North American 3 Eastern Hockey League



The North American 3 Eastern Hockey League (NA3EHL) was founded for the 2012-13 season as the Northern States Junior Hockey League, the league also referred to itself as the Northern States Hockey League. The league was founded out of the Super Elite division of the International Junior Hockey League, which played from 2006 to 2012 and was previously known as the Interstate Junior Hockey League, which played from 1999 to 2006 before being renamed. The league was founded as a member of the Amateur Athletic Union and its United Hockey Union program. Several of the league's teams had previously played in other leagues while some were entirely new franchises. The league came under the control of the North American Hockey League prior to the 2014-15 season very shortly after withdrawing from the AAU/UHU.

On March 4, 2016 the league announced it was being absorbed into the North American 3 Hockey League and would form 2 of the league's divisions for the 2016-17 season.

League History
The initial seven teams in the league were the Cape Cod Islanders (based in  Hyannis, Massachusetts );  the Eastern Kodiaks (based in Exeter, New Hampshire); the Junior Mariners (based in Salem, New Hampshire ); the New England Stars (based in Tyngsborough, MA );  the Syracuse Stampede (based in Mexico, NY ); and  the Trenton Habs. All of these teams joined from the International Junior Hockey League. The Lake George Fighting Spirit (based in Lake George, New York) joined the league as a new organization.

For the 2013-14 season the league added the Hallowell based Maine Moose; the Biddeford based Maine Wild and the Wilkes-Barre Miners were added to the league. While the Lake George Fighting Spirit moved to Waterville Valley, NH and became commercially known as the American Hockey Institute Fighting Spirit (Waterville Valley Fighting Spirit for non-commerical references on this wiki) when there previous home arena decided they would not lay down ice for the 2013-14 season. The Trenton Habs were renamed the Jersey Shore Wildcats when they moved their operations to Wall, New Jersey on May 2, 2013. The New England Stars moved operations to Hudson, NH but did not change their name. The Eastern Kodiaks moved operations to Jamestown, NY and dropped from the league. The league had also planned to add the Williston based Vermont Coyotes for the 2013-14 season but the team never came to be as their website was last updated March 13, 2013

The league has annouced that it will add three New York state based teams Roc City Royals, the Morrisville based Central New York Stallions (listed as CNY on the league websites team directory), and the Lockport Express for the 2014-15 season. They also announced that the Maine Moose franchise was sold and will be renamed the Maine Timberwolves along with a possible relocation  to China Village, Maine (located between Augusta and Bangor) as indicated with a new mailing address on the league website. In mid-March 2014 the Fighting Spirit announced a move to Laconia, New Hampshire for the 2014-15 season. (They had played at least two playoff games in Laconia during the 2013-14 season. The Central New York Stallions team appears not to have come to fruition as the CNY organization's (which runs teams at lower levels) and the league's website no longer mention the team.  The Timberwolves announced that the would play in the Androscoggin Bank Colisée in Lewiston. However, the sale of the Timerwolves fell through and the franchise folded prior to the season starting.  The Junior Mariners were renamed the East Coast Minutemen as the league was renamed.

As a member of the AAU and the UHU the league sent its regular season and Playoff champions (NSHL Cup) to the AAU/United Hockey Union National Championship. The league sent the Syracuse Stampede (eliminated in semifinals) to the 2013 Championship as the Lake George Fighting Spirit (eliminated in round robin) won both the regular season and playoffs. The league sent the Jersey Shore Wildcats (eliminated in round robin) and the Waterville Valley Fighting Spirit (eliminated in the semifinals) to the 2014 Championship

Withdrawal from AAU and the future
A posting on the http://thejuniorhockeynews.com website dated September 10, 2014 stated that the league left the AAU. Another article  that also stated that league commmisioner, Wayne Sheehan that discussions had taken place with the North American Hockey League about taking operational control of the league and possibly making the league part of the North American 3 Hockey League and giving the NAHL a presence in the northeastern part of the United States for the first time. The league operated independently of either the AAU or USA Hockey for the balance of the 2014-15 season. The  NAHL stated that they will apply to have the league sanctioned by USA Hockey for the 2015-16 season. The league is following USA Hockeys guidelines with the exception of the import rule for the 2014-15 season. The league was approved by USA Hockey on May 7, 2015.

For the 2015-16 season the league has so far announced the addition of a franchise in Stockholm, New Jersey to be known as the Skylands Kings. The New Hampshire Fighting Spirit announced a relocation from Laconia, New Hampshire to Lewiston, Maine where they will be known as the L/A Fighting Spirit. On April 9, 2015 the league announced the addition of the Northeast Generals to be based out of Canton, Massachusetts. The league had added to New York Aviators from the USPHL. The league was granted "USA Hockey Tier III Indpendent" status for 2015-16 on May 8, 2015 and are presently planning on playing with 13 teams for 2015-16.

Former Teams

 * AHI (Waterville Valley) Fighting Spirit (relocated to Laconia, New Hampshire following 2013–14 season)
 * CNY Stallions (announced for 2014–15 but did not participate)
 * Eastern Kodiaks (folded following 2012–13 season)
 * Junior Mariners (renamed to East Coast Minutemen during the 2014–15 season)
 * Lake George Fighting Spirit (relocated to Waterville Valley, New Hampshire following 2012–13 season)
 * Maine Moose (sold and renamed to Maine Timberwolves following 2013–14 season)
 * Maine Timberwolves (folded prior to the 2014–15 season without ever playing a game)
 * New Hampshire Fighting Spirit (relocated to Lewiston-Auburn, Maine following 2014–15 season)
 * Trenton Habs (renamed to Jersey Shore Wildcats following 2012–13 season)

NSHL Cup Champions

 * 2012-13 Lake George Fighting Spirit
 * 2013-14 Jersey Shore Wildcats
 * 2014-15 Jersey Shore Wildcats
 * 2015-16 Jersey Shore Wildcats

NSHL Regular Season Champions

 * 2012-13 Lake George Fighting Spirit
 * 2013-14 Waterville Valley Fighting Spirit
 * 2014-15 Jersey Shore Wildcats
 * 2015-16 Jersey Shore Wildcats

League Seasons

 * 2012-13 NSHL Season
 * 2013-14 NSHL Season
 * 2014-15 NA3EHL Season
 * 2015-16 NA3EHL Season