The North Peace Hockey League (NPHL) is a Canadian men's

Senior ice hockey Senior hockey refers to amateur or semi-professional ice hockey competition. There are no age restrictions for Senior players, who typically consist of those whose Junior eligibility has expired. Senior hockey leagues operate under the jurisd ...

league based in Northern

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

and North Eastern

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

History

With a history that dates back to the early 1950s, the NPHL has the distinction of being the longest continually running senior hockey league currently in existence in western Canada. The league was down to two teams (Peace River Stampeders and High Prairie Regals) in the early 1970s, when it played an interlocking schedule with the South Peace Hockey League. Prior to the start of the 2009-10 season, the league voted to disallow any team playing AAA hockey from competing in the NPHL playoffs. This change affects teams competing for the

Allan Cup The Allan Cup is the trophy awarded annually to the national senior amateur men's ice hockey champions of Canada. It was donated by Sir Montagu Allan of Ravenscrag, Montreal, and has been competed for since 1909. The current champions are the ...

. Despite this decision, the Fort St. John Flyers hosted, competed at, and won the

2010 Allan Cup The 2010 Allan Cup was the Canadian championship of senior ice hockey. This tournament was the 102nd year that the Allan Cup has been awarded. The 2010 tournament was hosted by the City of Fort St. John, British Columbia and the Fort St. John ...

. Despite its long-standing tradition, the NPHL and its teams have struggled to stay on the ice. The 2013-14 season saw the league lose two teams when the Hythe Mustangs folded near the end of the season and the Lakeland Eagles were removed from league play. The 2014-15 saw the league lose two more teams when the Dawson Creek Sr. Canucks and High Prairie Regals opted out of the upcoming season. The result was a six team league. For the first time in league history the 2015-2016 season saw the Grande Prairie Athletics take a leave of absence due to a lack of players. Both the Dawson Creek Canucks and High Prairie Regals returned, making the league feature an East and West division once more. The 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 seasons were cancelled due to the

Covid-19 Pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

Teams

North Peace Hockey League

;Notes # ''An asterisk (*) denotes a franchise move. See the respective team articles for more information.''

Defunct

Notable players

*Former

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 ...

superstar

Theoren Fleury Theoren Wallace "Theo" Fleury (born June 29, 1968) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player, author, and motivational speaker. Fleury played for the Calgary Flames, Colorado Avalanche, New York Rangers, and Chicago Blackhawks of the ...

played a season with the Horse Lake Thunder in 2004. The 2004 Horse Lake roster also included former NHL tough guy Gino Odjick, bubble players

Sasha Lakovic Sasha Gordon Lakovic (September 7, 1971 – April 25, 2017) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player who played for 17 different professional teams during his career. Lakovic also played for four roller hockey teams in the mid-1990s. Lako ...

and Dody Wood. The Thunder had spent millions of dollars on a new arena, players and the team went on to win the championship that year, but in the 2005 Allan Cup the Thunder were defeated in the semi finals by the Thunder Bay Bombers who went on to win the

. *Former

New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home ...

goalie and current

Columbus Blue Jackets The Columbus Blue Jackets (often simply referred to as the Jackets) are a professional ice hockey team based in Columbus, Ohio. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference ...

president John Davidson played one season with the High Prairie Regals in the early 1970s. * Reg Bentley, one of the famous Bentleys of NHL fame was a player/coach for the High Prairie Regals for a couple years in the early 1960s. * Roger Bellerive, who later spent a few years with the Portland Buckaroos of the old

Western Professional Hockey League The Western Professional Hockey League (abbreviated WPHL) is a defunct minor professional ice hockey league. The WPHL operated from 1996 to 2001 with teams based in the southern United States, primarily Texas and Louisiana. The league started with ...

played for the Falher Pirates in the late 1950s. *Former

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 season, every team in the le ...

star,

Fred Hilts Fred may refer to: People * Fred (name), including a list of people and characters with the name Mononym * Fred (cartoonist) (1931–2013), pen name of Fred Othon Aristidès, French * Fred (footballer, born 1949) (1949–2022), Frederico R ...

played a few seasons for the Spirit River Rangers, who were then in the old South Peace Hockey League in the early 1960s. *Norm Skrudland, father of former NHL star

Brian Skrudland Brian Norman Skrudland (born July 31, 1963) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who played for the Montreal Canadiens, Calgary Flames, Florida Panthers, New York Rangers and Dallas Stars. Playing career Junior Skrudland playe ...

, starred with the Grimshaw Huskies in the early 1960s. *Former

San Jose Sharks The San Jose Sharks are a professional ice hockey team based in San Jose, California. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference, and are owned by San Jose Sports & Entertainm ...

property Todd Holt also spent time in the NPHL. *AHL and KHL Alumni

Jon Mirasty Jonathon Gary Frank Mirasty (born June 4, 1982) is a Cree native Canadian ice hockey player who has played in multiple professional leagues including the WHL, KHL, and AHL. Nicknamed "Nasty" by both teammates and fans, Mirasty developed a cult fol ...

played for the Athletics during the 2018-2019 Championship Season. *Former NHL and AHL player Wade Campbell played in Grimshaw before and after his professional career. *Other NHL Players to don an NPHL jersey include: Ed Beers and Howard Walker.

References

{{Reflist Ice hockey leagues in British Columbia Ice hockey leagues in Alberta Senior ice hockey