Sport | Ice hockey |
---|---|
Abbreviation | UHU |
Founded | 2012 |
Affiliation | Amateur Athletic Union |
Chairman | Keith Knoll |
Chief Exec | Ron White |
Official website | |
www |
|
The United Hockey Union (UHU), founded in 2012, is a group of ice hockey leagues in North America. The UHU is overseen and insured by the Amateur Athletic Union. Neither body is recognized by USA Hockey, Hockey Canada, or the International Ice Hockey Federation.
In 2011, the AAU expressed interest in sanctioning junior ice hockey leagues. Until this time, USA Hockey was the only governing body of ice hockey in the United States and is still the only organization recognized by the International Ice Hockey Federation.
In the summer of 2011, the Western States Hockey League (WSHL) defected from USA Hockey to join the AAU. As a test case, their 2011–12 season went without a hitch. In 2012, they were joined by the Northern States Junior Hockey League (NSHL) and the Midwest Junior Hockey League (MWJHL). At this point, their partnership, under AAU supervision, was named the United Hockey Union.
The UHU finished off the 2012–13 hockey season with the first-ever UHU National Junior Hockey Championship. The UHU Championship went to the WSHL's Idaho Jr. Steelheads in its inaugural run, with the Steelheads going undefeated in a six-team tournament held in Las Vegas, Nevada in April 2013.
In May 2014, the UHU added a fourth league, the Canadian International Hockey League (CIHL). In July 2014, the Canadian Independent Junior Hockey League (CIJHL) of British Columbia applied for AAU sanctioning as well, but despite the sanctioning, the league shuttered its doors in September without playing a single game.