Lease agreement between NAHL and City of Watertown expected to be approved by City Council on Monday
The North American Hockey League has announced that it will expand again to include a team in Watertown for the 2024-25 season.
A lease agreement between the City of Watertown and the NAHL is expected to be approved by the Watertown City Council at a meeting scheduled for Monday.
The new Prairie Lakes Ice Arena is scheduled to official open this week with the Watertown Lakers' varsity boys hockey team scheduled to play the first game in the new arena on Friday.
The NAHL, which is celebrating its 49th season, is the only USA Hockey-sanctioned Tier II Junior league. It has 32 teams in 17 states across North America.
The NAHL is part of the USA Hockey National Junior Development Model, which includes the USHL and the US National Team Development Program. The NAHL works closely with NCAA College Hockey, the NHL, the USHL and USA Hockey's National Development Program in order best serve as an imperative piece in the development system for collegiate and professional hockey.
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During the 2021-22 season, the NAHL had over 300 NCAA commitments for the sixth straight season, with over 76% of those being NCAA Division I commitments. Over the course of the last six seasons, 1,500+ NAHL players have made NCAA commitments and 32 have been drafted into the NHL.
All NAHL hockey teams are privately owned and operate as a business similar in structure and business operations as those involving professional hockey teams. Such operations include ticket sales, corporate sales, broadcasting and community-based initiatives and outreach programs. NAHL athletes are provided the opportunity to develop, learn, train, grow and succeed, while playing for free.
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The new Watertown franchise is expected to be the seventh team in the NAHL's Central Division. The Aberdeen Wings are currently in the division along with the Austin (Minn.) Bruins, Bismarck (N.D.) Bobcats, Minot (N.D.) Minotauros, North Iowa Bulls and St. Cloud (Minn.) Norsemen.
Follow Watertown Public Opinion sports reporter Roger Merriam on X (formerly known as Twitter) @PO_Sports or email: rmerriam@thepublicopinion.com
This article originally appeared on Watertown Public Opinion: Junior hockey team coming to Watertown to play in new Prairie Lakes Ice Arena
