The Northern Premier Hockey League is a senior ice hockey league with 25 franchises spread throughout 2 member leagues based in Eastern Ontario and the Windsor area.
History
The EOSHL became a sanctioned Senior "A" league in 2003. In 2005, the league was promoted to Senior "AAA" to compete against the Major League Hockey (MLH) league and have a chance to win the Allan Cup. In 2006, the league dropped from six to four teams.
During the 2007-08 season, a new team known as the Cooks Bay Canucks joined the league. Although successful on the ice, the Canucks underwent two name changes in the same season. The team started the season as the Cooks Bay Canucks, but was soon renamed to the Simcoe County Canucks. The Canucks made the playoffs and before game two of the league semi-final, they announced another name change to the Simcoe County Tundras, with new logos, and completely different jerseys and team colours.
The Eastern Ontario Senior Hockey League merged with Major League Hockey in 2008, when AAA-level senior hockey in the OHA shrunk to only five teams.
The league split off from Allan Cup Hockey and incorporated as the Eastern Ontario Super Hockey League (EOSHL) ahead of the 2019–20 season with 4 teams: Cornwall Senior Prowlers, West Carleton Rivermen, Maxville Millionaires and Deseronto Bulldogs.
In 2024, the EOSHL added 2 new teams: Westport Lumberjacks and Lindsay Barncats, and relocated its new Manotick and Pontiac franchises.
By April 2024, the EOSHL came under new ownership by Jon Zinck and Joshua Rowlands and was subsequently rebranded to the Northern Premier Hockey League (NPHL). All of the prior EOSHL franchises were reorganized into the NPHL umbrella as the Capital League. 2025 also saw the relocation of the new Akwesasne, Tamworth, and Shawville franchises, and the introduction of 2 new teams to the Capital League: County Royals and Durham Devils.
In 2025, the NPHL also added a second league under its umbrella, the Metropolitan League, in the Windsor, Ontario area.
Teams (Capital League)
The Capital League has 17 teams as of the 2025-26 NPHL season.
+ Capital League Teams Division Team Location Home Arena East Conference Frontier Division Akwesasne Wild Kawehnò:ke (Cornwall Island), Akwesasne, ON A'nowara'ko:wa Arena (“Turtle Dome”) North Dundas Rockets Chesterville, ON Chesterville & District Arena Smiths Falls Rideaus Smiths Falls, ON Smiths Falls Memorial Community Centre South Grenville Rangers Prescott, ON Alaine Chartrand Arena South Stormont Mustangs South Stormont, ON Long Sault Arena Pioneer Division Arnprior Rivermen Arnprior, ON Nick Smith Centre Madawaska Valley Wolves Barry's Bay, ON Paul J. Yakabuski Community Centre Paugan Falls Rapids Low, QC Gatineau Valley Arena Shawville Pontiacs Shawville, QC Shawville Arena West Conference Heritage Division Deseronto Bulldogs Deseronto, ON Deseronto Community Recreation Centre Tamworth Sabres Tamworth, ON Stone Mills Recreation Centre Tweed Oil Kings Tweed, ON Tweed-Hungerford Community Centre Westport Lumberjacks Westport, ON Westport Community Arena Highlands Division The County Royals Picton / Wellington, ON Prince Edward Community Centre / Wellington & District Community Centre Durham Hawks Clarington, ON South Courtice Arena Lindsay Barncats Lindsay, ON Lindsay Recreation Centre Norwood Rams Norwood, ON Asphodel-Norwood Community Centre
Teams (Metropolitan League)
The Metropolitan League has 8 teams as of the 2025-26 NPHL season.
+ Metropolitan League Teams Division Team Location Home Arena North Conference Loyalist Division Brant County Riverhawks Burford, ON Burford Community Centre Halton Hills Coyotes Acton, ON Acton Community Centre Six Nations Ironmen Ohsweken, ON Gaylord Powless Arena Woodstock Lakers Woodstock, ON Southwood Arena South Conference Gateway Division Alvinston Killer Bees Brooke-Alvinston, ON Brooke-Alvinston-Inwood Community Centre Stratford Irish Stratford, ON William Allman Memorial Arena Strathroy Jets Strathroy, ON Gemini Sportsplex Tilbury Bluebirds Tilbury, ON Tilbury and District Memorial Community Centre
Champions
2008 Whitby Dunlops 2007 Whitby Dunlops 2006 Whitby Dunlops 2005 Norwood Vipers 2004 Belleville Macs
Bolded teams were the winners of the J. Ross Robertson Cup as Ontario Hockey Association champions.
League Map
References
Further reading
External links
[https://www.nphlhockey.ca// NPHL official Website