Houston hockey seeing unparalleled growth due to recent NAHL announcement

On March 18, it was revealed that the North American Hockey League (NAHL) team of the North Iowa Bulls will relocate to Houston to compete as the Houston Bulls in the NAHL South Division.

The relocation begins with the 2026–27 season and the team will play at the new Deep South Ice & Sports Center in Richmond, Texas which is scheduled to open in the summer of 2026. The Deep South Ice & Sports Center is scheduled to open in the summer of 2026 and will feature a state of the art arena with almost 2,000 seats, 14 suites, two party decks and a second-NHL sized ice sheet. The announcement was made just ahead of the 2026 Hockey Day in Houston on March 21 — which saw an attendance number of over 6,000.

Dallas Stars alum Bob Bassen and Houston Aeros alum and 2026 Houston Hockey Hall of Fame inductee Terry Ruskowski were in attendance. Ruskowski and Bassen were signing autographs throughout the event and mingling with local youth hockey players.

"If you teach the kids now about hockey, they are our future," Ruskowski said to The Sporting News in an exclusive. "Our future will take us a long way. We're hoping that there are grassroots here for a future."

Ruskowski finished his NHL career with 426 points (113 goals, 313 assists). Bassen finished his league career with 232 points across 765 games played and played for the Stars from 1995 until 1998. 

Bassen also said that it is evident to anyone paying attention that there is a passion for the sport of hockey throughout the city of Houston.

"It's so wonderful because people are so passionate down here, and you can see that passion," Bassen said. "We love to introduce this great game to people ... There's so many people, everybody's looking for that here."

Hockey Day in Houston raises over $40,000

At the Dallas Stars booth, cards were being given away of current NHL player Tyler Myers. Myers was recently traded over to the Dallas franchise at the start of March from the Dallas Stars. Myers, who is a Houston native, became the first player in Stars history born in the state of Texas to appear in a regular-season game.

Through sponsorships and donations, the event raised over $40,000 to be matched by an additional $25,000 to go towards academic scholarships and hockey organizations across the city. 

The Bulls, University of Houston and Rice Ice Hockey were also on site — in addition to Houston Hellhouds Sled Hockey, the Houston Girls Hockey Association/HTX Storm, and Women's Hockey Outreach Association of Houston.

Mark and Marty Howe were also present throughout the weekend — honoring their late father Gordie Howe who played in 1,767 NHL games (most notably with the Detroit Red Wings) and concluded his career with 1,850 points and four Stanley Cup championships.

The Howe Foundation is dedicated to sharing the life-long passion for sports with everyone, focusing on two core missions, putting kids first and recognizing women in the business of sports as guided by the family’s legacy. The previously mentioned $25,000 donation match came from The Howe Foundation in efforts to help grow the sport of hockey in Houston.

The growing success of Hockey Day in Houston represents a growing interest in the sport as a whole throughout the Texas city. Hockey Day in Houston saw 4,000 in attendance in its first year in 2023 and 5,000 last year — meaning the event saw an additional 1,000 in its third year and following the recent announcement from the now-Houston Bulls.

MORE: Tyler Myers ready to make Stars history unmatched by any of previous 395 players in Dallas history