USPHL Premier

• 2022-2023: Northern Cyclones
• 2021-2022: New Jersey Rockets
• 2020-2021: Charlotte Rush
• 2018-2019: Hampton Roads Whalers
• 2017-2018: Hampton Roads Whalers

The United States Premier Hockey League (USPHL), the Eastern Elite Junior Hockey League and Empire Junior Hockey League have agreed to merge operations into the USPHL.
The USPHL will maintain its current nine-team Premier Junior Division and its 16U and 18U Midget Levels and add USPHL Elite and USPHL Empire Divisions to bring the total USPHL League count to five divisions. Upon completion of this process, the USPHL membership will consist of approximately 30 members fielding over 70 teams with a geographic reach that spans the complete Eastern Seaboard.
The merger with the Eastern Elite provides an expansion of the USPHL junior hockey footprint to the Southeastern United States, from Virginia to Florida.
The purpose of this merger is to extend the USPHL player development model to the rapidly growing southern hockey marketplace through eight extremely successful organizations.
Members of the Eastern Elite Division will participate in USPHL Showcases and play the northern USPHL Elite clubs in league play. This format will allow the USPHL southern franchises extensive exposure to NCAA and NHL scouts currently enjoyed by the USPHL. The USPHL Elite Division will also stage a divisional All-Star Game in conjunction with the USPHL Premier Division All-Star Classic.
The merger with the Empire Junior Hockey League consolidates the Empire League into a structure which will provide clarity and efficiency in the Eastern Seaboard Junior market. The Empire merger is a natural extension of the USPHL/Eastern Elite merger and will provide all existing Empire Junior League teams their best opportunity to showcase their talents to NCAA hockey programs in the East.The league was originally founded as having three divisions (Premier, U18 and U16) but on June 6, 2013, it was announced that the USPHL would absorb the Empire Jr. Hockey League and the newly formed Eastern Elite Hockey League. With the additions, the USPHL added 16 organizations to the original 15.

On March 7, 2014, the USPHL announced the formation of the U16 Futures (U16F) Division. The division is guided for players who aspire to play midget hockey but are not yet ready for the U16 Division. Eleven organizations field teams in the U16F Division for the 2014-15 season.

During the 2014 off-season the USPHL lost the New York Applecore (empire) but added the Providence Capitals (Elite & U16), Jersey Shore Whalers (Empire), and the Richmond Generals (Elite, Empire) organizations to increase the total number of organizations to 35 headed into the 2014-15 season.

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