The majority of the schools are located in the St. Louis metro area, which teams are members of the Mid-States Club Hockey Association (MSCHA), the larger of the two leagues in Missouri.
At the time, organized youth hockey was experiencing a boom in the St. Louis area, mostly caused by the Blues' arrival and subsequent appearance in three Stanley Cup finals.
In addition to new schools quickly forming teams (resulting in a brief experiment in tiered competition), several former clubs rejoined, including charter member Whitfield.
The new millennium presented MSCHA with a large set of opportunities: the St. Louis hockey scene was booming, with players such as the Stastny brothers Paul and Yan and goaltender Ben Bishop honing their NHL-bound skills on high school teams.
However, a series of ugly incidents cast a shadow on this success, including a Priory skater being concussed from a late hit against Affton, further brawls among fans (most notably at Clayton–Ladue games, where the riot police has been called in several times), and a game where a Zumwalt South player physically assaulted a referee, only to be hit back by the official.
At the conclusion of the regular season, the teams ranked in the top 12 play a round-robin format playoff leading up to the Challenge Cup championship game.
Established for the 2009–2010 season, the MAHSHL replaces the Kansas City Metro Area High School Hockey League (KCMAHSHL) which ceased operations for 2008–09.
Player selections by year: 2021: CENTERS - Dominic Luevano (KC Saints), Tyler Caine (Springfield Spirit), Cody Hodgden (KC Stars [B]), Easton Norris (Wichita Jr Thunder); RIGHT WING - Gavin Loven (Springfield Spirit), Sean Hsu (NWA Ice Hogs), Luke Steiner (KC Stars [B]), Andrew Finn (Rockhurst Hawklets); LEFT WING - Wyatt Wirth (Springfield Spirit), Luke Hsu (NWA Ice Hogs), Jack Przybylski (KC Stars [B]), Gavin Davis (KC Saints); DEFENSEMEN - Darrell Smith (Wichita Jr Thunder), Nick Dannegger (Springfield Spirit), Henry Apostolakos (KC Saints), Noble Oxford (Rockhurst Hawklets), Charlie Zwillenberg (Carriage Club), John Brown (Springfield Spirit); GOALTENDERS - Zane Lutzke (Springfield Spirit), Jake Phillips (OKC Oil Kings) [5]