North American Hockey Alliance

The  (NAHA) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that was founded in 2013. The league offices are located in. When it was founded, it became the first major league to attempt to compete with the National Hockey League (NHL) since the collapse of the in 1979. Its inception was announced by entrepreneur Rembrandt Bracamontes (who also owns the Professional Soccer League), with him being the CEO & lead investor in the league.

The NAHA was founded to capitalize on the lack of major league hockey teams in some major & mid-level American & Canadan cities, and also hoped to attract hockey teams to markets the NHL "abandoned".

In 2020, the NAHA announced that the then-current season would come to a close on March 15 because of growing COVID-19 pandemic concerns and social distancing mandates. On April 10, the league suspended day-to-day operations and laid off its employees; it filed a voluntary petition under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas four days later. On April 25, 7 teams of the NAHA joined the NHL to avoid a potential dissolution of the league, which was part of the Connecticut and Quebec City teams' long-term plans to resurrect "disused" NHL team names. On May 15, the bankruptcy petition was rejected. On May 18, the league announced it would return to regular operations pending approval of the remaining teams.

Former Teams

 * Connecticut Pioneers - Joined NHL under name
 * Dayton Gems - Joined NHL
 * Hamilton BlackStripes - Joined NHL
 * Island Waves - Joined NHL
 * Kansas City Scouts - Joined NHL
 * Manchester Merrimacks - Joined NHL
 * Quebec City Blizzard - Joined NHL under name

The Dayton Gems, Hamilton BlackStripes and Quebec Nordiques announced plans for American Hockey League (AHL) affiliations. In August 2020, the Hamilton BlackStripes announced their AHL affiliate would be sited in. In September 2020, the Quebec Nordiques announced that they had chosen, a city on the - provincial border, as the site for the new Nordiques' AHL affiliate, with their home arena being a new venue built on the grounds of the. Meanwhile in the same month, the Dayton Gems announced their AHL affiliate, the Virginia Beach Gems, would be sited in, with the being an interim home while plans for a new arena are discussed.