The Bridgewater Bandits, also called the Boston Bandits, are a

junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Aircraft * Ekolot JK-05L Junior, a Polish ultralight aircraft * PZL-112 Junior, a Polish training aircraft * SZD-51 Junior, a Polish-made training and club glider Arts and entertainment Characters * Bowser Jr., ...

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 from

Bridgewater, Massachusetts Bridgewater is a town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, the city's population was 28,633. The historic town center of Bridgewater is located approximately south of Boston, Massachusetts and approxima ...

, in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, with teams playing in the

United States Premier Hockey League The United States Premier Hockey League (USPHL) is an American ice hockey league. Founded in 2012, the USPHL has grown to over 60 organizations from across the United States/Canada fielding teams in the National Collegiate Development Conference ...

. The organization plays home games at the Bridgewater Ice Arena.

History

The Boston Bandits organization had a team in the Tier III

Eastern Junior Hockey League The Eastern Junior Hockey League (EJHL) was a USA Hockey-sanctioned Tier III junior ice hockey league. Founded in 1993 by Dan Esdale, the EJHL had fourteen teams from across the Northeastern United States. The EJHL champion then competed for t ...

(EJHL) from 1996 until its dissolution in 2013. The Bandits would then join the Atlantic Junior Hockey League which would reorganize and become the

Eastern Hockey League The Eastern Hockey League was a minor professional United States ice hockey league. Eastern Amateur Hockey League (1933–1953) The league was founded in 1933 as the Eastern Amateur Hockey League (EAHL). The league was founded by Tommy Lockhart ...

(EHL) for the 2013–14 season. The Bandits organization also fields teams in the lower level USPHL Premier Division, as well as youth hockey select teams at the Bantam, Peewee, and Squirt and various other levels. The Premier team originally played in the Empire Junior B Hockey League until 2013 and then the

Metropolitan Junior Hockey League The Metropolitan Junior Hockey League was an American Tier III Junior ice hockey league with teams throughout the eastern United States. The MJHL was part of the Atlantic Metropolitan Hockey League organization. Founded in 1966 by New York Range ...

(MetJHL) from 2013 to 2015 at which point the EHL added the Elite Division and the former EHL teams were all promoted to the Premier Division. The MetJHL team then joined the EHL-Elite Division. In 2017, the Bandits' organization left the EHL for the

(USPHL). The USPHL was planning to launch the Tier II level league, which became the National Collegiate Development Conference (NCDC), for the 2017–18 season. However, the USPHL was denied the Tier II status 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 ...

and the junior league went independent. The top level Bandits team joined the NCDC and the developmental team joined the Premier Division. The Bandits sold their NCDC franchise to the Philadelphia Hockey Club for the 2020–21 season. The organization was then sold to Scott Harlow in December 2019 and the organization reverted to the Bridgewater Bandits identity beginning with the 2020–21 season.

Season-by-season records

References

External links

Bandits website
Eastern Hockey League (2013) teams Defunct United States Premier Hockey League teams Amateur ice hockey teams in Massachusetts Sports clubs and teams in Plymouth County, Massachusetts Bridgewater, Massachusetts 1996 establishments in Massachusetts Ice hockey clubs established in 1996 {{Massachusetts-sport-team-stub