Junior Women's Hockey League
Sportice hockey
Founded2007
CountryUnited States
Canada

The Junior Women's Hockey League is an ice hockey league established in 2007 by Bill Driscoll and Kush Sidhu, coaches of North American Hockey Academy and the Washington Pride, respectively, in order to provide opportunities for young females to develop into collegiate student-athletes. U19, U16 and U14 divisions are sanctioned by the JWHL.

History

A successful league since its first season, the JWHL has seen hundreds of players sign with NCAA Division I or Division III schools since 2007. Over 20 JWHL players have skated for the U.S., Canadian, Czech, and Japanese Under-18 National teams. The JWHL was developed to bring together teams that regularly produce NCAA calibre players. The league started with four teams, expanding to 12 teams in 2012-13.[1] Ten teams will compete in the 2017-18 season.

Season competition

Currently, each team plays all the other teams three times during the regular season (27 games in the 2017-18 season). All teams also compete in the JWHL Challenge Cup (see below). Following the regular season, a playoff is held to determine the JWHL Champion.

Games are played with three 20-minute stop-time periods with ice typically being resurfaced between periods. Most games in the US are played on college campuses. Games are played by USA Hockey or Hockey Canada rules depending on the location of the venue.

JWHL Challenge Cup

The JWHL's premier event takes place in mid-February with the hosting of the JWHL Challenge Cup. The Challenge Cup brings together all of the JWHL teams as well as invited teams from across the US and Canada.[2] The Challenge Cup has been hosted by the Washington Pride in the Washington, D.C. area, who are supported by the NHL's Washington Capitals.

Teams

Major Junior Division Location
Balmoral Hall School Winnipeg, Manitoba
Boston Shamrocks Boston, Massachusetts
Chicago Young Americans Chicago, Illinois
Little Caesars Hockey Club Detroit, Michigan
New England Hockey Club Marlborough, Massachusetts
North American Hockey Academy Stowe, Vermont
Ottawa Lady 67s Ottawa, Ontario
Pacific Steelers Vancouver, British Columbia
Ridley College St. Catharines, Ontario
Washington Pride Washington, D.C.
U16 Division Location
Boston Shamrocks Boston, Massachusetts
Chicago Young Americans Chicago, Illinois
Little Caesars Hockey Club Detroit, Michigan
Newbridge Academy Sackville, Nova Scotia
North American Hockey Academy Stowe, Vermont
Washington Pride Washington, D.C.

Champions

Season U19 Champion U19 Runner-up Result Location
2008 North American Hockey Academy Pacific Steelers South Surrey Arena, Surrey, British Columbia
2009 North American Hockey Academy Balmoral Hall School Ralph Englestad Arena, Grand Forks, North Dakota
2010 Warner Hockey School[3] Kettler Capitals Iceplex, Arlington, Virginia
2011 North American Hockey Academy Edge School Kohl Center, Madison, Wisconsin
2012 North American Hockey Academy Edge School Edge Ice Arena, Littleton, Colorado
2013 North American Hockey Academy Edge School Ralph Englestad Arena, Grand Forks, North Dakota
2014 North American Hockey Academy Okanagan Hockey Academy 6-0[4] University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC
2015 Warner Hockey School North American Hockey Academy The HarborCenter, Buffalo, New York
2016 Washington Pride Edge School The HarborCenter, Buffalo, New York
2017 North American Hockey Academy Pacific Steelers 1-0 (shootout)[5] The HarborCenter, Buffalo, New York
2018 North American Hockey Academy Pacific Steelers Little Caesars Arena, Detroit, Michigan
2019 Balmoral Hall School North American Hockey Academy Cairns Arena, Burlington, Vermont
2020 North American Hockey Academy Ottawa Lady 67's Ridley College - St. Catharines, Ontario

Elizabeth 'Liz' Turgeon Memorial Player of the Year Award

  • 2010–11: Haley Skarupa, (Washington Pride)[6]
  • 2011–12: Haley Skarupa (Washington Pride)
  • 2012–13: Annie Pankowski (North American Hockey Academy)
  • 2013–14: Jaycee Gebhard (Athol Murray College Notre Dame)
  • 2014–15: Shae Labbe (Warner Hockey School)
  • 2015–16: Carlee Turner (North American Hockey Academy)
  • 2016–17: Veronika Pettey (Washington Pride)
  • 2017–18: Emma Wuthrich (North American Hockey Academy)

Season results

Major Junior Division Final Regular Season Standings 2016-17
# Team GP W L T PTS GF GA
1 NAHA White 24 18 2 4 40 108 43
2 Chicago Young Americans 24 13 7 4 30 79 61
3 Pacific Steelers 24 12 8 4 28 64 55
4 Washington Pride 24 10 6 8 28 63 49
5 Balmoral Hall 24 10 7 7 27 95 73
6 Ridley College 24 9 9 6 24 76 80
7 Boston Shamrocks 24 5 18 1 11 54 89
8 NEHC 24 1 21 2 4 32 121

See also

References

  1. "On home ice, girls struggle 'to be seen'". Portland Press Herald. 2 February 2013.
  2. Little Caesars: 2011 JWHL Challenge Cup Champions, http://ravingsofarinkrebel.blogspot.com/2011/01/little-caesars-2011-jwhl-challenge-cup.html
  3. "Warner Warriors women win". Sherwood Park News. 12 May 2010.
  4. "North American Hockey Academy captures sixth championship". USA Junior Hockey Magazine. 13 March 2014.
  5. "North American Hockey Academy wins 2017 championship". USA Junior Hockey Magazine. 11 March 2017.
  6. "Haley Skarupa Named 2011 JWHL Liz Turgeon Player of the Year". Junior Women's Hockey League. 10 March 2011.
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