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North Hills Vipers

The North Hills Amateur Hockey Association was one of the two founding members of the PAHL in 1961, when it was North Park Hockey.  The association rebranded as North Hills Amateur Hockey Association (NHAHA) in 1964.

The North Hills Hockey Association absorbed the Steel City Stars in 1998 and thus began fielding teams at the Tier 1 level.  The program became known as the Esmark Stars while still playing under the NHAHA sponsorship, and the Pittsburgh Viper Stars were formed in conjunction to operate as independent teams playing high-level Tier 2 schedules.

The organizations has made its home at several area rinks.  At first, it was at the North Park Skating Rink, but an oversized, outdoor facility was not conducive to growing the program.  So the organization shifted to the Sewickley Arena in 1971 and then back to the north in 1977 when the Lakevue Ice Rink opened on Route 8 in Valencia.  Lakevue changed its name to the Ice Connection of Pittsburgh during NHAHA's stay, and the team left the Ice Connection in 1993 to make its home at the brand new Bladerunners rink in Harmarville, the first rink in the region to house two sheets of ice.  That facility soon hosted another growing youth program, so NHAHA moved to the Valley Sports Complex in New Kensington, PA.  That facility became the Pittsburgh Ice Arena in 2012, and though the change was good for the rink, the Vipers slowly began to struggle.  Another change in rink ownership in 2021 brought about an re-evaluation of the multiple youth teams playing out of the same rink, eventually causing  NHAHA to return to the Harmarville rink -- now known as Alpha Ice Complex -- for the start of the 2023-24 season.

Finding itself again positioned as something less than the anchor youth tenant at its home rink, the Vipers were only able to field one 18U team in 2023-24.  Facing a bleak future, the program entered dormant status in 2024, keeping the landmark program's name and history alive for a bit longer, in case a change of fate comes about.