Eastern Hockey League (2013–)

Eastern Hockey League
Sport Ice hockey
Founded 2003
CEO Mark Kumpel
No. of teams 18
Country  United States
Most recent champion(s) Premier — New Hampshire Jr. Monarchs (2015–16)
Elite — Boston Junior Rangers (2015–16)
Official website EHL

The Eastern Hockey League (EHL) is an American Tier III Junior ice hockey league with 18 teams in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic United States. The EHL was officially announced on June 6, 2013 after the Atlantic Junior Hockey League welcomed six new members from the old Eastern Junior Hockey League and the AJHL re-branded itself under the EHL banner

The league prepares high school and college aged players for college and professional hockey. The league has hundreds of alumni that have gone on to play for NCAA colleges, various professional leagues, the CHL, and in Europe.

History

The Atlantic Junior Hockey League (AJHL or AtJHL) was part of the Atlantic Metropolitan Hockey League organization and was formed in 2003 with a stated goal to "meet the needs of the junior hockey community and the players it serves in the Eastern United States". The AJHL played its first season in 2003–04 with six teams that had previously played in the Junior B Metropolitan Junior Hockey League. On May 30, 2012 the AJHL announced that after nine years of being a part of the Atlantic Metropolitan Hockey League, the 12 AJHL ownership groups successfully became a stand-alone entity. After the split, the AJHL was managed and governed solely by the league owners.

In 2013, Tier III junior hockey leagues underwent a large reorganization that led to the dissolution of the Eastern Junior Hockey League and six of their former members joining the AJHL. Prior to the 2013–14 season, the AJHL re-branded to become the Eastern Hockey League (EHL).[1] The six members who came from the EJHL were the Boston Bandits, Connecticut Oilers, New Hampshire Jr. Monarchs, New York Apple Core, Philadelphia Revolution, and the Valley Jr. Warriors.

In December 2014, the EHL announced the Connecticut Nighthawks as an expansion franchise to start in the 2015–16. They also announced the formation of the EHL-Elite Division and that eight teams would participate in the first season composed of the former Junior B teams for EHL organizations. The formation of the Elite Division led to the previous Junior A members to be placed in the EHL-Premier Division. In May 2015, the North American Hockey League, a Tier II league, announced that the New Jersey Junior Titans and the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Knights had been approved to elevate their organizations. After their promotion, the two EHL franchises went dormant.[2]

In March 2016, the EHL announced that it was changing the name of the Elite Division to 19U Elite Division for the 2016–17 season and doubling in size by adding eight more teams, mostly the prospect teams from the Premier Division's South Conference teams.[3]

Current teams

Premier Division
Conference Team Arena Location Joined
North
Boston Bandits Bridgewater Ice Arena Bridgewater, Massachusetts 2013
Boston Junior Rangers Breakaway Ice Center Tewksbury, Massachusetts 2004
East Coast Wizards Edge Sports Center Bedford, Massachusetts 2014
New England Wolves Waterville Valley Ice Arena Waterville Valley, New Hampshire 2005
New Hampshire Jr. Monarchs Tri-Town Ice Arena Hooksett, New Hampshire 2013
Northern Cyclones Cyclones Arena Hudson, New Hampshire 2004
Valley Jr. Warriors Haverhill Valley Forum Haverhill, Massachusetts 2013
Vermont Lumberjacks Leddy Park Arena Burlington, Vermont 2003
Walpole Express Rodman Arena Walpole, Massachusetts 2005
South
Connecticut Nighthawks International Skating Center of CT Simsbury, Connecticut 2015
Connecticut Oilers SoNo Ice House Norwalk, Connecticut 2013
Hartford Jr. Wolfpack Champions Skating Center Cromwell, Connecticut 2003
New Jersey Rockets Prudential Center Newark, New Jersey 2004
New York Apple Core Brewster Ice Arena Brewster, New York 2013
New York Bobcats Twin Rinks at Eisenhower Park East Meadow, New York 2003
Philadelphia Junior Flyers Ice Line Quad Rinks West Chester, Pennsylvania 2008
Philadelphia Little Flyers IceWorks Skating Complex Aston, Pennsylvania 2003
Philadelphia Revolution Revolution Ice Gardens Warwick Township, Pennsylvania 2013
19U Elite Division
Team Arena Location Joined
Boston Bandits Bridgewater Ice Arena Bridgewater, Massachusetts 2015
Boston Junior Rangers Breakaway Ice Center Tewksbury, Massachusetts 2015
New England Wolves Waterville Valley Ice Arena Waterville Valley, New Hampshire 2015
New Hampshire Jr. Monarchs Tri-Town Ice Arena Hooksett, New Hampshire 2015
Northern Cyclones Cyclones Arena Hudson, New Hampshire 2015
Valley Jr. Warriors Haverhill Valley Forum Haverhill, Massachusetts 2015
Vermont Lumberjacks Leddy Park Arena Burlington, Vermont 2015
Walpole Express Rodman Arena Walpole, Massachusetts 2015

Announced future teams

Former teams

Championships

AJHL/EHL-Premier

Season Regular season Playoff National Tournament result
2003–04 Hartford Jr. Wolfpack Washington Jr. Nationals
2004–05 Boston Bulldogs Boston Bulldogs
2005–06 New York Bobcats New York Bobcats
2006–07 New York Bobcats New York Bobcats New York Bobcats lost Semifinal game vs. New Hampshire Jr. Monarchs (EJHL)
Northern Cyclones lost Semifinal game vs. Bay State Breakers (EJHL)
[4]
2007–08 New Jersey Rockets
Portland Jr. Pirates
Northern Cyclones Northern Cyclones lost Semifinal game vs. New Hampshire Jr. Monarchs (EJHL)
New Jersey Rockets eliminated in Round Robin
[5]
2008–09 Northern Cyclones Northern Cyclones Northern Cyclones and New York Bobcats eliminated in Round Robin[6]
2009–10 Northern Cyclones Walpole Express Walpole Express and New York Bobcats eliminated in Round Robin[7]
2010–11 Walpole Express Walpole Express Walpole Express lost Semifinal game vs. Helena Bighorns (NorPac)
Northern Cyclones eliminated in Round Robin
[8]
2011–12 Walpole Express Walpole Express No representatives sent to nationals[9]
2012–13 Northern Cyclones Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Knights No representatives sent to nationals[10]
2013–14 New Hampshire Jr. Monarchs Northern Cyclones Northern Cyclones lost Semifinal game vs. North Iowa Bulls (NA3HL)
New Hampshire Jr. Monarchs eliminated in Round Robin
[11]
2014–15 Philadelphia Little Flyers Vacant
Connecticut Oilers wins vacated
Northern Cyclones lost Div. 1 Championship game vs. North Iowa Bulls (NA3HL)[12]
2015–16 Philadelphia Little Flyers New Hampshire Jr. Monarchs Tier III National Tournament not held in 2016

EHL-Elite

Season Regular season Playoff National Tournament result
2015–16 New Hampshire Jr. Monarchs Boston Jr. Rangers Tier III National Tournament not held in 2016

See also

References

  1. EHL (June 6, 2013). "Announcing The Eastern Hockey League". EasternHockeyLeague.org. Retrieved June 10, 2013.
  2. "EHL History". EHL. Retrieved September 3, 2015.
  3. "EHL Announces New 19U Elite Division For 2016-17". Eastern Hockey League. March 2, 2016.
  4. "2007 Tier III Junior A Nationals". Pointstreak. Retrieved August 21, 2015.
  5. "2008 Tier III Junior A Nationals". Pointstreak. Retrieved August 21, 2015.
  6. "2009 Tier III Junior A Nationals". Pointstreak. Retrieved August 21, 2015.
  7. "2010 Tier III Junior A Nationals". Pointstreak. Retrieved August 21, 2015.
  8. "2011 Tier III Junior A Nationals". Pointstreak. Retrieved August 21, 2015.
  9. "2012 Tier III Nat. Championships". USA Hockey. Retrieved August 19, 2015.
  10. "2013 Tier III Nat. Championships". USA Hockey. Retrieved August 18, 2015.
  11. "2014 Tier III Nat. Championships". USA Hockey. Retrieved August 18, 2015.
  12. "2015 Tier III Junior Nat. Championships". USA Hockey. Retrieved September 17, 2015.

External links

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