The Helena Bighorns are a Junior A

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...

team in the

North American 3 Hockey League The North American 3 Hockey League (NA3HL) is an American Tier III junior ice hockey league that consists of teams from Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, New Yo ...

(NA3HL) based in Helena,

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columb ...

United States. The team plays their home games at the 1,600-seat Helena Ice Arena. The Bighorns were members of the

NorPac NORPAC is a bipartisan, multi-candidate political action committee (PAC) working to strengthen United States-Israel relations, founded in New Jersey in 1982. Its activities include fundraising for Senators and Members of the United States Congre ...

from 2007 to 2011. In 2011, the American West Division of the NorPac league broke away to form the

American West Hockey League The American West Hockey League (AWHL) was an American Tier III Junior ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It be ...

. In March 2014, the NA3HL accepted the AWHL as a new Frontier Division.

History

The original Helena Bighorns were members of the former Tier II

America West Hockey League The America West Hockey League (AWHL) was a Tier II Junior A ice hockey league. The AWHL was formed in 1992 to offer junior ice hockey to the Rocky Mountain region of USA Hockey. It originally was called the American Frontier Hockey League (AFHL), ...

from 2001 to 2003 after replacing the departed Helena Gold Rush that had operated last in the 1999–2000 season (formerly known as the Helena Ice Pirates from 1994 to 1999). In 2003, the AWHL merged with the larger Tier II North American Hockey League and the Bighorns played in the NAHL until 2006. In 2004, the Tier III Northern Pacific Hockey League (NorPac) expanded into Helena with the Queen City Cutthroats and were immediately successful, winning the Cascade Cup in their first year. In 2006, the NAHL Bighorns withdrew from the NAHL and the NorPac franchise would take the name of the formerly higher level team beginning with the 2006–07 season.

NorPac years (2004–11)

The Helena Bighorns/Queen City Cutthroats won six straight NorPac America West Division Championships between 2005 and 2010. They also won the

Cascade Cup six times, 2005, 2006 and four straight from 2008 to 2011.

American West years (2011–14)

The Helena Bighorns have won three straight

Championships in the 2011–12, 2012–13, and 2013–14 AWHL seasons prior to the league merging with the

(NA3HL) in 2014.

North American 3 Hockey League (2014–present)

For many years, the team and the arena were owned by

Oren Koules Oren Koules (born January 31, 1961) is an American entrepreneur and film producer. He is the co-founder of Evolution Entertainment and produced the ''Saw'' film series as well as the CBS television series ''Two and a Half Men''. Koules is also ...

, president of

Evolution Entertainment Evolution Entertainment is an American independent entertainment management and film production company. The company was founded in 1998 by Mark Burg and Oren Koules and is best known for executive producing the ''Saw'' film series. History Gr ...

and former part-owner of the

Tampa Bay Lightning The Tampa Bay Lightning (colloquially known as the Bolts) are a professional ice hockey team based in Tampa, Florida. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. They play th ...

(

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

). However, in 2017, he was looking to sell off the team or cease operations. In May 2017, he sold the team to local businessman Randy Rose. Koules remained the owner of Helena Ice Arena. In 2021, the team was sold to a local ownership group Treasure State Sports Group LTD, composed of Jedidiah Snyder and Michael Greene.

Season-by-season records

Tier III Junior Hockey National Championship

In 2005 and 2006, the Queen City Cutthroats participated in the USA Hockey Tier III Junior B National Tournament. In 2007, NorPac and its teams were promoted to Tier III Junior A status and the Bighorns competed in the 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 Junior A National Tournaments. In 2011, USA Hockey dropped the A and B designations but sometimes had the leagues split into different divisions during the tournament (American/National for 2012 or Div 1/Div 2 for 2015 with 2013 and 2014 having all leagues compete in one tournament). The Bighorns represented the American West Hockey League in 2012, 2013, and 2014. In 2011, the Helena Bighorns won the Tier III Junior A Hockey National Championships by defeating the

El Paso Rhinos The El Paso Rhinos are a junior ice hockey organization based in El Paso, Texas. Their home games are played at the County Events Center located within the El Paso County Coliseum complex. The Rhinos are members of the South Division of the Tie ...

5-1 in Rochester, Minnesota. The Helena Bighorns won the bronze medal at the 2014 USA Hockey Tier III National championships. Round robin play in pool with top 4 teams advancing to semi-final.

Alumni

The Bighorns have had a number of alumni move on to

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

Division I,

Division III In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Thir ...

, ACHA collegiate programs, higher levels of junior ice hockey, and

professional A professional is a member of a profession or any person who works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the particular knowledge and ski ...

ice hockey.

References

External links

Official siteNA3HL Official Website
{{NAHL Ice hockey teams in Montana American West Hockey League teams Defunct North American Hockey League teams Ice hockey clubs established in 2004 2004 establishments in Montana Helena, Montana