Czech Women's Extraliga

The Czech Women's Ice Hockey Extraliga (Česká extraliga ženského ledního hokeje) or Women's Extraliga (Extraliga žen) is the premier league for women's ice hockey in the Czech Republic. Founded in 1985, it was known as the '''1. liga ženského hokeje''' from 1989 until 2017, at which time the league came under the oversight of the Czech Ice Hockey Association and the current name was adopted. The victorious team of the Women's Extraliga is named Champion of the Czech Republic (Mistr České republiky, MČR).

History
The Czech Women's Extraliga traces its origins to the Turnaj v Klatovech (lit. 'Tournament in Klatovy'), in which teams from across Czechoslovakia gathered in Klatovy to play a traditional tournament. First contested in 1985, the inaugural champion of the Turnaj v Klatovech was TJ Kovo Praha from Prague. TJ Sparta ČKD Praha, the representative women's team of HC Sparta Praha, won the tournament in 1986.

In 1986–87, a season format was adopted with games played on weekends. The top-ranked team from the regular season was named league champion. In 1987 and 1988, the league champions were awarded the Pohár ÚV SSM (Pohár Ústředního výboru Socialistického svazu mládeže). HC Berounské Lvice from Beroun won the Pohár ÚV SSM in both the 1986–87 and 1987–88 seasons.

During the 1988–89 season, teams competed for the Pohár ČSSS (Pohár Československé státní statky). TJ Škoda Plzeň won the Pohár ČSSS in 1989.

Ahead of the 1989–90 season, the league was named the 1. liga ženského hokeje (lit. 'First Women's Hockey League'), shortened to 1. liga žen or 1. liga. TJ Lokomotiva Beroun were the first champions of the 1. liga in 1990.

A second division was established in 1992 and a system of promotion and relegation was implemented whereby the top ranked team from the second division was promoted and the bottom ranked team from the top division was relegated at the end of each season.

Following the dissolution of Czechoslovakia in 1993, the 1. liga became the highest level of women's ice hockey in the Czech Republic.

The two-division system was reconfigured in 1996, moving from skill-based divisions to geographic conferences. The two conferences, called Čechy (lit. 'Bohemia') and Morava (lit. 'Moravia'), used the traditional boundaries between the Czech lands of the same names to organize teams. Each conference played a closed series and the top teams from each would then move on to the finals.

During the 2010–11 and 2011–12 seasons, the number of teams in the Čechy conference led it to be further subdivided into skupina A (sk. A; 'Group A') and skupina B (sk. B; 'Group B'). Skupina A was for the most skilled teams and engaged in a system of promotion and relegation with skupina B. The Morava conference did not experience the boom in teams seen in the west and no subdivisions were implemented.

A new division system was implemented in 2012 that introduced a national elite level, called the 1. liga - TOP divize. The TOP divize represented a new division above the previous conferences and divisions, which were renamed and continued as the lower levels of the 1. liga. The previous skupina A and skupina B of the Čechy conference were designated skupina A1 and skupina A2, respectively, and the Morava conference was designated skupina B. Together the new 1. liga - sk. A1 and 1. liga - sk. B comprised the skill tier below the 1. liga - TOP divize, while 1. liga - sk. A2 represented the lowest tier of skill. Promotion and relegation between the TOP divize and skupina A1/B was possible via a best of three series played by the lowest ranked TOP divize team and the winner of the qualification series between the top teams from skupina A1 and skupina B. Likewise, promotion and relegation between skupina A1 and skupina A2 was also possible.

The 1. liga was organized and operated by the Association of Women's Hockey League Clubs (Asociace Ligových Klubů Ženského Hokej, ALKŽH) during the 2010s until the league came under the oversight of the Czech Ice Hockey Association in 2017. At that time, the 1. liga was divided into three separate leagues: the elite Women's Extraliga, the second-tier 1. liga žen, and the third-tier 2. liga žen.

League name history
Top women's ice hockey competition/league in Czechoslovakia Top women's ice hockey league in the Czech Republic Sources:
 * 1985–1986: Turnaj v Klatovech
 * 1986–1988: Pohár ÚV SSM
 * 1988–1989: Pohár ČSSS
 * 1989–1993: 1. liga
 * 1993–2012: 1. liga
 * 2012–2017: 1. liga - TOP divize
 * since 2017: Extraliga

Team name history

 * HC 2001 Kladno
 * 1986–1991: TJ Poldi SONP Kladno (Tělovýchovná jednota Poldi Spojené ocelárny, národní podnik Kladno)
 * 1991–1998: HC Kladno 1988
 * 1998–2001: HC Velvana Rebels Kladno
 * since 2001: HC 2001 Kladno


 * HC Berounské Lvice
 * 1985–1992: TJ Lokomotiva Beroun
 * 1992–1993: HC Amazonky Lokomotiva Beroun
 * 1993–1996: HC H+S Beroun
 * since 1996: HC Berounské Lvice

Former participants

 * HLC Bulldogs Brno (Brno), 2000–2017
 * HC Býci Karviná (Karviná), 2000–2021
 * 1999–2017: SK Karviná
 * 2017–2021: HC Býci Karviná


 * HC Dračice Karlovy Vary (Karlovy Vary), –2012
 * HC Slavia Praha (women) (Prague), 2002–2018
 * 2002–2003: HC Letňany Sýkorky
 * 2003–2018: HC Slavia Praha


 * HC Slezan Opava (Opava),
 * HC TJ Tesla Pardubice, (Pardubice),
 * HC Vsetín (Vsetín), –2012
 * TJ BKV Havlíčkův Brod (Havlíčkův Brod),
 * TJ Kovo Praha (Prague), 1984–
 * TJ Sparta ČKD Praha (Prague), 1985–
 * HC Plzeň (Plzeň), 1987–
 * 1987–1991: TJ Škoda Plzeň
 * 1991–1994: HC Škoda Plzeň
 * 1994–1995: HC Interconnex Plzeň
 * 1995–1997: HC ZKZ Plzeň (Hockey Club Západočeské keramické závody Plzeň)
 * 1997–2003: HC Keramika Plzeň
 * 2003–2009: HC Lasselsberger Plzeň
 * 2009–2012: HC Plzeň 1929
 * since 2012: HC Škoda Plzeň
 * HC Verva Litvínov (women) (Litvínov), 2010–2014 & 2017–2023
 * 1986–1990: TJ CHZ Litvínov (Tělovýchovná jednota Chemické závody Litvínov)
 * 1990–1991: HC CHZ Litvínov
 * 1991–1994: HC Chemopetrol Litvínov
 * 1994–1996: HC Litvínov, s.r.o.
 * 1996–2007: HC Chemopetrol, a.s.
 * 2007–2009: HC Litvínov
 * 2009–2011: HC BENZINA Litvínov
 * 2011–2023: HC Verva Litvínov

Champions by season
Sources:

League records
All-time regular season records of the Women's Extraliga since the league came under the oversight of the Czech Ice Hockey Association in 2017. Statistics are valid through the 2022–23 season.

Single-season records

 * Most points: Karolína Kosinová, 38 points (17 games; 2022–23)
 * Most points, defenseman: Karolína Kosinová, 38 points (17 games; 2022–23)
 * Most goals: Sandra Halounová, 19 goals (12 games; 2022–23)
 * Most assists: Karolína Kosinová, 32 assists (17 games; 2022–23)

Source:
 * Most penalty minutes: Nikola Tomigová, 36 PIM (13 games; 2017–18)
 * Best save percentage, over eight games played: Veronika Hladíková, .943 SVS% (10 games; 2017–18)
 * Best goals against average, over eight games played: Julie Pejšová, 1.18 GAA (10 games; 2018–19)
 * Most shutouts: Julie Pejšová, 4 shutouts (10 games; 2018–19)

Career records
Source:
 * Most points: Alexandra Halounová, 119 points (58 games; 2017–2023)
 * Most points, defenceman: Karolína Kosinová, 94 points (59 games; 2017–2023)
 * Best points per game, over ten games played: Adéla Šapovalivová, 2.83 points per game (12 games; 2020–2023)
 * Most career games played, skater: Nozomi Kiribuchi, 72 games (2017–2023)
 * Most goals: Sandra Halounová, 57 goals (57 games; 2017–2023)
 * Most assists: Karolína Kosinová, 76 assists (59 games; 2017–2023)
 * Most penalty minutes: Kateřina Flachsová, 76 PIM (61 games; 2017–2023)
 * Most games played, goaltender: Adéla Krejcárková, 42 games (2018–2023)
 * Best save percentage, over fifteen games played: Julie Pejšová, .942 SV% (17 games; 2018–2023)
 * Best goals against average, over fifteen games played: Julie Pejšová, 1.11 GAA (17 games; 2018–2023)
 * Most shutouts: Kateřina Zechovská, 8 shutouts (36 games; 2017–2023)

All-time scoring leaders
The top-ten regular season point-scorers in Women's Extraliga history, from the 2017–18 season through the 2022–23 season.

Note: Nat = Nationality; Pos = Position; S = Seasons played; GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty in minutes