North American 3 Hockey League The North American 3 Hockey League ( NA3HL ) is an American Tier III Junior " A " ice hockey league that consists of 34 teams from Illinois , Ohio , Iowa , Michigan , and Missouri . The NA3HL is a member of USA Hockey , and the winner of the NA3HL ' s playoffs goes on to play for the National Championship . League History . The league began as the a Junior B - level league known as the Central States Hockey League ( CSHL ) , during the early 1980s it was known as Metro Detroit Junior Hockey League . but returned to the CSHL name until 2010 . The league moved up from Junior B to Tier III Junior A status in the summer of 2007 because it was considered to be one of the top Junior B leagues in the United States . The past four years , the St . Louis Jr . Blues proved their dominance on the national stage winning the national championship four years in a row . The Jr Blues made history during the 2006 - 2007 season . They were the first team to win four consecutive national titles , breaking a record that was set over 60 years ago . During the 2008 - 2009 season , it was announced that the Pittsburgh Jr . Penguins would be joining the CSHL for the 2009 - 2010 season , bringing the number of teams to 13 . The league will return to 12 teams for 2010 - 11 , as the Dubuque Thunderbirds franchise folded making room for the return of the Dubuque Fighting Saints in United States Hockey League . On November 1 , 2010 it was announced that the North American Hockey League would take control of the CSHL immediately . The NAHL - CSHL affiliation allows for a more structured Jr . hockey system to provide athletes with more opportunities to advance to college and pro hockey . At the time of the take over the league was renamed to the North American 3 Hockey League ( NA3HL ) . In May , 2011 it was announced that the Granite City Lumberjacks , Minnesota Flying Aces , North Iowa Bulls and the Twin City Steel would be joining the North American 3 Hockey League ( NA3HL ) beginning with the 2011 - 2012 season bringing the total number of teams in the NA3HL to 16 . In a press release dated June 17 , 2013 the league announce plans to expand with 4 teams in South Division for the 2013 - 14 season ( two franchises in the Dallas / Fort Worth area , one in Houston , TX , and Topeka , KS ) . The league also announced the formation of a West Division for the 2014 - 15 season ( two teams in Southern California , one in San Jose , Ca , and one in Phoenix , AZ ) . The NA3HL and the American West Hockey League announced in March of 2014 that the AWHL was being merged into the league forming its new Frontier Division . The league announced on April 1 , 2014 that the Battle Creek Revolution were being rebranded as the West Michigan Wolves . The league announced in May 2014 that it would add three teams to its southern division for the 2014 - 15 season , the Point Mallard Ducks based in Decatur , Alabama , the Texas Brahmas based in North Richland Hills , Texas to be run by the Lone Star Brahmas of the NAHL , and a yet to be named team based in Franklin , Tennessee , a suburb of Nashville . The Flint Jr . Generals were sold to the same ownership group that owns the Coulee Region Chill . The team is being relocated to La Crosse , Wisconsin and being renamed the La Crosse Freeze . 2015 - 16 . The league expanded to 34 teams and went to six divisions . The league announced the addition of a franchise out of Sandy Point , Georgia ( about 12 miles ( 20km ) west of Macon , Georgia ) to start play with the 2015 - 16 season but this team apparently fell through as no further mention was made of the franchise . The league formally announced the addition of the Evansville Jr . Thunderbolts to the league on April 3 , 2015 . The team will play in the South Division and be based out of the Swonder Ice Arena . The addition of Evansville will give the South Division 7 teams and the league overall 32 teams . The team is owned by the same ownership group that owns the Point Mallard Ducks organization . The Cleveland Jr . Lumberjacks were relocating to Wooster , Ohio and were to be renamed the Wooster OIlers ( the organization originally had two teams with a second in the USPHL ' s Midwest division , which was eventually dropped . ) The Metro Jets franchise was relocating to Fraser , Michigan from Waterford , Michigan . The team did not announce any plans to change the team ' s name as both cities are in the greater Detroit area . On May 21 , 2015 the league added the Rochester Ice Hawks ( formerly of the recently defunct Minnesota Junior Hockey League ) as an expansion team for the 2015 - 16 season . On May 22 , 2015 the league announce the addition of the Lafayette , Louisiana based Louisiana Drillers as an expansion team . The team will play out of the Planet Ice facility in Lafayette . on June 15 , 2015 the Topeka Capitals announced they were relocating to Atlanta , Georgia and were being renamed the Atlanta Capitals . The team will play at the Center Ice Arena . The move was made due to the league issuing a deadline for the team to commit to the league for 2015 - 16 . The team was at an impass with arena management over a new lease . In early August the Dallas Jr . Stars were renamed the Euless Jr . Stars when the organization was sold . The league announced that it would add the North American 3 Eastern Hockey League en masse as full members for the 2016 - 17 season . On May 22 , 2016 a published report on the website indicated that the league had approved the addition of a team to be known as the Missoula Bruins . Missoula has been the home of the Missoula Maulers of the Amateur Athletic Union - sanctioned Western States Hockey League since 2007 ( joining from the American West Hockey League in 2013 after being founded in the NorPac in 2007 . Apparently , the Maulers organization had decided to disband earlier in the month due to a lease dispute with the Glacier Ice Rink ' s operators . On May 24 , 2016 the NA3HL announced that the Minnesota Flying Aces franchise had been sold to the owners of the Brookings Blizzard and Alexandria Blizzard ( Chris and Mitri Canavati ) . As part of the announcement of the sale , the team was relocating to the Willmar Civic Center Arena in Willmar , Minnesota for the 2016 - 17 season . Also on May 24th , the league announced that the Sugar Land Imperials had been sold to the same group that purchased the Chicago Bulldogs a few days earlier , and would be relocated to College Station , Texas and would become known as the College Station Spirit . On May 26 , 2016 the Wilkes - Barre Miners announced they were returning to Binghamton , New York and would be relabeled as the Binghamton Jr Senators which is the name the team had from 2005 to 2010 when the team was a member of the Atlantic Junior Hockey League . Alumni . Many prominent college and pro hockey players have played in the CSHL at one point in their careers , including 2007 Hobey Baker finalist Eric Ehn ( Metro Jets ) , Colorado Avalanche forward and 2010 U . S . Olympian Paul Stastny ( St . Louis Jr . Blues ) and Chris Butler ( St . Louis Jr . Blues ) , now in the Calgary Flames ' organization . Current Teams . Realigned for 2015 - 16 season