The North American Hockey League has arrived in New Hampshire.

The league announced on March 16 that the NAHL board of governors approved the addition of a team – the New Hampshire Mountain Kings – based in Hooksett, owned by the New Hampshire Hockey Club, LLC, led by Chris Brown. The team will open play in the 2023-24 season.

“Our ownership group is ecstatic with this announcement,” Brown said in a news release. “We have been working tirelessly to get to this point and are excited to do the work necessary to get the Mountain Kings on the ice this fall.”

Brown was a founding member of the 1883 Black Ice Pond Hockey Championship that hosted its annual Black Ice tournament at Everett Arena last weekend. He was inducted into the New Hampshire Hockey Hall of Fame last year as a builder.

In its 48th season, the NAHL is a junior hockey league sanctioned by USA Hockey which works with NCAA programs and the NHL to help develop players to play collegiately and professionally.

The Mountain Kings will play at Tri-Town Ice Arena; Brown’s New Hampshire Hockey Club LLC will take ownership of the building in April. They’re planning renovations to the arena, including energy improvements, upgrades to the boards and Plexiglass and a new locker room and training facility for the team.

“We are delighted to see the continued growth of the North American Hockey League in the Northeast with the addition of the New Hampshire Mountain Kings,” NAHL Commissioner and President Mark Frankenfeld said. “The Northeast continues to grow and succeed due to very capable and committed ownership that provides opportunities for players to develop and perform in front of the many NCAA programs in the surrounding geography.”

The addition of the Mountain Kings brings nine teams into the NAHL’s East Division that features organizations based in Maine, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey and New York.

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