and is enterting its 36th season in 2011-12. It is currently the only Junior A Tier II league, sanctioned by
. The NAHL currently acts as an alternative to the
(USHL). The NAHL is the oldest and largest junior hockey league in the United States.
The league currently consists of five divisions with a total of 28 teams. The teams span the
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
From its beginning in 1975, the NAHL was primarily a 6-12 team league based in the Midwest. All that changed in 2003 when the league and the defunct America West Hockey League merged to form a 19-team league, which has since grown to an all-time high of 28 for the 2011-12 season
| Midwest Division |
| Team |
Arena |
Location |
| Chicago Hitmen The Chicago Hitmen are a Junior A Tier II ice hockey team based out of Rolling Meadows, Illinois. The Hitmen play in the North American Hockey League's Midwest Division. The team plays in the 1,000 seat West Meadows Ice Arena...
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Fox Valley Ice Arena |
Geneva, IllinoisGeneva is the county seat of Kane County, Illinois. It is located on the western fringe of the Chicago suburbs. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 26,652. Geneva is part of a tri-city area, along with St. Charles and Batavia...
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| Coulee Region Chill The Coulee Region Chill is a Junior A Tier II ice hockey team based out of Onalaska, Wisconsin . For the 2010-2011 season, the Chill debuted in the North American Hockey League's Central Division...
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Onalaska OmniCenter |
Onalaska, Wisconsin Onalaska is a city in La Crosse County, Wisconsin. The 2011 Census Bureau estimates the city had a population of 18,097. It is part of the La Crosse Metropolitan Area....
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| Janesville Jets The Janesville Jets are a Tier II Junior A ice hockey team in the North American Hockey League. Based in Janesville, Wisconsin, their home games are played at the Janesville Ice Arena.-History:...
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Janesville Ice Arena Janesville Ice Arena is an ice arena and skating center in Janesville Wisconsin. It is home to high school and youth hockey programs and now the Janesville Jets NAHL hockey team. The rink is located at 821 Beloit AveJanesville, Wisconsin...
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Janesville, WisconsinJanesville is a city in southern Wisconsin, United States. It is the county seat of Rock County and the principal municipality of the Janesville, Wisconsin Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 62,998.-History:...
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| Springfield Jr. Blues The Springfield Jr. Blues are a Tier II Junior A ice hockey team in the North American Hockey League's Mid-west Division. The team plays their home games at the Nelson Center in Springfield, Illinois. The Jr. Blues are coached by Head Coach Joe Dibble and Assistant Coach Jason...
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Nelson Center The Nelson Center is a 2,100-seat multi purpose ice arena and recreational facility located in Springfield, Illinois. The ice arena has two NHL regulation-sized ice sheets.It is also the home to the Springfield Jr...
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Springfield, IllinoisSpringfield is the third and current capital of the US state of Illinois and the county seat of Sangamon County with a population of 117,400 , making it the sixth most populated city in the state and the second most populated Illinois city outside of the Chicago Metropolitan Area...
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| St. Louis Bandits The St. Louis Bandits are a Tier II Junior A ice hockey team in the North American Hockey League's Midwest Division. The team plays their home games at the 2,200-seat Hardee's Iceplex in Chesterfield, Missouri....
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Hardee's Iceplex |
Chesterfield, Missouri Chesterfield is a second-ring western suburb of St. Louis and is the largest city in west St. Louis County, Missouri, United States. As of the 2010 census the population is 47,484. Chesterfield also celebrated its 20th birthday in 2008.- Geography :...
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| North Division |
| Team |
Arena |
Location |
| Jamestown Ironmen |
James Saving Bank Arena Jamestown Savings Bank Ice Arena is a multi-purpose arena in Jamestown, New York, USA. It hosts local sporting events and concerts. It has been the home of two short-lived minor league hockey teams: the Jamestown Titans of the North Eastern Hockey League in 2003-04 and the Jamestown Vikings of the...
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Jamestown, New York Jamestown is a city in Chautauqua County, New York in the United States. The population was 31,146 at the 2010 census.The City of Jamestown is adjacent to Town of Ellicott and is at the southern tip of Chautauqua Lake...
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| Kalamazoo Jr. K-Wings The Kalamazoo Jr. K-Wings are an American junior A ice hockey team based in Kalamazoo, Michigan. The Kalamazoo Jr. K-Wings will begin their inaugural season in 2011. The K-Wings play their home games at Wings West Arena which seats 1,500...
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Wings West |
Kalamazoo, MichiganThe area on which the modern city stands was once home to Native Americans of the Hopewell culture, who migrated into the area sometime before the first millennium. Evidence of their early residency remains in the form of a small mound in downtown's Bronson Park. The Hopewell civilization began to...
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| Michigan Warriors The Michigan Warriors are a Tier II Junior A ice hockey team based in Flint, Michigan. The Warriors play in the North American Hockey League's North Division. Previously known as the Marquette Rangers, the Warriors will play their home games at Perani Arena and Event Center.Even as a junior club,...
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Perani Arena and Event Center |
Flint, MichiganFlint is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and is located along the Flint River, northwest of Detroit. The U.S. Census Bureau reports the 2010 population to be placed at 102,434, making Flint the seventh largest city in Michigan. It is the county seat of Genesee County which lies in the...
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| Port Huron Fighting Falcons The Port Huron Fighting Falcons are a Junior A Tier II ice hockey team based out of Port Huron, Michigan began play in 2010-11. A member of the North American Hockey League's North Division, the team plays their home games in the McMorran Arena. On July 10, 2010 the team announced its name as...
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McMorran Arena |
Port Huron, MichiganPort Huron is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of St. Clair County. The population was 30,184 at the 2010 census. The city is adjacent to Port Huron Township but is administratively autonomous. It is joined by the Blue Water Bridge over the St. Clair River to Sarnia,...
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| Traverse City North Stars The Traverse City North Stars are a Tier II Junior A ice hockey team in the North American Hockey League's North Division, and play out of 1,500-seat Centre ICE Arena in Traverse City, Michigan, recently re-branded Hockeytown North via a branding relationship with the Detroit Red Wings who use the...
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Centre ICE Arena |
Traverse City, MichiganTraverse City is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the county seat of Grand Traverse County, although a small portion extends into Leelanau County. It is the largest city in the 21-county Northern Michigan region. The population was 14,674 at the 2010 census, with 143,372 in the Traverse...
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| Central Division |
| Team |
Arena |
Location |
| Aberdeen Wings The Aberdeen Wings are a Junior A Tier II ice hockey team based out of Aberdeen, South Dakota set to begin play for 2010-11. A member of the North American Hockey League in the Central Division, the Wings will play their home games in the Odde Ice Center. Their first head coach will be Pete...
|
Odde Ice Center |
Aberdeen, South DakotaAberdeen is a city in and the county seat of Brown County, South Dakota, United States, about 125 mi northeast of Pierre. Settled in 1880, it was incorporated in 1882. The city population was 26,091 at the 2010 census. The American News is the local newspaper...
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| Alexandria Blizzard The Alexandria Blizzard are a Junior A ice hockey team in the North American Hockey League's central division. For the 2005-2006 season, the team was known as the Minnesota Blizzard, one of four expansion teams that started operations that year...
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Runestone Community Center The Runestone Community Center is a multi purpose ice arena and recreational facility located in Alexandria, Minnesota. The ice arena serves as the home to the Alexandria Blizzard of the North American Hockey League The facility is also home to several local high school ice hockey teams, local...
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Alexandria, MinnesotaAs of the census of 2000, there were 8,820 people, however the most recent count suggests a population upwards of 10,000, which is displayed on Alexandria's city limits signs. The census lists 4,047 households, and 2,011 families residing in the city. The population density was 992.5 people per...
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| Austin Bruins The Austin Bruins are a Junior A Tier II ice hockey team based in Austin, Minnesota. The team began play during the 2010-11 season. A member of the North American Hockey League in the Central Division, the Bruins play their home games in the Riverside Arena. On March 1, 2010, the Bruins announced...
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Riverside Arena |
Austin, MinnesotaAs of the census of 2000, there were 23,314 people, 9,897 households, and 6,076 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,168.2 people per square mile . There were 10,261 housing units at an average density of 954.3 per square mile...
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| Bismarck Bobcats The Bismarck Bobcats are a Junior A ice hockey team in the North American Hockey League's Central Division, and play out of Bismarck, North Dakota, in the V.F.W. Sports Center. Originally a part of the America West Hockey League, the Bobcats joined the NAHL in a merger of the two leagues in 2003...
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V.F.W. Sports Center The V.F.W. Sports Center is a multi purpose ice arena and recreational facility located in Bismarck, North Dakota. The ice arena serves as the home to the Bismarck Bobcats of the North American Hockey League The facility is also home to several local high school ice hockey teams, local figure...
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Bismarck, North DakotaBismarck is the capital of the U.S. state of North Dakota and the county seat of Burleigh County. It is the second most populous city in North Dakota after Fargo. The city's population was 61,272 at the 2010 census, while its metropolitan population was 108,779...
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| Minot Minotauros The Minot Minotauros are an american junior ice hockey team set to begin play for the 2011-12 season. Based in Minot, North Dakota, the Tauros will play their home games at Maysa Arena....
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Maysa Arena Maysa Arena is a multi-purpose venue located in Minot, North Dakota. It is home to the Minot Minotauros of the North American Hockey League-External links:*...
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Minot, North Dakota Minot is a city located in north central North Dakota in the United States. It is most widely known for the Air Force base located approximately 15 miles north of the city. With a population of 40,888 at the 2010 census, Minot is the fourth largest city in the state...
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| South Division The South Division is one of five divisions in the North American Hockey League. The division currently has six teams and have had as many seven teams in the past...
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| Team |
Arena |
Location |
| Amarillo Bulls The Amarillo Bulls are a Junior A Tier II ice hockey team based out of Amarillo, Texas. A member of the North American Hockey League's South Division, the team play their home games in the Amarillo Civic Center...
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Amarillo Civic Center The Amarillo Civic Center is a multi-purpose convention center in Amarillo, Texas. Built in 1964, it consists of multiple facilities including:* A 2,848-seat auditorium with 2,324 permanent seats and used for concerts, Broadway shows and other events....
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Amarillo, Texas Amarillo is the 14th-largest city, by population, in the state of Texas, the largest in the Texas Panhandle, and the seat of Potter County. A portion of the city extends into Randall County. The population was 190,695 at the 2010 census...
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Corpus Christi IceRaysThe Corpus Christi IceRays are a Junior A ice hockey team playing in the North American Hockey League . The IceRays are based in Corpus Christi, Texas and play in the North American Hockey League's South Division. The "IceRays" moniker derives from the many different species of stingrays who...
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American Bank Center The American Bank Center is an entertainment complex located in Corpus Christi, Texas. The complex consists of an auditorium convention center and arena. The facility hosts numerous conventions, trade shows, exhibitions, live performances and sporting events. It is home to the Corpus Christi...
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Corpus Christi, TexasCorpus Christi is a coastal city in the South Texas region of the U.S. state of Texas. The county seat of Nueces County, it also extends into Aransas, Kleberg, and San Patricio counties. The MSA population in 2008 was 416,376. The population was 305,215 at the 2010 census making it the...
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| New Mexico Mustangs The New Mexico Mustangs are a Junior A Tier II ice hockey team based out of Rio Rancho, New Mexico set to begin play for 2010-11. A member of the North American Hockey League and play in the South Division, the Mustangs will play their home games in the Santa Ana Star Center...
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Santa Ana Star CenterSanta Ana Star Center is an 7,000-seat multi-purpose arena in Rio Rancho, New Mexico, a suburb of Albuquerque. The arena is located near the intersection of Unser Boulevard and Paseo del Volcan...
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Rio Rancho, New Mexico There were 18,995 households out of which 40.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.4% were married couples living together, 10.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.7% were non-families. 20.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.9% had...
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| Odessa Jackalopes The Odessa Jackalopes were a minor professional ice hockey team based in Odessa, Texas. The team played in the Central Hockey League , and was an affiliate of the New York Islanders...
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Ector County Coliseum The Ector County Coliseum is a 5,131 seat multi-purpose arena in Odessa, Texas.It is home to the Odessa Roughnecks , the Odessa Jackalopes , the Sand Hills Rodeo, and the biennial Permian Basin International Oil Show.The Coliseum was built in 1954 and was previously the home of the original...
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Odessa, TexasOdessa is a city in and the county seat of Ector County, Texas, United States. It is located primarily in Ector County, although a small portion of the city extends into Midland County. Odessa's population was 99,940 at the 2010 census. It is the principal city of the Odessa, Texas Metropolitan...
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| Texas Tornado The Texas Tornado are a Junior A hockey team located in Frisco, Texas, USA. The team joined the North American Hockey League's Central division in 1999 while located in North Richland Hills, Texas, and have enjoyed unprecedented success since their expansion year...
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Dr Pepper Arena |
Frisco, TexasFrisco is an affluent city in Collin and Denton Counties in the U.S. state of Texas and a rapidly growing suburb of Dallas. As of the 2010 Census, 116,989 people were living in Frisco up from 33,714 in the previous census. Frisco was the fastest growing city in the United States in 2009, and also...
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| Topeka RoadRunners The Topeka RoadRunners is a Tier II Junior A ice hockey team in the North American Hockey League's Southern Division. The team's home arena is the 7,777-seat Landon Arena in Topeka, Kansas.-Lone Star Cavalry:...
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Landon ArenaLandon Arena, better known as the Kansas Expocentre, is a 10,000-seat multi-purpose arena built in 1987 in Topeka, Kansas. It is currently home to the Kansas Koyotes indoor football team and the Topeka Roadrunners ice hockey team. Previously, Topeka Sizzlers of the Continental Basketball...
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Topeka, KansasTopeka |Kansa]]: Tó Pee Kuh) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Shawnee County. It is situated along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, located in northeast Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was...
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| Wichita Falls Wildcats The Wichita Falls Wildcats are a Tier II Junior A ice hockey team in the North American Hockey League's South Division. The Wildcats play out of the 6,500-seat Kay Yeager Coliseum in Wichita Falls, Texas. Current coaches of the team are Paul Baxter, Brian Huebel, and Sean Fish.The team's games...
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Kay Yeager Coliseum The Kay Yeager Coliseum is a 6,500-seat multi-purpose arena in Wichita Falls, Texas. It was built in 2003.It is home to the Wichita Falls Wildcats ice hockey team.-External links:*...
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Wichita Falls, TexasWichita Falls is a city in and the county seat of Wichita County, Texas, United States, United States. Wichita Falls is the principal city of the Wichita Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Archer, Clay and Wichita counties. According to the U.S. Census estimate of 2010,...
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| West Division The West Division is one of four divisions in the North American Hockey League. The division currently has six teams and was formed in 2008 when the Wenatchee Wild became the fourth team required for a division. Prior to the 2010 expansion, only four teams operated in the West...
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| Team |
Arena |
Location |
| Alaska Avalanche The Alaska Avalanche are a Tier II Junior A ice hockey team in the North American Hockey League's West Division. The team plays their home games at the Palmer Ice Arena in Palmer, Alaska.-Franchise history:...
|
Palmer Ice Arena |
Palmer, AlaskaPalmer is the borough seat of the Matanuska-Susitna Borough in the state of Alaska, USA. It is part of the Anchorage Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2010 census, the population of the city is 5,937....
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| Dawson Creek Rage The Dawson Creek Rage is a Tier II Junior A ice hockey team based out of Dawson Creek, British Columbia. The team plays in the 4,500 seat EnCana Events Centre...
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EnCana Events Centre The EnCana Events Centre is a multipurpose arena located in Dawson Creek, British Columbia. The facility has 4,500 permanent seats and can seat up to 6,500 for non-ice hockey events.-External links:*...
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Dawson Creek, BCDawson Creek is a small city in northeastern British Columbia, Canada. The municipality of had a population of 11,529 in 2009. Dawson Creek derives its name from the creek of the same name that runs through the community. The creek was named after George Mercer Dawson by a member of his land...
, CanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
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| Fairbanks Ice Dogs The Fairbanks Ice Dogs is a Tier II Junior A ice hockey team in the North American Hockey League's West Division. The Ice Dogs play home games at the 2,200-seat Big Dipper Ice Arena in Fairbanks, Alaska...
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Big Dipper Ice Arena The Big Dipper Ice Arena, colloquially known as "The Big Dipper", is a multi-purpose arena in Fairbanks, Alaska. The arena is owned and operated by the Fairbanks North Star Borough. Originally constructed as an airplane hangar for the Lend-Lease program in Tanacross, southeast of Fairbanks, the...
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Fairbanks, AlaskaFairbanks is a home rule city in and the borough seat of the Fairbanks North Star Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska.Fairbanks is the largest city in the Interior region of Alaska, and second largest in the state behind Anchorage...
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| Fresno Monsters The Fresno Monsters are a Junior A Tier II ice hockey team based out of Fresno, California. The team is currently a member of the North American Hockey League and play in the West Division. as well as continuing to field a WSHL team...
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Selland Arena The Selland Arena is a multi-purpose arena built in 1966 that makes up part of a five-venue complex of the Fresno Convention and Entertainment Center in Fresno, California. It is named after former Fresno mayor Arthur L. Selland and has had over ten million people walk through its doors in its over...
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Fresno, CaliforniaFresno is a city in central California, United States, the county seat of Fresno County. As of the 2010 census, the city's population was 510,365, making it the fifth largest city in California, the largest inland city in California, and the 34th largest in the nation...
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| Kenai River Brown Bears The Kenai River Brown Bears is a Tier II Junior A ice hockey team in the North American Hockey League's West Division based in Soldotna, Alaska...
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Soldotna Sports Center The City of Soldotna Sports Center is a 2,000-seat multipurpose arena located in Soldotna, Alaska. The arena opened in 1983. It is the current home of the Kenai River Brown Bears of the North American Hockey League...
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Soldotna, Alaska As of the census of 2000, there were 3,759 people, 1,465 households, and 969 families residing in the city. As of 2008, the population was close to 4,200. The population density was 541.9 people per square mile . There were 1,670 housing units at an average density of 240.7 per square mile...
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| Wenatchee Wild The Wenatchee Wild is a Tier II Junior A ice hockey team in the North American Hockey League's West Division based in Wenatchee, Washington. The team joined the NAHL as an expansion team for the 2008-09 season, the team plays its home games at the 4,300-seat Town Toyota Center...
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Town Toyota Center |
Wenatchee, WashingtonWenatchee is located in North Central Washington and is the largest city and county seat of Chelan County, Washington, United States. The population within the city limits in 2010 was 31,925...
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.
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
. Marquette Rangers were added to the league.
. The
. The
2008-2009 season: The Southern Minnesota Express moved to Detroit and changed their name to the Motor City Machine. However, the Express' home city of Owatonna was granted another NAHL team for 2008-09, named the
. The Express are joined by another new Minnesota NAHL franschise, the Albert Lea Thunder. The Texas Tornado franchise will go dark for a year as they await renovations on their arena.
has been awarded an expansion franchise for the 2008-09 season. The
are approved for dormancy. .
are awarded an expansion franchise. The
leave the league for the USHL. The USNTDP also leave the league. The
return to the league after taking a year off while their home arena was undergoing renovations. The Motor City franchise's new ownership changes the team's nickname from Machine to Metal Jackets.
2010-2011 season: The NAHL Board of Governors accepted membership of several new teams to play this season in the league. The Fresno Monsters are awarded an expansion franchise. The Monsters played in the Tier III A Western States Hockey League before getting switched over to the North American Hockey League for the 2010-2011 season. They will play at the Selland Arena in Fresno, California. The Corpus Christi IceRays are awarded an expansion franchise. The IceRays were known as the Alpena IceDiggers and Toledo in the North America Hockey League [the same league, no new league change, just name change]. They will play in the South Division at the American Bank Center in Corpus Christi, Texas. The Chicago Hitmen joined the North Division and will play starting this season at West Meadows Ice Arena in Rolling Meadows, Illinois. The Marquette Rangers moved to Flint, Michigan and changed their name to Michigan Warriors. The Michigan Warriors will play in the North Division at the Perani Arena and Event Center. Port Huron joined the North Division and will play starting this season at McMorran Place in Port Huron, Michigan. The Coulee Region Chill joined the Central Division and will play at Onalaska OmniCenter in Onalaska, Wisconsin. The Aberdeen Wings joined the Central Division and will play at the Odde Ice Center in Aberdeen, South Dakota. The Austin Bruins joined the Central Division and will play at the Riverside Arena in Austin, Minnesota. The Dawson Creek Rage joined the West Division and will play at EnCana Events Centre in Dawson Creek, British Columbia. The Amarillo Bulls joined the South Division and will play at Amarillo Civic Center in Amarillo, Texas. The New Mexico Mustangs joined the South Division and will play at Santa Ana Star Center in Rio Rancho, New Mexico.