Professional Hockey League

For the generic "professional hockey league", see professional hockey.

Professional Hockey League
"Professional Hockey League of Ukraine"
FormerlyUkrainian Major League
SportIce hockey
Founded25 July 2011, in Kyiv, Ukraine
First season2011–12
Ceased2013
CEOVadym Sysiuk
DirectorDmitri Khristich
No. of teams7
CountryUkraine
ContinentEurope
Last
champion(s)		Donbass-2 (2nd title)
TV partner(s)XSPORT (Ukraine)
Pershyi Natsionalnyi (Ukraine)
Official websitePHL-UA.com.ua

The Professional Hockey League (PHL) (Ukrainian: Професіональна хокейна ліга (ПХЛ), tr: Profesional'na khokeina liha) was an ice hockey league in Ukraine, founded in 2011; ceased in 2013. The country's national title, the Ukrainian Championship, was awarded annually to the league champion following a 4-team, 2-round playoff[1] at the end of the 41-game regular season.[2] Runners-up received silver and bronze medals. This format ended after the 2012–13 season, whereupon the FHU reclaimed administration of the title.[3] The winner of the Ukrainian/PHL Championship was also guaranteed qualification into the Champions Hockey League season. The PHL is shown on the First National TV channel and the Hockey channel[4] to broadcast regular season and playoff games. Many of the PHL's games are also broadcast online.[5]

The league was formed on 25 July 2011, in Kyiv, Ukraine, to reflect its fully professional status,[6] apart from its predecessor organisation, the Major League (Ukrainian: Вища ліга, Vyscha Liha), which was controlled and operated by the Ice Hockey Federation of Ukraine (FHU) as part of the Ukrainian Hockey Championship, inaugurated in 1992. In obtaining the rights to the Championship, the FHU maintains a supervisory role,[5] and reserves the right to intervene in league matters.[2]

Naturally, Ukrainians constitute a large majority of the players in the PHL. Expatriates account for 25% of the league's players, most of which come from Russia and Belarus, but also Lithuania, Latvia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and the United States.[2]

  1. ^ "Изменен формат проведения плей-офф". iSport.ua. 21 September 2011. Retrieved 21 September 2011.
  2. ^ a b c "15 вересня матчем "Донбас" – "Сокіл" розпочнеться перший чемпіонат Професіональної хокейної ліги". FHU. Retrieved 15 September 2011.
  3. ^ "До старту ЧУ готуються п'ять команд - Новини хокею - bighockey.ua". Archived from the original on 3 October 2013. Retrieved 27 September 2013.
  4. ^ "Про канал". Хокей. Retrieved 15 June 2012.
  5. ^ a b "ПХЛ выходит на старт". HCDonbass.com. Retrieved 15 September 2011.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference iihfphl1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).