The Valley Jr. Warriors are an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

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 playing in

Haverhill, Massachusetts Haverhill ( ) is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. Haverhill is located 35 miles north of Boston on the New Hampshire border and about 17 miles from the Atlantic Ocean. The population was 67,787 at the 2020 United States Cen ...

. They have two Tier III teams that play in 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) and the EHL Premier. The organization also fields a number of youth hockey teams at the Bantam, Peewee, and Squirt other various levels. The youth hockey teams compete in the Elite 9 Hockey League and the Mass State Select League. The teams play home games at the Haverhill Valley Forum in Haverhill, Massachusetts.

History

The Jr. Warriors were founded in 1996 in the Tier III Junior A

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) until 2013 when Tier III junior hockey leagues underwent a reorganization that led to the dissolution of the EJHL and the Jr. Warriors to join the Atlantic Junior Hockey League. The AJHL then rebranded that season and became the Eastern Hockey League (EHL). When the Jr. Warriors played in the EJHL, the organization also fielded a Junior B team of the same name in the

Empire Junior Hockey League The Empire Junior Hockey League (EmJHL) was a USA Hockey-sanctioned Tier III junior ice hockey league. The league was classified as Tier III Junior B until the 2011–12 season when USA Hockey combined the Tier III Junior A and Junior B classifi ...

(EmJHL). In 2011,

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 ...

dropped the Junior A and B designations from Tier III hockey but the EmJHL continued to provide an organizational development team for their EJHL team, so the team is still referred to as Junior B. After the 2013 league reorganization, the EmJHL joined 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), ...

and the Jr. Warriors B team joined 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). In 2015, the EHL added an Elite Division and the teams that were already playing in the EHL were separated into a Premier Division. The Jr. Warriors switched their Junior B team from the MetJHL to the new EHL-Elite. In 2017, the league re-branded, dropping the Premier name from their top division and renamed the Elite Division to Premier. The Warriors have been coached by distinguished hockey players including

Stephen Leach Stephen Morgan Leach (born January 16, 1966) is an American ice hockey coach and former professional ice hockey player. He is currently the head coach of the Valley Jr. Warriors '99 Elite squad. He is the uncle of Jay Leach. Playing care ...

, Bob Sweeney, and Bob Carpenter.

Season-by-season records

References

External links

Official Site
1996 establishments in Massachusetts Haverhill, Massachusetts Ice hockey clubs established in 1996 Ice hockey teams in Massachusetts Junior ice hockey teams in the United States Sports in Essex County, Massachusetts {{Massachusetts-sport-team-stub