League Information

The DWHL offers 2 leagues each year:

• Fall/Winter League – this is our full league, which begins in Sept/Oct and goes all the way thru Mar/Apr. Each team plays around 18 games plus playoffs. We generally have a Novice division and an Intermediate division, although there have been years when we combined the divisions due to low player registrations. The number of teams in each division depends on the number of players who register. We also sponsor 2 WACH (Women’s Association of Colorado Hockey) teams in the fall/winter: the B1 Spitfires and the B2 Spitfires. Many DWHL players will register and play on both the WACH league and the DWHL in-house league. Registration for the DWHL Fall/Winter league will usually begin in September – check our Upcoming Events page for details as the time gets near. Ice time in the Fall/Winter is usually late: 10:00pm-11:30pm start times, due to the abundance of youth teams and the fact that they get priority ice time.
• Summer League – this is a shorter league, starting around May/June and going thru August. We typically have enough interest for 2 divisions (1 Novice and 1 either Intermediate or Competitive); the number of teams for each division varies depending on how many players register. Each team will generally play 10 games plus playoffs at the end. Ice time in the summer is earlier - 8:00pm-10:00pm start times.

Other Information about our Leagues:

• The novice league is open to all players regardless of experience or skill level. Even if you have never played a game before and can barely skate, you are welcome here – all you have to do is sign up.
• If you have significant experience, you may be too advanced for our novice division (remember: our goal is to make new players feel unthreatened, not to let you score a million goals because you are better than everyone else!). In this case, you should find a more challenging environment in our Intermediate division or our Competitive division. However, you must first be evaluated by a coach before you are allowed to play at these levels. Coaches will evaluate you at any of our camps; just ask them before the camp starts and they will let you know by the end of the camp which division you should be playing.
• Once you have been approved to play at the intermediate/competitive levels, you are no longer permitted to play at the novice level. No fair sandbagging!
• If you are registered on a team, you can substitute (sub) for free within your division! What this means is that any night that your team is not playing, but other teams in your division are playing, just show up to the game and sign in as a sub. You can easily get twice as much ice time for the same amount of money if you sub, plus you get to know all of the ladies and expand your circle of friends. This is also an excellent way to increase your skills and get a feel for how different it is to play with different lines.
• If you don’t want to register for a full league, but you still want to play, you can drop in to any game for $20. For novice level, just show up. For intermediate or competitive, you still need to be evaluated by a coach before you can play at these levels. Once you have been approved, you can drop in for $20. All players will still be required to be USA Hockey registered before they can skate with us.
• The fall/winter league does offer a half-season rate. Registration for this will begin in January; watch the website for details.
• We have professional and experienced coaches at all of our league games, so you will get immediate feedback about your progress and things you can work on.