The CEHL was founded by Harold MacKay, a prominent member of the local hockey community.
MacKay hoped to recruit players from major junior and university by giving them an opportunity to play locally and not re-locate to professional leagues in Europe or the United States.
Team budgets were set at $450,000 CAD and rosters were limited to a maximum of six import players.
The first league champion was the Saint John Scorpions, coached by Yvon Vautour, who won the Alexander Cup[2] by defeating the Dartmouth Destroyers in four games.
In June 2006 the Cape Breton Crush folded leaving the league with just three teams.