Northern Pacific Hockey League

Not to be confused with Northern Pacific Field Hockey Conference, a defunct NCAA Division I field hockey conference..
Northern Pacific Hockey League
Current season, competition or edition:
Current sports event 2015-2016

Northern Pacific Hockey League
Sport Ice Hockey
Founded 2000
No. of teams 4
Country  United States
Most recent champion(s) Wenatchee Wolves (2015–16)
Most titles Helena Bighorns/Queen City Cutthroats (6)
Official website NPHLonline.com

The Northern Pacific Hockey League (NPHL) is an American Tier III junior ice hockey league sanctioned by USA Hockey. Its championship trophy is the Cascade Cup.

History

Established in 2000 as the NorPac Junior Hockey League, the league was sanctioned as Junior B by USA Hockey. Six teams from Alaska, Oregon and Washington competed in the inaugural season of 2000–01.

In 2007, the NorPac was promoted to Tier III Junior A by USA Hockey. In 2011, USA Hockey dropped the letter designation in Tier III and had all Tier III compete in the same national tournament.

In 2013, NorPac changed its abbreviated moniker to NPHL.[1]

The league announced three new members to start the 2014–15 season: Cheney Ice Hawks, Tacoma Knights and Wenatchee Wolves.[2] Organizational problems resulted in the Tacoma Knights being unable to field a team for 2014–15.[3]

May 25, 2015, the league announced that the Seattle Ravens would be a 2015–16 expansion franchise.[4]

On April 25, 2016, the NPHL announced that at the annual governor's meeting the league had decided to look into merging with a larger junior league for more stability. Also in the press release, it was announced that the Bellingham Blazers had left the league.[5] While it was not clarified in the official NPHL press release, the most recent league champions, Wenatchee Wolves, had also removed references to the NPHL from their website and appeared to focus their efforts on their youth programs instead.[6]

Current teams

Team Location Arena Joined Championships
Eugene Generals Eugene, OR Lane Events Center 2005–06 0
Seattle Ravens Kent, WA Kent Valley Ice Centre 2015–16 0
Tri-City Outlaws Kennewick, WA Toyota Center (Kennewick) 2012–13 0
West Sound Warriors Bremerton, WA Bremerton Ice Arena 2000–01 1

Former teams

Cascade Cup champions

Season Winner Runner-up Result
2000–01 Fairbanks Ice Dogs
2001–02 Kootenai Colts
2002–03 Eugene Thunder
2003–04 Portland Pioneers
2004–05 Queen City Cutthroats
2005–06 Queen City Cutthroats Eugene Generals 3-2 (best-of 5)
2006–07 Fort Vancouver Pioneers Helena Bighorns 3-0 (best-of 5)
2007–08 Helena Bighorns Seattle Totems 3-0 (best-of 5)
2008–09 Helena Bighorns Seattle Totems 3-1 (best-of 5)
2009–10 Helena Bighorns Seattle Totems 3-0 (best-of 5)
2010–11 Helena Bighorns[15] Seattle Totems 3-0 (best-of 5)
2011–12 Southern Oregon Spartans[16] Seattle Totems 3-0 (best-of 5)
2012–13 Bellingham Blazers[17] West Sound Warriors 3-2 (best-of 5)
2013–14 Bellingham Blazers[18] West Sound Warriors 3-2 (best-of 5)
2014–15 West Sound Warriors Bellingham Blazers 3-0 (best-of 5)
2015–16 Wenatchee Wolves Bellingham Blazers 3-0 (best-of 5)

National champions

External links

References

  1. ↑ http://www.pointstreak.com/prostats/scoreboard.html?leagueid=271
  2. ↑ "NPHL expands with three new teams". Eugene Generals. 30 May 2014.
  3. ↑ "Cedar Rapids, Dubuque Streak to the top of the USHL East". USA Hockey. 6 November 2014.
  4. ↑ http://www.juniorhockey.com/news/news_detail.php?news_id=87130
  5. ↑ "PRESS RELEASE: April 25, 2016". NPHL. April 25, 2016.
  6. ↑ "DAILY DISH: NPHL Done?". Junior Hockey News. April 25, 2016.
  7. ↑ "Bellingham’s new junior hockey team joins Northern Pacific Hockey League". The Bellingham Business Journal. 13 August 2012.
  8. 1 2 "American West Hockey League Accepted As Newest Addition To USA Hockey Juniors". NBC Montana. 4 June 2011.
  9. ↑ "Down, but Not Out: Cheney Icehawks Unable to Gather Enough Players for its Roster". NPHL. August 25, 2015.
  10. ↑ "THE DEATH POOL – SPECIAL REPORT – NPHL’S CHENEY ICEHAWKS APPEAR TO NOW BE EXTINCT". The Junior Hockey News. August 26, 2015.
  11. ↑ "Nationals to join AWHL for 2013-14 season". JuniorHockey.com. February 18, 2013. Retrieved March 6, 2013.
  12. ↑ "WSHL Totems press release" (PDF). Retrieved 14 August 2012.
  13. ↑ "Vipers hockey team ends operations". The Columbian. 15 October 2014.
  14. ↑ "WSHL Spartans press release" (PDF). Retrieved 14 August 2012.
  15. ↑ "Bighorns win NorPac Championship". Independent Record. 19 March 2011.
  16. ↑ "Sparts capture the crown". Mail Tribune. 12 March 2012.
  17. ↑ "Bellingham Blazers 2012-2013 NORPAC Cascade Cup Champions". Junior Hockey News. 18 March 2013.
  18. ↑ "Blazers with something to prove at National Championships". The Bellingham Herald. 30 March 2014.
  19. ↑ "Helena Bighorns capture hockey national championship". Independent Record. 5 April 2011.
  20. ↑ "Helena lifts trophy for the first time at Tier III Jr. A Nationals". USA Junior Hockey Magazine. April 2011.
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