The league is operated by the Croatian Ice Hockey Federation.

Until then, Croatian teams played in the Yugoslav Ice Hockey League.

The hockey teams Mladost and Medveščak were playing in the first division, while Sisak and Zagreb were playing in the second division of the Yugoslav league.

This resulted in a more balanced competition, in which KHL Zagreb went on to win three times in a row.

Medveščak however managed to remerge as the country's dominant team, as it won the competition for eleven straight seasons.