North American Hockey League

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North American Hockey League
North American Hockey League
Sport Ice Hockey
Founded 1975
Commissioner Mark Frankenfeld
No. of teams 19
Country(ies) Flag of the United States United States
Most recent
champion(s)		 St. Louis Bandits
Official website www.nahl.com

The North American Hockey League (NAHL) and the defunct America West Hockey League merged in 2003 to form a 21-team Junior A Tier II league, sanctioned by USA Hockey. The NAHL currently acts as an alternative to the United States Hockey League (USHL).

The league currently consists of three divisions with a total of 18 teams. The teams span the United States from Ohio in the east to Alaska in the West. It also spans from Alaska in the north to Texas in the south. The teams play a 58-game regular season, starting in mid-September and ending in early April. The winner of each division will join the host team of the Robertson Cup Tournament, a four team round-robin event.

Contents

[edit] 2008-09 teams

[edit] North Division

[edit] South Division

[edit] Central Division

[edit] Inactive

[edit] League changes

In the 2006–2007 season, Bozeman Icedogs, Billings Bulls, and Helena left the league for the Northern Pacific Hockey League. Cleveland Jr. Barons were granted inactive status for the season. Wasilla Spirit changed name to Alaska Avalanche. Minnesota Blizzard changed name to Alexandria Blizzard. Texarkana Bandits moved to Chesterfield, Missouri and changed name to St. Louis Bandits. Marquette Rangers were added to the league.

2007–2008 season: The Santa Fe Roadrunners moved to Topeka, Kansas. The Topeka Roadrunners now play at Landon Arena. The Kenai River Brown Bears started playing in the league.

2008-2009 season: The Southern Minnesota Express moved to Detroit and changed their name to the Motor City Machine.[1] However, the Express' home city of Owatonna will get another NAHL team for 2008-09, which will become the Owatonna Express. [2], joined by another new NAHL franschise, the Albert Lea Thunder (Minnesota). [3] The Texas Tornado franchise will go dark for a year as they await renovations on their arena. Wenatchee, Washington has been awarded an expansion franchise for the 2008-09 season. [4] The Fargo-Moorhead Jets are approved for dormancy. .[5]

[edit] Robertson Cup winners

[edit] References

  1. ^ NAHL.com, Machine Motors into Michigan, 2nd May 2008
  2. ^ NAHL.com, Owatonna membership approved for 2008-09, 19th May 2008
  3. ^ Startribune.com, Albert Lea awarded NAHL franchise, 1st May 2008
  4. ^ Wenatchee World, Finally we have a hockey team, 14th May 2008
  5. ^ NAHL.com, Fargo-Moorhead ceases operations, 19th May 2008

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[edit] External links

the bandits our the best team ever better then the new teams and olad bandits rule rule best in the world

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