🏒🌍 European and college hockey with `sportsdataverse-py`

This page is the executed notebook 17_european_college_hockey_intro.ipynb: download it to run it yourself.

North America's minor and junior leagues have their own notebook (11_junior_hockey_intro). This one crosses the Atlantic and drops into the NCAA:

League	Module	Provider
SHL (Sweden)	`sportsdataverse.hockey.shl`	shl.se
Liiga (Finland)	`sportsdataverse.hockey.liiga`	liiga.fi
DEL (Germany)	`sportsdataverse.hockey.del_`	DEL (eSports feed)
KHL	`sportsdataverse.hockey.khl`	khl.ru
NCAA men's / women's hockey	`sportsdataverse.hockey.mch` / `.wch`	ESPN

DEL's package is del_, because del is a Python keyword. The European runtimes take the season as its END year (2026 is 2025-26) and space requests at least a second apart, so be patient. ⏳

🧰 The toolbox

Function	What it gives you
`shl_schedule`	Schedule and results of an SHL season
`shl_pbp`	SHL play-by-play with shot locations (2023/24 on)
`liiga_standings`	Liiga standings
`liiga_games`	Every Liiga game of a season, with xG
`liiga_shotmap`	One Liiga game's shots
`del_schedule`	DEL schedule and results
`del_standings`	DEL standings
`del_shots`	One DEL game's shots with rink coordinates
`khl_standings`	KHL regular-season standings
`espn_mch_standings`	NCAA men's hockey standings
`espn_wch_scoreboard`	NCAA women's hockey scoreboard

🔌 Setup

pip install "sportsdataverse[sdvplot]"

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import polars as pl

from sportsdataverse.hockey import del_, khl, liiga, mch, shl, wch

pl.Config.set_tbl_rows(10)
SEASON = 2026  # END year: the completed 2025-26 season

Provider feeds are seasonal and occasionally rate-limited, so a tiny safe() helper runs each call defensively: you get the frame when the feed is up, and a one-line skip when it isn't, naming whether the answer was nothing there (NoDataError) or the fetch failed (AssetFetchError). 🛟

from sportsdataverse.errors import AssetFetchError, NoDataError

def safe(label, thunk):
    try:
        out = thunk()
        print(f"✅ {label}")
        return out
    except (NoDataError, AssetFetchError) as e:
        print(f"\u23ed\ufe0f  {label}: {type(e).__name__}: {e}")
        return None

🇸🇪 SHL

shl_schedule returns every game of a season with its game_uuid; shl_pbp takes that uuid.

shl_sched = safe(f"SHL schedule {SEASON}", lambda: shl.shl_schedule(SEASON))
cols = ["start_date_time", "home_team_code", "home_team_score", "away_team_code", "away_team_score", "state"]
shl_sched.select([c for c in cols if c in shl_sched.columns]).tail(5) if shl_sched is not None else None

✅ SHL schedule 2026





shape: (5, 6)
┌─────────────────┬────────────────┬─────────────────┬────────────────┬────────────────┬───────────┐
│ start_date_time ┆ home_team_code ┆ home_team_score ┆ away_team_code ┆ away_team_scor ┆ state     │
│ ---             ┆ ---            ┆ ---             ┆ ---            ┆ e              ┆ ---       │
│ str             ┆ str            ┆ i64             ┆ str            ┆ ---            ┆ str       │
│                 ┆                ┆                 ┆                ┆ i64            ┆           │
╞═════════════════╪════════════════╪═════════════════╪════════════════╪════════════════╪═══════════╡
│ 2026-03-14      ┆ TIK            ┆ 1               ┆ VLH            ┆ 3              ┆ post-game │
│ 15:15:00        ┆                ┆                 ┆                ┆                ┆           │
│ 2026-03-14      ┆ LHC            ┆ 3               ┆ OHK            ┆ 2              ┆ post-game │
│ 15:15:00        ┆                ┆                 ┆                ┆                ┆           │
│ 2026-03-14      ┆ DIF            ┆ 2               ┆ SAIK           ┆ 3              ┆ post-game │
│ 15:15:00        ┆                ┆                 ┆                ┆                ┆           │
│ 2026-03-14      ┆ BIF            ┆ 3               ┆ HV71           ┆ 4              ┆ post-game │
│ 15:15:00        ┆                ┆                 ┆                ┆                ┆           │
│ 2026-03-14      ┆ FHC            ┆ 4               ┆ MIF            ┆ 1              ┆ post-game │
│ 15:15:00        ┆                ┆                 ┆                ┆                ┆           │
└─────────────────┴────────────────┴─────────────────┴────────────────┴────────────────┴───────────┘

done = shl_sched.filter(pl.col("state") == "post-game") if shl_sched is not None else None
guid = done["game_uuid"][-1] if done is not None and done.height else None
shl_pbp = safe("SHL pbp", lambda: shl.shl_pbp(guid)) if guid else None
(shl_pbp["type"].value_counts(sort=True) if shl_pbp is not None and shl_pbp.height
 else "no SHL play-by-play")

✅ SHL pbp





shape: (7, 2)
┌────────────┬───────┐
│ type       ┆ count │
│ ---        ┆ ---   │
│ str        ┆ u32   │
╞════════════╪═══════╡
│ shot       ┆ 84    │
│ goalkeeper ┆ 6     │
│ goal       ┆ 5     │
│ insight    ┆ 4     │
│ penalty    ┆ 3     │
│ period     ┆ 3     │
│ timeout    ┆ 1     │
└────────────┴───────┘

🇫🇮 Liiga

liiga_standings defaults to the current season. liiga_games carries both teams' goals per game, and liiga_shotmap one game's shots.

lst = safe("Liiga standings", liiga.liiga_standings)
cols = ["tournament", "ranking", "team_name", "games", "wins", "losses", "points", "goals", "goals_against"]
(lst.filter(pl.col("tournament") == lst["tournament"][0])
    .select([c for c in cols if c in lst.columns]).sort("ranking").head(8)
 if lst is not None and lst.height else "standings unavailable")

✅ Liiga standings





shape: (8, 9)
┌────────────┬─────────┬───────────┬───────┬───┬────────┬────────┬───────┬───────────────┐
│ tournament ┆ ranking ┆ team_name ┆ games ┆ … ┆ losses ┆ points ┆ goals ┆ goals_against │
│ ---        ┆ ---     ┆ ---       ┆ ---   ┆   ┆ ---    ┆ ---    ┆ ---   ┆ ---           │
│ str        ┆ i64     ┆ str       ┆ i64   ┆   ┆ i64    ┆ i64    ┆ i64   ┆ i64           │
╞════════════╪═════════╪═══════════╪═══════╪═══╪════════╪════════╪═══════╪═══════════════╡
│ runkosarja ┆ 1       ┆ Lukko     ┆ 17    ┆ … ┆ 4      ┆ 35     ┆ 46    ┆ 32            │
│ runkosarja ┆ 2       ┆ SaiPa     ┆ 16    ┆ … ┆ 3      ┆ 34     ┆ 49    ┆ 27            │
│ runkosarja ┆ 3       ┆ Ilves     ┆ 17    ┆ … ┆ 5      ┆ 32     ┆ 48    ┆ 36            │
│ runkosarja ┆ 4       ┆ Jukurit   ┆ 18    ┆ … ┆ 6      ┆ 32     ┆ 44    ┆ 35            │
│ runkosarja ┆ 5       ┆ JYP       ┆ 14    ┆ … ┆ 3      ┆ 30     ┆ 44    ┆ 35            │
│ runkosarja ┆ 6       ┆ Kärpät    ┆ 18    ┆ … ┆ 4      ┆ 30     ┆ 51    ┆ 50            │
│ runkosarja ┆ 7       ┆ Ässät     ┆ 17    ┆ … ┆ 6      ┆ 28     ┆ 38    ┆ 40            │
│ runkosarja ┆ 8       ┆ TPS       ┆ 17    ┆ … ┆ 7      ┆ 27     ┆ 47    ┆ 42            │
└────────────┴─────────┴───────────┴───────┴───┴────────┴────────┴───────┴───────────────┘

lg = safe("Liiga games", liiga.liiga_games)
fin = lg.filter(pl.col("ended") == True) if lg is not None else None
if fin is not None and fin.height:
    g = fin.row(-1, named=True)
    sm = safe(f"Liiga shotmap {g['game_id']}", lambda: liiga.liiga_shotmap(g["season"], g["game_id"]))
    print(g["home_name"], g["home_goals"], "-", g["away_goals"], g["away_name"])
    out = sm.group_by("event_type").len() if sm is not None and sm.height else "no shotmap"
else:
    out = "no finished Liiga games"
out

✅ Liiga games


✅ Liiga shotmap 2701415
Sport 1 - 3 SaiPa





shape: (4, 2)
┌────────────────┬─────┐
│ event_type     ┆ len │
│ ---            ┆ --- │
│ str            ┆ u32 │
╞════════════════╪═════╡
│ PLAYER_BLOCKED ┆ 25  │
│ MISSED         ┆ 27  │
│ GOAL           ┆ 4   │
│ GOALIE_BLOCKED ┆ 41  │
└────────────────┴─────┘

🇩🇪 DEL

del_standings and del_schedule take the END year; del_shots a match_id.

dst = safe(f"DEL standings {SEASON}", lambda: del_.del_standings(SEASON))
cols = ["position", "name", "games", "wins", "wins_ot", "losses_ot", "losses", "points"]
dst.select([c for c in cols if c in dst.columns]).sort("position").head(8) if dst is not None else None

✅ DEL standings 2026





shape: (8, 8)
┌──────────┬──────────────────────┬───────┬──────┬─────────┬───────────┬────────┬────────┐
│ position ┆ name                 ┆ games ┆ wins ┆ wins_ot ┆ losses_ot ┆ losses ┆ points │
│ ---      ┆ ---                  ┆ ---   ┆ ---  ┆ ---     ┆ ---       ┆ ---    ┆ ---    │
│ i64      ┆ str                  ┆ i64   ┆ i64  ┆ i64     ┆ i64       ┆ i64    ┆ i64    │
╞══════════╪══════════════════════╪═══════╪══════╪═════════╪═══════════╪════════╪════════╡
│ 1        ┆ Kölner Haie          ┆ 52    ┆ 36   ┆ 3       ┆ 2         ┆ 11     ┆ 116    │
│ 2        ┆ Adler Mannheim       ┆ 52    ┆ 29   ┆ 6       ┆ 4         ┆ 13     ┆ 103    │
│ 3        ┆ Straubing Tigers     ┆ 52    ┆ 32   ┆ 2       ┆ 1         ┆ 17     ┆ 101    │
│ 4        ┆ EHC Red Bull München ┆ 52    ┆ 29   ┆ 5       ┆ 3         ┆ 15     ┆ 100    │
│ 5        ┆ ERC Ingolstadt       ┆ 52    ┆ 28   ┆ 5       ┆ 0         ┆ 19     ┆ 94     │
│ 6        ┆ Eisbären Berlin      ┆ 52    ┆ 23   ┆ 6       ┆ 4         ┆ 19     ┆ 85     │
│ 7        ┆ Pinguins Bremerhaven ┆ 52    ┆ 24   ┆ 4       ┆ 3         ┆ 21     ┆ 83     │
│ 8        ┆ Grizzlys Wolfsburg   ┆ 52    ┆ 20   ┆ 3       ┆ 7         ┆ 22     ┆ 73     │
└──────────┴──────────────────────┴───────┴──────┴─────────┴───────────┴────────┴────────┘

A DEL shot map 🎯

del_shots ships coordinate_x / coordinate_y in the provider's own frame (both axes run about -100 to 100), plus team_side and is_goal. sdvplot has no mapping from this frame to a regulation IIHF rink yet, so the chart below plots the raw frame rather than drawing a rink under it.

dsched = safe(f"DEL schedule {SEASON}", lambda: del_.del_schedule(SEASON))
mid = int(dsched.filter(pl.col("final_score_home").is_not_null())["match_id"][-1]) if dsched is not None else None
dshots = safe(f"DEL shots {mid}", lambda: del_.del_shots(mid)) if mid else None
if dshots is not None and dshots.height:
    fig, ax = plt.subplots(figsize=(8, 5))
    for side, color in (("home", "#1f77b4"), ("visitor", "#ff7f0e")):
        s = dshots.filter(pl.col("team_side") == side)
        name = s["home_name" if side == "home" else "visitor_name"][0] if s.height else side
        ax.scatter(s["coordinate_x"], s["coordinate_y"], s=25, alpha=0.6, c=color, label=name)
    goals = dshots.filter(pl.col("is_goal") == True)
    ax.scatter(goals["coordinate_x"], goals["coordinate_y"], s=160, facecolors="none",
               edgecolors="black", linewidths=1.5, label="goal")
    ax.set_xlim(-105, 105)
    ax.set_ylim(-105, 105)
    ax.set_aspect("equal")
    ax.legend(loc="upper center", ncol=3, fontsize=8)
    ax.set_title(f"DEL match {mid}: {dshots.height} shots (provider frame)")
    plt.show()
else:
    print("no DEL shots for this match")

✅ DEL schedule 2026

✅ DEL shots 4304

png

🇷🇺 KHL

khl_standings returns one row per team per table (conference and division tables are stacked, tagged by table).

kst = safe("KHL standings", khl.khl_standings)
cols = ["table", "rank", "name", "gp", "w", "l", "pts", "goals_for", "goals_against"]
(kst.filter(pl.col("table") == kst["table"][0]).select([c for c in cols if c in kst.columns]).head(8)
 if kst is not None and kst.height else "standings unavailable")

✅ KHL standings





shape: (8, 9)
┌────────┬──────┬──────────────┬─────┬───┬─────┬─────┬───────────┬───────────────┐
│ table  ┆ rank ┆ name         ┆ gp  ┆ … ┆ l   ┆ pts ┆ goals_for ┆ goals_against │
│ ---    ┆ ---  ┆ ---          ┆ --- ┆   ┆ --- ┆ --- ┆ ---       ┆ ---           │
│ str    ┆ i64  ┆ str          ┆ i64 ┆   ┆ i64 ┆ i64 ┆ i64       ┆ i64           │
╞════════╪══════╪══════════════╪═════╪═══╪═════╪═════╪═══════════╪═══════════════╡
│ league ┆ 1    ┆ Металлург Мг ┆ 20  ┆ … ┆ 3   ┆ 32  ┆ 67        ┆ 39            │
│ league ┆ 2    ┆ Локомотив    ┆ 19  ┆ … ┆ 5   ┆ 28  ┆ 49        ┆ 33            │
│ league ┆ 3    ┆ ЦСКА         ┆ 19  ┆ … ┆ 5   ┆ 28  ┆ 58        ┆ 36            │
│ league ┆ 4    ┆ Драконы      ┆ 18  ┆ … ┆ 4   ┆ 26  ┆ 56        ┆ 44            │
│ league ┆ 5    ┆ Спартак      ┆ 19  ┆ … ┆ 5   ┆ 25  ┆ 51        ┆ 35            │
│ league ┆ 6    ┆ Нефтехимик   ┆ 19  ┆ … ┆ 6   ┆ 24  ┆ 55        ┆ 46            │
│ league ┆ 7    ┆ Северсталь   ┆ 20  ┆ … ┆ 7   ┆ 24  ┆ 46        ┆ 43            │
│ league ┆ 8    ┆ Торпедо      ┆ 18  ┆ … ┆ 5   ┆ 24  ┆ 49        ┆ 36            │
└────────┴──────┴──────────────┴─────┴───┴─────┴─────┴───────────┴───────────────┘

🎓 College hockey (ESPN)

The NCAA men's (mch) and women's (wch) leagues ride the cross-league ESPN wrappers. Team colors come from sdvplot's team_colors, keyed by ESPN team id under the ncaa_mhockey league key.

import sdvplot

cst = safe("NCAA men's hockey standings", mch.espn_mch_standings)
if cst is not None and cst.height:
    top = cst.sort("wins", "win_percent", descending=True).head(15).sort("wins", "win_percent")
    colors = sdvplot.team_colors("ncaa_mhockey", [str(i) for i in top["team_id"]])
    colors = [c or "#999999" for c in colors]
    fig, ax = plt.subplots(figsize=(7, 6))
    ax.barh(top["team_display_name"], top["wins"], color=colors)
    ax.set_xlabel("wins")
    ax.set_title("NCAA men's hockey: the 15 teams with the most wins so far")
    plt.tight_layout()
    plt.show()
else:
    print("standings unavailable")

✅ NCAA men's hockey standings

png

wsb = safe("NCAA women's hockey scoreboard", wch.espn_wch_scoreboard)
cols = ["date", "short_name", "status_type_detail", "home_score", "away_score"]
wsb.select([c for c in cols if c in wsb.columns]) if wsb is not None and wsb.height else "no games today"

✅ NCAA women's hockey scoreboard





shape: (1, 5)
┌───────────────────┬────────────┬─────────────────────────────────┬────────────┬────────────┐
│ date              ┆ short_name ┆ status_type_detail              ┆ home_score ┆ away_score │
│ ---               ┆ ---        ┆ ---                             ┆ ---        ┆ ---        │
│ str               ┆ str        ┆ str                             ┆ str        ┆ str        │
╞═══════════════════╪════════════╪═════════════════════════════════╪════════════╪════════════╡
│ 2026-10-26T15:00Z ┆ MNST @ BC  ┆ Mon, October 26th at 11:00 AM … ┆ 0          ┆ 0          │
└───────────────────┴────────────┴─────────────────────────────────┴────────────┴────────────┘

🎉 Where to next

More European homes under sportsdataverse.hockey: icehl, eihl, metal, elh, ha, nl, magnus, vhl and the Swiss sihf; each has a reference page in the sidebar.
khl_webcaster_* is a second KHL source with player and team tables per stage.
North American minor and junior leagues: 11_junior_hockey_intro; the PWHL: 10_pwhl_intro; the NHL: 07_nhl_intro.
Rinks and team colors: sdvplot and sportypy.

🧰 The toolbox​

🔌 Setup​

🇸🇪 SHL​

🇫🇮 Liiga​

🇩🇪 DEL​

A DEL shot map 🎯​

🇷🇺 KHL​

🎓 College hockey (ESPN)​

🎉 Where to next​