Eastern Junior Hockey League
 |
|
| Sport | Ice Hockey |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1993 |
| Ceased | 2013 – Disbanded with teams joining the USPHL and EHL |
| CEO | Dan Esdale |
| No. of teams | 14 |
| Country |
 United States
|
| Last champion(s) |
New Jersey Hitmen |
| Most titles | New Hampshire Jr. Monarchs (7x) |
| Official website | easternjunior.com |
The Eastern Junior Hockey League (EJHL) was a USA Hockey-sanctioned Tier III Junior A ice hockey league. Founded in 1993 by Dan Esdale, the EJHL had fourteen teams from across the Northeastern United States. The EJHL champion then competed for the National Championship against the champions of the other Tier III leagues and a host city. The New Jersey Hitmen were the final EJHL Champions after the 2012–13 season.
The league was formed in 1993 with the NECDL Classics, the Rhode Island Sharks, the Tyngsborough Huskies, the Matt O'Neil Lightning, the Granite State Stars and the Springfield Olympics. The following year the Niagara Scenics joined the league from the North American Hockey League. The Scenics later left for the Metro Junior A Hockey League in Ontario. In the subsequent years, the league has added the Bridgewater Bandits (1996); Valley Jr. Warriors (1996); NY Apple Core (1997); Capital District (1999); Bay State Breakers (1999); Junior Bruins (1999); Green Mountain Glades (2000); NJ Hitmen (2004) and the Syracuse Stars (2005) who joined from the Ontario Provincial Junior A Hockey League. The league has quickly been gaining prestige across the United States as teams such as the Hitmen and Monarchs compete with other top junior teams.
However, during the 2012–13 season, EJHL members the Boston Junior Bruins, Islanders Hockey Club (formerly Middlesex Islanders), New Jersey Hitmen, and the South Shore Kings announced they were forming a new league called the United States Premier Hockey League. They would eventually be followed by the Bay State Breakers and the Portland Jr. Pirates from the EJHL while adding other teams to make up the Premier Division of the USPHL. The EJHL would disband when the Boston Bandits, Connecticut Oilers, New Hampshire Junior Monarchs, New York Apple Core, Philadelphia Revolution, and the Valley Jr. Warriors joined the Atlantic Junior Hockey League which would rename itself to the Eastern Hockey League.
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