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34-480: The NCPHL was announced in the spring of 2016. Originally announced as an eight-team league, as many as twelve different teams were announced for the 2016–17 season with several team changes before making it to opening night. Some teams also announced an affiliation with teams from the Western States Hockey League . By the start of the inaugural season, the league had six active teams. One of

68-813: A 1–3 record. The teams finished fourth and fifth in the six-team event. The 2014 summer break brought more changes to the MWJHL. The league transferred the franchise rights in Alpena from the Street Cats to the Flyers and the Bloomington Blaze relocated to Decatur. The league also announced the expansion of the MC Monarchs (MC for Motor City) playing out of Mount Clemens. July saw the team decide on Fraser as their base of operations. Mid-August noted that

102-591: A 30-game schedule operating as Tier III Junior B teams. The league was founded by Dr. Don Thorne and the Thorne Cup championship trophy was named in his recognition. The Anaheim Jr. Ducks won the first Thorne Cup Championship that season and was the last franchise from the inaugural season still in existence as the Long Beach Bombers until 2019. The Long Beach franchise was sold and the Bombers brand

136-633: A 47-0-1 record. The Hounds continued their success in the playoffs with a two-game sweep of the Bloomington Jr. Blaze in the semifinal round. Tennyson Chevrolet defeated Soo in two games to face the Hounds for the inaugural Veterans Memorial Cup. The Hounds then swept Tennyson in the championship series. Both Hartland and Tennyson traveled to six-team Las Vegas, Nevada , for the UHU National Championship against teams from

170-594: A junior program by the United Hockey Union and then listed itself as a junior-aged academic league. In the 2017 offseason, the league announced several new teams including an NCP Canada division led by the Almonte Jr. Sharpshooters organization. However, after many of the teams folded after failing to sign enough players, the league website and all social media was shut down in September 2017. Four of

204-882: A new Midwest Division pending USA Hockey approval. After the 2014–15 season concluded, the MWJHL ceased to be a league and were no longer a members of the AAU. Prior to their first season in the USPHL Midwest, the MC Monarchs became the Motor City Hawks, the Michigan Ice Dogs became the Michigan Wild, and the Soo Firehawks ceased operations. The MWJHL member teams competed in the Veterans Memorial Cup playoffs. The winners of

238-599: A new league. The dormant Traverse City Cohos' franchise was sold and moved to Marquette, Michigan , but within a few months, the newly named Marquette Royales left the MWJHL for the MnJHL. In June 2013, the AAU suspended the Holland River Bandits franchise due to the team's on-going financial struggles. Several of the core franchises changed names, including the Great Lakes Lightning becoming

272-679: The Canadian Junior Hockey League 's Junior "A" status and continues to charge player tuition to help pay for team travel expenses. In the 2015–16 season, the WSHL grew to its largest membership with 29 teams across 14 states. In 2018, the league expanded into western Canada with a Provinces Division in the WSHL that had originally been announced to play as its own league called the Western Provinces Hockey Association (WPHA). After one season,

306-399: The Western States Hockey League and Northern States Hockey League . Both MWJWHL teams went 1–3–0 in the tournament with Hartland finishing sixth in the standings and Tennyson finishing fifth. The league went through a number of changes during the summer of 2013. The Michigan Grrrowl left the MWJHL to apply to another league, and later ceased operations when the team was unable to secure

340-571: The 2021–22 season. In June 2020, the El Paso Rhinos also left for the NA3HL for the 2020–21 season with the intention of joining the NAHL for the 2021–22 season. In January 2021, the league stated that it still intended to return for a 2021–22 season. In August, the league gave an update with six new teams and five returning teams split into two divisions: Northwest and Provincial. The schedule

374-805: The Berkley Bruins, the Rhinelander Street Cats relocating to Alpena, Michigan , Tennyson Chevrolet renamed to the Detroit Fighting Irish, and the Hartland Hounds moving to Traverse City, Michigan , The West Michigan Freeze were initially announced as an expansion franchise but decided to hold out until the 2014–15 season, dropping the league to seven teams for the 2013–14 season. The MWJHL began its second season with seven teams. Traverse City Hounds earned their second regular season title. The Hounds swept

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408-668: The Mississauga Bruins also sitting out after not playing a league game since January. With the Rochester Rebels the only remaining team with a winning record (20–15–5), they earned an automatic berth to the championship game. The bottom two teams then played a two-game aggregate qualifier series with the winner facing the Lake Erie Eagles in a semifinal game. After its first season, the NCPHL was removed as

442-629: The NCPHL hosted its first All-star competition and game. In the end, Team White won by a score of 7–4 with the MVP, Curtis Anderson of the Toronto Stealth, recording 3 goals and 2 assists. Despite dominating the regular season with a record of 28–2–0, the Stealth chose not to participate in the NCPHL's playoffs, called the "Frosty Four," in Erie, Pennsylvania . Four teams participated in the playoffs with

476-711: The NCPHL teams joined the Canadian Premier Junior Hockey League : the Almonte Jr. Sharpshooters, EOHA Wolves, Lake Erie Eagles, and the Maniwaki Mustangs. Western States Hockey League The Western States Hockey League (WSHL) was a junior ice hockey league established in 1993. It was sanctioned by the United Hockey Union , the junior hockey branch of the Amateur Athletic Union . Previously, it

510-550: The North (Rhinelander and Soo) and Central (Great Lakes, Hartland, Michigan, Tennyson) Divisions. The National Conference included the East (Dayton, Lake Erie, NWO) and West (Bloomington and Holland) Divisions. The top two teams in each division would qualify for the post-season. The first round would be a best-of-three format played at the higher seed's rink. The second round would also be a best-of-three series with Games 1 and 2 played at

544-557: The Soo Firehawks was named secretary/treasurer. The league initially planned for a total of 11 teams for the inaugural season, including: Bloomington Jr. Blaze, Dayton Aeros, Great Lakes Lightning, Hartland Hounds, Holland River Bandits, Ironwood Bears, Lake Erie Steelheads, Michigan Ice Dogs, Northwest Ohio Grrrowl, Rhinelander Street Cats, Soo Firehawks, and the Tennyson Chevrolet. The teams were divided into two conferences and four divisions. The American Conference comprised

578-742: The USA Hockey and UHU National Championship over the years and most recently, the El Paso Rhinos were crowned the United Hockey Union National Champions in 2014. The WSHL has had great success in moving players on to the college hockey ranks through the "Western States Shootout", an annual all-league showcase held every December in Las Vegas, Nevada . The event averages in excess of 80 scouts in attendance, all of whom are looking to bolster their roster for

612-637: The Utah Outliers to the United States Premier Hockey League , another independent junior hockey organization. The Oklahoma City Jr. Blazers then left on May 19, 2020, to join to the North American 3 Hockey League (NA3HL). On May 26, 2020, the WSHL announced it would be dormant for the 2020–21 season due to the on-going COVID-19 pandemic , stating the league was already they have begun preparing to return for

646-460: The WSHL organizations then announced affiliations with some of the NCPHL teams to act as a developmental team and the WPL appears to have been disbanded. Midwest Junior Hockey League The Midwest Junior Hockey League (MWJHL) was an American junior ice hockey league. The MWJHL were members of the United Hockey Union and sanctioned by the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU). On March 10, 2015,

680-704: The WSHL's association with the WPHA dissolved and removed the teams that had been directly operated by the owners of the WPHA. The WPHA then joined the Greater Metro Junior A Hockey League , an independent junior league primarily based in Ontario. In April 2020, the WSHL lost the Fresno Monsters , Las Vegas Thunderbirds , Northern Colorado Eagles, Ogden Mustangs , Ontario Avalanche, Pueblo Bulls , San Diego Sabers , Southern Oregon Spartans , and

714-643: The WSHL. In its only season (2015–16), the WPL played with four Tier III prospect teams under Tier II organizations (the Casper Coyotes, Cheyenne Stampede, El Paso Rhinos, and Ogden Mustangs) with occasional games against non-WSHL affiliated teams. In 2016, the UHU approved of two other Tier III leagues, the Canadian Premier Junior Hockey League (CPJHL) and the National College Prospects Hockey League (NCPHL). Several of

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748-554: The West Michigan Freeze (initially delayed from a 2013 expansion to start 2014) has been dropped from the MWJHL webpage as one of the current year franchises. League website promptly acknowledged the folding of the Freeze. After playing 17 league games, the Berkley Bruins ceased operations on November 17, 2014. On March 10, 2015, the MWJHL announced it would be joining the United States Premier Hockey League as part of

782-795: The following season. In 2015, the WSHL Board of Governors announced the approval of the league to start competing as a Tier II-level player league for a higher caliber of play beginning in the 2015–16 season. Prior to the announcement the only Tier II-level league in the United States was the North American Hockey League . However, unlike the USA Hockey-sanctioned Tier II NAHL, the UHU-sanctioned WSHL operates similar to

816-423: The higher seed's rink and if necessary, Game 3 would be played at the lower seed's rink. The championship final would be a best-of-five with the first three games at the higher seed's rink and the last two, if needed, at the lower seed's rink. On August 30, 2012 The Junior Hockey News reported Kankakee, Ironwood, Traverse City, Cincinnati, Erie (PA) folded before the league's inaugural season. In early September,

850-591: The league announced it would be joining the United States Premier Hockey League as part of a new Midwest Division beginning in the 2015–16 season. The MWJHL began in 2012 with a league office in Sylvania, Ohio consisting of six full-time employees to support members vision and objectives. The first league meetings were in July 2012 in Deerfield, Illinois , to establish the first member teams, conference alignment of

884-466: The league pushed back the start of the season to allow teams more time to sign players and establish their rosters. The MWJHL began the 2012–13 season in mid-September with 10 teams. Dayton, playing in Monroe, Michigan , folded after playing 12 games. The league continued to season with nine teams and the games against Dayton recorded as forfeits. The Hartland Hounds claimed the regular season title with

918-684: The loss of its most successful franchise, the Phoenix Polar Bears , while adding many new teams. After the WSHL's success without USA Hockey, the United Hockey Union (UHU) was formed under the AAU sanctioning along with the Northern States Hockey League (NSHL) and the Midwest Junior Hockey League (MWJHL). The UHU leagues continued to operate with Tier III Junior A player requirements. The WSHL has had numerous teams participate and win

952-573: The original eight teams, the Lake Erie Warriors, garnered media attention when the logo was largely criticized for its depiction of a Native American warrior and was called racially insensitive. The team quickly rebranded as the Lake Erie Gulls for one day and then again to the Lake Erie Eagles on July 30, 2016. The Toronto Stealth defeated the Lake Erie Eagles 7–5 in the first league game on October 6, 2016. On February 18, 2017,

986-523: The series against the Alpena Street Cats in the playoff semifinal while the Soo Firehawks defeated the Detroit Fighting Irish two-games-to-one. The Hounds claimed their second straight Veterans Memorial Cup title with a win over Soo in game three of the championship series. Soo went 2–2 at the 2014 UHU National Championship against teams from the Western States Hockey League and Northern States Hockey League while Traverse City finished with

1020-584: The six remaining teams left the WSHL and started another league called the Can-Am Junior Hockey League (CAJHL) to finish the season independently. Full list of teams that have played in the WSHL. As part of the approval of the WSHL to Tier II status in 2015, the WSHL Board of Governors also announced the formation of the Western Prospects League (WPL), a United Hockey Union approved Tier III development league for

1054-546: The teams, and playoff format. On July 18, 2012 The MWJHL announced that Kevin Shanahan was named as the director of hockey operations. As the league continued to form, the MWJHL named Patrick Pylypuik president and chief executive officer for the 2012–13 season. He had previously been serving on an interim basis. Randy Montrose of the Hartland Hounds was elected chairman of the board for the MWJHL. Keith Lang of Tennyson Chevrolet named executive vice-president. Doug Goudreau from

National College Prospects Hockey League - Misplaced Pages Continue

1088-679: Was released in September and the league had lost the Vancouver Devils expansion team. The season started the last weekend of October and the expansion Utah Altitude folded after one game played. By November 5, the Northwest Division was announced as going dormant for the season with no games played by Bellingham, Rogue Valley, or Seattle. Bellingham and Vernal then joined the Provincial Division, but Bellingham withdrew after playing five games. By January 2022,

1122-437: Was sanctioned by USA Hockey from 1994 to 2011. Teams played approximately 50 games in the regular season schedule, mimicking what players would experience at the collegiate level. As of January 2022, there are no active teams in the league following the creation of the Can-Am Junior Hockey League by former WSHL teams. Year one consisted of six teams, spanning Arizona, California, Nevada and Utah, with all member clubs playing

1156-560: Was then used as an expansion team called the Barrhead Bombers. Current commissioner Ron White took over operation of the WSHL in 1995 and continued to expand the league footprint. In 2007, the WSHL upgraded their league status from the Tier III Junior B level to Junior A to attract higher quality prospects. In 2011, the league joined the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) and dropped its USA Hockey sanctioning leading to

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