2020–21 ZhHL season

The 2020–21 ZhHL season was the sixth season of the Zhenskaya Hockey League (ZhHL) since the league was established in 2015. It was the 26th season in which the women's ice hockey Russian Championship was contested.

2020–21 ZhHL season
League	Zhenskaya Hockey League
Sport	Ice hockey
Duration	Regular season 3 October 2020 – 27 February 2021 Playoffs 3 March – 11 September
Number of matches	112
Number of teams	8
TV partner(s)	KHL TV YouTube
Regular season
Season champions	KRS Vanke Rays
Runners-up	Agidel Ufa
Season MVP	Valeria Merkusheva (SKIF)
Top scorer	Alex Carpenter (Vanke Rays)
Playoffs
Playoffs MVP	Olga Sosina (Agidel)
Finals champions	Agidel Ufa
Runners-up	KRS Vanke Rays
Seasons
← 2019–20 2021–22 →

League business

Team changes

In the first week of July 2020, Dynamo St. Petersburg unexpectedly announced that they would be withdrawing from the league immediately, due to insufficient funding.^[1] Seven Dynamo players were then signed by SK Gorny St. Petersburg, but that club soon ran into financial difficulties as well, due in large part to being dropped by their main sponsor.^[2]

A few weeks after Dynamo's folding, the league announced the creation of a new team, МSМО 7.62 to fill the vacancy. Playing out of Podmoskovie Ice Palace in Voskresensk, Moscow Oblast, 7.62's roster was filed entirely by players 18 and under, several of whom were members of the Russian national junior team.^[3]

Ultimately, SK Gorny was unable to attract sufficient sponsor investment and folded. Facing the very real possibility of St. Petersburg having zero ZhHL teams active for the 2020–21 season, a partnership between the junior department of HC Dinamo Saint Petersburg and the SKA-Neva club was able to establish a new team at the last moment. The team, called Dinamo-Neva Saint Petersburg (also romanized as Dynamo-Neva), included players from the 2019–20 rosters of both Dynamo St. Petersburg and SK Gorny and was coached by Russian women's national team head coach Yevgeni Bobariko.

Schedule

On 19 August 2020, the league released its schedule for the season, with the opening matches to be played on the 19 September. The schedule included a two-month gap without any games from December to February, time that could be used to accommodate rescheduling due to the pandemic and in which the league's All-Star Game and the 2021 Winter Universiade would be held (the Universiade was later rescheduled for December 2021 and ultimately cancelled).^[4] However, a day before the season was due to begin, the league postponed the start of the season to 3 October after encountering issues securing Russian visas for KRS Vanke Rays players – all but two of whom were international players – and in the hopes that SK Gorny may find sufficient sponsorships to participate. The delay also allowed teams to hold a short pre-season training camp.^[5]

Showcases

On 22 December 2020, the Russian national ZhHL team (active ZhHL players who are also members of the Russian national team) competed in the second annual "Priceless Match" (Russian: Бесценный матч, romanized: Bestsennyy match), an outdoor showcase game which pits the team against a men's team of high-profile Russian retired athletes, business executives, and arts and entertainment personalities.^[6][7]

COVID-19 impact

KRS Vanke Rays temporarily relocated from Shenzhen Dayun Arena in Shenzhen to the Ice Palace V.M. Bobrova in Stupino, Moscow Oblast for the 2020–21 season due to the increased immigration restrictions for entry into Russia that were implemented in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Russia.^[8]

Players are tested for the virus once every five days, and before the start of every game.^[9][10][11]

Broadcasting

The league streamed many games on its official YouTube channel, the same streaming option used in the previous season. In Russia, select games were also aired on the KHL TV channel.

Limited public attendance was permitted at games throughout much of the season.

Teams

Team	Location	Home venue	Head coach	Captain
7.62	Voskresensk	Podmoskovie Ice Palace	Alexander Syrtsov	Darya Kovalenko
Agidel	Ufa	Ice Palace Salavat Yulaev	Denis Afinogenov	Maria Pechnikova
Biryusa	Krasnoyarsk	LD Sokol	Alexander Vedernikov	Valeria Pavlova
Dinamo-Neva	Saint Petersburg	Sports Palace "SPBGBU CFMC and VO"	Yevgeni Bobariko	Alyona Andryushchenko
KRS Vanke Rays	Shenzhen	Shenzhen Dayun Arena	Brian Idalski	Alex Carpenter
	Stupino*	Ice Palace V.M. Bobrova*
SKIF	Nizhny Novgorod	Trade Union Sport Palace	Vladimir Golubovich	Angelina Goncharenko
SKSO	Yekaterinburg	Kurganovo Sports Complex/KRK Uralets	Sergei Chistyakov	Yekaterina Lebedeva
Tornado	Dmitrov	Dmitrov Sports Complex	Alexei Chistyakov	Anna Shokhina

*Temporary relocation for 2020–21 season^[8]

Standings

The regular season began on 3 October 2020 and concluded on 27 February 2021, with the four most successful teams securing playoff berths.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Final Result
1	KRS Vanke Rays	28	24	2	0	2	130	29	+101	76	Clinch playoffs
2	Agidel	28	19	1	1	7	127	47	+80	60
3	SKIF	28	17	4	1	6	83	37	+46	60
4	Biryusa	28	13	2	4	9	81	79	+2	47
5	Dinamo-Neva	28	12	1	3	12	74	64	+10	41	Do not qualify
6	Tornado	28	10	1	2	15	90	88	+2	34
7	7.62	28	2	2	0	24	25	143	−118	10
8	SKSO	28	2	0	2	24	25	148	−123	8

Updated to match(es) played on 27 February 2021. Source: KHL^[12]

The KRS Vanke Rays claimed their first regular season championship title after registering an exceptional 76 point season with a 26-2–0 win–loss record. The KRS Vanke Rays victory decisively ended the three-season reign of Agidel Ufa as regular season champs, with Agidel finishing sixteen points behind the Vanke Rays with a 20-7-1 record. SKIF Nizhny Novgorod improved from sixth place in the 2019–20 regular season to claim third place in 2020–21 and were the only team to pose a legitimate threat to Agidel's position in second, ultimately tying Agidel with 60 points and winning more games overall but prevented from higher ranking by an excess of overtime wins in relation to relegation victories. Biryusa Krasnoyarsk claimed fourth place in a repeat of the previous season and trailing the other top ranked teams, with 47 points and a 15-9-4 record.

Player statistics

Scoring leaders

The following skaters lead the league in points at the conclusion of the regular season on 27 February 2021.^[13]

	Player	Team	Pos.	GP	G	A	Pts	+/−	PIM
1	Alex Carpenter	Vanke Rays	C	28	29	27	56	44	6
2	Anna Shokhina	Tornado	RW	28	26	27	53	17	30
3	Olga Sosina	Agidel	LW	27	18	32	50	33	28
4	Nicol Čupková	Agidel	F	25	15	28	43	20	14
5	Valeria Pavlova	Biryusa	F	27	16	23	39	13	8
6	Hannah Miller	Vanke Rays	F	28	17	20	37	24	28
7	Megan Bozek	Vanke Rays	D	28	13	23	36	39	20
8	Anna Shibanova	Agidel	D	28	9	26	35	39	42
9	Nina Pirogova	Tornado	D	28	14	20	34	17	26
10	Rachel Llanes	Vanke Rays	F	28	14	20	33	33	20

KRS Vanke Rays centre and captain Alex Carpenter claimed her second consecutive ZhHL scoring title, averaging two points per game across 28 games and ending the campaign with a total of 56 points (29 goals + 27 assists). Tornado winger and captain Anna Shokhina posted the second highest point total, tallying 53 points (26+27) in 28 games. Carpenter and Shokhina also ranked first and second league for goals, with 29 and 26 respectively. Agidel Ufa winger and alternate captain Olga Sosina topped the league in assists, notching 32 in 27 games and ranking third in scoring with 50 points (18+32).

Megan Bozek of the KRS Vanke Rays was the highest scoring defenceman, earning 36 points (13+23) and ranking eighth overall. Bozek was narrowly followed by defenders Anna Shibanova of Agidel Ufa, with 35 points (9+26), and Nina Pirogova of Tornado Dmitrov, with 34 points (14+20).

Four of the league's eight teams were represented on the list of top ten point leaders for the season: the KRS Vanke Rays, with three forwards and one defenceman; the Agidel Ufa, with two forwards and one defenceman; the Tornado Dmitrov, with one forward and one defenceman; and the Biryusa Krasnoyarsk, represented by forward and captain Valeria Pavlova.

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:

• 12. Fanuza Kadirova (F), Dinamo-Neva: 28 GP, 20 G, 11 A, 31 Pts, +13, 18 PIM
• 39. Yekaterina Likhachyova (F), SKIF: 28 GP, 16 G, 9 A, 25 Pts, −3, 8 PIM
• 54. Anastasia Nesterova (F), 7.62: 28 GP, 8 G, 2 A, 10 Pts, −23, 12 PIM
• 58. Alina Narudinova (F), SKSO: 27 GP, 5 G, 3 A, 8 Pts, −31, 16 PIM

Top goaltenders

The following goaltenders lead the league in save percentage at the conclusion of games played on 27 February 2021, while playing a minimum of 600 minutes.^[14]

	Player	Team	GP	TOI	W	L	SA	GA	SO	SV%	GAA
1	Kimberly Newell	Vanke Rays	18	993:40	15	1	311	12	6	.961	0.72
2	Valeria Merkusheva	SKIF	22	1241:35	11	7	509	30	4	.941	1.45
3	Anna Prugova	Agidel	18	1041:29	13	3	483	29	5	.940	1.67
4	Darya Gredzen	Biryusa	21	1241:37	11	8	647	50	6	.923	2.42
5	Nadezhda Morozova	Dinamo-Neva	19	964:40	10	6	449	35	1	.922	2.18
6	Diana Farkhutdinova	Dinamo-Neva	15	704:56	3	7	337	27	2	.920	2.30
7	Maria Sorokina	Agidel	11	631:52	6	5	220	18	3	.918	1.71
8	Anna Alpatova	Tornado	18	770:44	6	8	336	39	2	.884	3.04
9	Ravilya Ainullova	SKSO	19	962:48	1	15	736	86	0	.883	5.36
10	Yeva Gubareva	Tornado	19	905:20	5	8	398	48	1	.879	3.18
11	Yulia Volkova	7.62	26	1369:38	2	21	822	100	0	.878	4.38

Top backups

The following goaltenders served as secondary or backup goaltenders, playing a minimum of 240 minutes but fewer than 600 minutes in the 2020–21 season. Players are ranked by save percentage at the conclusion of the regular season on 27 February 2021.^[14]

	Player	Team	GP	TOI	W	L	SA	GA	SO	SV%	GAA
1	Valeria Tarakanova	SKIF	8	387:57	5	0	149	7	3	.953	1.08
2	Milena Tretyak	Vanke Rays	8	415:37	7	0	109	7	2	.936	1.01
3	Noora Räty	Vanke Rays	5	256:28	4	1	102	10	1	.902	2.34
4	Alyona Ashina	Biryusa	8	373:53	4	2	204	21	0	.897	3.37
5	Irina Kostina	SKSO	14	590:41	1	7	355	43	1	.879	4.37
6	Sofya Larova	7.62	12	243:46	0	2	136	30	0	.779	7.38

Playoffs

Bracket

	Semifinals					Finals
	1	KRS Vanke Rays	2
	4	Biryusa Krasnoyarsk	0
							KRS Vanke Rays	1
							Agidel Ufa	2
	2	Agidel Ufa	2
	3	SKIF Nizhny Novgorod	1

Semifinals

(1) KRS Vanke Rays vs. (4) Biryusa

Vanke Rays – Biryusa 2–0
3 March 2021	Vanke Rays	Biryusa	3-0
4 March 2021	Biryusa	Vanke Rays	2-4
KRS Vanke Rays won the series in two games.

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

3 March 2021 (2021-03-03) 09:00

Biryusa Krasnoyarsk

0–3 (0–1, 0–1, 0–1)

KRS Vanke Rays

Fakel Ice Palace, Krasnoyarsk Attendance: 68

Game reference
	Darya Gredzen	Goalies	Kimberly Newell	Referees: Darya Abrosimova Darya Ermak Linesmen: Anastasia Vasilyeva Diana Mokhova
	0–1 08:23 – Llanes (Bozek, Miller) 0–2 28:08 – Miller (Bozek) (PP) 0–3 51:15 – Llanes (Mills)
	6 min	Penalties	10 min
	19	Shots	34

4 March 2021 (2021-03-04) 09:00

Biryusa Krasnoyarsk

2–4 (0–1, 1–2, 1–1)

KRS Vanke Rays

Fakel Ice Palace, Krasnoyarsk Attendance: 55

Game reference
	Darya Gredzen	Goalies	Kimberly Newell	Referees: Darya Abrosimova Darya Ermak Linesmen: Anastasia Vasilyeva Diana Mokhova
	0–1 16:06 – Costales (Hanson, Tse) 0–2 20:27 – Carpenter (Bozek, Miller) (PP) 0–3 31:26 – Mills (Lum, Tougas) Zenchenko (Kuznetsova) – 39:11 1–3 Mitrofanova – 50:58 2–3 2–4 56:15 – Miller (Bozek, Llanes) (PP)
	14 min	Penalties	10 min
	15	Shots	46

(2) Agidel Ufa vs. (3) SKIF

Agidel – SKIF 2–1
3 March 2021 (2021-03-03)	SKIF	Agidel	3-2 GWS
4 March 2021 (2021-03-04)	Agidel	SKIF	2-1 GWS
7 March 2021 (2021-03-07)	Agidel	SKIF	3-2 GWS
Agidel won the series 2–1.

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

3 March 2021 (2021-03-03) 13:00

SKIF Nizhny Novgorod

3–2 GWS (1–1, 1–1, 0–0) (OT: 0–0) (SO: 1–0)

Agidel Ufa

Trade Union Sport Palace, Nizhny Attendance: 100

Game reference
	Valeria Merkusheva	Goalies	Maria Sorokina	Referees: Yana Zueva Arina Ustinova Linesmen: Polina Danilova Julia Lavelina
	0–1 00:37 – Sosina (Makhmutova) Kulishova (Provorova, Bratischeva) (PP2) – 09:15 1–1 1–2 35:19 – Markova (Shibanova) Provorova (Starovoitova) – 38:06 2–2
	Malyavko   Tejralová   Smolina   Kulishova   Falyakhova   Shchukina   Falyakhova   Malyavko	Shootout	Korzhakova   Shibanova   Markova   Čupková   Sosina   Batalova   Luchnikova   Sosina
	4 min	Penalties	6 min
	20	Shots	25

6 March 2021 (2021-03-06) 11:00

Agidel Ufa

2–1 GWS (1–1, 0–0, 0–0) (OT: 0–0) (SO: 1–0)

SKIF Nizhny Novgorod

Ice Palace Salavat Yulaev, Ufa Attendance: 180

Game reference
	Maria Sorokina	Goalies	Valeria Merkusheva	Referees: Yana Zueva Arina Ustinova Linesmen: Polina Danilova Julia Lavelina
	0–1 08:14 – Ananyina (Likhachyova) Rodnova (Sosina) – 09:35 1–1
	Rodnova   Shibanova   Beloglazova   Korzhakova   Batalova   Beloglazova   Čupková   Čupková	Shootout	Malyavko   Likhachyova   Smolina   Kulishova   Falyakhova   Malyavko   Falyakhova   Falyakhova
	6 min	Penalties	10 min
	42	Shots	27

7 March 2021 (2021-03-07) 11:00

Agidel Ufa

3–2 GWS (0–2, 0–0, 2–0) (OT: 0–0) (SO: 1–0)

SKIF Nizhny Novgorod

Ice Palace Salavat Yulaev, Ufa Attendance: 220

Game reference
	Maria Sorokina	Goalies	Valeria Merkusheva	Referees: Yana Zueva Arina Ustinova Linesmen: Polina Danilova Julia Lavelina
	0–1 14:05 – Falyakhova (Kulishova, Shchukina) 0–2 18:06 – Tejralová (Likhachyova, Starovoitova) Rodnova (Sosina, Sviridova) – 55:17 1–2 Sosina (Korzhakova, Shibanova) (EA) – 59:40 2–2
	Shibanova   Čupková   Beloglazova   Tyurina   Mitrofanova   Sosina   Čupková   Mitrofanova   Markova   Batalova   Sosina	Shootout	Starovoitova   Malinovskaya   Likhachyova   Nadezhdina   Falyakhova   Tejralová   Falyakhova   Likhachyova   Starovoitova   Falyakhova   Shchukina
	4 min	Penalties	4 min
	50	Shots	29

ZhHL Cup Final

Originally scheduled to be begin on 13 March 2021, the ZhHL announced a postponement of the Zhenskaya Hockey League Cup finals following a positive COVID-19 test for an Agidel player.^[15] On 22 March, the league announced that the finals would be postponed until after the 2021 IIHF Women's World Championship Top Division tournament, which had been rescheduled to be held from 6–16 May in Nova Scotia, Canada. The delay became necessary as the required quarantine for Agidel would have created conflicts with the preparations of several national teams for the World Cup. Both teams had a number of national team players: Agidel had several players representing Russia and one player representing the Czech Republic, and the KRS Vanke Rays had players representing the Czech Republic, Finland, Russia, the United States, and several Canadian prospects. At the time of announcement, dates for the rescheduled finals had not been determined.^[16]

Ultimately, the 2021 World Championship in Nova Scotia was canceled and the tournament was relocated to Calgary and played during 20–31 August. As promised, the ZhHL Championship Finals were played following Worlds and began on 7 September. This created an unusual situation in which the KRS Vanke Rays participated in the playoff final with a roster of twelve or more players who had not played in the 2020–21 regular season or first round of the playoffs and lost several key players, including captain Alex Carpenter. In contrast, Agidel Ufa added only one player – 15 year old Maria Mikaelyan – and participated in the final with a nearly identical roster to the 2020–21 season.

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

7 September 2021 (2021-09-07) 14:00

Agidel Ufa

5–2 (3–1, 1–0, 1–1)

KRS Vanke Rays

Ufa Sports Palace Attendance: 180

Game reference
	Anna Prugova	Goalies	Kimberly Newell
	Sviridova (Korzhakova) – 00:34 1–0 Sosina – 02:42 2–0 2–1 07:06 – Karvinen (Cava, Nordin) Lucák-Čupková (Batalova, Sosina) (PP) – 09:21 3–1 Luchnikova (Markova, Pechnikova) – 24:44 4–1 4–2 48:01 – Mills (Tapani) Markova (Lucák-Čupková, Rodnova) (ENG) – 58:39 5–2
	2 min	Penalties	6 min
	30	Shots	38

10 September 2021 (2021-09-10) 14:00

KRS Vanke Rays

4–1 (0–1, 1–0, 3–0)

Agidel Ufa

Mytishchi Arena Attendance: 147

Game reference
	Kimberly Newell	Goalies	Anna Prugova
	0–1 11:24 – Mitrofanova Karvinen (Tse) – 29:57 1–1 Tapani (Houston) – 43:06 2–1 Karvinen (Houston) – 45:36 3–1 Mills (Tapani, Houston) (PP) – 51:11 4–1
	12 min	Penalties	10 min
	41	Shots	21

11 September 2021 (2021-09-11) 13:00

KRS Vanke Rays

2–3 GWS (1–1, 0–0, 1–1) (OT: 0–0) (SO: 0–1)

Agidel Ufa

Mytishchi Arena Attendance: 158

Game reference
	Kimberly Newell	Goalies	Maria Sorokina
	0–1 12:05 – Mikaelyan (Korzhakova, Sviridova) Lum (Tiessen, Cava) – 14:14 1–1 Mills (Cogan) – 45:05 2–1 2–2 56:45 – Markova (Luchnikova, Rodnova)
	Karvinen   Tuominen   Nordin   Cava   Tapani   Karvinen   Houston	Shootout	Luchnikova   Mitrofanova   Čupková   Korzhakova   Sosina   Sosina   Sosina
	4 min	Penalties	8 min
	42	Shots	32

References

1. Murphy, Mike (7 July 2020). "Dynamo St. Petersburg shut down, won't play in 2020-21 ZhHL season". The Ice Garden. Retrieved 27 February 2021.
2. Murphy, Mike (18 September 2020). "2020-21 ZhHL Season Preview". The Ice Garden. Retrieved 27 February 2021.
3. Jay, Michelle (7 August 2020). "ZhHL adds team for 2020-21 season". The Ice Garden. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
4. Jay, Michelle (19 August 2020). "ZhHL releases 2020-2021 schedule". The Ice Garden. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
5. Jay, Michelle (18 September 2020). "ZhHL 2020-21 season start pushed to Oct. 3". The Ice Garden. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
6. "Сборная ЖХЛ – участник Бесценного матча". whl.khl.ru (in Russian). 21 December 2020. from the original on 21 December 2020. Retrieved 27 February 2021.
7. "Бесценный матч Мастеркард и КХЛ". whl.khl.ru (in Russian). 10 January 2020. Retrieved 27 February 2021.
8. Berkman, Seth (16 November 2020). "While Training Continues, China's Prized Women's Hockey Players Are in Russia". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
9. MacDonald, Glenn (13 November 2020). "Ex-SMU hockey captain Kiana Wilkinson on her own in Russia". The Chronicle Herald. from the original on 13 November 2020. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
10. Kemmerer, Gillian (25 September 2020). "Ice Diaries: Alex Carpenter". KHL. from the original on 6 October 2020. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
11. Kemmerer, Gillian (2 October 2020). "Ice Diaries: Rachel Llanes". KHL. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
12. "Таблица 2020/2021 – Рег. чемпионат, полная". whl.khl.ru (in Russian). 27 February 2021. Retrieved 27 February 2021.
13. "Лидеры 2020/2021 : БОМБАРДИРЫ - Рег. чемпионат, полная". whl.khl.ru (in Russian). 27 February 2021. from the original on 17 October 2020. Retrieved 27 February 2021.
14. "Статистика игроков 2020/2021 – Рег. чемпионат, Вратарь". whl.khl.ru (in Russian). 27 February 2021. Retrieved 27 February 2021.
15. "Финал Кубка ЖХЛ перенесен на более поздний срок". whl.khl.ru (in Russian). KHL. 10 March 2021. from the original on 10 March 2021. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
16. "Финал Кубка ЖХЛ состоится после женского чемпионата мира". whl.khl.ru (Press release) (in Russian). KHL. 22 March 2021. from the original on 22 March 2021. Retrieved 24 March 2021.

External links

• Official website (in Russian)