The Billings Bulls were a junior

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

organization based in

Billings, Montana Billings is the most populous Lists of populated places in the United States, city in the U.S. state of Montana, with a population of 117,116 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located in the south-central portion of the state, i ...

. They most recently played home games at the 550-seat Centennial Ice Arena and due to the arena's small size, the Bulls frequently sold-out games. They previously played their home games in the Metrapark which had a max capacity of 9,000 for hockey games. However, a negotiating dispute with arena officials and local

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

commissioners resulted in the team losing its lease.

History

The Bulls joined the American Frontier Hockey League in 1993 which became the

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), ...

(AWHL) in 1998. The Bulls joined the Tier II Jr. A

North American Hockey League The North American Hockey League (NAHL) is one of the top junior hockey leagues in the United States and is in its 50th season of operation in 2024–25. It is the only Tier II junior league sanctioned by USA Hockey, and acts as an alternati ...

in 2003 when the AWHL merged with the NAHL (keeping the NAHL name). The team played in the NAHL from 2003 to 2006 until the team and their rivals, the

Bozeman Icedogs The Bozeman Icedogs are a Tier III Junior ice hockey team located in Bozeman, Montana. The team is a member of the North American 3 Hockey League (NA3HL). The Icedogs play home games at the Haynes Pavilion run by Gallatin Ice Foundation located ...

and Helena Bighorns, left to join the

Northern Pacific Hockey League The Northern Pacific Hockey League (NPHL) was an American Tier III junior ice hockey league sanctioned by USA Hockey. Its championship trophy was the Cascade Cup. History Established in 2000 as the NorPac Junior Hockey League, the league was ...

(NorPac), a regional league in the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (PNW; ) is a geographic region in Western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though no official boundary exists, the most common ...

of the United States. When they joined the NorPac, the league was Tier III Junior B but promoted to Tier III Junior A by

USA Hockey USA Hockey is a national ice hockey organization in the United States. It is recognized by the International Olympic Committee and the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee as the governing body for organized ice hockey in the United S ...

in 2007. In 2011, the Montana teams in the NorPac left the league to form the new regional American West Hockey League, made up of teams in Montana and Wyoming, including the Bulls. In March 2014, the new AWHL joined 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, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, ...

(NA3HL) as the Frontier Division. On the opening weekend of the 2017–18 NA3HL season, the Bulls announced they would be going dormant due to lack of players. At the time, the Bulls were the second-oldest organization in the NA3HL, behind only the St. Louis Jr. Blues.

Previous leagues

*1993–1998 American Frontier Hockey League *1998–2003

*2003–2006

*2006–2011

*2011–2014 American West Hockey League *2014–2017

Season-by-season records

NHL alumni

The franchise developed a number of collegiate and

professional A professional is a member of a profession or any person who work (human activity), works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the partic ...

players, but only two have played in the

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

* Chris Holt, G (

University of Nebraska-Omaha The University of Nebraska Omaha (UNO) is a public research university in Omaha, Nebraska, United States. Founded in 1908 by faculty from the Omaha Presbyterian Theological Seminary as a private non-sectarian college, the university was origin ...

, last with Braehead Clan of the

EIHL The Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL), sometimes referred to internationally as the British Elite League, is an ice hockey league in the United Kingdom. Formed in 2003 following the demise of the Ice Hockey Superleague, it is the highest level ...

), formerly of the

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

and

St. Louis Blues The St. Louis Blues are a professional ice hockey team based in St. Louis. The Blues compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. Th ...

. * Brian Lee, D retired, formerly of the

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

and

Ottawa Senators The Ottawa Senators (), officially the Ottawa Senators Hockey Club and colloquially known as the Sens, are a professional ice hockey team based in Ottawa. The Senators compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Di ...

Other notable alumni with professional or major college/junior experience

* Jon Booras, F (

Lake Superior State University Lake Superior State University (colloquially Lake State, Soo Tech, and LSSU) is a public college in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, United States. It enrolls approximately 1,600 students. Due to its proximity to the Canada–United States border, ...

, last with

MAC Budapest Budapest Akademia HC (also known before as MAC HKB Újbuda) is a Hungarian ice hockey team that currently plays in the Erste Liga. They play their home games at Tüskecsarnok, located in Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital a ...

of the

MOL Liga The Erste Liga (formerly the MOL Liga) is an international ice hockey league organized for clubs based in Hungary and Romania. It is sponsored by the Erste Bank Hungary. The games played between the Hungarian teams count towards the Hungarian ...

) *Jacob Doty, F (currently with Braehead Clan of the

) *Brad Gorham, D (

University of Alaska Anchorage The University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA) is a public university in Anchorage, Alaska, United States. UAA also administers four community campuses spread across Southcentral Alaska: Kenai Peninsula College, Kodiak College, Matanuska–Susitna C ...

, last with the Alaska Aces of the

ECHL The ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League) is a minor professional ice hockey league based in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, with teams across the United States and Canada. Competitively, it is a tier below the American Hockey League (AHL). The ...

) *Trevor Hammer, D (

University of North Dakota The University of North Dakota (UND) is a Public university, public research university in Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States. It was established by the Dakota Territory, Dakota Territorial Assembly in 1883, six years before the establishm ...

, last played for Florida Seals) *Jeff Hazelwood, F (last played for

Las Vegas Wranglers The Las Vegas Wranglers were a professional ice hockey team based in Las Vegas Valley. The Wranglers were members of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference of the ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League). The Wranglers were founded a ...

) *Jordan Hines, F (

University of Findlay The University of Findlay (UF) is a private Christian university in Findlay, Ohio, United States. It was established in 1882 through a joint partnership between the Churches of God General Conference and the city of Findlay. UF has nearly 80 ...

, last played for

Fort Worth Fire The Fort Worth Fire were a professional ice hockey team in the Central Hockey League. Their home games were played in the Fort Worth Convention Center Arena. They began operations in 1992 and ceased operations in 1999. At the conclusion of th ...

) *Dan Knapp, D (

, last played for

Ontario Reign The Ontario Reign are a professional ice hockey team based in Ontario, California. They are the American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate of the National Hockey League's Los Angeles Kings. The team plays its home games at the Toyota Arena. The fra ...

) * Mathias Lange, G (last played for the

Iserlohn Roosters The Iserlohn Roosters are a professional ice hockey team based in Iserlohn, North Rhine-Westphalia. They are members of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL) since 2000 and play their home games at the Balver-Zinn Arena which is also known as ''Eissp ...

of the

Deutsche Eishockey Liga The Deutsche Eishockey Liga (for sponsorship reasons called Penny (supermarket), PENNY Deutsche Eishockey Liga) (; English: ''German Ice Hockey League'') or DEL, is a professional ice hockey league in Germany and the highest division in German i ...

) *Tom Reimann, D (

University of Maine The University of Maine (UMaine) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Orono, Maine, United States. It was established in 1865 as the land-grant college of Maine and is the Flagship universitie ...

, last played for Colorado Eagles) *Cam Strong, F (currently with Dartmouth,

NCAA Division 1 NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest division of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athlet ...

) *Zach Tarkir, D (

Northern Michigan University Northern Michigan University (Northern Michigan, Northern or NMU) is a public university in Marquette, Michigan, United States. It was established in 1899 by the Michigan Legislature as Northern State Normal School. In 1963, the state designa ...

, last played for

IF Troja/Ljungby IF Troja-Ljungby is an ice hockey club that plays in Ljungby Ljungby () is the Urban areas in Sweden, central locality of Ljungby Municipality, Kronoberg County, Sweden, with 15,785 inhabitants in 2015. Ljungby was instituted in 1829 as a ''k� ...

of the

HockeyAllsvenskan HockeyAllsvenskan (previously Allsvenskan and SuperAllsvenskan) is a professional ice hockey sports league, league, and the second-highest league in the Swedish ice hockey system, after the Swedish Hockey League, SHL. Since the 2009–10 season, t ...

) *Kevin Ulanski, C (

University of Denver The University of Denver (DU) is a private research university in Denver, Colorado, United States. Founded in 1864, it has an enrollment of approximately 5,700 undergraduate students and 7,200 graduate students. It is classified among "R1: D ...

, last played for the Bentley Generals) Stormy Knight, LW last played for Seattle Totems of the NPHL (current commissioner of The Mad House fantasy football league)

References

External links

Billings Bulls website

NA3HL Website
{{NAHL Sports in Billings, Montana Defunct ice hockey teams in Montana American West Hockey League teams Defunct North American Hockey League teams 1993 establishments in Montana 2017 disestablishments in Montana Ice hockey clubs established in 1993 Ice hockey clubs disestablished in 2017