1995-96 North Central Hockey League (Alberta) Season

Prior to the start of the season, Sangudo unexpectedly dropped out and at the last minute, the Athabasca Aces were added. The teams were placed in two divisions, North (Slave Lake, Swan Hills, Fox Creek, Athabasca) and South (Edson, Hinton, Whitecourt, Mayerthorpe), with Hinton finishing first in the South, Swan Hills finishing first in the North. Hinton and Slave Lake met in the finals with Hinton becoming the NCHL's first league champion. Rod Stard of Hinton was the league's top scorer.      
The Sangudo Raiders who originally showed interest in joining the league backed out sometime during the fall prior to the league beginning play. They would be replaced in the league line up with the Athabasca Aces.https://web.archive.org/web/20050206182130/http://www.foxcreekbandits.com/history.htm
The inaugural NCHL all-star game was played in Whitecourt.      
      SOUTH DIVISION      
TEAM 	GP	W 	L 	T	GF 	GA 	PTS
Hinton Heat 	26	20	5 	1	210	92 	42
Whitecourt Cats 	26	16	9 	1	151	125	33
Edson Ice 	26	16	10	0	150	126	32
Mayerthorpe Hitmen	26	6 	18	2	102	188	14
      NORTH DIVISION      
TEAMS 	GP	W 	L 	T	GF 	GA 	PTS
Swan Hills Knights	26	16	9 	1	189	128	33
Slave Lake Winterhawks	26	11	14	1	112	137	23
Athabasca Aces 	26	9 	17	0	144	155	18
Fox Creek Bandits 	26	7 	19	0	112	200	14
==Playoffs==
===Division Semifinals===
*Swan Hills defeated Fox Creek in 3 games
*Slave Lake defeated Athabasca 
*Hinton defeated Edson
*Whitecourt defeated Mayerthorpe 
===Division Finals===
*Slave Lake defeated Swan Hills
*Hinton defeated Whitecourt
===Final===
*Hinton defeated Slave Lake in 5 games
Archived information courtesy of the Fox Creek Bandits webpage.
==References==
Category:1996 in hockey
Category:North Central Hockey League (Alberta) Seasons