Germany's top women's league, the DFEL, will open their season the first weekend in October, and for the first time a Hungarian team, HK Budapest, will play in the league.
Germany's top women's league, the DFEL, will open their season the first weekend in October, and for the first time a Hungarian team, HK Budapest, will play in the league.
The German Women's Ice Hockey League (DFEL) is set to drop the puck in early October, and they'll be joined by HK Budapest, a Hungarian team who was the five-time champion of the European Women's Hockey League (EWHL).
"We are delighted to welcome a strong new team to the DFEL with...Hokik Club Budapest," said German national team assistant coach Ronja Jenike. "Women's ice hockey in Hungary has taken a big step forward in recent years, both in the club sector and in the national team. The competition from Budapest will be a good benchmark for the DFEL teams and will contribute positively to the sporting development of the German women's ice hockey league."
This marks the first time a team from Hungary has competed in DFEL. Last season the Amsterdam Tigers from the Netherlands played in the DFEL, but they will not be in the league this season.
With the addition of HK Budapest, the league now consists of six teams including the Memmingen Indians, Bergkamen Bears, Eisbären Berlin, ERC Ingolstadt, and Mad Dogs Mannheim.
The 2024-2025 DFEL regular season begins October 5 with all six teams in action playing on back-to-back nights.
The DFEL will wrap up regular season play on February 16 with playoffs beginning February 22 with best-of-five series.
Last season Memmingen won their second consecutive DFEL championship. The team featured several of Germany's top national team players including Laura Kluge, Daria Gleißner, Ronja Hark, Julia Schiefer, Franziska Feldheimer, Nicola Eisenschmid, Carina Strobel, Charlott Schffrath, Lucia Schmitz, and Tara Schmitz, as well as a brief stint from PWHL netminder Sandra Abstreiter prior to the start of the PWHL season. The team also added top international players including Austrian national team netminder Selma Luggin and former Boston University captain and Canadian U-18 national team forward Nara Elia for their stretch run.
HK Budapest, who fell in the EWHL final last season to Slovakia's Bratislava, featured five members of Hungary's national team last season including Reka Debasi, Franciska Kiss-Simon, Fruzsina Mayer, Nikolett Feher, Hayley Williams, and Boglarka Bahiczki-Toth. Next season those players are heading back to HK Budapest and will be joined by American Madie Leidt who led the EWHL in scoring, Slovakian national team member Lucia Haluskova, and two-time U Sports First Team All-Canadian Lindsey Donovan.