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2024-25 Junior Hockey Expansion, Relocation, and Retraction

Barclay Donaldson

Barclay Donaldson

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Feb 4, 2018
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NAHL
Addition:
Watertown Shamrocks - Watertown, ND - NAHL Team in Watertown, SD Approved for the 2024-25 Season
Minnesota Mallards - Forest Lake, MN - NAHL Team in Forest Lake, MN Approved for the 2024-25 Season

NA3HL
Relocation:
Minnesota Loons -> Minnesota Wilderness - Eveleth, MN - NA3HL Approve Minnesota Wilderness
Addition:
Tulsa Jr. Oilers - Tulsa, OK - NA3HL announces new team in Tulsa, Oklahoma
Maine Nordiques - Lewiston, ME - NA3HL Announces New Team in Lewiston Maine

USPHL-NCDC
Sale/Relocation:
Boston Jr Bruins - West Chester Wolves - West Chester, PA - West Chester Wolves To Join NCDC In 2024-25 Boston Junior Bruins Transfer NCDC Franchise To West Chester Wolves
Provo Predators - Casper NCDC - Casper, WY - USPHL Announces Sale Of NCDC Provo Predators; Relocating To Casper, Wyoming

USPHL-Premier
Addition:
Somang Laurentides-Lanaudiere - Terrbone, QC
Hawkesbury Knights - Hawkesbury, ON
Kingston Wranglers - Kingston, ON
Montreal BlackVees - Montreal, QC
College Universel Sherbrooke - Sherbrooke, QC
College Universel Gatineau - Sherbrooke, QC
www.usphlpremier.com

USPHL Premier Expands To Canada With New Division In Ontario And Quebec

www.usphlpremier.com www.usphlpremier.com
Ventura Vikings - Ventura, CA - Ventura Vikings to Join USPHL Premier’s Pacific Division For 2024-25
Red Bank Generals - Red Bank, NJ - USPHL Premier Welcomes Red Bank Generals In 2024-25 Season
West Chester Wolves- West Chester, PA
Mercer Chiefs - Hamilton County, NJ
Bremerton Sockeyes - Bremerton, WA
Colorado Fighting Elk - Craig, CO
Rebrand:
Long Beach Shredders change to Long Beach Bombers - New Long Beach Ownership Brings Back Historic Bombers Nickname
Relocation:
Buffalo Stampede -> Fresh Coast Freeze - Holland, MI
Las Vegas Thunderbirds -> Henderson Force - Henderson, NV
Casper Roughnecks -> Iron County Yeti - Enoch, UT
Click to read more...
 
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Nanabijou

Nanabijou

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Dec 22, 2009
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Doesn’t it seem strange that there has been no info on the Watertown team since it was confirmed they were joining NAHL next year?

No coach, no official website, no players signed, etc. It doesn’t seem like they are in any rush. The expansion teams last year were well on their way by this point last year.
 
Barclay Donaldson

Barclay Donaldson

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Feb 4, 2018
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Nanabijou said:
Doesn’t it seem strange that there has been no info on the Watertown team since it was confirmed they were joining NAHL next year?

No coach, no official website, no players signed, etc. It doesn’t seem like they are in any rush. The expansion teams last year were well on their way by this point last year.
Click to expand...

Not particularly strange.

The team was only confirmed a few weeks ago and unlike most other teams they probably weren't doing anything until they had confirmation considering the few false starts they had. Interviewing coaches takes a lot longer than a few weeks.

Team websites are mostly run by the league last time I checked so they're probably waiting until the end of the season like they've done in the past.

No players signed isn't strange. They haven't had any camps, the draft is months away, tenders aren't going to sign right now.
 
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JMCx4

JMCx4

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Sep 3, 2017
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Nanabijou said:
Doesn’t it seem strange that there has been no info on the Watertown team since it was confirmed they were joining NAHL next year?

No coach, no official website, no players signed, etc. It doesn’t seem like they are in any rush. The expansion teams last year were well on their way by this point last year.
Click to expand...
They do have a Facebook page, for the price of turning your personal info over to yet another unregulated entity ... https://m.facebook.com/watertownshamrocks
 
JMCx4

JMCx4

Censorship is the Sincerest Form of Flattery
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Barclay Donaldson said:
Leading members of the Boston Mafia are divesting themselves of their NCDC team. ...
Click to expand...
They all look like right proper hockey fans to me ...

Boston Bosses.jpg
 
sigx15

sigx15

Registered User
Jan 31, 2010
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Barclay Donaldson said:
Leading members of the Boston Mafia are divesting themselves of their NCDC team. The NCDC team will be sold to the West Chester Wolves. They will continue to field Premier, Elite, and midget teams

source: Boston Junior Bruins Transfer NCDC Franchise To West Chester Wolves
Click to expand...
Pretty wild to see how far that organization has fallen. They've produced a ton of elite talent to both the NHL and NCAA levels. Wonder if they're going to refocus on the midget level now or if they try to go the NAHL route
 
Barclay Donaldson

Barclay Donaldson

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sigx15 said:
Pretty wild to see how far that organization has fallen. They've produced a ton of elite talent to both the NHL and NCAA levels. Wonder if they're going to refocus on the midget level now or if they try to go the NAHL route
Click to expand...

I highly doubt they go the NAHL route. It doesn't make any sense considering the people at play.

My bet is that Junior Bruins owner Peter Masters is divesting himself of the USPHL experiment and starting to step away.

I think he hasn't been making as much money as he thought he would when they stepped away from the old EJHL in 2013. A core requirement of the NCDC team not being a complete money pit is owning your own facility, with the other being you run the other teams in the organization at a profit using that NCDC team as the mostly unattainable carrot on a stick. He doesn't own the New England Sports Center, their home since their inception which is owned by Providence Bruins owner Larue Renfroe.

The Masters brothers ran the midget teams and a lot of the youth teams, and left Mike Anderson to run the top junior team since before the existence of the NCDC back when it was USPHL Premier.

They certainly weren't making much money not owning their own rink, it was a team they aren't involved with outside of owning since they manage and coach their own teams in the organization at the midget level. Also mentioned in the article is Peter Masters is stepping away from the board of the league and his replacement is one of the heads of Black Bear Sports, who are heavily involved in purchasing rinks and are backers of the Mercer Chiefs.

Masters certainly doesn't want a NAHL team or he would've gone down that route at some point over the last 15 years. Larue Renfroe doesn't own any high level teams, he's busy enough as it is and a NAHL team there would definitely lose money. Unless there is some other major player stepping in there out of the darkness, it will simply be a void.
 
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sigx15

sigx15

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Jan 31, 2010
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Barclay Donaldson said:
I highly doubt they go the NAHL route. It doesn't make any sense considering the people at play.

My bet is that Junior Bruins owner Peter Masters is divesting himself of the USPHL experiment and starting to step away.

I think he hasn't been making as much money as he thought he would when they stepped away from the old EJHL in 2013. A core requirement of the NCDC team not being a complete money pit is owning your own facility, with the other being you run the other teams in the organization at a profit using that NCDC team as the mostly unattainable carrot on a stick. He doesn't own the New England Sports Center, their home since their inception which is owned by Providence Bruins owner Larue Renfroe.

The Masters brothers ran the midget teams and a lot of the youth teams, and left Mike Anderson to run the top junior team since before the existence of the NCDC back when it was USPHL Premier.

They certainly weren't making much money not owning their own rink, it was a team they aren't involved with outside of owning since they manage and coach their own teams in the organization at the midget level. Also mentioned in the article is Peter Masters is stepping away from the board of the league and his replacement is one of the heads of Black Bear Sports, who are heavily involved in purchasing rinks and are backers of the Mercer Chiefs.

Masters certainly doesn't want a NAHL team or he would've gone down that route at some point over the last 15 years. Larue Renfroe doesn't own any high level teams, he's busy enough as it is and a NAHL team there would definitely lose money. Unless there is some other major player stepping in there out of the darkness, it will simply be a void.
Click to expand...
Ya what you're saying makes sense. That level of hockey is all about owning the rink and the team unless you're at a huge scale. Doesn't Renfroe own the Minutemen Flames too?
 
Barclay Donaldson

Barclay Donaldson

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sigx15 said:
Ya what you're saying makes sense. That level of hockey is all about owning the rink and the team unless you're at a huge scale. Doesn't Renfroe own the Minutemen Flames too?
Click to expand...

Peter Masters also supposedly will still be around for the fall with the U16/U18 THF teams along with the usual BJB characters. I don't see him being the one to go down either of the NAHL East route options where 1. you have NAPHL full season U14, U15, U16, U18 academy teams with dormitories on site or 2. garnering enough ticket sales to offset the budget of a NAHL team.

Option 1 would have happened already when South Kent, Mt. Saint Charles, Seacoast, and all those other teams were looking for anyone up and down the East Coast who was trying to go down the midget academy route, and Option 2 is just pure folly with there being more college scouts than parents and fans at all Eastern Division despite attempts to gain the fan support seen by many of the Western Division NCDC teams.

Larue Renfroe does own the Minuteman Flames
 
sigx15

sigx15

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Jan 31, 2010
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Barclay Donaldson said:
Peter Masters also supposedly will still be around for the fall with the U16/U18 THF teams along with the usual BJB characters. I don't see him being the one to go down either of the NAHL East route options where 1. you have NAPHL full season U14, U15, U16, U18 academy teams with dormitories on site or 2. garnering enough ticket sales to offset the budget of a NAHL team.

Option 1 would have happened already when South Kent, Mt. Saint Charles, Seacoast, and all those other teams were looking for anyone up and down the East Coast who was trying to go down the midget academy route, and Option 2 is just pure folly with there being more college scouts than parents and fans at all Eastern Division despite attempts to gain the fan support seen by many of the Western Division NCDC teams.

Larue Renfroe does own the Minuteman Flames
Click to expand...
Ya the only other option I could see happening would them merging with an already existing hockey academy like BHA or AHA
 

PipeDream

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Jun 3, 2021
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Did I dream this up or did I see something in the past week or two about the El Paso NAHL team (Rhinos) relocating to Utah for next year?
 
Barclay Donaldson

Barclay Donaldson

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Feb 4, 2018
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PipeDream said:
Did I dream this up or did I see something in the past week or two about the El Paso NAHL team (Rhinos) relocating to Utah for next year?
Click to expand...

I think you're confusing the El Paso Rhinos NAHL team with the Arizona Coyotes NHL team.

The future of hockey in El Paso is under threat with the land and their arena possibly being bought by the federal government and demolished, but that is undecided and is many years away (source: Expansion plan could lead to demolition of El Paso Rhinos' home - KVIA)
 
FrozenPonds

FrozenPonds

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Feb 12, 2023
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You have to wonder if they will explore going back to the EHL?? I was told that there were a couple of NCDC teams that were going to jump ship and go back to the EHL. Selling to a West Chester group would allow for that to happen and free up the cash to do it!
 
Bonk

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mk80

mk80

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Jul 30, 2012
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Looks like the NAHL is going back to the Twin Cities.
www.therinklive.com

Expansion returns NAHL to Twin Cities metro area via Minnesota Mallards

The Mallards will be the NAHL's fourth team in Minnesota and the first in greater Minneapolis/St. Paul since the Minnesota Magicians relocated to Wisconsin in 2022.
www.therinklive.com www.therinklive.com

I had been thinking with the addition of Colorado last year we’d finally start to see that rumored manifest destiny from them.
 
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