Polska Hokej Liga

Polska Hokej Liga

Current season, competition or edition: 2023–24 Polska Hokej Liga season
Sport	Ice hockey
Founded	April 26, 2013 (2013-04-26)
Founder	Polish Ice Hockey Federation
First season	2013–14
CEO	Mirosław Minkina
No. of teams	9
Country	Poland
Headquarters	Katowice
Most recent champion(s)	GKS Katowice (2nd title)
Most titles	GKS Tychy (4 titles)
TV partner(s)	TVP Sport
Relegation to	Polish 1. Liga
Related competitions	Polish Cup Polish 1. Liga
Official website	polskihokej.eu

The Polska Hokej Liga (PHL) is the premier ice hockey league in Poland. Previously, it was known as the I Liga or Ekstraklasa from 1926 to 1999, and the Polska Liga Hokejowa from 1999 to 2013. In 2013, it was reorganized as a limited liability company and renamed the Polska Hokej Liga. It follows a system of relegation to and promotion to/from the Polish 1. Liga.

Teams from the PHL can participate in the IIHF's annual Champions Hockey League (CHL), competing for the European Trophy. Participation is based on the strength of the various leagues in Europe (excluding the European/Asian Kontinental Hockey League). Going into the 2022–23 CHL season, the PHL was ranked the No. 12 league in Europe, allowing them to send their top team to compete in the CHL.

History

The championship started in 1925-26. At first, it was a non-league system composed of regional tournaments. The tournaments had two stages. The best teams qualified to the final tournament, of which the winner was declared champion. In 1938, the Polish Ice Hockey Federation decided to reorganize the championship, by creating a league system. Those plans were abandoned due to the outbreak of World War II.

The current structure of the league began in 1955.

Teams

CRA

TYC

NTR

JAS

UNI

SAN

TOR

KAT

ZAG

class=notpageimage|

Teams of the 2022–23 PHL season.

GKS Tychy

Zagłębie Sosnowiec

GKS Katowice

class=notpageimage|

Location of teams in the Katowice urban area

Team	City	Arena	Capacity	Founded
Comarch Cracovia	Kraków	Lodowisko im. Adama "Rocha" Kowalskiego	2,514	1923
Energa Toruń	Toruń	Tor-Tor	4,500	1922 (Original) 2010 (Current)
GKS Katowice	Katowice	Lodowisko Spodek Satelita	1,500	1964
GKS Tychy	Tychy	Stadion Zimowy w Tychach	2,535	1971
JKH GKS Jastrzębie	Jastrzębie-Zdrój	Jastor	1,986	1963
Podhale Nowy Targ	Nowy Targ	Miejska Hala Lodowa	3,500	1932 (Original) 2015 (Current)
STS Sanok	Sanok	Arena Sanok	3,000	1958 (Original) 2020 (Current)
Unia Oświęcim	Oświęcim	Hala Lodowa MOSiR	2,686	1958
Zagłębie Sosnowiec	Sosnowiec	Stadion Zimowy	2,125	1933 (Original) 1998 (Current)

Medalists

Season	Winner	2nd place	3rd place	Regular season
2013–14	KH Sanok	GKS Tychy	GKS Jastrzębie	GKS Tychy
2014–15	GKS Tychy	GKS Jastrzębie	Podhale Nowy Targ	GKS Jastrzębie
2015–16	Cracovia	GKS Tychy	Podhale Nowy Targ	Cracovia
2016–17	Cracovia	GKS Tychy	Polonia Bytom	GKS Tychy
2017–18	GKS Tychy	GKS Katowice	Podhale Nowy Targ	GKS Tychy
2018–19	GKS Tychy	Cracovia	GKS Katowice	GKS Katowice
2019–20	GKS Tychy	Unia Oświęcim	GKS Jastrzębie	GKS Tychy
2020–21	GKS Jastrzębie	Cracovia	GKS Tychy	GKS Katowice
2021–22	GKS Katowice	Unia Oświęcim	GKS Jastrzębie	GKS Tychy
2022–23	GKS Katowice	GKS Tychy	Unia Oświęcim	Cracovia

See also

• Polish Cup (ice hockey)

External links

• Official website
• hokej.net
• planetofhockey.com