeva (F), SKSO: 34 GP, 18 G, 5 A, 23 Pts, −21, 4 PIM
* #. Kassy Betinol (F), KRS Vanke Rays: 22 GP, 10 G, 11 A, 21 Pts, +17, 14 PIM
* #. Tatyana Shatalova (F), Belye Medveditsy: 19 GP, 7 G, 7 A, 14 Pts, −4, 12 PIM
* #. Mariya Lobur (F), Ice Wings: 18 GP, 4 G, 7 A, 11 Pts, –42, 14 PIM

### Top goaltenders

The following goaltenders lead the league in save percentage at the conclusion of games played on 30 March 2022, while playing a minimum of 840 minutes.
| | Player | Team | GP | TOI | W | L | SO | SV% | GAA |
| 1 | Valeria Tarakanova | SKIF | 16 | 946:00 | 14 | 1 | 4 | .954 | 1.14 |
| 2 | Maria Sorokina | Agidel | 21 | 1088:16 | 16 | 3 | 8 | .943 | 1.27 |
| 3 | Valeria Merkusheva | SKIF | 19 | 1056:43 | 14 | 4 | 6 | .935 | 1.53 |
| 4 | Dariya Gredzen | Biryusa | 27 | 1619:16 | 10 | 12 | 1 | .924 | 2.30 |
| 5 | Diana Farkhutdinova | Dinamo-Neva | 29 | 1621:01 | 16 | 11 | 3 | .924 | 2.15 |
| 6 | Anna Prugova | Agidel | 17 | 1020:56 | 9 | 5 | 2 | .920 | 2.12 |
| 7 | Milena Tretyak | Belye Medveditsy | 28 | 1713:32 | 5 | 24 | 1 | .909 | 4.03 |
| 8 | Anna Alpatova | MSMO 7.62 | 33 | 1778:16 | 9 | 20 | 2 | .907 | 3.21 |
| 9 | Yulia Volkova | Tornado | 32 | 1996:44 | 20 | 11 | 1 | .901 | 2.61 |
| 10 | Ravilya Ainullova | SKSO | 18 | 898:54 | 4 | 10 | 0 | .877 | 4.07 |

## Playoffs

The 2022 ZhHL playoffs began on 6 April. The KRS Vanke Rays claimed their second ZhHL Championship on 26 April after concluding a three game sweep of SKIF Nizhny Novgorod.
    As of 26 April 2022
| Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | | | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Finals | Finals |
| 1 | SKIF | 2 | | | | | | | |
| 8 | Belye Medveditsy | 0 | | | | | | | |
| 8 | Belye Medveditsy | 0 | | | 1 | SKIF | 2 | | |
| | | | | | 6 | Dinamo-Neva | 0 | | |
| 5 | Biryusa | 1 | | | 6 | Dinamo-Neva | 0 | | |
| 4 | Tornado | 2 | | | | | | | |
| 4 | Tornado | 2 | | | | | | KRS Vanke Rays | 3 |
| (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | KRS Vanke Rays | 3 |
| (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | SKIF | 0 |
| 3 | KRS Vanke Rays | 2 | | | | | | | | SKIF | 0 |
| 6 | MSMO 7.62 | 0 | | | | | | | |
| 6 | MSMO 7.62 | 0 | | | 2 | KRS Vanke Rays | 2 | | |
| | | | | | 5 | Tornado | 1 | | |
| 7 | Agidel | 1 | | | 5 | Tornado | 1 | | |
| 2 | Dinamo-Neva | 2 | | | | | | | |

### Quarterfinals

All game times in Moscow Time (UTC+03:00) (1) SKIF vs. (8) Belye Medveditsy
(2) KRS Vanke Rays vs. (7) MSMO 7.62
(3) Agidel vs. (6) Dinamo-Neva
(4) Biryusa vs. (5) Tornado

### Semifinals

All game times in Moscow Time (UTC+03:00) (1) SKIF vs. (6) Dinamo-Neva
(2) KRS Vanke Rays vs. (5) Tornado

### Player statistics

Scoring leaders
The following players led the league in playoff point scoring at the conclusion of the semifinals on 19 April 2022.
| | Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| 1 | Michela Cava | KRS Vanke Rays | 5 | 4 | 9 | 13 | 6 |
| 2 | Emma Nordin | KRS Vanke Rays | 5 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 4 |
| 3 | Anna Shokhina | Tornado | 6 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 6 |
| 4 | Michelle Karvinen | KRS Vanke Rays | 5 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 6 |
| 5 | Landysh Falyakhova | SKIF | 4 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 8 |
| 6 | Susanna Tapani | KRS Vanke Rays | 5 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 2 |
| 6 | Fanuza Kadirova | Dinamo-Neva | 5 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 2 |
| 8 | Yelena Dergachyova | Tornado | 6 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 6 |
| 9 | Alexandra Vafina | Dinamo-Neva | 5 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 4 |
| 10 | Aneta Tejralová | SKIF | 4 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 2 |
The following players were the top goal scorers of teams not represented in the top ten of the league, listed with their overall league rank (if available):
* 15. Olga Sosina (F), Agidel: 3 GP, 2 G, 2 A, 4 Pts, 0 PIM
* 17. Valeria Pavlova (F), Biryusa: 2 GP, 2 G, 1 A, 3 Pts, 0 PIM
* –. Yulia Nuyaksheva (F), MSMO 7.62: 1 GP, 1 G, 0 A, 1 Pt, 0 PIM / Mariya Shirshova (F), MSMO 7.62: 1 GP, 1 G, 0 A, 1 Pt, 2 PIM
Belye Medveditsy was shutout in both games played and, as such, none of their players scored a point in the playoffs.
Top goaltenders
The following goaltenders lead the league in playoff save percentage at the conclusion of the semifinals on 19 April 2022.
| | Player | Team | GP | TOI | W | L | SO | SV% | GAA |
| 1 | Valeria Merkusheva | SKIF | 2 | 119:39 | 2 | 0 | 1 | .953 | 1.00 |
| 2 | Noora Räty | KRS Vanke Rays | 5 | 273:56 | 4 | 1 | 0 | .945 | 1.31 |
| 3 | Maria Sorokina | Agidel | 2 | 129:56 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .939 | 1.39 |
| 4 | Diana Farkhutdinova | Dinamo-Neva | 5 | 307:31 | 1 | 3 | 1 | .928 | 2.73 |
| 5 | Milena Tretyak | Belye Medveditsy | 2 | 119:37 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .916 | 3.51 |
| 6 | Dariya Gredzen | Biryusa | 3 | 185:15 | 1 | 2 | 0 | .915 | 2.27 |
| 7 | Valeria Tarakanova | SKIF | 2 | 119:39 | 2 | 0 | 1 | .905 | 2.01 |
| 8 | Yulia Volkova | Tornado | 6 | 316:09 | 3 | 3 | 0 | .892 | 3.23 |
| 9 | Anna Alpatova | MSMO 7.62 | 2 | 83:29 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .852 | 5.75 |

### ZhHL Championship Finals

All game times in Moscow Time (UTC+03:00)