Draft:National Junior Hockey League (Canada)

The National Junior Hockey League (NJHL) is a junior hockey league with teams based in Canada. The league is independently operated and insured; it is not sanctioned by Hockey Canada, USA Hockey, or the Amateur Athletic Union.

History
The league was founded in 2023 when all teams in the Western Division of the Greater Metro Hockey League (GMHL) were dropped by the league. At the end of the 2022 - 2023 season there were 9 teams in GMHL West. It was initially announced that the Burns Lake Timbermen of Burns Lake, BC; the Edson Eagles of Edson, AB; the Fox Creek Ice Kings of Fox Creek, AB; the Gibbons Pioneer of Gibbons, AB; the High Prairie Red Wings of High Prairie, AB; the Kitimat Saax of Kitimat, BC; the Mackenzie Mountaineers, of Mackenzie, BC; and the Northern Alberta Tomahawks of Enoch, AB formed the NJHL. Previous GMHL West teams the Slave Lake Icedogs of Slave Lake, AB and the Tumbler Ridge Steel Kings of Tumbler Ridge, BC were never mentioned as members of the NJHL.

Prior to the start of the season the Burns Lake Timbermen, the Kitimat Saax, and the Mackenzie Mountaineers, the remaining BC teams, were dropped from the league. The Northern Alberta Tomahawks announced relocation as the Thorsby Crush in Thorsby, AB and subsequently disappeared from league website. Before the season started the Northern Alberta Lightning of Viking, AB joined the league after moving to Mayerthorpe, AB. They were an expansion team that was reported to be expelled from the Canadian-American Junior Hockey League (CAJHL) for failure to meet financial commitments. Another CAJHL expansion team, the Vulcan Rampage of Vulcan, AB was also accepted into the league.

On October 20, 2023 the league announced an expansion team, the Crowsnest Crush, in Crowsnest Pass, Alberta, for the 2024-2025 season. On 26 January 2024 the league announced an expansion team, the Lac la Biche Lakers, in Lac la Biche, Alberta. On 8 May 2024 the league announced an expansion team, as yet unnamed, in Claresholm, Alberta.