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This is the 2015-16 North American Hockey League season.  This is the league's 32st season under this name and 41st dating back to its founding in 1975 as the Great Lakes Junior Hockey League when the Michigan Junior Hockey League and the Wolverine Junior Hockey League merged.  Each of the 22 teams in the league's four divisions - the Central, East, Midwest and South- will play 60 regular season games. The 13th annual NAHL Showcase Tournament will be held from September 23-26, 2015 at the Schwan Super Rink in Blaine, Minnesota.

On October 22, 2015  a press conference was held in Shreveport, Louisiana to announce the addition of the Shreveport Mudbugs.  The previous Mudbugs teams was founded in 1997 and played in the Central Hockey League until folding in 2011.  The Hirsch Colisuem is undergoing a $1.5 million upgrade and will once again have an ice surface.  The new team will commence play with the start of the 2016-17 season.

In April of 2016 the league announced the addition of the Northeast Generals who will be based out of the New England Sports Village in Attleboro, Massachusetts, a suburb between Boston and Providence.  As part of the team's introdution it was stated that the team was planning on playing some games at Walter Brown Arena on the campus of Boston University and at Matthews Arena on the campus of Northeastern University. The organization was established for the 2015-16 playing in the North American 3 Eastern Hockey League based out of Canton, Massachusetts.  This team will continue for the 2016-17 in the North American 3 Hockey League, which absorbed the NA3EHL. No word on if that team will stay in Canton or relocate to the facility in Attleboro.


Rule changes[]

The league adopted the 3-on-3 overtime format with a 3 round shoot out (down from 4-on-4 and a 5 round shootout).  These match the changes made by the NHL for the 2015-16 season.  The changes were made due to 20% (144 of 720) of the games in 2014-15 going to overtime and 64.5% (93 of 144) of the overtime games going to a shootout.

Membership Changes[]

Current teams[]

The 2015-16 season has 22 teams playing in 4 divisions:

Standings[]

Central Division
Team GP W L T OL SL GF GA PIM P
Bismarck Bobcats 60 37 19 - 4 - 185 133 927 78
Minot Minotauros 60 35 19 - 6 - 185 158 1106 76
Austin Bruins 60 29 27 - 4 - 181 168 1215 62
Brookings Blizzard 60 25 29 - 6 - 149 200 985 56
Minnesota Magicians 60 24 28 - 8 - 164 198 939 56
Aberdeen Wings 60 22 27 - 11 - 131 171 879 55
Midwest Division
Team GP W L T OL SL GF GA PIM P
Fairbanks Ice Dogs 60 49 8 - 3 - 251 116 1081 101
Janesville Jets 60 35 18 - 7 - 181 150 810 77
Minnesota Wilderness 60 34 18 - 8 - 183 161 931 76
Coulee Region Chill 60 33 26 - 1 - 177 165 883 67
Springfield Jr. Blues 60 29 25 - 6 - 155 164 770 64
Kenai River Brown Bears 60 4 51 - 5 - 109 292 1351 13
East Division
Team GP W L T OL SL GF GA PIM P
Aston Rebels 60 35 21 - 4 - 196 146 1260 74
New Jersey Junior Titans 60 34 22 - 4 - 187 156 1308 72
Johnstown Tomahawks 60 31 24 - 5 - 197 200 1502 67
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Knights 60 22 28 - 10 - 159 232 1284 54
South Division
Team GP W L T OL SL GF GA PIM P
Wichita Falls Wildcats 60 44 11 - 5 - 224 141 1093 93
Lone Star Brahmas 60 39 12 - 9 - 186 136 1217 87
Topeka RoadRunners 60 34 24 - 2 - 190 154 1044 70
Odessa Jackalopes 60 27 29 - 4 - 185 218 1315 58
Corpus Christi IceRays 60 25 29 - 6 - 139 170 1145 56
Amarillo Bulls 60 13 43 - 4 - 133 218 1211 30

Robertson Cup Playoffs[]

Format[]

The top four teams in each division qualify for the playoffs.  The first seed plays the fourth seed and the second seed plays the third seed in the best-of-five division semifinals.  The division semifinal winners meet in a best-of-five series to determine the division champion.  The four divisonal champions will meet May 12-15, 2016 at the Braemar Arena in Edina, Minnesota to determine the Robertson Cup Championship.  The teams will be seeded by regular season record with the first seed playing the fourth and second playing third in a best-of-three semifinal series held May 12th-14th.  The semifinal winners will meet in the championship game on May 15th.  As this is the only Tier-II junior hockey league in the United States there is no further playoff beyond the league championship.

East Division Semifinals[]

South Division Semifinals[]

Central Division Semifinals[]

Midwest Division Semifinals[]

East Division Final[]

South Division Final[]

Central Division Final[]

Midwest Division Final[]

Robertson Cup Semifinals[]

Robertson Cup Final[]

2016 NAHL champions Fairbanks Ice Dogs

2016 NAHL champions Fairbanks Ice Dogs

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