As the NAHL enters its 50th season, longtime president and commissioner, Mark Frankenfeld, is proud of the stability that exists throughout the league.
Frankenfeld has served as NAHL commissioner since 2007, and he has overseen day-to-day and all business aspects of the league, including expansion, marketing initiatives, rules and regulations and player development, for the last 18 years.
“We’re not a bus league out of Detroit anymore,” Frankenfeld said. “We’ve evolved into a pretty dynamic hockey property that is in the business of developing players and officials. It has become something bigger than when it started, which is great because it’s doing more for the players in the league and for officiating.”
When Frankenfeld started as commissioner, the NAHL had just 17 teams. Now, there are 35 teams spread across 20 states and two additional NAHL leagues — the North American Prospects Hockey League (NAPHL) and North American 3 Hockey League (NA3HL) — that focus on additional player development and advancement.
“I’m most proud of the longevity from the ownership group,” Frankenfeld said. “That tells me that the league model works, the product works and it leads to player commitments. When you look at the owners’ longevity now, it proves what we created works and that’s great news for the players and the communities.”
The talent of the NAHL will be on full display this week at the 21st annual NAHL Showcase in Blaine, Minnesota (Sept. 25-28).
Frankenfeld, an Ohio native, grew up playing football, but he also enjoyed neighborhood street hockey, which included particularly fond memories following the famed “Miracle on Ice” during the 1980 Olympic Winter Games.
When a knee injury ended his high school football career, he ended up falling in love with hockey.
“I wasn’t a strong skater, but being a football player, I had work ethic, and I ended up playing a lot because I was physical,” Frankenfeld said. “I got the hockey bug and all I wanted to do was play hockey.”
Frankenfeld got into coaching at a young age and notably served as an assistant coach at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.
In the NAHL, Frankenfeld spent four seasons as an assistant coach and assistant general manager for the Texas Tornado — the league’s first southern franchise — before becoming the head coach for the Dayton Gems during the 2003-04 season.
“When I got a job in [hockey] operations, all I wanted to do was go back to coaching, but then I realized that coaching is a hard job and not necessarily that stable,” Frankenfeld said. “There’s a lot of work [in coaching], but it’s very rewarding because you can feel the instant gratification in helping these young men on their path. But then I realized you can still have an effect in helping these young men by doing what I do at the league level and creating relationships with the owners and the board.”
During Frankenfeld’s tenure, the NAHL has stabilized into one of only two non-tuition-based premier developmental junior leagues in the country. Frankenfeld was the driving force behind the NAPHL, which is made up of 18U, 16U and 14U teams that compete at the Tier I youth level. He was also instrumental in the acquisition of the Central States Hockey League, which was redeveloped into the NA3HL, a Tier III junior league.
“I give the board room and the owners the credit,” Frankenfeld said. “We worked hard to get here and received benefits of that hard work, but the work really starts with [the board and owners] and how they create opportunities for players and communities through hockey.”
During the 2023-24 season, the NAHL had more than 340 players committed to NCAA hockey, including 77% in NCAA Division I. Additionally, 37 percent of all Division I freshmen played hockey in the NAHL.
Throughout the last eight seasons, more than 2,200 NAHL players have made NCAA commitments and 36 have been drafted into the NHL.
“It’s about players’ development not only on the ice, but off the ice to do something great in college, family, business, faith or whatever they want to do,” Frankenfeld said. “It’s about the overall development aspect because they don’t all go play long, lucrative careers in the NHL.”
Frankenfeld said the league is ready for its 50th season and beyond the half-century celebration.
“We’re really well equipped,” Frankenfeld said. “We’re focused and excited about what we do now, but we’re also eyes wide open to whatever path emerges and we’re open to where that path leads us.”
Story from Red Line Editorial, Inc.
