The Danbury Jr. Hat Tricks are a

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 ...

-sanctioned

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 based in

Danbury, Connecticut Danbury is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States, located approximately northeast of New York City. Danbury's population as of 2022 was 87,642. It is the seventh largest city in Connecticut. Danbury is nicknamed the "Hat City ...

. The organization has junior teams in the Tier II

North American Hockey League The North American Hockey League (NAHL) is one of the top junior hockey leagues in the United States and is in its 48th season of operation in 2022–23. It is the only Tier II junior league sanctioned by USA Hockey, and acts as an alternati ...

and the Tier III

North American 3 Hockey League The North American 3 Hockey League (NA3HL) is an American Junior ice hockey#Tier III, Tier III junior ice hockey league that consists of teams from Connecticut, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, M ...

, both of which play home games at the

Danbury Ice Arena The Danbury Ice Arena is a multi-purpose arena in Danbury, Connecticut, that can seat about 3,000. It was built in 1999 with renovation and expansion in 2004. The Danbury Arena was the home of the Danbury Trashers of the United Hockey League f ...

. The teams are named after and operated the ownership of the

Danbury Hat Tricks The Danbury Hat Tricks are a professional ice hockey team based in Danbury, Connecticut. The team is a member of the Federal Prospects Hockey League and plays at the Danbury Ice Arena. History The Danbury Hat Tricks were announced as a member o ...

, a minor professional team in the

Federal Prospects Hockey League The Federal Prospects Hockey League (FPHL) is a professional ice hockey independent minor league with teams in the Midwestern, Southern, and Northeastern United States. The FPHL began operations in November 2010 as the Federal Hockey League. Do ...

that was founded in 2019.

History

Since its renovation in 2004, the

had hosted several minor league professional hockey teams with varying levels of success. The last had been the

Danbury Titans The Danbury Titans were a professional ice hockey team based in Danbury, Connecticut. Replacing the Danbury Whalers, the team was founded as an expansion team in the Federal Hockey League. They played their home games at the Danbury Ice Arena. H ...

of the

Federal Hockey League The Federal Prospects Hockey League (FPHL) is a professional ice hockey independent minor league with teams in the Midwestern, Southern, and Northeastern United States. The FPHL began operations in November 2010 as the Federal Hockey League. D ...

(FHL), which folded in 2017 due to the cost of

workers' compensation Workers' compensation or workers' comp is a form of insurance providing wage replacement and medical benefits to employees injured in the course of employment in exchange for mandatory relinquishment of the employee's right to sue his or her emp ...

insurance being more than the team was making. In 2019, the arena was sold to Diamond Properties (DP 110, LLC), who then bought two franchises to play in their arena for the 2019–20 season: the Danbury Colonials of the Tier III junior

(NA3HL) and another FHL (since rebranded as

) team in the

. The Colonials' franchise was purchased from the Niagara Falls PowerHawks organization and Kevin Cunningham was named as the first head coach of the Colonials. Billy McCreary, son of former NHL player

Bill McCreary Jr. William Edward McCreary Jr. (born April 15, 1960) is an American former professional ice hockey player who played 12 games in the National Hockey League with the Toronto Maple Leafs during the 1980–81 season. The rest of his career, which laste ...

, was named the FPHL team's head coach and general manager. Former NHL player

Colton Orr Colton "Bobby" Douglas Orr (born March 3, 1982) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. Having played nearly 500 games in the NHL, Orr was known as an enforcer for his physical style of play and for regularly fighting. In 2019, he w ...

was named as co-owner and managing partner of both teams. The Colonials finished in second the Northeast Division in their inaugural season, but the playoffs were curtailed by the onset of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

in March 2020. On May 11, 2020, the organization announced they had also bought a franchise in the Tier II junior

(NAHL) from the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Knights and would be named the Danbury Jr. Hat Tricks after the professional team. Billy McCreary, who had won Coach of the Year in the FPHL in his first season, stepped down from his coaching position with the professional team and became head coach of the NAHL team. Subsequently, the Colonials would also be rebranded before the 2020–21 season to align with the rest of the organization. Due to the limited capacity during the pandemic and interstate travel restrictions, the NA3HL team was one of several East Division teams to temporarily relocate to Massachusetts midseason, with the team playing out of

Springfield, Massachusetts Springfield is a city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States, and the seat of Hampden County. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers: the western Westfield River, the ...

, as the Springfield Jr. Hat Tricks, before returning to Danbury in March 2021. Following the 2020–21 season,

Doug Friedman Doug Friedman (born September 1, 1971) is an American former professional ice hockey player who played in the American Hockey League (AHL) with two brief stints in the National Hockey League (NHL). Known as an enforcer, Friedman racked up over 1 ...

was hired as the head coach of the Tier III Hat Tricks, but left before coaching a game to join his alma mater,

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original campu ...

, as their director of hockey operations. The Jr. Hat Tricks then hired Tyler Noseworthy as head coach of the NA3HL team. Following the 2021-22 season, McCreary would return to be the Head Coach of the

while becoming President of Hockey Operations overseeing all three teams in the organization. Longtime assistant coach Matt Voity became the Head Coach and General Manager of the NAHL team, while Noseworthy remained with the NA3HL team, both would stay on as assistant coaches for the

FPHL The Federal Prospects Hockey League (FPHL) is a professional ice hockey independent minor league with teams in the Midwestern, Southern, and Northeastern United States. The FPHL began operations in November 2010 as the Federal Hockey League. ...

team.

Season-by-season records

NAHL team

NA3HL team

References

External links

NAHL's Jr. Hat TricksNA3HL's Jr. Hat Tricks
{{NAHL North American Hockey League teams Ice hockey clubs established in 2019 Ice hockey teams in Connecticut 2019 establishments in Connecticut Danbury, Connecticut Sports in Fairfield County, Connecticut