The Bridgewater Bandits, also called the Boston Bandits, are a

junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * ''Junior'' (Junior Mance album), 1959 * ''Junior'' (Röyksopp album), 2009 * ''Junior'' (Kaki King album), 2010 * ''Junior'' (LaFontaines album), 2019 Films * ''Junior'' (1994 ...

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

organization from

Bridgewater, Massachusetts Bridgewater is a town located in Plymouth County, in the state of Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, the town's population was 28,633. Bridgewater is located approximately south of Boston and approximately 35 miles east ...

, in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, with teams playing in the

United States Premier Hockey League The United States Premier Hockey League (USPHL) is an American ice hockey league. Founded in 2012, the USPHL has grown to over 60 organizations from across the United States fielding teams in the National Collegiate Development Conference (NCDC), ...

. The organization plays home games at the Bridgewater Ice Arena.

History

The Boston Bandits organization had a team in the Tier III

Eastern Junior Hockey League The Eastern Junior Hockey League (EJHL) was a USA Hockey-sanctioned Tier III Junior A ice hockey league. Founded in 1993 by Dan Esdale, the EJHL had fourteen teams from across the Northeastern United States. The EJHL champion then competed for th ...

(EJHL) from 1996 until its dissolution in 2013. The Bandits would then join the

Atlantic Junior Hockey League The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Africa, Europe and ...

which would reorganize and become the

Eastern Hockey League The Eastern Hockey League was a minor professional United States ice hockey league. Eastern Amateur Hockey League (1933–1953) The league was founded in 1933 as the Eastern Amateur Hockey League (EAHL). The league was founded by Tommy Lockhart, ...

(EHL) for the 2013–14 season. The Bandits organization also fields teams in the lower level USPHL Premier Division, as well as youth hockey select teams at the Bantam, Peewee, and Squirt and various other levels. The Premier team originally played in the Empire Junior B Hockey League until 2013 and then the

Metropolitan Junior Hockey League The Metropolitan Junior Hockey League was an American Tier III Junior ice hockey league with teams throughout the eastern United States. The MJHL was part of the Atlantic Metropolitan Hockey League organization. Founded in 1966 by New York Rang ...

(MetJHL) from 2013 to 2015 at which point the EHL added the Elite Division and the former EHL teams were all promoted to the Premier Division. The MetJHL team then joined the EHL-Elite Division. In 2017, the Bandits' organization left the EHL for the

(USPHL). The USPHL was planning to launch the Tier II level league, which became the National Collegiate Development Conference (NCDC), for the 2017–18 season. However, the USPHL was denied the Tier II status by

USA Hockey USA Hockey is the national ice hockey organization in the United States. It is recognized by the International Olympic Committee and the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee as the Sport governing body, governing body for organized ice ...

and the junior league went independent. The top level Bandits team joined the NCDC and the developmental team joined the Premier Division. The Bandits sold their NCDC franchise to the

Philadelphia Hockey Club Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

for the 2020–21 season. The organization was then sold to

Scott Harlow Scott Christopher Harlow (born October 11, 1963) is an American retired professional ice hockey left winger who played one game in the NHL with the St. Louis Blues during the 1987–88 NHL season. Harlow was selected in the 3rd round (61st overa ...

in December 2019 and the organization reverted to the Bridgewater Bandits identity beginning with the 2020–21 season.

Season-by-season records

References

External links

Bandits website
Ice hockey teams in Massachusetts Sports in Plymouth County, Massachusetts Bridgewater, Massachusetts 1996 establishments in Massachusetts Ice hockey clubs established in 1996 {{Massachusetts-sport-team-stub