National Women's Hockey League (1999)

The National Women's Hockey League (NWHL) was a women's ice hockey league. The NWHL league was in service from 1999 to 2007, and ran by the Ontario Women's Hockey Association.
==History==
The NWHL superseded the old Central Ontario Women's Hockey League in 1998–99. After the old COWHL dropped down to three teams in 1997–98, the new league expanded to Brampton, Ottawa and the Montreal area (Montreal, Bonaventure and Laval) in 1998–99. The league was officially renamed the National Women's Hockey League on Feb. 16, 1999 with Al Dawson as the league's first president. In the inaugural season, the Beatrice Aeros won the West Division while the Bonaventure Wingstar won the East Division. The league lasted nine years before it disbanded following the 2006–07 season. In 2007–08, players from the old NWHL joined new teams in similar markets in the newly formed Canadian Women's Hockey League.
== Structure ==
The League consisted of two divisions: the older Eastern Division (later the Eastern and Central Divisions) consists of seven teams based in Ontario and Quebec, while the Western Division was formed in 2002 with the addition of the Calgary Oval X-Treme, Edmonton Chimos, and the Vancouver Griffins. The Griffins only lasted one season, and the high travel costs for the two Alberta teams caused them to break away in 2004 and form the Western Women's Hockey League.
The two leagues agreed to merge in 2006, however this merger broke down midseason, and the WWHL remained independent.
Due to the expected merger, the NWHL was split into the Eastern and Central divisions, with the WWHL teams expected to make up the Western Division. The Eastern and Central Division teams played a 35-game unbalanced but interlocking schedule, with the four teams from the Central Division and the top two teams from the Eastern Division qualifying for the postseason. In the NWHL playoffs, teams played a best-of-three series to determine the Eastern and Central Division champions, who face off for the championship.
Teams from the Eastern and Central Divisions did not play against the Western Division teams at all in the regular season or postseason, although there were plans to have all three divisions compete in the playoffs before the league folded.
==NWHL Franchises==
The following is an old list of former franchises in all three divisions of the National Women's Hockey League.
Team 	Centre 	Arena 	Tenure 	Fate
Brampton Thunder 	Brampton, Ontario 	Powerade Centre 	1998-2007	join Canadian Women's Hockey League as Brampton Canadettes Thunder
Laval Le Mistral 	Laval, Quebec 	Colisée de Laval 	1998-2001	fold or renamed Metropol Le Cheyenne
Mississauga Chiefs 	Mississauga, Ontario 	Hershey Centre 	1998-2000	renamed Mississauga Ice Bears
Bonaventure Wingstar 	Montreal, Quebec 	Centre Étienne Desmarteau 	1998-1999	renamed Montreal Wingstar
Montreal Jofa Titan 	Montreal, Quebec 	Ed Meagher Arena 	1998-1999	fold
North York Aeros 	Toronto, Ontario 	Beatrice Ice Gardens 	1998-1999	renamed Beatrice Aeros
National Capital Raiders 	Ottawa, Ontario 	Sandy Hill Arena 	1998-1999	renamed Ottawa Raiders
Scarborough Sting 	Scarborough, Ontario 	Mid Scarborough Arena & Malvern Arena 	1998-2000	renamed Toronto Sting
Beatrice Aeros 	Toronto, Ontario 	Beatrice Ice Gardens 	1999-2003	renamed Toronto Aeros
Clearnet Lightning 	Toronto, Ontario 	Ajax Community Centre 	1999-2001	renamed Telus Lightning
Montreal Wingstar 	Montreal, Quebec 	Centre Étienne Desmarteau 	1999-2003	renamed Montreal Axion
Ottawa Raiders 	Ottawa, Ontario 	Barbara Ann Scott Arena (1999-2003)Sandy Hill Arena(2003-2004)Bell Sensplex (2004-2007)	1999-2007	join Canadian Women's Hockey League as Ottawa Capital Canucks
Sainte-Julie Pantheres 	Sainte-Julie, Quebec 	Sainte-Julie Arena 	1999-2001	renamed Quebec Avalanche
Mississauga Ice Bears 	Mississauga, Ontario 	Hershey Centre 	2000-2003	renamed Oakville Ice
Toronto Sting 	Scarborough, Ontario 	Mid Scarborough Arena & Malvern Arena 	2000-2001	fold
Metropol Le Cheyenne 	Laval, Quebec 	Colisée de Laval 	2001-2002	fold or renamed Sainte-Julie Pantheres
Telus Lightning 	Toronto, Ontario 	Ajax Community Centre 	2001-2005	renamed Durham Lightning
Quebec Avalanche 	Laval, Quebec 	Colisée de Laval 	2002-2007	fold
Oakville Ice 	Oakville, Ontario 	 	2003-2007	join Canadian Women's Hockey League as Mississauga Chiefs
Montreal Axion 	Montreal, Quebec 	Centre Étienne Desmarteau 	2003-2007	fold
Toronto Aeros 	Toronto, Ontario 	Beatrice Ice Gardens 	2003-2006	relocacted to Mississauga; renamed Mississauga Aeros
Durham Lightning 	Toronto, Ontario 	 	2005-2006	renamed Etobicoke Dolphins
Mississauga Aeros 	Mississauga, Ontario 	Iceland Mississauga 	2006-2007	fold
British Columbia Breakers	Langley, British Columbia	George Preston Arena 	2006-2007	stay with Western Women's Hockey League for 2007-08 season
Calgary Oval X-Treme 	Calgary, Alberta 	Olympic Oval 	2006-2007	stay with Western Women's Hockey League for 2007-08 season
Edmonton Chimos 	Edmonton, Alberta 	Enoch Recreation Centre 	2006-2007	stay with Western Women's Hockey League for 2007-08 season
Etobicoke Dolphins 	Toronto, Ontario 	 	2006-2007	join Canadian Women's Hockey League as Vaughan Flames
Minnesota Whitecaps 	Saint Paul, Minnesota 	TRIA Rink at Treasure Island Center 	2006-2007	stay with Western Women's Hockey League for 2007-08 season
Saskatchewan Prairie Ice 	Lumsden, Saskatchewan 	Lumsden Community Sports Centre 	2006-2007	suspend operations in summer of 2007
Strathmore Rockies 	Strathmore, Alberta 	Strathmore Family Centre 	2006-2007	stay with Western Women's Hockey League for 2007-08 season
==Championship==
Since 2006, the championship of the Eastern and Central Division was awarded the Clarkson Cup, while the (officially unnamed) NWHL Champions Cup was awarded prior to 2006. Though the league and the WWHL were considered merged for the 2006–07 season, the WWHL teams did not compete for the Clarkson Cup, instead playing for the WWHL Champions Cup. The Clarkson Cup is now won in a playoff between Western Women's Hockey League WWHL and CWHL teams.
A list of NWHL winners (winner is in bold):
(Brampton have the distinction of having their home arena serve as the site of all NWHL Championship Cup games ).
Season 	Champion 	Finalist 	Place
2006–07 	Brampton Thunder 	Montreal Axion 	Brampton
2005–06 	Montreal Axion 	Brampton Thunder 	Brampton
2004–05 	Toronto Aeros 	Montreal Axion 	Brampton
2003–04 	Calgary Oval X-Treme	Brampton Thunder 	Brampton
2002–03 	Calgary Oval X-Treme	Beatrice Aeros 	Brampton
2001–02 	Beatrice Aeros 	Brampton Thunder 	Brampton
2000–01 	Beatrice Aeros 	Sainte-Julie Pantheres	Brampton
1999–2000	Beatrice Aeros 	Sainte-Julie Pantheres	Brampton
1998–99 	Brampton Thunder 	Bonaventure Wingstar 	Brampton
==Scoring champions==
* 2006–07 – Jayna Hefford, Brampton Thunder
* 2005–06 – Sommer West, Toronto Aeros
* 2004–05 – Jayna Hefford, Brampton Thunder
* 2003–04 – Jayna Hefford, Brampton Thunder
* 2002–03 – Jayna Hefford, Brampton Thunder
* 2001–02 – Amy Turek, Beatrice Aeros
* 2000–01 – Jayna Hefford, Brampton Thunder & Amy Turek, Beatrice Aeros
* 1999-00 – Karen Nystrom, Brampton Thunder
* 1998–99 – Stephanie Boyd, Brampton Thunder
==Goal-scoring champions==
* 2006–07 – Jayna Hefford, Brampton Thunder
* 2005–06 – Sommer West, Toronto Aeros
* 2004–05 – Jayna Hefford, Brampton Thunder
* 2003–04 – Jayna Hefford, Brampton Thunder
* 2002–03 – Jayna Hefford, Brampton Thunder
* 2001–02 – Amy Turek, Beatrice Aeros
* 2000–01 – Jayna Hefford, Brampton Thunder
* 1999-00 – Karen Nystrom, Brampton Thunder
* 1998–99 – Angela James, Beatrice Aeros
==2015 league==
In March 2015, a new league was announced, also called the National Women's Hockey League, but separate from the former, unrelated NWHL.
==See also==
* Canadian Women's Hockey League
* Western Women's Hockey League
==References==
==External links==
*NWHL/COWHL website for 2000–01
*NWHL website
*Gazette (daily newspaper) Sharing the hockey dream December 16, 2006.
Category:Women's ice hockey in Canada
Category:Ice hockey leagues