Switzerland women's ice hockey league
The Women's League is the top ice hockey league in the Swiss Women's Hockey League (SWHL) league system. The league was founded in 1986 as the Leistungsklasse A (LKA) (; ) and was called the Swiss Women's Hockey League A (SWHL A) during 2014 to 2019. An amateur league, it is organized by the "Regio League", 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 "Leistungsklasse A" ('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 "Leistungsklasse B (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 St. 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 "Leistungsklasse C (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. Format. Starting from the 2010–11 season, the six 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 four 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 fifth and sixth dispute a best-of-five playdown. The loser faces then the second tier champions in a best-of-three games series, the winner getting to play the following season in the top tier. Current teams. Six teams participated in the 2020-21 season: 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. It has been awarded by the Swiss Ice Hockey Federation since the 2006–07 season. Most Valuable Player. It is awarded since the 2009–10 season to the best two players of the league. Others women's competitions in Switzerland. Second division (SWHL B). The SWHL B, previously called the "Leistungsklasse B" ("LKB") and also previously known as the "Ligue nationale B" ("LNB") in French and as the "Lega Nazionale B" in Italian, is the second tier of the Swiss women's hockey league  system. The team finishing first is declared LKB champion and qualify 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 2020–21 season are the following: Third division (SWHL C). The SWHL C, previously called the "Leistungsklasse C" ("LKC") and also previously known as the "Ligue nationale C" ("LNC") in French and as the "Lega Nazionale C" 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 2020–21 season, there are eleven participating teams: Swiss Women's Cup. It is also called "Ochsner Hockey Swiss Women Cup" for sponsorship reason.