| Missoula Bruins | |
 | |
| City: | Missoula, Montana |
|---|---|
| League: | North American 3 Hockey League |
| Division: | Frontier |
| Founded: | 2016 |
| Home Arena: | Glacier Ice Rink |
| Colors: | Red and Whtie |
| Owner(s): | Jason and Liz DiMatteo |
| General Manager: | Marcus Baxter |
| Head Coach: | Marcus Baxter |
| Media: | The Missoula Standard |
| Franchise history | |
| 2016-Present: | Missoula Bruins |
The Missoula Bruins are an expansion team in the North American 3 Hockey League (NA3HL). They are slated to begin play with the 2016-17 NA3HL Season. The team was announced by the Missoula Area Youth Hockey Association on May 21, 2016 (after rumors had surfaced in the previous few weeks). The league formally announced the addition of the team to the league on May 31st.
The team signed a lease with the Glacier Ice Rink while the Western States Hockey League's (WSHL) Missoula Maulers were still tenants in the building. Reports online indicate that this may be the first of several battles between the USA Hockey-sanctioned NA3HL and the Amateur Athletic Union-sanctioned WSHL; as the leagues' footprints overlap. The WSHL team's owner had reached an impasse with the arena management on a new lease in the building and the Bruins organization had been approved as an expansion team by the NA3HL. The owner of the Missoula Maulers had folded the team around May 13th.