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All American Hockey League (2008–2011)

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The All American Hockey League ( AAHL ) was a lower level professional ice hockey league with teams in the Midwestern United States . The league suspended operations for the 2011–12 season and subsequently folded.

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33-843: The All American Hockey League was formed in 2008 as the All American Hockey Association when the Battle Creek Revolution and South Shore Shooters (later the Chi-Town Shooters ) of the Mid-Atlantic Hockey League banded together with the Evansville IceMen and Motor City Gamblers (later the Detroit Dragons ) of the Midwest Hockey League . The Detroit Dragons folded mid-season, with

66-767: A franchise in the CHL. In August 2010, it was announced that the Madison Ice Muskies would be reinstated in the AAHL. In August 2010, it was also announced that the Queen City Storm were approved for membership in the AAHL as an expansion team. The Chi-Town Shooters left the league in August 2010 with plans to join a junior hockey league for the 2011–12 season. In August 2010, the AAHL granted an expansion team to Lapeer, Michigan . A contest decided that Lapeer's team would be named

99-814: A Nipissing/Ville-Marie combined squad. The only loss for a GMHL team happened to the Toronto Canada Moose . In the summer of 2010, the GMHL expanded in two fashions internationally. First, Canada 's only All-Russian team in the Shelburne Red Wings and then late in the summer they expanded to the United States through the expansion of the Jamestown Jets . On September 17, 2010, the GMHL played its first international regulation game, in Jamestown, New York between

132-705: A league format. This resulted in the All American Hockey Association being renamed the All American Hockey League . On August 10, 2009, the AAHL announced a merger with the still-unlaunched Midwest Hockey League, absorbing the MWHL's Madison Ice Muskies as well as key MWHL personnel. The merged leagues continued under the AAHL name. During the season, the Madison Ice Muskies and Chicago Blaze ceased operations due to financial problems. Also,

165-775: A regular season game, known as the North Shore Winter Classic, between the Elliot Lake Bobcats and Algoma Avalanche on January 29, 2011. This is the first known regulation outdoor game in Ontario in the modern era. Elliot Lake would win the game 8–2 in front of an estimated 400 fans. At the conclusion of the 2011–12 season, the league lost the Elliot Lake Bobcats to the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League . Relocation of teams and expansion

198-525: Is on permanent display in the minor league section of the Hockey Hall of Fame, along with the official scoresheet from the historic game. Battle Creek Revolution The Battle Creek Revolution was a professional ice hockey team which played in the All American Hockey League . The team played its home games at Revolution Arena in Battle Creek, Michigan . The team was initially announced to play in

231-478: The Bradford Rattlers and South Muskoka Shield being thrown out in the semifinal round. An incident, both on-ice and later off-ice, involving a player from each team and later two more players and a parent from one team entering the altercation, resulted in a police investigation and one team refusing to continue. The league disqualified both teams after the game failed to continue. Since the 2012 tournament,

264-637: The Brock Bucks . At the same time, the Quebec -based Temiscaming Royals walked away from the league to join the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League , but were replaced within weeks by the Ville-Marie Dragons . In December 2008 and January 2009, eight teams of the GMHL hosted Kazakhstan 's Under-18 Torpedo UST-Kamenogorsk squad. Victorious were the Elliot Lake Bobcats (twice), South Muskoka Shield , King Wild , Bradford Rattlers , Innisfil Lakers , and

297-523: The Canadian Junior Hockey League or sanctioned by Hockey Canada . The league, founded by Bob Russell and Hockeyworks International Ltd., opened its doors in early 2006, with a unique concept and approach to improving the standard of developing young hockey players within a Junior 'A' league format setting. A draft showcase event took place from May 5 until May 7, 2006 with players from Canada, United States, and Europe taking up residence at

330-712: The Chicago Blaze joining weeks later to fill the void. (The Blaze were originally going to be an expansion franchise for the 2009–10 season.) On April 5, 2009, the Chi-Town Shooters became the first team to win the Champions Cup by defeating the Battle Creek Revolution in the best-of-five championship series. On April 14, 2009, the AAHA Board of Directors announced a reorganization from an association format to

363-472: The Greater Toronto Area , Central Ontario , Northeastern Ontario , and Quebec . As of December 2019, the league's alumni page lists 889 players from 2006 to 2019 who graduated from the GMHL to play for NCAA colleges, various professional leagues, major junior teams, or represented their country in various IIHF World Championships . The GMHL is an independent junior league and is not a member of

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396-467: The Jamestown Jets and Sturgeon Falls Lumberjacks , both expansion teams to the league for the 2010–11 season. Jamestown won the game 4–3. In December 2010, the GMHL named Bob Bernstein commissioner. After serving as commissioner for seven days, Bernstein was relieved of his duties and Ken Girard later resumed as full-time commissioner. In mid-January 2011, it was announced that the town of Iron Bridge, Ontario and its 500-seat outdoor arena would host

429-847: The King Wild and Richmond Hill Rams played two games each against the Mexico national ice hockey team . The Wild won both their games, while the Rams lost both of theirs. For the 2008–09 season, the GMJHL adopted much of the National Collegiate Athletic Association 's ice hockey rulebook. The GMJHL added the Minden Riverkings and the Oro-Medonte 77's to the mix, and the Dukes relocated to become

462-549: The King Wild and the Richmond Hill Rams . The final result was a 6–0 victory for the Rams, despite being badly outshot by the Wild. The first goal in the league's history was scored by the Rams' Darren Archibald (future Vancouver Canucks prospect) on the power play during the first period. Rams' goaltender Daniel Jones picked up the historical first victory, as well as the league's first shutout in history. On November 15, 2006,

495-768: The Lapeer Loggers . On August 31, 2010, the Troy Bruins were officially announced as the sixth expansion team in the 2010–11 season. In September 2010, the West Michigan Blizzard relocated to Dyer, Indiana , and were renamed the Indiana Blizzard . On October 27, 2010, the Madison Ice Muskies moved to Wooster, Ohio , and became the Wooster Korn Kings . On November 17, 2010, the Korn Kings were taken over by

528-591: The Mid-Atlantic Hockey League for the 2008–09 season before the league folded in August 2008. The organization also created a junior hockey team called the Battle Creek Jr. Revolution that played its first season in the North American 3 Hockey League in the 2010–11 season. Greater Metro Junior A Hockey League The Greater Metro Junior A Hockey League ( GMHL ) is a Canadian developmental junior ice hockey league. The league has primarily had teams in

561-721: The Seguin Huskies . The Force and Schooners both folded during the season without winning a game. After one season following the Islanders merge, the Seguin Huskies folded in 2018. The GMHL also added two teams originally in the Canadian Premier Junior Hockey League in the Niagara-on-the-Lake Nationals and Ottawa Sharpshooters for 2018–19. The Wiarton Schooners returned but folded midseason for

594-738: The 2013–14 season, and were renamed the Shelburne Stars. However, the Stars did not play in 2014–15 and changed their name to the Shelburne Sharks and began play in 2015–16. In May 2015, the Rama Aces took a leave of absence but never returned. In November 2015, the Brantford Steelfighters suspended their operations after 18 games. The Shelburne Sharks returned as the Shelburne Stars in June 2016, but

627-457: The Battle Creek Revolution won their first Rod Davidson Cup. Over the course of the league's history, various All American Hockey League teams have had affiliations with the ECHL (higher affiliate), IHL (higher affiliate), CHL (higher affiliate), and Greater Metro Junior A Hockey League (lower affiliate). member not member The Rod Davidson Cup was awarded to the annual playoff champion. It

660-616: The GMJHL announced its affiliation with the World Hockey Association and creation of the National Junior Hockey Alliance . The affiliation resulted in a national championship between the GMJHL playoff champion and the winner of the WHA Junior West Hockey League after the 2006–07 season. The first ever regular season of the GMJHL concluded on February 25, 2007 with the Bradford Rattlers leading

693-521: The Hockeyworks' World Hockey Centre near Shelburne, Ontario to take part in the league's first tryout camp. As of September 2006, it became clear that the league would operate its first season with seven teams. The original seven were the Bradford Rattlers , Deseronto Thunder , King Wild , Nipissing Alouettes , Richmond Hill Rams , South Muskoka Shield , and Toronto Canada Moose . The league's first ever game took place on September 8, 2006 between

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726-532: The National Junior Hockey League (NJHL). Bolded are overall regular season champions. Bolded are overall champions, Italics are finalist. Since 2009, the GMHL has had a mid-season prospect tournament. Generally, the top seven teams of the league compete in the tournament with an eighth team, the GMHL Selects representing the other teams in the league. The 2012 tournament featured both

759-534: The expansion Detroit Hitmen moved west to Muskegon, Michigan mid-season, and were re-christened the West Michigan Blizzard . On April 15, 2010, the Evansville IceMen won the AAHL's Rod Davidson Cup (originally "Champions Cup" during the inaugural AAHA season) by beating the West Michigan Blizzard four games to one. In June 2010, the IceMen AAHL franchise suspended operations when Evansville acquired

792-639: The league and ceased operations. On December 29, 2010, it was announced that the Indiana Blizzard were ceasing operations and the Chi-Town Shooters were returning for the remainder of the season, taking over all the Blizzard's players, as well as their current record. Despite keeping the "Chi-Town" moniker, they were based in Dyer, Indiana, instead of Chicago. On January 3, 2011, the Lapeer Loggers were taken over by

825-613: The league. Within days, the Bruins and Storm both ceased operations. Players from these three teams were brought together under the name Michigan Moose. The Moose, coached by AAHL commissioner Rod Davidson, were based in Battle Creek and played their home games in Revolution Arena, the same arena as the rival Battle Creek Revolution. In February 2011, the Moose ceased operations. In March 2011,

858-638: The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and no champion was named. The following 2020–21 season did not take place as scheduled due to pandemic restrictions in Ontario and Quebec, with six teams playing only two games each in December 2020. The four teams in the GMHL West were able to play a partial season and a playoff in May 2021. In 2023, all teams from the GMHL West were removed by the league, which then formed their own league called

891-635: The season. The Orangeville Ice Crushers would also suspend operations in January 2017 and all remaining games against Orangeville were considered forfeits. For 2017–18, the league added the Fergus Force, Ville-Marie Pirates, Wiarton Schooners, and Windsor Aces while losing the Toronto Attack . In late August 2017, the Parry Sound Islanders announced they were taking a leave of absence and merged with

924-634: The second consecutive season, and third consecutive midseason GMHL team folding in the town of Wiarton. In 2019, the league added the Western Provinces Hockey Association (WPHA) as a Western Division in the GMHL for the 2019–20 season, which then rebranded as the GMHL West. The WPHA had played the previous season in the Western States Hockey League as the Provinces Division. The 2020 playoffs were then curtailed by

957-771: The team folded soon afterwards. The Sturgeon Falls Lumberjacks re-branded as the West Nipissing Lynx, but remained in Sturgeon Falls. Early into the 2016–17 season, the Toronto Blue Ice Jets were removed from the schedule in the first week, the Bracebridge Blues in the fifth week, the Komoka Dragons in the seventh week, the Lincoln Mavericks in the twelfth week, and Wiarton Rock in the fifteenth week of

990-548: The team was transferred to the town. The team is now known as the Deseronto Storm . On December 11, 2007, the GMJHL announced a seven-game challenge series versus a Russian team known as the Moscow Selects. In late December and early January, the top seven teams of the GMJHL will compete against the Moscow Selects—a mixture of top Top Junior talent from the City of Moscow . The Selects played seven games, against Bradford, Innisfil, Temiscaming, Elliot Lake, Richmond Hill, Deseronto, and South Muskoka, winning each game. In March 2008,

1023-562: The way as regular season champs with a record of 37 wins, 1 regulation loss, and 4 overtime losses. In the playoffs, the Rattlers beat the Deseronto Thunder in six games, and then the King Wild in five games to win the first ever Russell Cup as playoff champions. In September 2007, the GMJHL started its second season with six new teams, the Douro Dukes , Elliot Lake Bobcats , Espanola Kings , Innisfil Lakers , Tamworth Cyclones , and Temiscaming Royals . The Deseronto Thunder ran into financial trouble after their first season and ownership of

All American Hockey League (2008–2011) - Misplaced Pages Continue

1056-416: Was busier than ever in 2014. The Mattawa Voyageurs moved to Sundridge to make way for an NOJHL team. The Powassan Eagles moved to Parry Sound to make way for an NOJHL team. The league expanded rapidly with a total of 15 new teams in the off-season of 2014 and 2015. There was a total of 30 teams, with a total of six teams playing in the same market (two teams per town). The Shelburne Red Wings were sold after

1089-486: Was known as the "Champions Cup" during the inaugural AAHA season, with the name change coming during the league's first season operating as the AAHL. The winners were: On February 14, 2009, Kira Hurley of the Evansville IceMen became the first female goalie to register a point in a men's professional game. Because of this achievement, Kira is featured in the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto , Ontario , Canada . Kira's game memorabilia (goalie stick and game-worn jersey)

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