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United States Premier Hockey League (Premier Division)
USPHL logo
Sport Ice Hockey
Founded 2012
CEO Richard Gallant
No. of teams 46
Country(ies) Flag of the United States United States
Most recent champion(s) New Jersey Hitmen
Most championship(s) New Jersey Hitmen (2)
Official website USPHL.com

The United States Premier Hockey League-Premier Division (USPHL-Premier) is an American Junior ice hockey league.

USA Hockey had classified the Premier Division as a Tier III junior hockey league. U18, U16 and U16 Development divisions are Tier I youth hockey divisions. The division was sanctioned by USA Hockey until the end of the 2016-17 season.[1] The USPHL as a whole would withdraw from USA Hockey sanctioning after the 2016-17 season.

History[]

The formation of the United States Premier Hockey League was caused by a lack of stability of the existing leagues in the northeastern section of the United States and the Tier level system of USA Hockey in general. All but one of the nine teams came from the Eastern Junior Hockey League. The one addition franchise was the Stamford, Connecticut based CT Yankees.

The nine teams that would make up the membership for the 2013-14 season was composed of the Boston Junior Bruins (Marlboro MA) (from EJHL), Islanders Hockey Club (North Andover MA) (from EJHL), Jersey Hitmen (Wayne NJ) (from EJHL), South Shore Kings (Foxboro MA) (from EJHL), Philadelphia Flyers Elite (new team from Philadelphia Flyers junior program), Bay State Breakers (Kingston MA) (from EJHL), Portland Junior Pirates (Saco ME) (from EJHL), CT Yankees (Stamford CT) (new franchise), PAL Junior Islanders (Suffolk NY) (from EJHL)

The Boston Jr. Bruins would represent the league at the 2014 USA Hockey Tier III Junior National Championship and would win the National championship while going undefeated in 5 games outscoring opponents by margin of 33 to 5. The Premier Division champion New Jersey Hitmen would not participate in the 2015 USA Hockey Tier III Junior National Championship.

The CT Yankees announced on April 1, 2014 that the organization will be renamed the Connecticut Junior Rangers as part of a new relationship with the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League.

The Premier division will add the Rochester Jr. Americans and the Springfield Jr. Pics for the 2014-15 season.

In early March 2015 the Syracuse Stars organization acquired the rights to a Premier Division team from the Bay State Breakers.

The league announced May 7, 2015 that Okanagan Hockey Stars from Austria would join the league for the 2015-16 season playing a full schedule and participating in all league events.  The team will be based out of Foxboro Sports Center in Foxboro, Massachusetts.

The USPHL announced on December 18, 2014 the formation of a Mid-West Division to begin in the 2015-16 season by adding several teams from the Minnesota Junior Hockey League.[2] By the end of the season, the Mid-West Division would add all but one active MnJHL team causing the MnJHL to disband for the following season. On March 10, 2014, the USPHL also added the entire Midwest Junior Hockey League to its new Mid-West Division for the 2015-16 season.[3] USPHL Mid-West will mark the fourth Tier III division under the USPHL umbrella.

In March of 2016 the league announced that the Rochester Jr. Americans and the Portland Junior Pirates will not be a part of the Premier League for the 2016-17 season.

The league would undergo a massive restructuring for the 2017-18 season as the USPHL announced the formation of a Tier-II league that would be called the National Collegiate Development Conference. Seven of the teams from the Premier Division would be joined by the Rochester Monarchs and three organizations that joined from the Eastern Hockey League (Boston Bandits, New Jersey Rockets, and the Northern Cyclones). The Okanagan European Eagles and the Springfield Pics would remain in the Premier Division and not jump to the NCDC

Teams[]

North Division
Team Location Arena
Boston Bandits Bridgewater, Massachusetts Bridgewater Ice Arena
Boston Jr. Bruins Marlborough, Massachusetts New England Sports Center
Islanders Hockey Club Tyngsborough, Massachusetts Skate 3
New Hampshire Jr. Monarchs Hooksett, New Hampshire Tri-Town Ice Arena
Northern Cyclones Hudson, New Hampshire Cyclones Arena
Rochester Monarchs Rochester, New York Bill Gray's Regional Iceplex
South Shore Kings Foxboro, Massachusetts Foxboro Sports Center
Springfield Pics West Springfield, Massachusetts Olympia Ice Center
Syracuse Stars Cicero, New York Cicero Twin Ice Arena
Mid-Atlantic Division
Connecticut Jr Rangers Stamford, Connecticut Chelsea Piers
Connecticut Nighthawks Simsbury, Connecticut International Skating Center of Connecticut
Delaware Lightning Harrington, Delaware Pond Ice Arena
Hartford Jr. Wolfpack Cromwell, Connecticut Champions Skating Center
Jersey Hitmen Wayne, New Jersey Capital One Bank Ice Vault Arena
Jersey Shore Whalers Brick Township, New Jersey Ocean Ice Palace
New Jersey Rockets Berkeley Heights, New Jersey Prudential Center
New York Jr. Aviators Brooklyn, New York Aviator Sports and Events Center
P.A.L. Jr. Islanders Hauppauge, New York The Rinx-Hidden Pond Park
Skipjacks Hockey Club York, Pennsylvania York City Ice Arena
Southeast Division
Atlanta Jr. Knights Marietta, Georgia Marrietta Ice Center
Carolina Eagles Wake Forest, North Carolina Polar Ice House
Charlotte Rush Indian Trail, North Carolina Extreme Ice Center
Hampton Roads Whalers Chesapeake, Virginia Chilled Ponds Ice Sports Complex
Potomac Patriots Woodbridge, Virginia Prince William Ice Center
Richmond Generals Richmond, Virginia SkateNation Plus & Richmond Ice Zone
Florida Division
Daytona Racers Daytona Beach, Florida Daytona International Skateway
Florida Eels Fort Myers, Florida Fort Myers Skatium
Florida Jr. Blades Estero, Florida Germain Arena
Palm Beach Hawks Lake Worth, Florida Palm Beach Skate Zone
Tampa Bay Juniors Ellenton, Florida Ellenton Ice
Midwest East Division
Chicago Cougars West Dundee, Illinois Leafs Ice Centre and Sears Centre
Decatur Blaze Decatur, Illinois Decatur Civic Center
Detroit Fighting Irish Brownstown Township, Michigan Ice Box Sports Center
Kalkaska Rhinos Kalkaska, Michigan The Kaliseum
Motor City Hawks Grosse Pointe Woods, Michigan Fraser Hockeyland
Tri-City Ice Hawks Bay City, Michigan Bay County Civic Arena
Midwest West Division
Dells Ducks Lake Delton, Wisconsin Poppy Waterman Ice Arena
Hudson Havoc Hudson, Wisconsin Hudson Sports & Civic Center
Ironwood Fighting Yoopers Ironwood, Michigan Pat O'Donnell Center
Minnesota Blue Ox Coon Rapids, Minnesota Coon Rapids Ice Center
Minnesota Moose Blaine, Minnesota Fogerty Arena
Minnesota Mullets Forest Lake, Minnesota Forest Lake Sports Center (Lichtscheidl Arena)
Steele County Blades Owatonna, MN Four Seasons Arena
Wisconsin Muskies Spooner, Wisconsin Spooner Civic Center
Wisconsin Rapids RiverKings Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin South Wood County Rec Center

Champions[]

Year Team
2013–14 Boston Jr. Bruins
2014–15 New Jersey Hitmen
2015–16 New Jersey Hitmen
2016-17 Islanders Hockey Club

Standings[]

References[]

External links[]

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