# Junior Women's Hockey League

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. 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. 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 | | | 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 | 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) | 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)
* 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 |