United Hockey Union

In 2011, the AAU expressed interest in sanctioning junior ice hockey leagues. Until this time, USA Hockey was the only governing body of ice hockey in the United States and is still the only organization recognized by the International Ice Hockey Federation.

In the summer of 2011, the Western States Hockey League (WSHL) defected from USA Hockey to join the AAU. As a test case, their 2011–12 season went without a hitch. In 2012, they were joined by the Northern States Junior Hockey League (NSHL) and the Midwest Junior Hockey League (MWJHL). At this point, their partnership, under AAU supervision, was named the United Hockey Union.

The UHU finished off the 2012–13 hockey season with the first-ever UHU National Junior Hockey Championship. The UHU Championship went to the WSHL's Idaho Jr. Steelheads in its inaugural run, with the Steelheads going undefeated in a six-team tournament held in Las Vegas, Nevada in April 2013.

In May 2014, the UHU added a fourth league, the Canadian International Hockey League (CIHL).{{cite web |url=http://www.juniorhockey.com/news/news_detail.php?news_id=82471 |title=AAU's United Hockey Union Formally Approves CIHL |date=May 24, 2014 |website=Junior Hockey News}} In July 2014, the Canadian Independent Junior Hockey League (CIJHL){{cite web |url=http://www.juniorhockey.com/news/news_detail.php?news_id=82713 |title=CIJHL Formally Submits Application to Join the AAU |date=July 12, 2014 |website=Junior Hockey News}} of British Columbia applied for AAU sanctioning as well, but despite the sanctioning, the league shuttered its doors in September without playing a single game.

On September 10, 2014, the NSHL left the AAU umbrella. On November 10, the CIHL also left the AAU umbrella over insurance and expansion disagreements. In turn, half the CIHL broke away and formed the World United Hockey League as UHU members. In March 2015, the MWJHL announced it was joining the United States Premier Hockey League (a USA Hockey-sanctioned league) as part of its new Midwest Division starting in the 2015–16 season.{{cite web |url=http://www.usphl.com/news_article/show/488961?referrer_id=1452697 |title=Midwest Junior Hockey League Joins USPHL Mid-West Junior Hockey Division |publisher=USPHL |date=March 10, 2015 |access-date=March 31, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402132621/http://www.usphl.com/news_article/show/488961?referrer_id=1452697 |archive-date=April 2, 2015 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}

In 2015, the AAU announced that WSHL had been promoted to "Tier II" and that it was adding a "Tier III" prospect league for WSHL development teams called the Western Prospects League.{{cite web |url=http://www.wshl.pointstreaksites.com/view/westernstateshockeyleague/news-851/news_302715 |title=WSHL to Become Tier II Hockey League Share |publisher=WSHL |date=May 21, 2015}} Despite using the USA Hockey sanctioning terms of Tier II and III, the UHU-sanctioned leagues continued to operate under pay-to-play terms (called tuition) similar to USA Hockey Tier III or Hockey Canada Junior A guidelines.

In 2016, the UHU added two new junior hockey leagues; the Canadian Premier Junior Hockey League{{cite web |url=http://ohlwriters.me/2016/03/21/the-new-kid-on-the-block-canadian-premier-junior-hockey-league/ |title=The New Kid on the Block: Canadian Premier Junior Hockey League |publisher=OHL Writers |date=March 21, 2016}} and the National College Prospects Hockey League,{{cite web |url=http://www.ncphl.com/about |title=NCPHL About |publisher=NCPHL |access-date=April 18, 2016}} The CPJHL planned to have no more than 12 teams centered around Barrie, Ontario, for the 2016–17 season and would start the season with eight teams. The NCPHL began its season with six teams. With the launch of these two leagues and several WSHL teams' affiliating with the NCPHL, it appeared the Western Prospects League had been dissolved.

On September 5, 2016, the UHU announced they would be launching a free-to-play Tier I league for the 2017–18 season. The new league was to consist of six founding teams affiliated with the current Tier II and Tier III leagues. On September 12, the new league was announced as the Central One Hockey League (C1HL) and composed of six WSHL organizations: the Colorado Jr. Eagles, Casper Coyotes, El Paso Rhinos, Ogden Mustangs, Oklahoma City Blazers, and the Springfield Express,{{cite web |url=http://www.elpasoproud.com/sports/rhinos-announce-new-tier-1-hockey-team |title=Rhinos Announce New Tier 1 Hockey Team |date=September 13, 2016 |website=El Paso Proud}}{{cite web |url=http://kfor.com/2016/09/14/re-formed-chl-returning-to-okc/ |title=Re-Formed CHL Returning To OKC |date=September 14, 2016 |publisher=KFOR-TV}}{{cite web |url=http://trib.com/news/local/casper/casper-coyotes-rise-to-top-level-of-amateur-hockey/article_78952365-6b02-5e1c-a640-2c9eaec936f8.html |title=Casper Coyotes rise to top level of amateur hockey |date=September 18, 2016 |website=Casper Star Tribune}} although Ogden was later removed. However, sometime in early 2017, the C1HL website was taken down, replaced near the end of the year, and removed again in March 2018. Some teams have since mentioned that the launch of the C1HL had been postponed to the 2018–19 season.{{cite web |url=http://www.okcityhockey.com/news/blazers-announce-operational-change |title=Blazers Announce Operational Change |publisher=Oklahoma City Blazers |date=May 15, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180711163310/http://www.okcityhockey.com/news/blazers-announce-operational-change |archive-date=July 11, 2018}} The UHU has also announced plans to launch a western Canada-based Tier II league in 2018, called the Western Provinces Hockey Association (WPHA),{{cite web |url=https://wpha.ca/ |title=WPHA homepage |publisher=WPHA |access-date=March 22, 2018}} that began play as the Provinces Division of the WSHL in 2018–19. After one season, the WPHA's relationship with the WSHL dissolved and the WPHA teams left for the Ontatio-based Greater Metro Junior A Hockey League.{{Cite web |url=https://leaderpost.com/sports/hockey/hintons-wpha-hockey-fate-could-be-decided-in-court-2/wcm/b8e576df-239e-4bf1-8ec1-e04d44178743 |title=Hinton’s WPHA hockey fate could be decided in court |website=Regina Leader-Post |date=June 7, 2019}}{{cite web |url=https://gmhl.net/article.php?article_id=57383 |title=The GMHL to Expand to Western Canada |date=June 13, 2019 |website=GMHL}}

In the 2019–20 season, both the UHU's junior leagues had to cancel their postseasons due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic limiting travel and arena availability. The WSHL subsequently lost 11 teams to the United States Premier Hockey League (which had left USA Hockey sanctioning in 2017){{Cite web |url=https://www.usphl.com/news_article/show/1101391 |title=United States Premier Hockey League Adds Eight New West Coast Member Organizations |website=USPHL |date=April 17, 2020}} and the North American 3 Hockey League.{{Cite web |url=https://www.okcityhockey.com/okc-joins-na3hl-begins-play-in-2020-21-season |title=OKC Joins NA3HL; Begins Play in 2020-21 Season |website=Oklahoma City Blazers |date=May 19, 2020}}{{cite web |url=https://www.elpasorhinos.com/rhinos-to-join-the-na3hl-and-nahl |title=Rhinos to Join the NA3HL and NAHL |publisher=El Paso Rhinos |access-date=June 15, 2020}} In May 2020, the WSHL also announced they had cancelled their 2020–21 season due to the pandemic.{{Cite web |url=http://www.wshl.org/news/2020-2021-wshl-season |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200607203422/http://www.wshl.org/news/2020-2021-wshl-season |url-status=usurped |archive-date=June 7, 2020 |title=2020-2021 WSHL Season |website=WSHL |date=May 26, 2020}}

• Canadian Independent Junior Hockey League (2014; announced, but never played)
• Canadian International Hockey League (2014; became an independent league in November 2014 and ceased operations after one season)
• Central One Hockey League (2016; announced for 2017–18, but never launched)
• Midwest Junior Hockey League (2013–15; joined the USPHL as part of the new USPHL-Midwest Division)
• National College Prospects Hockey League (2016–17; were removed from the UHU as a junior program and then described itself as a "junior-aged academic" league)
• National Collegiate Hockey Association (2014–17; a college league that was sanctioned by the UHU for some time{{Cite web|url = http://unitedhockeyunion.pointstreaksites.com/view/unitedhockeyunion/news-1079/news_161961|title = United Hockey Union Welcomes NCHA |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141220193820/http://unitedhockeyunion.pointstreaksites.com/view/unitedhockeyunion/news-1079/news_161961 |archive-date=20 December 2014|date = 18 July 2014|website = United Hockey Union}} but was removed from their list of leagues in 2017)
• Northern States Junior Hockey League (2012–14; became NA3EHL in October 2014){{Cite web|url = http://na3ehl.com/news/story.cfm?id=12428|title = NAHL announces the formation of the NA3EHL|date = 17 October 2014|website = NA3EHL}}
• Tropical Elite Hockey League (2012; announced, but never played){{Cite web|url = http://www.juniorhockey.com/news/news_detail.php?news_id=76163|title = Phony SEAL, Phony League?|date = 27 August 2012|website = Junior Hockey News}}
• Western Prospects League (2015–16; Tier III level prospect league for the newly promoted Tier II Western States Hockey League; replaced by the National College Prospects League as the WSHL's developmental league in 2016)
• World United Hockey League (2014–15; split from the CIHL in 2014 when it dropped UHU-sanctioning in November 2014; announced new teams for 2015–16 season but never played a game)

|}

{{reflist}}

• [http://www.unitedhockeyunion.com/ United Hockey Union]
• [http://aauice.rsportz.com AAU Ice Hockey]
• [http://www.cpjhl.com CPJHL]{{dead link|date=March 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}
• {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20001109095000/http://wshl.org/ WSHL]}}

{{Junior Hockey}}

Category:Junior ice hockey governing bodies in Canada

Category:Junior ice hockey governing bodies in the United States

Category:Junior ice hockey in Canada

Category:Junior ice hockey in the United States

Category:Ice hockey in Canada

Category:Ice hockey in the United States

Category:Sports organizations established in 2012

Category:2012 establishments in the United States