The Bosnia and Herzegovina Hockey League (BHL) is the top league for

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...

. It is organized by the

Bosnia and Herzegovina Ice Hockey Federation The Ice Hockey Association of Bosnia and Herzegovina (HSBiH) (Bosnian language, Bosnian, Croatian language, Croatian and Serbian language, Serbian: Hokejaški savez Bosne i Hercegovine; Хокејашки савез Босне и Херцегов� ...

History

Hockey developed slowly in Bosnia and Herzegovina, all of it being concentrated in Sarajevo. By the later 1980s, one team, HK Bosna, made it to the Yugoslav Hockey League. With the end of Yugoslavia came the end of hockey in the country, for some time.

War War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

and economic difficulties prevented the organization/formation of a league for some time. The first season of the league was held in 2002–03, with four teams. After the season three teams simply were not able to remain active. With their demise, the league went into a hiatus for six years until the 2009–10 season. The league is strictly amateur at this time with a low/developmental level of play with no body checking. All hockey games in BiH are played out in the country's biggest city and capital,

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see names in other languages'') is the capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its administrative limits. The Sarajevo metropolitan area including Sarajevo ...

, at Olympic Hall Zetra. A second rink at Skenderija that fell in disrepair was not ready in time for the 2009 season. Reconstruction started in February 2010.HK Bosna forum thread
sportsport.ba (ba) Currently, no other city has a regulation sized ice-rink. For the start of the 2011–12 season it was announced that HK Bosna and left the league to play in the newly formed Open Championship of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an international league with teams from

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

, and the

Republic of Macedonia North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Yugoslavia. It ...

. The league also changed its abbreviation from "BHL" to "BHHL" and HK Ilidža 2010 changed its name to HK Ajkule Ilidža 2010.

Teams

The 2002–03 season had four teams competing — HK Bosna, HK Ilidža 2010, HK Jahorina, and HK Šampion. However following the end of the season both HK Jahorina and HK Šampion folded and the league went on hiatus. When the league returned in for the 2009–10 season two new teams, HK Stari Grad and

HK Alfa Hokejski klub Alfa ( en, Alfa Hockey Club), commonly referred to as HK Alfa or simply Alfa, was an ice hockey club from Ljubljana Ljubljana (also known by other historical names) is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. It is the country ...

, joined the league with HK Bosna. The 2010–11 season has four teams competing in Sarajevo with the three teams competing from the previous season and the return of HK Ilidža 2010. The 2011–12 season was reduced to three teams after HK Bosna left the league, returning in later seasons.

Former teams

Seasons and champions

* 2002–03 — HK Bosna finished first in the regular season and won the playoff series 2–0 against HK Ilidža 2010. * 2009–10 — HK Bosna finished first in the regular season. HK Stari Grad won the playoff series 2–1 against HK Bosna. *

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

— HK Bosna finished first in the regular season and won the playoff series 2–0 against

* 2011–12 — HK Ajkule Ilidža 2010 finished first in the regular season and won the single game final 3–2 against HK Alfa. *

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

— HK Stari Grad Vukovi finished first in the regular season and beat HK Medvjedi Sarajevo in two straight games. * 2013–14 — HK Stari Grad Vukovi finished first in the regular season and beat HK Ajkule Ilidža in two straight games. * 2014–15 — Blue Bulls Sarajevo finished first in the regular season and won the championship. * 2015–16 — HK Ajkule Ilidža 2010 finished first in the regular season and won the championship.

Championships

References

{{Ice Hockey Leagues Ice hockey competitions in Bosnia and Herzegovina Top tier ice hockey leagues in Europe