National Women's Hockey League (1999–2007)

National Women's Hockey League (1999–2007)

Sport	Ice hockey
Founded	1999
Ceased	2007
Countries	Canada USA

The National Women's Hockey League (NWHL) was a women's ice hockey league. The NWHL league was in service from 1999 to 2007.

History

The NWHL superseded the old Central Ontario Women's Hockey League in 1998–99. After the old COWHL dropped down to three teams in 1997–98, the new league expanded to Brampton, Ottawa and the Montreal area (Montreal, Bonaventure and Laval) in 1998–99. The league was officially renamed the National Women's Hockey League on Feb. 16, 1999 with Al Dawson as the league's first president. In the inaugural season, the Beatrice Aeros won the West Division while the Bonaventure Wingstar won the East Division. The league lasted nine years before it disbanded following the 2006–07 season. In 2007–08, players from the old NWHL joined new teams in similar markets in the newly formed Canadian Women's Hockey League.

Structure

The League consisted of two divisions: the older Eastern Division (later the Eastern and Central Divisions) consists of seven teams based in Ontario and Québec, while the Western Division was formed in 2002 with the addition of the Calgary Oval X-Treme, Edmonton Chimos, and the Vancouver Griffins. The Griffins only lasted one season, and the high travel costs for the two Alberta teams caused them to break away in 2004 and form the Western Women's Hockey League.

The two leagues agreed to merge in 2006,^[1] however this merger broke down midseason, and the WWHL remained independent.

Due to the expected merger, the NWHL was split into the Eastern and Central divisions, with the WWHL teams expected to make up the Western Division. The Eastern and Central Division teams played a 35-game unbalanced but interlocking schedule, with the four teams from the Central Division and the top two teams from the Eastern Division qualifying for the postseason. In the NWHL playoffs, teams played a best-of-three series to determine the Eastern and Central Division champions, who face off for the championship.

Teams from the Eastern and Central Divisions did not play against the Western Division teams at all in the regular season or postseason, although there were plans to have all three divisions compete in the playoffs before the league folded.

NWHL Franchises

The following is an old list of former franchises in all three divisions of the National Women's Hockey League.

Eastern Division

• Montreal Axion, Montreal, Quebec, (2003–07, Montreal Wingstar^[2] 1999–2003, Bonaventure Wingstar 1998–1999).
• Montreal Jofa Titan, Montreal, Quebec, (1998–1999).
• Ottawa Raiders,^[3] Ottawa, Ontario, (1999–2007, National Capital Raiders 1998–99, to CWHL as Ottawa Capital Canucks).
• Quebec Avalanche, Laval, Quebec, (2002–07, Metropol Le Cheyenne 2001–02, Sainte-Julie Pantheres 1999–2001).
• Laval Le Mistral,^[4] Laval, Québec, (1998–2001).

Central Division

• Brampton Thunder,^[5] Brampton, Ontario, (1998–2007, to CWHL as Brampton Canadette Thunder).
• Oakville Ice,^[6] Oakville, Ontario, (2003–07, Mississauga Ice Bears 2000–2003, Mississauga Chiefs 1998–2000).
• Etobicoke Dolphins, Toronto, Ontario, (2006–07 as IWHL affiliate, Telus Lightning 2001–06, Clearnet Lightning 1999–2001).
• Mississauga Aeros,^[7] Mississauga, Ontario, (2006–07 as IWHL affiliate, Toronto Aeros 2003–06, Beatrice Aeros 1998–2003).
• Toronto Sting 2000–2001, Scarborough Sting 1998–2000).

Western Division

• British Columbia Breakers, Langley, British Columbia.
• Vancouver Griffins (2002–2003).^[8]
• Calgary Oval X-Treme, Calgary, Alberta, (2002–04, to WWHL).
• Edmonton Chimos, Edmonton, Alberta, (2002–04, to WWHL).
• Minnesota Whitecaps, Brooklyn Center, Minnesota.
• Saskatchewan Prairie Ice, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.
• Strathmore Rockies, Strathmore, Alberta

Championship

Since 2006, the championship of the Eastern and Central Division was awarded the Clarkson Cup, while the (officially unnamed) NWHL Champions Cup was awarded prior to 2006. Though the league and the WWHL were considered merged for the 2006–07 season, the WWHL teams did not compete for the Clarkson Cup, instead playing for the WWHL Champions Cup. The Clarkson Cup is now won in a playoff between Western Women's Hockey League WWHL and CWHL teams.

A list of NWHL winners (winner is in bold):

(Brampton have the distinction of having their home arena serve as the site of all NWHL Championship Cup games ).

Scoring champions

• 2006–07 – Jayna Hefford, Brampton Thunder
• 2005–06 – Sommer West, Toronto Aeros
• 2004–05 – Jayna Hefford, Brampton Thunder
• 2003–04 – Jayna Hefford, Brampton Thunder
• 2002–03 – Jayna Hefford, Brampton Thunder
• 2001–02 – Amy Turek, Beatrice Aeros
• 2000–01 – Jayna Hefford, Brampton Thunder & Amy Turek, Beatrice Aeros
• 1999-00 – Karen Nystrom, Brampton Thunder
• 1998–99 – Stephanie Boyd, Brampton Thunder

Goal-scoring champions

• 2006–07 – Jayna Hefford, Brampton Thunder
• 2005–06 – Sommer West, Toronto Aeros
• 2004–05 – Jayna Hefford, Brampton Thunder
• 2003–04 – Jayna Hefford, Brampton Thunder
• 2002–03 – Jayna Hefford, Brampton Thunder
• 2001–02 – Amy Turek, Beatrice Aeros
• 2000–01 – Jayna Hefford, Brampton Thunder
• 1999-00 – Karen Nystrom, Brampton Thunder
• 1998–99 – Angela James, Beatrice Aeros

2015 league

In March 2015, a new league was announced, also called the National Women's Hockey League, but separate from the former, unrelated NWHL.

See also

• Canadian Women's Hockey League
• Western Women's Hockey League

References

External links

• NWHL/COWHL website for 2000–01
• NWHL website
• Gazette (daily newspaper) Sharing the hockey dream December 16, 2006.