The American West Hockey League was a US-Based Tier III Junior league which was founded in 2011. The leagues teams were located in the states of Montana and Wyoming. The league was also affiliated with USA Hockey. The leagues website states a link to the previous version of the league, which was merged into the North American Hockey League in 2003, as several of the cities are represented in both versions of the league. The league was formed when five teams (Billings, Bozeman, Helena, Missoula, and the expansion Great Falls franchise) from the Northern Pacific Hockey League (Nor-Pac) withdrew to form the AWHL. The league added the Gillette Wild after the league was announce. The league added the Yellowstone Quake out of Cody, Wyoming to the roster for the 2012-13 season.
In March 2014, the league announced that it had merged with the North American 3 Hockey League. It will form the Frontier Division of the league. All of the league's teams were included in the merger.
Teams[]
| Team | City | Arena | Seasons | Fate |
| Billings Bulls | Billings, Montana | Centennial Ice Arena | 2011-2014 | join North American 3 Hockey League |
| Bozeman Icedogs | Bozeman, Montana | Haynes Pavilion | 2011-2014 | join North American 3 Hockey League |
| Gillette Wild | Gillette, Wyoming | Campbell County Ice Arena | 2011-2014 | join North American 3 Hockey League |
| Great Falls Americans | Great Falls, Montana | Great Falls Ice Plex | 2011-2014 | join North American 3 Hockey League |
| Helena Bighorns | Helena, Montana | Helena Ice Arena | 2011-2014 | join North American 3 Hockey League |
| Missoula Maulers | Missoula, Montana | Glacier Ice Rink | 2011-2012 | join Western States Hockey League |
| Glacier Nationals | Whitefish, Montana | Stumptown Ice Den | 2012-2014 | join North American 3 Hockey League |
| Yellowstone Quake | Cody, Wyoming | Victor J. Riley Arena | 2012-2014 | join North American 3 Hockey League |
Champions[]
Sources[]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_West_Hockey_League