September 6, 2024
The United States Premier Hockey League season begins with Game 1 of the Premier schedule at 8:30 p.m. EST, between the Cincinnati Jr. Cyclones. and the Columbus Mavericks at Ohio Chiller North Rink 1.
This is, for many players, the first step on the Pathway To College Hockey. Each Premier player will make their name known to college coaches and scouts from today through March. The 73 Premier teams will play in a total of 1,614 regular season contests spanning from Quebec down to Florida, across to California and up to Washington state and just about everywhere in between.
In the 2023-24 season, over 320 USPHL Premier players and alumni progressed to NCAA, ACHA, and AAU colleges. Since their inception in 2017-18, the Premier and Elite conferences together have seen more than 5,000 players advance to college hockey, with over 30 players reaching the NCAA Division I level.
USPHL Premier 2024-25 Highlights
- Showcases: USPHL Premier teams will take part in 11 USPHL Showcase Series events this year, with events taking place in each month of the regular season. Additionally, the USPHL Premier will have representation in the 2024 NCDC/USPHL Premier All-Star Event in Foxboro, Mass., Jan. 27-28. The USPHL National Championships will take place March 20-24 in Wayne, N.J.
- Schedule: USPHL Premier teams will play 44 games each; however, the Pacific Division will have a 46-game schedule.
- New Division: The new Canada Division features College Universel Gatineau, College Universel Sherbrooke, the Montreal Black Vees, Hawkesbury Knights, Kingston Wranglers and Somang Laurentides Lanaudiere HC.
- New Additions: There are several additional new teams joining the USPHL Premier ranks this year. In the Northwest, the Bremerton Sockeyes, Iron County Yeti and Colorado Fighting Elk are new to the league. In the Pacific Division, we welcome the Long Beach Bombers and Ventura Vikings. The Fresh Coast Freeze are new to the league in the Great Lakes Division, and in the Atlantic, we welcome the Red Bank Generals, Mercer Chiefs and West Chester Wolves. In the New England Division, the Thunder Hockey Club, Boston Jr. Rangers and Railers Junior Hockey Club have joined the league. The Northwest Express (former Minnesota Moose) have relocated to Spooner, Wis., the Henderson Force (former Las Vegas Thunderbirds) will take the ice in Henderson, Nev.; and the Red River Spartans (formerly the Nashville Spartans) have relocated to Clarksville, Tenn.
