Chinese Women's Ice Hockey League

The Chinese Women's Ice Hockey League, abbreviated WCIHL, is a professional ice hockey league in China. It was founded by the Chinese Ice Hockey Association (CIHA) as an amateur league in 2021 and was reorganized as a professional league in 2023.

The league should not be confused with the National Women's Ice Hockey Championship, an annual national competition for provincial teams.

History
In 2021, the CIHA established the first women's ice hockey league held in China, the Chinese Women's Ice Hockey League. An amateur league competition for clubs and independent teams, it was founded in an effort to promote and develop youth and women's ice hockey in China, increase the number of players in the national program pool, and to encourage growth of a viable Chinese ice hockey market via the creation and expansion of programs, clubs, and infrastructure; future professionalization of the league was a founding goal.

The league was reorganized into the Chinese Women's Ice Hockey Professional League ahead of the 2023–24 season, becoming the first professional league organized by the CIHA. With the establishment of a Chinese professional league, Shenzhen KRS left the Russian Zhenskaya Hockey League (ZhHL) to participate in a domestic league for the first time, increasing the number of teams in the WCIHL to seven.

The option for teams to sign up to five international import skaters was introduced following the reorganization of the league. In an effort to "fully train domestic goaltenders," signing foreign goaltenders is not permitted.

2023–24 season
The inaugural WCIHL season began with a tournament in Qiqihar, Heilongjiang during 25 November to 2 December. Shenzhen KRS topped the standings after winning all six games of the tournament.

The remaining tournaments of the regular season were held in Harbin, Heilongjiang during 9 to 16 December and in Shenzhen, Guangdong during 30 December to 6 January.

The finals tournament was contested in Beijing during 19 to 26 January. The top-four teams from the regular season – Shenzhen KRS, Qiqihar Landi, Harbin WIHT, and the Beijing Swift – participated in the finals.

A total of eleven import players – from Canada, Finland, Russia, and Slovakia – were active in the 2023–24 WCIHL season. They were contracted to three teams: five played for Shenzhen KRS, three played for the Beijing Swift, and three played for the Sichuan Qin Champion.

Format
The WCIHL season uses a multi-tournament system divided into two parts: a regular season of three tournaments followed by a finals tournament. For each regular season tournament, the seven teams travel to a host city and play a single round-robin of 21 games across a seven or eight day period. The regular season comprises 63 games, with each team playing a total of eighteen matches.

The top four teams from the regular season advance to the finals. There are two stages in the finals: the semifinals and the championship/third place finals, each played as a best-of-three series.

Awards
A player of the game is selected per team after each game and one player is recognized as best player per tournament. Seasonal awards include best forward, best defenseman, best goaltender, and most valuable player.

2023–24 season
Sources:
 * Official names and transcriptions