North American Hockey League
 |
|
| Sport | Ice hockey |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1975 |
| CEO | Mark Frankenfeld |
| No. of teams | 24 |
| Country |
 United States
|
| Most recent champion(s) |
Fairbanks Ice Dogs (3rd title) |
| Most titles | Compuware Ambassadors (11) |
| Official website | www |
The North American Hockey League (NAHL) is one of the top junior hockey leagues in the United States and is in its 41st season of operation in 2016–17. It is the only Tier II junior league sanctioned by USA Hockey, and acts as an alternative to the Tier I United States Hockey League (USHL). The NAHL is the oldest junior hockey league in the United States, and is headquartered in Frisco, Texas (they are co-located in the same facility as the National Hockey League's Dallas Stars).
The league consists of four divisions with a total of 24 teams. The teams span the United States from Massachusetts in the East to Alaska in the Northwest and to Texas in the South. The teams play a 60-game regular season, starting in mid-September and ending in early April. The top teams of the NAHL playoffs meet in a predetermined location to play in the Robertson Cup Championship Tournament.
From its beginning in 1975, the NAHL was primarily a 6–12-team league based in the Midwest, known as the Great Lakes Junior Hockey League and changed the name to the North American Hockey League in 1984. The league's all-time leading scorer is Mike York who tallied 371 points in two seasons. Other notable alumni from the NAJHL include Pat Lafontaine, Mike Modano, Doug Weight, Pat Peake, Brian Rolston, Brian Holzinger, Brian Rafalski, Todd Marchant and John Scott. In 2003, the league merged with the defunct America West Hockey League to form a 19-team league. The NAHL has 24 teams as of the 2016–17 season.
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Wikipedia