Ukrainian Hockey League announces split, new super league formed

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Brennen Beaudin
November 25, 2021 (5:44 PM)

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The Ukrainian Hockey League
is going through a breakup. Hockey in the country is reportedly in shambles right now, as a number of clubs have broken off from the top league, instead creating their own "super league."

Two of the bigger teams in the league, Donbass Donetsk and HK Kramatorsk were accused of cheating with their player squads during the season, as well as allowing suspended players to continue to participate in games.

On Thursday, the Ukrainian Hockey Federation announced that the teams were suspended from the UHL. Then, almost immediately after, other clubs announced they were departing from the league in order to join the new one.

Among the teams in the new Ukrainian Super League are Mariupol, Kramatorsk, Donbass Donetsk, Belyj Bars, Dinamo Kharkov, Molodaya Gvardija Druzhovka, and Sokol Kiev. A lot of these teams were in the original league, before breaking out and forming a new one. The new league is independent, with no ties to the UHF.

The new league will start play in two weeks, with 30 regular season games before the playoffs. The league currently sits at 7 teams with a possible 8th team on the way.

It seems that the "super league" has been a plan for quite some time, and the teams were just waiting for something to happen in order to act on the opportunity.

As you may recall, the Ukrainian Hockey League was where Jalen Smereck was playing when Andrei Deniskin made his horrible racist gesture that landed him a lengthy suspension.

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