The NWHL superseded the old Central Ontario Women's Hockey League in 1998–99. After the old COWHL dropped down to three teams in 1997–98, the new league expanded to Brampton, Ottawa and the Montreal area in 1998–99. The league was officially renamed the National Women's Hockey League on Feb. 16, 1999 with Al Dawson as the league's first president. In the inaugural season, the Beatrice Aeros won the West Division while the Bonaventure Wingstar won the East Division. The league lasted nine years before it disbanded following the 2006–07 season. In 2007–08, players from the old NWHL joined new teams in similar markets in the newly formed Canadian Women's Hockey League.
Structure
From the 1998–99 to the 2001–02 seasons, the NWHL consisted of two divisions: the Eastern Division with Quebec-based teams, and the Western Division with Ontario-based teams. For the 2002–03 and 2003–04 seasons, the league had three divisions: the Eastern Division with Quebec-based teams, a renamed Central Division with Ontario-based teams, and a new Western Division with teams in Alberta and British Columbia. The high travel costs for the two Alberta teams caused them to leave the NWHL to form the Western Women's Hockey League, reducing the NWHL to the Eastern and Central Divisions for the 2004–05 and 2005–06 seasons. The WWHL had five teams, in Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Minnesota, for its own 2004–05 and 2005–06 seasons. The WWHL agreed to merge with the NWHL for the 2006–07 NWHL season. The NWHL reverted to three divisions: Eastern Division with Quebec-based teams, the Central Division with Ontario-based teams, and a renewed Western Division with teams Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchwean and Minnesota. The Eastern and Central Division teams scheduled a 35-game unbalanced but interlocking schedule, while the Western Division would only play within itself for the regular season - saving travel costs for all three divisions. The merger broke down midseason, with the WWHL teams treating it as the 2006–07 WWHL season and the remaining NWHL teams handling their playoffs with all four teams from the Central Division and the top two teams from the Eastern Division qualifying for the postseason. In the NWHL playoffs, teams played a best-of-three series to determine the Eastern and Central Division champions, who then met for the NWHL championship. By the end of the 2006–07 NWHL season, the league had fallen into disarray, season records are incomplete, and the league folded shortly after the Central Division's Brampton Thunder defeated the Eastern Division's Montreal Axion to win the last ever NWHL Championship.
NWHL Franchises
The following is list of franchises in all three divisions of the National Women's Hockey League.
During its inaugural 1998–99 season, a playoff tournament was held over three consecutive days, resulting in the presentation of a Gold, Silver and Bronze medal. For the next six seasons, the playoff champion was awarded the NWHL Champions Cup. For its final two seasons, the championship winner was awarded the Clarkson Cup. Though the NWHL and the Western Women's Hockey League were considered merged for the 2006–07 season, the WWHL teams did not compete for the Clarkson Cup, instead playing for the WWHL Champions Cup. After the 2007 disbanding of the NWHL, the Clarkson Cup was presented to the winner of a playoff between WWHL and Canadian Women's Hockey League teams, then solely to the CWHL champion after the WWHL merged with that league. A list of NWHL Championship winners and the team they met in the final:
